Gadfly, Monitor add literary appeal

It won't be long before The Monitor is back in print.

Truman's alternative newspaper, The Monitor, has been out of print for more than a year, but plans are in the works to bring back the student-run, independent publication. Consisting solely of submissions from University students, faculty and community members, The Monitor has a very small staff, said senior Daniel Curtis, a Monitor staff member. Open to any campus or community member, submissions include a wide variety of artistic talents like poetry, columns, letters, album reviews, photography and articles, he said.

"It's more or less supposed to be an alternative newspaper to the Index," Curtis said. "It's not supposed to replace it, it's just another means of expression. It's usually much more focused on the creative side and not what would necessarily be published in your regular media."

The Monitor staff plans to publish its revived newspaper in time to distribute it at the Tom Thumb arts festival April 11 in Kirksville, said senior Jessica Wright, arts and photography editor for The Monitor. Wright said she has been a reader since her freshman year but became involved while the paper has been out of print.

"[The Monitor] is special because absolutely anyone can contribute," Wright said. "Anyone can have an impact on what gets published."

Curtis said that when The Monitor is revived, the newspaper will be similar to the old version but will have several new attributes. Curtis said he will be organizing a community calendar for the newspaper to inform people about what is going on both on campus and in the community. Although he never has written an article before, Curtis said he wants to write one that highlights random things in the community that few people know about.

"[Writing an article] was one of those things that I'd always kept telling myself that I was going to do and then never did, and then [The Monitor] fell apart, and I felt really bad," Curtis said. "So now this is partially my way of making up for that."

The Monitor was discontinued more than a year ago because of a lack of funding. Curtis said that as of now, there are companies ready to advertise in the newspaper for funding, but he said he also is hoping The Monitor will receive extra funding from Truman's Funds Allotment Council. Curtis said that when the paper is reopened, it should be published every two weeks and is typically available in bins around campus, near other print publications.

If community members, students or faculty and staff are interested in submitting their work, they can drop it off in the Monitor's mailbox in the Center for Student Involvement or e-mail their submissions to [email protected]. Meetings for The Monitor take place at 9 p.m. Wednesday evenings in the SUB Down Under.

Write what you want

Gadfly, an independent student-run magazine, publishes a variety of art, articles, poetry and a myriad of other pieces every month, sophomore editor Tony Bell said. The publication is free and is distributed the first week of each month on the Quad and in local businesses, such as Washington Street Java Co., he said.

Bell said he founded Gadfly in high school with a friend. He brought the magazine to Truman when he began school last year, he said.

"It's just kind of an outlet for if people want to write something a little less formal than the Index," Bell said. "We tell people they can write anything from reviews of movies, books and CDs to political pieces."

Bell said submissions are due the 20th of each month to [email protected] and that open submissions allow students to submit a wider variety of material.

"I like to say that the magazine is whatever people really want it to be because I only put in a few submissions every time, and it's up to everybody else to do their part," Bell said.

Besides serving as an avenue of expression, Gadfly also raises awareness of important topics, he said.

"[It] just presents [readers] with issues that aren't really raised anywhere else on campus," he said. "I've brought up Guantanamo Bay before, and Iraq and the peace rally we had here. We've had issues on abortion, terrorism [and] legalizing some forms of marijuana."

Bell said Gadfly also brings attention to alternative subjects or events that students might not read about elsewhere.

"[We have] different books that are reviewed, and we have a lot of music that wouldn't even penetrate into the Kirksville scene if it wasn't for Gadfly or the Monitor," he said. "We write reviews of concerts that are going on in St. Louis, Columbia, Des Moines, [Kansas City], everywhere. So it just kind of gives people something going on outside of Kirksville."