Huskie Highlights, along with changing its logo, has reorganized its staff and faced a decrease in student fees for fiscal year 2005.

The Student Association distributed the monthly magazine’s first edition for the spring semester Feb. 3.

The SA Senate originally allocated $30,925 for the magazine’s 2005 fiscal year budget. That amount was lowered, said Craig Marcus, the SA president.

“The Senate over allocated by a little bit, so we cut it by $10,000, so it’s actually at $20,925,” he said.

The Northern Star reported in a Nov. 24, 2003 article that the senate approved a $15,717 allocation for Huskie Highlights at the Nov. 23, 2003 meeting, bringing the total cost in student activity fees to $33,153.35.

This year, the magazine includes advertising.

“We’re trying to offset the costs through the advertisements,” Marcus said. He said he hopes the magazine will eventually be able to sustain itself.

Marcus said he also hopes to put the magazine online.

“We are looking into making an online version to try and also reduce the cost of printing,” he said. The goal is to be online by the end of the semester.

The magazine’s current circulation is about 6,000, and 10 issues have printed since its 2003 start, Marcus said.

“We’re working a lot of the kinks out,” he said, recognizing the problems with the magazine’s distribution date.

“In the past we’ve had a lot of different problems with the release date-a lot of times we released in the middle of the month,” Marcus said. “We’re trying to push that forward to the beginning of the month.”

This month’s Huskie Highlights reveals a new logo along with a new editor in chief, Katrina Corcoran, a first semester student-at-large.

Prior to becoming the editor in chief, Corcoran was not a SA member or a Huskie Highlight staff member, but said she feels this could be an advantage.

“It’s always nice to have a fresh perspective and constructive criticism,” she said.

Former editor in chief, Brooke Robinson, is now the copy editor at Huskie Highlights. The magazine does not currently employ a managing editor.

“It’s just reorganization. We needed some new people to try to improve the resources we have and bring in some new skills,” Marcus said.

The reorganization was much needed, Robinson said.

“Last semester I was doing all the story planning, most of the writing, the editing, the design and layout, and the distribution,” she said. “All the while, I was making it known that the magazine wouldn’t sustain itself much longer without staff reinforcement.”

Robinson and Corcoran are splitting the duties while Robinson focuses on layout and Corcoran on managing, Robinson said.

As the new editor in chief, Corcoran’s main goal is putting the magazine out on time and eliminating mistakes.

“My name is on there as the editor in chief, and I don’t want to be embarrassed,” she said. “I want to be proud of it.”

Deadlines will be reestablished to ensure on time distribution, Corcoran said.

In order to spread the circulation of the magazine, Corcoran is looking to place magazine stands in academic buildings.

“It’s a magazine for the students,” Corcoran said. “We need to put it out for the students and make it available to them on time.”