UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 23, Page 14
March 7, 1996
Punctuation questions? Call the Grammar Hotline

     Tucked in the corner of Memorial Hall's basement may be one of
the campus' hidden treasures. Room 015 is the home of the Grammar
Hotline, the savior for grammatically confused persons in dire need of
literary help.
      A service of the University Writing Center, the Grammar Hotline
has provided guidance to many confused UD students, including more
than 500 last year.
     The hotline, designed to help those with problems ranging from
spelling to letter writing etiquette, is simply a telephone call away
for frustrated staff members and stressed-out students, especially
during term paper time.
     "What we do here is really worth doing," University Writing
Center director and initiator of the hotline Margaret P. Hassert,
said. Sitting at her desk, amidst countless grammar reference books,
she added, "I think it matters how people write and use the language."
     Known by her colleagues as the "Grammar Queen," Hassert joined
the University Writing Center in 1970 as a teaching assistant and
eventually became director of the unit in 1985. It was in that same
year that Hassert decided to implement the hotline as a service to
those needing help with grammar.
     According to Hassert, it seemed appropriate for the Writing
Center, which offers free writing assistance to UD students, to be
acknowledged formally as a Grammar Hotline to "get credit for
something we were doing anyway."
     The center frequently answered questions via telephone before the
service became known as the Grammar Hotline.
     Although the hotline is not the first of its kind-there are
almost 70 hotlines throughout the United States and Canada-it is the
only one in the state of Delaware. Interestingly, the Newark-based
service seems to be the popular choice of many out-of-state callers.
     Hassert said the hotline receives many calls from outside the
University. She mentioned two regular long distance callers-an airline
service public relations employee from Los Angeles and an employee of
Nintendo Entertainment, based in the state of Washington.
     "A lot of times they'll call and say, 'I want to read you this
sentence. Tell me what's wrong with it,'" Hassert said. "We also get
calls from secretaries who say, 'My boss said this, and I think he's
wrong.' I like those calls."
     Most inquiries the hotline receives, normally around two or three
per day, are directed towards Hassert, who has a master's degree in
English from the University of Delaware.
     While the Writing Center employs 22 staff members, the Grammar
Queen seems to be the royal authority in her domain. Relying on her
own knowledge and reference books ranging from The Wordwatcher's Guide
to The Professional Secretary's Handbook, there aren't many questions
the hotline or Hassert can't answer.
     "Sometimes there are judgment calls, and I tell the caller how I
would do it," she said. "But we can usually answer most questions."
     Hassert's reign will end at the conclusion of this academic year,
as she will be retiring from the Writing Center to concentrate solely
on her teaching duties.
     She said she still will help out at the Writing Center and
continue working to improve the grammar of those in search of help.
     "I wouldn't put 26 years of my life into helping people with
grammar if I didn't feel it was a valuable service," Hassert said.
                                                          -Jaret Lyons


Editor's Note: The Grammar Hotline and the University Writing Center
are open from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, and from 6-9 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The telephone
number is 831-1168.