English translation: read by a large number of people in State
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English to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Government / Politics
English term or phrase:staffed widely in State
As you will see from the Minutes, Ed Muskie was not happy with the paper, was disturbed about not having it staffed widely in State, and was reluctant to bring it to your attention.
The paper being referred to here is a report/document, State is the US State Department, "you/your" refers to the President.
I don't understand what is meant by staffed here. My guess so far is that the paper (or rather its author) did not utilize all the State Department resources (people or information) in drawing it's conclusions but I have doubts.
Explanation: I interpret this to mean that the paper was diffused to a large number of people in State. For example:
http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/record.php?id=376&t...
speeches were so widely staffed… meaning, when I did a speech it would be sent out to 25 groups and individuals throughout the administration, and they’d all get to comment with their little opinions. And I don’t mean necessarily political opinions although sometimes I do … I mean frequently stylistic opinions.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 50 mins (2011-01-07 18:47:57 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
On second thoughts, perhaps "read by" is the wrong choice of words - "diffused to" may be better. There is no guarantee that the paper wasn't 'filed' without being read...
@Ann - thank you for the info, i guess secret is not really secret afterall :-)
@Martin - to me that sentense says that the associate was looking busy so she would not be given more work, which could mean everything from typing to looking up references. This interpretation would imply that the Secretary of Defense had to recruit members of the Department of State to work on his report :-/ Being asked to contribute info/opinions (consulting) is one thing being asked to work on a report is another, IMO.
"Secret" is not a very high-level security clearance at US Department of State. In fact, it is one of the lower levels. So, it would not preclude a wide number of participants in the reading/writing etc.//"There are different types of security clearances allowing a person to access classified material. The four main types are confidential, secret, top secret (TS), and sensitive compartmented information (SCI). " http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52768-2003Feb10?la...
Ann´s link provides support for the interpretation of "consulting the staff".
"The exasperated and wide-eyed frantastic Associate scurried down the hall with a pile of Redwelds in her arms, hoping the partners would see she was far too busy to be staffed on that new matter."
ah, i see. yes, that is pretty much what I thought was meant but wanted to get some confirmation of my interpretation from the comunity since i have never heard "staffed" used in this way before.
I should have said that Hugo's concept is how I understand it except that the item does not have to be a periodically produced report. The idea, I think, is to say that not enough people/minds/opinions were involved/consulted.
@ Martin - that interpretation would make sense within the context but it would be nice to find something to support it.
@ Ann - this is the usage I am familiar with except it does not make sense to me in this context. The report is not a periodical, it is a unique report that was submitted by the Secretary of Defense outlining current strategy issues.
http://www.law.com/jsp/llf/PubArticleLLF.jsp?id=115634041344... "to be staffed" in big-firm jargon, which supports Hugo's answer and is how I understand it. // and from dictionary.com, specific to the White House: "16.
to send to a staff for study or further work (often fol. by out ): The White House will staff out the recommendations before making a decision. "
I agree with your doubts! It is an unusual use of the verb "staff" and must be internal jargon. Could it mean "circulated"?
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
44 mins confidence:
staffed widely in state
read by a large number of people in State
Explanation: I interpret this to mean that the paper was diffused to a large number of people in State. For example:
http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/record.php?id=376&t...
speeches were so widely staffed… meaning, when I did a speech it would be sent out to 25 groups and individuals throughout the administration, and they’d all get to comment with their little opinions. And I don’t mean necessarily political opinions although sometimes I do … I mean frequently stylistic opinions.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 50 mins (2011-01-07 18:47:57 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
On second thoughts, perhaps "read by" is the wrong choice of words - "diffused to" may be better. There is no guarantee that the paper wasn't 'filed' without being read...
Jeux de Mots Germany Local time: 03:06 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
thank you
Notes to answerer
Asker: that sounds good but it makes me nervious because the memo about the report has secret stamped on it so it would be pretty safe to assume the report itself, which discusses strategy issues related to national security, was secret as well... so, the idea of it being circulated among the department of state staff seems odd. i am thoroughly confused.
Explanation: that would make sense if said report if recurrent, for instance a monthly or weekly report or publication
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2011-01-07 19:34:28 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
even if it is not a periodic report, if it was for instance a long or difficult document, it is difficult to rule out that the intended meaning could be : not enough people worked on it / collaborated / contributed
Hugo Local time: 20:06 Native speaker of: Spanish, French
Notes to answerer
Asker: my confusion stems presicely from the fact that it is not a recurrent report. it is a unique report that was then discussed in a meeting of the top government officials.
It wasn't reviewed by professional editors (not enough)
Explanation: "An article was staffed" - a professional term of journalists. In your text it would mean that not many renowned editors had read it, it didn't gain opinion of many respectful people, only few and not so well known.
the Department of State would not be providing the personnel
Explanation: ... that the State Department would not be responsible for its implementation, ie that State Department employees would not "staff" its implementation, ie that it would be left to another department or agency to provide the personnel resources to effectuate it.
Charlesp Local time: 03:06 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
The translation workplace 
