[Newspoetry] Bill Gates disses Ringo!

[William Gillespie]

New Dictionary's Definitions Inconsistent

By HILLEL ITALIE
.c The Associated Press

NEW YORK (July 6) - All U.S. presidents since the Civil War qualify as
statesmen, except Richard Nixon. Robert Kennedy was a politician, but
Newt
Gingrich is a ''political leader.'' And former FBI head J. Edgar Hoover
is
just a lawyer.

The new Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary is being promoted as a
revolutionary addition to the competitive campus market, with its makers

saying its more accessible style and extensive spelling guidance and
usage
notes make it the first such book truly suited to today's students.

But however useful it proves for language skills, students also will
receive
some odd lessons in political and popular history in the book, available
only
in paper form.

Definitions of some notable people are inconsistent, misleading or
outright
inaccurate:

-From George Washington to George W. Bush, presidents in the Microsoft
dictionary also receive the label ''statesman,'' except for two: Nixon
(''37th president of the United States'') and Zachary Taylor (''military

leader and 12th president of the United States''). Franklin Pierce is
not
even labeled a president, just a statesman.

-Dick Cheney and Al Gore are both listed as ''statesman and vice
president of
the United States.'' But Spiro Agnew, Nixon's vice president, is simply
a
''politician.''

-Paraguay's Alfredo Stroessner is a ''dictator.'' Spain's Francisco
Franco is
an ''authoritarian leader.'' Saddam Hussein and Augusto Pinochet are
''national'' leaders. Idi Amin is a ''head of state.'' And Joseph Stalin
is a
''statesman.''

-The entries for Hillary Rodham Clinton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie
Kennedy
and other presidential wives all note they were first ladies. But
Abigail
Adams, wife of John Adams, is identified only as a ''feminist.'' ''She
wouldn't have even understood that word,'' says David McCullough, author
of
the best-selling biography ''John Adams.''

Anne Soukhanov, the dictionary's general editor, acknowledged a
''glitch'' in
the editorial process. She said the definitions were shortened versions
of
entries in the Microsoft Encarta World English Dictionary, published in
1999,
and that vital information was inadvertently left out.

''It would have been much nicer if cross-checks had been made in
individual
categories like vice president,'' she said.

Soukhanov said the entries would be amended, but did not know when that
would
happen. She indicated subjective-sounding words such as ''statesman''
and
''politician'' would be dropped.

''Dictionary editors have always been taught to avoid attaching value
judgments to words they define. And yet when it comes to people, it
seems we
have slipped, all of us,'' she said.

While Soukhanov defended the dictionary's overall integrity, saying the
mistakes were not ''world-threatening,'' a longtime analyst of the
reference
field was more troubled.

''Consistency is an obvious hallmark of a good reference book,'' said
Ken
Kister, author of the consumer guide Kister's Best Dictionaries.

''Biographical entries are peripheral for most dictionary users, but
anything
that isn't right about a reference book casts doubt on the whole
editorial
process,'' Kister said.

Long associated with encyclopedias, biographical entries are a
relatively new
feature for dictionaries. After World War II, publishers of dictionaries

wanted to expand their appeal and began including references to
politicians,
artists and other historical figures, Kister said.

Quirks in these entries aren't uncommon, and pop culture seems an
especially
tricky area. Webster's II New College Dictionary, for instance, defines
Beatles John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as musicians and
composers, but George Harrison as a ''singer and songwriter.''

The American Heritage College Dictionary, meanwhile, labels Lennon a
''musician and composer who wrote many of the Beatles' songs.''
McCartney,
his prolific songwriting partner, is simply a ''musician and composer
who was
a member of the Beatles.'' Harrison, again, is a ''singer and
songwriter.''

In the Microsoft version, Lennon is listed as a ''singer, songwriter,
and
musician.'' McCartney, the band's most versatile instrumentalist, is
just a
''singer and songwriter.'' Harrison, who wrote and sang lead on the
classics
''Something'' and ''Here Comes the Sun,'' is a ''musician.'' Starr is
labeled
both drummer and musician and is the only one identified as a Beatle.

Microsoft's new reference work - released by the software giant, St.
Martin's
Press and London-based Bloomsbury Publishing - is an attempt to to grab
a
piece of the lucrative college market.

''We're trying to address some major issues,'' Soukhanov said. ''We have
done
extensive research and were startled to find out that students need a
great
deal of help with spelling and basic usage.''

The book looks like a traditional dictionary, but contains such unusual
features as warnings on what computer spellcheck programs might do to
certain
words and 700 words listed under their common misspellings.

Microsoft already brings an uncertain history to the reference field.
Its
World English dictionary was criticized for some peculiar editorial
decisions, such as including a picture of Microsoft head Bill Gates, but
not
of John Kennedy. The Gates photo has been dropped for the college
edition,
and one of Kennedy added.

 AP-NY-07-06-01 1502EDT

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press