Today's Social Problems Research Articles

The Expanding Dimensions of Technical Writing

MOST OF US who teach technical writing today concentrate on assisting students in science, engineering, and other technologies to develop greater proficiency in written presentation. As important as this educational objective is, however, other dimensions of technical writing stand in the wings awaiting our attention. Scientific and technical writing as a profession has much greater dimensions than many people realize. Today, for example, more writers and editors are involved in scientific and technical publication in business, industry, and government in this country than in the mass media. Scientific and technical publication is marked by a variety of writing requirements from the standard technical report on one hand to television manuscripts and public health educational programs on the other. Scientific and technical writing is a rapidly growing and changing field, one that is assuming greater importance. It is a field that has an extremely important contribution to make if we are to bring our technology to bear on the social problems of today. Even though their present number is small, the graduates of professional technical writing programs within the next ten years will very likely represent the rule rather than the exception among newcomers to the profession. Yet how many of our colleges and universities are doing anything to meet the needs of this growing field? Those of us who teach technical writing are in an excellent position to contribute to the development of professional programs if we are willing to expand our horizons and to join with our colleagues in other academic departments. Surely the profession is more apt to follow the lead of these programs at an increasingly rapid pace if we but develop them. At the University of Washington, we are now pressing for the approval of a Master's program in Medical and Technical Communication, and I would be awfully surprised if we were the only chool presently moving into the field. Putting together our proposed graduate program turned out to be a rather eyeopening experience. Perhaps sharing some of our thoughts and experiences will encourage and assist some of you to expand your horizons in technical writing. We see the graduate of our program as working in four broad areas:

Compensation for Automobile Accidents in the Nordic Countries

Traffic accidents have developed into one of the great economic and social problems of today. In the United States and Western Europe more than 50,000 persons are now killed by traffic every year, while almost two million persons suffer injury. The personal sufferings and economic losses of survivors and disabled persons are great and so are the economic losses and the inconvenience caused to society, through loss of production, increased social expenses, and strain on the capacity of hospitals and other institutions. This development has made the proper framing of the rules relating to compensation for and insurance against losses caused by traffic accidents one of the most important problems of modern law of tort,

THE POETRY OF SALVATORE QUASIMODO

When Salvatore Quasimodo won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1959, many critics, both inside and outside Italy, expressed surprise that he should have been preferred to his two great predecessors, Ungaretti and Montale. Opinions were naturally varied, ranging from exclamations of utter disbelief to sheer cynicism, and even to suggestions of political intrigue. Was not Quasimodo after all (like many of his Swedish judges) a Marxist at heart in spite of his constant denials? and had he not made the classic pilgrimage to Moscow recently? Furthermore, was it not true that he had taken the precaution of having his works translated into Swedish while his rival claimants had not? So that once it was accepted that for reasons of prestige it was Italy's turn to have a prizewinner in this field, such a combination of circumstances, at least to the critical Italian eye, could only result in Quasimodo winning the award. The plain fact is, however, that Quasimodo was seen by his Swedish judges to be more representative of the ‘angoscia’ of modern man than either of his two ‘masters.’ In their opinion, he was more deeply involved than they in the social problems of today, and sang more authentically of the present condition of mankind. Whether this is fundamentally true or not is a debatable point, and not one which it is our intention to discuss here; but there can be little doubt that since the war Quasimodo's poetry has moved closer to social realities and away from hermeticism and the concept of the ivory tower.

Dow, GROVE SAMUEL. Social Problems of Today. In collaboration with EDGAR B. WESLEY. Pp. xvi + 337. Price, $2.00. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1925

Dow, GROVE SAMUEL. Social Problems of Today. In collaboration with EDGAR B. WESLEY. Pp. xvi + 337. Price, $2.00. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1925

Social Problems of Today.

Social Problems of Today.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF TODAY. By Grove S. Dow; SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND EDUCATION. By Ernest R. Groves and SOCIAL PATHOLOGY. By Stuart A. Queen and Delbert M. Mann

SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF TODAY. By Grove S. Dow; SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND EDUCATION. By Ernest R. Groves and SOCIAL PATHOLOGY. By Stuart A. Queen and Delbert M. Mann

Book Review: Social Problems of Today

Book Review: Social Problems of Today