The newspaper racks will be filled with something other than The Collegian. Instead, the Jackrabbit Magazine will make its first appearance at South Dakota State University.

The twice-yearly magazine is a collaborative effort between the Magazine Writing and Reporting class taught by Jim Helland and members of The Collegian. The first edition of the magazine will come out on Jan. 20.

 Sara Bertsch, senior journalism major and the editor-in-chief of The Collegian and the Jackrabbit Magazine, and Susan Smith, media adviser, came up with the idea of a magazine while attending a conference.

 “We saw other people doing magazines and I was like ‘Hey! It would be fun to have a magazine’ and we just kind of joked around with it and then we were like ‘let’s do it’ and it became reality,” Bertsch said.

 The magazine focuses on featuring what happened in the past semester. Students can learn more about what’s happening on campus and in the Brookings community through the magazine.

 “It’s something different. It’s something we don’t necessarily have that’s student-produced and all about students,” Bertsch said. “It also includes Brookings and the community. It’s for the students just like our newspaper is all for the students. We’re making this magazine also for the students.”

In reaction to the end of the yearbook, the absence of the publication created an opportunity for a different publication, Smith said

“I want this to be a publication that is fun to read and fun to produce. We need as much fun in our lives as we can get,” Smith said.

The collaborators for this project were Bertsch, Smith, Katie Gebauer, Bailey Hill, Helland and the Magazine Writing and Reporting class and additional help from members of The Collegian staff.

Katie Gebauer, junior graphic design student, thinks students should read the magazine because it is informative and inspirational for students majoring in design or communication.

“We live in a relatively small state, a relatively small town; but we come from a big school and just because you come from a small town doesn’t mean that there’s nothing happening. It’s good to know what’s going on,” Gebauer said. 

The long-term goal for the magazine is to be a constant, semesterly presence at SDSU.

 “I would like it first and foremost to appeal to readers and be something they look forward to each semester,” Smith said. “I want it to have consistently great content. I want it to win awards and make a lot of money so we can handsomely reward students for their efforts.  I want it to be a continuation of the strong history of media on this campus. But most of all I want everyone to read it cover to cover and then look forward to the next issue with great anticipation.”

For Bertsch, the magazine is focused around students and if the students care about the campus then they should read it.

“If they care about campus, they’ll read it. If they care about students, their fellow students and faculty, they’ll read it because it’s going to be a great read,” Bertsch said. “It’s going to be fun and something new and we definitely want student feedback about how we can improve for the next issue of it because it’s something new to our campus and something we’re trying.”