Don Bush's Intercom article
Lu Rehling
rehlingl at sfsu.edu
Wed Feb 7 11:53:02 MST 2007
Hi, Kathy--You're right about the forum: I did finally submit a post,
but it wasn't easy to do so; and it didn't, in the end, feel like a
worthwhile exercise. I think that your final comment below about
qualifying columnists is the most important message that we need to
deliver to the editor of Intercom, so, one way or another, I hope that
he receives it loud and clear.--Lu
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Louise Rehling, Ph.D.
Director, Technical & Professional Writing Program
Professor, College of Humanities
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132
HUM 413; 415-338-3988; <mailto:RehlingL at sfsu.edu> RehlingL at sfsu.edu
TPW Program:
http://www.sfsu.edu/~tpw
HUM 414; 415-338-7025; <mailto:tpw at sfsu.edu> tpw at sfsu.edu
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-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-stc-ac-277434 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stc-ac-277434 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of Northcut,
Kathryn
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 10:34 AM
To: stc-ac
Subject: [stc-ac] RE: Don Bush's Intercom article
Tommy - I was intrigued, so after 15 minutes of logging in, registering,
and reading the legalese on the disclaimer, then agreeing to it after
not actually reading it, I was disappointed that I cannot start a
discussion forum. I can only respond to your response to some other guy
complaining about not enough responses under the forum titled "Coming
Soon - Discussions of Intercom Articles." This doesn't fit my mood or my
needs right now. If you can start a forum, "Responses to Don Bush" would
show us where to go and feel less like an afterthought.
On the other hand, I've gotten thoughtful, supportive, and encouraging
responses (not all of which disagree with Bush) on the stc-ac list and
offlist as personal replies to my list posting, so maybe this is where
the discussion is thriving. Migrating it may just kill it. When I
started thinking black thoughts about STC, I knew where to go - to where
you and Hillary and Carol Barnum and many others are trying to build
bridges, not walls.
I'm not sure I have any more energy to devote to a columnist who doesn't
deserve a column. If I feel misunderstood by STC, which happens at least
twice a year on a grand scale, there are other places for me to go: IEEE
PCS; Documentation and Training; CPTSC; ATTW; CCCC; RSA, the list goes
on and on and on. STC does have some good opportunities though; I just
wish they would more carefully screen columnists' contributions or seek
out columnists (Bush isn't the only problem) who have broader
experience, less hostility, and the willingness to research before they
publish.
Kathy
Kathryn Northcut
Assistant Professor of Technical Communication
Dept. of English and Technical Communication HSS 216
University of Missouri-Rolla
Rolla MO 65409
northcut at umr.edu
573.341.4687
_____
From: bounce-stc-ac-319517 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stc-ac-319517 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of Barker, Thomas
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 9:42 PM
To: stc-ac
Subject: [stc-ac] RE: Don Bush's Intercom article
Academic Community members,
I would like to echo Lu's reaction to Bush's column. In situations like
this I'm usually not bothered because I think the voice the author is
trying to create simply reveals his own lack of anything real to say and
his shallow ideas about the profession. But this is bad timing for
academics and the profession as a whole. We're striving to define what
cooperation between academia and industry really means for the
profession, and this article is a giant step backward.
I would urge all members to communicate with STC about this issue.
Maurice Martin has asked for comments about Intercom articles on the STC
forum, which seems like a good place to voice your concerns. Here's the
link.
http://stcforum.org/index.php
Dr. Thomas Barker
Manager, STC Academic Community
<mailto:thomas.barker at ttu.edu> thomas.barker at ttu.edu
<http://www.stc-ac.org/> http://www.stc-ac.org
The STC Academic Community serves STC members worldwide who work as
educators and researchers in colleges and universities. These
responsibilities involve areas of curriculum design, current practices
in technical communication, research and research funding, and academic
workplace and professional issues.
