• 

  10 Things to Know for Friday

  Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

• 

  Nothing to do this weekend? The Trib-Star's 'BASH section offers some suggestions

  Community Theatre of Terre Haute’s main stage season finale opens this Friday, with the hit Broadway comedy “Social Security,” directed by Sonni Crawford.

• 

  Morning update: I-5 bridge collapse caused by truck hitting span

  The Washington State Patrol chief says the Interstate 5 bridge collapse into the Skagit (SKA'-jiht) River at Mount Vernon was caused by an oversize truck.

• 

  ISU plans hearing on proposed tuition/fees increase

  Indiana State University will conduct a public hearing at 2 p.m. June 4 to receive input on a proposed 1.95 percent increase in student tuition and mandatory fees for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years.

Liz Ciancone

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August 9, 2011

LIZ CIANCONE: Coming to grips with typing technology

Liz Ciancone The Tribune-Star The Tribune Star Tue Aug 09, 2011, 09:46 AM EDT

I was asked the other day if I still used a typewriter.

Actually, I am trapped somewhere in the 20th century. I use the familiar typewriter keyboard, but now it is attached to a laptop computer. There are so many keys I don’t understand at all, but I don’t poke at them to see what happens. So far, a combination of what I learned in high school and the new miracle of writing and sending it off into thin air works for me.

I am thankful that I do not have to write in longhand and work with a quill pen. Just thinking about taking pen in hand and writing “War and Peace” or “A Tale of Two Cities” gives me writers’ cramp.

Taking a year of high school typing wasn’t my idea. Dad, who was trapped somewhere between the 19th and 20th centuries, thought everyone should learn to use a typewriter. He thought it was the path to fame and fortune. He even insisted that Ed take typing and that served Ed well in the Navy where he qualified to become a “feather merchant.”

So, my junior year of high school I sat down before an old Underwood typewriter in the “business lab.” It doesn’t take long to learn the keyboard which is really rather logical. Keys for the most-used letters are easy to reach with the strongest fingers. What did me in was the required timed tests which we had to pass with minimal errors — not just once, but a half-dozen times.

I couldn’t seem to eliminate those pesky errors so got only a half credit for my year at the Underwood. But, I was offered a deal. If I came back in the fall and passed the timed test as required, I’d get the other half credit. Dad insisted.

I spent the summer typing address stencils. They were framed in cardboard and fitted into a bracket. The object was to cut the name and address through the stencil. If, after a test run, the ink didn’t pass clearly through my work, I’d get the stencil back and do it again. I hated that job.

But, it developed my speed and my accuracy and that fall I aced the test.

Liz Ciancone is a retired Tribune-Star education reporter. Her column has been published on this page for more than 20 years. Send e-mail to Ciancone at

opinion@tribstar.com.

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Copyright 2013 News From Terre Haute, Indiana. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Liz Ciancone

• LIZ CIANCONE: Smell of fresh air gave way to dryers

  Remember when clean clothes smelled like fresh air and sunshine rather than fabric softener and dryer sheets?

  May 20, 2013  

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• LIZ CIANCONE: We always want more than we need

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  I once owned a gun. Actually, it was Dad’s gun and I was allowed to use it. He bought an air gun which shot BB’s to protect our home — in a way.

  April 16, 2013  

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  I saw a robin the other morning. It was not the first robin of spring, of course. A few of the more daring robins had opted to spend the winter and, although they looked pretty sorry about it on a few occasions, it was a fairly mild winter.

  April 9, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The mystery of the small animal mascot

  I hope you won’t think I’m picking on small animals, but I’ve been thinking about Easter and the Easter bunny.

  April 2, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Rising up to defend the poor groundhog

  I read in the newspaper the other morning that Punxsatawney Phil is being hauled into court and charged with falsely predicting an early spring. I am volunteering my services as counsel for the defense.

  March 26, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Keeping eye out for signs of spring

  The problem with expecting a groundhog to predict the arrival of spring is that there are groundhogs scattered all over the country. The Pennsylvania groundhog may not see the same kind of weather as the groundhog out here in Dobbs Park. In this way, false hopes are roused and the groundhog loses credibility as a meteorologist.

  March 19, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Not every other name smells sweet as a rose

  It was either Romeo or Juliet who said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

  March 12, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Innocence appreciated when you’re growing up

  I grew up rather stupid. I didn’t realize it at the time. Neither did my teachers who seemed to think I had “promise.”

  March 5, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Years along rivers make them feel like home

  I’ve been following plans for celebrating “The Year of the River” with interest. Rivers have played such a role in my life that I’ve celebrated a good many rivers. The Wabash River is merely the most recent example.

  February 19, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: There are always cat stories to be told

  I was asked the other day why I write about dogs I have known, but never about cats. “What’s the matter?” they asked, “Don’t you like cats?”

  February 12, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Sharing the family history

  My Grandmother lived with us. Ed and I were eager audiences for her family stories about the Cooks. Mom also shared her memories of growing up with three brothers.

  February 5, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Do we want our privacy or not?

  We Americans are a strange bunch. We insist upon our right to privacy, yet we neglect few opportunities to parade our personal business in public.

  January 29, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The low humor of Mickey Mantis

  I’m told that a pun is the lowest form of humor. I guess that typecasts me! I love them, but then, I like any type of word play.

  January 22, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: For now, justice is served in Bball Hall

  News this past week brought justice of a sort. The folks who decide these things have declined to pick anyone to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.

  January 15, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Well, what would you do with only 1 sock?

  Let me ask you something.

  January 8, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Movie memories don’t include many of the lengthy variety

  There has been lots of reporting lately about how long movies are becoming.

  January 1, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Resist that big ‘let down’ on the day after Christmas

  Today is the big day. That makes tomorrow a sort of let down — rather like “What have you done for me lately?”

  December 25, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: No thanks to getting mags delivered via the Internet

  I am a creature of habit. I like to know what I’m doing and I need to know how to do it. That’s why I am annoyed when corporate America seems determined to drag me, kicking and screaming into the age of Internet.

  December 18, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Everyone has a favorite holiday

  I suppose everyone has a favorite holiday. My guess is that, for most of us, that holiday is Christmas. It's a holiday with a miracle no matter how old we get.

  December 15, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Christmas season puts time back into focus

  It’s a funny thing about time. It can speed along so that you cannot believe that your kids can possibly be old enough to have good sense, or it can drag its heels while you wait for that first grandchild or while you are saving up for something really special.

  December 4, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The bottom line is what drives ‘Black Friday’ sales

  Why is it called "Black Friday"?

  November 27, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Have we lost the meaning of holiday?

  I’ve been considering a lost-and-found ad to see if anyone knows what’s happened to Thanksgiving.

  November 20, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Magic is always there with live theater

  I’m a pushover for live theater. But movies? Not so much. For me it’s like the difference between canned peas and those picked fresh from the garden. Movies even COME in cans.

  November 13, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Maybe the Cubs will win it all next year

  I was relieved to have the World Series ending before the snow flies. Heck, it didn’t even last into November this year.

  November 6, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Holiday decorating better when personal, simple

  I fear that I am becoming an old poop!

  October 30, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Surprises from mail worth the extra penny

  I understand that the cost of pursuing my hobby will be going up by a penny come the year 2013.

  October 23, 2012  

• More Liz Ciancone Headlines

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