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This article was downloaded by: [University Of Maryland] On: 16 October 2014, At: 03:00 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Technical Communication Quarterly Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/htcq20 Making the connection: Desktop publishing, professional writing, and pro bono publico Gary R. Hafer a a Assistant professor of English , Lycoming College , Williamsport, PA Published online: 11 Mar 2009. To cite this article: Gary R. Hafer (1999) Making the connection: Desktop publishing, professional writing, and pro bono publico , Technical Communication Quarterly, 8:4, 405-418, DOI: 10.1080/10572259909364677 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10572259909364677 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

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Page 1: Making the connection: Desktop publishing, professional writing, and               pro bono publico

This article was downloaded by: [University Of Maryland]On: 16 October 2014, At: 03:00Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number:1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street,London W1T 3JH, UK

Technical CommunicationQuarterlyPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/htcq20

Making the connection:Desktop publishing,professional writing, and probono publicoGary R. Hafer aa Assistant professor of English , LycomingCollege , Williamsport, PAPublished online: 11 Mar 2009.

To cite this article: Gary R. Hafer (1999) Making the connection: Desktoppublishing, professional writing, and pro bono publico , Technical CommunicationQuarterly, 8:4, 405-418, DOI: 10.1080/10572259909364677

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10572259909364677

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of allthe information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on ourplatform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensorsmake no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy,completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views ofthe authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis.The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should beindependently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor andFrancis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings,demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, inrelation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

Page 2: Making the connection: Desktop publishing, professional writing, and               pro bono publico

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private studypurposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution,reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of accessand use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Technical Communication Quarterly 405

Making the Connection:Desktop Publishing, ProfessionalWriting, and Pro Bono Publico

Gary R. HaferLycoming College

Designing desktop publishing courses around a model of service familiar In theU.S.—the pro bono publico tradition of professional gratis service—wouldbroaden students' professional horizons in addition to meeting growingdemands for service learning. Such courses would mate volunteerism with thedemocratic spirit of desktop publishing, a technological platform that provides ameans for unrepresented voices to be heard and read. One community projectis outlined.

D esktop publishing (DTP) has succeeded in reconfiguring theboundaries normally assigned to design, writing, and publish-ing. Collaboration among all the various agents of the produc-

tion mainstream—artists, writers, editors, and technicians—hasworked to narrow the distinctions among job functions (Dobberstein107; Killingsworth and Sanders 204). In some cases, all of theseagents have been subsumed by a single title: desktop publisher(Misanchuk 30). In others, they have maintained separate identitiesbut shared and even interchanged expertise among a shrinking num-ber of participants (Kalmbach). In all cases, the traditional editorialroles have overlapped, their distinctiveness described as increasingly"blurred" (Misanchuk 28; Somekh 304). As a result, DTP haschanged the traditional population required for publishing and alsothe manner in which professionals prepare for publishing, either ascareer choices or as adjuncts to their other professional activities.Incorporating the changing responsibilities relegated to DTP into thewriting classroom means making a territorial expansion for depart-ments of English and a commitment to expanded practices of writing,recognizing the new complementary relationship between design andwriting, and forging DTP projects as new opportunities for learning in

Fall 1999, Vol. 8, No. 4. (405-418)

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academia, particularly through pro bono practices so common in thefield and among other professionals.

Despite the interplay of various interdisciplinary skills withinDTP, it has nevertheless found a home in many English departments,perhaps because DTP serves as a "valuable tool for the writing student"(Dobberstein 105; cf. Sullivan 346). This development is not surpris-ing because boundaries within departments of English are tentativeand subject to negotiation. The usual assumption is that new technol-ogy courses within English departments, such as desktop publishing,will maintain a writing focus, but such an emphasis is proving increas-ingly difficult. Many desktop courses, for example, are cross-listedwith art and journalism/communications to draw students from a widerange of disciplines and special interests. CAD (Computer-AidedDesig^n) classes "enroll as many art students as they do engineers" andso a writing focus appears, to some, as undesirable (Guthrie 321).

Moreover, a new "kind" of English major is emerging. Thesestudents are looking for opportunities to combine "superb writing skillswith excellent design skills," even though most DTP courses empha-size design expertise (Guthrie 321). This change mirrors a similardevelopment in technical writing during the early 1990s when Englishmajors began gravitating toward technical writing areas (Reynolds,"Classical" 63; Enos 95). In both cases, however, the role of writing inthese areas played a role in their placement within English depart-ments.

