The University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC) raised its funding caps this past October to $5,000 for equipment and $10,000 for media.

Last year's combined funding cap was $1,800, so this new and sizeable increase has allowed for many student publications to embrace change.

New magazines, such as Valley, are springing up around campus; and older publications, like ALT Magazine and Phroth, are giving their zines a much-anticipated makeover.

ALT Magazine

ALT Magazine will also be making the switch to full color this spring, said Editor in Chief Mark Kleback (senior-electrical engineering).

"ALT was started between 2000 and 2002," Kleback said. "It was a 'different' magazine at first. It kind of took off as a black-and-white political publication, and now it has sort of evolved into an arts/opinion magazine. But, we still kept a political side to it."

Kleback said ALT's main purpose is to publish the more radical opinions of students that wouldn't necessarily be published in more typical, conservative publications.

"We cover half local/half national news and social events," Kleback said. "We want to publish people's opinions rather than the news ... take what's going on and get different viewpoints on it."

Kleback became the editor of ALT in 2006, and since then, he's seen UPAC cut the media budget, and then quadruple it. ALT used to publish four times a year, twice a semester, and was more content-based with a black-and-white design. Because of the new budget increase, Kleback said ALT will now be able to embrace a new facet of design within the magazine.

"The design is half of ALT," Kleback said. "The content is important, but the artwork and everything else is kind of what makes the magazine noticeable, unlike other magazines out on the market. So we put a lot of emphasis on the design, so it's more eye-catching than just words on a page."

Although ALT is still currently looking for designers, Kleback feels that the magazine will start to take a new direction. Now printing two issues this spring, ALT will appear as a full-color publication, with more copies and pages than ever before.

Phroth

Phroth, a humor-based student publication, was originally founded in 1909. It roared with popularity throughout the '30s and '40s, until the publication "pissed off the wrong people in the '60s," and was shut down, said Editor in Chief Kevin Graves (senior-engineering science). In 1999, students realized there wasn't an outlet for humorous writing on campus, so they decided to revive the old zine - and, Graves said, Phroth has been going strong ever since.

Phroth distributes a 32-page magazine every semester, along with The Phaily Phollegian, which is a parody of the The Daily Collegian. Phroth also puts on a sketch-comedy show in the spring with No Refund Theatre (NRT), where Phroth writes a performance and NRT acts it out.

While Phroth hasn't strayed from their typical content in the past few years, they are trying to establish themselves as a more well-known publication within the student body.

"There seems to be a big disconnect between Phroth and the Phollegian, Graves said. "It's all done by the same people, but the magazine is what we focus all of our time on, since it just looks a lot nicer. We try to use the newspaper, the Phollegian, to promote the magazine."

The primary change in Phroth's production process, since UPAC's budget increase, will be the magazine's free distribution throughout campus. In the past, Phroth has charged $1 for each issue, but Graves felt like that limited the magazine's exposure around campus.

"The main deterrent for people not getting the magazine was the price ... even though it's only $1," Graves said. "But because of new advertisements, and the UPAC increase, we'll be able to give the magazine away for free this spring."

Graves said that in the future, Phroth would be able to publish more Phaily Phollegians to promote their end-of-the-semester magazine issue.

"We're basically looking towards the future," Graves said. "We're crossing our fingers that UPAC doesn't change their mind again."

Valley

Nicole Jean Gallo (senior-journalism) transferred to Penn State last spring, and immediately began searching for writing opportunities. Her interests didn't match up to any of the current student publications circulating around campus, so she thought it would be an "awesome opportunity" to start a magazine herself.

"I had the whole communications department send e-mails to their students in October. The very next day I had about 400 responses. When I got that kind of response, I knew I wasn't going to let this magazine fall through the cracks," Gallo said.

The product of her work, Valley magazine, is a new women's magazine that could be compared to publications such as Cosmopolitan or Seventeen. Produced underneath the organization Classy and Fabulous, Valley consists of nearly 170 students divided up into different working departments, including writers, designers, photographers, editors and public-relation representatives.

"It has a 'big sister' tone to the content," Gallo said. "We write about relationship issues, and everyday issues that we face on campus, whether that's eating disorders or binge drinking."

Gallo said that although the magazine may be geared toward women, Valley wants to appeal to both sexes. The magazine cover won't have any implication of being a women's magazine, and it will also feature unisex articles on topics like couples' advice.

"We want it to be like a trendsetter, a handbook, and a mentor resource for students on campus," Gallo said. "People are more likely to fall into depression and make bad decisions when they subside into the everyday stress that we go through. It's therapeutic to read about these things, and to know that you're not the only going through this."

This year, Valley will be putting out one issue, which will be distributed on April 3. The issue will be 56 pages long and in full color, thanks to UPAC's funding increase, Gallo said.