Message to incoming students

The class isn't too bad and you're lucky you're taking it from Angie. Do your work and do it on time and you'll have no problem. Try to make this 5K happen since it's been so long in the making. Good luck
Lindsey

Ethical Lapses in History

I think researching ethical lapses in business is one the most interesting assignments we've had. I had never seen that piece of technical writing from the holocaust until this class and I was amazed at the lack of emotion it contained when describing the genocide of so many people. Trying to figure out what "merchandise" they were describing in the short excerpt about remodeling the van was very difficult. Once I realized they were talking about killing people I was horrified. I guess I agree with the common theory that the author was trying to desensitize himself to the act. Although I don't think that makes it any easier to forgive him. I just think it was very eye-opening to see the way technical writing has been used to cover up one of the worst tragedies in our history.

Ethical Lapses in the Workplace

I was very surprised by the statistics regarding ethical lapses in the workplace. Although, I find most statistical studies to be biased and unreliable there is always some truth behind them. I think a lot of people are willing to let minor occurences slide but who can decide what is important enough to report. If I was aware of something immoral going on in my business, I would definitely try to handle it myself before telling my employer. I just think it would be easier to deal with by involving as few people as possible. I would be worried though that by not reporting it, I could be implicated in letting it continue. I think it really depends on the situation and the solution is never black and white.

Writing on the Web

Writing on the internet can be very different from writing on the web. For one thing, people are being bombarded with information when viewing webpages. Advertisements and additional links are usually covering the page, and it is the writer's job to help the reader filter the information to get only your message. Internet usually needs to be short and to the point since there are so many other distractions. It should always be written in an "inverse pyramind" method putting the most pertinent information in the first few lines so that you hold the reader's attention. When writing on the web it is easier to show background information and resources with additional hyperlinks that will take you straight to the source. You can also give readers links taking them to pages containing more information on any parts of your webpage they are interested in and want to learn more about. It's very important when writing on the web to secure readers' privacy and make sure that you have complete permission to recreate or publish text, photos, etc. that don't belong to you. The rules may be different but web pages will reach and impact many more people that writing on paper.

Spring Break '08

This being my senior year, I had my last spring break last week. It was definitely the best one so far. I finally went somewhere awesome with all of my friends ~ Key West, FL. We drove the 16 hour trip in one night, stayed for six nights and then drove back. The trip down was miserable but the beautiful water and exciting nightlife made it completely worth it. Before we went everyone told us that Key West lacks a proper beach so we should probably hang out by the pool everyday. They were so wrong! Smathers Beach is small but amazing. The water was clear blue and very calm. Of course I wouldn't recommend this spot for family vacations at least not at this time of the year because it was packed with spring breakers. During the day, Duval St was a great place to shop and eat and always interesting with the occassional rooster or cat running through. At night, it reminded me of New Orleans with it's late-night bars and drinking in the middle of the streets. While we were there we spent all day on the beach and all afternoon/night on Duval St. I would drive the entire 16 hour trip there and back for one more night.

Mock Interview

I just had my mock interview yesterday afternoon. I thought it was a really great learning experience. I have had a few interviews since I have been in college and always find them a tad intimidating. Angela asked some really good questions and her feedback was helpful. I have a lot of passion for doing research and that should help me in applying to grad school. I would like to be able to add some more experience to my resume by the time I apply, but I think I have a very good start.

Resume cheating

I thought the article was really interesting. I had no idea that that many people lie on their resumes. I do think the example was a bit out there. I can't believe someone would make up a college degree and honestly think they wouldn't get caught. However, things like padding dates and embelishing job titles and responsibilities seems like something that might be a little more common. I think that lying on your resume is wrong, mainly because you may get the job over someone that didn't lie and actually has more experience than you. I also think that there are people that have had a lot of bad luck though and they may be just as capable at the job but circumstances have given them a less than desirable resume. Sometimes you just need someone to give you a chance despite your poor resume, but maybe that's what interviews are for.