Although some argue for a diminished role for writing, at least twocompelling arguments exist for a writing emphasis in DTP courses.First, current DTP texts treat writing in superficial ways and reducethe complexity of writing tasks to a finite set of exécutables. Thesetexts admonish readers to "define the project's purpose" and "consideraudience," for example, without explaining how purposes of writing oraudience awareness enact meaningful communication (Parker 8).Constructed as a linear set, writing is approached as a deliberate seriesof mechanical actions rather than as a recursive set of sophisticatedskills. Budding desktop publishers are told to "start with an idea" andthen to jot down sample texts and designs. This process implies anarrow, one-directional pathway that begins in one of two ways:innately or with clichéd "idea starters" from DTP magazines that areindistinguishable from the ideas themselves. One magazine listscanned phrases without reference to rhetorical situations or audiences.It even sells a CD of stock phrases that boasts "we're giving you top-quality copy to go with your copy" and "it's [the CD] to writing whatclip art is to graphics" (Dynamic 11). Invention, as a result, is greatlyundervalued.

A primary argument is that DTP has broadened the need forwriting skills among graphics and design professionals as well as othersresponsible for in-house and corporate print publications. Theseprofessionals acknowledge the social aspects of writing and thusappropriate control of the entire writing process. Unfortunately, todate, DTP seminars and conferences parallel the "explosion" of

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Technical Communication Quarterly 407

technical writing texts in the early 1990s that focus on style andmechanics rather than on rhetorical situations and actual case studies(Reynolds, "Classical" 64).

Second, expertise in DTP is as much a basic skill in softwaremanipulation as it is in processing clients' values and expectations intoa written product. A frequently referenced DTP text "outlines theskills necessary to create attractive, effective, printed materials, such asnewsletters, advertisements, brochures, manuals, and other docu-ments" (Parker xvii). As is so often the case in this field, design skillsare expressed as if they were writing skills. They are "undeveloped,"even though students may have a "good sense" or "taste" (Parker xvii);applications are never made to writing. In contrast, training in DTPrequires real writing practice with real caseloads and real clients;learning the technique of software commands should not replacelearning the technê of writing.

Writing, moreover, must maintain a dominant place in the DTPclassroom because its learning space is as complex and as developmen-tal as any other skill addressed in DTP trade literature and trainingseminars. Layout design, photographs, typography, color—the visualcomponents of DTP—are taught through practice and example. Thisnew focus in work-world writing reverses previous writing behaviors ofa generation ago that paid "far too little attention to page-layout anddesign issues" (Reynolds, "What Adult" 6). Current DTP literaturethat lines every bookstore chain's computer shelves does not balancetreatments of design and writing so that the two may be properlyinterrelated.

To situate writing comfortably within this emerging field, it is firstnecessary to document how writing is marginalized there and todetermine the kinds of instruction common in DTP circles. The firsthalf of this essay surveys this field. Acknowledging the inadequaciesof current instruction and the need for an enlightened pedagogy is notenough, however. Instructors must know how to apply such knowl-edge. Therefore, the last half of the essay articulates a DTP course inanother emerging emphasis in academia: service learning. Specifi-cally, this section describes one pro bono publico writing project, astudent-sponsored project that connects writing purposes to the needsof humanitarian and charitable organizations. Such agencies dependon volunteers for fund-raising and donor communications and, assuch, welcome genuine apprenticed contributions. A sample projectin a pro bono/DTP classroom and a set of conclusions complete theessay.

Teaching Writing and the Trade PaperbackAny quick review of DTP texts will reveal a number of prescrip-

tive pedagogies and a remarkable similarity between trade paperbacksand classroom texts, both of which depreciate the complexity ofwriting. Most contain boiler-plate exercises where students must use

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software to copy newsletters and other media. Many give vague adviceand reduce writing to rule-based do's and don't's with no reference toaudience. Writing in the new technology, then, has a distinctively oldface—that of exercise and drill, technique and rule—so commonamong composition texts in the early twentieth century.

Assuring DTP a vital position in English departments, therefore,requires rethinking at least two central concerns. Historically, Englishdepartments have incorporated new studies into its "big tent" (Shutzand Gere 129), and so DTP can certainly find a home there. Yet,there is a tension between creating a viable course that emphasizes thewriting process and one that still addresses various DTP roles. Howwill students gain such competencies in the new technology withoutdiminishing the central position writing skills must hold in the cur-riculum and the DTP industry? The task is especially daunting whentexts offer advice that is "arbitrary," "conflicting," and unguided byempirical research (Misanchuk 5).

