Down in the sub-basement of the HUB is a small room. One-third of the wall on one side of the room is covered in past Ruckus articles; the rest of the walls are covered with posters and flyers for different student events. This room is dedicated to Ruckus, the reincarnated student-run newspaper on campus.

Ruckus was founded in 1997 due to dissatisfaction with how The Daily was printing its articles and the issues it covered.

Jeff Stevens was a member of Ruckus from 1999 to 2005.

“At the time, The Daily’s editorial staff had taken a noticeably severe conservative slant and was more interested in mocking student activists in the opinion section than in practicing good journalism, like seeking to accurately cover the actions and concerns of student activists in the news section,” Stevens said in an e-mail.

Ruckus closed down its organization in 2005.

“I’m not exactly sure why they stopped printing, but I think it was because the folks involved in the project graduated, so the interest in the paper was gradually lost,” said Lisa Beebe, a first-year graduate student involved with the Ruckus.

Ruckus returned to campus after four years. It printed its first issue in December and will continue to print on a monthly basis.

Senior Francis Gaze had the idea to reincarnate the Ruckus. He was interested in how news was distributed on campus, and the idea to revive the Ruckus seemed fitting. He then went to Suzzallo Library and sifted through some old microfilm of the paper.

“Francis really brought it back; he kind of struck the match, I guess,” said Aark, another member of Ruckus, who didn’t want to be identified by her real name.

About 15 students are currently involved with Ruckus, and everyone involved plays multiple roles. Instead of having a chief editor, there are co-editors, who are also the reporters and distributors.

Beebe said that, as co-editors, one thing that they try to maintain in the Ruckus is printing stories with as little editing as possible so that the voice of the writer doesn’t change. They want their writers to deliver ideas as fluently and coherently as possible.

Everyone edits the articles together, and the work is done collaboratively; no single person is assigned to a specific task.

“No one gets paid, and all resources are donated,” Gaze said.

The works submitted to the Ruckus vary in both topic and style, with contributors ranging from students to professors to UW community members — basically, anyone with thought-provoking commentary.

The members use the Resource Center in the HUB sub-basement to print out their paper. They are trying to get funding for a tabloid format, but until then, they will continue to run on donations and out-of-pocket funding.

“We work with what tools are available,” Gaze said.

The Ruckus shares its office with the Student Action Network because of the limited space in the sub-basement of the HUB.

“Last time we had a meeting, it was at someone’s house,” Beebe said.

The Ruckus covers issues concerning politics, social justice, the environment, and other topics that they say are not usually covered.

“The nature of our articles are analysis of problems, rather than what goes on on a daily basis,” Gaze said.

Gaze said that The Economist in Great Britain was a big influence on the structure and style of the Ruckus. The editors said they want to provide a viewpoint on current events and issues on campus that differs from that of other news sources.

“The Daily follows the style of mainstream U.S. journalism, which basically covers problems in balanced arguments,” Gaze said. “I don’t think that really works.”

The Ruckus is more focused on advocacy-type journalism, which is why it prints on topics that are more polar. Freedom of speech is the main component of advocacy journalism, which allows journalists to mix their opinions in with the facts of the story, said Roger Simpson, a professor in the communications department.

Simpson said that he would like to see a variety of student publications on campus because it would give people more perspectives on events and issues that occur.

“We should have 50 more publications like this,” he said.

As a collective organization, they put in the thoughts and opinions of their writers and give them the space to raise their voices.

“We want to show the people the shifting of consciousness and how our actions shift others,” Aark said.

The Ruckus aspires to be a motivation and a starting ground for people, and to deliver the message to their readers that, as individuals, they have the ability to influence others.

“Inspiration is how our group works well together,” Aark said. “We connect with people and each other through inspiration.”

Ethan Boyles, a senior and member of Ruckus, said that the paper serves as an organizational tool to help students become more aware of everything on campus — not just on a day-to-day basis, but in the long run.

“We deal with long-term issues that affect both our nuclear community as well [as] the whole Pacific Northwest,” Beebe said.

“The reincarnation of the Ruckus was important because of the shift in media, as well as everything that is going on in the world at large.”

Beebe said the lack of conversation and dialogues at such a critical time on campus made them feel the necessity to bring it back so that the UW community could get active once more by sharing and spreading the issues that revolved around the UW community.

The Ruckus is advertising itself through its members. Because many of the students involved in the paper are also associated with other organizations on campus, it is easy for them to spread the word.

Boyle is also a member of the International Socialist Organization (ISO) at the UW. He works on the activist calendar section of the Ruckus and distributes and advertises the paper at ISO meetings.

The Ruckus prints about 1,500 copies a month and distributes the paper at other student organizations with which the members are affiliated. Copies are also dropped at generic student boxes all around campus, including the main entrance of the HUB, Odegaard Library, Café Solstice, dorm newsstands, and more.

“The Ruckus works collectively in a group because of the common ideals we share and a common end,” Boyles said.

Reach contributing writer So Hyoung An at development@dailyuw.com.