[ATTW-L] the Champlain Towers South engineering report

[Lettner-Rust, Heather]

This report is an excellent first week eye-opener. And we could return again and again to the lessons learned.

Heather G. Lettner-Rust, PhD
Associate Professor of English
Writing Coordinator, Civitae Core Curriculum
434.395.2162

Longwood University
Dept. of English & Modern Languages
Grainger G10
201 High Street
Farmville, VA  23909
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From: ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org> on behalf of Hilary Sarat-St Peter <hsstpeter at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2021 12:04:52 PM
Cc: attw-l at attw.org
Subject: Re: [ATTW-L] the Champlain Towers South engineering report


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As a teaching case, it might be productive to show this report to students and ask them if they think changing the wording or design of the report would have affected the tragic outcome of the Champlain Towers collapse. Students would have to ground their answers in tech comm principles and evidence from the case, and the instructor would need to approach the topic with utmost sensitivity because some students may have personally lived through a structural failure disaster or had family members affected.

On Sun, Jun 27, 2021 at 9:25 AM Stephen Bernhardt <sab at udel.edu<mailto:sab at udel.edu>> wrote:
You have to wonder whether the HOA was dragging its feet on expensive repairs.

On Sat, Jun 26, 2021 at 5:57 PM Dragga, Sam <Sam.Dragga at ttu.edu<mailto:Sam.Dragga at ttu.edu>> wrote:
A 2018 nine-page engineering report identifies issues that might have caused or contributed to the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida.

The report raises important issues for technical communicators about information design. The report has no headings but alphabetizes issues A through K. The key issues related to the integrity of the building's foundation are addressed on pages 6-9.

As I read this report, I think that a more emphatic display and organization of information could have stirred immediate action on critical repairs and saved lives. This report will likely be a salient and tragic example for classroom discussion of ineffective communication.

The report is available at https://www.townofsurfsidefl.gov/docs/default-source/default-document-library/town-clerk-documents/champlain-towers-south-public-records/8777-collins-ave---structural-field-survey-report.pdf

Sam

Sam Dragga
Professor Emeritus, Texas Tech University
sam.dragga at ttu.edu<mailto:sam.dragga at ttu.edu>
1-806-543-6099

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--
Steve Bernhardt
Bayside DE
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