While I would love to write a column this week on how the Democrats are being dumb about the Iraq spending bill, I need to do something else – thank the Review staff for all of the work they have done this year.

I’ll admit that I was pretty nervous at the beginning of this year, because you just never know what’s going to happen, what we’re going to have to cover and the ethical decisions that will have to be made. If it weren’t for a great staff though, this year would have been much harder.

I’d first of all like to thank all of the writers and photographers. They have networked on the campus, came up with some great story ideas and have developed their talents with their photo work.

This is our first year for a copy staff, and we’ve had a lot of people play a part in it. This semester, three people – Kylie Gilstrap, Travis Perry and Corey Jones – have gone the full semester and have worked a number of hours for little pay. As they will all three play a critical role in leadership next year, I have no doubt these three will find ways to transform these positions to make our paper far more reliable in the future.

Danelle Groth, our photo editor, has been very willing to help out our photographers figure out their problems and train them, and Caron Handcock, our graphics editor, has saved us numerous times with her wonderful illustrations and ideas.

Melissa Treolo has often been the one to challenge me this year with her ideas, but I have had so much fun developing them with her. I’ve also had fun helping her transform the Argo into its own. As editor, she’s going to do a great job with the yearbook next year.

Paige Pfannenstiel has always been the reliable one. As the sports editor for the last three years, she is the reason our critique from the Kansas Associated Collegiate Press this year said “your sports section is everything a sports section should be.” I’ve known her since the Washburn Review fall retreat our freshmen year, and it has been great getting to know her.

Aaron Deffenbaugh is the one member on staff who I would say should honestly get paid more than me. He’s in the office from sun up till sun down working on his photo editing skills, taking tons of assignments per week and training himself for the Web. When I hired him as Web editor at semester, he didn’t have any Web experience. But he has trained himself, and has developed the first videos and podcasts the Review has ever had. I couldn’t thank him enough for the work he has done for us this year.

Last, but certainly not least, is ReAnne Utemark. She has probably been the youngest managing editor the Review has had, but I think she has been outstanding. She has helped me with every outside project the Review has done in addition to running the news section, and has taken all of the last-minute projects I’ve thrown at her and done them well. I have no doubt she’ll take the Review and its staff to new heights next year.

While they didn’t help with the actual production of the Review, Andrew Roland and Courtney Cook play an instrumental role in keeping it running by raising a record number of advertising dollars this year, and making sure we stayed in the black. Production of the paper this year wouldn’t have been possible without these two.

While the staff has helped me out a lot this year, I couldn’t end this column without thanking Regina Cassell. She called me one night my senior year in high school and told me I was going to be on the Review staff, whether I wanted to or not. She has helped me so much on an academic and professional level these last four years, I don’t know how I would have done it without her.

I’ll steal a quote from one of my favorite people in the Memorial Union – Gary McDonald – by saying it’s been “a privilege and an honor” to work with all of these people.