by ALEXA SCHMIDT & MARIA THOMAS, Asst. A&E Editor & Staff Writer
For a commuter student, college can be a different experience. Often times, those living off-campus can feel disconnected to resident students. Luckily, the commuter bimonthly newsletter titled ‘The Commuter Chronicle’ strives to connect the Manhattan College community to the commuters.
The content highlights the key offices on campus, spotlights students and faculty, and publishes writing material that reflects programs offered by the college that the writers have experienced. Ultimately, it provides commuters with the information that they need to fully immerse themselves into life at MC.
Meggie Osorio, a sophomore and double major in English and art history, is the editor-in-chief of the publication.
“There are currently six commuter students working on the newsletter which includes writers, editors and photographers. We are always open to hearing from other commuter students who want to get involved with the newsletter. Our team keeps on growing with every issue. We are also open to submissions, recommendations, or if a student wants to be spotlighted,” she said.
The newsletter takes about a month to get from the brainstorming phase to publication where members conduct interviews with fellow students and write their articles.
There is a theme with every newsletter which serves as a base point for the rest of the issue, including what offices or members of the Manhattan College community can fit in with that theme. The finished product ranges from four to seven pages which allows for all of the articles and photographs from members of the team to be included.
From there, the newsletter gets sent out via e-mail from Commuter Services and Outreach.
“We often leave copies of it in Kelly Commons for students to pick up and read it. We are currently working on possibly getting the newsletter available online and having more physical copies around for pick-up,” Osorio said.
Junior Samuel Szabo is a commuter who has driven to the Manhattan College campus for three years.
“I’ve been getting the commuter newsletters. I look at the interesting titles and read those sections. They’re usually updates on commuter affairs. They recap the commuter association meetings that happen every two weeks. They also have important updates, like recently the 238th subway station was closed, and they got the word out about that. It’s pretty relevant stuff that commuters care about more than residents that live here.”
Alessandra Drummond, a sophomore allied health major, also commutes to MC from the Bronx and receives the newsletter e-mail.
“I get the CSA commuter association information in my e-mail inbox. The October and September editions have already come out. I skimmed them for important information like financial aid. I pay attention to the things related to commuter meetings,” she said.
The newsletter aims to inspire commuters to become active members on campus and take advantage of all the opportunities and resources open to them. It is always looking for more participants to join it’s staff.
“Any commuter student that wants to be involved with our project is welcome to reach out and share their ideas or comments with us. We often have students and offices reaching out to us for a spotlight or interview as they want to take a moment to get their voices out to the commuter population. Whether people want to write, take pictures, or be the center of an article, we are open to hearing them out,” Osorio said.