THE TRADESMAN

Volume 10 No. 1

-- A NEWSPAPER by and for DIMAN STUDENTS --

March, 2006

To the Editors:

As an alumni of Diman and a former Editor-in-Chief of The Tradesman I would like to comment on an article the newspaper ran in its first edition. The article about the Drafting shop did not, in my opinion, tell enough about what drafters do and their importance to design and engineering departments.

While knowing how to work a drafting board and t-square is a dying art, the skills taught in drafting are important. Having worked as a drafter at Lightolier in Fall River for a year and half, I'm grateful for the solid foundation in drafting that I got from the Drafting program. The skills taught in Drafting are also a good springboard for moving on to college to take up engineering. Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, and Design Engineering are some of the many engineering programs that a drafting graduate would likely excel in.

I know that many students don't understand what the Drafting shop does. Unlike some of Diman's other programs like Culinary Arts, Plumbing, and Carpentry, the name Drafting isn't that self-explanatory. Mr. Belliveau, the Freshman/Sophomore Instructor, tells a story to his students about a student a few years back that thought the Drafting shop had something do with the draft that the army use to conduct. Many students don't like the idea of the Drafting shop because you have to sit all day and don't get to bang on anything or light anything on fire. However, some students don't realize that drafting has an effect on their lives everyday. Every piece of machinery, every building, every electronic device you buy in the store has had its design pass through the hands of a drafter. Without drafters to make the drawings, some of the world's greatest designs would have stayed floating around in the head of some engineer.

I'll finish by commending the newspaper for the job well done. Keep up the good work and The Tradesman will continue to rise to be one of Diman's great achievements.

Regards,
Aaron Pacheco

Aaron Pacheco is a 2005 Diman alum and he was the Editor-in-Chief of The Tradesman during the 2004-05 academic year