San Fernando Valley : Yearbook Staff Gets Reprieve After Theft of Computer Files

Fortunately, the publisher cut them some slack.

With a deadline of April 1 looming, the centennial edition of San Fernando High School’s yearbook was hijacked about two weeks ago by thieves who broke into a classroom and stole the Macintosh computer and data disks that stored about half of the book’s text.

The theft sent the yearbook staff and faculty advisors into a panic as they scrambled to recreate lost stories and photographs in time to submit the 1995-96 yearbook--a special edition designed to commemorate the school’s 100th anniversary--to the publisher.

Students worked late into the night and on weekends to rewrite portions of the stolen material.

But when the publishing company learned of the school’s problem, it agreed to push back the deadline, said yearbook advisor Ivan Cheng.

“It seems they’re forgiving” of the deadline, Cheng said.

“Drop-dead day is tax day--April 15. If we’re any later than that, it’s iffy as to whether we’ll actually get the yearbook back from the publisher before the end of the [school] year.”