Gone are the days when a college degree guaranteed a good job, solid enough to support a family and a beginning to a life of relative happiness.

It takes more today, in a job market as competitive as some of the nation’s most selective institutes of higher learning. The same is true for athletes. As the professional ranks begin to employ only the most elite of the college elites, more and more good college athletes end up working back home at the grain elevator.

Or, for the increasing number of athletes that escape the college system with a degree, there’s a few white-collar career options.

That being the case, college students, athletes certainly included, are finding that practical, on-the-job experience is increasingly important.

For the football player, that may mean a few extra hours in the weight room or a late-night film session with Dan McCarney. For a journalist, that means internships and co-ops with newspapers. The more the better.

And for this news editor/sports columnist, that means my time here at the Daily will end at the end of this week — at least for now.

Around the first of the year I’ll begin a seven-month stint as a general assignment reporter with the Middletown Times-Herald Record, a newspaper about an hour northwest of New York City.

The decision to leave was a difficult one. I’ve learned quickly that this business is as addictive and, at times, as utterly nauseating as they come. The monotony of everyday coverage articles is occasionally broken by the ever-exciting scandal, but even controversy can wear on you when it becomes routine.

So what better place to break the mold than the capital of crime and hubbub of culture?

That’s not to say the Iowa State athletic scene hasn’t provided plenty the past couple of years to keep even the most seasoned journalists interested. I’ve seen Hooters wars, coaching shift after coaching shift, not-so-nice allegations of wrongdoing, new facilities, administrative changes, winless teams, undefeated teams, turnarounds, flops and — being as descriptive as possible — a whole bunch of really weird stuff.

All that’s nice from a news perspective, but it’s time for a change.

And as I’m trying not to let the door hit me on the way out, I feel compelled to make one of those public relations plugs that I normally scoff at. Here goes:

Like any newspaper, the Iowa State Daily makes mistakes, maybe more than most, maybe less.

But the success, or failure, of this newspaper rests with the students’ perception of it. I think the Daily is a good newspaper. I’m also more biased than is possibly imaginable, so feedback, then, is left up to you.

If you think, for example, the Daily does a poor job of giving adequate coverage to women’s athletic events, let us know. If you think we’ve presented only one side of the story in a news article, call, write, tell someone on the staff. Do something. Don’t just chalk it up to “another stupid Daily mistake.”

Reid Crawford, ISU’s former vice president for external affairs who’s now at the University of Maryland, had possibly the best policy for dealing with the Daily. If Reid’s name appeared in an article I wrote, I’d get a phone call that day.

If I had made an error, Reid would say so. But if he thought the piece was well done — not necessarily complimentary, but well written — he’d point that out, too.

Feedback for a journalist, a college journalist and a sportswriter especially, is absolutely essential, and believe it or not, the Iowa State Daily really does care about its image.

Food for thought. See you next fall.