Grappling with financial debt and low support from UW-Madison, The Badger Yearbook will be forced to forgo printing a 2003-04 yearbook after running for more than 100 years. It is currently negotiating with Hirsch-Jones publishing company to determine if it can continue to print at all.
When the student-run yearbook staff came into fall 2003 ready to put together a new yearbook, they found the previous yearbook unfinished.
UW-Madison junior Dana Schmidman, Badger Yearbook section editor, said they have received a lot of feedback from customers upset about not receiving last year's yearbook, which should have been sent in July. This delay led to the UW-Madison administration's involvement.
\[Elton Crim, a senior student services coordinator,] basically threw out accusations of fraud and student misconduct to the staff of students that was basically just picking up the pieces where they were left off. Those were obviously worked out,"" an anonymous staff member said. ""So, we basically have no support from the university.""
In addition to low support, yearbook staff members cite low sales and poor business strategy as problems that have led to their financial troubles.
They are in debt $20,000, and members said they hope Hirsch- Jones will reduce their debt so they can continue printing.
The staff uses each year's yearbook sales to pay for the previous year, which has led to their debt. The anonymous staff member said students can expect to be refunded for 2003-04 yearbooks and Schmidman added students can expect to receive their 2002-03 yearbooks soon.
The yearbook staff also lacks an advisor to guide staffers in the traditions of the yearbook.
""I really think it would have helped to have an advocate, someone within the university to really help us along and I'm not sure why that was never a part of the yearbook,"" said Elizabeth Meyers, Badger Yearbook editor-in-chief from 1998 to 2000.
""If they're still in the position that we were in when I was there, then that means that doing the whole student run thing isn't working,"" Meyers said.
The anonymous staff member said she agreed an advisor would help to regroup the Badger yearbook.
While they are working out their problems, Schmidman said the staff will use this year to regroup and try to keep the yearbook's name out among the student body.
