A Senate panel advanced a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday as the committee chairman shouted "good riddance" to a Democrat who walked out of the tense session.

"If you want to leave, good riddance," Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter told Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold, who refused to participate because, he said, the meeting was not sufficiently open to the public.

"I've enjoyed your lecture too. See you later, Mr. Chairman," Feingold told the Pennsylvania Republican before storming out. The testy exchange highlighted tensions over the proposal, which would amend the U.S. Constitution to prevent states from recognizing same-sex marriages.

• Identify borrowed ideas from whence they came (particularly appropriate considering the current plagiarism scandals)
• Make references to specific actions or quotes in the text as evidence (this advice is mostly about literary criticism, but if you're writing about something else, "evidence" is still necessary)
• Exactly reproduce lines/quotes from the text (related to the identifying borrowed ideas concept -- if you're quoting, quote; if you're paraphrasing, you must still give credit for the idea in some way.)
• Natural language is good (putting on language that is too academic or technical is usually unnecessary - when you have to use a technical term or phrase, define it; write so that you can be understood)
• Cliches, colloquialisms, and swearing are bad (again, this advice is about literary criticism, but it's also good to consider the use of any of these "devices" when you do use them -- what do they add to your writing? used when appropriate, they can add something; used reflexively or habitually, they're annoying)
• Try to write perfect spoken English -- read your paper aloud to make sure it sounds like good spoken English (consider the "natural language" advice above...)
• Don't write more than 2 sentences that begin with the subject (Subj Verb Obj sentence structure) -- this structure is boring if used too much, and sounds like a written monotone (this advice is dr. huston's big personal pet peeve. while there will be times when it makes sense to ignore this advice - especially if you're not taking dr. huston's class - you'll find that there are more reasons to take the advice to heart -- variation in the sentence starters forces you to pay attention to your logical progression through your paper and create the transitions that are so important -- more on this idea below)
• Vary sentence length and structure (more of the same -- don't write all short or all long sentences; it is more effective to mix sentence types, length, and structure the same way you vary your volume and tone when you speak)
• Be wary of absolute statements (there are many shades of gray in the world and in literature. when you speak or write without acknowledging these, you are setting yourself up)
• Voice - create a speaking (writing) voice that seems real -- write with yourself as the audience, in a critical but not unfair mood
• Dr. Huston likes dashes (so do I) -- use to insert a sentence within a sentence
• Get rid of passive voice -- choose active verbs (while there may be reasons and times to use linking verbs and passive voice, I've found that they're few and far between -- make your words work for a living and identify who's doing what to whom; save the passive voice and linking verbs for when you cannot avoid them or whenyou actually need them.)
• Transitions are very important -- think about each sentence as a transition, building logically from the beginning of the paper to the end (i've come to believe that this advice serves all writers well; use it to improve not only your writing, but your actual logic/argument as well.)
• Avoid "This" without a noun (should be self-explanatory, but if you say: "this is true," for example, I want to know what "this" is -- this argument? this advice? this sentence? etc)
• Avoid "Due to" (most of us use this construction incorrectly - because or since should usually be your substitute)
• Don't write more than 2 prepositional phrases in a row (makes your sentences too wordy...)
• Other ways to start sentences: subjective conjunction (if, when, because, while); adverb (however, then); coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, nor, yet, so); prepositional phrases, participial phrases, infinitives, gerunds, noun clauses, object of the sentence first, fragments, questions (this advice goes with the idea of transitions and with the advice to vary sentence structure/starters... you should google these items if you need help figuring out what they are -- there are a lot of good examples out there; i've got more on "sentence starters" that I'll post another time...)
  

You'll have to click through an ad or two if you're not a Salon junkie like me, but this French AIDS-prevention PSA is worth it. If you'd rather find it elsewhere, just Google "Wilfred Brimo" and look for references to "Sugar Baby Love."

 I repeat, this is *not* work-safe. It's animated, but pretty explicit at times.

 I so dig a happy ending...

Thanks, Jonvon, and sorry for the slow response.