Since its founding as The Iowa Scientist in 1948, Ethos magazine has evolved from serving the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to the entire university community.

During that metamorphosis, there have been both challenges and successes.

A Look at the Past

Marcia Prior-Miller, former Ethos adviser and associate professor in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, said The Iowa Scientist was founded as one of several magazines on campus.

The magazine was renamed “Ethos” in March 1964 but continued to serve students specifically in the liberal arts and sciences college until 1995, Prior-Miller said.

“Perhaps the biggest change in Ethos since the late 1980s and early 1990s is its repositioning itself to serve the entire university community of students, rather than just students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” she said.

Prior-Miller said Ethos has struggled with funding and frequency of publication over the years.

“Although initially published monthly, Ethos by the early 1990s was operating on a shoestring budget of less than $14,000 a year, and with 24 pages or less [it] was published only two or three times a year,” she said. “When I became adviser in the early 1990s, the students immediately took steps to increase its frequency and tripled its funding base with the assistance of [the Government of the Student Body].”

Prior-Miller said Ethos is “exceptional” when compared to other university magazines.

“Not only is [Ethos] an independent student magazine, but it is also published more frequently than are many others,” she said. “It has a long history of winning some of the highest awards in collegiate magazine competitions, including more than 15 awards in the decade of the 1990s alone.”

Ethos has received recognition from Sigma Delta Chi, the American Scholastic Press Association, The Associated Collegiate Press, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Magazine Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Prior-Miller said.

Progress in Writing, Photography

Ethos isn’t afraid to cover controversial issues, said the magazine’s editor in chief, Bethany Kohoutek.

“We’ve got a little bit more freedom to do edgier topics that are more controversial,” said Kohoutek, senior in journalism and mass communication. “We have the deadline time and the space to go more in-depth.”

She said last year’s “Sex at ISU” generated the biggest response she’s seen in her two-and-a-half years at Ethos.

“We received great student response,” Kohoutek said. “The magazines just flew off the racks.”

While she said Ethos has always had a tradition of “very strong writers,” they are still looking for ways to improve.

“This year, we’re trying to make sure every article we publish has a definite connection to ISU students,” Kohoutek said. “We’re trying to figure out what college students want to read, especially ISU students, and we’re trying to give them that.”

Jeff Christian, director of photography for Ethos, said the magazine switched to all digital equipment this year, improving photo quality.

“The photos between this year and last year are like night and day,” he said.

Christian, who is also a Daily photographer, said Ethos focuses on combining pictures with stories to create a “more visually appealing finished product.”

The article, “Painful Release: Self Mutilation at Iowa State,” is an example, said Christian, sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication.

“The photos for the self-mutilation article gave a respectful but haunting feel to the story,” he said. “Our design editor worked with photos by adding colors and text variations.”

Kohoutek said improving the quality of photos in Ethos makes people more likely to read it.

“In the past, people may have been more hesitant to [read Ethos] because the visual side has been maybe not as good as the writing part,” she said.

“Now that both sides are good, a lot more people might pick it up.”

Kohoutek said improving Ethos now will provide for an exciting future.

“This year, photo and design came up to par,” she said. “It’s all coming together.”