"Good Old Summertime"

The College Outline Survey of Journalism says the weather is an unfailing source of copy for harried journalists. If this be true--and the College Outline has stood up under many a gruelling test--editorial writers should feel duty bound to make suitable comment upon this week's isothermal aberrations. The desire to carry out this obligation to the readers was strengthed by the fact that it's too damn hot to think about anything but the heat. To the above two considerations was added the fact that the Editorial column must be filled by something, else subscribers will be demanding a pro rata reduction in the price of today's paper.

Once the topic for the editorial was determined, it was necessary to think about the "message" it could carry--some deathless gem which could be summarized in a few words for the "Reader's Digest." Up to now, no such moral has come to mind, but later on it may be possible to find some connection between the heat wave and the moral degradation of the younger generation or the spiritual decay of Liberalism.

The first thing that any ed needs is an opening sentence or lead, as it is known to the trade. Several possibilities are obvious at once. The sex angle is always a good thing to start with, but that would only make things hotter, and no one would want that, would he? Another sure fire eye-catcher would be, "Hot enough for you?" This, however, is too short. If the ed is to fill the column it must be padded a little here and there, and the beginning is the best place to do it--before the reader has had time to finish his first cup of coffee and get his eyes fully open.

The best type of load for an ed on the heat is a rather innocuous one that raises the question, "What the Hell is this guy leading up to?" For an example of the innocuous, What-the-Hell, type of lead, reference should be made to the first line of this epic. As for the remainder of the editorial following the lead, it was felt that there was not much to be said--not in print. However, if you are really interested in learning something significant about the hot weather, it has been reliably asserted by the oldest inhabitant, "It really isn't the heat; it's the humidity."