What is a MAAP?

A MAAP, or Medical Alcohol Amnesty Program for short, is a widespread and very popular policy enacted by student governments in colleges and universities around the nation. Generally, it states that if a student was intoxicated noticably beyond the legal limit and was in need of medical help, the student his/herself, nor those acting to seek this help will be judicated by the university against university policies. This is a wonderful policy, in my honest opinion, set in motion in large part, by our current student body president, Callie Boyd. However, there are some "ethical" questions about this policy. My research of this topic led me to the Temple University student newspaper, which said, "If you’re underage and out for a night of drinking, it’s best that you drink to the point of hospitalization so that you won’t be punished by Temple." This is an utterly rediculous statement, but does make you think. How can someone, though underage, caught responsibly and controllably drinking a beer and watching a movie get punitive consequences through the college they are attending, while someone drinking to the point of a coma is left scotch-free. As negative as these issues are, I feel that MAAPs are great ideas, due to the fact that alcohol consumption is instinctively almost a right of passage for college. And most, including myself, will spend three years consuming it illegally. I certainly wouldn't want anyone thinking twice if I was in need of hospitalization because they, or myself was underage.

A ton of Ethical Statistics

This article threw a whole lot of logos and statstics at readers, but really did not surprise me to a great extent. In my little job experience for about 5 years at jobs of landscaping, lifeguarding, and working in a restaurant, I've encountered ethically questionable situations nearly everyday. No matter what we may want to think, ethics come in to play in every type of job. It may be a little matter, such as passing a job down the ladder of command that could easily be done, or a huge matter, such as embezzlement or fraud, but ethics are definitely involved in the workplace. Needless to say, these situations cause a load of distractions. People who witness unethical happenings question their right to challenge or "rat out" their co-workers, while most everyone in their own right has been guilty of unethical behavior at some point in their lives too. Thus, it's a double-edged sword. The only thing that can be fixed in the workplace is to install the right people in the right jobs and building a relationship of trust. Inevitably, unethical situations will arise and it will show true character how co-workers and bosses handle themselves when faced with these crossroads.

Writing+Web vs. Writing on Paper

This week, we're supposed to take a look at writing on varoius mediums. What I mean when I say mediums is either the new-age era of writing on the web, which includes e-mails, AOL Instant Messanger, and facebook, or the traditional way of communicating by writing on paper. The new technological breakthroughs in communication have almost created a new language in a sense. Also, style has been changed when communicating on the web. I personally feel that sentences are shortened and the true meaning and expression of feelings is not completely represented by the online medium. Conversely, traditional forms of writing communication, like business letters, seem more official now. More value is placed on these forms, as it is understood now that more time and effort have to be devoted to hand-writing a letter. For example, take college atheltics and recruting: recruits are going to value a hand-written letter from a coach a lot more than an e-mail or text message. Knowing that the person put time and effort into it makes a world of difference when selling a school to a perspective recruit. When transferring a written document onto the web, it is crucial to make sure you keep the meaning of the letter the same. Online mediums can be less personal and seem a little cold. Another thing to keep in mind when transferring a document online would have to be errors in translation as well.

Madnesss

March is my favorite time of the year. Not for the weather finally starting to thaw the earth from the icy grips of Winter. Not for all of the spring breakers raging onward, party beads and all, to youthful meccas like Panama City Beach and North Myrtle. Not even for the hopeful prospect that school is nearly over and summer is about to begin. However, the reason for my seasonal elation is the NCAA Men's (not Women's) basketball tournament. With the unveililng of the brackets, everyone starts off on even ground. Everyone has an equal opporutnity to call the big games, the no-brainers (1 vs. 16 seeds), the calculated upsets (5 vs. 12 seeds), and the miraculous underdog victories (see Davidson). Teams, regions, and players are researched with unparalelled vigor. Every possible advantage is factored in to this tedious decision-making process. Then, after the agonizingly-long four days from Selection Sunday to the first tip-off have elapsed, the madness begins. The first Thursday is like Christmas morning to some sports fans. Probably one of the most skipped days in work, employees stay at home "sick", yet uncontrollably glued to the television. Donning team colors for the past week, avid sports fans cherish their brackets and dream about their team dancing their way into the finals. Some bold sportsfans even proclaim this event: "the best days of the sporting calendar," dwarfing such mega-events as the Super Bowl or the World Series. So sit back all you sportsmen and women, and enjoy the ride that is...the madness.

