The banner headline for your lead story on Friday was wrong. The headline read: "Bush: War Against Terror Eminent."
What your headline writer meant to say was that the war against terror was "imminent."
Such confusion is understandable, as the words do sound the same. However, "eminent" means "conspicuous," or "standing out" whereas "imminent" means "ready to take place."
President Bush is certainly an eminent man, famous for his verbal gaffes, but I would chalk this one up to your headline writer.
Howard Aldrich
Kenan Professor of Sociology
