The importance of student media: The story “Nexus Managing Editor has seen it all” in this issue profiled our then-managing editor Barbara Risto (who I wrote for at Nexus when I was a Camosun student). In the piece, Risto says that “When I’m gone, the paper will still be here. The Nexus is more important than students realize—it consistently links students and campuses to one another.” She goes on to add that “Without the Nexus there is no viable accountability—the paper is the watchdog on governing bodies on campus such as the college administration and the student society.” These are words as true today as they were then.
Craft beer then, craft beer now: We love beer at Nexus: see our feature story this issue on page 6 for a sudsy example of that. But I’m almost surprised that our review of The Great Canadian Beer Fest in this issue featured reviews of a coffee ale and a smoked porter: I love drinks like that, and didn’t really realize they had been around for so long. You learn something new (about beer) every day at Nexus.
Online not optional: I’m also almost surprised that 25 years ago we saw the internet as something more than just frivolous fun, but the story “Computer crash mars Open House,” which detailed how crashed computer systems ruined part of Camosun’s 25th anniversary, featured the rather ominous line “The explosive growth in internet users over the past year or so demonstrates people are beginning to see these services not as a luxury anymore, but as a necessity.” I’d say that, yup, considering I can barely make it two minutes without going online for something in my work day here in 2021, it’s a necessity now.