Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/06/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]That's a problem I run into - 'don't give us long sentences - give us bullet points.' :-) -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Dan C Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2004 11:17 AM To: Leica Users Group Subject: RE: [Leica] RE: While it is happening (B. D. Colen)writing goingdwnhll In business school, and in the real world of business, my reports were always criticized for being too complex. I was told to make my sentences shorter. There was even a software program that could analyze a report and declare what grade level of education was required to fully understand it, the presumption being that the score shouldn't be too high. -dan c. At 09:49 AM 24-06-04 -0400, B. D. Colen wrote: >I can't disagree with the premise that the skills we value change - but >- by any measure I've seen, our society is scientifically illiterate >when compared to others in which there is universal schooling. And I'm >not bemoaning the decline of writing skills from the perspective of a >journalist, but rather from that of a citizen who believes that if we >cannot communicate clearly, we are ultimately doomed as a society. The >brilliant scientist who cannot convey his brilliance to others is far >less likely to find sufficient funding for his work than the scientist >who can communicate clearly - in writing and verbally. > >I tell the students in my undergrad science news writing class that I >know full well very few of them will ever write a news story after >leaving the class, and the few who do - because they work on the school >paper - won't after graduating because they'll be headed for careers in >the sciences. However, the skills they acquire in reducing a scientific >journal report to a 350 word news story will help them in whatever they >do in the future. > >B. D. _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information