Dividing 1600 freshman into balanced teams is quite a challenge. So is keeping track of them, which the student above learned as she was troubleshooting a missing student incident from across campus. Despite the stress, spirits were high today. There was war paint and cheering in the afternoon jeopardy round.

The freshmen are here.
Brace yourselves.

This much excitement, and it was only 9:00 a.m.

A group of Nashville residents placed sandbags along the banks of the Cumberland River downtown last Thursday as waters rose after days of heavy rain in the region. The Hands On Nashville volunteers, mostly women, came running to the riverfront straight from work and some from home, the woman above is unemployed, the one below an underemployed musician.

They have been immersed in media. I wonder if they'll ever come back. We had a three-day workshop for 24 incoming freshmen last week. After hours of learning, documenting, editing and laughing in the newsroom, their first edition comes out tomorrow.
Best question of the week? "What do people in China call their nice plates?" Investigative journalism at its finest.

My last week in New York was full of adventures and packing, and last-minute trips to touristy venues (The Museum of Natural History, a beach on Long Island, a Deutchebank conference room and the UN - filled with foreigners). Back to work!

Anyday

I thought today would bring weather features, but the rain quit after about 5 minutes. My mid-afternoon coffee stop brought the sleeping businessman photo to light - he was there when I walked in and hadn't moved an inch an hour later. That evening, walking to the train in Harlem, I heard a loud voice testifying through a microphone and followed it. I came across the New York tent revival equivalent a few blocks later.

Oh, Canada

These photos somehow got lost in the shuffle between countries this summer. This was a yearbook workshop in Manitoba where I was privileged to lead the photography portion of the show. It was great to watch the students and advisers talk about photography, see photography in new ways and then run around in circles practicing the techniques. The scene at the bottom was by far my favorite - photography had taken on a life of its own that afternoon.

The run-around

A trip to the lake with ridiculous stunts - whipping around the front of the boat; standing on a ladder, then on your head; then barefoot and backwards. A series of storms threatened to chase us off the water, but the sunset was worth waiting it out.

Midwestern sites

The flaming end of a chimney-shaped fire built in the back yard.




A hands-on visit to the local arboretum, with tadpoles, caterpillars, flowers, sculptures and whistling. Lots of whistling.



The arts center in downtown Minneapolis brings the city to light in new ways and in wild colors.