The sizzling hot (literally) women (and men) are in Teresa Lind's Advanced Sculpture class at UW Oshkosh, where they learn to pour metal and make beautiful 3-D pieces. For journalists, immersed in 2-D mediums, metal pouring was an awesome sight to behold. The melted bronze in the crucible, the container that holds the metal, gets upwards of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

[Baptism by Fire]After a hard day of shooting, we all sat down and had a hearty late, late meal. Trent's heartier than most.

[Baptism by Fire] Three things about Shawn McAfee and Brian Ledwell of UW Oshkosh's Media Services: 1. They look nothing like this photo. 2. They are magicians, just like Penn and Teller, if Penn and Teller were a graphic artist and a multimedia developer. 3. They make everything visual more beautiful. (Hence, the pretty photo of themselves.)

[Baptism by Fire] The scars from the War: Through Their Eyes project have yet to fade when I decided to drag Shawn McAfee into another Super-Secret, all-consuming multimedia faculty-student collaboration.

[Baptism by Fire] Did Mark get lost on the way to class and end up in Antarctica? Nah...

[Baptism by Fire] My favorite journalism professors and editors were the ones who threw me to the baying dogs, fully expecting me to come out with a Page 1 story. Never mind any cuts and bruises, real or imagined. Baptism by Fire stories will focus on much kinder and gentler approach to teaching. Fair warning: Please do not attempt this at home or while driving a big rig.

[Baptism by Fire] I've known Trent Hilborn and Mark Mazur for all of 20 minutes when I felt they were ready for Grace's Rules of Good Journalism.

[Story behind the Story] In my heyday as a daily news reporter, I love the backstories -- the story behind the story -- heard in the newsroom. This new Story Behind the Story series allows me to share that little ray of sunshine from my distant past. Every COLS Special Reports has a story behind it. Get the unvarnished truthiness here.

[Story Behind the Story] Before I get to Andre Gaskins, the director of orchestral activities and cello at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, I have to make a couple of confessions. First, I am a rabid nonvoting American Idol fan. There. I said it. My husband shudders at my inexplicable affinity for what he calls "really bad 80s music." But we do agree on one thing. We both love what Andre Gaskins can do with his cello.

[Story Behind the Story] In the COLS Special Reports Filmmaker & Teacher, I got to see Troy Perkins in action. As one of his radio-TV-film student says quite succinctly, "The man knows his stuff."

[Baptism by Fire] My intrepid crew Mark Mazur (left) and Trent Hilborn (far right) and the Lee brothers (Colin and Perry) on Lake Poygan. Apparently I was the only sane one. I stayed on the boat. BTW, I took this awesome photo with my discontinued $88 Kodak M420. Low budget, indeed.