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The debate about whether journalism is a useful training for technical
writing really misses the point. As a "scientist", I used to have lots
of fun bantering back and forth with the "artsies" (i.e., anyone who
didn't have to take at least one hairy calculus course to meet their
degree requirements) about which group was the worst use of space. The
point was, it was good-humored.
It doesn't much matter what your degree was, the evidence for this
being that I've met good writers and editors with journalistic,
English, and science backgrounds. The underlying characteristic was
the ability to write well. You can learn this in any degree, and I
wouldn't venture to guess what degree (except perhaps a tech. writing
program) gives the best results.
--Geoff Hart #8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: These comments are my own and don't represent the opinions
of the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada.
