Short story contest: Texas Observer

Guest judge Larry McMurty will decide whether your work is worth a thousand bucks.

Taylor Mali: The The Impotence of Proofreading

Thanks to Prof Quigley for this spoken word piece

Plagiarism thwarted

This is an apology extracted by former Rowan student and current Vineland Daily Journal metro editor Jerry Staas Haught.
Here is his (uncensored) comment on Facebook about the theft:
"I'm a motherfuckin' pitbull when it comes to protecting our values. You don't fuckin' steal anybody else's work. And you sure as shit don't fuckin' try to say "everybody does it" or "it was just a little copy and paste." Ain't no such thing... as "a little" in this case.
Throw in an attempt to steal from me and I'll bury your ass."

Prof's advice: Do not steal.

Work hard in college now, and don't suffer later

College students report a lack of rigorous training in school, which leaves them feeling adrift later.

LA Times updates ethics guidelines

Here is the latest ethics guidelines that journalists at the LA Times must follow.

Love what you write, because ....

...it will be like being married; it's with you forever. And if you get sued, it's likely to not be happily ever after, as evidenced by this case. The owner of the Redskins is suing the Washington City Paper over its coverage of his team, including this article.

Slightly off-topic: The "creative commons"

As a GIS student, I'm always interested in what our geography department profs have to say about their fields of expertise. Well, this is slightly off-topic, but it's interesting to read Prof Reiser's perspective on someone he disagrees with "appropriating" his photography.

David Cromie Communication Scholarship

The David Cromie Communication Scholarship is a $450 award presented each
spring semester in honor of the late Dr. Dave Cromie, former chair of (what
was previously known as) the Department of Communications.

Criteria:
--Student must be a major in a Communication department, returning to Rowan
as an undergraduate student in Fall 2011
--Minimum 3.0 GPA at time of application
--Minimum 75 credit hours completed at time of application
--Outstanding work in the study of Communication
--Contribution to Rowan University and/or the College of Communication

Application process:
Applicant must submit:
--Brief statement (150-200 words) on how the applicant meets the criteria
--Resume
--Two letters of recommendation from faculty, staff, or administrators‹at
least one of which must be from a Rowan COC faculty member.
--A sample of the applicant¹s work (paper, film, video, etc.)

Applications are due February 11, 2011, and should be submitted to: Dr. Ed
Streb, Chair, Dept. of Communication Studies, Hawthorn 317.

Just leaked: AOL's Master Plan

BusinessInsider.com has some information on the way AOL is handling its media creation/generation business, including Patch and FanHouse.