Dear Readers,

Well, the day has finally come–The Haystack has been shut down. I can’t say I didn’t see it coming, after all, I was constantly spit upon by by passers in the hallway for being responsible for publishing this rag. Even my adviser, Kay Landon predicted that, “Your wanton recklessness will bring an end to us all, Rachel.”

However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it came as a result of people reading our stories rather than as a result of dwindling readership or lack of funds. Constituting our largest audience, GT parents have consistently provided feedback on our stories directly to the principal’s ears. Their system of reading and delivering their opinions on our stories has proven to be so efficient that we began encouraging all comments about the paper to be given directly to principal Josh Cooley rather than by way of commenting on our website, emailing us, or talking to Landon or myself in person.

As you can imagine, I was pleased to hear from Cooley that several GT parents had read our most recent batch of stories. When he told me a week later that we were being shut down unceremoniously, I was less than pleased, but unable to get any response on the reasons behind the shut down. At this point I’m unsure what story they read, or why they were upset by it, but what power do I have in the face of their authority? It’s not as if the newspaper has the same enrollment pull as the all-powerful GT program.

It’s been a good run here as Editor-in-Chief. Sure, no one read the thousands of words I forced from my staff’s fingertips, and I’ve at this point forgotten what the sun feels like from the sheer amount of hours spent in the pub lab, but I didn’t enter this spot for glory; I entered it for money and power. What better power is there than to have tens of unwilling students under your command? What greater wealth is there than the sweet sweet cash we generate on the ever-popular hat days? I enjoyed these perks for almost two years and am so close to being done with high school that ending them at this point isn’t all that painful.

To our five loyal readers, I thank you. You’ve stuck with us through thick and thin. I would also like to thank all the the spam bots that generate comments on our website for giving me the illusion of someone to converse with. I will never forget the low prices I can purchase Uggs and e-cigarettes for if I just click your link.

I’ve always known that the curse placed upon me by that dying hag all those years ago would finally catch up to me, and I’m sorry that it had to shut down a whopping eight and a half years of tradition. Farewell readers, I hope that my stories haven’t caused you any harm, and if they have, I hope you didn’t care enough to read about them.

Sincerely,

Rachel Vigil, Editor-in-Chief, The Haystack