On Tue, 11 Jul 1995, David Haberstich wrote:

> I'd like to add a MAJOR dissent to Cathy Brady's minor dissent about the use o
f
>  the word "center."  Take it from someone who works in a "center": you do end
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> p spending a lot of time explaining what your organization does because "cente
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> " is such an ambiguous, meaningless, essentially STUPID buzzword.  It's becomi
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> g one of the most overworked words in the English language.  My advice is to r
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> sist this asinine fad of naming everything from a closetful of A-V equipment a
> "media center" to a whole county office building a "multifunctional center" (I
> have such an absurdity in my county). I think it's an exercise in obscurantism
> to call everything a center, and I can't see pandering to people who think the
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>  hate museums by sneakily calling it a "center" instead; sooner or later peopl
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>  will catch on and will deliberately stay ON THE EDGE, avoiding all centers!
> Let's stop cheapening the language this way.  If you're a museum, say so proud
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> y: to call yourself a "history center" is an exercise in non-communication.  O
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>  course, if you're trying to expand and do more than traditional museum functi
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> ns so that you think the word "museum" is inadequate to describe what you do,
m
> aybe it's a signal that you're becoming unfocussed and losing sight of your mi
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> sion!    --David Haberstich
Well said>