So I just got done publishing the last post here on Deadline and about to head home for the night, when I received a call from a former IDS staffer that there were about 10 police cars, two ambulances and a firetruck at Brownstone Terrace. Only myself and fellow reporter Alberto D. Morales were in the newsroom, so we decided to head out there and check out the incident.

We got to the scene before  2 a.m. when a photographer that we called over just in, case met us. It is unusual to see such a high police presence responding to an incident, so we talked to neighbors and some officers, but couldn’t get any real info. Finally we observed a subject taken from a house that was transported via ambulance from the scene, but police would not give out any information. All police told us was that the subject was being taken away from the scene and that it was not a result of gunshots “or anything like that.”

So we decided we don’t have enough information for an online-only story, and it still is unclear of what the incident was or if we will be reporting on it. A lot of reporting is chasing down information that will never see the light of a newspaper. But you have to remember to keeping chasing those leads, because sometimes it will be neccessary to print.

 Anyways, hopefully everything is fine and this is the last we have to report on the incident.

During our daily budget meeting – where we plan our page one coverage – we talked about how a big an impact the men’s soccer story was. We all thought we were going to win – the Hoosiers were the No. 4 ranked team in the nation, the Bradley Braves had never made it past the second round in their history – so we decided to run the story down the rail on the top, left part of P1, while only stressing horizontally a couple columns.

As it turns out, of course, we were wrong about the outcome. Now usually, we play up a Hoosier win larger than a Hoosier loss, because it is usually more interesting to fans and the outcome is usually greater when we win. However, we made the decesion that this upset was actually larger news than if we were to have won. So we decided the story would run banner – meaning the soccer story would run at the top, all the way from the left to the right. Luckily out centerpiece package allowed for an easy move.

So what do you think? Was that too much play to give to a loss by the soccer team? Too little? Let us know, right here on deadline.

In Wednesday’s paper our centerpiece package on page one features a story looking back 25 years ago to IU’s first national championship men’s soccer team, as the current squads prepares for their run this year. In putting together the package, men’s soccer beat reporter Linnea Coulter looked to the IU Archives to come up with background information and also the black and white photo we ran of the 1982 team on page one. In doing so, she dug through years of history to find the perfect information for the story.

This would not be possible though without the IU Archives, which is a very valuable resource for us, and one that we use throughout the year. With photos, public records and other documents rich with history, the archives store information that dates back to the University’s beginnings. Looking back to our history allows us to not only remember those who came before us, but also it allows us to put current events in context.

So we would like to thank the service the IU Archives staff provides and the hard work that comes with storing and helping us find such a wealth of information.

For the second, and last time, of the semester our INside magazine will hit the stands Tuesday inside the IDS. With the theme of being “The Global Issue,” INside continues to improve with stunning photography, insightful articles and creative designs in only its second year.

The magazine features articles highlighting the best ethnic eateries in Bloomington, a spotlight on several IU student-athletes who have Olympic dreams and a story of a journey attempting to rediscover Jack Kerouac’s America.

What makes this issue even more special is that you, our readers, are spotlighted as INside published several of the top photographs and travel adventures submitted by readers. So get ready to explore the world by picking up a copy of INside, on newstands Tuesday or check out INside’s Web site, here.

I hope everyone enjoyed a happy and safe Thanksgiving break, I know I did as I got some much needed rest and sleep. Anyways after a weeklong break from publishing the paper, our staff was hard at work Sunday making sure a fresh issue is ready for everyone coming back to class Monday. I on the other hand, used my day off to enjoy a Bears victory at Soldiers Field before getting back to B-town late Sunday night.

From my experience, putting out an issue after a long break is usually very troublesome as there is a shortage of timely news and writers to work during the break. Planning for this, however, we made sure we had enough to fill the pages before leaving for break. For example, two of Monday’s page one stories (A profile of dueling cookie companies in Bloomington and a expose on hate crimes on campus), were not extremely timely features that we knew would be good for the first paper back after break. With those stories, and others ready, we have a strong issue ready for you to pick up Monday, and hopefully much more to finish out the semester.

