Thou shalt not use an ellipsis.

Although UNM is changing course requirements so there will no longer be print or broadcast concentrations, I feel like there are some valuable lessons to be learned for all students entering the Journalism major. And so, I present some Commandments of C&J.

• Invest in an AP Stylebook: You're going to be using it a lot. 48% of students that fail 171 didn't take the Stylebook seriously. It's that big of a deal. Okay, I made that statistic up, but really, if you want to do well in these courses, worship the AP Stylebook.
  
  
• Work hard, play hard: Just because we have such big gaps between deadlines for class, as a student, I can safely say it's okay to party when you have the time. But don't push interviews, events and the actual writing to the last minute. That causes huge headaches when it comes time to actually type up that 1000 word profile.
  
  
• Become multifaceted: Take Desktop Publishing. Take photography. Take as many different courses that C&J has to offer as your schedule permits. These will give you a broader perspective and make you a better student in your required courses.
  
  
• Start thinking like an editor: When something happens in your life, or in your community/workplace/little sister's high school, ask yourself, "Would this make a good story?" If not, what needs changing? Does it need a different angle? Even if you don't expand on it, you begin to recognize newsworthy material.
  

• Continue thinking like a consumer: It's easy to fall into boring-easy (borseeeyyy) story ideas for class, because you have a ton of stuff on your plate. But when you do something, ask yourself, "If I came across this in a newspaper/magazine/blog/YouTube clip, would I read/watch it?" If your answer is no, change your ways. Make it interesting.

• Think like a copy editor, too: Okay, I know these are a lot of hats to wear just for writing a story, but they'll make your stories come out so much better. Here's a question for you, to see how well you've been paying attention.

  Once upon a time there was a girl taking an intro print class. She was thinking like a consumer and an editor. She had a great story idea for a ride-along with a police officer. That will be interesting to read, right? Lots of action, adventure, when coupled with a profile, you've got a high interest piece right? So why did I, I mean the girl, get a C on it?

  AP style errors baby. It wasn't organized well. I just went in, full speed and didn't care.

It would have been great if it would have been for a publication I owned, edited and wrote for. But it wasn't. It was for class. And in class you play by their rules. Actually, anywhere you get a job, you play by their rules

• Be nice to the staff and faculty: This includes front desk people, TA's, anyone working in the building. Being nice to Mary Bibeau & Co. gets your messages to you faster, your schedule organized a little more sweetly and who knows, you may even get that closed class opened up to accommodate you for you graduation. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Do you have any commandments to add to the list?