Today's News: Higher Education Reform and My Dad's Golf Game?

Congress just passed (and the President is about to sign into law) new legislation to change how graduates repay student loans - now the amount you pay back will be based on how much you earn. The "College Cost Reduction and Access Act" also gives more money for Pell Grants and reduces interest rates on loans. This is a great piece of legislation -- why didn't someone think to do this before? I mean, how long have people been paying back student loans? Well, regardless of its timing, I hope this act really does help people making those payments. Check The Red & Black on Thursday for more information...

More surprising than this legislation (well, for me, anyway) is today's feature in the AJC's Travel section. This is one of my favorite sections of the Sunday paper; I really enjoy reading about interesting places to visit and looking at the pictures they provide. But I wasn't expecting to see an article my dad wrote about golfing in France. He went to France in July on his honeymoon and told me about his golfing "adventures," but I didn't expect to see it in the paper.

Story behind the story: I asked him earlier today if he had any articles coming up this week, expecting to hear him mention something more related to his health care beat -- you know, a hospital's attempts to improve long-term patient care, health care insurance changes, something along those lines. When he said he had an article about golfing in the Travel section, I laughed and said, "No, really, Dad -- do you have any stories coming up in the paper?" I was slightly caught off guard when he told me he wasn't kidding. I immediately checked the AJC's website and sure enough, it was there. Check it out! (shameless plugging, I know, but at least I'm admitting it.)

Summer's over. Time to get back to THE OFFICE.

As of today, we are merely 20 days away from the premiere of Season 4 of THE OFFICE, which is, perhaps, one of the greatest shows on TV. If you don't watch it, you should. And if you do watch it? We can still be friends.

"Thanks to the fearless Steve Carell, an ever-stronger supporting cast, and scripts that spew American corporate absurdist vernacular with perfect pitch, this undervalued remake does the near impossible -- it honors Ricky Gervais' original and works on its own terms." -Entertainment Weekly"

"Hey, Can I Take Your Picture?"

That one question sums up how I spent my free time for the past few days. In my photojournalism class, we had to shoot "mugshots" of 36 people we didn't know for our first assignment. This was meant to help us get used to using the camera and to talking to complete strangers. "You can't be shy as a photojournalist," my teacher reminded us.

36 people we didn't know -- this was a little nerve wracking but definitely doable. I started by going to a park near my house in Snellville last Sunday and hitting up parents of little leaguers. I got a few families to agree to help, as well as a few strange looks from passersby. I found the project much easier to complete when I walked around the Tate Student Center yesterday. I decided to start with people standing at tables set up -- why not solicit those who are already soliciting? I had to sign a petition and take a free volleyball poster, but it was worth it. I also stopped by a frat house...that's where I took the majority of my photos.

And having a really nice camera doesn't hurt, either. Every student taking JOUR 3610 gets issued a Canon camera to use throughout the semester. I had to sign a waiver (aka sign my life away to the Grady College) agreeing to their "you break it, you buy it" policy. My camera is worth a whopping $1,400; therefore it's my baby this semester.