LET'S COMMUNICATE 
Agriculture Communication Newsletter 
June 2001, No. 66

CONTENTS 

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD 
WEB-BASED E-MAIL 

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD

"Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear." Ezra Pound

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Some recent e-mail correspondence included a comment about reviewing papers and finding "...five adjectives preceding a noun and none separated by commas this just can't be, can it?" In the first place I can't imagine five adjectives for one noun, but that's not the point. As usual we can give a seemingly simple question a complicated answer. First, punctuation is practiced in two (at least!) ways. "Close" punctuation tends to use every punctuation mark the rules allow. "Open" punctuation is a tendency to punctuate only when necessary to prevent misreading the more contemporary style. So the rule is that two or more adjectives that each modify the noun itself are separated by commas: "It's going to be a long, hot, humid summer." But in the open style the comma is often omitted: "It was a dark stormy night." Common sense suggests that a long list (like five) probably needs commas. And another complication: "If the first adjective modifies the idea expressed by the combination of the second adjective and the noun, no comma should be used: 'He had no patience with the traditional political institutions of his country.'" (From The Chicago Manual of Style.) "Traditional" and "political" both modify "institutions." But "traditional" also modifies the idea of "political institutions." Perfectly clear? I didn't think so.

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Speaking of adjectives and nouns (one of your favorite topics, I'm sure), there is a simple little phrase that you see misused every day. Sort of an everyday error, you might say. The two-word expression "every day" is correctly used in sentences like: "He does his best every day." Frequent incorrect useage is: "She is on the job everyday." "Every" is an adjective. Combined with the noun "day" as "every day," it means every single day. "Everyday," the one-word version, is an adjective only, used to mean routine or mundane. It often implies just the opposite of "every day."

WEB-BASED E-MAIL

You can now use the Web to check your ExtNet e-mail when away from the office or when your Pegasus mail program is on the blink. This can be done anywhere in the world from any computer with Netscape or MS Internet Explorer that is connected to the Internet.

This Web-based program allows you to read, delete, reply or forward e-mail. E-mail you read on the Web will still be retrieved by Pegasus or other e-mail programs unless you delete it using the Web-based Information Center. So, delete all the junk mail when you are on the road with the Web Information Center and you will not have to deal with it again when you get back to the office. Do not have Pegasus running in the office if you plan to retrieve e-mail via the Web as Pegasus will download your mail automatically and it will be on your desktop computer instead of on the mail server. Once you retrieve mail via Pegasus, it is deleted from the server unless you have it set not to.

Click on the E-mail link from the Information Center home page at http://info.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu. You will be prompted for the ExtNet (POP) ID and password of the account you want to check e-mail from. Click on the number (Nbr) of the e-mail message you want to read. You have the options of delete, reply and forward while reading the message. The Information Center e-mail option is not currently capable of sending and receiving attachments or enclosures, but you can use it's file transfer option to do so. Click on List to return to the list of messages. You can also delete messages from the list option by checking the Delete box of the messages you want deleted, then click on the Delete Message(s) button to send them to alphabet heaven. Again, if you delete them here, they will not be retrievable by Pegasus later.

Click on New on the top menu bar to compose a message. You must enter the entire e-mail address. Pegasus only requires the personal ID (drice) when sending to another ExtNet user, but the Information Center requires the host and domain names as well (drice@ndsuext.nodak.edu). Complete the standard sections of an e-mail message, then click on Send Message. Send yourself a copy by entering your e-mail address in the cc box if you want a copy in your Pegasus mail folder. Click Reset to compose another message (after you have sent the current one), or click on List to go back to your list of e-mail. Use the Log Out option to leave the e-mail section of the Information Center.

Contact the AgComm Computer Help Desk at 231-9666 or e-mail accs@ndsuext.nodak.edu if you have any questions.