A bill, H.R.694, that would pump money into technology upgrades at colleges serving minority students was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The legislation would create a grant program at the Department of Commerce to help minority-serving institutions install wireless networks and other information-technology applications. A total of $250-million would be provided in 2008 for those colleges.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved a similar bill in June, which would establish a grant program at the National Science Foundation. —Andrea L. Foster
6 Responses to House Votes to Narrow Technology Gap
Ludo Totem - April 13, 2012 at 7:13 am
Sorry, but I don’t think your “enthusiasts” and “novels” improve matters. Both still smack too much of Fowler’s “elegant variation,” a stylistic sin far greater–it reveals a preening writerly self-consciousness–than thoughtless repetition of a word. Using “enthusiasts” also alters slightly the meaning of the sentence.
luigi - April 13, 2012 at 11:42 am
Although repetition can weaken writing, it also helps to keep the reader on track. I think Professor Yagoda goes too far in reducing repetition, and some of his edits offer acceptable rewrites, but not necessarily improved ones.
Richard Grayson - April 13, 2012 at 11:52 am
Repetition seems to be favored by many young people, including novelists. For example, this is an excerpt from a recent widely- and well-reviewed and popular novel liked especially by readers younger than 30:
“That night Haley Joel Osment was alone in the apartment talking to Julia
on Gmail chat. Julia was 28 and married and lived in Georgia. She was
friends with an editor of a magazine that had published Haley Joel
Osment’s poetry. Haley Joel Osment’s cell phone vibrated. It was Dakota
Fanning. Haley Joel Osment moved his cell phone to his ear. Dakota
Fanning said her mother found out about him by reading a blog post’s
comments section where he had said things about his first visit to New
Jersey including when they screamed bad words across the Delaware River.”
http://richardyates.info/
Many of us who are older are just mystified by the repetition here and in similar books, but younger people seem to think this style is effective writing.
iriselina - April 14, 2012 at 2:36 am
I think this article is excellent especially as I edit theses written by doctoral and masters’ students and this is a major weakness in their writing. I am talking of Non-Native Speakers- writers( NNS), though I have taught in the UK as well. Yes, few “listen” to what they have composed and I try to teach them this when I have the opportunity to meet them before they write anything.Sometimes they don’t have adequate vocabulary, I know, but often it is sheer laziness to get the job done quickly with no thought of the reader’s response to such writing.They never THINK of how the reader responds ! Thanks for stating all this explicitly.
armado - April 14, 2012 at 10:48 am
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
armado - April 14, 2012 at 10:53 am
Let me not to the marriage of true minds/Admit impediments. Love is not love/Which alters when it alteration finds,/Or bends with the remover to remove:/O no! it is an ever-fixed mark /That looks on tempests and is never shaken;/It is the star to every wandering bark,/Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken./Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks /Within his bending sickle’s compass come: /Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, /But bears it out even to the edge of doom./ If this be error and upon me proved,/ I never writ, nor no man ever loved. /