Ames is a media-saturated town. Counting the number of publications one can read, the list includes the Iowa State Daily, The Ames Daily Tribune, University Times, The Campus Reader, Cityview, The Drummer and a myriad of smaller, more specific publications and magazines.

These publications are produced by students and/or professionals who seek to make use of what may be an untapped point-of-view, angle or edge in a generally small college town.

While some seem to flourish, and others just won’t seem to die, one publication has endured to consistently deliver a fresh, somewhat alternative outlook on the local scene and on life beyond the boundaries of our campus.

According to last Friday’s Iowa State Daily, The Drummer will be “undergoing major internal changes” including increasing publication from once every two months to publishing every two weeks, and the hiring of a new, paid managing editor— the first paying position in the five-year history of The Drummer.

While some current newspapers can conveniently fall into the same categories— Cityview and The Campus Reader, for example, it is refreshing to see that improvements are being made to a publication that already stands alone in a cluttered media arena.

The Drummer provides what many old and new local publications haven’t— an “alternative” (using the word in the pre-Grunge sense of the definition) to the way a news story is researched, written and edited.

While only five years old, the paper currently receives GSB funding, continues to increase it’s readership and has placed itself as a strong voice on this campus.

It’s a shame that in a publication’s struggle to categorize both readers and advertisers, those interests that are important— the people who read it— seem to have been left behind.

If only others would recognize what those at The Drummer have known all along.