Yackety Yack ahead of schedule after last year’s unfinished edition

Unlike last year, the 2011-12 edition of the campus yearbook, the Yackety Yack, is ahead of schedule.

The Yack’s staff has implemented safeguards to ensure this year’s edition will be shipped on time, following a year in which an edition has not yet been distributed.

Former Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Hertz, who directed the unpublished 2011 yearbook, was asked to step down following a decision by the Yack’s board in October.

“Hertz neglected to fulfill her duties as editor-in-chief,” said new Editor-in-Chief Waverly Lynch. Those include making sure the publication is complete and ready to distribute each August.

After last year’s delays, Hertz offered to complete the issue herself over the summer.

But when the books did not arrive in the fall, Ben Leyden, the Yack’s photo editor, became concerned. He, along with Lynch, then contacted the publishers, Leyden said in an email.

But the publishers hadn’t received any proofs for the yearbook, he said.

“That’s when Stephanie Hertz was let go, and we took over creating the previous year’s book,” Leyden said.

Lynch said that last year’s book has since been sent to the publishers and will be printed once portraits are received.

The Yack’s staff is optimistic that this year’s book will be released on time.

Lynch said both the staff and board have been restructured, and that the Yack has worked with a lawyer who helped the staff improve its accountability.

“Waverly is much more hands-on and accessible than Stephanie,” Leyden wrote, who served as photo editor under both.

“She has a good sense of where we’re at in terms of producing this year’s book and makes sure everything is going according to plan.

“I appreciate Waverly’s style of management in contrast to Stephanie’s because I’m always in the loop as far as how the book is going,” he said.

Hertz could not be reached for comment for this article.

The first half of this year’s Yackety Yack will be sent to publishers before the first deadline in March, Lynch said.

Dustin Burleson, the Yack’s design editor, said this year’s edition will be ready by August.

Lynch said, to her knowledge, last year’s edition was the first not completed on time since the Yack’s launch in 1900.

“It’s under much better control,” she said.

Both Lynch and Leyden said they are excited about the edition.

“This will definitely be a book students will be happy to own for years to come,” Leyden said.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.