With a new plan, the staff of the literary magazine The Winged Lion are looking for ways to improve.

The magazine has operated by including both written and artistic submissions from students in the past. However, certain changes are being proposed to separate the visual art and written compositions into two separate magazines.

“What we’re trying to do is give the art department and English department the opportunity to accomplish some of the things the two departments have always wanted to accomplish,” said Joey Brown, teacher advisor to The Winged Lion.

“It’s been great working with each other, but anytime you have a joint project, that automatically limits you because you have to share space and you have to share money. It’s also very hard to schedule, because the art department has a different sort of course schedules. The art students are here in the afternoon, and the English students are here in the morning. That’s the big thing about the changes – we want to give each other the time needed to do what we want to do.”

“As to the changes,” said Nick Kyle, head of the art department, “there is no official OK. We have to go through the ‘chain of command’ to get it approved.”

The Winged Lion has been around for more than 30 years and is considered an art magazine. Submissions from students range from written compositions such as poetry, fiction and non-fiction essays and visual art ranging from graphic art, studio art and drawings.

“[Credentials] for having a submission approved for publication varies from year to year because the staff varies from year to year,” Brown said.

“What we always look for is for quality. We want a piece that was very carefully worked on, and where the student was a careful reader of their own work. What we want students to do is send the best of the best they have to offer. On the same token, we know that these submissions are from students, and that each student has a varying knowledge and skill at writing so we try to be as fair as possible.”

The magazine has more advantages than just being a way for students to express themselves.

“The Lion is a great instructional tool for teaching graphic art,” Kyle said. “We have students on staff who gain a lot of knowledge and experience from working on the Lion.”

If students would like to submit any works to the English version of The Winged Lion, writings are to include a cover sheet with a title of the work, author’s name, e-mail address and phone number.

Writings are to be typed; prose is to be double-spaced. Work is to be submitted to Brown in Hearnes Hall 320B or in her mail box in room 300 no later than Nov. 2. Works by all students will be considered.

“Usually we get at least 60 submissions,” Brown said. “On a good year we can get as many as 150. We are hoping for another one of those years this year.”

Whether the changes are to take effect remains to be seen. Whether the changes will improve the magazines also remains to be seen.

“No matter the decision,” Kyle said.

“I will enjoy working on this magazine and reading and enjoying the submissions presented to the Lion. I would like to see the tradition continue, but change could also be a very good thing.”