Blaze to Write

By: Johanna Mathieu

Let this article stand as a plea for the participation of everyone who ever wanted to rant about something once upon a time.

This is the third year of the newly "renovated" Blue Blaze as reintroduced by Nicole Bissonette (Class 'o '98). Despite our crew of no more than 10 we've managed an issue a month in the past years in a process we call "cracking the whip" (a.k.a. begging for articles, a.k.a. annoying all of our friends, a.k.a. letting our grades fall, shirking commitments, and working at all hours for our 4-6 page clip of LHS life.) Why do we do it? Different reasons… Jeff likes to write a lot and has a huge ego, Corey needed something to put on a college application, Kristen and Kristin were dragged in desperation (thanks guys), Dominick wanted a way to bash bad movies publicly, Andrew likes working with computers, Aimee doesn't mind writing articles when coerced by wrathful friends (sorry). So why do I do it? Why did Nicole put so much effort in years ago to start this from nothing? Why do we all really do it? What do we get from it? I don't know except to say that seeing your name and writing in print is important sometimes. It's a way for us to tell everyone the stories that don't get told in the announcements, the opinions that aren't represented, or just the ideas that never seem to be put forth. We obviously try to amuse but also try to mean something sometimes. No, you don't have to read the Blaze but for us it is importantly that the Blaze is there. You can read it if you want to. You can hear was others are saying… but you don't have to (you could call it a joke or throw it away-- what's funny is that the people who do these things will never read this).

So why am I saying all of this? Well, for those people who really do care, who thrive on what they write (whether about politics or socks), and for those who just want to read about a drama show, ROTC, or just get a laugh from a top ten list.

As you may have noticed the Blaze staff is dominated by seniors though we do have our die-heart underclassmen as well who make up a very appreciated but small minority.

I want to see the Blaze survive and I know you all have opinions and stories you wouldn't mind seeing in print. Think about it. It's a process (getting articles, formatting, running the paper through the administration, photocopying, and dispersing) but seeing your name in print means a lot to us and there must be more of 'us' out there.