Anything worth winning is NOT worth cheating for

In reaction to the article about lying on the resume, I was a little surprised by the fact that 50 percent of people lie on their resumes. Even though the author emphasized the fact that these were probably little white lies that really couldn't hurt their chances at getting a job if adressed ethically, I still was surprised that so many people would lie on the very piece of paper that was supposed to give future employers the only impression of them. I also found it interesting how much the post-test was used to unearth these egregious mistakes in judgement by employers. The consequences were harsh and probably rightfully so. I surely would hate to lose out on an appetizing job to someone that lied on their resume. From the perspective of the companies, they are losing out on their credibility and what they thought they were getting out of a hire, which could cost thousands of man hours and money. This could and should give them every right to take legal action against the guilty party as well. So in a nutshell, this whole article as well the story about Mary is urging every future job-seeker out there to, for our sakes, don't lie on the resume. It'll really come back to bite you.

The good, the bad, the ugly.

I really enjoyed all of the presentations in class over the course of this past week. This was easily my favorite class activity we've done so far. I really feel like I got to know all of my fellow classmates a lot better through their topic choices and presentations themselves. You could really see who was a good public speaker as well as those who relied heavily on the powerpoints. A few stood out to me as being very good. I forgot his name, but the guy who presented on Clemson's playground: the experimental forest. His slides and animations were very impressive and his cues were phenomenal. He never read off of the powerpoint word for word and his slide with the numbers was amazing. He really knew his topic. James Palmer's presentation topic was very interesting, as I've often wondered about alcohol sales at sporting events. Another presentation I really enjoyed was Leigh's presentation on learning styles and education. Her class activity getting the crowd involved was very entertaining and I enjoyed it. Purely on powerpoints, I think Charlie's was the best because the pictures were unbelievable and made me hungry. As far as my presentation went, I may not show it that much, but I'm actually pretty nervous speaking in front of groups. My presentation was kind of thrown together at the last minute, but was on a topic that I was discussing with my friends the days before. Wal-mart provided inspiration for the ending game by having the Top Gun soundtrack on sale for 6 bucks. I was worried it was going to be too short and I feel that I rushed a little bit, leaving out some information I had planned to share about rock and roll music being the best for you; however, I feel that it went pretty well and was pretty unique. Good class activity and I would definitely reccomend doing that for future classes.

Thoughts on the mock interview

Interviews have never been that easy for me. I've always been a little apprehensive about the whole interview process that awaits in years to come. From the time I was interviewed by Dennis Carter, a legendary local sports anchor, for some athletic accomplishments, I've always sort of stumbled over my words when being interviewed. However, practice does make perfect and I thought the mock interview was a great tool that will help me in the future.

After scrupulously examining my interviews and comparing them to others who were waiting in line in the dungeoun-esque room, I realized that my resume looked like it was done on a typewriter compared to their beautiful masterpieces these girls were clutching. Nonetheless, I persevered and made my way to the interviewing room. Honestly, I was pretty confident going in because not more than two hours before this, our health 419 Prep for Internship class conducted mock interviews as well. So I got a feel of what kind of questions they asked like, "describe yourself in five words". This helped alot when I came into Angie's interview. Halfway through the interview, I realized that I didn't have any questions to ask after the interview, but sort of winged it when the time came based on some of the information that I had read about the program I was interviewing for. The stories I used for the answers were kind of on-the-spot as well, seeing that I had never been to an official interview before. Nonentheless, I really enjoyed this low-pressure interivew and would definitely reccomend continuing it to benefit many more future businessmen and women.