Out-of-Class #1: Approved Topics, And What's Next

By now you should have returned to you your tip sheet, labeled as approved or not approved. If not approved, please follow my comments on what you need to do to get your tip approved, and please resubmit your tip sheet ASAP (like tonight or by tomorrow morning).

If you are approved, you are free to start working on your out-of-class story. And whether approved or not, please read and follow my recommendations that are IN BOLD FACE AND LARGE TYPE LIKE THIS in your returned tip sheet.

Approved story topics include:

* Adderall abuse at MSU

* International student segregation at MSU

* Growing cost of tuition at MSU

* Violence on campuses like MSU

* Do students vote at MSU?

* Football student section changes at MSU

* Multicultural support groups at MSU

* Fashion trends among college students like those at MSU

* Multicultural business student networking at MSU

* Yik Yak at MSU: fun or risky?

* Spring break trends among college students like those at MSU

* Pets on campus becoming trendy at places like MSU

* Is there a real benefit to joining a sorority at places like MSU?

* Video gaming culture at MSU

* Student study methods at MSU

* Pros and cons of car-buying when you're a college student at MSU

* How students deal with exam week stress at places like MSU

* On-campus versus off-campus housing at MSU (two of you are doing this one!)

Overall, I think it's a very strong set of topics. These are all ones that can be locally reported; they all regard trends and issues in that they're not hooked simply on the fact that something's happening; they seek context through looking at pros and cons and who's affected and in what ways. Really nice bunch.

Now, it's time to get to work on your actual story. Please remember that per the syllabus, your out-of-class story ...

... must have a minimum of three human sources you interviewed yourself;

... a minimum of 700 words in length;

... be double-spaced, conforming to AP Style and otherwise formatted like a homework practice story;

... include a word count at the end;

... include a list of sources with their phone numbers and email addresses (so I can do spot checks on whether you really talked to them and whether your citations were accurate, ect.) at the end.

Your deadline for your first out-of-class story will be no later than 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 22 via email to omars@msu.edu. The email title should be OOC#1. 

Any questions? Please come see me ASAP. And good luck!