Oh, crap. A fatal.

Sorry to say we had our first (and almost certainly not the last) of the semester. Here was the lede:

In hopes of saving African wildlife from becoming extinct, a group of 30 Michigan State University scientists have come up with an idea to transplant these species into the Great Plains.

Structurally and stylistically, this was a great lede. It may have been among the highest-graded ledes if not for the claim that it was 30 MSU scientists driving the plan.

That was not so. This was what the text said on p. 196:

A group of ecologists and biologists at your university AND OTHER SCHOOLS . . . (emphasis mine).

I know it seems small. But we're in the getting it right business. This is a fatal.

Make sure you are paying attention to detail and that you accurately report the facts as you have them. Close isn't good enough.

The good news is, this assignment is just one-half of one percent of your final grade. This is easy to overcome, as long as fatals don't become a habit. So double-check your work and make sure you understand the precise meaning of what you are writing.

Make sure you say what you mean, and you mean what you say.