Students start to lower the 'BOOM!'

We met yesterday with an energetic group of students from National University in Kharkiv. They want to publish an independent student newspaper.

We met for about two hours in a conference room at the university, discussing the initial steps: a name (a budding designer named Kate suggested "Boom!", and that won by acclamation); a budget of stories for the first issue; deadlines (next week); and a publication schedule (monthly -- with issue No. 1 coming out by mid-March).

We also discussed what language(s) to publish in. The group agreed that reporters could write in whatever language they want, and that we might publish multiple editions (one in Russian, one in Ukrainian, and one in English for the university's sizable foreign-student population). As I've noted before (and as another news story shows), language is a big issue here -- a litmus test (depending on your point of view) for national pride, or Ukrainian nationalism, or affinity toward Russia. Significantly, the students are going to tackle this issue head-on: One student volunteered to write a story on this topic.

Other stories on the budget: The library has been closed for fire-safety and other facility-related reasons; student government leaders have launched a campaign to inform students of their rights; women have formed a football team; Ukraine's minister of education is speaking at the university; student volunteers are engaged in activities ranging from working with orphans to promoting safe sex; and more!

That's an ambitious lineup of stories. The real test, of course, is to see how many students deliver. We're hoping to get some by Monday. One student is doing a story about what the newspaper is and how it came to be; here she is interviewing Selma after the meeting: