Starting this week, all comments or concerns regarding this article, or any other, should be directed to Mackenzie Weinger at EIC@dailynexus.com.

Last Friday, the UCSB Press Council selected Weinger as the new editor and chief of the Daily Nexus, following her unopposed run through staff elections. Weinger, the former News Editor, will replace graduating David Ferry as the publication’s top editor and liaison to the community.

Weinger, who is currently a third-year history major, said she’s ready for the job, and has a clear vision of what the Nexus means to the community.

“At the end of the day we’re a newspaper, you know?” Weinger, who has worked at the Nexus for three years, said with an air of intellectual superiority. “We get facts, write stories and put out a newspaper every day.”

And when it comes to getting the facts right, the recently departed Ferry said, there is no one better suited for the job than Weinger, who, as a freshman, was responsible for covering Associated Students.

“I think it’s great that Mack covered A.S. for so long, because it the most important institution on campus, and an invaluable resource for students,” Ferry said. “I mean she spent countless hours covering the matters that are so incredibly important to our campus and truly has a remarkable knowledge of the Byzantine rule that is A.S.”

“With that kind of knowledge, how could she fail?” added Ferry.

But for others, including previous University News editor and former boss of Weinger, Aria Miran, it is her iron resolve, and total lack of compassion, that will help Mackenzie succeed.

“During her tenure at University desk, Mackenzie earned the nickname “Mac 10″ due to her extremely dangerous behavior and excessive love of firearms,” Miran said in a telephone interview. “These are qualities any new EIC will find helpful in ruling the Nexus with an iron fist.”

And as a former master of Taekwondo, Mac 10 said she is prepared to not only work with the staff, but to take matters into her own hands if need be, and even mentioned “the monitored use of firearms.”

For Ferry, who was largely unable to motivate his staff and even managed to oversee the loss of the Friday paper, this is a quality not seen in many.

“I think Mack will be in line with other great leaders from history,” Ferry said. “I’m thinking people like the iron fisted Margaret Thatcher or the pragmatic neoconservatives. Even Mussolini comes to mind, but I don’t know if I want to go that far.”

But for others, including one staff member who wished to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job, Mac 10’s hardnosed approach is cause for concern.

“Mackenzie made a fine News Editor, although I was highly concerned with her extensive holocaust research – I’m still waiting for the war crime charges to be brought,” said the anonymous source, who was unable to elaborate.

Nonetheless, Mac 10 has lofty goals for the Nexus, including vastly increasing web content and the return of Friday’s paper, which was lost due to budget concerns.

“Thanks to the lock-in fee passed by the students this Spring, the Daily Nexus will be bringing back five days of hard hitting news,” Weinger said. She failed to mention, however, whether this hard hitting coverage would be five days a week, or simply five days spread out over the year.