I teach in this area, and have vocational certification at secondary and post-secondary levels. This is my rule: TWO SPACES BETWEEN SENTENCES. You do not change your standard. In fact, my extended rule is that IF the punctuation has a period at the bottom: :, !, ?, or . --then it is two spaces afterwards (unless it is followed by an end quote or it is at the end of the paragraph.) If it has a comma at the bottom (, or ;) then it is one space afterwards. MY BACKGROUND: I used to do professional, computerized phototypesetting for things such as the Minnesota Supreme Court Journal, and other publications. HERE IS SOME OF MY JUSTIFICATION: 1. If you have good software, then the software can decide when to use a thick- or thin-space when doubling spaces between sentences. Professional software which can do this includes the kind of technology where the operator can make end-of-line decisions for greater aesthetics and precision. 2. As I said above, you "keep the standard." 3. In some circumstances, when you don't have professional software--for aesthetic purposes, you may want to keep certain text together on a line, and with normal software (such as Microsoft Word, etc., where you cannot adjust the spacing BETWEEN LETTERS IN A WORD), then to keep text together, on a case-by-case basis, that is when I will violate my own rule. BUT NEVER TEACH YOUR STUDENTS to consistently break the rule to save space in a text (i.e. for the school's yearbook or newspaper). 4. The double space between sentences helps your reader. Whatever helps your reader is a plus. The period is a very small "speck" on a page. It is an excellent indicator of an auto-glottal stop. The double space makes this more apparent, and this is why I say it helps your reader. 5. I have some students who come to me, and they are used to typing their papers in a WAD of text. White space enhances aesthetics and readibility. Let's not throw space away. It serves an important function. 6. Michael, you mention another reason: Automaticity. Those of us who learned to type correctly have the double space automaticitized. That is a good thing, so leave it alone. Have your students develop the same good habit. Carla Cruzan > A colleague asked me today if we're still leaving two spaces after > periods, b oth in running text and within MLA citations. I seem to > remember that word-processing has brought about a change in the rule, but > I can't find anything in the handbooks in my office. I myself can't stop > myself from putting two spaces after periods, but that's no guide to the > current rule. Can anybody help? > >