"either"

["Osmundo R. Fernandez" <fernao -at- RPI -dot- EDU>]

The following sentence has caused some debate among my fellow writers:

"Entries either are alphanumeric strings, such as usernames or passwords; or a c
hoice between several preset strings, such as enabled or disabled."

The debate stems from the placement of the word "either." I believe that the sen
tence reads better as follows:

"Entries are either alphanumeric strings...."

What's more important grammatical exactness or readability?

P.S. I met with the "populate" argument from last week. Thanks for all your grea
t comments. I've saved and printed all of them. :-)

Ray