LET�S COMMUNICATE
Agriculture Communication Newsletter
September 2004, No. 105

CONTENTS

   Write the Right Word
   Learn Unwriting from Mark Twain
   Get the Latest Ag News
   USDA Photo Sources
   Poster Power
   Distance Education Support
   The Core Rules of Netiquette
   Answers to Write the Right Word

Write the Right Word

Here are the last questions from the quiz given at this summer�s Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) international meeting session on �Grammar is for Lovers � of the Language.�

1. _________ he failed the test.

•    a. Consequently
•    b. Consequently,

2. John wanted _____ Jill wanted yogurt.

•     a. ice cream, however
•     b. ice cream, however,
•     c. ice cream; however
•     d. ice cream; however,

3. He injured his knee _____ carelessness.

•     a. because of
•     b. due to

4. I ran faster than _____.

•     a. her
•     b. she

5. ____ that�s great!

•    a. Gee
•    b. Gee,

Learn Unwriting from Mark Twain

The Unwriting Workshop features online modules with "Mark Twain" explaining the importance of clear, simple writing. You'll watch video clips of the actor then practice writing short sentences and paragraphs, and clear messages.

This independent study program is in Blackboard, so e-mail me at becky.koch@ndsu.nodak.edu to get enrolled.

Get the Latest Ag News

You can receive all the news releases distributed to the media and others by Ag Com in your e-mail box. Just drop a note to Gail Hokenson at ghokenso@ndsuext.nodak.edu and asked to be added to the news release list. Or, you can check the news on the Web. Click on News at the top of the left (green) column at www.ag.ndsu.edu .

USDA Photo Sources

If you need photos, check out www.usda.gov/oc/photo/opclibra.htm and www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/ . These USDA photos are available, as are all federal government resources, without having to request permission. But remember, resources and graphics on Web sites and in publications authored by anyone besides the federal government are considered copyrighted so you must request permission to use them.

The material you generate in your job is considered work for hire, so NDSU owns the copyright. The Ag Communication director grants permissions to use NDSU Ag materials, so contact me if others ask to use your material.

Poster Power

Need a color poster for a meeting or display? Ag Com can help. Send your PowerPoint file, or bring your ideas so Ag Com staff can design the poster.

Ag Communication charges for materials but not labor if the poster is for regular work of an Ag department. The cost for grant-funded and non-Ag departments is material plus $36 per hour for labor. Material is $2 per running foot for matte paper and $4 for glossy. Contact John Grindahl at 231-7898 or jgrindah@ndsuext.nodak.edu , or Deb Tanner, at 231-7891 or dtanner@ndsuext.nodak.edu .

Distance Education Support

Trina Spaeth is now on the Ag Com staff to help faculty with distance education efforts. Contact Trina at 231-5162 or tspaeth@ndsuext.nodak.edu for cost estimates on work via Blackboard, the Web, videoconferencing and other distance ed tools.

The Core Rules for Netiquette

In her book Netiquette, Virginia Shea lists 10 core rules. Rule 4 is Respect other people's time and bandwidth.

When you send e-mail or post to a discussion group, you're taking up other people's time (or hoping to). It's your responsibility to ensure that the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted.

The word "bandwidth" is sometimes used synonymously with time, but it's really a different thing. Bandwidth is the information-carrying capacity of the wires and channels that connect everyone in cyberspace. There's a limit to the amount of data that any piece of wiring can carry at any given moment - even a state-of-the-art fiber- optic cable. The word "bandwidth" also sometimes is used to refer to the storage capacity of a host system. When you accidentally post the same note to the same newsgroup five times, you are wasting both time (of the people who check all five copies of the posting) and bandwidth (by sending repetitive information over the wires and requiring it to be stored somewhere).

You are not the center of cyberspace. Presumably, this reminder will be superfluous to most readers. But I include it anyway because when you're working hard on a project and deeply involved in it, it's easy to forget that other people have concerns other than yours. So don't expect instant responses to all your questions, and don't assume that all readers will agree with - or care about - your passionate arguments.

And many news-reading programs are slow, so just opening a posted note or article can take awhile. Then the reader has to wade through all the header information to get to the meat of the message. No one is pleased when it turns out not to be worth the trouble.

To whom should messages be directed? (Or why "mailing list" could become dirty words.) In the old days, people made copies with carbon paper. You could make only about five legible copies. So you thought good and hard about who you wanted to send those five copies to. Today, it's as easy to copy practically anyone on your mail as it is not to. And we sometimes find ourselves copying people almost out of habit. In general, this is rude. People have less time than ever today, precisely because they have so much information to absorb. Before you copy people on your messages, ask yourself whether they really need to know. If the answer is no, don't waste their time. If the answer is maybe, think twice before you hit the send key.

We�ll cover rules 5-10 in future issues of Let�s Communicate, but if you just can�t wait, see www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html .

Answers to Write the Right Word

1. Consequently, he failed the test.

    b. Use a comma to separate an introductory clause, in this case consequently, from the rest of the sentence.

2. John wanted ice cream; however, Jill wanted yogurt.

    d. Use a semicolon to link independent clauses, which are groups of words that could stand alone as complete sentences. See the rule above on why a comma should come after however.

3. He injured his knee because of carelessness.

    a. Because introduces a direct reason for something happening. It�s also used because it modifies a verb, in this case injured. Due to usually is used only after some form of the verb to be. For example: His knee injury is due to carelessness.

4. I ran faster than she.

    b. An easy way to remember which form to use is to add the implied verb. Thus, this sentence would read: I ran faster than she ran.

5. Gee, that�s great!

    b. Use a comma to separate interjections from the rest of the sentence.