Another concern addresses the nature of DTP courses. MichaelDobberstein concludes that "setting up a DTP classroom" is "formi-dable," but that doing so introduces students to a "technology thatbroadens their professional horizons" (110). How can such broaden-ing be realized? Pretend projects and fake businesses betray theirfabrications; they also depend heavily on the talent of the instructorand thus may vary widely in effectiveness from semester to semester.

Moreover, some compositionists legitimately question positing awriting focus in the DTP classroom. For some, die course needsredirecting from reading and writing and toward design (Guthrie321 ). Jim Guthrie, for example, shows that design was part of thewriter's craft in the eighteenth century and only had to be "jobbedout" when the work became too elaborate. For others, design is a vitalpart of text production; discussions about design may "[enable] authorsto further refine messages" (Somekh 304). Such arguments are partlypersuasive because they reflect market conditions in the DTP industry:the well-designed brochure, newsletter, book, or printed mattercaptures the audience's attention first. Nevertheless, these claims areultimately unpersuasive since these media are defined through writing.

Although DTP posits a writing process that differs from traditionalpaper composing models, the substance and significance of thosechanges remains unclear (Bernhardt 77; Dobberstein 105-06;Killingsworth and Sanders 204). On the other hand, the research,though incomplete, has not shown possible changes without offeringany reason as to why writing instruction is out-of-focus in a DTPcourse. For example, Christina Haas's study looked at the planningprocesses of writers using word-processing programs by comparingthem to their paper equivalents; she found significantly less higher-level planning and more "local-level" planning, a behavior that mayinterfere with the necessary composing processes of writers. Similarly,Stephen Bernhardt concludes that the use of visually informativeprose is pervasive, a factor that alters the composing processes ofwriters (77), but does not obviate the need to teach such processes. In

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a similar study, John Ruszkiewicz detects a "shift from text-based tographics-based word processing software" (9); he surmises that DTPand the "graphics revolution could lead to the reconceptualization ofcomposing as a thinking act that enables more human beings toexercise more faculties, skill and imagination than was ever possiblebefore" (14-15). Jimmie Killingsworth and Scott Sanders note thattext revision is minimal when placed within DTP programs and maybe compared to the time-honed separation of text processing fromdesign (213). They argue for a graphics system that is complementaryand not supplementary to prose (217) and can "yield a product with acomplementary structure" (220).

Yet, the integration of design and writing involves a process that is"rarely seamless"; the researchers see the two processes as necessary toa complete product but also as ones that "compete for priority"(Killingsworth and Sanders 220). What this preliminary researchindicates is that technology has placed writing in yet another newcontext. Writing pedagogy, therefore, must again be situated to teachin this new context.

The presence of a client in the production cycle complicates thecomposing process even further. As James Marsden notes, clients mayrequire diligence: "the student must work to discover the essentialinformation and may have to revise or invent some of the text" (34).In a multi-site case study that explored writing strategies in a computerenvironment, Bridget Somekh concluded that conversations withclients in a DTP venue enhanced collaboration within the composingprocess and gave "authors greater control over what they communi-cated, how they communicated, and the resulting impact of their workon readers" (304). Almost ten years ago, Billie Wahlstrom stated that"what the computer only hinted at, DTP makes dear: fundamentalalterations in the word/print relationship resulting from digital com-munication technologies. Like it or not, DTP and the changes itbrings are part of the writer's world, and so they must be part of theworld of the writing teacher and the writing program administrator aswell" (163).

Service Learning and Pro BonoOne viable answer to these concerns is to design DTP courses, at

least at the advanced, professional writing level, by using projectsbased on service learning. Although instruction related to design andtechnical expertise is important, a final answer must rest in a solidwriting focus. Marginalizing writing in DTP courses undervalues thecomplexity of the writing enterprise and misconstrues the process intoready formulae. Fortunately, a strong focus is available through therenewed interest among professionals and the college community inpro bono service. Moreover, it is common for DTP professionals todonate their work to charitable organizations and worthwhile causes inways that service learning does not require.

