The Last Big PUSH

Housekeeping

Good meeting with you all yesterday and Tuesday. Hope that helped you focus on the final requirements in our last three weeks of classes (GASP!?!).

1. For Monday: Read everything you can about the USU and Utah higher ed budget crisis situation, including the tuition increase, faculty layoffs and whatever else seems to relate. This will be in preparation for our news conference Wednesday with President Stan Albrecht. The news conference REQUIRES that reporters ask questions and steer the focus. Otherwise, savvy politicians (including university presidents) will simply spoonfeed you press releases. So think about SPECIFIC questions/topics you want to ask the president about. So Google topics that will give you good background for questions. Also, see the USUToday website to see what the president has posted there on the budget/tuition/program cuts/layoffs etc. topic—USUToday will be the official policy on these issues. We’ll discuss all this in Monday’s class.

2. Next week’s story: ...will be your story based on the president's news conference. It will be due by noon on Friday.

3. The Final BIG Stories: We’ve talked about these, in-class and individually, but I’ve also posted some advice on these stories on AskDrTed. Click here for that link. They are due in any order on the last two Fridays 4/17 and 4/24.

4. The Final Exam: Will be a take-home, which you may start Friday, 4/24—due Monday 4/27 at noon; or may pick up Monday, 4/27, due Wednesday, 4/29, at noon.

5. EXTRAS! You may hand in as many extra stories (or rewrites) as you like between now and the last day of classes (Friday 4/24) at noon. These might improve your grades, assuming that they are not worse than the other stuff you've already done(!). If they are not more complete and better sourced stories than you've already done, I will wonder if you’re wasting my time. That would be bad.

OK? Questions, let me know or ask in claass Monday. I have COMPLETE FAITH in you!

El Peez

Lord, give me strength!
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