OtherPress. Room 1020-700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 TELEPHONE: 604.525.3542 WEBSITE: theotherpress.ca EMAIL: editor@theotherpress.ca STAFF LIST Natalie Serafini Editor-in-Chief Meditor@theotherpress.ca Eric Wilkins Assistant Editor Massistant@theotherpress.ca Angela Ho Business Manager Chandler Walter Distribution Manager Mike LeMieux Layout Manager Joel McCarthy Graphics Manager Cara Seccafien Production Assistant Ed Appleby IHustrator Jony Roy Social Media Coordinator Angela Espinoza News Editor Minews@theotherpress.ca Now Hiring! Staff Reporter Cheryl Minns Arts Editor Marts@theotherpress.ca Chitwan Khosla Features Editor Mfeatures@theotherpress.ca Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Elliot Chan Opinions Editor Mopinions@theotherpress.ca Sharon Miki Humour Editor Mhumour@theotherpress.ca Staff Writers Alex Stanton Cazzy Lewchuk Mercedes Deutscher Senior Columnists Allie Davison Contributor Koy Tayler William Sexspeare KP Davis 4 es a The write idea here comes a point in every Other Press Editor- in-Chief’s career when they get a little bit burnt out and exhausted, and the weekly writing of a 500-or-so-word Lettit or becomes increasingly daunting. I feel I reached that point months ago, and have attempted to truck along as though I have all the inspo in the world. : how they struggled to come up with content for the opening : page of the paper. One of : them talked about how the : openness of being able to write : about anything you want was : inevitably paralyzing. Another : went through a list of Lettitors : that never were, because he : decided that trying to write : them was an exercise in futility. You may have noticed, if you : struggle, some writing several : editorials on their inability to : think of something to write : about. expression of “Uhhh, ya think?” : : EICs encounter this difficulty, : because I'd say that none of : us are short on opinions—in : fact, the last two at the OP have : been Opinions Editors. While I : think that a large part of it is the : daunting “write what you want” : aspect, there’s also the fact that : writing the Lettitor is about the : last thing you think about after : all of the other administrative to-dos. consistently read my Lettitors, a bit of a theme. I imagine our Assistant Editor, Eric Wilkins, raising his eyebrows in an but that theme is feminism and gender relations. In my defence, I'm a gender relations major at Simon Fraser University, so it’s totally acceptable that I have a one-track writing mind, right? (Not really, but whatevah I do what I want.) Basically, feminism is my go-to topic because it gets me riled up and I find it easiest to write about— it’s like my comfort blanket. I remember reading previous Lettitors from previous EICs, talking about © Getloknowus! © The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We area registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member ofthe Canadian University Press (CUP), asyndicate of student newspapers that includes papers who also experience this It’s weird that I and other I would love it (and I’m sure Wilkins would as well) if : | were submitting my Lettitor The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during papers from all across Canada. : early on in the week, rather : than remembering that I have : to write it midway through and : then procrastinating for a few : days. But inspiration rarely : strikes, I put things off while : : ’'m working through homework : : or responding to emails, and : before you know it I’m writing : another piece on feminism, : clinging to my metaphorical : I've spoken with EICs from other : : harried process of writing these comfort blanket. : It’s shitty, but chasing words : and blank pages is something : most writers deal with. The : problem is that inspiration : usually doesn’t strike, and you : can’t expect it to. Writing is : sweating it out and labouring — : : over a piece until is fully formed, : : or at least reasonably ready for : print. When I was Opinions : Editor, that meant that I would : spend hours poring through : the news to see what struck me : as particularly interesting and : controversial, or free-writing to : find something that annoyed : me. Even then, I often turned to : : issues of feminism and animal: : rights—clearly, I’ve come so far. Honestly though, the Screenshot of ‘The Shining’ : weekly editorials probably isn’t : going to change. I take pride in : my Lettitors, and in choosing : topics that I feel strongly about : and that I think might have : an impact on readers; but the nature of the job is that Lettitors are the least of the work. : Sometimes that shows—as in : this Lettitor—and other times I : think all the research, writing, : and editing that I put into these editorials shows. There is no nugget of wisdom or advice to this; just : an acknowledgement that : writing is hard, you do the best ; you can, sometimes you flop, : and sometimes you manage to scrape together a meaningful : piece of writing. Other times, you write an entire Lettitor : about how hard writing is— : fortunately, the Lettitor’s really the only place you can do that. Whatevah, I do what I want. Hello gorgeous, Natali Scrafind Editor-in-Chief @ theotherpress.ca The Other Press reserves the right to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. 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