Tag: houghton star

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Stories In Focus

Inside the STAR

STAR Articles study this week's edition of the paper -- Courtesy of Nathan Versari
By the STAR Editors

Have you ever wondered what goes into publishing each issue of the Houghton STAR?

As you may know, each issue is a team effort, with two Editors-in-Chief at the helm. Junior Christian Welker is one of them. He explained that the Editors-in-Chief “work with the editors to edit articles, lay out the issue, and deal with any problems that may arise in the process.” He also added that the Editors-in-Chief meet biweekly with the STAR’s Faculty Advisor. In addition, the Editors-in-Chief “speak with members of the administration, staff, and faculty teams on behalf of the STAR”. They also complete various website and paper-related projects, as well as odd jobs in the office.

Senior Victoria Hock, another Editor-in-Chief, further added that the Editors-in-Chief “Collaborate with each other and the other Editors to come up with story and writer ideas for the STAR.”

Additionally, Welker and Hock stated that, despite some rumors, the Faculty Advisor has little oversight over the article editing process. They are only given access to articles pre-publication if the Editors-in-Chief see a potential issue they want feedback on. Most of the time, the STAR’s Faculty Advisor only sees articles after publication, at the same time as the rest of Houghton’s Campus.

In addition to the Editors-in-Chief, there are Four Section Editors, News, Opinions, Columns, and Photo and Media.

Junior Joshua Carpenter is responsible for overseeing our News section. He said that he is “responsible for finding three writers to cover either a news or feature story. Once I receive their articles, I edit them and lay them out in Affinity Publisher (the software we use to create the print form of the newspaper).”

Overseeing our Opinions section is Sophomore Victoria Arndt. Discussing her responsibilities, she stated, “As the Opinions editor, I collect writers for opinion pieces and then work with the writer to edit them, as well as format the piece within its section of the newspaper.”

           Sophomore Caleb Tiedemann oversees our Columns section, which is found at the back of each issue and contains anything from reviews to artwork. He explained that he is “responsible for finding someone to write an article and someone for Artist of the Week. I edit the submitted article and then format it, as well as the Artist of the Week submissions, onto the back page of the STAR.”

           Junior Savannah Stitt is our Photo and Media Editor. Each week, she will “photograph or source the photos of people and events the STAR features in each issue.” Stitt also runs our Instagram account.

           Layout occurs each Wednesday in the Houghton STAR office, which is located in the Campus Center basement. Each editor is responsible for inserting and formatting their content in their respective sections. After the Editors lay out their articles, the Co-Editors-in-Chief go through the entire issue again, checking for mistakes and filling any leftover space with puzzles, advertisements, and more. Then it is shipped to the printing press, where it is printed and prepared for handout after Friday Chapel. 

After the physical issue is sent to the printing press, each article is formatted into an online version for publication on the STARs Website. The online articles are scheduled to be posted at the same time as the physical copies are distributed so that interested parties both on and off campus can get the issue at the same time.

The Editors may be responsible for putting each issue together, but this would not be possible without contributors, which we are always looking for more of.

            If you are interested in contributing to any section of the Houghton STAR, please email the Editor of the section you’re interested in. We would also welcome Letters to the Editor in response to our previous pieces, which can be sent to star@houghton.edu. Letters to the Editor can range from a few short sentences to a maximum of 600 words.

If you are interested in becoming an editor, feel free to fill out the application below to become our new News Editor as Carpenter is joining Welker in the Editor-in-Chief position after Hock graduates at the end of this semester.

            If you want to contribute, but are not sure if or where your idea would fit, feel free to email one of our Co-Editors-in-Chief. ★

Categories
News

SEC, CAB, and STAR Offices Undergo Remodeling

By Anna Catherman (‘24)

A few of Houghton’s most prominent student organizations will be playing musical chairs this spring. Soon after students move off-campus, remodeling efforts will begin on the current Student Government Association (SGA) and Campus Activity Board (CAB) offices. These spaces, located in the campus center’s basement, will now be home to the newly-formed Student Experience Council (SEC), CAB, the Houghton Star and the Boulder.

Talk of the renovations began in the fall, when the new Committee of Student Organizations (COSO) realized that there would be funds left over from the Student Activity Fees due to decreased in-person programming as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. 

Mary Vandenbosch (‘23) of the SEC explained that COSO asked, “Ok, what can we envision that’s going to be a place that is welcoming for the student body and that can also act as a professional space for their meeting, and also just be a great place for students to plan ideas and come up with new ways to promote events and organizations?” 

COSO’s vision for the project is apparent even in the initial drawings, which promise a bright, user-friendly space. AC Taylor shared an artist’s rendering with The Star which shows a bright future for the office. Gone will be the SGA office’s red walls, replaced by glass doors which will allow passersby a peek in at the office’s occupants. The doors will be open during office hours and allow students to wander in and talk with their representatives. The built in countertops are being removed, and some of the desks are being moved to other areas. The space will be equipped with a brand-new conference table which will seat 10-12 students, and allow for larger meetings to take place in the space.

