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April 4, 2009

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - Each year Westminster College students are able to enjoy the Argo, the college yearbook. Its an artifact that captures memories and moments from each year on campus. Students and alumni can look back and remember everything that went on during the year. What many students don't realize is the months of work that go into putting it all together.

Everything is done by students-students who have their own classes and their own activities going on. Working together, they put together the Argo-- Westminster's yearbook. These student editors and staff members give everyone at the college a lasting record of the year at Westminster.

James Bonetti started as a freshman on the photography staff. Now as a sophomore, he's one of the photography editors of the yearbook. His responsibilities include handing out assignments and making sure all the photos get taken. Bonetti says that one of his favorite things about the position of photography editor is that it has led him to some great experiences.

"Getting to go out and take these pictures of all these different groups, it's allowed me to meet a lot of interesting people and get involved with a lot of neat stuff," Bonetti said.

He did indicate, though, that being in charge of so many people can be challenging. Deadlines need to be met and when they aren't, things get tough. All in all, Bonetti said he is happy to work with the whole photography staff.

"It's a good staff, a good group of people," he said.  "I'm proud of them. I really am."

The photos make their way to Kelly Lake and the copy writing staff. Lake is Copy Editor of the Argo and a Junior English major.

"Any picture that you see in the yearbook, I write who's in the picture, what they're doing," Lake said. "I write the copy paragraphs on all the pages too."

Lake worked on the staff of her high school's newspaper, so when she arrived at Westminster she decided she'd like to write copy for the yearbook. She said she loves to go over photographs and find out about people.

"I like learning who those people are but sometimes trying to track it down is difficult," Lake said. "I have to pour through old yearbooks, or we have to try to track someone down on maybe the same team as them and try and figure out who they are, so that can be really time consuming."

Lake hopes that her work with the Argo will show employers her writing and editing skills and that she can oversee others and edit their work.

The photographs and copy make it to Ali Pabrinkis, one of the Argo's layout editors. Pabrinkis works with one other layout editor. They are responsible for designing the pages and placing all the photos and copy. She said the thing she likes most about working on the yearbook is that it allows her creativity to come out.

"It's really a stress reliever," Pabrinkis said.  "Because it's just someplace that I know I can go, in my own space, and just create basically whatever I want."

She also said it can be difficult when the each layout editor has a different style, and it can be hard to get them to work together in one yearbook.

"You sometimes get two really different ideas and it kind of looks like two different books came out," she said.

Pabrinkis also said she enjoyed working on the yearbook staff in high school. Although the technical work may not help her with her Music Education major or Theater minor, Pabrinkis tells us her work on the yearbook will show employers that she is ambitious and a hard worker.

Every bit of the yearbook ends up with the editor-in-chief. Stephanie Finnegan is a senior with an Art major and a minor in Music. She has been Argo's editor-in-chief for the 2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010 yearbooks.

Finnegan worked on her high school's yearbook, so when she came to Westminster she decided to join the photography staff of the Argo. After that first year she became editor-in-chief.

Now she oversees every aspect of the process, making sure everything gets done when and how it's supposed to.

"I'm in charge of everyone," Finnegan said. "I have five staff members, six underneath me. Just making sure layouts get done, pictures get taken, copy gets written, everything gets put together."

Since she is hoping to go into the magazine business or even the yearbook field, Finnegan said her experience as editor of the Argo will definitely benefit her when she graduates and starts looking for a job.

"This experience has taught me leadership skills and just the whole production skills and everything so it will definitely apply, hopefully, later on," she said.

The Argo staff works over the course of the entire school year to get the book ready for print, from August to as late as July. The yearbooks are printed during the rest of the summer and the new editions arrive in October. The books are paid for as part of the students' activities fee, so any student that wants a copy just has to pick it up. The number of yearbooks ordered depends on how many people show interest.

"We've been ordering about 500," Finnegan explained. "We might have to increase that this year because we've had an increased demand, which is great."

Finnegan added that the best thing about working on the Argo is getting the final result. She says that seeing the completed product makes all the work and time well worth it.

"When you get that book back it's just such a great feeling that all that work you did, it's a great final production," Finnegan said.

They might not always get the first thought when someone picks up their year book, but the Argo staff is proud of what they accomplish every year. From the pages filled with photos and captions that tell the story to the layout that brings it all together, this is a book to be proud of. These students are the ones that make it possible for the rest of campus to relive all their favorite experiences whenever they like.

Visit the Argo publication website

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