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November I&, ICJ84 '
The Mooring Mast
' H ow to col l eg e' t a kes hu morous look at acade m e By DA VID
STEVES
book came from The San Francisco Chronicle , which featured the book and its three writers/publishers in a front page story 1n the entertatnrnent section. Wyatt came to PLU 1n the fall of 1983 to do graduate work 1n education. As last year's hall director in Hinderlie Hall, he kept a low profile as a humorls /wrtter/publisher. "Part of the reason I came here was to get away tram the whole thing-l was just burned on It. ' ' This 1B one of the reasons, he said, that he ha chosen not to promote Bow to College at PLU As a residen· lal l1fe staff member, he was a little unsure about promoting a book that could be construed as contrary to PLU's polic1es. Although he has no plans to sell the book through the PLU bookstore, Wyatt said he has been ap proached by students wanting to get hold of a copy, and usually has a few extra copies around. As for the future, Wyatt said he cur rently has a movie screen play, a comedy, in the works. He said Jaekle, currently in Alabama, and another friend attending the University of Southern California's movie and film school have joined him in the project. Wyatt said he plans to teach for a couple of years after he completes his graduate work at PLU Wrltlng he said, 1& still his nUD1ber one ambition. "I'm just not ready to wait tables to support myself yet. "
Ed Wyatt may not rank with Sal inger or even Erma Bombeck as one of the great sat r1sta or humortsts of our time. All the Ifame, not too many people can boast of WI1ting and publishing their own book ; especially at the age of 22. How to College : A BumoTOua Gtdde to the Four Years, was conceived,
wr1tten, published and p romoted by Wyatt and two of his tellow Stanford graduates during their senior year in 1982. The book offers a tongue in cheek look at the spectrwn of ex periences encountered at the cOl legiate level. Unllke most conventional college guidebooks, How to College offer a · ·semi·serious, semi·satirical , and humorous always at look undergraduate ille .. Wyatt said. The section concerning academics at col lege , tor example, discusses lmpor tant topics like "Blowing it Off : Pro crastination. " It offerS tlmely tips concerning "Creative Test Taking : , Cheating, " and an in-depth analysts of the "all.nlghter. " The book also gives sound advice concerning essential aspects of col lege such as avoiding the "ego gratifylng dance-king" at dances and parties, fake ID' 8, how to win at dr1nkJng games, and popular college pranks. Wyatt said the book waa originally the idea of h1a two co-authors, Bill Jeakle, an English major, and Eugene Reardon , "the entrepreneur of the group," who graduated with a degree in economics. At present, the book has sold 80, 000 approximately copies, grosstng $30,000 . Wyatt said he and his co writers receive monthly royalties for the work. He said the book was written not as a means for he and Ws partners to retire at the age of 22, but as a way to gain some experience in writing, publiBhing and marketing. "We wanted to do tt because we thought there was a market for it. " explained Wyatt, "and we thought there were a lot of funny things we could do with it. "
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We wanted to do It because we thought there was B market for It and we thought there were a lot of f u nny things we could do with It. Ed Wyatt
" Wyatt said that whUe he and h1B co authors IOWld bookstores well stocked with seJ10us college guide books. ilke Barron' G-u�e to Oolleges, the re really wasn't anythIng that told what it Is reall y Jike at college , " Uke what goes on on a Saturday night. . . Wyatt said that be enjoyed resear c.h1ng the material for the book, but lhBt the writing ltselt was a dl1ferent iftory. "The ideas Bowed, but when It came time to write, it was really dUo ficult. We bad to really make ourselves write. " The project was " definitely a priori. ty" over social life and academics, said Wyatt. He recalled during their winter quarter, all three had taken a
Ed Wyatt . .... hall director type. toward literary noterlety with hi. book "How to Coil ...: A Humorou. Guide to th e F ar rear .. "
giant step backwards academically. "Jaekle was the only guy, I think, in the history of Stanford to actually get an "F" in Econ. 101. Wyatt said that he , Jaek1e, and Reardon got their ideas tram their own experiences, and thro gh those of other students. He recalled attending fraternity parti s with a beer in one hand and a notebook in the other, simply to observe the scene. "We'd come up with a lot of tunny stuff that had happened to UB. Wyatt. . 'but the hardest part was going through it all and making the material applicable to most college students. Bow to College Is something high school kids will read and say 'so that's what college is really Uke, ' and at the same time graduates or seniors can look at it and say 'that 's so true , ' or 'r knew a guy just like that.' Although there were dettnitely some dJHI.cult moments for the three , Wyatt Bald they never constdered , dropping their project. . After call1ng home and saying, 'Mom, I'm not go. ing to get a job, I 'm going to write a book,' it was pretty hard to imagine not f1n1shlng, " He pointed to a fear of tallure as the btggest ource of the book's forward momentum. Wyatt recalled running into pro blems with the production of the book during the summer after graduation. He and his co·authors had been U· legally using Stanford' s computer system by establlshing about ten phony accolUlts in order to write and edit the book. Appearing incognito, for fear tha "the computer nerds would catch on, " Wyatt and his co authors would sneak in and out of the computer center to WI1te and edit their book. The three were eventually discovered, and their accounts were frozen and aimost deleted. " We were pretty worried that we'd lost it, " recalled Wyatt . . 'We thought, 'here's our $17,000 project with some COIro puter nerd who might zap the whole thing . " They managed to salvage their writing, and the three authors became publlshers. They designed the layout of the book , including photographs and artwork, in conjunc tion with another Stanford student. Jaekle, Reardon, and Wyatt were also largely responsible for the promotion of the book. I I
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Wyatt said major markets for How to College have been Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and the Bay Area of Northern California, where Stan lord is located. How to con ge, be said, 18 currently the all· time best seller at the Stanford bookstore. One of the biggest boosts tor the
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cont i nued from page 3 stock brokerage, but nothing 18 set yet. He said he may c rry on his fami· ly's business of developing the area around hI.s home town of Vantage, Washington. Stock e said people are always surprised to hear that he lives in Van tage. "All the time 1 hear, ' You mean people actually live there? You neve know-maybe I'll go bac), there and make it grow 80 people won't have to ask that question anymore! " Much of stockdale's apare time is spent with the varslty crew team. This Is hI.s fourth year of rowing. A very demanding sport , StockdBle said the practlces and races lake up a great deeJ of time, eapecially in the spring when the teams practice (or several hOUTS twice a day. MaIntaining a balance between crew and hJa !lchoo1work is difficult, Stockdale said, but he thinks it 18 good for him. "I love the water." he said. " I leel at home out there. Actually , my grades are better when I'm row ing because I have a physJcal outlet mind." and a to clear
About his award Stockdale conclUd ed , "There are a lot of super people in ihe Ec n Department and ttJs award could have gone to any one of them. I Just feel really blessed to be here at PLU with all its opportunities and to do "
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