The events of the past week provide all kinds of interesting examples of how important it is to use the right words. I just saw Bush in a joint interview with Chirac, President of France. Chirac said clearly that he would not use the word "war" to describe the conflict we are now in. It is interesting that Bush didn't use it either. Why might some people avoid the term war? The best example of word choice is crusade. Apparently, Bush recently talked about the need for a "crusade" against those how carried out the events of September 11. Almost immediately Muslim countries in the Middle East reacted against that formulation. If I were teaching the right course, I might want to bring up whether "crusade" is the appropriate word to describe the struggle we are in. What is its original meaning? Is the avoidance of crusade in these circumstances a kind of "political correctness"? Can Americans use the word crusade to describe the campaign against terrorism? It might be interesting to consider whether it is appropriate for the leader of the US to say we want Ben Ladin "dead or alive." Of course, there are wonderful examples of speeches and interviews with Bush, Powell, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Guiliani, etc. to consider. What did these people say about the events? Which of these people seemed to inspire the most confidence? Why? All these people have been saying about the same things, but some seemed more successful than others. What were the characteristics of the language that was used which seemed to inspire more confidence? All of these are wonderful question about language which the tragic events of the past week raise. Bob Yates, Central Missouri State University To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/