Photo by Pat Christman
Anna Kelley (left) and Jenny Cropp placed new copies of the Blue Earth Review in a display Thursday at the Barnes and Noble bookstore on the MSU campus. This issue of the literary magazine is the last that will be funded by student activity fees. The student senate voted recently to discontinue its funding of the Blue Earth Review.
Maybe it'll be a good lesson in irony.
Among the first jobs for next year's editors of the literary magazine at Minnesota State University will have little to do with things literary.
Instead, they'll be crunching numbers, fundraising and anything else they need to do to find the money to put another issue out.
The magazine, called the Blue Earth Review, had its funding axed recently by a student government that had the unenviable task of dolling out fewer dollars to student organizations than last year.
But while many groups simply had to make due with less, Blue Earth Review — a publication that dates back to 1972 — was told it was no longer worthy of receiving its typical $7,000 in student activity fee funding.
Why?
You might say it was a word off mouth issue. The student senate commissioned a survey recently in which students were asked their opinions of various groups that receive their funding from student fees.
Survey results showed that 96 percent of the students asked had never heard of the Blue Earth Review.
Student Senator Ryan Anderson voted to cut the Blue Earth Review's funding. He said the survey was a big reason for his vote, but it wasn't the only reason.
"Another reason why I thought getting rid of the Blue Earth Review would not affect many students is that many of the writers were not students."
Which is true. But many of the writers were students.
In the most recent issue, of the 50-plus writers, poets and photographers featured, 22 were MSU students. The most recent issue, Olson said, also pushed the magazine's credibility to new heights.
Last year, Blue Earth Review published the work of national writers, but this year ...
"This year we had two writers who had been nominated for the Pushcart Prize (a prestigious, national writing award), and several writers who have published books," Olson said. "We attracted the most national attention this year."
But because the magazine is funded by student fees, Olson said, they didn't want to shut out MSU writers.
To boost the local talent, Blue Earth Review held contests for fiction and poetry and awarded cash prizes to the winners — and only MSU undergraduates were eligible.
Blue Earth Review editors also held public readings in the university's Centennial Student Union, events where magazine alumni came back and read passages from previous editions, and passersby could grab a snack or page through back issues of Blue Earth Review or any of its predecessors: Minnesota River Review, Muse or Medicine Jug.
But money was tight this year. And with declining enrollment projected for next year, the pot of student fee dollars was smaller. Plus, when students were asked in a referendum whether they wanted their fees raised to fund upgrades to the campus recreation facilities, a majority of students said 'No' to a fee increase.
The mood just wasn't right for any groups requesting more money, and apparently worse for groups not widely known by the students from that senate survey.
"Blue Earth Review is just not doing a great job," Anderson said.
Counters Olson, "One of the hard things about this decision is that it doesn't really give us a chance to correct those problems.
"People say, 'This magazine doesn't reach enough students.' Well, on a campus of 13,000, if we reach 400, isn't that enough? I think it's really important that we reach 400," Olson said.
Editors plan to appeal the funding decision. They also plan to seek alternative sources of funding. They will spend the summer seeking grants to keep the magazine going. They may even ask English department alumni for donations.
For more Free Press news go to www.mankatofreepress.com.
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