Carbon Copy, a Recognized Student Organization (RSO) devoted to the exploration of the city of Chicago, has decided to create a zine that will encourage first-years and other students to get to know Chicago. The zine, an informal publication, along with Carbon Copy’s Web site, will serve to inform students about interesting places in the city.

“The reason I came to this school was mainly because I loved the city, but when I got here as a first-year I hardly ever went downtown,” said third-year Ali Walsh, president of Carbon Copy. Members of Carbon Copy hope that this zine will work to encourage students to explore the city and the various neighborhoods and communities.

“It’s hard to be actively involved with the city if you don’t have information about transportation and places to go,” said Gerry Mak, fourth-year in the College. “But we hope to get students interested and involved in other neighborhoods throughout the city.”

The zine, which has yet to be named, will be organized by category and will cover a range of interests. Possible categories include thrift stores, used furniture, coffee houses, flea markets, parks, free things, and music for those under 21. The zine will focus mainly on smaller businesses rather than mainstream corporations, and will include directions by public transportation to each location described.

Organizers plan to stress public transportation in the zine in order to encourage students to explore neighborhoods outside of Hyde Park. “Transportation is difficult to deal with but, once you figure it out, Chicago is really a great city,” Mak said.

The idea of the zine is similar to that of the “Insider’s Guide,” a PSAC publication that is given out to first-years, and meant to encourage interest in the city. The “Insider’s Guide” contains helpful information about the University, Hyde Park, and the city of Chicago.

Carbon Copy hopes that their zine will be a supplement that will focus only on the city and its benefits.

Helen Lee, assistant director in administration and PSAC, is cooperating with Carbon Copy to help them determine the types of information and locations that should be included in the publication.

The project will be coordinated over the summer by Jihae Hong, a third-year member of Carbon Copy. The organization also hopes to establish a listserve in order to allow many people to submit ideas for places that should be included. Members will research specific categories and will be responsible for gathering information. “It’s important also to talk to people outside of Carbon Copy, and other RSOs, to find the perfect people to do certain categories,” Walsh said.

The zine will mostly likely be printed in the beginning or middle of Autumn Quarter, rather than during O-Week when first years are bombarded with handouts.

Instead, Carbon Copy hopes to distribute the zine at an organized study break in order to get more publicity and a better response from students. Members of Carbon Copy may also create an e-mail address so that people can order copies as well.