Designing DTP courses around a U.S. model of service—the probono publico tradition of professional gratis service—would both

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broaden students' professional horizons and meet growing demands forservice learning. Moreover, with the rise of service learning across thecurriculum and the absorption of professional writing courses withinthe body of English studies, DTP offers students unique experienceswith professional writing and publishing that can be conducted assubstantial pro bono publico service to their communities withoutartificially dissolving the classroom. In contrast to a course merelyfocusing on software techniques, such DTP classes give studentsaudiences and real "clients" who directly benefit from their efforts.

Pro bono integrates well with the renewed interest in servicelearning (Adler-Kassner; Herzberg; Shutz and Gere). A recent articleby Aaron Schutz and Anne Ruggles Gere notes that service-learninggrowth parallels "reconfigurations within English departments" andstudent participation in service-learning courses and programs (129).It differs from volunteerism by emphasizing "reflection as well asaction [and] combining community work with classroom instruction"(129). In addition, Shutz and Gere observe that instructors are morewilling to seek a "venue for students to connect with the situatedcomplexities of issues and communities outside the classroom" (130);service learning provides such an opportunity.

The practice of pro bono service, however, offers further opportuni-ties for learning. Like service learning, it is deliberative and capable ofbeing incorporated into classroom pedagogies. Its chief difference, andstrength, for DTP courses is that pro bono work builds on participants'vocational talents and skills. It establishes a bond between service andcareer, encouraging volunteers' professional lives to contribute to theircivic responsibilities.

Pro bono has been popular among attorneys, public relationsagencies, artists, and other professional communities. Lawyers areeven duty-bound to provide free legal services to charities, religiousorganizations, and the indigent; pro bono also designates an ethicalstandard ("Pro Bono" 181). The demand for pro bono work amongattorneys has grown since the 1960s, which has given rise to legal aidorganizations that solicit attorneys to donate their time for commoncases. The American Bar Association, for example, sponsors anannual conference on pro bono service and considers free legal servicesto the unrepresented an ethical responsibility for lawyers ("Pro Bono"181-82). Its impact in other professional communities can also bemonumental. Nancy Girouard, for example, cites how a large publicrelations firm brought a service agency "into contact with skilledspecial events professionals, fund raisers, and promotional strategists,and they didn't have to pay for their services" (37). One of the citedbenefits was how it taught the participants "to respect each other'sneed" (37-38). Cindy Jennings considers a range of projects that canqualify as pro bono work, considering it "the ultimate challenge forgraphic designers . . . [for] it involves addressing real problems posed bysocial, political and environmental issues" (238). Some fields, such asstress management, even see clinical training tied to pro bono commu-nity service (Linton).

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Technical Communication Quarterly 411

The goals of a service-learning course imply the kinds of workpresent in professional pro bono ventures. In applying service learningto technical writing courses, Thomas Huckin notes three distinctions:"helping students develop their academic skills (in this case, writing). . . helping students discover more civic awareness, a n d . . . helping

the larger community by addressing the needs of local nonprofitagencies" (50). These goals can easily be embraced in a pro bono DTPcourse. Nonprofit agencies and charities are eager to accept profes-sional contributions that they are unable to budget but require fortheir ongoing community work.

An additional enticement is that many of the pitfalls implicit inrequiring service learning of students are sidestepped. For instance,Huckin designates "service learning" sections of his technical writingcourse from others because "it is contrary to the spirit of service torequire it of students [emphasis in original]" (51). Pro bono service,however, is required by some professions and is incumbent, as aprofessional responsibility, for others. Pro bono work is a reflection ofenlightened self-interest and is sometimes classified, somewhat crassly,as "self promotion." Its civic responsibility is no less important,however. For example, desktop publishers and artists frequentlysponsor activities and agencies that benefit directly from their workand also engage their own interests. Vicki and Dick Rice's ArtworksStudio developed a newsletter, poster, postcard, and T-shirt advertise-ment for an Indianapolis MDA chapter event, "K-9 Walk for MDA," adog-walk that benefits muscular dystrophy research and programs(Buchanan). The initial interest was generated because Vicki is a doglover and thought the walk was a good idea (Buchanan 100). Inaddition, the advertisement for the local chapter brought requestsfrom other chapters across the country to reproduce the ad for theirbenefits. The ad also attracted the attention of corporate sponsors,such as a dog food company, because of the quality of the work per-formed. Such pro bono opportunities are common.

