LET'S COMMUNICATE 
Ag Communication Newsletter 
February 2002, No. 74

CONTENTS 

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD 
JUNK E-MAIL AND SPAM 
NEW IN THE STAFF RESOURCE LIBRARY

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD

"The learned fool writes his nonsense in better language than the unlearned, but it is still nonsense." Benjamin Franklin

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A correspondent asked Let's Communicate to address the almost- homonyms "than" and "then." O.K., let's say they do sound alike, but on most tongues there is a subtle difference. In written form I do see them mixed up, probably most often using "than" where "then" would be correct. The first definition of "than" in the office unabridged is "used to introduce the second member of an unequal comparison," like "Algernon is taller THAN Heathcliff." It is also used to introduce an alternative, like "I'd rather walk THAN ride a bus." "Then" most often denotes "at that time," as in "I'll see you THEN," or suggests immediately or soon after, like "I heard the siren, THEN saw the flashing light." It also can mean "in that case" or "since that is so" ("If X, THEN Y.")

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The Copyediting-L listserv (trust me, unless you are prepared to read a lot more grammatical minutiae than you ever wanted to know, don't sign up) recently had discussion on the prevalent misuse of "reign in" for "rein in." The Trained Professional Watch has noted this as well. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw it used correctly. One of the CE-L group did a Google search and got 48,000 hits on "reign in" compared to 47,000 for "rein in." Not necessarily a sign that the barbarians are at the gates, but perplexing. Someone suggested that hardly anyone is familiar with horses anymore, hence most don't recognize what reining in means. But think about it. "Reign" refers to holding royal authority. To use "reign in" in the sense of "hold back" or "slow down" makes absolutely no sense.

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Another misuse commonly seen in the media that defies logic (at least to this curmudgeon) is to "hone in" on something. The correct term, is "home in," as in homing in on a target. Hone, of course, is a stone for sharpening cutting tools, or to use such a stone. "Hone in" doesn't make any more sense than "reign in."

JUNK E-MAIL AND SPAM

Junk e-mail and 'spam' on the Internet is difficult to define. What might be considered valuable information to one person might be considered junk e-mail to another. Spam is generally thought of as flooding the Internet via e-mail with unsolicited copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Examples include quasi-legal schemes, make money fast scams, sales, chain letters and pyramid schemes.

The senders of spam can get your e-mail address from several sources, like from a Web page. People actually make money collecting e-mail addresses and selling them in bulk. An advertisement you received for toner cartridges, for example might have been sent to millions of IDs. Assuming you are dealing with a questionable company, the WORST thing you can do is 'Reply' to the message and ask to be taken off the list or click on a Web address (URL) to get unsubscribed. You become a prime target when you respond and thus your ID is more valuable than those they never hear from.

Why? Because the senders know you are a live individual that actually reads your mail. Web sites can collect additional information about you if you go to their site and unsubscribe.

Although it is a real pain in the click-finger, you are best off just deleting those unwanted messages.

Repeat 'offers' from the same ID can easily be filtered out and automatically deleted with Pegasus and other e-mail programs, but they come from so many sources this could be a full time job. The quantity of junk e-mail and spam is predicted to increase. We will provide additional information on how to cope with the problem in future issues of Let's Communicate.

Dave Rice

NEW IN THE STAFF RESOURCE LIBRARY

The author of this book will be the kick-off speaker at the Extension spring conference March 19. His book will provide much thought for discussion.

"Land-Grant Universities and Extension into the 21st Century: Renegotiating or Abandoning a Social Contract" 198-page Book by George R. McDowell

McDowell, a Virginia Tech ag economist, says the original purpose of extension -- bringing applicable solutions from the science and research of the land-grant institution to the people of the home state -- may be in peril as the needs of the public evolve. He suggests specific action steps for maintaining the value and viability of extension's service to the people.

Many other audio cassettes, books and videos are in the Staff Resource Library listing on the Web at http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/staffres/library/contents.htm . You're also welcome to stop by the Distribution Center in Morrill 10 to browse the shelves. Books may be checked out for one month, audio and video tapes for two weeks. Contact the Distribution Center at dctr@ndsuext.nodak.edu or call 231-7882 to check out materials.