Re: FWD: Re: Would you like a fries with that style guide, redux

[barry batorsky <bbatorsk -at- nj -dot- devry -dot- edu>]

First a correction.  In the equation (and please have tolerance for the
fact that my email doesn't allow for subscripts, p/d--I thought it might be
clear from the natural language version that p and d are intended as
subscripts--think of it as a misspelling):

Q(p/d) x (E+C) = R:

I mispoke when I said "C" stood for Competence, of course it can't.  It
stands for Commitment.  btw, I copied the equation from a book:  It's not
my statement.  Thanks whoever it was who pointed out that you can't get a
result from just a plan and competence. (As I say to the students in my
algebra class when they pick up an error I make, "That's why you're here.")

Also, the Result of zero Effort and zero Commitment is zero since (E+C) is
a factor and would equal zero. Someone raised that issue.
 
To the issue that these variables are not quantifiable.  They surely are.
It's the way I get my raises, and my boss justifies his conclusions with
evaluative numbers.  Is there subjectivity involved?  Of course, because
judgments are involved.  But I don't think anyone would claim that we don't
calculate probabilities or make judgments (or plans) without projecting
costs and benefits. We quantify our effort and commitment all the time.

Finally, I am sorry that I reprinted Dick's personal note to the list.
When I hit "reply" to anything on this list, I always get the personal
address, and automatically cut and paste the listserv address.  I didn't
notice that Dick's post was a private one.  I promise to be more careful in
the future.

Oh yes, the distinction I made between the writing process and the
documentation process wasn't clear to some.  All I meant was that I teach
the writing process to freshman, but technical writing to upper level
students. The first parallels the second in the essentials, but is not the
same.  I was using the term "documentation" to indicate what I also call,
variously, "organizational", "technical", or "professional" writing. Trust
me, the two classes are very different.  Is that a claim that I own the
truth? No, but I think it does establish my credentials, which is a
legitimate argument.

Eppur si muove,
Barry



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems 
Available 4/30/01 at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com

Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001 Conference East, 
June 4-6, Baltimore, MD. Now covering Acrobat 5. Early registration deadline 
April 27. http://www.pdfconference.com. 

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.