In particular, recall this scene. Mrs. Smith’s social studies class is humming along just fine, but everyone has in their head that there is a quiz today, and no one has studied enough for it. Curiously, Mrs. Smith never mentions the quiz, even after collecting homework and rambling on about the Han Dynasty for 20 minutes. As the end of class nears, there is an ominous tension in the air. What about the quiz?

“What about the quiz?” that insipid know-it-all Daniel asks from the front row, 10 minutes from the end of class.

“Of course, I almost forgot! Thank you for reminding me, Daniel,” Mrs. Smith replies while reaching into her bowl of candy on her desk reserved for shows of unexpected student excellence. Glares, snarls and whispered threats waft through the classroom, but Mrs. Smith is blissfully unaware. Playground pummeling ensues a few minutes later.

My afternoon was a lot like that, except for the whole last part. We were supposed to have a midterm test today, postponed from a couple weeks ago. I studied on the train. Everyone else studied flagrantly during our oh-so-brief lecture at the top of our 3-hour class. Ominous tension mounted for the next 2.5 hours as we all worked diligently at our computers and the prof made the rounds, but still, nothing. Did we all miss something? And most importantly, who would be the party-pooper to slip and inquire about the midterm? Curiously, no one. Not a word. No test.

Today’s lesson: People get smarter between 5th grade and grad school.

1. SAS
2. Skywest
3. Alaska

Yes, Alaska Airlines has made it on the list. Not only were they half an hour early today, but i got hot food twice from them this weekend. Coach class, no less. Nevermind that it was only slightly healthier than a McGriddle, it was free and remarkably tasty. Horizon is also slowly pulling itself out of the Pit of Suckiness that it has inhabited in my life for a while. Kudos to them for offering to serve beer at 6:48 this morning…but that’s just not my style. It was, however, the style of several Key Technology employees on my flight.

It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten one of those hate-filled aimless tirade phone calls at my desk. I had forgotten how much excitement and energy they can add to those slow afternoons when sources won’t call you back and your story just isn’t that fascinating to start with. Today Catherine and I had our severely truncated story on NU’s Arthur Butz printed in the Illinois Times. As often happens, the story got cut quite substantially, including all of the good quotes. But apparently there was enough in there for me to be accused of siding with the Land of Zion and promoting the extinction of free speech. The call started out innocently enough, a concerned reader who perhaps didn’t interpret the article just right. But no, this was not about me talking or explaining. No, this was about me listening, apparently, as said caller spiraled into a pit of name-calling against pretty much anything that’s not American or Patriotic. I’m still not quite sure what his argument was, but it was pretty clear that no one ever listens to him. Poor guy. But thanks for giving me something to blog about. You have joined the ranks of the UB’s wacko letter writers and that guy who came into the newsroom to argue that we said he had been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, when in fact he had been arrested for violating his parole and a restraining order.

From Catherine comes this fine pearl:

Police are now investigating several murders around the country involving liaisons through MySpace, including University of Maryland co-ed Josie Brown who was found dead earlier this month near Baltimore.

Let us consider the ramifications of this for a moment, shall we? Since, oh, 1995 or so, people have told us to use common sense online. Cool, thanks, got it. Did you know that you can order pizza and Chinese takeout online? I suspect the next “Exclusive” will be that some restaurant is actually a front for axe murderers. Remember that montage of clips in Bowling for Columbine with all the fear-mongering stories that various TV stations were airing? It’s good to see that some things, the things that really really matter, never actually change.

Al’s Morning Meeting, a daily email newsletter put out by Poynter had this intriguing item today:

Drunk Dialing
I am not sure if this is new or if it is growing into a full-blown college trend as some college newspapers say it is, but I pass it along just in case. It seems that more students are getting lit then dialing their phones, especially their autodialers on cell phones.

Here are a few stories from around the country:
Last call: Drunk dialers reveal emotions, swap stories during late night phone chats
Frequent ‘drunk dialing’ proves embarrassing
Dangers of drunk dialing

The prudent reader will note that all three of those links are for college papers. Remember the rash of stories last month about the evils of Facebook? My guess is that those got started the same way: wayward college paper news editors and staff writers sitting around their newsrooms at 2 a.m. trying to think up stories while looking at their facebook profiles and listening to messages on their cell phones from their drunken friends. Why are both of these topics stories? And more importantly, why are many media outlets treating these stories like they are novel-yet-dangerous discoveries on the cutting edge of undergrad existence? Last I checked, facebook has been around for about three years now, and drunk dialing probably dates to the day after the invention of the telephone.

Today started at zero degrees Fahrenheit. I think it got up to 5. Did you know that certain things, like tan bark and dead dried leaves, behave differently when they’re that cold? Also, laundry becomes an astronomically arduous chore. The hoses (but not pipes) in the basement froze, requiring thawing in our sink. And the iced-over connectors on the back of the washer? Those took instant hot packs and a redirected dryer duct aimed at them for an hour to open up. Now the washer is making a weird whining sound as it, uh, washes. Meanwhile, the UPS store says it will cost about $200 to ship my worthless studded snow tires back to CA, where they will also be worthless.

As promised, here’s the clip from the Northwestern News Network on Friday night. If you can’t see the big “Click here to play” thing below, then your computer is “lame” and you need Quicktime. Video courtesy of WYCC TV20.

And the carrier of such Good Words? None other than yours truly. I’ll be on the Northwestern News Report this Friday expounding eloquently on the effervescent event that is Gov. George Ryan’s trial. My understanding is that this is also the inaugural looklive of a new bit interviewing real journalists about real stories. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime show that will basically knock your socks off. I’m pretty sure about that, anyway. WYCC (Ch. 20 on Comcast) at 6:30 p.m. Friday (that being the 17th). (Friday edit:) Just kidding, I wasn’t cool enough for the webcast. My network television debut was pretty spectacular, if I may say so myself. If you missed it, then you definitely won’t feel as fulfilled in your life as everyone who saw it. If I feel ambitious this weekend, I may hook the Tivo up to Mark’s camera and do a Firewire pass-through to my computer to acquire the clip and then put it here for the world to see.

Two people in as many days have reminded me of the severe lack of posts lately. Which not only tells me that I should write something, but that two people were reading this in the first place. Amazing!

Medill is hurling itself into something of a 3-year makeover to revamp its undergrad and grad programs. Phase One more or less started today, with all of the full-time faculty required to attend a morning-long seminar on “technology” and “covergence” and “the future.” And already, it is clear that there is resistence in the ranks toward changing anything. Which is curious, since most people seem to agree that there are things that need changing.

What’s the problem? I think part of the human condition is an aversion to change. We like things that stay constant, things upon which we can rely. My desk phone, however 1976 it may be, still works. My 60 Hz monitor, however painful to view for hours on end, still lets me check my email and indulge in the evils of GChat.

While I fret about heinously expensive apartments in D.C., a sizeable chunk of Medill (it appears) is fretting about whether we should be teaching people how to write or how to produce podcasts. Maybe both? Maybe, just maybe, this program should be 6 quarters long instead of 4 quarters long. Gives you that competitive edge over such bastions as Berkeley, Columbia, Annenburg and Missouri, while keeping your own students from going completely insane.