I have two pieces of advice to help future students in business writing and other classes. These have come from my own experiences during the semester and they seem obvious, but they do help if you make an effort.
First, don't be like me and procrastinate on your work, especially your blogs! I waited to do my blog each week on sunday and that created all sorts of problems. Sometime my Internet was down and other times I ran out of time and didn't remember until right before it was due. It will help students if they take care of small things like this during the week when they have a few minutes.
Second, it is really important to get a good group to work with on your project. I was very lucky and had a great group through no action of my own, but you can't always count on that. When you are given a chance to meet your classmates, keep in mind who you think you will work well with and who you will get along with. The project is a major part of your grade, and it is important to build a good foundation to start with.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Buck v. Bell
Sorry this is a little late, I got back from the airport a little late. My girlfriend's plane was delayed because the Pope was leaving from Newark where she was going.
My group looked at a strange ethical lapse. It is something that we would think could only happen in another country like Germany during the Nazi regime, but under the surface the US isn't always as clean as we'd like to think. I read a book about totalitarian states in one of my history classes, and I remember reading about how the Nazis sterilized all those that they deemed to be unfit for society. Some of the methods of sterilization were pretty gruesome, and I aways associated forced sterilization with some evil government. Then I read about the tests done on African American males with syphilis and I realized that we are just better at hiding our crimes. We looked at a supreme court case called Buck v. Bell which dealt with eugenic sterilization. This 1927 case upheld compulsory sterilization of the mentally handicapped for the health of the state. I couldn't believe the language that was used by the supreme court justices when describing these people. They used extremely dehumanizing language. They treated them like subhumans and this is very scary considering that was the Supreme Court of the US.
My group looked at a strange ethical lapse. It is something that we would think could only happen in another country like Germany during the Nazi regime, but under the surface the US isn't always as clean as we'd like to think. I read a book about totalitarian states in one of my history classes, and I remember reading about how the Nazis sterilized all those that they deemed to be unfit for society. Some of the methods of sterilization were pretty gruesome, and I aways associated forced sterilization with some evil government. Then I read about the tests done on African American males with syphilis and I realized that we are just better at hiding our crimes. We looked at a supreme court case called Buck v. Bell which dealt with eugenic sterilization. This 1927 case upheld compulsory sterilization of the mentally handicapped for the health of the state. I couldn't believe the language that was used by the supreme court justices when describing these people. They used extremely dehumanizing language. They treated them like subhumans and this is very scary considering that was the Supreme Court of the US.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Ethics
I had some Internet problems on Sunday, so I'm posting this Monday after my classes.
The article was based on a survey that investigated ethical lapses in the workplace. When I read the article the first thing that I thought about was whether or not I have experienced any ethical lapses in my jobs and how they were handled. One instance came to mind, and like the research showed, I went to my superior for help. I can understand how some people would be worried about how their boss would handle the situation, but I was OK because I have a good relationship with my boss. I think that it is important to judge the situation carefully. If it is a small problem, then you should try to take care of it yourself. However, when the situation is serious or involves your superiors, you must go up the ladder for help. I believe that your supervisor would rather help you than have a situation snowball because he wasn't informed. The ethical lapse that I witnessed did not really distract me from my work. I realized that what I had seen was questionable, but it was also something above my head. The best thing bosses can do is make themselves approachable so that their employees will come to them when they see something they question.
The article was based on a survey that investigated ethical lapses in the workplace. When I read the article the first thing that I thought about was whether or not I have experienced any ethical lapses in my jobs and how they were handled. One instance came to mind, and like the research showed, I went to my superior for help. I can understand how some people would be worried about how their boss would handle the situation, but I was OK because I have a good relationship with my boss. I think that it is important to judge the situation carefully. If it is a small problem, then you should try to take care of it yourself. However, when the situation is serious or involves your superiors, you must go up the ladder for help. I believe that your supervisor would rather help you than have a situation snowball because he wasn't informed. The ethical lapse that I witnessed did not really distract me from my work. I realized that what I had seen was questionable, but it was also something above my head. The best thing bosses can do is make themselves approachable so that their employees will come to them when they see something they question.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Web Writing
There are a lot of obvious similarities between writing on paper and writing online. For instance, both types of writing have a specific point to get across and a target audience to reach. I think most communication shares in these, so the important thing is the difference between writing on the web and on paper. One of the biggest differences is the formality of the writing. I think that writing online, like we do every Sunday, is much less formal. That is not to say that there are not formal web documents, but there are fewer restrictions on writing online.
Writing online also is impacted by different formats. A typical paper document is on a standard sheet of paper and is black and white with maybe a accent color. The web opens up endless possibilities for creating unique and eye catching documents. In fact, having a plain, black and white document online would be very boring to read! Color and headings are used online to catch and hold people's attention so that the message can get across.
Writing online also is impacted by different formats. A typical paper document is on a standard sheet of paper and is black and white with maybe a accent color. The web opens up endless possibilities for creating unique and eye catching documents. In fact, having a plain, black and white document online would be very boring to read! Color and headings are used online to catch and hold people's attention so that the message can get across.
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