Prairie Light Review (PLR), a student run literary magazine, moved from their office on the third floor down to the first to accommodate COD’s board of trustees wishes of wanting an on campus office. The magazine’s staffers were not initially happy about the move but have since accepted the fact and are making their new space their new home.

College of Dupage is a campus made up of over 10 large buildings and countless rooms. Many of these rooms are classrooms and other learning environments while others are made to be work places.

The literary magazine went from the SSC 3251, a 299 square feet office to the SSC 1227, a 188 square feet space. While they have the access to use the room next door (SSC 1229), it was still an adjustment for the staff.

Editor In Chief Earnest Bickerstaff and his staff feels that whether the board members do or don’t decide to use the office they asked for will be up to them. For the Prairie Light Review staff, who were forced to move from their office, they will look at this as a place to create as their own new home.

“I couldn’t say…that I was fond of the idea, really,” Bickerstaff said. “Over the summer, standing in our then empty new office, boxes stacked nearly to the ceiling, shelves and cabinets waiting to be filled, I became excited. I no longer took it as a negative, but saw the positives—fixing up the office and being able to create a space that was our own.”

The board plans on using this office space to work and have open office hours for students and other members of the community. Chairwoman Kathy Hamilton has started this by offering Monday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon every week.

According to board of trustees Spokesman Randall Samborn, “Vice Chair Deanne Mazzochi would like to establish a set time  for people to come and communicate their ideas with her, but is having trouble doing so due to scheduling conflicts at her law practice.”

Although Mazzochi and Hamilton have plans to put the new office to use, there are members that will not use the space. Trustee Charles Bernstein has “indicated that he is not planning to hold set office hours,” according to Samborn, meaning that besides email and phone, there will be no way to contact him about any concerning issues other than at meetings. Trustee Dianne McGuire says that she “ha[s] never used it for any purpose and don’t anticipate that I will use it in the future.”

Many other members of the board have not indicated that they will or will not be making office hours available.

Bickerstaff feels that after the initial shock of being moved to a smaller space, the staff made their situation better by looking at it positively.

“My fellow editors, and myself, made the best of the situation we found ourselves in,” Bickerstaff said. “When you have a group of dedicated editors, looking to put forth a literary magazine, that not only speaks to the student body and glorifies their creativity, the space you are given to work in is secondary. The time and effort being put into our magazine are primary.”