OPINION
Coming Wednesday, November 28..
Dickinson: A KU law professor explains the social and economic impact of the Iraq War.
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27. 2007 PAGE 5A
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2007
PAGE 5A
THE LIBRARIAN YOUR PARENTS WARNED YOU ABOUT
Internet lingo unacceptable in formal communication
Shorthand has its place, but correspondence with professors, strangers demands that proper English rules be followed
W here have all the capital letters gone? I can't find them, and I think they may have taken proper punctuation and spelling with them.
I am of the computer generation. I e-mail, text message or
IM more than I call. I also type infinitely faster than I can write, even when using a my tiny phone keypad. When typing a message to my friend, I often omit vowels from words and rarely bother with capital letters. Most notably, I use "def." instead of "definitely" because I can never remember how to spell it correctly—that last "e" is ridiculously out of place! I am also a fan of ellipses, littering them through my messages in places they have no business being. However, I also know when the above are appropriate and when they are not. I am sad to say that many people, inside and outside of my age group, do not under-
stand these same boundaries ot.
propriety.
I was unpleasantly surprised when I got an e-mail from my new 40-something volunteer coordinator and I noticed that she had not bothered to use any capital letters. Not one, not even at the beginning, not even for her name. This e-mail had gone out to about 15 new volunteers, none of whom had met her before. I sent an e-mail back regarding my interview time, and I received the following reply: "See u then! thx, k."
Everything I have ever learned about social customs or the English language says that this is
not okay. You can't purposefully misspell words, and you certainly can't shorten your name to one consonant when speaking to a person you've never met before. However, someone somewhere decided that e-mails could have different rules. And that someone was wrong. As e-mails increasingly become a significant form of communication among colleagues and potential employers, the rules must change as well.
E-mails should be thought of just like a letter. They can be formal or informal, but the same rules don't apply to both. You wouldn't send a letter to someone you don't know starting "Hey there!" In the same way, you shouldn't send an e-mail to a professor you've never had starting that way either. I've talked to professors who say that the language of the e-mails they receive often influences their decisions regarding the requests. Why would they let someone into their class or write a letter of recommendation for a student if that student can't even be bothered to run spell check? Also, do not take liberties in an e-mail that you would not feel comfortable doing in person; if you don't call your professor "James" to his face, don't open an e-mail so informally.
must reform their e-mail habits. I'm not saying you have to drag out the old Webster's, but at least hit the spell check button before you send it off into online oblivion. And if you have forgotten how to type a capital letter, there is a friendly key on your keyboard that I fondly call "Shift." It can help you out immensely. If it looks like a cat walked across your computer—"wat r u doin?"—don't send it to someone if you want them to think you're intelligent.
Gentry is a Kansas City junior in English and pre-medicine.
Students and adults alike
DRAWING BOARD
FREE FOR ALL: 864-0500 OR KANSAN.COM/FACEBOOK
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Dear Free for All, I promise I've been good all year. Can I please have Todd Reesing for Christmas?
I forgot to set my alarm clock,
and I missed my first class after
break. Now I get breakfast!
Finally! You love me again Free for All!
This is why the student ghetto is such a fantastic place. I can walk to school in under 10 minutes.
I'd like to state that Dane Cook was orgasmic in more ways than one. Too bad I went to the show with my boyfriend. Otherwise, I would've shown Dane a thing or
Free for All, can I have your pickle?
I will say that I am pretty upset with the football game last night, but the basketball team totally made up for it this evening.
I wrote a letter to Santa, and I told him the only thing I want for
made up for it this evening.
Christmas is to have White Owl as my date to my sorority's semi-formal. Please make this happen Free for All!
So, I officially hate KU
so, I officially hate KU basketball. How can the police just shut down half of campus for a silly game? All I wanted to do was go the rec center, but no. Bitchy, rude and insulting police officers stopped me in my tracks!
You only think Todd Reesing's hot because he's a jock. If he was any other, normal guy, you could care less. Drop football already. It's over.
Uh, Todd Reeing would be hot even if he never touched a football in his life. Have you seen him?
