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An annual affair
A
s the tape deck blasted Olivia
Newton-John's smash-hit Heart Attack,
four weary staffers pondered
over video display terminals.
Struggling with type codes, shift
returns, memory keys, super shifts, cursors,
and search modes, the baffled journalists
attempted to enter yearbook copy
on the computer age typewriters.
Hundreds of hours later, after dozens
of lost stories and many temper tantrums,
the Gem staff mastered the nerve-racking
terminals.
But the frustrations didn't stop. During
the January color deadline, a malfunction
with the VDT's memory disk erased 20
pages of captions and copy and sent the
staff scrambling to re-enter the material
in time to typeset and paste-up the pages.
"On a typical weekend we logged over
35 hours from Friday afternoon to Monday
morning," said Gary Lundgren,
editor.
During the summer, the yearbook plans
were finalized at Ohio University's College
Yearbook Workshop. After dozens
of classes on the latest yearbook techniques
and a planning session with yearbook
expert Colonel Charles E. Savedge,
the '83 Gem was starting to unfold.
Before flying back to campus, Lundgren
also visited Delmar Printing Com-
pany in Charlotte, North Carolina, to tour
the plant, learn the printer's procedures,
and meet the production personnel.
Back at home, the 1982 Gem was still
making news. In late August, the book
received the Columbia Scholastic Press
Association's Medalist Award.
In September, the Associated Collegiate
Press awarded the Gem an All­
American rating and announced that the
book was a contendor for the prestigious
Pacemaker Award - scholastic journalism's
highest national honor.
In December, the 1982 book was
featured in the Scholastic Editor's Trends
in Publications, a national journalism
magazine.
"The positive reaction to last year's
book, both on campus and across the
country, motivated us to produce an even
better book the second time around,"
Lundgren said.
Finally, in April, Delmar's presses
started to roll as two nervous editors impatiently
stood by the machinery watching
their layouts, graphics, captions,
and photographs come to life. What once
was a few scribbles on a single sheet of
layout· paper was being transformed into
the 8lst edition of Idaho's Gem of the
Mountains. 0
Plate processing.
After completing the 1982 G•m. Gary LundgTen
and Clint Kendrick visited the printer's plant to
gather ldeas for the 1983 edition and obse"e the
printing process. Delores Langdon. the company
tour guide, explains the technical aspects of pre>
eeuing a printing plate from a page negative.
Terminal traumas.
Mer the VDT's memory dl.sk erased over 20 pag•
of captions and copy blocks, auiltant editor Julie
Reagan struggles to r-nter the material in tlme
to have lt typeset and pasted-up before the next
morning's deadline. (photo by M. LaOrange)
124 Gem of the Mountains