Advice

The best advice I have to do well in business writing is to do all the assignments. You also need to read the assigned chapters because they not only help you on your assignments, but they will also help you in the future. Make sure you keep up with your weekly blogs because they are easy to forget. Also make sure you get to know the other students in the class before you pick the members for your group project. You need to pick people that are easy to work with. Overall, make sure you pay attention to what the teacher says. She will tell you everything that I said above. Good luck!

Ethics Research

I was watching the movie Erin Brokovich with Steven this weekend when we figured out what we really wanted to do for our ethics research. We had been researching ethical lapses in American government when Steven, figured out what a great example of a lapse in ethics the movie was. The entire scenario regarding Pacific Gas and Electric covering up their use of hexavalant chromium in their holding ponds.

Response to Article

Ethical lapses distract U.S. workers
New study from LRN finds U.S. workplaces at risk for reduced worker productivity and scandal

I found this article very interesting. I never realized that ethical issues could decrease worker productivity and cause such a distraction. This article points out that even the smallest ethical issue can cause a disruption among workers. After reading this article, I agree that you shouldn't get others involved in an ethical issue. Getting others involved only further decreases worker productivity. If a person is concerned about an ethical issue, they should take it directly to management. I don't think that there is a way to omit ethical issues in the work place; but I do think that there are better ways to deal with them.

Web verses Paper Writing

·In many ways writing for the web is like writing on paper. You have an audience, a purpose, and a subject. You must also be grammatically correct have organized thoughts.

·Writing on the web must be concise and easy to read. People read web writing slower than paper based writing; so web based writing needs to be well organized and easy to scan.

·Graphics play a big role in web based writing. You need to be able to catch the audience’s attention so that they will read what is on your web page. Not only can you use graphics to catch the audience’s attention, you can also use video and audio when writing on the web.

·With web based writing, you can use hyperlinks to easily send people to other information sites. On paper based documents, the reader would have to go find the supplemental information.

·With web based writing, it is easier and faster to reach a larger audience than with a paper based document.

The New Additions!

I recently got a pet rat. I haven't thought of a good name for her yet but I am working on it. She is very cute! Most people wonder why I would chose a rat for a pet. They are actually very sweet and very smart. They are also clean pets, contrary to what people might think. In our apartment, we are also fostering a mother cat and her 5 newborn kittens. I just hope that the cat doesn't get to the rat.

Reflection

Lying on Your Resume What Are the Career Consequences?
by Kim Isaacs

I totally agree with this article. People should be punished for lying or exaggerating on their resumes. I feel that lying or exaggerating on your resume does put those who don't at a disadvantage. The women in the article who lied about her masters degree deserved to be fired. Instead of lying on her resume, she could have said in an interview that she wanted to get her masters and they could have started her out in an entry level position. After receiving her masters she could have quickly moved up in the ranks. She could have also applied for the job after receiving her masters. She may not have needed a masters degree at all.

I do think that the company should do background checks on everyone they plan to hire. They should call their past employers and check on educational information before they hire somebody.

Class Presentations

I thought that all of the presentations were very interesting. I liked being able to pick whatever topic you wanted. This activity allowed me to get to know my classmates. One of my favorites was Leigh’s presentation on the different ways that people learned. I liked how she got the class involved. I found out that I was right brained. I also enjoyed the presentations on travel. I liked looking at all the pictures of the different places that people have been. I found the presentation on the experimental forest interesting as well. I never realized that it was available for use by the public. I hope to take advantage of it soon! I also loved the tasty cream puff things. It was really hard to choose my favorite presentation!

Mock Interview Reflection

I found the mock interview to be very helpful. I thought I did well even though I was a bit nervous. I feel that a mock interview gets you thinking about questions and answers that may be asked during a real interview. You will be able to answer questions quicker because you have already thought out the answers. Also, practicing will help you to be less nervous during the real thing. Getting feedback on your interview directly after helps you correct mistakes before a real interview.

Tigers4Hire

Our group url for the Stronger Communities Project is http://tigers4hire.blogspot.com/

Cover Letters

I fully agree with the advice given. Anyone can read your resume to find out about who you are; the cover letter should be the icing on the cake. If a person is somewhat interested in your resume, the cover letter may be what pushes them over the edge.

If somebody gets hundreds of resumes then I could see why they would start by scanning the resume then, if interested, reading the resume and finally, if still interested, reading the cover letter. It would waste a lot of time if a person read each and every cover letter and resume.

I also agree that the cover letter is an example of your written communicaiton skills. If your cover letter is good enough to sell yourself then you have the ability to sell the companies product.

Finally I agree with researching the company; it shows that you care. Also, the cover letter should be tailored to the company that you are applying for.

Response to Interview Articles

How to Deal With Interview Stress
By Caroline Levchuck

In my opinion the tips in this article is easier said than done. One thing that the writer left out is to practice interviewing. I think the techniques that she described would be hard to do while in an interview. I do like the idea of arriving 10 minutes early though. I never thought that if I was too early for an interview that I would be just as stressed as if I was late.

It’s Your Turn: What to Ask an Interviewer
By Erin Hovanec

I feel that this article was very helpful. In an interview I can never think of questions to ask. I also never thought that there were certain questions that should be directed to certain people. I will defiantly use this article in my next interview.

Persuasiveness

Letter From Birmingham Jail
By Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK)

Why Animal Rights?
By PETA
http://www.peta.org/about/WhyAnimalRights.asp

Both the letter by Martin Luther and the article by PETA used pathos, logos and ethos. In MLK’s letter, it was harder to distinguish which was being used. MLK is a very persuasive writer. He does not seem to use one more than another unlike the article by PETA in which pathos seems to predominate. PETA tries to make the reader feel sorry for animals being used for food, fur, ect. PETA also tries to use Ethos by making the people they use in the article seem credible. The article by PETA is not as persuasive as the letter by MLK because they do not back up their argument with much logic. The only part in the article that seems to use logos is the end when they talk about an animal’s ability to feel pain.

My Life in 10 Years

In ten years I see myself being married with two young children. I want to be financially stable so that I can be a stay at home mom until both kids are in school. I see myself living on a farm in a four bedroom house with a lot of animals roaming around in the pastures. I want to live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. After my kids are in school, I see myself getting a masters degree or finding a job working with animals. I like the college atmosphere. If in ten years I don't want to pursue a masters then I see myself working on a farm, at a vet, or at a zoo. I am such a laid back person, I probably wouldn't be happy in the corporate world. Having a job making a lot of money isn't as important to me as finding a job that I love doing.

Web 2.0

I thought the video was hard to understand; however, I think that technology in itself is hard to understand. Web 2.0 is the is the second edition of the Internet. It is modern age technology. With this new technology, people can can communicate and recieve information instantaneously. The need for technological savvy people will increase in the workforce. New age technology has become faster and more efficient. This is the direction that employees must take as well. One problem with this type of technology is that any type of information can be viewed. This can be damaging if personal information falls in the wrong hands.

Hey! I'm Lindsey!

My name is Lindsey Hendrix and I am a senior in Animal Science here at Clemson. I have always loved animals and have always had a lot of pets. I plan to graduate in May of 2008 after which I will be a veterinary technician until I decided what I want to do with my life. I am getting married in August of 2008. One of my hobbies is wildlife rehabilitation. Some of my favorite things to do in my spare time are hanging out with friends, camping and going to the lake.