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 CAS Student, Professor Launch New Magazine
A
new magazine has hit the racks on AU’s campus. Its founder is a
journalism student, but there's a slight twist: the magazine
is about science. Cofounded and edited by April Astor, a junior and former
Eagle editor, Catalyst debuted in November to rave reviews. The main goal of the magazine
is to spark interest in CAS classes among non-CAS students and it has
already achieved its goal. Stacks of the new magazine continue to shrink in dorm rooms and classrooms
across campus.
Astor,
a biology minor, decided to establish the magazine after noticing all
the special happenings in the halls of Hurst that few of her nonscience
peers knew about. She wanted to bring those events to the foreground of
the AU news community. She went to Susan Solarz, a biology professor (and
now the magazine’s associate editor), to get approval and funding
for the project from CAS Dean Kay Mussell.
“I thought it was a terrific idea that showed real initiative and
imagination,” Mussell said. “I think it highlights what our
students and faculty are doing in some very creative ways. It shows the
vitality of the sciences at AU and the way our faculty and students have
blended their interests and the applications of sciences. It communicates
the importance of science to a very heterogeneous audience.”
Together, Astor and Solarz are now able to highlight studies by students and alumni, announce upcoming events, and spotlight AU’s accomplished professors.
Working full-time during the summer on the project and continuing to work
20 hours a week on it this semester, Astor is seeing that Catalyst
is getting the attention she had hoped. She has recruited writers and
worked with university designers to craft a sharp, hip feel for the publication
to attract a broad audience.
The first issue does just that. The cover photo of strutting students
and faculty, wearing white lab coats and sunglasses, is a takeoff
from a scene in the movie Reservoir Dogs. The magazine even includes a section called, “Where Are They Now?” featuring CAS alumni.
Astor just hopes
that the magazine raises awareness of the science department at
AU.
“People think of [AU] and politics, not science” Astor says.
“There didn’t seem to be anything on campus that focused on
science…I feel like it’s a really interesting part of what’s
going on here.”
Astor is already hard at work on issue No. 2, which
will hit the stands this spring semester.
To read the fall 2004 issue of Catalyst online, visit: http://www.american.edu/cas/catalyst/
-Ashley Ferrell ’07, with excerpts from American Weekly
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