WAITING

A few weeks ago a professor sent me a "reflection" written by a student on the course they had taken with the prof. It was very well done, and I called the student and asked if they could flesh it out a little so I could submit it to the Inquirer's OPED page. They agreed, and the piece, in my opinion, is very good. Now, I'm waiting to hear back from the paper's editor....This editor usually emails with a yes/no decision, so I'm watching my emails. But the waiting is tough, and I have to put it out of my mind until the decision is made.

This illustrates a concept endemic to my profession (and it applies to many other experiences) but my opinion doesn't count. I've learned to accept that, but it's harder for some than others. I might think something is news worthy, but I don't have the final say.

Speaking of waiting: Back in November, a writer with CNN.com interviewed Br. Edward Sheehy about the U.S. Philippines War of 1902 and compared it with the Afghan War. The story didn't appear on the site until today.

Heard from Sam Fran Scavuzzo, class of '09 and Collegian editor in chief for his senior year. He also did an internship at the Philadelphia Inquirer and wondered where he found time to sleep. Sam meet weekly with myself and my colleague, Amy Cranston, to share story ideas, talk about upcoming projects, etc. It was helpful to all parties involved, and this year Amy and I meet with Vinny Vella, the paper's features editor. I kept pressing Vinny to do a story on the Masque's tech crew, who do great work, and it resulted in a really nice story. By the way, Vinny is also an editor with the U's literary magazine and has a 4.0 GPA.