Internet Relevance to WC (duh!!!)

["James Werchan" <JWERCHAN@OSULIMA1.LIMA.OHIO-STATE.EDU>]

Hi folks,

I've really enjoyed the "door slamming" thread, even if it does make 
me wonder a bit about my own career.....

But it (along with some local happenings) bring to mind something of 
another question of relevance.  Every student (especially those in 
supposedly artsy-fartsy areas like English   ;-)    has to learn ways 
to MAKE himself or herself relevant to the job market.  If the 
academic area itself does not do so, then the student will have to 
improvise.  Maybe artsy-fartsy types are good at improvising.  

Me, I think I'm good at seeing inter-relatedness among all the 
disciplines;  I think that does me well in establishing a WC on our 
little campus; I know I must have a writing-across-the-curriculum 
approach.

I have always thought it OBVIOUS that the technology that holds the 
greatest potential to revolutionize people's thinking about literacy 
as much as Gutenberg's press did--the Internet--should work hand-in-
hand with Writing Center functions and missions.  If literacy means 
being able to join a huge discourse community, then isn't it 
reasonable that the technologies (styli on clay, quill on papyrus, 
pen and paper, typewriters, and digital ones-and-zeroes) are 
important?  

Here's a story: as part of establishing an institutional presence for 
WC functions and missions here, I have started working with a local 
industrial personnel development consortium (Ford, General Dynamics, 
BP Chemical, Warner Cable, etc.)   One of the things I hoped to bring 
to them (I do want something from them, eventually, you see....)  was 
some understanding of how business and industry are perfect places to 
use some of the better-thought-out ideas of literacy and discourse 
communities that come from research universities, e.g.--TA DA: The 
Internet.   They jumped at the chance to learn more.  So I invited 
this consortium to our Mac lab and showed them the World Wide Web 
(I'd slapped together a HTML page of sites relevant to their needs.)

They wanted more.

Before this, our computer doods had, along with our Continuing Ed. 
folks, tried to stir up interest in a Continuiing Ed. shortcourse in 
net-surfing.  They ran an ad in the local newspaper with buzzwords 
like Gopher and FTP.  They got 2, count 'em TWO, people interested; 
so they called it off.

I ran my little HTML dog-and-pony show for biz/industry types, and 
then I spoke to a reporter for the local newspaper.  She wrote a so-
so story (I'm afraid I bamboozled her), but within TWO days, the 
continuing ed. course was sold out and they decided to run a second 
course, which also sold out.

Since then, I've been told by admin that "my place" is not with 
Internet stuff. Also: "You're not a technician."  So I'll not be 
helping out in the internet shortcourse.   The words "show me some 
data that demonstrates that internetting has a positive effect on 
student performance in composition class" came from an admin  mouth.

I was dumbfounded.  It's like this: let's say we have a huge steel 
mill on one side of the river.  we want to build a bridge to the 
other side.  but the powers-that-be are sitting on their hands 
wondering "where are we going to get enough stone and wood to build 
our bridge?"   Never mind the fact that all the stonecutters, masons, 
lumberjacks, and carpenters would be able to do their jobs BETTER 
with a big steel bridge than with a stone-and-timber bridge.

Damn!  I'm not a technician?  Oh?  Maybe not with silicon, I'm not; 
but I am an engineer of text and of literacy, and I'll use ALL the 
tools and materials available to me.

So, WCENTER folks, you've come through for me so many times before, 
can you do it now?  Can you back me up?  I'm claiming that the 
Internet really IS the perfect turf for WC functions and missions.  
My guess is Eric Crump just MIGHT agree.   You see, when the earlier 
attempt to advertize an internet shortcourse failed, it probably did 
so because no one bothered to explain that information and 
communication and discourse-community-formation have value, and that 
technology alone does nothing.

Relevance?  The Real World? ..... oh my.....  what's all this steel 
doing lying around?  It's spelling out something, in great big rusty 
letters.  It says:  The Internet IS text.  Literacy is ABOUT text.  
WC is ABOUT literacy.  

I'm beginning to wonder whether the academy (or at least some nabobs 
thereof) would know relevance if it jumped up and bit them on their 
hineys.

I LOVE THIS JOB!

james werchan
(p.s. If this query should generate any responses, it would help me 
if the subject tag lines on those responses did not vary.  That way I 
can more easily make my mailer program wad all up all those responses 
into one great big text file. thanks)James Werchan
Ohio State University, Lima Campus
424 Campus Drive
Reed Hall #135
Lima, Ohio 45804

jwerchan@osulima1.lima.ohio-state.edu
        @osulima2.lima.ohio-state.edu
        @magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
        
phone: 419 221 1641 exc 882