U. publications prepare to merge

Beginning April 18, Almanac -- the University's journal of record for faculty -- and the more feature-oriented staff publication, The Compass, will merge under the Almanac masthead. Administrators have been discussing merger plans for nearly a year, University Secretary Barbara Stevens said earlier this week. The intent of the change is three-fold: to address the whole University community with one publication, to include University-wide news and feature articles while also conveying "the depth and breadth of Penn's faculty," and to conserve resources while at the same time avoiding duplication of information. The publications will retain their separate office spaces as the merger proceeds, exchanging information mainly through electronic interfaces, according to Almanac Editor Karen Gaines. She added that articles written by Compass staffers will appear in one section of the revamped Almanac, which will also include the weekly Job Opportunities insert published by the Office of Human Resources. Although the new publication will closely resemble Almanac for the foreseeable future, Stevens said it may eventually look similar to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a nationally distributed weekly magazine based in Washington, D.C. Gaines agreed, explaining that "we've got 41 years of back issues on the shelf and we won't change the size of the page." "We all consider it an experiment," she said. "If it works, great. If it doesn't work, we're supposed to separate again. We're trying to serve a very great range of full functions." Perhaps the greatest adjustment Compass personnel will have to make is working on a weekly deadline, Compass Managing Editor Martha Jablow said. "We're going to work on making this the kind of seamless publication for the fall," she said. "[But] somebody described it as marrying an elephant and a giraffe." While Gaines has edited Almanac since fall 1980 -- and from spring 1971, when it was first published weekly, until fall 1977 -- Jablow arrived on campus just three weeks ago. Jablow, who has written for The New York Times as well as Parents and Working Woman magazines, replaced Compass Managing Editor John Shea, who is working on a new publication at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Emeritus English Professor and WFLN theater critic Charles Lee, Glee Club Director Bruce Montgomery, WPVI consumer affairs reporter Herb Denenberg and Executive Assistant to the Provost Linda Koons have also edited Almanac at some point in their careers.

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