Charlie Simon
Staff Writer
Later this week, sophomore Anna Skrabacz will begin her tenure as the new president of Cutler Publications, replacing the current president, Jorge Rivera.
As the new president of Cutler Publications, Skrabacz will manage and oversee all three independent student publications on campus: the Cipher, the Leviathan, and the Catalyst. “I’m going to my first board meeting on Friday, and Jorge ends his post at the end of the block,” said Skrabacz.
Skrabacz transferred this year to CC from Lewis and Clark College, “and thus my involvement with Cutler up unto this point was virtually nonexistent, but I have had experiences with literary magazines before,” she says, adding that after arriving on campus. “I immediately gained a respect for the publications.”
“I think things we want to do are making sure student input remains important and relevant and that I can kind of relate that to the three various editors, to make sure that the three publications are what the students want to read,” says Skrabacz,
Skrabacz also wants to continue “figuring out the whole online component more, just to increase readership among current students and alumni.”
Skrabacz’s expansive vision for the future of the publications would not have been possible without the commitment of Rivera, who began his term last year in a less favorable situation, grappling with financial issues. At the time that Rivera became president, Cutler Publications was in considerable debt. “It was a debt of around $24,000,” says Rivera.
But Rivera righted Cutler Publications by defining a more financially based vision, saying, “The big issue, we felt, when I started, was to figure out how we could be at a more stable position in terms of funding.”
To help deal with the debt, Rivera was not hesitant to ask for money for Cutler Publications, going to student groups and communicating directly with school officials. “We got the full extent of funding that we were requesting, which meant we could get out of debt, survival mode, and get much more proactive overall,” he says.
This much-needed capital infusion has allowed Cutler Publications to redefine its vision and will allow Skrabacz to focus on more than just the financial issues faced by Cutler Publications.
Now that the direst of financial straits has been passed, most of which were the last acts in presidency by Rivera, Cutler Publications has begun plans for expansion. “We’re going to be hiring a new vice president and public relations officer [and] we’re in the process of considering two publications that might come on board and become part of Cutler Publications.”
Rivera recognizes that much of the impetus for change to continue will come from Anna Skrabacz. He says, “I think Anna’s job will be crucial in continuing the momentum.”