I write for the liberal student newspaper on my ultra conservative campus. The paper is called the Omega and we attempt to bring some entertainment, controversy and new ideas to the students dreary little status quo lives. Here's an article I had printed in the paper if anyone is interested.

Everyday Chaos

As college students most of us have
had to learn organizational skills as a
survival skill. We started learning from the
first time we signed up for our courses.
It's difficult to attain a balanced
timetable, we try to maximize our free time
but there are conflicts between courses,
work and other activities. When school
starts we have to try to keep track of
numerous assignments, papers, quizes,
reading, midterms and any number of personal
appointments.
Some people rise to the occasion.
They expend large amounts of energy
organizing their work and their time
efficiently. These are the kind of people
who brag about the eight hours they spent
studying while you are furiously cramming as
much information as possible into your short
term memory five minutes before the test. It
must be nice to have everything done well
and on time. But what about the auxiliration
of the last minute victory? They're missing
out.
I think it's safe to say a large
number of us live closer towards they far
end of the organizational spectrum.
(Including me.) We procrastinate and spend
as little energy as possible on
organization. All of our assignments,
studying and Omega articles are left until
the absolutely last minute. We leave just
enough time to get the job done. Something
goes wrong every time though, such as an
empty ink cartridge or a lost disk and then
the mad scramble ensues.
You've probably heard of Chaos
Theory. It's a term that self important
intellectual type like to toss around. I
decided to do a little research on chaos
theory. The first thing I learned is that it
is big. Very big. It's applications are
virtualy limitless. I think I got the
general idea though, and it's basic
principles are very interesting.
Whether a system is in a state of
chaos or in a state of order there are
governing principles. The form of these
factors and their effects depends on the
nature of the system. If a system is in a
state of order it will inevitably fall into
chaos. As the system falls into chaos a new
and different order evolves because of the
governing principles. I don't claim to be an
expert on Chaos Theory though, so if my
interpretation is wrong i'd love to recieve
your angry letters at the Omega.
The effects of chaos theory are easy
to see in everyday life. Our well intended
schedules collapse into anarchy and our best
laid plans go horribly wrong. We struggle
through it somehow and then reorganize
everything again afterwards. Even the most
organized amoung us eventually succumb and
have to rebuild. Meanwhile the rest of us
revel in their temporary chaos. This is
nothing new though. We all know that perfect
organization is impossible to maintain.
I think the real lesson to be
learned from chaos theory is to know the
rules. Governing principles will exist in
both order and chaos. Identify the things
that have an effect on your life and what
those effects are. The more of these factors
that you can identify in the world around
you and in your own mind, the better
equipped you will be to deal with chaos in
your life.
If you want my advice on
organization in short form here it is.
Undertand yourself. Understand the world.
Don't try to organize your life, just go
with the flow. Enjoy the chaos.

My honest opinion is that the article was boring. It seemed to me that it restated the obvious a few times, and it lacked the structure of thoughts that a good article requires to make the read enjoyable.

I only read it once, so I could have missed the point or something, so don't let me crush you.

You know something funny? The editor of the paper uses goatboy as his nic.

Chaos Theory is extremely interesting. I first discovered it while tripping. Fractals. Great stuff.

This thread is now in the Printed Matter forum.

I agree with goatboy. The article has direction, but lacks a freshness or vividness. It's too straight forward. Also, I believe that you might want to use the word exhiliration.