Live, Learn and Figure It Out:

I've debated with myself for months now on whether or not I should write this article. I'm still not entirely sure that I want to, but it's Saturday, and I have nothing else on my mind, so I guess I'm reluctantly going with this. In the simplest way put, I don't think that the school newspaper gets a lot of respect. It doesn't matter how much we strive to make drastic improvements or how much time we spend down in the office-until the early morning hours on most nights-we just don't get it. And the sad part is, I don't think the respect is coming very soon either. Recently, I was told that next year would bring some changes to the publications area below Charlie's. My initial reaction was, "alright, I'll be out of here, so it doesn't affect me." But the problem is that it does affect my staff and the future of an organization that I think is important to this school. For those that don't know by now-nothing is a secret at this school-these changes consist of renovating the entire publications office and making multiple smaller offices for the Student Activities to come downstairs.

Let me be the first to say how much I think this is a great idea. The work that is done in that small, jam-packed space upstairs by Lili Zannotti, Sara Swillo and Eric Swindle is so important to the school and the students. They are all wonderful people that bring so much to the table, and they deserve to have more space to run what they need to. The numbers of students that squeeze their way into that office every day to make their rounds is amazing. It is clear that for what they do and how much they bring to the school, this move is essential to Student Activities continuing to prosper.

Though essential for Student Activities, it is unfortunate for our office. We use all our space and some of which is going to be cut by the powers of Assumption College. The Le Provocateur has been down in the Hagan Campus Center basement for as long as I can remember. It has never had the chance to be upstairs in Charlie's with the other organizations and has never truly taken the spotlight from most people. The newspaper is secluded, and honestly, I have no problem with that. I enjoy being away from the rest of the hustle and bustle of Charlie's, whether my staff agrees or not. We're in our own little world down there, and I think it works out perfectly. We have all the space we need to run the newspaper, which is completely run by ourselves. There's very little help from others down in that office-the help that we do get and need is from Sara, Lili and Doctor Land.

We take care of our own technical problems, we make our own phone calls to companies to advertise in our newspapers because we didn't get the money we asked for and we don't have people constantly telling us what needs to be done or how it needs to be done because we know what we have to do. Nine students single-handedly run this entire publication, and it's sad to think that we don't get much respect. We require the least attention from others and perhaps that's maybe why we get the least respect from others. We've never really been considered Student Leaders like the other organizations on campus, we just happen to travel back in August to do our training like everyone else while they're off at student leader dinners and doing other things, and that's fine. I've never really been one for icebreakers and whatever else goes on anyway. Like I said, I enjoy being secluded. We do our thing, and the other organizations do theirs. I respect what other organizations do for this school. The school wouldn't be what it is if we didn't have the Reach Out Center, the Student Government Association or the Office of Multicultural Affairs. It just wouldn't.

But somehow, I feel like in a way, this respect is not seen throughout campus. I'm not asking for much. Just don't let the first thing out of your mouth when you see me be "So you guys made a mistake." I'm sure we did, we always do. Every newspaper has them. There's no such thing as perfection in this world no matter how hard you strive for it. It's just not going to happen. But instead, just respect the fact that we sacrificed hours of our time to do something that a). we enjoy doing and b). was essentially for you, to keep you posted on what's going on around campus.

We are the Le Provocateur, or as some call us, "The Provoc." We are not the "Provac." We do not "provac" things, we "provoc" things and if that's what this column is, then so be it. A way of provoking, I guess. Most people that read this will probably think that I'm complaining, and I'm sorry you think that. There's a difference between complaining and sticking up for what you think is right. I know who gives us the respect we deserve and myself and the staff truly cherish that, but is it really that hard to spell our name right? If anything, that's really all I'm asking.