UNTight Furlough ...

How do you know times are tough? Your online alias gets furloughed .... * sniff*

Gal reporter Brenda Starr faces downsizing
—Colleen Mastony
March 26, 2009
The newspaper business is tough all over. Things are so bad that even comic strip heroine Brenda Starr—that feisty gal reporter—will be put on furlough this week.

In a strip that runs Saturday, Starr's cigar-chomping boss, B. Babbitt Bottomline, calls Starr into his office and declares, "I can't afford to pay you anymore." The budget cuts inside Starr's fictional newsroom reflect the bottom line at real-life newspapers, which are slashing staffs and freezing salaries in the face of steep declines in advertising and circulation.

"As far-fetched as some of the plots in Brenda are, I do like to keep it topical," said Mary Schmich, the Chicago Tribune columnist who writes the Starr strip. Starr's life, Schmich noted, "is a fantasy with nuggets of reality tossed in. But even fantasies need some grounding in reality, and right now, economic crisis is the reality that colors everything else at pretty much every newspaper."

What's next for our ink-stained heroine? Schmich hints that upcoming scenes will take place far from the newsroom. Stay tuned.

I Throw a Tighten on the Tighten Up Report: The Universe Explodes

I have tried repeatedly to post and comment on the TUR in the last few weeks and have been met with nothing but looseness. Blogger will not allow me to upload images or import them from a web based location in any size or format. This tests me to my limit as, let's face it, if you are not posting in multimedia you are not cool. I most recently tried to post a little TGIF pick me up for the community regarding a wetsuit wearing penguin, but, once again, was impeded by either blogger or the TUR.

I am not a computer whiz and, quite frankly, have no idea what the problem is, but I do know one thing...

IT IS NOT TIGHT!

administrative tighten

[from the ivory tower administration]

GSAPP Students:

Please note: Smoking in Avery Hall is illegal. The Department of Health & Medical Hygiene Law ( Chapter 10 Title 24 Rules of the City of New york), prohibits smoking in all indoor areas or public places and places of employment. Violations of these rules may be punishable by NYC up to a fine of $2,000. In addition, the violator may be subject to disciplinary action by the University.

Sincerely,