CONTENTS FEATURE: Some type fonts are more fitting than others SPOTLIGHT: EditPros clients in the news NET NOTES: Captivating web sites FEATURE: Why some type fonts are more fitting than others      The recall of California Gov. Gray Davis and the victory of replacement candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger have created difficulty for newspaper copy editors—not necessarily political or philosophical, but mechanical.      Copy editors have complained that Schwarzenegger's 14-letter name is unwieldy and restricts their flexibility in writing newspaper headlines. Copy editors whose experience dates to the 1970s know that Schwarzenegger's name would have registered an even higher "unit count" of 15 in newsrooms before the advent of desktop publishing.      In normal headline type for a single-column story measuring narrower than two inches, Schwarzenegger's name could be set no larger than 18 points—diminutive for headline type. Some newspapers may have less difficulty than others, however, depending upon the geometric properties of the fonts they use for their headlines. Awareness of the subtleties of font design can help anyone struggling to fit long names or lengthy titles into a limited amount of space.      Back in the days before computerized newsrooms—when "cc" really meant "carbon-paper copy"—newsrooms reverberated with the clack-clackety din of journalists pounding out their text on durable gunship-gray manual typewriters. Their editors relied upon a "unit-count" system to calculate how much space that a typewritten headline would occupy when set in the fonts used in printing. Estimation was required because typewriters produced "monospaced" text, with all characters occupying the same width. The only variant was that typewriters were available with either "10-pitch" or "12-pitch" designation—indicating that they produced either 10 characters or 12 characters per inch.      Under the unit-count system, most lowercase letters were assigned one unit of width, with the exception of the "f," i," "l" and "t" (which were counted as a half-unit apiece) and "m" and "w" (which were counted as 1.5 units each). Nearly all uppercase letters and numerals were counted as 1.5 units each, with the exception of "I," "J" and the numeral "1" (one unit each) and "M and "W" (two units apiece). Punctuation marks and spaces between words were counted as a half-unit each.      Under the unit-count system, "Illinois" has a unit count of six, even though it contains eight letters. In contrast, the names of Delaware and Oklahoma also contain eight letters but have unit counts of 8.5 apiece. That indicates that when typeset, "Illinois" will occupy only 70 percent of the width of the names of either of the other two states; and that "Delaware" and "Oklahoma" will occupy 1.4 times as much width as "Illinois." To verify that on your computer, type the three state names in succession, with a paragraph return after each, like this: Illinois Delaware Oklahoma      Because the unit-count system is intended for calculating headline size, set the size of the three state names at 36 points or larger.      Next, format them in Courier—which is a monospaced font. Because all three state names contain eight letters, they will occupy the same width. Illinois Delaware Oklahoma      Then, reformat them in any proportional font, such as Times Roman, Helvetica or Arial. The widths of the state names relative to each other will change dramatically—in proportion to the unit-count estimates. Illinois Delaware Oklahoma Keep in mind that your screen display presents only a bitmapped facsimile of fonts; for a more accurate representation, print your before-after font spacing comparisons on a laser printer equipped with Adobe PostScript language.      Spacing results can vary dramatically among the wide assortment of proportional fonts available today for word-processing and desktop publishing applications. Certain characters that are relatively wide in some fonts may have a narrower profile in others. For example, the letter "o" may be nearly circular in some fonts but oval and therefore narrower in others. In some character sets the "j" may have but a tiny flick of a tail, while in other fonts the tail may take on a grandiose swirl that occupies greater width.      Typefaces are generally grouped among three categories: text display decorative, novelty and specialty.      Text faces are used for long passages—the body text. This category is composed chiefly of fonts with serifs, the small "counterstrokes" that delineate the endings of the major strokes of letters. The serifs help define the base line of typeset set and guide the reader's eye, thereby reducing fatigue. Text faces designed with serifs include Times Roman, Garamond, Century Schoolbook and Goudy Old Style.      Display faces are predominantly sans-serif, which means they lack serifs. Typographers designed them to capture attention and convey information at a glance. Sans-serif display faces such as Helvetica, Arial, Futura and Franklin Gothic are effective for headlines, document titles, and highway directional signs.      Decorative and novelty faces are less utilitarian. They may be comical, effusive or evocative of a mood, place or era—often at the sacrifice of legibility. Decorative faces should be used judiciously and with restraint. The category of specialty faces includes font sets composed entirely of symbols for use in cartography, architecture, scientific documents and other specific applications.      Point-size is measured from the top of the highest ascending character (such as the top of the lowercase "d" or "l" or the uppercase "M," whichever extends farther) to the bottom of the longest descender. Fonts that are designed with relatively long ascenders and descenders have a proportionally small "x-height"—the vertical space assigned to lowercase characters such as the "a," "r" and "x." As a result, such type appears smaller than identically sized type with short ascenders and descenders and a correspondingly greater "x" height.      