With the standoff between the Big Ten Network and many Bloomington cable companies continuing, many Hoosier fans are without the ability of following along with IU sports action while at home. That is unless they check out idsnews.com.

For most IU football and basketball games, our writers give analysis and updates on all the major action. These can be found on their respective blogs, Under the Rock and the Basketblog. We even will have some updates for women’s basketball games on its new blog, Above the Rim.

While we don’t give true play-by-play coverage, which could violate broadcasting agreements and all that legal stuff, you can see that we give updates on major plays and add analysis and context to the action. Even if you do have the games on TV, it is a great way to supplement your viewing experience. Plus there is also the option of joining the debate, by commenting or asking our writers questions on the blog.

So on gameday, be sure to check out idsnews.com and our little family of blogs.

Just wanted to let everyone know the public is invited to attend our publication board meeting at 1 p.m. Friday in the Indiana Memorial Union State Room East, where we will be selecting the IDS’ leader for next Spring’s semester.

Current managing editor Carrie Ritchie is running unopposed, but this is your chance to ask the candidate questions and hear what her thoughts are for leading the IDS. Carrie will be giving a short speech and then will face questions from the 9-member IU Student Media Publication Board, of which I am now a member of. Members of the audience will then be able to ask questions as well. Anyone from the Bloomington or IU community are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

In a campus climate we tend to be relatively liberal with our vocabulary when it comes to swearing. However, in the Indiana Daily Student we avoid profanity unless it in some way furthers the news value of the message the story is trying to tell. We recognize that while most of our audience are college students that don’t mind most vulgar language, there is a good part of our readership that might be offended by it.

That’s why we discussed at length an issue that came up today in determing to leave a swear word in a story that would likely apear on page one. In keeping with our code of ethics we decided it was not for “shock value” and it was justifiable part of a news story. Also we had to leave it or use the whole word, as our code also requires not to -bleep- out sections of words.

Anyways here is the context and the quote itself (And here is the article), so let us know what you think:

It’s been three years of recovery for now-senior Mallory Deckard, who reported being raped her freshman year at IU. Up until this year, it was something she thought about every day, as she was often plagued with thoughts of depression and suicide.

Now, Deckard is a volunteer at Middle Way House in the legal department and plans to attend law school next year to become a prosecutor herself.

“The situation in my mind has been redefined to, ‘I’m gonna get those fuckers who do this to women,’” she said. “I just wanna help this whole situation. It’s kind of given me a purpose.”

We decided that this quote showed the anger and pain Deckard still feels years after the incident. It goes to her feelings and gives the readers a little perspective on what she went through. While we use profanity more commonly inside our section or in our WEEKEND magazine, when it comes to P1 stories of this impact, I think we took the proper time and thought process to weigh the implications of using the quote. But again, if you feel differently feel free to comment here on deadline.

It is now a bit past 10 p.m., and it looks like all the election results have been tailed and we have announced all winners. Our reporters stationed throughout the day with the candidates, are now back in the newsroom quickly typing up their copy for the print edition. And we now have our P1 design finalized and only have place the stories when they come in.

I am very pleased with how the night went, and am glad we got the results in earlier than expected. We did a lot of planning the past couple days to make sure we had all of bases covered, and I think it showed. We had updates throughout the night, and were calling races as we saw them. The one race we are still watching is the Indianpolis mayoral contest, which has Republican challenger Ballard winning at this point by a relatively small margin. So hopefully that race will be called either way soon, and we’ll be able to get an AP story in for the paper.

Well it’s about 7:45 p.m. right now and everything seems to be going relatively smoothly on the election front. We have reporters stationed with the campaigns and at the clerks office getting real-time results. We are at about 20 percent reporting the precints and the mayoral election looks like it won’t be a close one. We are watching carefully a couple other tight races including one of the city council matches and Indianapolis’ mayoral battle.

So keep wathing idsnews.com as our reporters file updates from the campaigns and the winners of the races as the results come in.