Whitby Free press, Weekesday, August 3, 1994. Page 7 sem,.~W .. ..,.. ... The. rewrite So we ail got our laughs, did we, over The Common Curriculum last week? You know, the document from the ministry of education that defines what kids these days gotta know. When final draft of the document got to Education Minister Day. Cook he couid not understand it. H. sent it to a private firm for rewriting -- at a cost to taxpayers of $10.500. From the press reports 'y. seen, taxpayers got their money's worth. It was an education criti's wet dream. A ministry employing three thoueand people, many with master's degrees stuck behind their ears, more with doctoral theses peeking out of hip pockets. And nobody can write a report that ordinary folk can understand. Tek, tek, ain't it awful. Weili, et's swim against the. stream here for a minute. Bear with me. The critie have it ail wrong. Those three thousand people who slave away each day for the minister of education: they ain't paid to write and think cleariy. What they are hired for, is, weli, let me tell about a friend of mine. She got a job at the ministry. She's full of business English courses, etiquette, the whoie bit -- ail the correct way of writing a business letter, the. etuf we teach in coilege. So she's going to put ail these ekilis to work, right? Wrong. The firet thing se had to iearn was that clear, precise' Eriglish le not wanted in government offices. mhe first job of ministry empioyees is not to communicate cieariy te taxpayers. The first job le to make the minister look good. Period. Out goes clarity, precision. In ceres . .. politically functional prose. It le no surprise that not on. of 3,000 empioyees couid write in clear English. These people spent years perfecting obfuscation, honing it teo an art. Asking thein te write ciearly would be like asking Wayne Gretzky te, throw the puck at the goalie. It gees against ail instinct. Se send the report te ProseBusters. These former journaliets hitch up the syntax, polish the verbe, clarify the adjectives -- and make metaphoric pearîs eut of confusing parts that muet stay confusing. mhose three thousand ministry employeee have ail the facts at hand, and their mission in life le te niake sure no on. le upeet by them. îJuirnalists, however, aYre trained te, write clear, precise prose, eaely understoed by everyone but publishers. Unfortunately, they are aise trained te get the facts wrong. But they unerringiy draw the wrong conclusions from those facts and everything cernes out right in the end. Is this making any sense? This le, in a way, a similar argument about why Jane and Johnny don't understand grainmar. They don't under- stand grammar because theyre neyer taught grammar. They're neyer taught grammar because it ie ne longgr important. mheir teachers don't know grammar, their parents don't knew gramrnar, corporate executives don't know grammar, heck, even professienal writers den't know grammar. Proper grammar'and spelling have nothing te, do with succese today. Expecting students te, master eltiier weuid b. like demanding buggy whip ekilis. Would yeu rather your children learn te write clearly, openiy, preciseiy, with a firm understanding of the meta- morphosis of Engiish grammar, only te become a journaliet earning $3.55 an heur, or spaoe rates every second Wednesday'? Or iearn circular answers and vague reeponses, writing sentences 123 words long with ne verbe or prepositiens - and e d up wrki&g1-n -e4mlnisr f dcai n aking a~i, wff LIGHT HOUSE AT PORT WHITBY C. 1985 This frame light heuse stoed on the west pier at the harbour from 1857 to 1958. The sali boat le likeiy ftomn the first Whitby Yacht Club which operated at the harbour from 1933 to 1941. Te wooden dock was replaced by a cernent one in the late 19509. Whltby Archives photo 10 YEARS AGO From the Wednesday, August 1, 1984 edition of the. WHITBY FREE PRESS a Eighteen-year-oid swimmer Anne Ottenbrite was the first Canadian woman ever to win an Oiympic goid medal in swimming at Los Angeles, in the 200-metre breaststtoke. 0 Durham Reglon Chairman Gary Herrema is the Ontario Riding Liberal candidate in the September 4 federai electien. " The Arthur Archibaid house at 513 Centre Street South ha. been designated as a heritage building. " The Lion and the Unicorn pub opened at Green and Coiborne Streets. 35 YEARS AGO from the. Thursdaý ul 3 1959 edition of the *" 1?rs. Minetta Flint of Whitby wiii appear on the CBC TV prograrn "Tabloid" te taik about her father who waike d a tightrope over Niagara FaU s in the 1890s. " Whitby residente Ernie White and hie son Billie reecued four people from a boating accident at Frenchman's Bay. a No officiai opening is pianned for the additions to the Ontario Hospita'. administrative buildi ng. " An Ainerican tourist has praised tiwo Whitby boys and local officiais for help se received in ueing a parking meter in downtown Whitby. 125 YEARS AGO from the. Thursdaj, Jul 29ô1869 edition of the.