Milgram experiment

Our ethics study was on the Milgram experiment. Stanley Milgram was a Yale professor that performed this experiment to find out how authority can affect a person's conscience. To sum up the experiment:

The experimenter (E) orders the teacher (T), the subject of the experiment, to give what the subject believes are painful electric shocks to a learner (L), who is actually an actor and confederate. The subjects believed that for each wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual shocks, but in reality there were no shocks. Being separated from the subject, the confederate set up a tape recorder integrated with the electro-shock generator, which played pre-recorded sounds for each shock level.^[1] -Wikipedia

The results showed that an authority figure has a profound impact on a person's conscience. They were more willing to participate and give the shocks at very high voltages just because they are being told to do so. Even when some expressed a desire to quit, they continued on.

Ethics article response

Apparently a large number of companies in the United States have employees that report seeing ethical issues at work. These can be minor, between workers, or major, where they feel a scandal would be caused if exposed publicly. These ethical distractions can hurt employee production and make the environment uncomfortable for everyone.

The statistics indicate that they're happening everywhere, and that they distract a large number of employees. I think this is something that should be read and addressed by all employers, so it can be prevented. Businesses have a hard enough time competing in the economy, they don't need internal forces pulling them apart as well.

Another problem is how to solve it. Some want upper management involved, and others want to keep it at a personal level. I feel like it should depend on the degree of the ethical lapse, if serious, then upper management should be involved and serious consequences enforced.

Print vs. Web

Writing for a web site or for a paper have a lot of similarities and differences. They are both ways to express ideas and emotions through text, but the manner in which they do it can vary slightly.

In both of them, you are trying to convey your message through text. This is what makes writing a unique art. You have to try and figure out the best way to get your point across, without being able to show your audience. They differ though in the size of the audience they reach, and how much content you can put with the article. On print, pictures could be available. On the web, you can include pictures, video, sound, etc.

When you transfer an article from print to the web, you should take into account both of these things. The audience will be larger, so plan accordingly. You should also take advantage of the greater amounts of media you can put on the web.

Carolina Cup

This past Saturday was Carolina Cup in Camden, SC. It is an annual horse race that many college students attend. It seems like just a huge tailgate in the spring.

We left Clemson at 7:30am, and got there at about 10:30. The event is a lot of fun, and I recommend that everyone go at least once. The only downside this year was the weather. It started raining shortly before we left, but it didn't make the event any worse. We were already having a good time by then.

Presentations

All of the power point presentations were very informative. I learned a lot about many different things.

The presentation on the football stadiums was great. I've been to a few different college football stadiums, but none of the ones listed in the presentation (besides Death Valley, obviously). I thought it was great to see how we compare to other schools around the country. Our seating capacity is right in the same ballpark with the others.

I would definitely like to go to either Jordan-Hare or Tiger Stadiums, for an Auburn or an LSU game. The tradition at both is great and I would like to see it at some point in my life.

Interview

I had to prepare for a mock interview this past week. In it, I had to come in with a cover letter and a resume. The experience helped a lot because I had to practice writing a cover letter and getting all of the information for my resume. We went through some questions to help me get accustomed to the interview environment.

After that was through, I got some pointers on how I did in the interview itself and also how to touch up my resume and cover letter. Then, I made an online portfolio to showcase my work.

Free Write for 2/24/08

The resume and cover letter information that we have been learning in class is already proving useful. I was talking to my friends the other day and the issue of cover letters and when and how to use them came up. It is information that everyone needs to know.

Information presented in business writing is really useful in future jobs. Communication is the most important aspect of most service and business jobs.

Work on the Strong Communities project is going well also. We are planning on promoting the idea in local stores. We hope that this will help target families in a more face to face method, in an environment they are used to and see a lot.