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Require 1.5 line spacing for all writing assignments!
For reasons laid out below, the Writing Program now recommends 1.5 line spacing for all student papers. Both the idea and the rationale come from Andrea Lawlor, a graduate student in the English Department’s MFA Program for Poets and Writers and a Teaching Associate in the Writing Program. We thank her for her leadership on this issue.
Here's why we should all use 1.5 line spacing:
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It's ethically right to use fewer of the planet's natural resources and less of a public university's money.
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Many people find it easier to read 1.5 line spacing, and there's still plenty of room for line edits.
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We'll show the Chancellor we're saving money and going green in what could be a high-profile way.
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It's our particular responsibility: The Writing Program sets the standard for the university's written assignments. We could start with our program, prove this idea works, and influence all departments.... and eventually the world!
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Students care about the environment and like this idea.
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The numbers are interesting: For every 5 page student essay, we save an entire sheet of paper. It works like this: each section of College Writing has 24 students who print 5 essays at least three times each. That's at least 360 pages per student, and 8,640 pages per class. If there are 100 sections of 112 each semester, that's 864,000 double-spaced pages total. Apply 1.5 line spacing and the total is 648,000 pages total per semester. That's a savings of 216,000 pages a semester, or 432 REAMS of paper. Imagine if the whole university did this, how even more awesome UMass would be.
Here's what might make this difficult:
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The MLA is against us (but maybe we can sway them).
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We may have to translate page counts into word counts at first.
If you do choose to require 1.5 line spacing . . .
. . . you might be interested in the following chart:
Word count (approximate) with 1.5 line spacing:
1 page = 375 words
2 pages = 750 words
3 pages = 1,125 words
4 pages = 1,500 words
5 pages = 1,875 words
6 pages = 2,250 words
7 pages = 2,675 words
*Pages here have 1" margins and use Times New Roman 12pt font.
