This story was originally published in Vol. 33, Issue 9 (May 2023)
The pandemic shut down not only the WSU Vancouver campus in 2020, but silenced two of its vital voices: Koug Radio and the Salmon Creek Journal. Three years later, they have returned. Both student-led media outlets have resumed operations with new staff, eager to be heard and engage the local community.
The Salmon Creek Journal, WSU Vancouver’s student art magazine, was successfully revived alongside Koug Radio. The Salmon Creek Journal debuted its first annual issue in 1997, its most recent issue being published in 2020 before campus shut down. Senior social science major Bethanie Davis took on the role of the magazine’s Editor in Chief in December of 2022.
“The mission statement of the Salmon Creek Journal is ‘Encourage, Publish, Elevate.’ The aim of our journal is to create a quality product, it’s better the journal be small and professional than large and mediocre, and I think that is especially resounding in this year’s issue…” said Davis.
The Salmon Creek Journal delves into a unique theme with each issue, and the upcoming 2023 edition will center around ‘Rebirth and Reemergence.’ Davis shared that the theme was chosen to symbolize the magazine’s rebirth, and to revisit past layout themes that reemerged for this issue.
Art applications for the 2023 issue of Salmon Creek Journal closed on March 30. The magazine will feature photos, short stories, poems, and visual arts. Music submitted to the journal will be linked and showcased through the Salmon Creek Journal website. Davis noted that the team has been working at an accelerated pace to publish the magazine due to the timing of the magazine’s revival.
“We’re doing a much smaller issue than they’ve done in previous years, partly due to time constraints,” said Davis. “Me being the first person hired onto the team, that wasn’t done until December, so we’re actually six months behind publication schedule. We had to be really intentional in how we want to create an amazing journal while also somewhat being limited in our options as far as space pages, and most importantly time.”
Despite the time constraints the magazine has faced, the team is working hard to publish the magazine’s 2023 issue before the Fall Graduation Ceremony. Davis expressed that the passion of the staff shines through in their work, making the process of publication much easier.
“We are fortunate to be on a campus that is just full of bright students… they’re all excellent in their roles,” said Davis. “It’s been something that we care about enough that it makes it less exhausting than it could be.”
Davis and the team are optimistic about the future of the Salmon Creek Journal beyond its 2023 publication. She is excited to witness the magazine’s growth and evolution in the coming years and foresees that the effort invested in the 2023 issue will be evident in its final product.
“Next year they will have the same amount of support, and the most valuable resource, which is time,” said Davis. “The time to do more, to keep striving, and being excellent, and being a staple on campus that’s been around for [almost] 30 years. We have a constant evolution, and I’m really excited to see where everybody takes it.”
For Davis, the Salmon Creek Journal is significant for the WSU Vancouver art community as it offers an avenue for students to express their voice and have their creative work published.
“To me, it is a way to elevate students and community members’ voices, to give them a platform to display their prose, their poetry, their art, their music… it’s just a way to unite artists in the community,” said Davis. “That’s huge for a lot of our art and literature students, to say that they’ve been featured in any kind of publication…”
The Salmon Creek Journal team plans to release their upcoming issue before the end of the Fall term in 2023. Once published, the issue will be available both in print and online at salmoncreekjournal.org.
Koug Radio, WSU Vancouver’s radio station, remained wholly inactive until January of this year. The station was left untouched from the start of quarantine until the new staff returned, according to program director Haley Pistole.
“It was like a time capsule, everything was (left) just as it was,” said Pistole. “People just got up and left from COVID thinking that it was gonna be this little break, and then never came back.”
Since Koug Radio’s revival, the station has managed to gain a full staff of five members. Koug Radio currently consists of one station director, one program manager, one social media director, and two technical directors. Pistole noted that it took a lot of teamwork to get Koug Radio broadcasts running again in March.
“We didn’t have anyone to guide us into our positions… which is cool though, because we each have our designated jobs,” said Pistole. “We all kind of blend over to each other’s stuff, which is how a good team should function… We don’t take very much time to stop and be like ‘Wow, that’s how much we’ve done in a month,’ so this is kind of cool.”
Junior DTC major Kylie Sickles, Koug Radio’s station manager, began hiring the station’s current staff during this past fall. According to Sickles, the team has made significant progress, helping revive the station in a short period of time.
“Our goal for this semester was just to get one [show] a day, so we’re already past our goals, I’m pretty proud about [that],” said Sickles.
Koug Radio currently hosts five podcasts and two DJ sessions every week, with live music played between each session. Pistole invites any WSU Vancouver student who is interested to volunteer to be a host for their own show on Koug Radio. The staff trains hosts before their first broadcast to ensure they are comfortable with the technical side of broadcasting. Sickles said that the station will remain open during the summer as they prepare new volunteers to host their shows in the fall.
“For folks who want to start [hosting] in the fall, we’re gonna start training in the summer,” said Sickles. “We’ll come back full force in fall. As of right now, our format is [that] we have a Google form that’s open if people want to join and it’s not going to close, so if people want to join halfway through the semester, come on in.”
Looking ahead to the future, Sickles, Pistole and the rest of Koug Radio staff are enthusiastic about the station’s potential to raise student voices on campus. Pistole believes that Koug Radio can serve as a great platform for students to share their voices with the WSU Vancouver community.
“Student involvement is so lacking here in comparison to universities where you can live on campus… It’s really cool to feel like you’re a part of something that has been missing here, and we’re building it back up,” said Pistole.
Students can listen to Koug Radio’s broadcasts live through kougradio.org.
Norman is a senior majoring in Integrated Strategic Communications and Digital Technology & Culture.