Salve and welcome to the Spring 2017 edition of The Iron Warrior! Yes it’s that time of year when the mornings are crisp and the afternoons are sweet, and the University of Waterloo campus is brimming with fauna and plant life, with just a touch less of the student population. Personally, this might be my favourite term to be on campus! I love having the long sunny days when sunset does not occur until eight or nine in the evening. Biking also becomes much more enjoyable without the cold biting wind of fall or the multitude of students all across campus! Ah such is the Spring term!
I’m pleased to introduce myself as your Editor-in-Chief for this bright new term. This was a much delayed event, and I figured being Editor-In-Chief (EIC) in my 4A term alongside the beginnings of the Fourth Year Design Project might be fun (although only time will tell)! It was Caitlin McLaren (F16 Editor-in-Chief) who asked me if I would take on the mantle of Editor-In-Chief, and let me tell you, my initial response was a hesitant “I’m not sure”. The workload of being EIC has scared me off more than once before, but I have always enjoyed working for the paper. The decision to take up the role really made me look back on my time with The Iron Warrior, which I would like to share with you all now.
My journey with The Iron Warrior started in the Winter term of 2013. My roommate, former-band-mate, and high school friend Alex Lee had joined the paper and urged me to tag along with him. I was an irregular then, showing up every other meeting or so, and reading the paper with minimal contribution. Soon enough the term ended, co-op started, and The Iron Warrior faded in the distance. It was not until the Fall term of the same year that I truly got involved. Alex became Editor-in-Chief that term and further urged me to help out and contribute, and thus began my life as a Staff Writer. My first article was featured in the second issue of The Iron Warrior of Fall 2013. This debut article was for my column Hit Replay presenting the return of vinyl records into the mainstream music market. It was during this term that I discovered how much I enjoyed writing and suffice it to say, the column became a re-occurring item in the paper. Exactly a year later in the Fall term of 2014, I found myself helping out more often than not for the paper, taking on the role of Circulation Manager! It was only then that I truly realized how heavy a stack of newspapers can be when you are trying to move it from the office all the way to the V1 Cafeteria. Nonetheless, I ended up appreciating the trips to and from the different parts of campus, enough to stay in the role for every term I was on stream until today! The Fall 2014 also marked my entrance into the world of the Iron Inquisition. For most issues of that term, fellow staff writer Jessica Keung and I ran around the Engineering side of campus asking random students seemingly random questions with every issue! The perks included using The Iron Warrior’s fancy DSLR camera and receiving silly answers to our questions. It was certainly a lot of fun. The Spring of 2015 was another milestone for my journey with the paper, as it was in this term that I introduced my good friend Gaius Lucius Agrippa, consul of Rome, to The Iron Warrior. Gaius and I collaborated heavily on a column that interested us both greatly: Rome. I have to admit that term was the most I have ever contributed for the paper, with two regular columns, the Iron Inquisition, and as Circulation Manager. The enjoyment I received from being involved with the paper and working with the wonderful people that make it happen is probably what prompted me to say yes to the role of EIC, and I am sure it will be yet another milestone in this journey with The Iron Warrior!
In the few weeks that have passed I have certainly had a taste of the flurry of activity already, and I’ve definitely enjoyed my spot at the head of the table during our staff meetings. On that note, this term’s staff of The Iron Warrior look great! We welcome a few new faces this term and with them some new columns: Taylor Lindblad will be joining us with her new alternative fashion column which was a long time coming (her first article is featured in this issue); Spencer Ann Butler, a friend of mine from back in high school, joins us from UW Science & Business and also debuts in her first article in this issue; Nick Owens from 1B Mechanical is featured in this issue with his first column aptly named Electron-Nick’s; we also welcome Arianna Skirzynska from Nanotechnology into our family of Staff Writers; and last but not least look out for Sarah McCurdy who’ll be providing us some updates from WEEF. The A-Soc Exec Team will also be joining us this term for their regular updates, so be sure to give those a read!
Aside from our new writers, we also have some of your favourite columns returning this term! Donovan & Tristan are back in action with their Broskies on Brewskies column. Cameron is also returning this term with his column Space Cam; in this issue he introduces us to the world of CubeSats, which is an interesting piece of technology that makes outer-space more accessible. Gaius Lucius Agrippa is also back this term welcoming us to the customs and traditions of ancient Rome. Last but not least, Cameron once again challenges us with his much loved Iron Crossword! A special thanks also goes out to Raeesa Ashique who has tirelessly helped me out this past weekend with editing and layout.
This term is off to an exciting start. I am positive that with our current team of executives, staff writers, and contributors The Iron Warrior will be in good hands. As a team, we are always looking to improve and change how things can be done for the better. Personally, I believe in being in a state of constant improvement, and I encourage the paper as a whole to challenge where we are now and to try new things and reach more milestones. It has certainly been a wonderful experience to see and be a part of the growth and evolution of The Iron Warrior in the past four to five years, and I am as excited now as I was when I first joined it, perhaps even more so. This term, under the beautiful spring weather, I hope to usher in some positive change not just within The Iron Warrior but to all those that we as an organization reach. Continuing in our efforts to reach a wider audience and be more inclusive, we have invited students and friends outside of the faculty of engineering to be involved with The Iron Warrior and write for us. This term, we are also looking to get more students’ voices heard by encouraging one-shot article submissions (We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to send us an article!). We are looking to take advantage of this Spring term and reach new heights! Spring is, after all, a season of growth and change, is it not?
On this topic of growth, I would like to extend a warm invitation to everyone out there that we are actively recruiting! We currently have a few vacant spots on our team, and we always love to feature the student body’s work. If you are interested in writing, doing layout, etc. for The Iron Warrior—especially if you’re a first-year—feel free to come by. As some of our staff graduates every year, we are always looking for fresh blood to join our ranks. So if you want to work with us, or even if you haven’t made up your mind but are interested, come to our next meeting! We hold weekly meetings every Tuesday at 1730h in our office, located at E2-2347.
Anyways, that’s all I have for this editorial, so until next time, thanks for reading! If you ever find yourself wanting to share something with us or have any questions regarding myself or The Iron Warrior as a whole, feel free to contact us at iwarrior@uwaterloo.ca.
This term, under the beautiful spring weather, I hope to usher in some positive change not just within The Iron Warrior but to all those that we as an organization reach. Continuing in our efforts to reach a wider audience and be more inclusive, I have personally invited students and friends outside of the faculty of engineering to be involved with The Iron Warrior and write for us. This term, we are also looking to get more students’ voices heard by encouraging one-shot article submissions (We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to send us an article!).
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