Advice

Mrs. Rogers' class was a great experience. Angie is very nice, flexible, and wants everyone to learn the material so they can be successful. In order to do well in this class, you simply need to go to class regularly and do all of the assignments and blogs. It is important to know what is due, so you should bookmark and check the teaching site with the to-do list often. This is a very enjoyable class if you keep up with it.

Ethics Research

After reading the document that referred to Holocaust victims as "merchandise" and other terms to cover up the truth, we had to find our own example of an ethical lapse where language such as this was used. We found documents from a prostitution ring about Eliot Spitzer, the former Governor of New York. They referred to him as "Client 9" and there were other cases of language being used to cover up an ethical lapse. The website is currently down so I cannot write in detail about it, but I am interested to look more into these documents for more examples of this type of language.

Ethical Lapses

I am not surprised to know that ethical lapses are a major cause of distractions at work. There are always new cases of a company acting unethically, and it is unfair to the other workers who are just trying to do their jobs. My accounting class talks about ethics often, and my teacher said that ethics is doing the right thing when no one is watching. I agree with this definition and if everyone acted ethically the world would be a better place, however this will never happen.

I hope that when I get a job I will not be in a distracting environment where there are ethical lapses. The worker is always placed in the sticky situation of whether or not to be a whistleblower and bring unethical behavior to the attention of others. The numbers suggest that at some point I will encounter this, and I am not looking forward to making that tough decision.

Writing on the Web vs. Writing on Paper

There are a few minor differences between writing on the Web and writing on paper. First of all, there are specific and strict rules for writing a paper document. When writing on the Web, it is up to you how you want to format your writing (alignment, size, color, font). You have a lot more freedom on the Web than you do on paper. However, you do have to take into consideration the readability and attractiveness of your writing. When visiting a website, the reader wants to get the information quickly and easily, as well as have it presented nicely. You do not have to worry about this as much when writing on paper because there are standards (MLA, APA) that almost everyone knows and follows.

work work work work work work....

I am sitting here with my group (Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood) while everyone works on their part of the proposal. I think our proposal is really good and I am impressed with the work that everyone has done. After we finish this, we will work on our portfolio's that are due tomorrow. I will then go to the library to print out the homework about formal writing and begin studying for my Derivatives test which is on Tuesday. This test will probably be one of the hardest tests I've ever taken and I am not prepared for it at all. I will also try to start studying for the 2 tests that I have on Thursday. This is not going to be a fun week but I will be very happy once it's over.

Honest Abe

This article addresses a topic that I have been wondering a lot about recently. I know that many people lie on their resumes, however I did not realize that 50% of all people lie. This makes me feel that I must lie on mine in order to get a job because it is a very competitive world out there. I can't help but to compare this to baseball and the steroids problem it had. If a few people decide to take steroids to cheat and gain an advantage, everyone else must also cheat in order to keep up. I wish that no one would lie on their resumes but of course this will never happen. This will then leave me with the decision to be honest or join the group that is lying in order to be the top candidate that is selected for a job. As of now I am honest with my credentials on my resume and hopefully I will remain honest throughout my career, but who knows what the future will hold.

Presentations

I really enjoyed hearing many of the presentations, especially the one given on ovarian follicles by Andrew Owens. He had told me what his topic was and I was excited to see him give a speech on a topic that is obviously far too advanced to give to a business writing class. I was very surprised at how well he gave his speech. He knew it was over everyones head and made it humorous because of this. The pictures and diagrams made people laugh and I think it was one of the best presentations.