Feared Editting Prof Wheres Alot of Hats

Doug Fisher teaches one of the most dreaded courses in the University of South Carolina's School of Journalism and Mass Communications: "I’ve been called the 'great Satan' and, I suspect, worse. I’ve also had students run from my office gleefully screaming into their cell phones, 'Mom, I got a B!'" But the 6'4" former A.P. editor uses humor to diffuse some of the intimidation: "Sometimes I wear funny hats to class – a ball cap with a giant pencil screwed into it (yes, that’s a real working pencil and eraser), a hard hat (my favorite for 'building' headlines), a cowboy hat (useful for 'rounding up' loose sentences) and others. Sometimes I don a ghoul’s mask or that of a hockey goalie (think Jason)." Creativity is also a key. Why should editing be desk work? Fisher's editing students get out of their seats to represent words that are moved around the room by "editors." Fisher hopes his courses can "make people laugh a little, realize that editing, while serious stuff, can be fun."