The Bowdoin Orient

March 2, 2001
Volume CXXXII, Number 18

Silly "melon" heads, spelling's
not just for kids

We hate to be ones to chide. Well, actually we love it. But at any rate, it is time the Orient pays attention to a nasty habit infesting Bowdoin's pristine academic community-poor spelling. A host of rather daft errors have recently wriggled their way onto various campus announcements.
   "Marti [sic] Gras" anyone? Or how about "kereoke [sic]" ? Maybe you have a Saharan sized hankering for a "desert [sic]" after that entree? Perhaps not, perhaps you'll simply relax while reading your "complementary [sic]" newspaper. And for you academic titans, you will be titillated to notice that Bowdoin has recently procured a "Melon [sic]" grant to promote greater intellectual discourse on campus.
   Okay, our tone thus far has been a little sarcastic, and honestly, we're trying to be constructive. Really, this is an issue of respect. Spelling has fallen a little out of vogue recently, considered by some to be a bit peripheral, like cursive. But, when you spell incorrectly you implicitly suggest that it simply wasn't worth your time to double-check your work, that accuracy is unimportant. And worse, you intimate that your audience is too stupid to notice.
   Often times at Bowdoin we lament our inability to affect (notice the correct usage here) positive change on campus. Well, here is a chance to accomplish something. Do let us solemnly swear that in the future we shall earnestly commit ourselves to the elementary but laudable task of good spelling.