Sorry, I can't remember which thread we had the big go-around in about proper punctuation of Margaret Spellings in the singular and plural possessive, so I've started a new one. My intent is not to start up the discussion, but just to give you a link to an article in Inside Higher Education, which not only provides amusing insight into the Bush Administration's political ploys, but also demonstrates one style of punctuating the possessive Spellings.

Cheers--
Wordmatic

Thanks for that, Wordmatic...it was an interesting analysis. That was the Spellings's report that I had to write about! In my fall conference travels, I have found that most educators abhor that Spellings's report, and, like this link, they find much data to defend their stance. However, one speaker in higher education was quite realistic. He said the rhetoric was "bad," but the recommendations were fair and that the academic community would get nowhere spending their time defending themselves instead of improving things. Let's face it, it is extremely hard to find financial aid data (and it varies from student to student) and to find measureable "outcomes" of education. There is work to be done.

On the other hand, I cannot stand women leaders who bring their families into public speeches. In her speech, Spellings kept talking about her daughter. We had a rabbi who, when talking about world problems, would say things like, "As I was grocery shopping, I thought about what Israel is doing..." I don't know why women do that, but it bothers me when they do.

I've actually heard men do that also--male clergy talking about their kids from the pulpit; male college presidents talking about their wives and children from the lectern. Isn't it a technique that is supposed to endear the speaker to the audience, help him/her to make a human connection with the listeners?

WM