Safire's Language

In homage to William Safire (1929-2009), who passed away last weekend:

I was 10 or 11 years old, and the Sunday Times was my consistently open window to the world's news and debates. Being too young during his Nixon years, I was first exposed to Safire through his weekly Sunday Magazine "On Language" column in the late '70s.

The word play and the attention to the fine details and idiosyncracies of language caught my attention and became a weekly dose of fun with words. His column was singularly responsible for sparking my interest in etymology and the process behind how meanings of words evolve beyond their derivations, through popular usage and circumstance.

Maureen Dowd does a very good job, in an uncharacteristically somber tone, in her Op-Ed column today -- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/opinion/30dowd.html, conveying her personal relationship with and respect for Safire. While I never had the opportunity to meet the man, and I disagreed more often than not with his political positions, I am thankful for the lasting impact he made on my appreciation of words and language. A quality and value I hope to pass along to my children, and to others, through writings and conversation.

George Cigale

gcigale@tutor.com

*picture by George Tames/The New York Times

Military benefits from Tutor.com

I am very happy to share the news that Tutor.com recently signed a major contract with the US Army, following on the footsteps of an initial program with the US Marine Corps. Please feel free to forward this to your US Military friends and colleagues.

Our programs with the Army and Marines allow military personnel and their families to connect to a live tutor for 24/7 help on a wide array of subjects. Adults and children get immediate, one-to-one help from a background checked subject expert online.

We have already served thousands of students in the military (of the nearly 5 million students we've served overall), and the student feedback and results are great. I am writing to ask for your help to spread the word about the availability of help, as students are returning back to school.

You can send this to military personnel or family members you know. And include the details below:

The Army program: http:/www.myarmyonesource.com/cyss_tutor. Eligible for the program are dependents of enlisted Army, Active Duty Army National Guard, Army Reserves, including Wounded Warrior/Survivor, and Army Civilians.

The Marine Corps program: http:/www.usmc-mccs.org/ (click the Tutor.com icon on the home page). Eligible for the program are dependents of Marines and Marine Civilians.

Thanks for your help, and if you happen to have close military ties and have any advice for us on how to spread the word further, please get in touch with me directly: gcigale@tutor.com.

George Cigale

Hacked blog!?!

Well, that's a first for me. My blogger account was somehow hacked tonight, allowing someone to get at least three annoying and profane posts onto my blog. They're deleted, but if you subscribe to the CEOTutor blog through a feed, my apologies for the spam posts getting into your feed reader. Please ignore them.

Thanks, to everyone who sent me heads up emails this evening letting me know about the weird posts. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming,

George Cigale
gcigale@tutor.com