This discussion is ridiculous. In my view singular `they' is perfectly correct. If I can use it in my PhD thesis (with a footnote[1] and supporting references, and without any complaint from the examiners) then we can use it here.
Furthermore, language is defined by use, not by prescription (try asking a linguist, rather than a schoolteacher). Singular `they' is very well accepted practice in this speech community; in the contexts I have used it it is (I believe) clear, clean and unambiguous. I will not change the current draft, and blustering here will not make me change my mind. If you're so horribly bothered you'll have to propose an amendment; I wonder if you could find five sufficiently anal (and wrong) supporters. Ian. [1] The footnote reads: I follow well-established English practice in using the terms `they', `their' and `them' as gender-neutral singulars, as well as plurals [OED89, vol.XVII, p.928, col.3, `they', 2nd sense] [Churchyard97] The references are: [OED89] `Oxford English Dictionary'. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed., 1989 [Churchyard97] Henry Churchyard, `Singular `their' in Jane Austen and elsewhere'. http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~churchh/austheir.html -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]