Advice to Future Students

I really enjoyed this class! You will learn lots of skills that will help you when you are applying for jobs, and when you are actually in the real world. A lot of the assignments were really interesting, but not too difficult. And the assignments helped me in other classes as well (like how to write a cover letter, and guidelines on effective power points).

I just have a few words of advice:

• Make the teaching site one of your favorites on your computer. If you check that page often then there is no way to fall behind. If you do the work, you'll get credit.
  
• Don't forget to do your blog!
• Make sure you pick your group members wisely, because you will be working with them for the rest of the semester.
  

Good luck this semester!

Ethics Research

Michael and I had a difficult time finding an example of ethical lapses and dehumanizing langauge. I had heard something awhile ago about an experiment with shock therapy but I wasn't able to find it. We eventually found an article about testing prisoners in Canada.

The link is here

The article discusses prisoners being used for medical testing. At one point in the article says:

"On March 24, 1949, an electroshock machine arrived at Kingston
Penitentiary, ushering in a new era in the treatment of ``nervous and
mental disorders.'' During an initial session, a monthly report says, ``a
good seizure was obtained'' when 225 volts of electricity surged through
one inmate."

I was shocked by this article, but somewhat surprised that it was so difficult to find a good example of an ethical lapse that included the language. We also kept coming across the same article about a prison experiment at Stanford that was very disturbing. To be completely honest, I didn't really enjoy this assignment because of the disturbing things that we found.

Ethical Lapses

I thought that the article was interesting, but not very shocking. While I was reading the article I found myself wondering how they defined "ethical lapses." Ethical lapses obviously means different things to different people, but the definition (in this study) would be important. The data seemed as if it needed to be taken with a grain of salt, considering there are probably a lot of workers who feel as if they or someone else has been wronged in the workplace. I also feel that there is a tendency for workers to gossip in the workplace, and consider something a problem whereas an outsider would not consider the issue an "ethical lapse."

Having said this, the survey was interesting. It does show that ethics will always be a controversial issue-- and an issue that needs to be dealt with in the workplace.

Writing on the Web

I think that the most important difference between writing on the web and writing on paper is the length. You need to get to your point quickly when you are writing on the web because people typically don't spend a lot of time reading websites. Your writing needs to be concise and it needs to be easy to navigate. I can't stand websites where you have to read a lot of information to find out one small fact. Headings are extremely useful because people are usually seeking out very specific information on the internet.

When you're writing on paper you still need to be aware of how the writing appears, but writing for the internet gives you more options for color and style. When it's on paper it's typically black type on white paper with maybe a colored logo... but on the internet you're able to make your writing stand out by adding more personality.

When you are transforming a document on paper to something on the web it would be helpful to add more headings and make it navigable.

Free Write

This has been a pretty difficult week. I feel like school hasn't really slowed down for the past month or so, and even with spring break- I don't really feel like I've gotten a break. I think that I have just been stressed with trying to find an internship, which I am still not sure what I will do this summer. Something I am excited about is that baseball is starting soon. I am a huge Red Sox fan and I am actually hoping to get up to Boston at sometime this summer to see a game. I also like college baseball, my boyfriend is on the team at Wake Forest and they are playing Florida State this weekend, who is ranked #2 in the country (Wake is probably like 70 or 80). They actually won a game yesterday! We were pretty excited about that. Anyway, I hope that this week gets easier!

Fake Resumes

I thought that the article was very interesting. I actually just saw an article about lying on a resume a few days ago... The article that I read was about Robert Irvine- who is the host of the show Dinner: Impossible on the Food Network. The article said that he had embellished his resume and the Food Network decided not to renew his contract. Irvine claimed to have cooked for the royal family as well as US presidents. The show is based around cooking in difficult and stressful situations, so it's obvious how these lies could have probably helped him get hired for the show.

I also found it interesting that people are more inclined to lie as they rise up the ranks in their company. I guess that would make sense if you believe that people become more power-hungry as they make more money, but at the same time you would think that the would have a lot more accomplishments to document on their resume and not need to 'pad' the resume.

The article was helpful because I was not aware that the company could take legal action against you after discovering the embellishments in the resume.

Class Presentations

I really enjoyed hearing all of the presentations. When we were first told about the assignment I wasn't too excited, because typically presentations (especially when you have to listen to 20) aren't fun. I also don't really like giving presentations myself but this presentation was a really good experience. It didn't involve a lot of research/planning and since the environment was so relaxed it wasn't too stressful.

I thought that all of the presentations were good because you learned something about every classmate. When you give a presentation that is free topic you get to know what people are passionate about. I enjoyed hearing the presentations about traveling abroad because the pictures were beautiful, and everyone's experiences in Europe are unique. I also really enjoyed the presentation about Charleston, because my mother recently moved to Mount Pleasant and the changes in the area really affect me and my family. I also enjoy cooking (and really really enjoy the Food Network) so the presentations about the cream puff and how to make the perfect burger were really great.