The intention was for 500 characters (words in the previous response was my error) to respond to each of the two questions. As I stated earlier, we did not specify whether blank spaces between words are characters or whether links are characters. We expected that the candidates would understand that their answers to these two questions would be succinct, so that the page would be wieldly and user-friendly--nothing more and nothing less. I have asked those users who exceeded 500 characters to shorten their statements, but I do believe that _everyone_ acted within the spirit of the 500 characters, so I do not intend to chop up their statements or disqualify them.
Danny