Ethics Post #5

Imagine you go to UT. No really. Just for a minute. Work with me here. You go for a study abroad program in Italy. When an Italian asks you which school you go to, you proudly display the "Hook 'em Horns" sign. To your shock, the Italian gets an extremely offended look and leaves abruptly. Geez, what did you do? It was just school spirit. Actually, in Italy, that sign is, loosely translated, "Your wife is sleeping around." And that's the benign translation.

You can't expect countries to accept every one of our traditions, since they're all different. In that vein, McDonald's needs to do some research before marketing a commercial in another country. They can't be expected to know every cultural tradition of every country, but perhaps they should hire advisers before producing a commercial. This may seem like there will be more expenses for hiring a consultant, but it's needed. Think of all the money they've lost in China over this. The commercial violated the personal ethics of that country because in it, we're assuming the audience is American.

Standardized Tests: Needed?

I hope you all enjoy yourselves at the football game this weekend. While you will be outside, feeling the cool wind hit your face and watching us lose to Iowa State (I mean win! win!), I will be inside a cramped room with 100 other suckers like me, taking the test that separates the boys from men, girls from women: the FE, or Fundamentals of Engineering exam.

For those of you science majors, this is the engineering equivalent to the MCAT, except with a lot less preparation (on my part, at least. Heh.) For the morning, four-hour portion of the exam, we are to be tested over "general," fundamental subjects for any major, such as mathematics, chemistry, statics, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics (though I didn't have to take thermo. So those questions ought to go well). The afternoon portion, also 4 hours, is the choice of the test taker. There are several subjects to take, including civil engineering, environmental engineering, and general. I'm going for the general portion.

Are standardized tests really needed though? What do they measure? I suppose tests like the FE and MCAT are needed. If I pass the FE, I get my Engineer-In-Training license. But to pass, I only need to pass roughly 50% of the exam. Not that I'm complaining, but aren't these low standards, especially for engineers? What about with the MCAT? What if you have a terrific student, volunteers at hospitals and really has a burning interest in medicine, and just is a terrible test taker? Is it fair to judge his medical future by just one test?

I remember dreading the PSATs and SATs. I'd done well on both-above average, but not absolutely stellar, Ivy League worthy. I used to make the mistake of judging one's intelligence by the score they'd gotten. Of course, the SATs are supposed to measure how well you do in college, but does anyone really ever remember that?

It seems like everyone I'd ever met based the SAT on general intelligence. "Oh wow, 1560, they must be really smart." Well, yes, I'm sure that's true, but some of the smartest people I know don't have such fantastic scores. One of my good friends, who has atomic weights from the periodic table memorized and is practically a chemistry genius, didn't have a great score. My little brother, logical, one who used to study Einstein's theories in the sixth grade, made a much lower score than I did. Again, is it fair to base one's intelligence on one test? No, it's not, but unfortunately, in this highly competitive world, there has to be some form of weeding some of us out-fair or not.

This topic has no right or wrong answers, and as much as I complain about it, Saturday morning at 7 o'clock I will report to the testing center while the rest of you get to sleep in. Here's a preemptive "BTHO IOWA STATE!" because I'm sure I won't be able to say it as I ponder calculus problems Saturday morning.

Ethics Assignment #4: Responsbilities of Technical Writers

A woman gets a cup of hot coffee one morning. Balancing it between her legs for a second, the cup spills and she sustains serious burns. She sues the restaurant for damages sustained. This, of course, is a true case. As you hold your McDonald's cut of coffee, it helpfully claims that the contents are "hot."

This is seemingly a no-brainer. What? Coffee is supposed to be hot? It can burn me? While these are likely lessons learned in the second grade, we as technical writers shouldn't make any assumptions on the intelligence of our readers. In the tragic case of a jet incident, where the engine exploded, the technical writer would hopefully had put a warning on the engine or in the instruction manual.