Another pitfall avoided is the vast number of projects that do notfit into service-learning writing projects, but which constitute legiti-mate, and needed, pro bono service. Huckin recommends that certainprojects in a service-learning course be "avoid[ed](" such as "newslet-ters and publicity brochures" (2), because they are "simple writingprojects." Desktop publishers, however, know that agencies needthese materials more than training manuals and proposals, the mediatypically produced in service-learning courses (52). Rather thansimple writing projects, these are frequently connected to larger ones,identity pieces that build a series of literature on agencies and theirmissions. For example, John Evans Design sees pro bono work as auseful contribution to the community, since in the real world "withtwo small children, and another due any day, I don't have time towork at a soup kitchen" (Buchanan 102). The return, according toEvans, is the "creative freedom" he receives with such projects, manyof which he has contributed to "design annuals and competitions"(102), a concept recognized by many DTP professionals (106).

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Pro bono builds on all the strengths of a writing and service-learning course, helping students to write in the working world, toachieve civic awareness in their own communities, and to address theneeds of local nonprofit agencies. It does not demand service ofstudents that is personal and disconnected from their professionalresponsibilities. Neither does it limit the kinds and scope of projectsthat students can appropriate, thus better contributing to the develop-mental nature of skills learned in DTP.

One Sample ProjectTo build pro bono service into the curriculum, I proposed an

experimental four-credit DTP course to be run in a spring semester asa 300-level course. At my college, faculty may propose and offerexperimental courses, with the permission of the dean, up to threetimes, after which they must be submitted to a curriculum develop-ment committee as a catalog course. For the course to run, however,enrollment must reach eight students; I started with eighteen. Themajors of these students encompassed a broad range: art, communica-tions, computer science, nursing, and English.

Informal collaborative partnerships, reconstituted at each class,were formed on the first day of class and continued for three weeks asstudents learned the basic functions of the Macintosh desktop andwrote training handouts. Partners were stationed at each desktopcomputer, and the entire class shared a networked printer. A serverallowed students to save their files conveniently; I made a tape backupof the server files during my office hours each day.

At the end of the three weeks, the students responded to aninformal questionnaire that asked them to rank their strengths from alist of computer, design, and writing skills. It also asked them whowere their strongest partners. I then grouped students together—onceagain as partners—but this time for the remainder of the semester.Fortunately, we had no withdrawals or lengthy absences; I'm surepermanent assignments would not work in every course, but upper-level experimental courses have high retention rates, so I relied onthat finding. In addition, I think there is real merit in studentsworking together through personal and academic challenges withoutthe professor dissolving the relationship when conflicts arise. I neverhad to step in and remind specific partners about their responsibilities;peer pressure was sufficient.

I decided that students enrolled in an experimental, advancedDTP course would write a brochure celebrating the fiftieth anniversaryof Original League, a youth baseball league. I had previously ap-proached the organization after a local newspaper article explainedtheir involvement with the community, their use of volunteers to keepthe league alive, and their imminent anniversary celebration. Aftercontacting the lead spokesperson in the story, I learned that theorganization required a short brochure explaining their history andsignificance to children's Softball.

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The project came as the culmination of a semester in whichstudents designed and wrote their resumes and produced short displayand poster advertisements pro bono for local churches and communityorganizations. Students were prepared for a longer assignment thatwould draw together their writing and computer design skills becausethey had some experience in talking to clients and understanding theirexpectations in short projects.

An initial purpose of the brochure was to integrate the fiftiethanniversary week-long celebration with the activities and overallmission of Original League. The printed matter was to be distributedduring a bus tour, debarking from the Little League (LL) headquartersduring the Little League World Series. Even though they share somehistory, Little League and Original League are two separate institu-tions. Students had to clearly differentiate between the two organiza-tions, and were supplied documentation from LL lawyers that ex-plained what could and could not be stated.

Students formed collaborative groups to plan, design, and writecompeting brochures. The groups were assembled after distributing aquestionnaire in which students were asked to rank a set of writingand design skills. The results were then used to compose heteroge-neous groups that showed a broad range of skills rather than specializa-tion in any one area.

The first half of each class time was devoted to "large groupmeetings" in which teams discussed problems they were experiencingor questions they needed to raise with clients. These sessions circum-vented any competitive urges and, after time, other groups begansupplying answers to others' questions during class time. The initialmumbling about the difficulty of the project gave way to a spiritedcooperation. Some groups offered suggestions for particular problemswith which they were struggling. One team even offered to take glossyphotographs of the field and post them on the lab server if otherswould help pay for the film processing! Students began to see, in thelarge group forum, that the small groups served as opportunities tolearn, on the one hand, how to become independent designers andwriters and, on the other hand, how to barter skills—even with othergroups—in order to produce better designed and written brochures.

