A website launched in April by three Auburn University students provides a forum for students to discuss a wide range of topics.
The website, TheHandleMedia.com, includes something for everyone: blogs and articles on politics, culture, science, money, sports and even music.
The forum invites people to contribute their own ideas on topics relevant to them.
"Having a discussion is what we want in the first place," said co-creator Sergio Gallardo, junior in economics and political science. "Our discussions are honest and productive."
Co-creator Zach Welman, sophomore in English and philosophy, agrees.
"What I want is for us to be that starting block for people," Welman said. "I don't want people to take our articles as the end-all be all of what we have to say--we want it to start discussion, not be the end of conversation."
According to co-creator CJ Jackson, sophomore in philosophy and economics, constructing the website was easier than expected with the help of WordPress. Coming up with the name was the challenge.
"We were so incredibly full of ourselves title wise," Gallardo said. "We were coming up with the most hardcore names like Apollo--just very vague things that meant nothing, but sounded awesome."
On a trip to Plains, Ga., Gallardo, Welman and Jackson were in a small antique store when they spotted a wall full of handles. "Someone just said 'the handle,'" Welman said.
"I heard it and immediately said that works on so many levels," Gallardo said. "It's perfect actually--it kind of helps us wrap around what we do."
The Handle has 10 permanent writers and usually also publishes material from another five to six occasional writers. "We're always looking
for people to write," Welman said.
Luckily for writers, there isn't a rigorous selection process to determine who writes for the site. "Our dying principles in writing are don't be a jerk, and don't lie," Jackson said. "If you can do that, we're quite open."
"We just want people to write about what they want to write about," Welman said.
While The Handle began with just friends of the creators writing, it has now expanded far beyond that.
"Now we have kids that are at different universities that write for us," Gallardo said. "While they're not necessarily here at Auburn, they talk about issues that affect us here."
The website's copy editor, Grace Moss, graduated from Auburn last year, and is a working editor in New York.
"I very much expected her to stop and move on to her actual paying career," Jackson said. "But she hasn't yet, and we're grateful for that."
The Handle is a work in progress, but there are high hopes for the future.
"I guess the big thing I want is for more people to read it and more people to be engaged by it," Welman said.
"At the very end, not everybody is going to have the same interests," Gallardo said. "But the amazing thing about The Handle is it's such an easy idea to share, and someone can right away love it."
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