The Drummer, an alternative newspaper that was started by students, now needs help from students to keep it going.

“There’s really no one willing to coordinate the paper right now, for a number of reasons,” said Mark Ingles, former adviser of The Drummer and former Iowa State student.

He said a lot of students who were involved with The Drummer have graduated, and not many students were recruited last year.

“I would love to say that there is something students can do,” Ingles said. “Anyone can get involved, but there is no one there to show them what to do right now. It’s a tremendous amount to learn on your own.”

Ingles said he is no longer affiliated with The Drummer, but he will continue to dole out advice and support by corresponding through e-mail.

Students who have worked for The Drummer say it is worth the effort to get it going again.

“The Drummer is a great resource on campus but a well-kept secret,” said David Cmelik, MBA student, former Government of the Student Body vice president and former managing editor of The Drummer.

“You have to work at it, like anything, to make it a valuable experience,” Cmelik said.

Ingles said The Drummer probably will be idle until Jerry Lamsa, current adviser of The Drummer and scientist at Ames Laboratory, returns to the country in November or December.

“The Drummer has always been in a state of flux,” Cmelik said. “It’s underground nature makes it both challenging and flexible from an organizational point of view.”

Ingles said Lamsa has new recruitment ideas, and at least one student said she is eagerly waiting his return.

Tara Buschow, senior in anthropology who served as office manager for The Drummer last year, said she “absolutely” wants to keep the paper going.

“It was my understanding that Jerry Lamsa is coming back sometime in late October or early November, when we will get the guidance we need,” she said.

“It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for students who really want to get involved to go ahead and give me a call,” Buschow said.

Buschow, who still keeps office hours, said The Drummer needs writers, editors and people to solicit advertising.

Ingles said the paper is an important voice on campus.

“Personally, I like to see us focus on local things,” he said. “I think students respond a little more [to local issues].”

Ingles said one issue The Drummer covered well was the idea of putting a McDonald’s restaurant in the Hub a few years ago.

“We helped organize a rally on central campus,” he said. “Dave Cmelik really did a fantastic job of covering the history of the relations with the Memorial Union, and how McDonald’s had an unfair advantage when presenting their bid.”

Jeff Hall, employee at Parks Library and self-described “on-again, off-again student,” was one of the original 30 or 35 students, along with Ingles and Cmelik, who started The Drummer.

“It’s just a real resource for a community, to have a place to discuss issues that aren’t in the mainstream media,” Hall said.

Hall said he appreciated the paper’s activist approach.

“They focus on what people should be aware of in order to be better involved in the democracy,” Hall said. “They cover a lot of international issues, and try to connect the global to the local.”

Buschow also said she thinks The Drummer provides important insight and perspective.

“I tend to think [The Drummer] brings things to people’s attention that they don’t necessarily want to hear about,” she said.

Students at The Drummer have been getting attention since 1991, Ingles said.

“[The Drummer] started at a time when there were not many papers on campus … only the Daily and The Ames Tribune,” Ingles said.

He said the Gulf War was going on at the time, and some students felt that coverage of some issues, including protests, was missing.

“We decided the only way to fight it was to create our own newspaper,” he said.

Ingles said The Drummer has received funding from GSB since 1992. He said the group received about $5,000 this year, which was down from about $9,000 the year before.

“We’ve tried to advertise, but it’s difficult to attract advertising when you [publish] irregularly,” Ingles said. “We could do it if we had our house in order … and were coming out on a regular basis.”

Students interested in getting involved with The Drummer, can call the office at 294-2651.