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October 24, 2005

White House

"As Fed governor, Ben advocated greater transparency in communication with the public and markets. His speeches were widely admired for their keen insight and clear, simple language.&lqt; -- From President Bush's announcement of Ben Bernanke, currently his chief economic adviser, as his nominee to succeed Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

From: www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051024-2.html

October 01, 2005
Eric J.S. Townsend
News-Record (Greensboro, North Carolina)

GREENSBORO -- "10-4&" won't be going &lqt;10-7&lqt; after all.

Department of Homeland Security officials have backed off efforts to keep local police and fire departments from using 10-codes -- a quick and concise way to talk over the radio.

&lqt;There was a strong response from the law enforcement community against this proposal, and we listened to your concerns,&lqt; Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said this week at a police conference in Miami.

Federal officials in August issued two bulletins instructing agencies to stop using their codes -- which vary between agencies -- and instead speak plain English over the air. Refusal to make an effort by October 2006 would jeopardize federal grant money.

Homeland Security rationalized that in crises, especially where more than one department is involved, having different 10-codes may confuse first responders. ...

Authorities cite two key reasons for speaking in code: personal safety and keeping frequencies clear of radio traffic. Officials say they don't want suspects within earshot to know what officers say to each other. And with the volume of communication taking place at any given moment, brevity is imperative. Chertoff's announcement on Tuesday means agencies won't have to 10-7 their codes -- that's signing off in local radio shorthand.

&lqt;It just did not work out at all,&lqt; said Lt. Robert Elliott with the Guilford sheriff's office, which attempted to use plain language in the mid-1990s. &lqt;We had a lot of radio traffic that was unnecessary, and people using phrases that weren't appropriate. It wasn't intentional on their part -- they just didn't know how to say it.&lqt;

From: www.news-record.com//apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005510010325
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Government Accountability Office

Congress has adopted a range of tools to help students and families pay for postsecondary education, including grants, loans, and tax preferences. Many title IV financial aid programs have a long history, while most of the tax preferences do not. The addition of tax preferences to the title IV grant and loan programs has increased the number of options and given students and families new choices about how to combine saving, borrowing, and current income to meet the costs of postsecondary education. Postsecondary tax preferences are widely thought to present challenges of complexity to students and families. As we have shown, tax filers appear to have some difficulty in making fully effective use of some postsecondary tax preferences now in the tax code. ...

From: www.gao.gov/new.items/d05684.pdf

August 28, 2005
Dean E. Murphy
The New York Times

Californians have a knack for mangling the English language - you know, like, chill, dude - but they are suddenly sounding more like its guardians. At least in the halls of justice.

&lqt;Willfully false&lqt; is now simply &lqt;lied.&lqt; &lqt;Innocent misrecollection&lqt; is the plainer &lqt;honestly forget.&lqt;

After spending eight years rewriting more than seven decades of tangled legalese, the Judicial Council of California has approved 2,048 pages of new criminal jury instructions intended to make &lqt;plain language&lqt; the norm in courtrooms.

The changes not only wipe out many Middle English words and obscure legal phrases, but also usher the instructions into the 21st century by way of present-day cultural sensibilities, albeit with a California twist.

An admonition not to discuss a trial with &lqt;spiritual advisers or therapists&lqt; may puzzle jurors in other states but is considered long overdue here. The change was prompted by a case in which jurors said they did not understand that keeping quiet applied to &lqt;confidential relationships.&lqt;

&lqt;Well, this is California,&lqt; said Ronald M. George, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of California and the main instigator behind the exhaustive revisions approved at a meeting here on Friday. &lqt;I suppose you could add gurus and others, too.&lqt; ...

The revisions are part of a push to make the jury experience more bearable in California, which has a judicial system that state officials say is second in size worldwide only to the United States federal system. ...

Full Story: www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/national/28calif.html
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