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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mock Interview Reflection

I had my mock interview today, Friday, February 28, at 10:30am. The interview went well and was an enjoyable experience. I was interviewing for accpetance into the Physical Education Graduate Program at UGA. I have always wanted to work in sports and I feel that this program would benefit my needs. Teaching and coaching in a high school atmosphere is a area that I would like to pursue. The interview was about ten minutes and was a good experience. There were no questions that surprised me, but I wish I had been asked about my greatest accomplishment in life to date. I won't mention it here, but if you want to know then you will have to ask. I also was thrilled to hear that I would receive extra points on the interview because Mrs. Rogers was running late. Overall the interview was helpful for future interviews and was just good for experience.

NCAA Basketball Tournament

March Madness is one of most exciting times for college basketball fans. In fact it is one of the biggest events in colllege athletics. The reason that I enjoy this event so much is the bracketology. I enjoy making brackets, filling the brackets, and placing brackets in different pools to see who gets the most picks right. The excitement of the NCAA tournament comes from the history of the tournament. The upsets and the dramatic cinderalla runs are enjoyable to watch. The NCAA tournament is the highest producing TV revenue for the NCAA. CBS purchased the tournament for $500 million dollars to air coverage of the games. As you can see this event is beneficial to the NCAA and any college basketball fan. I just hope that this year my favorite team will be part of the madness. Clemson currently sits on the bubble, but the should be able to break the 10 year drought and finally make the field of 65.

Cover Letter Tutorials

The college grad cover letter tutorials are very helpful. They clearly indicate what is expected and not expected in a cover letter. I would have to say that in general I agree with all the advice that is given in the tutorials. Each tutorial gives a different perspective on a cover letter. There were not any specific points that I disagreed with in the tutorials. The most useful tutorials for me personally was the sample cover letter and the cover letter checklist. The sample cover letter indicated how it should be formatted and how it should be written. The checklist helped inform what was expected in the cover letter. I will definitely tailor my cover letter towards the grad program that I will be interviewing for. I think that this piece of advice was most helpful in preparing for my interview otherwise I would not have known to be specific towards the position or company. These tutorials will be helpful for future resume builders.

Interview Articles

The two interview articles that I read were about answering the tough questions in an interview and telling stories in an interview.
The first article dealt with answering the tough questions in an interview. The article stated four tough questions which were: The "Future" Question, The "Salary" Question, The "Why" Question, and the silly question. In regards to the future question the article said that the best tactic would be to talk about your values and not to get specific on your career plan. Basically it says that you should talk about those things that are important to you. The article's advice for the salary question was to try and deflect the question by asking what the salary is for that particular position. If pressed though, one should give a range that is comparable to the industry-standard salary. When asked why they should hire you, one should give examples and reasons how one could benefit the company, be aggresive not boastful. The question that catches one of guard is the silly question, like what kind of animal would you describe yourself as? Be calm in the selection of the answer and give good reasons to your selection.
How to Answer the Toughest Interview Questions is a good article and gives good advice. I never thought that a interviewer would ask about the kind of salary one would want. The article gave me insight into some question that I will need to prepare for in my interviews down the road.
The second article talked about telling personal stories in interviews. This is a good idea because according to the article, interviews should be conversational. One should be prepared to tell 30-90 seconds stories that portray them in a favorable light. The stories should include examples of prior life experiences, either in a previous job or on a previous team, that will show the interviewer that one is capable of producing or saving for the company. I believe that stories have a place in interviews, but they can also ruin an interview in my opinion. The interview does not wont to hear long and boastful stories nor does he want to hear story after story. I believe that using stories should be used strategically and at the right times.
Overall I thought both articles were interesting and helpful for interviews and will help me along the way. The biggest piece of information that I learned was to be prepared to answer questions about salary.

