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Glomerata survives decline of the yearbook

(Why a pink logo? The Auburn Plainsman is going pink for the month of October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.)
(Why a pink logo? The Auburn Plainsman is going pink for the month of October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.)

Recently, University of Alabama officials voted to cease publication of The Corolla, their student yearbook.
According to AL.com, The Corolla only sold 24 copies last year despite record enrollment.
The number of universities with yearbooks has been steadily declining for decades, according to Jenna Johnson's Washington Post article, "Yearbooks ending at University of Virginia."
"College yearbooks have been slowly disappearing as campuses expand and diversify and students' lives move online, away from paper records of their college memories," Johnson said. "The thick volumes can cost as much as $100 each at a time when some students have difficulty paying for textbooks."
According to College Media Review's website, approximately 2,400 universities in the United States published yearbooks in 1995.
By 2010, that number dropped to approximately 1,000.
Will Givan, academics editor for The Glomerata and senior in business management, said The Corolla was discontinued because of a poor business model.
"Alabama charges for their physical book," Givan said. "That's why only 24 people bought it. They also sell a CD that has a digital book on it and that's a cheaper price. They kind of put themselves in a position where no one wanted the book because they didn't want to pay for it."
Givan said The Glomerata is free to Auburn students.
"We don't charge because we believe that every Auburn student deserves to have a copy of their yearbook," Givan said.
The Glomerata receives student activity funding of approximately $200,000 each year to produce approximately 7,500-9,000 books, according to Stephen Caton, The Glomerata's editor-in-chief and junior in biomedical sciences.
Caton said he does not think The Glomerata will follow in The Corolla's footsteps.
"I don't think it will be discontinued," Caton said. "The Glomerata is an Auburn tradition that students look forward to every year. We produce a quality product. We've managed to stay the same over the years. We've stayed fresh, but we've honored that tradition."
Jenny Melnick, managing editor at the Glomerata and senior in English literature, said The Glomerata staff is working all year to ensure The Glomerata is the best it can be.
"We start at the end of the spring semester," Melnick said. "We have to make the outline for the whole book, and we start thinking of what pages we'd like to include pretty early on. We have to decide on a theme and a cover. We finish beginning of February, and then we start all over again. It's a service to the school."


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