My Final Advice

To the future students of Angie's Business Writing Class:

First, I will say that Angie is a great teacher! So, you are blessed to be in her class. So, what are the tips to success in her class? Well, it is important that you do all of the work. The class work really is not that bad. Just do your best and if you have questions, ask for help! And make sure that you do your blogs. Don't wait till the last minute. I found doing them during the week was best, but sometimes it has to wait till the weekend. The main thing is don't forget to do them! Also, when it comes to the big project you will have, it is important to pick a group you will work well with. You will be spending a good amount of time together outside of class, so make sure everyone in your group is willing to put in their fair share of work. And another tip, be organized when doing the group project. Make sure everyone knows what they are assigned.

As a whole, this class is really not that bad. I know that I was not looking forward to it, because it is writing but Angie does her best to make the class fun. I think that you will enjoy having her as your teacher and the most important thing is to just do your work and you might just come out with an A!

ETHICS ASSIGNMENT

Mandie and I are doing are ethics assignment on the Standford Prison Experiment. I first learned about this study in my intro to psychology class. I was appalled at first to think that a study like this went on. In case you don't know anything about this experiment, it was held on Standford University's campus in the 1970's. A psychologist known as Zimbardo did the experiment. The purpose was to see if the prisoners and guards acted just like real prisoners and guards. The participants volunteered to do this with the expectation of getting money for doing it. The participants were split into prisoners and wardens. The wardens were dressed just like real prison guards and the prisoners were dressed in prison clothes. The problem was that the wardens started abusing the prisoners physically and emotionally. The prisoners wanted out but they were not allowed by the wardens. Zimbardo observed this but did nothing to stop it until another psychologist helped him to realize the severity of the experiment. He was so caught up in the experiment that he could not see the true reality of the experiment.

I thought this was a horrible experiment. How could he let the study continue when he saw for himself how the prisoners were being treated. This experiment to me was unethical from the beginning. There was no reason that the study should have continued. The wardens took there roles to seriously and enjoyed the power they had over the prisoners. It did show how power can affect you. One thing is that we have learned from this experiment about what not to do in a psychology experiment or any other kind of experiment.

Unethical Issues in the Work Place

I think this article helps bring to light how often unethical events happen at work. I thought that it was a very high rate of business that are doing unethical work. That is not a pleasant thought. I think that it is good that people do report this, but I also think the reasons people don't are understandable. Being unsure of what the business will do with this information is a big one. I think the important thing to take from this article is that these kinds of issues are happening. It's important to be aware and we should report when we find unethical work being carried out.

Web writing v. writing on paper

The difference between web writing and writing on paper is that you need to be brief and to the point when writing on the web. Also, make sure that the most important information is at the beginning when writing on the web. Because the attention span of the reader is very short the most important thing is to get the main point out at the beginning. You can also do this when writing on paper but you can also save the main point to the end depending on you argument. Another difference is that what you write needs to be right to the point. No flowery words, just simple. Also, make sure the paragraphs are shorter than writing on paper.

Similarities between paper writing and web writing is that you can use headings in both writing types. Doing this can help the reader know exactly what each section is about and easily navigate their way through a website or a paper. Also, for both you need to make sure your grammar is correct. Now, with certain things on the web you can use "slang" language but if you are creating a website for your business that is inappropriate. So, grammar is important in both.

When transferring a document to the web it is a good idea to convert the document to a PDF file. This way the reader can see the document in its original form. It is also important to consider the following things when transferring the document:

• guidelines for the website you are putting the document on
• get permission if the document has a copyright on it
• make sure the document is in the correct file format
• make sure pictures in the document download quickly
  

Christmas Joy (aka CJ)

Over spring break our family dog died. CJ was 15 years old. So, as our family said he had a good life. It was really hard to go home and not see him there laying around the house in his normal places. I remember when we got CJ. It was around Christmas (it might have even been Christmas Eve) when CJ was brought to our house. I was only five then so he has always been around for me. We named his Christmas Joy because we got him at Christmas but we called him CJ. Anyway, it is always hard when you lose a pet since they are apart of the family. One thing I can say about the dog is that he has had some pretty close calls. When we were younger by brother was playing baseball in the backyard and after swinging the bat he let go and CJ ran right into the bat. It knocked him out cold. We thought for sure we had lost him. But he survived, thankfully. Crazy dog :) We all loved him and will miss the little slobbery dog :)

Cheating on Resumes

I think that it is very sad that cheating on resumes is becoming a popular option for people. Its important that when creating your resume that you are honest and do not cover up areas you do not like. I agree with the article that this hurts the "honest" job searchers but I feel like if they are honest then the right job will be out there and the person who lied will most likely no longer have a job. I think the important lesson to learn is to make sure that everything on your resume is correct and that there is no embellishments. This way you can get the job you want and keep it.

Presentations

I enjoyed all of the presentations but there were a few that stuck out for me. I really enjoyed Keith's presentation on mules. It was very interesting. I didn't know much about mules. Keith kept my attention the entire time. I learned a lot about mules, like that they are not really stubborn its just they know what they can and can't do. I thought that this was a unique and interesting topic to speak about. Also, I really liked Casey's presentation. It was really neat to learn about that area of Africa (I forgot what the name of the place she went to though). I thought the pictures were absolutely beautiful. The presentation made me want to go to Africa! I really enjoyed both of these presentations!