First Class

EDITOR'S PREFACE

Much has changed in my professional life since, in late May/early June of 1997, I sat down to prepare the previous edition of this journal. The most immediate and obvious change is that I am preparing this edition for electronic publication rather than traditional print publication.

This change would have been made sooner or later; that it is being made sooner (with the 1998 edition) is one of the fruits of yet another major change--the Affiliation of the Departments of Communication and English into a single administrative un it.

Putting this journal on-line is part of a three-fold movement; we are also developing an on-line dimension for our Writing Center and offering pilot sections of Core 101 and 102 on-line during academic year 1998-99.

Long time readers of this journal will notice another change in this edition--not an unprecedented change because I did the same thing a long time ago in a previous edition. Instead of presenting several dozen different pieces by that many differe nt writers, this edition presents more than one piece by about a dozen writers.

The last time I chose this approach was to illustrate the importance (and difficulty) of revision; this edition will also illustrate what revision can do, but I have chosen this approach for another purpose. Another result of the Affiliation of th e Departments of Communication and English has been a change in the structure of Core 101, THINKING AND WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM. This edition illustrates that change in structure and because it is aimed mainly at students taking the course during a cademic year 1998-99 is intended to encourage and help them through the course.

In order to achieve more uniformity among the many sections of that course, each student--in whatever section--writes four formal papers of the same kind. The first paper is a TOPIC paper, in which the writer explores a specific topic. The second paper is an ISSUES paper in which the writer explores the contexts/controversies of that topic. The third paper in an INFORMED OPINION paper in which the writer tries to arrive at a personal, informed opinion about the topic. And the fourth paper is a PERSUASION paper in which the writer attempts to get a reader to agree with the writer's view of the topic. As the following papers will illustrate, far from becoming bored with the topics involved, the writers became more and more engaged as they gained more and more knowledge.

In making the decision to include only papers written for Core 101 during the Fall, 1997, term, I have, of course (and also unfortunately), chosen not to include papers written for Core 102, IMAGINATIVE LITERATURE AND CRITICAL WRITING, during the S pring, 1998, term. This decision pains me not only because of the love for literature I share with my colleagues; it also pains me because we have made exciting changes to that course, too, and this edition does not illustrate those changes or the fruits thereof. I hereby promise that the next edition will focus on Core 102.

And now to the most difficult part of my editorial task. Maybe I have found it so difficult because this is something new, a new and additional editorial task--picking a prize winner (or winners). The Affiliated Departments of Communication and E nglish will award gift certificates for the Duquesne University Bookstore to Jay Ginsburg and Joy Howard.

In publishing all these essays, I have not corrected or sanitized them in any way; they appear in this journal just as they were submitted to me by the instructors who called them to my attention. No one, not this editor, the instructors involved, nor the student writers will claim these pieces are perfect or cannot be improved. They were originally chosen by the instructors and subsequently published because they are interesting. I hope the reader will also find them interesting; particularly, I hope those readers who are students in Core 101 during the Fall, 1998, term will find these pieces both interesting and helpful, as they write their four papers.

I congratulate the students whose work is included in this edition and thank them for allowing me to publish it.

I thank the instructors who worked long, hard, and unselfishly teaching Core 101 and 102 during academic year 1997-98. I continue to think that the courses you teach are the most difficult to teach in the entire university curriculum. The benefic ial effects you have on your students is enormous and long-term.

I thank the Harry Cromie family for the support which makes publication of this journal possible. In particular, I thank Mark Cromie for his long-time friendship and personal support.

John Hanes

Director of Freshman English

Duquesne University

Summer, 1998