At a certain point in every creative endeavor, one begins to wonder whether there is any need to continue. Such a moment of doubt overtook me at some point in the last few months. It was probably late, I was probably tired, and because I was almost certainly the only person left in Columbia’s massive, 15-story International Affairs Building at the time, I was left to ponder this quandary largely by myself.

 

Of course, I do not mean to imply that the production of the fourth issue of The Birch has been a solitary effort - I have been assisted by some extraordinary editors. In fact, “assisted” is a colossal understatement, because since September, they have calmly responded to frantic e-mails, worked feverishly to meet my absurd demands, and have given me motivational speeches that would make any normal person blush.

 

Still, after twelve cups of tea and ten hours of staring at a screen to ascertain that the space between horizontal lines and photographs is consistent throughout the magazine, I have found myself occasionally overwhelmed by the methodical aspect of the job, completely forgetting its creative component.

 

Fortunately, reminders of the need to continue abound within the following pages, and I have never been disillusioned for more than a few seconds at a time. Just as our editors have done a phenomenal job in keeping me from going insane, our contributors (often, they are one and the same) have submitted work that has repeatedly motivated me to stop worrying and love the job.

 

And though The Birch is always blessed with phenomenal content, I find this issue to be particularly noteworthy, because it coincides with an important moment in Columbia University’s history: the Residency of President Václav Havel.

 

Havel’s presence on campus has given The Birch an opportunity to exhibit an unprecedented degree of relevance and currency, and hopefully, you will agree that we have managed to successfully commemorate this milestone.

 

As you read this issue, I hope that you get a sense of the excitement that has pervaded this campus in recent months. This has been a fortunate convergence of interests, and I am pleased to note that as I write this, irrelevance and futility are the furthest things from my mind.

 

Enjoy our fourth issue.

 

- Mark Krotov