Carl

I agree, It is hard to reinforce proper communication to the younger  
generation with todays social pressures.
Maintaining a good example especially in science and engineering  
can't be understated.
Here is some support from the other side, commerce!

Dan



On May 19, 2009, at 8:33 AM, Philip Oshel wrote:

Thank you. Nice to know that there is at least one other person  
howling from the lonely cliff edge.

Phil

> Without any intention to single out one individual, I'd like to  
> address a worsening issue regarding electronic communication.  This  
> is not a diatribe about "artistic license", the difficulties of  
> English as a second language, regional differences in slang or  
> syntax or the subtleties of hanging participles.  What I would like  
> to see is less casual and more appropriate use of the fundamentals  
> of English by those who should know better.
>
> Professional communications should reflect not only the expertise  
> of the individual, but their intellectual acuity as well.  We are  
> not Twittering each other, so we should be writing in complete  
> sentences with proper capitalization and punctuation.  While I may  
> be a Luddite in this regard, doesn't it take more effort to  
> purposely write without these attributes than with them, as all our  
> years of formal training would dictate?
>
> We have enough trouble with the bastardization of the current  
> lexicon.  For instance, when was the last time you "migrated" a  
> chair from one room to another, or you asked yourself what  
> "impacted" your decision to buy a particular car?  In my opinion we  
> should eschew the tendency to accept trendy but lazy language and  
> work to maintain some semblance discipline, if only to slow the  
> progression toward the use of "like" three to five times in every  
> sentence.  (Is that just in America, or has this disheartening  
> trend spread to other English speaking countries?)
>
> I would propose that a given writing or language style should be  
> appropriate for the forum in which it is used.  In the case of this  
> forum, where intelligent and highly educated scientists  
> predominate, we should stick to that level of discourse.
>
> Rantingly yours,
> Carl
>
> Carl A. Boswell, Ph.D.
> Molecular and Cellular Biology
> University of Arizona
> 520-954-7053
> FAX 520-621-3709

-- 
Philip Oshel
Microscopy Facility Supervisor
Biology Department
024C Brooks Hall
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
(989) 774-3576



Dan Focht
Bioptechs
3560 Beck Rd.
Butler, PA 16002
V724-282-7145
F724-282-0745
Micro-Environmental Control Systems
www.bioptechs.com