tradition dictates that mission statements should be a single sentence, a standard to which we all adhere for the same reason we wear clothing on hot days--because to do otherwise would attract unwanted attention; of course, as a consequence, the "mission statement" as a literary form is almost invariably unreadable by any but the most determined individual, given that the form itself virtually necessitates turgid, overburdened prose, a no-man's-land of verbiage where the mind wanders, parched and exhausted, in search of the simple solace of a period.