This is the stuff I live for.

I arrived at Palomar College yesterday at about 10 a.m. — right as the campus was being evacuated because of a bomb threat. Now, I was heading to campus to send off the final pages of The Telescope to the printer — that wasn’t going to happen.

The paper for Monday was pretty much done, we just had to send it off, but all of that changed. The students jumped right in, reporting on the situation.

In the pic is editor John Scafetta and me updating The Telescope’s Web site from the football field, where we were evacuated. Using the photo adviser’s cell phone, my laptop, quotes from the dispatcher who took the call, and whatever information they could find, we posted photos, a story and sent out an e-mail alert to our subscribers.

The Telescope was first with the story — about a half an hour into the whole ordeal. The students beat the North County Times, Union-Tribune, TV and radio.

But that wasn’t all. Photographers stuck on the north side of campus got shots of the situation there, and one grabbed some audio of the college president. One editor began making calls to the sheriff’s department even though she was at work — in La Jolla. Another came to the campus during the evacuation to get quotes from students.

When the all clear was announced, and classes went back into session, The Telescope was also first to get that information out — telling students classes were back in session while the college’s Web site never had any information. As a result, The Telescope’s Web site’s traffic more than tripled yesterday.

Once it all calmed down, we went back to the newsroom where John wrote a new front page story and we moved the news content around to make room in an “already-finished” paper.

The “pre-bomb-scare” front is on the left (also with an evacuation story). Post is on the right.

I’m, in general, always proud of the students at The Telescope. Right now, especially so. They really stepped up — especially since the staff is relatively green compared to previous years.