The University Digital Conservancy (UDC) is the University of Minnesota’s home for open-access articles, institutional documents, dissertations, and more. The UDC makes it possible to share scholarly works without paywalls, publish and preserve digital data for future access, and preserve core institutional documents.
Users browsing the Kathryn A Martin Library’s corner of the UDC will find historical and recent resources. For example, users can read issues of the Fortnightly Chronicle, the Duluth State Teachers College Student Newspaper, which ran from 1932-1947, or browse old UMD yearbooks. But just as the UDC is rich with historical content, it also provides current resources, such as issues of The Bark or the new student publication, The Lake Freighter.
There’s a new ship in town?
The Lake Freighter, with its endearing tagline “Your Shipment of Local News!” seeks to provide “a reliable, relevant, and entertaining” news source for the UMD community. Evan Leebens, org president, noted that the newspaper doesn’t have a website or social media, and this is intentional. However, Max Ulm, graphic designer for newspaper, realized he needed some place to put the PDFs he was creating for long-term access.
Ulm said, “Someone from the library came to the table when we were tabling and asked us if we had a place to store the issues.”
The library’s Digitization & Metadata Specialist, Laura Vavrosky, happened upon the student org while they were handing out a recent issue of the publication in Kirby Student Center. Vavrosky always keeps her eyes and ears open on campus for potential UDC content. She explained that she made the connection with Ulm and offered the UDC as a potential home for the paper.
“It’s always exciting to see students engaging with their community and creating new content about issues they care about! I was thrilled to see this new publication and hoped the library could help preserve it.”
Leebens and Ulm have been friends since their freshman year, but it was after a trip to New Zealand that Leebens came up with the idea for the publication. He explained that during a phone call with Ulm while he was abroad, Ulm noted that he felt Duluth and the UMD community were missing something.
Leebens explained that it often feels like the campus is its own community, often cut off from the rest of Duluth, including all the things that impact the community. Leebens and Ulm wondered how they could connect students with the broader community.
And, the rest they say, is history. Leebens, also inspired by a student publication in New Zealand, decided to pursue a new publication for UMD. Along with Ulm, the two formed the Registered Student Organization The Lake Freighter (U.S.S. News). Their mission was and continues to be a simple one: “provide local news as a public good within the University of Minnesota Duluth campus through honest and fulfilling journalism.” Leebens noted that content comes from casual conversation and through a lot of observation - he is “a big proponent of the passive acquisition of topics.” For example, “everyone was talking about the purple lights on campus,” so they investigated and wrote a story about it in the February 2024 issue. Leebens aims to focus on relevance and timeliness for content.
“The publication should give a sense of space. It’s about awareness and learning about the space around you.”
Leebens is the organization president - he noted that he doesn’t think of himself as an editor. Ulm serves as graphic designer and the vice president. The newspaper has about eight or so contributors; some contribute often, while others have contributed once or twice. Leebens, a Biology and Philosophy major, and Ulm, a Marketing & Graphic Design major both laughed when they said, “Not a single one of us is a Journalism major.” The two also noted that they felt like that added a little something more to the newspaper.
Leebens explained that they enjoy having tangible newspapers to hand out to students, which they do about once a month when an issue is complete. You’ll find them tabling in the Kirby Student Center when the month’s issue is ready. They enjoy the face-to-face interactions combined with handing out a physical newspaper, especially when everything is digital these days. While they aim for monthly publication, they also emphasize they don’t want to force anything.
Leebens noted, “[it] is important to have a temporal, impermanent…and physical aspect for information you’re consuming. It’s more meaningful and engaging.”
So far, the organization has produced three issues, which are available on the UDC.