Propose two homecoming-related stories, and identify one as your first choice. I’ll assign one story to each student on Oct 10. A 100-word “advance story” is due Oct 21, and a full 600-word draft is due Oct 26.
A good pitch will include
- a description of the story (“How adult students manage their academic responsibilities with caring for aging or ill relatives”)
- names of sources (“Jane Smith is an adult MBA student in her 40s who is caring for her mother, in her 70s, and her father-in-law, who is 82. Bill Jones is a WPF student in his 30s whose wife is rehabilitating from a car accident. Both have agreed to be interviewed for my story.”)
- news hook (“The ongoing debate about health care, Congress’s recent debate over making up budget shortfalls by taxing graduate student loans, and a ‘home for the holidays’ theme, when people spend a lot of time thinking about their family. Would be good for a Thanksgiving issue.”)
- quotes, facts, sources of further information, specific timed events (such as a local conference on aging and health care, or a faculty member who has published in this area)