Re: Lectures and written communications

[Robert Cohen <Robert.Cohen@PO-BOX.ESU.EDU>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: S M Ryan [mailto:fizziksweb@YAHOO.COM]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 11:14 AM
>
> > But what happens to these students after they have been
> > graduated from our universities and join corporate
> > America ?
> >
> > Below is an example ...
> > Any comments???
> [snip]
>
> Don't know that it has anything to do with a lack of
> listening skills - just extremely poor manners and bad
> assumptions.

I've been hesitant to enter this discussion because I didn't think it was
directly related to the list but I can't resist adding my own experience.  I
once e-mailed Nestle about the nutrition label on their Libby's Juicy Juice.
[This is actually somewhat related to the list - I use nutrition labels in
my physics class to illustrate the effect of resolution on calculations]

I don't have my original e-mail but my question had to do with the
relationship between the sodium content that was listed and the
corresponding percentage of the daily value that was listed.  In particular,
I asked why the percentage is listed as 0% when the amount (12.5 mg or more)
corresponds to 1% (when rounded)?  Here is the response:

------------
Thank you for contacting us regarding LIBBY'S JUICY JUICE.  We welcome
questions and comments from our customers and are pleased to provide the
following information.

Nestle USA does not add salt to any of our Libby's Juicy Juice products.
However, as you may already be aware, minute amounts of sodium naturally
occur
in fruits and, therefore, trace amounts of sodium may be found in Juicy
Juice.

We appreciate the opportunity to provide this information.  Your use of our
products is appreciated and we trust that you will continue to be a
satisfied
customer.
Sincerely,
--------------
Is this a matter of poor manners and bad assumptions or is it one of poor
listening/reading skills?  By the way, I responded back that my question
wasn't answered and I rephrased my question but received no response.  I
have not checked to see if they have since corrected their label.

____________________________________________
Robert Cohen; rcohen@po-box.esu.edu; http://www.esu.edu/~bbq
Physics, East Stroudsburg Univ., E. Stroudsburg, PA 18301