It has come to my attention that there are some concerns regarding the cover and the content of our Fall/Winter 2014 issue of SIR magazine. As the magazine’s editor-in-chief and an objective journalist first, I must apologize to any individuals who are offended by our magazine’s cover or content. The SIR staff never meant to upset anyone with our issue or its illustrated cover. Our only goal was to provide an interesting twist to our magazine and produce something that everyone could enjoy.

Issues with our cover and content are a matter of perception. The situation depicted on the cover was meant to convey the woman swooning for the male, who was sweeping her off of her feet — not unlike the heroic implications displayed on the May 1957 cover of Man’s Life magazine. While the pairing of the headlines and the art on the cover may cause readers to jump to conclusions about the magazine, there is actually no evidence of alcohol and or advocation for its abuse anywhere on the cover or in the issue.

Our overall vision for this issue was motivated by the idea of change; physical changes we made to the publication, changes made to the operations of the organization as a whole, and the change we had identified in our audience demographics. We wanted to illustrate those changes in our publication this semester. The illustrated cover expressed that change for us in several ways. First, it functions as a concrete antithesis of this issue — the original cover was modified to reflect a college atmosphere, with additions that tie in the magazine’s content. We felt it was a way to set the reader up for the changes they would see in the magazine and its new modernized layout. Second, we intended for the cover to serve as an abstract rendition of what could happen if the content in this issue was put to use in readers’ lives.

In no way were we trying to promote rape culture or even make a smug attempt at stirring a disrespectful buzz about the matter. We were purely motivated by artistic decisions that symbolically represent the overall scope we hoped to create with this issue and guide our readers into the content. We recreated the Man’s Life cover as an act of creativity, that was meant to distinguish this year’s magazine from past issues. As a staff, we perceived what we were doing as creative and artistic and in no way did we feel we were taking some type of symbolic, sociopolitical stance on any topic.

Considering the recent national discussion of sexual assault on college campuses, a few individuals have expressed their concerns that our cover promotes rape culture on the Iowa State campus. Though we, the staff at SIR magazine, in no way accept these allegations as truth, we have heard our readers’ concerns and hope to better serve you in the future. So again, I sincerely apologize if we have upset anyone in anyway. I invite you to contact us with your concerns to [email protected] and we will respond accordingly. We also invite you to visit our online forum, at sirmag.wordpress.com, for an extended take on this situation.

As the great Aristotle once said, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” This certainly applies to our magazine’s cover.