Livic, the civil engineering newspaper of Imperial College, is now three years old. The fourteenth edition has just been published and I have to say it is the best one yet. With this edition, current editor Andrew Kosinski’s last one of the year, it is clear that it is really starting to achieve the things that I always hoped it would.
Inspired by the student newspapers that I had seen in the States, I stood in 2004 for the CivSoc post of Livic editor. At the time, the paper was but a biannual sheet of A3 paper stuck on the department wall, nothing more. (The name Livic comes from Civil spelled backwards – a previous incarnation had apparently been called ‘Concrete’ – catchy huh?) My hope was to turn Livic into a regular student newspaper much like those that I had seen abroad. Kosinski has been onboard since the beginning, realising on paper what had previously only been an idea.
I had several goals in mind when starting out. The first was to encourage student writing. It had struck me that there were precious few creative outlets at Imperial and so I hoped to add at least one to that impovrished list. The second was to encourage staff contributions, and in doing so, improve communication within the department. I had the impression at the time that there was little awareness of the research that went on in the department, and I thought that Livic could help. Finally, a slick looking paper with a broad readership, it was hoped, would attract advertising from industry which might at the very least have paid for printing, and more ambitiously, go a little way towards boosting CivSoc’s budget.
In that first year, we made some progress towards reaching those goals. For starters, some forty students contributed articles on a wide range of subjects. What was difficult was trying to get reporters to write articles that went into any depth. I seem to remember there being some staff writing, but calls for articles often went unheard, or weren’t followed up. We did manage to break a couple of important departmental news stories (the Creative Resign article being one memorable example), but these were by no means exclusives.
By comparison, the Livic of today has come a long way. The articles are much more in depth and they cover a wide range of topics. An important story about the future of the course is on the front page and inside there are staff contributions as well a revealing interview with a lecturer. All in all it is cracking read! It is also interesting to see how the layout has changed with time. It keeps getting slicker. I am certain the Arup were more than happy to place an advert I such a classy publication.
When I was editor, sure I had ideas, but I didn’t have the first clue about how to realise them on paper. Luckily there was Kosinski who did. Both the subsequent editors, Alex Morris last year and Kosinski this year, have not only had the ideas but have also had the skills necessary to assemble the paper on the screen. And I think it is these two skills combined with a desire to say something and knowing how to say it, that are now pre-requisites of a Livic editor, a role which three years ago was somewhat of a joke position on the committee.
And so what of the future? As of next year, the first three editors will all have left the department. There is always the fear that one day Livic will fizzle out for lack of enthusiasm, and it does take enthusiasm to get something like this out of the door. But with fourteen issues in the bag, Livic has now got momentum. Elections have just been held for the post of next year’s editor. I wish him or her luck and I look forward to seeing Livic’s continuing evolution.
Access Livic online here.
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