CCC News Release
FOR RELEASE, March 16, 2001

National Institutes of Health Plain Language Awards Recognize Capital Consulting Corporation Writers and Editors

The First Annual National Institutes of Health (NIH) Plain Language Awards has recognized three Capital Consulting Corporation (CCC) writers and editors for producing superior and outstanding written products. Acting Director of NIH, Dr. Ruth L. Kirchstein, presented the awards at a ceremony held March 5, 2001, in Lipsett Amphitheater on the NIH Bethesda campus. After the awards were presented, Michael Dirda, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and Washington Post book critic, gave a brief speech.

CCC consultant Robert Taylor edits Snapshots of Science and Medicine, a World Wide Web magazine that won a "Superior" Plain Language Award. Snapshots targets high-school students and uses the Internet as a vehicle for stories about exciting discoveries in biomedical research. The NIH Office of Science Policy's Office of Science Education (OSE) created the Web magazine, which is funded by the Office of Research on Women's Health (http://science-education.nih.gov/homepage.nsf).

Cindy Allen, a CCC consultant, and Sharon Cargo, a CCC senior staff associate, received recognition for their work on the OSE's NIH Mini-Med School Manual: A Planning Guide and Directory, which received an "Outstanding" Plain Language Award. The manual provides a "how-to" section on planning a mini-med school for the general public, descriptions of existing mini-med schools nationwide, and resources for planning mini-med programs. Allen and Cargo worked under the guidance of OSE Director Bruce A. Fuchs and Ellen Dobbins. Matthew Mowczko, a CCC graphics artist, and Donna Cay Tharpe, a CCC technical editor also contributed to the manual's production.

"Plain language" refers to writing that uses common, everyday terms, active voice, short sentences, avoids unnecessary technical jargon, and is organized in a logical manner which makes it easy for the reader to follow. The writer's goal is clear and effective communication.

The Plain Language Initiative is the result of a 1998 presidential memorandum and urges all branches of the Federal Government to produce written communications in plain language so that they are more accessible and understandable to the public. The Initiative requires that plain language be used in all Government communications to the public by January 1, 2002.

These awards highlight CCC's expertise in writing effectively for NIH's diverse audiences, from physicians and researchers to patients and high school students. CCC writers and editors have been producing clear and effective writing for years for Government clients, long before such writing became part of a special initiative.

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