Corsair

I started CORSAIR Magazine in January 2009 in an effort to connect the students of my school, Whitworth University, with the culture of the city of Spokane. Students and Faculty at Whitworth often joke about the "pinecone curtain" which separates the students in their Ponderosa Pine enclave from the culture of the rest of the city, as well as the rest of the country and world. Students constantly complain that there is nothing to do in Spokane, that downtown is too far away, or that everything cost too much money. My goal was to connect students with Spokane and vice versa. Expose students to the great culture of Spokane, and in turn get them involved in it so that they too could contribute to the thriving, if small, cultural life of the second largest city in Washington state.

I set out on my quest to create CORSAIR for many reasons. After spending four years in Spokane, I had learned to love the city which had taken me in and adopted me for my brief educational stay. I started to see a side to the city which many students seemed oblivious to. I saw it as such a shame that so many students glide through that city without experiencing its culture or contributing to the life of the city. I was also aware of a sense from the city itself that Whitworth students were uncultured christian school dorks who didn't know much about art, music, or fashion, much less have any interest in such things. I knew that this was largely untrue, and sought to give the city itself a different view of Whitworth students.

I started CORSAIR over the month of January 2009, with the first issue debuting at the beginning of February. I held orientation meetings to acquire a small staff of writers and photographers and spent hours upon hours interviewing folks for articles, taking photographs, and designing the pages for the first issue. It was a labor of love. I had never spend so much time working so hard on something-- and absolutely loving every second of it. I ate, breathed, and slept magazines. The moment that first proof came off the printer's press and I held it in my hands was one of my most proud moments of my entire undergrad education.

With the exception of two or three volunteer staff writers and one photographer, I had created the entire magazine on my own, including paying for the printing, as potential advertisers wanted to see the magazine before committing buying advertisements.

Three issues of CORSAIR were produced, two monthly issues and a double issue. While I wanted to continue the magazine after graduating, all my staff left Spokane for the summer break, and I too ended up moving away mid-summer. CORSAIR solidified my desire to work in magazines, in either writing or layout design.

ISSUE ONE

ISSUE TWO





ISSUE THREE