A stone angel statue leans on a gray tombstone and looks out over a graveyard. The viewer sees a close-up to the rear side of the angel in “The Guardian” by mass communication senior Jessica Guillot, with trees and dozens of graves in the background of the black and white photograph. On the opposite side of the page fold, two haiku poems, “Untitled” by alumnus Farren Clark and “Wonder” by art senior Madilyn Buisson, match the depiction. “I have to wonder/What God is thinking/When men kill men for him,” reads Buisson’s poem. Clark’s poem follows: “Are you watching me/Wonder about looking back/To watch you leave?”

When faculty advisers and student editors decide what materials will be published in Mosaic, the annual campus literary magazine, they look for visual artwork and written literature that create a mood together.

“Sometimes quality of work is not the reason we leave some stuff out,” said Jackie Jackson, Mosaic adviser and instructor of languages and literature. “Sometimes we may need a two-page story or a story that matches a drawing. It’s hard sometimes to tell a student their work didn’t make it, even though the quality is worthy of publication. Sometimes, it’s just beyond the writer’s control.”

Jackson, along with faculty adviser Tiffany Duet, instructor of languages and literature, editor Hayley Johnson, English senior from Bourg, and art editor Andrea Dupree, art senior from Houma, worked this past year to organize the 2004 Mosaic. The publication is available free to students from Peltier 121.

Mosaic, which features poems, essays, short stories, photographs and sketches submitted by students, is printed by University Printing and Design Services and has a circulation of 2,000 copies.

“I’m really proud of this year’s Mosaic and all the work that has been put into it,” Jackson said of the publication formerly known as Pencil Tracks, which has been around for more than 20 years. “Students will be pleased by the content in this issue.”

This year’s Mosaic originally consisted of 90 pages, but was trimmed to 68 pages near the deadline because University Printing can only print a maximum number of pages. To keep the original length, Mosaic would have had to be printed off-campus, which would have been more expensive.

While all literature must be submitted by December, the artwork is due by February. The art editor chooses the best sketches and photographs that fit the magazine while the editor and advisers choose the literary works that will be published. Then they match the two mediums to create the publication.

The editors and advisers also vote on which work will serve as the cover art. This year’s cover design will bleed to the back page. In past issues, the artwork only appeared on the front cover with a solid color layout on the back with a black ink pen. Mosaic has had a color cover since 2002.

While the staff drafts a layout to the entire magazine, University Printing director Bruno Ruggiero creates the final design on his computer. Then he prints the interior pages and staples them to the cover, which is printed off-campus. Ruggiero also designs the cover.

“Bruno Ruggiero always does a great job putting the pages together, and this year is no exception,” Jackson said. “He has a great eye for design and works well with fonts. It’s great to have Mosaic printed on campus because it’s a true campus publication.”

In recent years, more works have been submitted for Mosaic. While Jackson has considered printing two publications a year instead of one, she said the English department would have to increase the 25-cent student assessed fee to cover the printing expenses. She said it would create more work for student editors and could distract them from completing schoolwork.

“It just takes so much time, and we never know if we will always have enough material,” Jackson said, pointing out that most of the creative writing classes produce materials in the fall. “Maybe one day we will and that would be great, but I just don’t see it in the near future.”

While Johnson is the student editor and decides what materials will be published in Mosaic, the advisers and art editor assist her. If three of the four agree that the other works are worthy of publication, then the work will be printed. If Johnson refuses to publish it, though, it will not be published.

“Yes, as editor, I do have a lot of say-so concerning what goes in or not,” Johnson said. “But the others are definitely involved and have valid opinions. This is definitely a team project.”

Since the English department does sponsor Mosaic, Johnson said the magazine should reflect the entire campus, not just work from English and art students. She said she would like to see more essays dealing with business, science, health, childcare and other subjects.

“We rarely get anything outside the English department, and it fails to show what the campus does as a whole,” Johnson said. “We would print a music composition if someone sends it in. It’s a wonderful opportunity to get published as a student. That’s not a chance you get every day.”

Although Mosaic is school-sanctioned, Jackson said she is glad University administrators allow students to produce work for Mosaic without being forceful with restrictions. Some of the submissions in the past dealt with racism or included obscenities.

The 2004 Mosaic will soon be available in its entirety through the Internet at www.nicholls.edu/language/mosaic.html. The current Mosaic Web site, which has not been updated since 2002, only displays a few selected entries online without designs.

“This will be really good for alumni who have moved away,” Jackson said. “Also, instead of having to run and get the hard copy all the time to show off, people can show their work to friends and family by simply logging on to the Internet.