Romney's "Faith In America"

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke on the faith in America at George Bush's Presidential Library in College Station, Texas on December 6th, 2007. In his speech, Romney explains how America has strong faith and that religion will always be a cornerstone of this great nation. The main theme of his speech is that faith will bring America together. Romney believes that America should rely on the religious values upheld by the founding fathers and that we are a nation under God.
Romney's speech is influential and geared towards Americans who have religious backgrounds and views. His speech indicates that the American Nation in his hands will have no standard religion, but will be accepting of all religions. This is an important element of his speech because Romney is a devote "Mormon" and his view on religion is extremely important to him. Romney also uses his speech to discount the notion that his religious views will impact his presidency which is showed in his statement here, "Let me assure that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin." This statement refers to ethos of his persuasive speech because this statement deals with the ethics and integrity of Romney's character. Romney's speech is full of ethos, pathos, and logos. He shows his passion in religion and logic for religion in America.
Romney's speech is a good one, but it does not rank in the same class as Martin Luther King's letter. Romney does not have the charisma and flow that King's letter has. Romney is another bait and switch candidate that trys to appeal to every American and tell them what they want to hear. Romney; however does have an edge on the guest speakers. The guest speakers were not very persuasive and did not keep my attention very well. Romney's speech was able to keep my attention even though I thought he was blowing smoke on some things. Also their is a reason to why he is a presidential candidate. He has to be influential and I do think that he has the talent of persuasion, but then again I don't like candidates who tell people what they want to hear. Romney does have the aspects of pathos, ethos, and logos in his arsenal.

http://www.mittromney.com/News/Speeches/Faith_In_America

The Future

I often think about the future and what it has in store for my life. During those times, I tend to get excited and nervous for all the obvious reasons. In ten years, I would like to be married with children and have steady career. Those are the essentials that I would like to have nailed down. As for a particular carreer, I would like to be coaching baseball at either the high school or college level. If I was coaching in the high school ranks, I would also like to be heavily involved in the athletic department. I would like to be an assistant Athletic Director or AD of a high school. I don't have a particular high school, but I do know that I would like working in high school athletics. I also want to live close to my family so they can baby sit. I also want to be involved with a good church and continuing my spiritual growth.
As for the fantasy future in ten years, I would like to be a Head College Baseball Coach making at least 250K a year. I would like to have a tricked out house with a home movie theater in HD. I would like to be able to play golf at least four days a week in the off-season. In the off-season from baseball, I would like to travel to different parts of the US and various islands with blue water all over the world. This is just a glimpse of some luxoury that I would like to experience. This is the fantasy part of my life in ten years, but hey, I'm just dreaming big.

Web 2.0 & Digital Ethnography

I believe that the title "Digital Ethnography" refers to how the internet is becoming more personal and user based. It infers that the web is becoming more individualized because of the users (people) who are on the web. It basically means that anyone can now contribute to the web. These contributions group and diversify the web which is where I believe that the title comes into play.
I believe that Web 2.0 affects those who are entering the workforce because of the ever evolving technological advances that are made. Those entering into the workforce must be able to handle the changing web. I also believe though that most people entering the work force are young people and young people are more adapt to changes. It is easier for young people to change rather than those who are already in the work force and are considerably older. Those who have already entered the work force, more likely than not, have become associated with how to operate the web in their particulary company. With the alteration of the web and the changes that are in store for the web with Web 2.0 , it begs the question, will those who are already grounded in the work force be able to adjust. Honestly, I think it helps both those entering and those who already are in the work force because improvements to technology, most of the time, makes the job easier.
At the end of the video, it states that "We will have to rethink everything," which is a statement that confuses me because wasn't the transfer of information the whole point of the internet in the first place. I have a hard time believing that we will have to rethink everything because the internet is still and will always serve the purpose that it was created for and that is the transfer of information.

Introduction of James Palmer

My name is James Palmer which you can obviously see from the title of this post. I actually do not go by James, I go by Jim. I was born in Greer, SC and I attended Shannon Forest Christian School from K-5 through the 12th grade. I am currently a junior at Clemson with a major in sport management and currently work for the Clemson athletic department in the athletic video office. I have always been a Clemson boy, in fact Clemson was the only place that I applied and I honestly cannot wait until I graduate.
In high school, I played basketball, baseball, and ran cross country. I won a state medal in cross country and participated in state tournaments for baseball, which was my favorite sport.
Overall, I enjoying watching, playing, and working in sports. I also enjoying spending time with my girlfriend and growing spiritually in my walk with God.