GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! The first issue of the Spring term is finally out and there is no looking back. Undoubtedly this newspaper is not perfect, but I am proud of all the hard work The Iron Warrior staff has put into this issue. My name is Lucas Hudson, the 128th Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of The Official University of Waterloo Engineering Society newspaper: The Iron Warrior. First off, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the newspaper. I would like thank my column writers, who have committed themselves to bringing you at least one article each issue, highlighting a wide range of topics. I wish to point to a column that I think will bring much needed insight into the health and wellness of our engineering minds and bodies; Anjali Gopal’s “Engineering Wellness”. Keeping our minds and bodies fit is very important and I look forward to reading more of Anjali’s column. Another article I would like to promote is written by Leah Kristufek and it is one that I promised to publish ever since I found out I was going to be EiC late last Fall. The article of which I speak is titled “How NOT to Get Your Bike Stolen”. It is a quick read, full of tips on how to keep your two-wheeled mode of transportation safe all year round. My last reading suggestions for this issue come from our lovely A-Soc Execs. With only a little bit of harassing and public humiliations, all the Execs submitted their reports in on time. I feel confident that our Execs this term will do a great job and I look forward to seeing how the term progresses. Of course, all the other articles in the newspaper are excellent and equally worth your attention and I couldn’t have put together this wonderful tome without the help of everyone. It is not just those who write I would like to thank, but I would also like to point out that just as much work goes into editing each article, editing photos, and placing them into the newspaper. If I haven’t said it enough already, here it is one more time. THANK YOU!
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of my first letter from the editor, I would like to remind our readers that The Iron Warrior office has moved from our cozy space in E2 2349A to the much more spacious E2 2347. Please, drop by whenever you want, if the door is open you will most likely find me there. I always have time to talk and look forward to meeting some of you! Of course, if you want to schedule a meeting with me, you can contact me at iwarrior@uwaterloo.ca or call (519) 888-4567 ext. 32693 and we can arrange something. Now with these logistics out of the way, lets move on to something more interesting.
With the change in location, a desire to change other things gets ignited. The Iron Warrior’s article submission process is less than efficient, our website has many aspects that could be improved or revamped altogether and putting the newspaper together with InDesign sometimes feels like a chore. Obviously, these are not things that concern the average reader, but improving the website or our process can only improve the quality of the newspaper. My goal for the term is to make the production process a little smoother and replace a lot of the tedious copy and paste with computer scripts. I would also like to involve the reader in discussions: I don’t want the newspaper to be a one-way street of information, I’d rather it be an interaction between the people who write the articles and those who read them. I encourage everyone reading to write into the newspaper, iwarrior@uwaterloo.ca, and present your feedback on an article written in this issue of the The Iron Warrior. I would live to hear what you have to think about what we write. You can also ‘Like’ us on Facebook (facebook.com/TheIronWarrior). I encourage you to start a discussion there as well. The Iron Warrior is also on Twitter (@TheIronWarrior), unfortunately, we had lost access to it for sometime. I have just recovered the password and our web editors, Anjida and Nachiket, will keep you up-to-date throughout the term on both Facebook and Twitter. With social media becoming a bigger and bigger aspects in each of our lives, I want the newspaper to catch up with technology. The Iron Warrior is also in the initial discussions about starting a YouTube channel. I believe we will start out small, making quick videos about how production weekend runs and making “The Iron Inquisition” into a video segment along with its usually back page print. The YouTube channel may not be launched this term, but, it is something that excites me and I look forward to seeing what we can do with it.
In all honesty, I have not been very involved in the Engineering Society prior to this term. The previous term I had helped staff Novelties, the amazing EngSoc swag shop, but that was the extent of my commitment. Running the newspaper requires me to know a lot about what’s going on around campus, especially within Engineering. I couldn’t see a better excuse to dive head first into the inner workings of EngSoc. Speaking of which, I attended my first EngSoc meeting as a class representative, it was a meeting to be remembered. The main highlight of the meeting was a proposal put forward to decouple the governing documents of the Engineering Society. I will not pretend to comprehend the full implications of what decoupling our governing documents means, but what I do know is that this is a very controversial topic, one that will need much discussion. You can be guaranteed that a following issue of The Iron Warrior will be host to a discussion on this topic. In the meantime, while all intentions and facts are presented, please, discuss this topic in a civil and respectful manner. I do not believe our EngSoc president, David Birnbaum, or our Execs would promote something they think would be detrimental to our Society. On the other hand, many people seem to think that decoupling would lead to a more divisive EngSoc. I cannot truly tell you what the results would be. With all that in mind, I hope everyone respects each other’s opinion and we can all have a discussion rather than a shouting match.
One thing that promotes healthy discussion is mutual respect, something the engineering populous struggles with. I don’t mean just between Engineering and other faculties but among engineering disciplines. How often do you hear fellow engineers solely because of what discipline they are in? For me it has been too many times, in fact, at one point I was one of those people. This lack of interdisciplinary respect for one another does nothing but create a divide within engineering, eventually leading to stereotypes and people saying things like “X engineers aren’t real engineers”. If you have made the same mistake, as I have in the past, and looked down on other engineering groups, I urge you rethink your attitudes towards your peers. We can only grow stronger if we are united, and we can only be united if we stand together. Just because a certain group doesn’t take Thermo 3 or C programming doesn’t mean they are any less of an Engineering student.
That brings me to inter-faculty respect; respect between Engineering and other faculties. While we like to boast that “Engineers Rule the World”, one cannot deny that the world could not rule on Engineers alone. During Orientation week, we seem to put on a façade Every faculty “loves” each other, we pronounce to the heavens our admiration, only to spit at their name behind their backs. Many great things were created by engineers and non-engineers alike. It surely wasn’t a full team of engineers that created shows like Game of Thrones or Archer. It was a team, consisting of people from many disciplines coming together to make something great. So, why don’t we jump off our engineering high horse and remember where we should stand; arm in arm with the rest of the University community. I wish I didn’t have to write about mutual respect but, unfortunately, I feel it is needed.
One last time, I would like to thank you for reading The Iron Warrior. It is a great honour to work with such an amazing team, and they deserve a huge thanks. A special thank you to Ioana, Kate, Nachiket, Leah, Nancy, Jacob, Joshua and anyone else I failed to mention for your help over the long weekend and for keeping me sane. One down, four to go. I feel like if I blink, I might miss the term altogether. Don’t Forget To Be Awesome (DFTBA).
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