Not cancer cluster
I refer to your story ''Coal port community seeks explanation of cancer cluster'', (July 21-22).
Port Waratah Coal Services has been advised by both academic and medical experts that the situation at our Kooragang Island terminal involves a heightened incidence of cancer diagnosis.
Sixty-three of nearly 900 employees were diagnosed with 18 different types of cancer over a 23-year period, with two-thirds of cases being melanoma, prostate and bowel cancer.
Our advice is that these are some of the most common cancers in society and are very rarely caused by occupational or environmental factors. They are usually influenced by hereditary and lifestyle factors.
It is incorrect to call this situation a cancer cluster.
A cancer cluster requires a significant excess number of cancers, usually of the same type.
Hennie Du Plooy CEO Port Waratah Coal Services
Port Waratah Coal Services has been advised by both academic and medical experts that the situation at our Kooragang Island terminal involves a heightened incidence of cancer diagnosis.
Sixty-three of nearly 900 employees were diagnosed with 18 different types of cancer over a 23-year period, with two-thirds of cases being melanoma, prostate and bowel cancer.
Our advice is that these are some of the most common cancers in society and are very rarely caused by occupational or environmental factors. They are usually influenced by hereditary and lifestyle factors.
It is incorrect to call this situation a cancer cluster.
A cancer cluster requires a significant excess number of cancers, usually of the same type.
Hennie Du Plooy CEO Port Waratah Coal Services
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."
is a grammatically valid sentence in the English language, used as an example of how homonyms and homophones can be used to create complicated linguistic constructs. It has been discussed in literature since 1972 when the sentence was used by William J. Rapaport, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo. It was posted to Linguist List by Rapaport in 1992. It was also featured in Steven Pinker's 1994 book The Language Instinct.
The sentence is unpunctuated and uses three different readings of the word "buffalo". In order of their first use, these are
§ a. the city of Buffalo, New York, United States, which is used as a noun
adjunct in the sentence and is followed by the animal;
§ n. the noun buffalo, an animal, in the plural (equivalent to "buffaloes"
or "buffalos"), in order to avoid articles;
§ v. the verb "buffalo" meaning to bully, confuse, deceive, or intimidate.
The sentence can be clarified by substituting the synonym "bison" for the animal "buffalo", "bully" for the verb "buffalo", and "New York" to refer to the state of the city Buffalo:
"New York bison New York bison bully bully New York bison", or:
"New York bison whom other New York bison bully, themselves bully New York bison".
Removing the classifier noun "Buffalo" (the city) further clarifies the sentence
"Bison [that other] bison bully [also] bully bison."
The sentence is unpunctuated and uses three different readings of the word "buffalo". In order of their first use, these are
§ a. the city of Buffalo, New York, United States, which is used as a noun
adjunct in the sentence and is followed by the animal;
§ n. the noun buffalo, an animal, in the plural (equivalent to "buffaloes"
or "buffalos"), in order to avoid articles;
§ v. the verb "buffalo" meaning to bully, confuse, deceive, or intimidate.
The sentence can be clarified by substituting the synonym "bison" for the animal "buffalo", "bully" for the verb "buffalo", and "New York" to refer to the state of the city Buffalo:
"New York bison New York bison bully bully New York bison", or:
"New York bison whom other New York bison bully, themselves bully New York bison".
Removing the classifier noun "Buffalo" (the city) further clarifies the sentence
"Bison [that other] bison bully [also] bully bison."