NU alumni, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students are featured in the anthology. Some writers have appeared in other journals, editions and collections. But the varying degrees of experience are not apparent in the pieces. Most can be passed off as professional quality. Variation, however, is not part of the Spectrum's agenda.
Poetry makes up the bulk of the magazine, with only a few pieces that can be considered essays.
The prose pieces are actually versions of poetic genre with their descriptive diction. This edition of the Spectrum also does not have any artwork or photography. Sometimes you learn to accept, although you never totally get used to the circus sideshow atmosphere found in elementary school behind the tire swing during recess period everyday, or the way the glossy tissue runs bumpily across the S curves of your ribs. Theoretically, an entire section could have been devoted to literary guru Ginsberg and jazz great Coltrane. Many pieces illustrate the difficulties found in life.