The terms hammer, gutter, jump and wrap probably aren't anything all that special in your vocabulary. But for the nine staff members currently in the Collegian classroom, those words are getting totally new definitions.

It's part of our Design and Editing Workshop we put together every semester for new and returning editors at The Collegian. The rookies, who have so selflessly returned to State College early, are learning the basics today. They'll meet with the veterans tomorrow.

They're learning that a hammer refers to a giant, two- or three-word headline, a gutter is a space between stories that run the whole length of a page, a jump is where the rest of a front-page story ends up, and a wrap is used to fit a photo within an article.

Do they know it already? Perhaps. The least experienced among them have been here for at least a year. But part of The Collegian's mission is to make sure that our staff members get a quality education about working for a newspaper. And, at least at this paper, that means learning to be versatile.

By Sunday morning, these students will have a working knowledge about copy editing, page design, management and (best of all) stress management. By Sunday afternoon, they'll be putting their new skills to work.

This is the next generation of leaders at The Collegian. Next year, they'll be the veterans showing the rookies the ropes. Some of them will be looking for jobs.

Until then, though, it's on-the-job training.