About five months after the original scheduled delivery date, The Spirit 2004 has finally arrived.

Many students may ask “Why do we need a yearbook? That’s so high school.”

We find ourselves asking that, too. Why publish a book that you look at for a few days, and then shove on a shelf between your first- grade spelling bee trophy and a box of old clothes? In a word, history.

This book, produced solely by students, preserves a snapshot of what life was like being a college student in 2003-04. We can’t think of a better way to show how you passed your time with about 6,100 of your closest friends.

What concerns us is not the debate about having or not having a yearbook. Our concern is a lot more specific: Is what we get for $17 a year worth it?

We believe it is, as long as the Spirit staff meets deadlines and gets the book here in May, as advertised when the yearbook fee first passed.

Our adviser shares her stewardship with the Spirit, our neighbors in Gooch Hall. She labored mightily this summer to finish the book because some obligations were not fulfilled, or pages finished, as promised.

A new year has dawned, and it’s time to put the past behind us.

We call on the Spirit to renew its commitment to publishing a quality yearbook, meeting deadlines and ensuring that all students get their money’s worth.