The new space will be able to be rented by any student group or organization looking to host an event – just like the Van Dyk lounge. Vandenbosch hopes it becomes an important resource for the clubs in the future. 

The former CAB office is being transformed into a student publication suite. There, writers and staff for the Houghton Star and the Boulder will have a space to meet and plan newspaper issues and yearbook publications, as well as design the printed copies of The Star. 

“[The Star]’s been stuck in a very small, barely 15 foot across, office.” Josiah Wiedenheft, co-editor of The Star, explained. “Especially difficult during the time of COVID. We can only have like two people in there at the time.” 

The new publication suite will allow for higher occupancy and promote collaboration between colleagues of each of the organizations. 

Most of the work is set to be done in May, with a few finishing touches possibly occurring later in the summer. Students staying for Mayterm will doubtless get a glimpse of the construction being done. Those returning home for the summer will be able to check out the new space when they return in the fall. ★

Categories
Stories In Focus

Houghton’s Literary Magazine Burns Bright

In an average week students regularly see the campus publications The Houghton Star and The Drawing Board strewn about. To break the monotony about twice a semester a different type of publication hits the stacks, Houghton’s literary magazine, The Lanthorn. With its debut volume hitting campus in May of 1932, The Lanthorn has been an outlet for student writers to showcase creative work outside of the writing classroom. Current Lanthorn editor Ben Murphy, senior, compares the Lanthorn to other non-academic functions around campus; “the student juried art show allows any student to put their work out there [and] Java provides a venue for people to play their own music. We do the same sort of thing, I think.”

academics-headerOften run on a low budget, the Lanthorn publishes a range of creative writing, both poetry and prose, and artwork as well. And while the Lanthorn may have obvious appeal to both English and Writing majors, the Lanthorn accepts and encourages work from all majors, a tradition they’ve strived to maintain.

With that in mind, the Lanthorn has served as a sort of jumping off point for writers to kick-start their careers. Current Academic Dean Linda Mills-Woolsey, vice president for academic affairs, and several of her editorial staff are all prime examples of writers that continue to benefit from their experience and involvement with the Lanthorn. Mills-Woolsey herself has published a range of work, mostly poetry, and a number of her group who first published in the Lanthorn went on to have writing careers.

Writing careers aside, the Lanthorn offers experience for those applying to graduate school and jobs outside of the professional writing sector; 2013 Lanthorn Editor alumna Hannah Hanover, added that “participation and publication in a college’s literary magazine or compilation is highly desirable when applying to graduate school, or even creative positions in the job market.”

While the Lanthorn has the potential to provide valuable professional experience for writers, according to Murphy, it provides an important outlet in offering anonymous publishing, “[it] allows for a safe space for emotions and narratives that may not jive with typical Houghton-friendly issues.” Moreover for students who, like Murphy, “think of words as [their] art,” the Lanthorn plays a major part in “providing a place for wordy-art.”

Like every longstanding publication, the Lanthorn has consistently undergone changes, and this year is no different. This year’s editors worked to “establish a recognizable symbol [marketing brand],” for the Lanthorn according to Murphy, and senior Abby Buckingham handling the design with the help of Caffeinated Creative Studios, in hopes to “better cement the magazine’s presence and identity in students’ minds,” according to Murphy.

Along with this redesign, the Lanthorn has shifted towards encouraging more prose works. “Some years the Lanthorn has been very poetry heavy,” said Murphy, who sees the turn towards prose reflecting his own work as a fiction writer, and added, “I imagine this sort of thing will shift along with whoever is the current editor.” As far as design goes, Hanover mentioned that she and her staff worked to “[bring] back a larger, fuller format for the bi-annual Lanthorn, complete with vibrant color photos and art.” Additionally, a special trend with the Candle has been publishing a “special feature” edition, last year’s featured staff writing and art, and this spring’s featured only flash fiction and haikus.

An enduring Houghton tradition, the next hurdle the Lanthorn faces is the digital age. As the number of college newspapers publishing online continues to rise, the question of the power of print lingers. Murphy weighed the pros and cons, saying, “I think the benefit to print is that we can leave them lying around campus for people to peruse and then leave behind…Also because the edition is selective (we publish probably around 30% of what we receive) I think the quality of work and satisfaction gained from getting in would certainly go out the window,” and on the other hand, “I think there could be something said for a digital version or counterpart of the publication, though it would take a more tech and design savvy editor than myself.”

With the technology debate unsettled, the Lanthorn will no doubt continue its tradition of publishing student work and serving as a true creative outlet for writers campus-wide.