It is hard to believe that another term has come and gone, and the IW team has once again managed to publish five excellent newspapers. I hope the Iron Warrior has been a good source of distractions during those boring lectures we all avoid, and maybe even been a little informative, but I won’t get my hopes up.
In addition to producing five newspapers over the last twelve weeks the IW has also had another project on the go, archiving the old copies of the newspaper. This project is extremely important as the newspaper is really one of the only records of the history of the Engineering Society and the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Every paper that we have on file has been packaged and labelled so that each can be identified easily. This has actually been a big problem in the past it seems, as every society used a different numbering convention, a different layout and even different sized papers.
Unfortunately the inconsistency in numbering (and even the practice of putting a date on the paper) has led to some questions with cateloguing – did the group publish five issues that term or only three, are we missing some? To solve this problem I have started the process of contacting previous editors to see if they can shed some light on their publication schedule and if they actually have any copies of their own issues in storage (I know I will).
One of my big goals this term has been to try and promote a better relationship between both A-Soc and B-Soc IW teams, and I hope I have taken some steps towards that goal. I have tried to encourage new writers to continue writing once they switch societies, as well as continuing columns across societies. Next term, any B-Soc people who want to write, contact Chris Letnick with your ideas. Having done most of my co-op terms in KW I have been able to participate in many A-Soc events over the years and have had a ton of fun – maybe that has something to do with not having class the next day, or assignments due, so try and get involved wherever you are for co-op. I will be in KW for the winter term, and look forward to seeing all of my A-Soc friends and joining in on Pubcrawls (why they all happened on IW production weekends this term is beyond me). As an aside to Chris Letnick, the incoming EIC for the Winter term, if you need any help I will be around on weekends, so just say the word – and you will have a Future of Gaming article every issue.
Now, on to the staff appreciation section of the editorial. This paper would not be possible without the amazing group of people that come up with ideas, write the articles and help with production weekends. I have to mention a couple people by name who have gone above and beyond this term. First of all is Kevin Veloso who has been in the office for every single production weekend this term. He has been able to help with both writing articles and fixing computer problems (because of him the FTP connection for the website is working again) and a big contribution to copy editing.
Another big help has been Jacob Terry, who has also been in the office for almost every production weekend. He has balanced his busy schedule while also having a life and still contributing a huge amount to the paper. Jacob has written many articles this term, competing in a hopefully friendly competition with Angelo for the Iron Pen, but more on that later.
Another big contributer has been Anish Bhutani, who has written several PCP articles this term as well as the often difficult PD related articles. His camera guy creepiness has been a great fixture in the office – though his annoying abandoned phone ringing continuously until we found it was a little annoying.
Previous editors like Angelo Alaimo, Cailin Hillier, Trevor Jenkins, and Kevin Ling have also been there for advice and when I needed a 250 word article ASAP really early in the morning. I also want to mention the great number of first years, and other new writers who have joined the writing team for the paper this term. Some have even started new columns that I hope will continue into the future.
While not a part of the IW team, I also want to thank my class for putting up with my absenteeism and vacant looks as I’ve been thinking about the newspaper at all hours of the day. I will be out of zombie mode next term, I promise.
So, on to the awards. The first award is the Iron Pen, which is awarded to the staff member who has contributed the highest quantity of published content to the IW. This term there has been quite a contest going on between Angelo Alaimo and Jacob Terry. Each issue these two have written any article I asked them to, in addition to writing their own articles (or in the case of Jacob, his column as well). In this case I wish I could give both of them the award, but here is is purely about the numbers and only one person can have the highest wordcount at the end of the term. So, the winner is…. drumroll please (and don’t read ahead) Angelo Alaimo. After writing over 12,300 words this term, Angelo has achieved the IW trifecta, getting his name on all three plaques for Iron Pen, Editor’s Award, and Editor-In-Chief.
The Editor’s award goes to the person who has “distinguished themselves through dedication, commitment, and contribution to the Iron Warrior.” This term the Editor’s awards go to two people who have contributed a huge amount of their time to the paper, and have been a constant help throughout the term. I am pleased to give the awards to both Kevin Veloso and Jacob Terry, both of whom I have already talked about. Both of them have been a great help, and I am truly grateful.
Again, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the paper this term. That includes staff writers, contributors, and everybody who has submitted an idea or shouted them at me in the hallway.
I want to end by thanking the past editors and contributors who will be graduating this Winter term. To all the 2012s, good luck with your 4B term and I hope to see you out at the pubcrawls next term. Every September there is a constant influx of new engineers who join the faculty and see the Iron Warrior newspaper for the first time (realising how much better than the Imprint it is) and work up the courage to step into their first meeting. But every winter we lose the seasoned veterans, some of whom have been writing for the paper for years, and suddenly that column you love to read is gone. That is when the next editor needs to find the next columnists and recruit a whole new group of people – so that is my segue into naming the next B-Soc Editor-in-Chief of the Iron Warrior…. drumroll… Jacob Terry has been an amazing contributor since he started writing for the paper, and we all look forward to seeing what you will bring to the newspaper this summer. Good luck, have fun, and try not to fail the term, just kidding. But really, don’t fail.
So that’s it for my term. So long and thanks for all the fish.
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