by Sonja Szlovicsak (Editor-in-Chief)
Email:cascade.chief [at] ufv.ca
In light of the fact that our illustrious premier has resigned, I thought I, too, should sit down, do some soul searching, talk to my family, and decide what would be best for the Cascade.
Just like Gordon, I’ve decided to step down. Unlike Gordon, I’m not jumping ship because I ran the Cascade into the ground. No, there have been no tricky HST or Basi-Virk scandals here – unfortunately. (Although there have been plenty of turtles.) Instead, my term is up and I won’t be at UFV long enough to complete a second term.
I’m not sure if Mr. Campbell will stick around to train his successor. I, however, will not abandon the Cascade entirely. I will not take any plum positions with Cascade sponsors, even though that is extremely tempting. I won’t rule out the idea of a tell-all memoir 10 or 15 years from now. But since the Cascade’s Editor-in-Chief’s term is only a year, I don’t think it will be quite as long or interesting Gordon’s will be.
Now I’m sure your wondering who my replacement will be. Will the new Editor-in-Chief be a Carole Taylor-esque financial maven? A future Diane Watts political hero? Or perhaps it will be a steady but boring Kevin Falcon type. You’ll have to tune in next week to find out.
I think it’s important to focus on the great successes the Cascade has had over the past year.
Well, for starters, Jed Minor from Production did a fabulous redesign of the paper. When we went to a national conference for student newspapers, he got a big thumbs at our layout critique.
Speaking of the look of the paper, it finally looks like a real newspaper. There are fancy pictures, great content, and plenty of UFV news.
We also, finally, have a website that is updated regularly. Jed spearheaded its development, and Nick Ubels, our Online Editor, has made the website easy to use, look good, and keeps the content coming on a regular basis. And he brings in content that just won’t work in a newspaper.
By far the biggest achievement of the past year has been getting most content in on time. I think all the section editors and staff writers deserve a huge round of applause for that. Our new Copy Editor, Chris Bonshor, has been absolutely, unbelievably wonderful when it comes to katching mistaces. And, as always, our Production Manager Randona Bushell has been a steady rock for the paper.
Finally, if you’ll allow me a personal note, I want to thank my family – especially my wife Nancy – er, my boyfriend Ryan. Student newspapers can be a hectic business, and I missed a number of dates because we were behind on production.
I have always felt that student newspapers are important. They define what we are as students, and UFVers.