<div dir="ltr">In addition to examining the report as a communication artifact, there's also the messy and tangled communication among the people who received the report, as described in this McClatchy article.<div><a href="https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article252394393.html">https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article252394393.html</a><br><div><br></div><div>Even if this report had been written perfectly (whatever that might mean), there's no guarantee that all of its recipients would take it seriously and act on its recommendations.</div><div>One of the ugly truths our students will need to confront, either in our classes or afterward, is that people will often prioritize saving/not spending money over risks to human safety. No amount of precedent or "lessons learned" ever seems to eliminate this tendency.</div><div>That's a tough conversation to have with students, especially when they believe or expect that people will behave rationally. What happens to an engineer (mentally, emotionally, professionally) after their recommendations are ignored and tragedy strikes?</div><div><br></div><div>Rob Rowan</div><div><br></div><div>Robert M. Rowan, PhD</div><div>Lecturer, Department of English</div><div>Case Western Reserve University</div><div><a href="mailto:rmr122@case.edu">rmr122@case.edu</a><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div><br><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" nowrap align="RIGHT">Subject:
</th>
<td>Re: [ATTW-L] the Champlain Towers South engineering
report</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" nowrap align="RIGHT">Date: </th>
<td>Sun, 27 Jun 2021 21:36:43 +0000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" nowrap align="RIGHT">From: </th>
<td>Lettner-Rust, Heather <a href="mailto:lettnerrusthg@longwood.edu" target="_blank"><lettnerrusthg@longwood.edu></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" nowrap align="RIGHT">CC: </th>
<td><a href="mailto:attw-l@attw.org" target="_blank">attw-l@attw.org</a> <a href="mailto:attw-l@attw.org" target="_blank"><attw-l@attw.org></a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<br>
This report is an excellent first week eye-opener. And we could
return again and again to the lessons learned.<br>
<br>
Heather G. Lettner-Rust, PhD<br>
Associate Professor of English<br>
Writing Coordinator, Civitae Core Curriculum<br>
434.395.2162<br>
<br>
Longwood University<br>
Dept. of English & Modern Languages<br>
Grainger G10<br>
201 High Street<br>
Farmville, VA 23909<br>
<hr style="display:inline-block;width:98%">
<div id="m_1035653802460716888divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font style="font-size:11pt" face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> ATTW-L
<a href="mailto:attw-l-bounces@attw.org" target="_blank"><attw-l-bounces@attw.org></a> on behalf of Hilary Sarat-St
Peter <a href="mailto:hsstpeter@gmail.com" target="_blank"><hsstpeter@gmail.com></a><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, June 27, 2021 12:04:52 PM<br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:attw-l@attw.org" target="_blank">attw-l@attw.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [ATTW-L] the Champlain Towers South
engineering report</font>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;background-color:#ffcc99;color:#ff0000">CAUTION: This is an EXTERNAL email. Do not
click links or open attachments unless you recognize the
sender and know the content is safe.</span></p>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">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. </div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, Jun 27, 2021 at
9:25 AM Stephen Bernhardt <<a href="mailto:sab@udel.edu" target="_blank">sab@udel.edu</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="auto">You have to wonder whether the HOA was
dragging its feet on expensive repairs. </div>
<div><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Jun 26, 2021
at 5:57 PM Dragga, Sam <<a href="mailto:Sam.Dragga@ttu.edu" target="_blank">Sam.Dragga@ttu.edu</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div lang="EN-US">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">A 2018 nine-page
engineering report identifies issues that
might have caused or contributed to the
collapse of Champlain Towers South in
Surfside, Florida.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">The report is
available at <a href="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" target="_blank">
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</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">Sam</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Sam
Dragga</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Professor
Emeritus, Texas Tech University</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><a href="mailto:sam.dragga@ttu.edu" target="_blank">sam.dragga@ttu.edu</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">1-806-543-6099</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
ATTW-L mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:ATTW-L@attw.org" target="_blank">ATTW-L@attw.org</a><br>
<a href="http://attw.org/mailman/listinfo/attw-l_attw.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://attw.org/mailman/listinfo/attw-l_attw.org</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr">Steve Bernhardt<br>
Bayside DE</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
ATTW-L mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:ATTW-L@attw.org" target="_blank">ATTW-L@attw.org</a><br>
<a href="http://attw.org/mailman/listinfo/attw-l_attw.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://attw.org/mailman/listinfo/attw-l_attw.org</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div></div></div></div>