Students either hate or love The Primary Source, but many pick up the conservative magazine twice a month to laugh or sneer at the jabs it takes at campus personalities and organizations. But soon the Source won't be the only campus publication with political leanings, as campus liberals prepare to release the first issue of Radix within the next week.
While Radix will only come out once this semester, with the first issue currently on its way to press, plans are underway for more frequent publication next semester, once a budget is set for the group.
Staff members hope that Radix will stand out from the other print mediums on campus. "We saw a void of leftist publications and we thought it would be good to fill that void," Radix member Roger Winn said.
The first 20-page issue should be hitting stands by the end of this week or the beginning of the next, featuring a theme of globalization. "We hope, as far as funding is concerned, that we are able to have it come out once every month [next year]," Radix member Meena Jagannath said.
Winn and Jagannath, like all of the people involved in Radix, do not have official titles or positions, due to the magazine staff's organization, which Winn touted as "non-hierarchical." Of the 20 students currently on the publication's mailing list, some have assumed leadership roles as unofficial editors, working to assign stories and maintain unity throughout the magazine.
Despite the political tendencies of both magazines, Jagannath emphasized that Radix is definitely not just an answer to the Source. "We didn't create this because of the Source, but more because there wasn't a magazine of its sort on campus," Jagannath said. "We wanted to express our views."
In the first issue, those views will touch on a variety of topics: Bush's first 100 days in office, the suspended Tufts-in-Ghana program, Bush's tax cuts, and a TSAD retrospective written by two students involved in the Bendetson Hall sit-in. The magazine will also include a few columns, some news briefs, and a discussion of on-campus affairs.
"I think it's good to have a diversity of thought in publications on campus," Winn said.
Staff members also emphasize communicating ideas to a wide range of students. "The more there is to read, the better," Radix member Alissa Schecter said. "If there are people out there who want to read it, they might as well have it."
So far, reaction to the forthcoming magazine has been limited, though positive overall. "There has already been a little bit of commentary about it," Jagannath said. "Pretty much everybody seems to be positive and supportive of it coming out. I think in general it's getting a good reception on campus."
While Radix plans to target the entire campus, its main audience will be those students leaning to the left, making it "the leftist magazine on campus, from left-of-center to revolutionary," according to Winn.
Radix members are looking for feedback or new members, hoping to expand and improve their new effort. "I just want there to be a really really good magazine on campus so when people are looking for liberal news and liberal commentary they can look to Radix and say, 'This is where I can go to see reliable writing,'" Jagannath said.
