Bush's article in Intercom

[Patricia Egan]

Hi Kathy, Lu, Tom, John, and others,

I took the time to read Don Bush's column. It is insulting at so many
levels, most of which the members of this list have addressed. Perhaps this
SIG needs to send a collective message to the editors of Intercom that Mr.
Bush is out of touch with the realities of both the workplace and the
university or college. His article conveys stereotypes that are just not
accurate.

I am a few thesis pages away from completing my MS in professional and
technical communications at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Our program
is criticized at times for its emphasis on theory over practice. At no time,
however, during any of our courses did we engage in exhaustive "treatment of
the colon and semicolon" or "instructional games." Our course in
collaborative writing and teamwork provided me with both communication
theory and project experience that has proven to be of great value in the
workplace time and time again. As for writing "like they talk," I wonder how
well Mr. Bush's documents would translate into 16 other languages.

Just because I am not quite done with my thesis does not mean that I have
not worked professionally in the field. Prior to joining the MS-PTC program
at NJIT, I had worked at fairly senior levels in capital and institutional
fundraising at top educational and cultural organizations in New York for 15
years. The theoretical work at NJIT tied in very well with the lessons in
persuasion and rhetoric that I had gleaned on the job, validated by a
consistently high rate of success with government, foundation, and corporate
proposals. For the past 10 years, I have worked steadily as a technical
writer and editor for some of the major firms in Silicon Valley. By
combining my background in fundraising with my education in professional and
technical communication, I worked very effectively with a senior engineer
whose native language was not English to start a semiconductor company that
was acquired in 18 months for $150M. $90,000 a year? Try converting Series A
stock to common stock. I offer this to illustrate the possibilities that
technical communicators might pursue, well beyond typing and correcting
grammar.

In the course that I teach in technical editing as part of the University of
California at Berkeley Extension Services' program in technical
communication, I try to impart both practice and theory to my students.
Students are invited to bring to class nonproprietary samples of their work
for discussion and practice. We use Carolyn Rude's TECHNICAL EDITING along
with works by Edward Tufte and Joseph Williams as our texts, and homework
includes a combination of practice and case studies. While many students are
already employed, those who have sought work have found it following
completion of the program. They stay in touch with their instructors.

I, too, encourage my students to attend STC meetings and join the
organization. As Kathy pointed out, people who teach can join ATTW, CPTSC,
and other excellent organizations. STC, on the other hand, is the service
organization in technical communication. Surely the editors of STC
publications should want to publish articles that encourage, not denigrate,
those who work, teach, and strive for excellence in the field.

Let's hope that STC listens.

Pat


-- 
Patricia Egan
P. O. Box 194391
San Francisco, CA 94119-4391
415.267.4868
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