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IRO issues inaugural publication

The International Relations Organization held an inaugural ceremony last night in Jefferson Hall to introduce the first edition of the Wilson Journal of International Affairs.

"Other institutions of equal or even less caliber have publications of this sort so it was a shame for the University not to have its own international affairs publication," said fourth-year College student Omeed Jafari, who pioneered the journal while doing independent study research last spring.

The journal is now one of two publications at the University that showcases undergraduate research.

"[Jafari] thought that the International Relations Organization could do a better job at enabling the student body to express their interest about international affairs," IRO President Laura Fairneny said.

The ceremony's speakers included Fairneny, journal Editor-in-Chief Kurt Mitman and keynote speaker Michael J. Smith, a politics professor and the director of the Political and Social thought program.

Smith spoke on the importance of having an outlet through which students can turn discussion into more significant forms of literature.

He commented on the significance and legacy of Woodrow Wilson, the namesake of the journal.

"Wilson cared about the expression of ideas through people and debate, and about our world and the value of scholarship and its contribution to it," Smith said.

He also brought up future challenges the new journal faces in making sure that it embraces not only distinct points of view from around the University, but also distinct world views.

Besides Jafari, Mitman and former IRO president Dave Buckley contributed to the journal's creation.

To fund the journal, the IRO applied to the Parent's Program, a committee of non-alumni parents that raises about $600,000 a year and supports 60 different programs, Program Director Jackie Ashton said.

"Without the Parent's Program we could not have made the journal," Mitman said.

With the help of the Parent's Program, the group received $5,000 for computers, software and printing costs.

"The reasons it appealed to the committee was that it was a new initiative, and they were looking to us for some seed money," Ashton said. "Also, currently there is only one other journal of undergraduate research at the University."

Sixteen articles were submitted, while six were published covering topics including Israeli nuclear policy to the war on terrorism in the Philippines.

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