Mine, too, Bridget, but newspapers have a space limit to letters to the editor. In my local paper, it is 350 words. Don't know what the WSJ's is.
Great letter you wrote. Points scored. Paul Trusten, Reg. Pharmacist Vice President U.S. Metric Association, Inc. Midland, Texas USA www.metric.org +1(432)528-7724 [email protected] On Dec 1, 2012, at 6:38, "Metric Rules Info" <[email protected]> wrote: > My letter to the WSJ made the cut; however, they edited the comments for > length and added the word aren’t twice!! Hopefully, now this conversation can > get “real” as they say…….. > > Your article “Cooking a Poundcake in a Metric Oven Is No Easy Task” (page > one, Nov. 24) correctly points out that efforts to convert the U.S. to the > metric system have faced significant cultural resistance. Although > metric-system devotees are often portrayed as amusing eccentrics, a far more > serious issue involves the significant disadvantage imposed on American > students by an educational system that fails to adopt the weights and > measures used not only by 95% of the world’s population, but also in the > fastest-growing occupations in this country. > > Current research suggests that as much as 40% of instructional time in > primary and secondary education is now spent on standardized test preparation > and administration. By using customary units in standardized testing, > particularly in science, American educators and our children are faced with > the unique liability of dual-measurement instruction. > > Students who choose to enter science, technology, engineering and math > fields, as well as health care, must learn to use the metric system. But > those aren’t the only careers that aren’t well served by the use of customary > units in instruction. Most modern career paths in manufacturing, including > all American automotive manufacturing, involve industries that have > voluntarily converted to metric units. Those serving in this country’s armed > forces are also required to learn and function in metric units. > > I wish this article would have dedicated less time to the philosophical, > cultural aversion to the adoption of the metric system and instead focused on > a more practical question: How might America’s preference for customary units > impact your child’s employment opportunities? > > Bridget Nagarajan > > Executive Director > > M Power > > New Orleans > > Although we’re gratified by the exposure and the positive response we’ve > received to your article, we take particular exception to one statement: Four > millimeters must be described as “0.16 inches for the uninitiated.” We need > not, and do not, convert back from the metric system to customary units. > > Rather than being perceived among Americans (as it has been for too long) as > some esoteric ritual from a land that time forgot, the decimal metric system > ought to be adopted into mainstream American life as our measurement system. > It is a reality among billions of people in the world, and it should be a > reality here in the U.S., too. > > Paul Trusten > > Vice President > > U.S. Metric Association > > Midland, Texas > > If Zach Rodriguez, a metric devotee mentioned in your article, is that > committed to metric, why didn’t he call his cake a “kilo cake”? Maybe it’s > because a cake by any other name would not be a poundcake. > > Fran Lobo > > Sarasota, Fla. > > (via Instapaper)
