Students who purchased a copy of the final edition of the Mississippi State University Reveille will have to wait a little longer than usual to receive their books.
It was determined in the spring that due to a lack of student interest and a decline of sales, the book will not print after the 2007-08 year.
In previous years, the Reveille was finished by the summer and printed and delivered in September of the following semester, said Eddie Keith, Colvard Student Union director and Reveille adviser.
The production of this year’s Reveille, however, remains unfinished due to a lack of staffers, Keith said.
“It should’ve been done by the end of the spring semester. [But] they’re working on it and getting excited about it,” he said. “It’s hard to blame them for saying, ‘What’s the use?'”
Reveille co-editor Alayne White said although she had a staff of 22 last year, she has been working on the completion of the book on her own this semester.
“Not one of the sections was finished last year,” she said. “It’s just me doing it by myself, which is taking so long.”
White said she noticed a lack of interest not just in students but in the Reveille student staffers.
“I think the enthusiasm for the book dwindled into a ‘let’s just finish this’ kind of attitude,” she said.
Two weeks ago at a meeting with Taylor Publishing, the company that prints the Reveille, it was decided that if the finished product of the book is ready to be printed by Oct. 30, the company will ship out the books in December.
Keith said the Reveilles are expected to be delivered to the homes of the approximately 390 students who purchased them by Christmas or a little after.
Taylor Publishing representative Karen Loden was unavailable for comment.
White said she is trying to stay positive about the production of the Reveille.
“There’s no reason to stress right now. Oct. 30 is a long way away.”
The popularity of the book has changed drastically over the last several years. Two years ago, 1,200 students purchased books, Keith said.
White said the Reveille is irreplaceable and students will miss it even if they aren’t showing much interest now.
“I’m pretty disappointed. Yearbooks are special to me,” she said. “Digital yearbooks or Facebook won’t replace real yearbooks. I think they’ll be missed.”
Reveille adviser Kay Jones said even though there has been a decrease in sales, the book’s good quality never wavers.
“The book itself always looks good,” she said. “Fewer and fewer people seemed interested. There are other schools going through the same problems. Things are too instant now and people don’t want it.”
Jones said the parts of the book she’s seen look good so far.
“We’d like to get the last one out and have it look good,” she said.
Jones said she is sorry that the Reveille tradition is coming to an end.
“Maybe in a few years, someone will come along and say, ‘Hey, I’d like to have a yearbook again,'” and it might happen.”
Senior communication and history major Steven Thomas said he paid for the final yearbook, but got his money back.
He said the only reason he purchased one in the first place was because his parents wanted a keepsake from his last year of college.
“Personally, I really don’t care for the yearbook myself,” he said. “Most people, I don’t think, care for it either.”
Thomas said he recently found out the Reveille won’t be publishing anymore and that he’s fairly apathetic about it.
“I’m getting a class ring, I’m getting a diploma,” he said. “I’m got all I need.”