Gumbo responds to criticismFirstly, recent yearbooks have been limited to a glossy depiction of what campus life was like with only pretty pictures of campus and university approved events. This yearbook doesn’t do that. After handing out a pretty clean-cut yearbook last year as the managing editor, it struck me as boring and expected. So we looked at books from decades ago and were inspired by the 1970’s books which were full of obscenities such as drugs, sex, alcohol, etc. The hard work of the designers who slaved in front of a computer, writers who rushed to meet deadlines and photographers who took hundreds of photos definitely paid off. The ‘07-’08 Gumbo is an extraordinary book because of its outstanding design, worthwhile stories and photos of amazing quality. We are quite proud of the work and it is unfortunate that certain content was a distraction. If anything, we are happy to finally have some attention after years of dwindling enthusiasm for the book. More students now know that if there is a Gumbo distribution, it’s a yearbook and not food. Secondly, all of the content was accurate and nothing was made up. We dedicated many pages to LSU Sports and we included the murders on campus. We took pictures of parking, cars and bikes, and we even scanned a voter registration card for you. However, it appears some students have “forgotten” that students do use drugs. By using simple images, the drug page was meant to make a statement: As common as drugs are on campus no one addresses the problems. The picture spread wasn’t just pictures of “stoner” drugs. The top right hand photo was of Adderall, the “academic steroid.” The “blatant display of drug use from cover to cover” was quite an exaggeration because there were only references to drugs/smoking on a few pages, specifically pages 156-157 and page 243. This subject is relevant to every student because everyone knows someone or takes a class with someone who has some sort of connection to drugs, whether they used it or were adamantly against it etc. By putting a few pictures of drugs and other obscenities, the entire book was considered a waste and a “poor reflection of LSU?” Should we ignore a part of our campus life to keep a shiny reputation? Thirdly, some student’s biggest gripe was about our “Oops” page. Student Media switched from a Mac based server to a Windows based server in the middle of the year and as a result several of our pages were deleted. Many unexpected events switched around the order of the stories. When it came to the final deadline there was no story for the page and it was the editor’s decision to put something on the page.  On our side, we are also disappointed, not because of the criticism of the book but the personal attacks on the staff members. To judge our character and based on a few pictures is unfounded and untrue. To say we were “too zoned out thinking about where they were going to score their next hit of acid” or “Burn your Gumbos!” also reflects poorly on the students of LSU. We created the yearbook knowing some students may not agree with some content but we weren’t expecting harsh attacks on our judgment as a staff, especially when content was decided by the editor and not the designers, photographers or writers themselves.  The staff last year was not made up of a small circle of friends but quite diverse. We were mostly Studio Art, Graphic Design and Business students with no affiliation with the Journalism school and we had different academic classifications, backgrounds and perspectives of LSU. But here is where I ask for your interaction. You told us that you were disgusted with a book that we feel was a great example of journalistic freedom. It is hard to get every single student in the yearbook, so that is not our goal, but we do strive to put as many events, activities, locations or anything else that students can relate to but it is up to the students to tell us about them. The lack of cooperation and follow-through from various organizations or departments prevented us from knowing and eventually going to events, such as a speaker, an anniversary or shows. You can easily change that by sending us an e-mail about what is happening on or off campus at [email protected]. Or, if you feel the direction of Gumbo is going in the wrong way, feel free to apply for any position at any point throughout the year. If you feel your skills would benefit the Gumbo, we strongly encourage you to apply.  You are in college now. The Gumbo staff knows college students are able to tolerate drugs, the middle finger and profanity. This year’s staff, as well as any true Gumbo staff, will not exercise censorship for the few who can not. We will continue distribution in a few weeks and trust me, I wish we could pass out bowls of some good ole Gumbo too. Geaux Gumbo!  Sheila de Guzman (Editor) &The Gumbo Staff—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at [email protected]