To demonstrate the difference that font geometric properties can make, type the name "Schwarzenegger" in 36-point Futura (which has relatively long ascenders and descenders with a modest x-height) and in 36-point Avant Garde (which has short ascenders and descenders with a correspondingly larger x-height and greater character widths. The name occupies considerably greater line length when set in Avant Garde, even though the heights of the two lines of type are identical.      If you know that your newsletter, Web pages or other documents must accommodate lengthy words or names, design your layout with headlines that span multiple columns of type. For titles, headlines and other display purposes, select font families that encompass multiple weights—not just regular and bold, but also light, thin, demibold, heavy and extra-bold.      For the greatest flexibility, compose your finished pages with a page layout program such as Adobe PageMaker or Quark XPress rather than with a word processing program. Word processors, which are intended for writing, have only elementary typographic controls. Page layout programs enable you to make fine adjustments not only in the spaces between letters and words, but also in the actual width of the characters.      Discerning type selection is not purely subjective because the attributes of typographic design encompass far more than aesthetics. Yes! EditPros can help you make sensible typographical selections for your documents. SPOTLIGHT: EditPros clients in the news Baylor University study reveals that people of different nations choose sales careers for widely divergent reasons      A new study by a member of the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University debunks the notion that salespeople of different cultures and nationalities are all driven by the goal of financial motivation. The study, titled "International Differences—Examining Two Assumptions about Selling," reveals that factors motivating people to choose sales careers differ sharply by country.      "It helps explain why some of our best made-in-the-USA sales management practices aren't more effective in other nations," says study co-author John F. Tanner III, associate professor of marketing in the Baylor business school—an EditPros client. "The answers may lie in what really provides motivation for salespeople."      Tanner conducted the study with noted research psychologist George W. Dudley, co-founder of Behavioral Sciences Research Press in Dallas. Together they surveyed almost 41,000 people in nine nations—Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States—asking what they hope to achieve through their sales careers. Choices included "make money," "opportunities to use talents," "work creatively," "obtain status," "interact with people," "be self-managed," "progress into management," "freedom from routine," and "opportunities to be of service to others." The researchers gathered data using a specialized psychological test used worldwide to assess sales prospecting call reluctance.      "Their motivations form a colorful and vastly more complex tapestry than superficial stereotypes allow," observed Dudley. While financial income is the principal motivating factor for 33 percent of U.S. salespeople and 36 percent of British participants, it drives only 9 percent of Norwegians and 11 percent of New Zealanders, who say they place highest value on "lifestyle" considerations—such as opportunities to use their abilities, and freedom from routine.      "Successful U.S. salespeople often shun advancement into management because they can usually make much more money in sales," Dudley added. That further differentiates U.S. salespeople from those of other nations, where sales is frequently viewed as a temporary step on the way to management. More than 12 percent of Australian salespeople, for example, seek a career in management. Sales is desirable in Australia and New Zealand as a means to gain some degree of autonomy and avoid the constraints of other types of positions.      The study also showed that while U.S. salespeople are more money-motivated than their counterparts in other countries, Americans are also more service oriented. Company executives should pay heed to the study findings.      "The implications are serious and far-reaching, especially when it comes to multi-national sales management practices. American sales management and training and procedures adhere to our presupposed values and perceptions, and may not be optimal, or even suitable, for other countries," said Tanner.      A full copy of the research report can be viewed on the Baylor Business Web site. Net Notes: Captivating Internet resources FindArticles http://www.findarticles.com/PI/index.jhtml      FindArticles, described as the world's first free article search site, contains an index of articles published since 1998 in more than 300 magazines and journals. At no charge, you may search for articles by article subject or within categories of publications that you specify. The site is operated by LookSmart in cooperation with the Gale Group, a publisher of reference materials. Everyrule http://www.everyrule.com/      This authoritative site contains a database of rules governing sports, board games, casino games, etiquette and other categories. It can be of help in resolving disputes in a wide range of popular as well as obscure pursuits, including archery, bocce ball, bumper pool, quoits, snooker, wedding etiquette or golf etiquette. This site is affiliated with the publication Rule Making News. 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