Editor’s Letter: R. v. Science

A justice gavel and the Earth.
Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons

I realize that the Science and Engineering column probably appeals to a relatively niche and predictable demographic. And to a certain extent, I guess that’s fair. But I’m here to plead my case that the impact and relevance of science are sociopolitical, cultural, and so inescapable that it’s probably worth keeping up with the major breakthroughs. Don’t worry, we’re not planning on just summarizing and regurgitating recent research publications. The best thing about Trinity Times consisting of student voices is that we can provide perspectives and interpretations you may not find elsewhere. We’re here to unpack the controversies, novel findings, ethical implications, popular theories, and astonishing technologies. 

My name is Anisha Rajaselvam, and I’m so excited to be returning as your senior editor for the Science and Engineering column this year. Our goal is to make science more accessible: science in the media can feel foreign or elitist or boring or just so far removed from our daily lives. And while I’m not going to claim that we have the ultimate solution to this phenomenon, I think we have a few factors working in our favour. 

First, our pieces are written by students. I mentioned this earlier, and you still might be wondering why you should care. Seeing topics through the eyes of your peers should significantly lower the perceived accessibility barrier. While a lot of our writers are pursuing degrees in the sciences, we’re all still students. We are unlikely to be as technical or jargon-heavy as an established expert in the field — which isn’t to imply that top scientists can’t communicate effectively with a more general audience. I actually feel the best researchers are often the ones that make their work and its impact feel easy to grasp. There’s an undeniable benefit to having writers still learning about the field and going through the same academic journey as you (or some less pretentious way of suggesting that, while we might be in different realms of academia, the student experience has some irrefutable commonalities). It’s almost a polished version of your friend in a completely different program telling you about something cool they learned in class. Despite not having all the same context they do, you get a glimpse into an interesting part of their field. 

This leads me to the second factor: everything in the Trinity Times is written for students. Together, our writers and editors decide not only what topics we think you would find relevant, but how we can present them to you in a way that’s engaging. We’ll structure the articles as debates or opinions or some underappreciated narrative or anything that’s more exciting than how people typically imagine science being presented (ie. check out this graph). And since we’re writing these pieces for all of you, we also try to provide you with links back to politics, economics, issues of human rights and social justice, culture, religion, and any other aspects of our lives that could be impacted by the topic at hand. 

And there’s my segue into the final factor: we’ve entered an intensely interdisciplinary era. No field can comfortably exist in isolation anymore. Regardless of what you’re studying and what you hope to do with the rest of your life, science will inevitably be involved in some capacity. It really can’t hurt to try to stay in the loop. With that, I guess I’ll rest my case and leave you to be judge, jury, and executioner. I’m wishing you all an incredible academic year and hope you’ll check out our column when you find a minute. We’re so excited to bring you the best of science and engineering. 

All the best,

Anisha Rajaselvam (she/her)
Science Senior Editor 2024-2025