Today The Lens, Carleton’s student magazine of politics and culture will release its Winter 2007 issue, entitled “Behind Closed Doors." The issue marks the fourth installment of this student publication, which debuted last academic year.
Highlights of the issue include:
- “Cocaine at Carleton,” an investigation on cocaine use on Carleton campus. The students hear rumors about it, and many administrators wish they were more "in the know" about the issue. A team of Lens reporters talked to dealers and deans in hopes of uncovering whether the college's policy is reactive-–and if there is anything to react to.
- In “Coming out in Tennessee,” a self-proclaimed southern boy describes the frustrations of coming out in a community where you can find "God Hates Fags" bumper stickers on pickup trucks and a ban on homosexuality in the county statutes.
- “The Scenic Route” depicts the three weeks during which John McCain fought the Bush administration on torture, and the story behind how he gave them everything they wanted in the Military Commissions Act.
- In “Diplomacy in Rwanda,” Robert Flaten, the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda from 1990 to 1993, talks with The Lens and its readers about the causes of the genocide, the War Crimes Tribunal and the role of foreign services today.
This new issue involves the efforts of over 80 Carleton students from many countries, class years and majors. They are each involved in various aspects of magazine publication, from content to business.
Founded in the fall of 2005 by Taylor Valore ’06 and Anna Duchon ’08, the magazine has already become a nationally acclaimed student publication. Recently, The Lens was awarded Gold Medalist and First Class (highest possible) rankings on critiques by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) and the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP), respectively.
