Course Reflection

Wow, I can not believe this semester is already over, it went by way too fast because now I have to graduate. I do not think I am quite ready to leave Clemson yet, but it is time for me to start the next chapter of my life. Business writing has been a very useful class for any undergraduate. Their is a lot of information that one can learn and use for the rest of their life. It is important to be able to know how to write memos, coverletters, thankyou letters etc. and business writing covers all of these topics. It is important to stay on top of your assignments to do well in the class, nothing is very hard or difficult to do, but it is important not to let the assignments pile up on top of each other. You can get as much or as little information as you want out of the class, and I highly recommend that you try to get as much as possible out of the all the assignments in the class because they will help you in the future.

Good Luck!!

Ethics Research

I am working with Lindsey for our ethics research project. Lindsey and I were going to do something regarding the government or something until we watched the movie Erin Brokovich this weekend. After watching that movie, we knew exactly what we wanted to do for our ethics presentation. The entire movie was an amazing example of an ethical lapse in history. Pacific Gas and Electric discovered they had hexavalent chromium in their holding pounds outside several plants in California. The hexavalant chromium was leaking into the ground water and PGE found out, but instead of informing the public and taking corrective measures, they hid the problem and swept it under the covers. Thousands of people that lived near the plants got sick (cancer, tumors, heart disease, miscarriages etc) and it wasn't until Erin Brokovich, an employee of a law firm began to research the problem, that the ethical lapse was uncovered.

Ethics in the Work Place

Ethics in the work place has and continues to be an important issue. No matter how big or small a company may be, employees are always faced with an ethical situation at some time or another. I think the article had a number of good facts and information for all business owners and employees. It is important for employers to read articles like this one in order to understand the types of problems workers face everyday. Ethical decisions are always difficult for people to make, so whatever an employer can do to help curb activities that may result in difficult ethical dilemas etc.

Virtual Writing

Go figure, virtual writing, something I am doing right this very instant. I have never really given it much thought until I read chapter 15, but a lot of the points the book makes are very true. When writing on the web, your audience could be anyone, the weird old lady next door, the ex-football player that leaves across town, or Osama Bin Laden hiding in his cave in hell. Anything that you write and publish on the web is free game for anyone with access to the internet. Of course, published writing on paper could be viewed by anyone, but it is a lot more difficult to reach the potential audience by paper than the audience that can view it on the web.
When writing on the web or on paper, you usually have a point you are trying to get across and it requires some thought and work. But when writing on the web, the main difference I can find is the potential audience. When trying to get an important point across, it is very easy to communicate on the web and highlight the message. You can add pictures, send it via email etc, your audience is endless. The important thing one should remember when transferring something that is hand written onto the web is not all handwritten pieces will transfer onto a website exactly the same (parameters etc) and your audience is much bigger. Handwritten material has a much more limited audience than material published on the web.
A great example of the potential audience web published material can reach is sites like facebook and myspace. My dad has someone check all potential employees on facebook and myspace before he will allow them to be hired. He turns down countless applicants based on information he finds on their web profiles.