parting shots

Maliya V. Ellis, FM Chair, 149:

The psychedelics scrut was the first scrut Maliya ever edited — though I didn’t know, since she had an answer to every question, and somehow made the messiest paragraphs and sections coherent and articulate. I vividly remember walking back from the Signet with Maliya at 4 a.m. in the rain after finishing the scrut, exhausted but also the most elated I’ve ever been. This semester, Maliya also edited the energy scrut, handling every curveball with patience and brilliance. So thank you – I hope you know how much your editing has meant to writers.

Maliya’s contributions to FM extend far beyond scruts, but are too numerous to list here. So for now, a few thank yous: Thank you for being the best comp director. Thank you for fun at Fringe Prom. Thank you for sharing your dad’s cookies with us. You’ve been an amazing chair — any success next year will be because we get to follow your example. We will miss you!

Io Y. Gilman, FM Chair, 150:

In Greek mythology, Io is a princess who goes to great lengths to escape Hera’s wrath — walking thousands of miles across Eurasia, crossing the Ionian Sea, and swimming the Bosphorus strait to reach Egypt.

I can’t speculate on the Gilmans’ naming philosophy, but in my experience with Io Y. Gilman ’25, I can’t help but see parallels. I know IYG will go to great lengths for this silly little magazine — because she already has.

She’s written two kickass scruts on psychedelics and energy (and one scrutling on Avi Loeb!), toughing it out many late nights and handling last-minute editing demands with patience and poise. She’s a bold, fearless reporter — rumor has it she nearly hopped a fence just for an accurate description of the Allston District Energy Facility, but you didn’t hear it from me. As an editor and proofer, she’s equal parts fastidious and compassionate — the comments she leaves on writers’ drafts are among the sweetest I’ve read.

Last spring, Io and I finally exited the Signet at 4 a.m. after a long scrut editing session — and walked straight into the pouring rain. As she does, Io took even that comically-unfortunate situation in stride; she was all smiles as we ran down Mt. Auburn together, dodging raindrops.

Io: Believe me when I say I can’t imagine a more competent, caring, and yes, warm, leader than you to take over this magazine. Godspeed!

— MVE

Sophia S. Liang, FM Chair, 149:

I should be more nervous for the coming year. Somehow, I will need to balance a 15- to 30-hour workload on top of classes and edit pieces again and again (and again). But really, what I’m most nervous about is how I can possibly fill in Sophia’s footsteps. Armed with baked goods and affirmations, she can tell you exactly what your piece needs, whether it’s a philosophical examination of its reported subject or a semicolon. And she can do it on top of writing two theses, CAing, and managing a more-thanfull courseload.

I could dedicate a scrutiny to examining the many ways her leadership has improved FM, so instead, I’ll describe the extent to which she has improved my writing. She has sat with me through late nights (early mornings), reshuffling grafs and smoothing transitions. Her thorough editing and keen eye have allowed me to publish the pieces I’m proudest of, and it is largely thanks to her that I know anything about journalistic storytelling.

Simply put, SSL embodies everything a student magazine can hope to be, and she has the Warhol wig to show for it.

— AHL

Amber H. Levis, FM Chair, 150: — scan for solutions: