The Summer of the Magazine

Living on a college campus for the summer has its downsides. No air conditioning. Not too many students. Way too many campers.

I knew all this coming into the summer that will soon end. However, there is one perk that I had never thought of--unlimited magazines.

You see, college students subscribe to a lot of magazines and many are too lazy to change the mailing address for the summer. The college post office doesn't want to spend the money to forward all of them on home, so it simply gives them away.

Every day of my research here at the college, I have gone to the post office and looked through a tub filled to the rim with magazines. Time, ESPN, Newsweek, American Fencing, Ultimate News, The New Yorker, U.S. News, Sports Illustrated... I've come to every meal with magazine in hand, since there are rarely any students to eat with. I had planned on making this the summer of the great American novel. Instead, it became the summer of the magazine.

At first, I thought I should some how give back to all the kind students who donated their magazines. My plan was to rank the five best magazines, and maybe influence some people to stop subscribing and others to start. Then Miller said maybe I should rank the top five magazine issues of the summer. Then I thought again this afternoon, why not rank the top five articles?

Now, I have decided to a do a mix of all three--here is the best of the best of the best of the summer magazines (and a little bit of the worst). Make sure to click on all the images for enlarged versions.

Best Cover: The Economist, July 28th

















Worst Cover: Time, August 6. The cover makes it seem as if boys, like Polar and Panda Bears, are in danger of becoming extinct. Not too topical if you ask me.


















Best Photo-Op:Prince Fielder with Sausages, in August 13th addition of ESPN.



















2nd Best High School Ultimate Frisbee Team in the Country: Amherst Regional, according to the Summer issues of the Ultimate News

Surprise Hit: Slam Magazine

Top Three articles of the summer:
-"The People's King" by Tom Verducci in the July 23 issue of Sports Illustrated. Fantastic, moving profile of Hank Aaron. It really put Bond's farce into perspective.

-"Stung--Where have all the bees gone?" by Elizabeth Kolbert in the August 3 issue of The New Yorker. Fascinating article on the "colony-collapse disorder" that is mysteriously eliminating the world's bee population. The article goes beyond the dissapareances; it explains the life of a bee keeper and the surprisingly large role bees play in agriculture.

-"All the News That's Fit to Print Out" by Jonathan Dee in the July 1 issue of The New York Times article. Great feature on the "administrators" who obsess over Wikipedia. It explains who they are, what they do, and why the do it.

Worst Single Issue: July 2 Issue of Sports Illustrated--"Where are They Now." More like who were they then? This issue is clearly catered to the 40 and up crowd. I guess their wives won't let them get the swimsuit issue so this is their consolation.