I have spent the last nine weeks teaching other people how to write. How ironic that teaching other people how to write has kept me too busy to really sit down and do what I love to do? One of the things I teach students about opinion writing is the briefly comment format. It’s when you have to sit down and write an editorial or opinion column and don’t have a strong enough idea to carry an entire piece or when you have so many ideas you can’t choose among them.

This is my brief commentary.

I am a news junkie. I blame that partially on just being naturally curious and partially on my journalism studies. During high school and college, I attended class in Ernie Pyle Hall which is where the Indiana University School of Journalism is housed. Last spring, Indiana University announced that the School of Journalism is being merged with the telecom program and the communication studies program. I have very mixed feelings about this merger. On one hand, I can see the positives coming from having more students enrolled in media courses. However, I do not agree with the School of Journalism losing its autonomy and being pulled back into the College of Arts and Sciences. In my opinion, having the SOJ as its own entity gave it the ability to make tough decisions about curriculum and content without having to worry what the higher ups thought.

I love the new fall clothes. They are such a nod to my heyday…the 1980s. Both the rocker style and the preppy look are back. They coexisted in the 80s and now again in 2013. I am looking forward to fall like weather so I can pull out the boots and sweaters.

As the first grading period comes to a close, I have been working with students to refine their writing skills. I so enjoy working with students who are eager to write. It has been nice to talk about sentence structure and why sometimes you need simple sentences mixed in with more complex sentences. Having them read their writing out loud to someone else shows them pace and rhythm far better than I could explain it. Seeing how proud they are when the realize how much they have improved makes the crazy, hectic days totally worth it.

Halloween candy….it’s so hard to resist the temptation of those bags of individually wrapped goodness.

Until later.