Eukaryon

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Dear Readers,

If asked in one word to describe the recipe to this issue’s success, I would respond─”teamwork.”

This year, exciting additions spiced up Eukaryon. We expanded our board to include members from majors outside of the sciences, added a new position of Publication Associate Chair, increased the academic diversity of the journal, and met all of our goals, while maintaining the high quality established by our predecessors. All of this was accomplished through cooperation between Eukaryon’s members, making this difficult process smooth while keeping discipline in regard to deadlines. So what is all of this bragging about?

One of our goals for the year was to try to include submissions from as many classes as we could.  We were able to accomplish this task through adding new categories to the journal. One of the most important additions is the category titled “Beyond Papers.” This section is a place to showcase posters and PowerPoint presentations, which are often the only course assignments. This year, the category includes posters from five different classes ranging from 100-level to 300-level courses. However, this was not the end to our innovations. We added a new category for features articles, called “Expanding Horizons,” and a creative writing section. Furthermore, this edition allowed us to reach out to other majors, particularly psychology and neuroscience.

This year, we wanted to stay true to our tradition but add our own flavor, and we accomplished this by inviting an alumnus, Katrina Brandis ‘06, as our annual inauguration speaker. Katrina was the first Editor in Chief of Eukaryon, and she will be speaking about the cardiovascular research that she has been conducting for the Molecular Cell Biology PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis.  Moreover, the return of the former editor and her research inspired the theme of this year’s journal, “Parts of a Whole”, which is superbly illustrated by the artwork of Samantha Pinto ‘13. The theme demonstrates that, like a healthy heart that requires all its parts to function effectively, a successful publication depends on all parts of the journal-making process to come together, forming a ‘whole’.  

In the spirit of tradition, we repeated a survey conducted two years ago to evaluate our accomplishments and to get ideas for future improvements. We performed a longitudinal study and found that, while Eukaryon helped to aid the science curriculum and develop skills of board staff, the journal’s perception among biology majors still has room for improvement. Thus, the future goals include working hard to engage more students and increase knowledge about Eukaryon. Eventually, these assessments will be the backbone of a paper submitted to a national journal to inform the scientific community about our accomplishments and serve as model for other colleges. 

Throughout Eukaryon’s journey, the kind words we have received justify all of the hard work. However, to hear positive feedback from the Associated Colleges of Midwest reviewers, which assessed our biology department last fall, is a great honor.  Knowing that other colleges are considering our publication as an ideal model for building a student-run journal is motivational and encourages us to keep creating. I would like to thank members of Eukaryon, the foundation of your journal, for your dedication and enthusiasm. Moreover, I would like to thank the board’s chairs for making the process more joyful than stressful through the environment centered on teamwork. Thank you Keith Solvang and the Review Board for completing the review process by the middle of winter break, allowing Copy-Editing to do its job. Thank you Natalie Simak and the Copy-Editing Board for your thorough assessment of the articles, minimizing the grammatical mistakes. Thank you Brittany Stern, Madhavi Senagolage, and the Publication Board for composing the print and online versions of our journal. Thank you to Saajidha Rizvydeen for leading the Features Board and all feature writer volunteers for improving the quality of our features articles. A special thank you to Dawn Abt-Perkins, Professor of Education and Director of Writing Center, and Lindsey Drakert, Media and Marketing Coordinator, for conducting training sessions for feature writers, which has already marked a vast improvement in the articles. Furthermore, a big thank you to Dr. Shubhik DebBurman for advising Eukaryon for the past two consecutive years. Most importantly, I would like to thank the reader for your interest in our journal; your appreciation makes the process worthwhile.

Next year, Eukaryon will have to face new challenges.  The past year is marked by a very important event for Lake Forest College─ expansion of the student body. This means that Lake Forest College will have an increase of the inflow of talented, motivated students interested in the sciences. Eukaryon’s challenge will be to figure out ways to appeal to the new student body and to the prospective students. Also, we hope to expand Eukaryon to other majors such as Environmental Studies. Today, I can certainly say that Eukaryon has cemented itself in the Biology department; now, the boundaries of our success are dependent only on our hard work and dedication, a seven-year ripened recipe for success.   

Sincerely,

Alina Konnikova

Editor-in-Chief ’10-‘11