For the second time this month, we here in the newsroom have found ourselves reporting on a campus tragedy. This time, our beloved football coach, Terry Hoeppner, has passed away.

 Hoeppner battled brain tumors for 18 months before passing Tuesday morning shortly before 7 a.m. It’s never easy to report on a story like this, and it’s especially hard when the death is one of a truly beloved campus figure like Coach Hep.

It is common to look at journalists as uninterested observers, because we serve an objective role in reporting the news as best we can. But as IU students, we were also fans as soon as we turned the computers off and sent our stories in for editing. Though we could never show it in our content because of our objectivity, many of us entrenched ourselves in Coach Hep’s corner every Saturday. He was a consistent contributor to our mailbag, and a congenial and helpful source. I know he traded cell phone numbers with some of our staffers, and willingly gave them a free minute when they asked.

 More than anything, Hep was a galvanizing force at IU. He made us believe that IU Football could and would win with consistency, and I personally couldn’t wait for the upcoming season and the bowl game I was sure would follow. Beyond that, Coach Hep had a glowing personality that attracted and produced the best kind of people, and his loss will be felt far beyond the sideline.

 It is with a heavy heart that we will put out a paper Thursday saying goodbye to another good man who left this campus, this community and the world as a whole too soon, and like everyone else, our deepest condolences go out to Hoeppner’s family and friends. He will truly be missed here at the IDS, as he surely will be missed elsewhere on campus.

 I urge you to visit our blog about Coach Hep, where you can post thoughts, comments and memories of his time here at IU, at www.idsnews.com/blogs/coachhep.

First let me point out, I am not a member of the summer management staff. I am one of the blog’s founders and the incoming editor for the fall. But I decided to briefly takeover the site to let you know about some things happening lately on idsnews.com.

We have a couple new blogs out right now that are loaded with updates and cool insider details. This week we unveiled our annual blogaroo, which chronicles the exploits and experiences of two of our reporters we sent to cover the Bonnaroo music festival. So you can follow along with them during the entire duration of the event and even give them questions to ask to some of the acts they will talking to.

Second, a couple weeks back we created a new blog that will hopefully be around for a while. Run by our opinion staff, 47 percent, provides updates and anaysis on the 2008 presidential election. Here our staff will debate the candidates and discuss some of the issues that concerns students the most. Feel free to add to the discussion by commenting on the entries and join the political process.

Well, that’s all I got for now. Hopefully a certain summer editor-in-chief will provide you all with more updates on the paper and our Web site here on Deadline, and if so, I will see you all again in the fall.

Post comments at Dave Adams Remembered.

It’s never easy to cover the unexpected passing of someone, and it’s even more difficult when that person was especially close to you and everyone around you.

Dave Adams, the publisher of the IDS for nearly two decades passed away last night unexpectedly.

Many IDS readers may not be very familiar with Dave since he rarely made his presence known in the pages of the paper, but to those of us in the newsroom, his constant support will be sorely missed.

Dave was not just the publisher of the paper, but a good friend to all of us. Whether you needed advice about a story or life in general, Dave was there to lend an ear. In years past he was known to bail staffers out of jail and show up with them at court hearings.

When I came to the IDS as a freshman, Dave would go out of his way to tell me I was doing a good job, and when I came back to the paper after taking several months off, he was the first one to welcome me back. Dave loved life and loved people, and his encouragement and passion for the First Amendment touched everyone he came into contact with.

He will be missed.