Well, this is it. The last ever rambling article from yours truly, Shayne Leslie Figueroa. We’ve had good times and bad. But, although it would be the traditional way to go, I really don't feel like filling my last article for The Lafayette with trite phrases and meaningless platitudes. (If you catch any then by all means write a letter to the editor about it.)

    I thought about writing about why I am not the Lafayette ideal. But that's a moot point. I don't think I'm anyone or anything's ideal. That'd be way too much pressure for a light and fluffy girl like me.

    I could brag once more about kissing Dave Matthews, but my work at MTV has made me aware that I am only one of few that shares in this “privilege.” Ah, MTV. I could go on for quite some space about the coolest internship in the world, mine with Pop Up video. But Tad Low, executive producer, is currently engaged in a phone war with the office of public relations about a bootleg PopUp rip-off that was in a school publication. I don’t want to endanger my diploma any further.

    I think it's actually appropriate to quote from a Letter to the Editor, dated February 21, 1997. Not everyone is a Shaynefan and that's okay. Really, it is. This particular person took issue with the more informal style of opinion article that I am prone to produce. And I quote, "I am not going to criticize the childish nature of the article (it read like an excerpt from an eighth grade diary), and I don't claim to be an expert on journalism, but I know poor journalism when I see it, and this is poor journalism." I can only hope that my poor style of journalism won't bother all the artists I plan to interview in the future. It hasn't in the past, at least.

    As I write this, it's pretty early for a Wednesday night. It's just past midnight, which technically makes it Thursday I guess. I have the distinct pride to say that I have always walked home in the dark. Many a Lafayette editor has pulled 48 hour edit/layout streaks, I am not among them. That's right kids, work smart and hard. And don't be afraid to use intimidation either.

    So what are my plans after I graduate? I, like every other senior on campus, have been asked this question at least three times an hour for the past six months. My replies range from the introspective ("What is graduation? Do anyone really ever truly graduate?") to the ridiculous ("I plan to start as an assistant crack whore and gradually work my way up to full fledged crack whore. It may take a few years, but I think I have the dedication and ambition."). But, if you remember from way back to the first Lafayette of the year, I plan to be an entertainment journalist. Oxymoron? Maybe. But at least I can recognize this.

    The Lafayette has been good to me. I came in as a sophomore, frustrated at the lack of attendance at a Badlees concert held in Kirby and wanting to write about it. The rest of the year was spent mainly treading water, writing regularly and getting a feel for it all. Then, in the fall of 1997 I was thrown into the deep end. (Oops, trite phrase alert). I believe the conversation went as follows.

    Rob Vaughn (Editor in Chief): "Hey Shayne, want to be an editor?"

    Me: "Well..."

    RV: "We need someone for Opinion or Arts & Entertainment."

    Me: "I do kind of like A&E."

    RV: "Great, I'll introduce you at the meeting."

    And that was it. I was in. Hours of my life spent becoming better acquainted with PageMaker and all it's "eccentricities." I knew I had a problem, addiction really, when I studied abroad in Scotland and found myself in the newspaper office there at 3 a.m. when the rest of my American (and Scottish) friends were stumbling home from the pubs. The columns may have been set up in millimeters, not inches, but the rest was all the same.

    There were a few shining moments in my editorial career. And not all of them were self-serving, mind you. Granted I did write two concert reviews of Jump, Little Children. I can't help it, I happen to think that they rock and I just want everyone to experience the joy of one of their live performances. And there was also the review I wrote of U2's Best of album. An album which I received at the office as courtesy of the record company. This farewell piece would also not be complete without mention of the first ever fashion spread in The Lafayette. I think that I definitely left a mark of some sort.

    So I'll go. But I know I'll think of you every step of the way. No, no, that'd be Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard. See, the pop culture of America runs through my veins, pulsing like the streets of New York City on a hot summer's night. Oh, now that was just way too much over the top. I think I'd better stop before someone gets hurt. Buh bye.