Friday, April 25, 2008

Advice

Dear 304 Students:

This class was a blast. Work hard and you will not have a problem in this class. Angie is great and very helpful. She will always be willing to give you advice and help you throughout the semester. You definitely picked the right teacher for English 304. I thought that this class would be dull and boring with a lot of writing. I was wrong from the first day of class because the whole class was lively and energetic. The group work was fun and a break from the typical group projects because it was actually an interesting topic. I had fun in this class and since you are reading this post for advice then I will say this: You don't need any advice because you already made the right decision in picking Angie Rogers as your professor.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Ethics Research

My groups ethics research centered around the topic of Eugenic Sterilization. Eugenic Sterilization was a practice that happened in the early 20th century. The practice consisted of sterlizing "inadequate" (persons with mental retardation etc.) human beings from reproducing. The reasoning behind this process of sterilization was to "rid society" of "incapable" human offspring. Our group viewed these actions and practice as an ethical dilemma. The angle that our group took on this assignment was to breakdown a previous lawsuit between a so called "lesser" citizen and the superintendent of the State Colony of epileptics and feeble minded. This case took place in the state of Virginia and then made its way to the Supreme Court.

Justice Holmes of the supreme court is our target in this assignment as he used dehumanizing language to describe Carrie Buck. He declared that Carrie Buck was a feeble minded person and the daughter of a feeble minded mother.

In enjoyed this assignment because it gave me the opportunity to learn something about history that I did not know already. I hope that our presentation on this subject goes well in class on monday. Overall I enjoyed this assignment.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Ethical Issues Article

After reviewing this article it is apparent that ethics play a tremendous role in today's workplace. I think that this article is on point because even the small or minor issues can be detrimental to a company's image, product, and/or relationships with customers. The fact that the statistics in the article are so high is alarming. Employees who face these ethical dilemma's are put in a bad position. Sometimes it is their own fault, but if I had to bet, the majority of the time it is caused by other things. For example, a boss could ask his/her book keeper to not record a cost till the next year in order to report a higher income for the current year. In this case the book keeper did not bring this on his/her self, but unfortunately he/she is now faced with an ethical dilemma that could have a major impact on the company, his/her own job, and other people related to the company. These types of situations happen everywhere according to LRN and their statistics are loud an in one's face. Ethical issues are important and should not be overlooked or devalued because it could be one's job or the whole company that goes down in flames.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Web Writing Compared to Paper Writing

First these two types of writing are different and the same. When writing on the web or in print you need to undertand your purpose, your audience, organize your thoughts, use plain language, and make sure your writing is free of typographical or grammatical errors. One of the biggest differences in writing on the web than on paper is writing information so that it can be scanned quickly and efficiently. Web readers do not want to read a novel, they want to be able to get through a web page with ease. It is also good to write the most important information or highlighted info at the begginning to gain the attention of the reader, then if they are interested they can read the latter of the information.
One of the most important things to consider when posting a document that was previously written for paper is to inform the reader of the document and its difference from the web page. It is also important to post the document as a pdf file so that it eases the reading on-line or makes it easier to print off.
Overall the biggest difference in posting content on the web from writing content on paper is the difference in ease of reading. On the web it is important to ease the reader because most web readers only scan.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Riverside C-Team Baseball

I am currently the Assistant Head Baseball Coach at Riverside Middle School. Riverside is Pendleton's middle school. I enjoy coaching at the best school in the State. I only say that because Riverside won the Carolina First Palmetto's Finest Award. Anyways back to the baseball team. This is currently my second year as an assistant for Riverside and I am really excited about this year's team. We are currently 10-1 and on a 10 game winning streak. The team consists of 11 eighth graders and 7 seventh graders. We are well balanced and play solid defense. One reason that we are doing so well is our ability to when close games. Last year we couldn't buy a win in a close game. We have won three 1-run games and won one 2-run game. Last year we lost four 1-run games and one 2-run game. Our only loss this year came at the hands of Greenwood in a 7-5 decision. Obviously we haven't lost since. I am excited to coach these boys because baseball is my favorite sport and I hope to some day coach college baseball. I know that is a lofty goal, but it is a goal nonetheless. We are one win away from matching our total from last year (11-7) and I hope we can surpass it this year. We certainly are in a good position to do so. The team is currently on Spring Break this week so I will have to wait until next week to get back to what I enjoy most, coaching.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Reflection on Resume Cheating

The article is a good example why cheating on a resume can hurt one's reputation and job. Cheating on a resume is unacceptable and wrong. This article reminds me of George O'Leary who used to be the Head Football Coach at Georgia Tech. O'Leary coached at Georgia Tech in the late 90's and early 2000's. He was an excellent football coach and was offered the Head Coaching job at the storied Notre Dame. O'Leary was named Head Coach at Notre Dame and a few days later he was fired. He was fired because he lied on his resume about a Master's Degree that he had never received. This was just like the example in the article. O'Leary was a successful coach at Tech yet that did not matter to Notre Dame because they felt like integrity was worth more to their program than fame or a name. O'Leary has rebounded from the situation and now currently is the Head Football Coach at Central Florida. This is just an example that even if one is successful and on the rise in his/her particular industry lying on one's resume can still hurt. In each case it damaged the reputation and immediate future employment of the person.
I conclude that lying on your resume is not worth the risk of getting caught. I also believe that lying on your resume shows your true colors and begs the question on what else you could lie about.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Favorite Presentation

My favorite presentation was "How to Show a Chicken" by Lindsey Hendrix. I thought the presentation was very interesting and insightful. I never new that one could show a chicken. I new about dog shows, but a chicken show was news to me. I enjoyed seeing the live chicken and the proper way to show a chicken. Showing a chicken seems to be a difficult task, but Lindsey did a good job. I also learned that there are many breeds of chickens some chickens are bred just for show. Overall, I thought that her presentation was the best because it was the most unusual. The live demonstration was just the topping on the cake. I will have to say no one else brought in a "live" demonstration.