City College’s Honors Program this semester is launching a biannual online magazine titled “Mesa View,” which will publish students’ writing from its yearly student conference.
The magazine is being funded in part by a $50,000 grant the Honors Program received from the Winslow Trust through the SBCC Foundation. The first issue is being aimed for publication in November with a second planned for spring semester.
“’Mesa View’ offers all SBCC students the opportunity to engage in a year-long project of exploring one idea as they want,” said Honors Program Director Dr. Melanie Eckford-Prossor.
The first will be titled “Shifting Boundaries” and will include student material from last year’s Annual Student Conference. The magazine’s first issue is still in the works, and should be published in November.
The second annual issue is aimed at being published in spring, which will feature creative writing and poetry along with videos and photography.
Eckford-Prossor said the magazine is supposed to encourage students to shift boundaries of what’s usually expected from print journalism while finding efficient approaches to sharing ideas. She hopes this magazine will make readers think, and then perhaps respond.
City College already has student publications like The Channels student newspaper, “Painted Cave” fiction and poetry literary journal, and “Student Voices,” for student writing.
What separates Mesa View from other campus publications is its themed issues.
“It’s all about addressing this central idea of change for this semester,” said Editor in Chief Tate Krogstad, a student who is currently producing the publication on his own. “It’s going to be focusing on the different ways people approach change, and also perspectives of change.”
The second issue will be devoted to changing views of religious, political and personal holidays by questioning celebrations that may confront students with conflicting or challenging identities.
“I feel that there is a lot of potential in people who can approach certain situations with a new perspective,” said Krogstad. “They shouldn’t be overlooked. We could all learn from this.”
Web designer Stephanie Son, who created the Honor’s Program website, will help build the magazine’s website. Both Krogstad and Son will be paid for their work on the publication.
Krogstad said the website will possibly have a link for students to submit any questions or responses to the material.
“If you really want to get into it,” says Krogstad, “I could give you a high five and a hug.”
