CEDAR FALLS - As editorial meetings go, this one was unusually relaxed.

Amidst the scattered pages were bowls full of cucumbers, celery, bread and homemade hummus. Staff members chowed down and joked about the potluck nature of their staff meetings while discussing which poetry, prose and essay selections would be included in the next issue.

The lone server Friday afternoon at Vibe Coffee House in Cedar Falls occasionally brought out coffee to the group of seven University of Northern Iowa students who gathered for their weekly staff meetings for The Slate, a new alternative publication begun just last fall. With their second issue hitting the streets Thursday, the group had a lot to finalize.

UNI senior Mark Becker, The Slate's founder and unofficial lead editor, made sure everyone in attendance got copies of all submissions to read and encouraged discussion about which pieces to include and which to discard or set aside for future issues.

Becker is not naive about the challenges of gaining readership for a start-up, student-run magazine printed in black and white and hand-distributed mostly on UNI's campus. Like most of the staff, involved in other social activism groups within the Cedar Valley, he says he will not be deterred.

"Everyone was really excited about something alternative, something progressive, something great," Becker said. "We thought it'd be cool to try."

He brought it up at a UNI Green Project meeting in October after reading Daniel Quinn's "Beyond Civilization," a book about abandoning the hierarchical notions of society and getting back to sustainability.

"(Quinn) talks about the paper he worked on and how it was a transformative experience," Becker said.

Becker's idea intrigued UNI Green Project president and sophomore Cody Hunter.

"Most activist groups are very hierarchical," he agreed. "But with this, roles can change. Everybody can be creative."

Indeed, the publication has adopted a rotating-positions style of management. While Becker headed up The Slate's first issue, others lead the meetings for subsequent issues while Becker stays in the background.

"Mark spearheaded it, but now

he doesn't show up to meetings hardly," said UNI sophomore Chris Keller.

"Yeah," Becker said, "and I love it. I did a lot of work and said, 'Yeah, I'm done,' and it was perfect."

In other groups he's gotten involved with, that hasn't been the case.

"That's been the real surprising thing," Becker said. "When I stepped back, people stepped up. Normally, in activism, when people step back it goes away. But people are enjoying this."

The Slate is akin to a community newsletter for those interested in politics, environmental and economic issues and alternative viewpoints, particularly of the liberal persuasion. It's heavy on social commentary, relies on submissions from staff and readers and gleans news from the BBC, Grist and The Courier.

"Even though it's a progressive project, we don't have an agenda," Becker said. "Even if you wrote about the war and we disagree with it, we'll still probably put it in. It's an opportunity for discourse."

Its first issue was published in March and featured 19 pages. Becker and his staff get no advertising revenue, donate their time and work and charge nothing for copies of The Slate.

Anyone can submit their work or volunteer by e-mailing alternativenewsuni@googlegroups.com, or showing up to a weekly meeting Fridays at 4 p.m. at Vibe. Becker hopes to include more viewpoints in subsequent issues, in order not to pigeonhole the publication.

"I want this to happen. I want people to challenge us every step of the way," he said. "In that way, people become less consumeristic and start to participate more. It's a democratic project, in that way."

Contact Amie Steffen

at (319) 291-1464 or

amie.steffen@wcfcourier.com.