Professors tell journalism students over and over that they can't conduct quality reporting from their desks.

Students in professor Carol Polsgrove's J501 Public Affairs Reporting are taking that advice to heart, getting out of the classroom to cover news in largely-rural southern Indiana.

The first wave of stories covering upcoming elections already is available on the class blog, Southern Indiana News. Students talked to candidates and officials in several counties, including Dubois, Jackson, Owen, Greene and Lawrence, to cover election issues and races.

Students also just returned from one of what will be several visits to Orange County in preparation for the semester's centerpiece, reports on the sea changes in West Baden and French Lick as those towns prepare for the opening of a new casino and renovated hotels. During the tour, they interviewed local officials and others involved in the project.

Last fall, Polsgrove took her J501 class to report on the hurricanes' devastation of the Gulf Coast. Newspapers published several class members' work, which also appeared on this Web site.

Check out current stories on the blog.

Read students' stories from last fall's J501 Public Affairs Reporting class, which covered the aftermath of Gulf Coast hurricanes.