So you're saying home field advantage has nothing to do with the outcome? Have you ever heard of a thing called momentum?
I would like to say "Welcome" to the basketball team. We missed
Why KU lost to Mizzou:The curse of the Sports Illustrated cover.
I just want to personally thank Lew Perkins for taking our home game away from us and moving it to Arrowhead where there were more MU fans than KU fans. We would have won that game at Memorial Stadium; thanks for ruining our national title chance!
you.
The video before basketball games gives me goosebumps!
I shouldn't have come back to school yet. All the people are still in pissy moods.
Football team,way to show heart until the very end. Next year just come out swinging.
I would like to know why our offense only decided to start playing in the fourth quarter? Seriously, seven points in the first three, and 21 in the last.
I think Reesing will become an
even better player after this game. He's young, he's got a lot ahead of him and he's way attractive.
Quit complaining about the game. You should still be proud. It just makes you look like horrible sports because you keep whining about it.
Todd Reesing, I'll still have your babies. At least our children won't pick their noses.
My nose has been running slimy green substances for two days straight now, Free for All.
Please HELP!
(Editor's Note: Ew.)
Well, hopefully our bowl game is in a warm place, because Jayhawks apparently don't do well in cold climates.
Got to admit that was no home field advantage—almost more MU people there and no student section. But I love you guys!
No more wine for me!
TUESDAY MORNING
Twins share bond beyond appearances Intuitiveness, unspoken understanding is the foundation of twins' relationship
KIRSTEN HUDSON
On the first day of at least one class every semester you get the teacher that wants to get to know you. The one that makes you tell four things: Name, year, major and one interesting thing about yourself. The last question always seems to be the trickiest part. Yet my answer is easy; it's the same every time. I am a twin.
Upon learning this information, the class as a whole usually gives the same response. Every pair of eyes in the classroom bore into my face. Collectively thinking, I suppose, that if you stare hard enough you might find some tell-tale sign showing my twin-liness. Usually it just makes me feel like I have an extra ear.
The staring I'm used to. It's not uncommon when my sister and I meet someone new for them to stare for a good two minutes, eyes constantly shifting between our faces, then inform us that, "Your right eyebrow is higher than hers." The only part that usually bothers me is the inevitable question, "So, are you identical or fraternal?"
The question mostly bothers me because I just don't know; we were never told officially whether we were identical or fraternal. Unlike what is commonly thought, identical doesn't simply mean looking exactly alike and fraternal doesn't just mean looking different. I will explain.
According to Dr. Gerard M. DiLeo of babyzone.com, the
primary difference is that identical twins come from the splitting of only one fertilized egg, while fraternal twins are two babies from two oviations and two fertilizations. You can only tell that twins are identical if there is one sac, but they can still be identical twins if there is two sacs and two placentas. Fraternal twins must have two separate
sacs and two placenta. Thus only identical twins have the same DNA and therefore usually look more alike.
So there you have it, identical twins come from one egg, fraternal from two. If you really want to ask me the details of what went on in the womb well, go for it, but if not just ask if we look alike. It's more polite.
The other reason this question bothers me is because the looking alike doesn't matter. It isn't looking like her that makes me feel like a twin. Our physical similarities don't matter when it comes to knowing there is some weird connection between us.
What makes me feel like a twin is a look passed between us that communicates, "Wow that girl with the sweatpants capris, Ugg boots and plaid winter coat looks ridiculous. Do you want to go get coffee after Spanish?"
It's playing Cranium and knowing that her drawing of three lines and a squiggly mark is supposed to be a penguin. It's seeing who can get the words out first because we both know we're thinking the exact same thing. Being a twin is knowing that no matter what else changes in my life, she will always be constant. Not the fact that we look alike.
But if you must know, she's an inch taller and has a freckle on her right cheek.
Hudson is a Wichita junior in journalism and business.
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The Editorial Board
Erik R. Schmidt, Eric Jorgensen,
Darla Silea, Kelsey Hayes, Bryan
Dykman, Brandon T. Minister, Angelique
McMaughan and Benjamin R. Smith