New magazine to focus on study abroad

Foreign exchange students and students who have studied abroad sometimes feel a little detached from the rest of the University. But a handful of students are trying to bring world travelers into the University fold by publishing a new magazine called Passport, later this semester. "The purpose is to provide a forum for students and faculty to talk about their international experiences, whether they be study, or travel or volunteer work," College senior and Passport editor Kathy Cartwright said yesterday. "Passport's aim is to communicate the importance of cross-cultural experiences to the University community," College senior and senior editor Elizabeth Gerst added. Cartwright, who studied in France as part of Swarthmore College's exchange program, said her stay in Europe helped eliminate some of the stereotypes she had about foreigners. According to Gerst, hundreds of students travel overseas and even more come from abroad to study at the University. She said that many of these students have "wonderful experiences" they want to share with the community, but, until now, they have had no forum. The new student organization, which Gerst founded last semester, will distribute close to 4000 copies of the first edition in late March. Gerst hopes that the Student Activities Council, the student group responsible for funding campus organizations, will grant recognition to Passport. SAC members will vote on whether or not to give the magazine money on January 30. Although the senior editor said she does not know what the cover story will be for the first issue, she said that at least one story will be written by a University student who traveled in Iraq before and after the Gulf War. "The article will talk about what it was like before the war and then when he went back to work with Kurdish refugees," Gerst explained. Gerst, who is an English major and a French minor, studied literary and film theory last semester at the Centre d'Etudes Critiques in France. She said that, after returning from abroad last semester, she felt she had lost touch with the University community. Gerst said she hopes to be able to make the free magazine available to students in dormitories, the International House and at various foreign language departments. The magazine will feature a glossy color cover and black and white photographs submitted by University students and will be about 32 pages long. Gerst said she expects to include one article from a student currently studying in Italy and is also looking at an article submitted by a student who taught Shakespearean literature in Japan. "We are interested in people sharing experiences which are personal and we want them to be interactive," Gerst said. "We don't want to be an exclusively political forum."

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