The large group meetings also afforded invited guests to speakabout the projects. For instance, I asked a number of former starplayers, now adults, to give short talks on their enthusiasm for theorganization and why Original League still occupied their time asvolunteer coaches and umpires. The founder's daughter gave a briefdiscussion and reviewed projects in various stages of completion. Thevolunteers in charge of the fiftieth anniversary celebration visited theclass every week to answer questions; they then visited each group tosee how each was progressing.

At the end of the semester, each group submitted a booklet to theOriginal League organizers, out of which one was chosen. (Twosample pages from the winning booklet are on the following pages.)

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What IsORIGINAL LEAGUE?

O,' r i g i n a lLeague is part of anAmerican traditionthat has been growingsince 1939. It's adream of getting thegame winning hit inthe bottom of thesixth. It's falling behindin the count and notbacking down. But itgoes further than that

Original League is afather with a racingheart watching fromthe stands as his sonmaneuvers under ahigh fly ball. It'sfumbling an easygrounder that allowsthe winning run toscore. It's coming tothe game two hoursbefore it starts, just tobe the first player onthe field. But it goesfurther than that.

Original League isabout "a promise kept"It's about Jimmy andMajor Gehron. It's about

Uncle Tuck. It's about alove for the gameofbaseball that runsthrough all our hearts. It'sabout a dream thatbecame reality andtouched so many lives.

This isORIGINAL LEAGUE.

_ Figurai. Sample pag« from winning Original League booklet.

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The

Restoring the field to its original condition is something baseball fans fromaround the world want to see.

Carl £. Stotz memorial FieldRestoration Project

TTie current field house located ot Stotz field is undergoing interior

and exterior renovations.

_ Figura 2. Sample page from winning Original League booklet

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The Original League volunteers and I had agreed, before the projectwas undertaken, to form a review board to discuss all of the submittedprojects and that the "winner" would have to be acceptable to all. Atthe outset, we agreed that we needed consensus and that we may notall agree on our own individual first choice; 1 differed from two othersin the group of five, for example. Yet, I understood that the reviewboard envisioned different brochures that client conferences andpreliminary sketches could only marginally identify; it took the finalreview to clearly establish in their own minds what they wanted in theproject but were unable to articulate beforehand. Consequently, Iallowed students to revise their projects after our initial review andduring the last week of class. Our final judgment was cast.

ConclusionsThree major advantages accrue from developing a DTP course

around pro bono service. First, the course maintains a focus on writing,one that students may not receive either in the literature or in DTPseminars on technique. Writing is then taught within the publishingcontext, and service learning is enhanced by developing a course thatis relevant to what professionals do in their career service.

Second, students leam that DTP involves writers. In tradepaperbacks and DTP manuals, students are shown the skills involvedin design and typography with little connection to writing. Whenwriting is addressed, it is frequently undervalued and treated as acompletion of exercises in a workbook. When a writing pedagogy isprovided, however, students learn how to use language creativity indesktop media: how to write headlines, to manipulate clichés so theyare inventive, to adapt column text to audience. As Earl Misanchuknotes, DTP books remain unguided by empirical research—a "trustingyour tummy" philosophy instituted instead—which leads to unjustifiedand contradictory conclusions (5). Misanchuk has documented therange of conflicting advice regarding design considerations, such asright justification, especially when the research shows "mixed" results(7). A writing focus helps students to see the larger picture in DTPinstead of arbitrating petty squabbles about mechanics.

Third, students need to learn the opportunities for service in theircommunity and its civic organizations. Pro bono work enables them toengage their communities from the perspective of their DTP skills,connecting their professional lives to civic service. Service-orientedcourses are, naturally, based on volunteerism, but a volunteerism ofpersonal choice. Pro bono work is a professional responsibility, alreadymirrored in the working world, that helps them connect their profes-sional lives to good causes and agencies.

In conclusion, students appreciate opportunities for service whenthey use skills taught to them in the classroom and the real world.

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Enabling pro bono projects in the DTP classroom provides a vocationalapprenticeship- It also affords students situations in which they canexercise service. After all, that's what professionals do to ensure thepublic good.

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Gary R. Hafer is an assistant professor of English at Lycoming College,Williamsport, PA. He is the production design editor for Brilliant Comers, ajournal of jazz and literature.

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