In its infinite wisdom, the University of Colorado Board of Regents decided yesterday to phase out the School of Journalism. Citing reasons of dwindling enrollment and not being afraid to blaze new trails with more innovative programs, they decided the journalism program was no longer relevant. And why not, I mean after all we are a nation of great writers, right?

What were they thinking? The art of writing a simple declarative sentence is going down the same path as All My Children – canceled. After all, when we can truncate things by using such nifty abbreviations like u, r, LMAO, TTYL and my favorite WTF, we don’t need to write the old fashioned way anymore. At the risk of sounding somewhat stodgy, I rather enjoy something that is well thought out and well written. The skill and creativity needed to create interest, hold someone riveted, make someone laugh or simply tell a good story is, I fear, fading into the sunset. Or maybe the sun has already set.

And above and beyond that precious skill, simple rules of English are consistently being murdered these days. Knowing the difference between there and their, when to correctly use which or that, the difference between your and you’re – these and many more basic concepts have long gone by the wayside.

Take for example some fun little games that people post on their status on Facebook – something like “You wake up in the morning and come down to the kitchen. There are only two people in the room, you and me, and there is only one cup of coffee. In four words, tell me what you would say.”  And you see replies like: “This one’s not yours” or “You’re not drinking this”. HELLO! This one’s not yours is five words as “one’s” is a contraction for one is – and the same with you’re not drinking this, you’re is a contraction for you are. Drives me insane!

And, how about the young woman who posted on her Facebook status that “Today the United States attacked Labia”. I used all the restraint I could muster not to make some smart aleck comment about that – just too ripe for the asking. And you see things like this over and over again. How do all of these people pass their English courses? Do we teach basic writing anymore? Do we teach English anymore?

I guess not. And I guess we don’t teach journalism anymore either. What CU is saying with their recent decision is that writing, among other journalistic endeavors, is just not relevant. So @ University of Colorado, all I can say is WTF! R U kidding me? When I herd you’re decision I LMFAO. TTYL. =-/