_____
From: bounce-stc-ac-264184 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stc-ac-264184 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of Lu Rehling
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 3:54 PM
To: stc-ac
Subject: [stc-ac] RE: Don Bush's Intercom article
Hi, Kathy--In addition to supporting you (as others have done) in noting
that Don Bush's February '07 Intercom article does not accurately or
fairly represent the work of technical communication specialists in
academe, I also want to note that the article strongly misrepresents the
work that technical communicators do in the workplace.
Most importantly, based on my own experiences working in industry and on
the many recent and ongoing experiences of other technical communicators
that I know of from STC colleagues and from interns in and graduates of
our program, technical communicators in industry are not just
keyboardists or tools jockeys. Even in entry-level positions, technical
communicators do indeed write about technical content, and they often
write collaboratively. The range of job options and career development
opportunities for technical communicators is not nearly as limited as
the article suggests. And even other articles that Intercom publishes,
especially in its "my job" features, demonstrate that fact. Of course,
the workplace-based research that we academics use to develop our
curricula also confirm it.
In addition, there are several other claims made in the article that are
off-base about workplace realities for practitioners. For example, even
just a check of STC's own salary survey would reveal that the idea of
making $90K salary in a career as a technical communicator is not, in
fact, a fantasy.
So, what bothers me is not just that Don's article is polarizing and
devalues the work that I do (although, yes, that is annoying), it's also
that the article devalues and misrepresents our entire field and the
work of our practitioner colleagues. as well. While I sometimes have
enjoyed Don Bush's idiosyncratic approaches in the past, this is not the
first time that I have found in his column much that seems to be based
on personal anecdotes, long-held (and possibly untested) fixed ideas,
extreme opinions, and stereotypes, rather than on broad experience and
field research. This particular column also is striking for its
discourteousness and somewhat mean-spirited tone (though, admittedly,
this may just be due to a failed attempt at curmudgeonly humor a la Andy
Rooney).
I understand that Intercom, as STC's magazine, may not need to be held
to same standards as its journal, Technical Communication, but its
columnists at least should be expected to demonstrate a constructive and
knowledgeable engagement with the prevalent issues and practices that
all of STC's members share, whether they work mainly in industry or
mainly in academe (and, of course, recognizing that many of us
effectively cross back and forth between those two "worlds").
Thanks for bringing this article to our collective attention, Kathy.-Lu
P.S. As others have encouraged, I will share my thoughts on the article
in question with the editor of Intercom, as well.
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---
Lu Rehling
Director, Technical & Professional Writing Program
<http://www.sfsu.edu/~tpw> http://www.sfsu.edu/~tpw
Professor, College of Humanities
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132
office: room 413, Humanities Building
phone: 415-338-3988
email: <mailto:RehlingL at sfsu.edu> RehlingL at sfsu.edu
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-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-stc-ac-277434 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stc-ac-277434 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of Northcut,
Kathryn
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 2:56 PM
To: stc-ac
Subject: [stc-ac] Don Bush's Intercom article
Colleagues:
Colleagues:
I've just read Don Bush's "The Friendly Editor" column of February 2007.
I'm distressed by the article, even though the proverbial shoe doesn't
fit me. With this sort of characterization of my work within
publications that are supposedly promoting the profession, we are doing
ourselves a disservice to say the least. At best, Bush is misinformed,
and at worst, he's being malicious. I'd send this message to Mr. Bush,
but he lists only a snail mail address, no email.
I'm interested in hearing how others are reacting or responding to what
he's said, and if I'm off base in thinking that a column published in TC
reflects the position of STC toward "academicians" (a term I loathe).
Certainly there are factions within STC trying to build bridges between
university personnel and workplaces, but are we swimming against the
tide?
Although I could perhaps shrug this off, I told my students to join STC,
and they read this column, and they will take it to heart.
I'm concerned.
Kathy
Kathryn Northcut
Assistant Professor of Technical Communication
Department of English and Technical Communication
University of Missouri-Rolla
northcut at umr.edu
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