Break in Progress

Winter break remains in effect. I enjoyed ten days at home in Florida over the holidays, and now I still have two weeks before classes resume. I forgot just how wonderful the student vacation schedule can be.

I do have some fun things planned--skiing in Vermont this weekend and a trip to D.C. for the Inauguration the following weekend--but I am also getting back to work. Over the next year, I am planning a series of stories around privacy issues for my Portfolio class.

I'm interested in the privacy backlash. I see this happening both in reaction to a desire for greater security--allowing surveillance cameras, wire tapping, profiling, etc. for a safer society--and as part of a culture that is embracing exhibitionism in the form of blogs, social networking sites, etc. To start forming a framework for thinking about privacy, I am reading some books in the field, starting with "Privacy: A Manifesto." Written by a German, of course.

At the same time, I have had a lot of time to work on Above The Law stories. It has been nice to be more involved in the breaking news stuff, as opposed to trying to catch up around classes. We're currently doing a 2008 in Review retrospective. This post on Law School Students of the Year has been especially well-trafficked. I created this nifty graphic. If the whole journalism thing doesn't work out, maybe I can just excel in some kind of Photoshopping career.

My other journalistic outlet is my Inauguration blog, which has growing traffic. Nearly 100 hits yesterday, which doesn't compare to the hundreds of thousands of hits we get on Above The Law, but still makes me feel like I am contributing something useful to my fellow denizens in cyberspace.