It's kind of funny to read "Do not eat" on a package of ant traps or caution signs for people with heart problems not to ride roller coasters. But in the day and age of lawsuits, technical writers owe it to themselves, their companies, and readers to state the obvious. But readers need to read the instruction manual. If the instructions are there and they don't read it, they really can't blame anyone but themselves.

I know one language...and a half...

I read a joke once that Europeans are expected to know many languages, but Americans know only one. It really cuts to the issue-why are we, as a country, simply monolingual?

My mother, born in Italy, speaks two languages almost perfectly. Being born in Italy myself, I unfortunately have been rather lazy when learning the language. While I can understand it very well and even read and write some of it, it's harder for me to speak it. My mother says that the best way to learn is immersion. You know what? She's right. When we last went to Italy, it wasn't long before I was picking up the language. It was so much easier to learn when I was over there.

So why are Europeans known to speak several languages fluently? Is it just that they have higher standards than we do? I know here that my own langauge classes have been a joke. I took three years of Spanish, and I can remember the very basics-Hola, como estas. I think the textbooks focused on being pretty and flashy rather than on substance. It seemed to me that my teachers didn't try to immerse us. I had only one teacher who spoke Spanish to us fluently.

Of course, being multilingual has many benefits. You are regarded as more intelligent, and can have better jobs with it on your resume.

It's never too late to learn another language, I suppose, but it's frustrating as you get older. I notice my American accent when I speak Italian and it makes me feel uncomfortable. For the little girl who used to run and answer the phones in Italian, I ask my mom for help constantly when writing to my cousins. I want to make my standards higher-perhaps, when it comes to languages, we as a country need to make them higher as well.

Ethics Assignment #3: Mutual Accountability in Group Work

Ah, groupwork, both the boost and bane in a college student's existence. When working with a dynamic, interactive group, a student can feel a "boost" intellectually (and not to mention gradewise). But I'm sure you faithful readers have been in "bad" groups. There's several personas to the bad group member. Let's see, there's the "Apathetic Andy," the one who comes to class only for the tests (if even that). There's the "Superior Sam," with the mentality of "I'm only taking this class for (fill-in-the-blank), so it's not going to make a difference in my future as a doctor/engineer/lawyer/pharmacist/professional college student anyway." Finally, there's "Half-Effort Holly," the one who waits until the last minute to turn in her share (a share that's usually incorrect and sloppy anyway).

But no matter how sloppy, apathetic, or maddeningly superior your team members may be, are you all mutually responsible for your work? Of course. There is really no excuse. Of course, you can inform your superior of the team member's lack of participation, but that's no reason to produce a measly share anyway. Do university professors turn in a half-finished textbook to the editors? Does a team of lawyers produce just half a case? Does a team of surgeons only perform part of the surgery? Of course not.

Pride in one's work takes precendence to turning in a half-finished project, assignment, or the like. The reprecussions may come later for the team member who didn't complete his share-whether it be a poor grade or failure to get a promotion.

Members of a team can strive to take care of the issue at the beginning of the project. Assign due dates and member accountability, what each member is responsible for. There's always a zealous team member/team cop on the team-let that person push the slacking member into working. Working together can never be perfect, especially if you have Andy, Sam, and Holly on your team, but by lining out your expectations early, you can hopefully prevent some heartache and produce a superior product.

We Live on the Endorphins or: Crazy Runners

Yesterday morning was a gorgeous morning for a good old six mile run. Sitting restless, working on homework, I decided that I'd much rather be outside. As I ran, I thought about the difficult runs I've had in the past. You runners know what I'm talking about- the runs where you would rather fall on the sidewalk and beg for the mercy of the passing cyclists than finish. While yesterday was an easy run, it's on the hard run days that I have to remind myself why exactly I became a runner in the first place.

Like many runners, I initially hated it. Running around the soccer field during P.E. was a tireless and pointless exercise as a seven-year old. For some reason I entered the mile race that year, probably because my dad was a runner and I wanted to see what it was like. Even that failed to further my interest in it.

So even though I hated running, I always would ask my dad if I could go running with him. Why? I guess natural curiosity-perhaps I thought that running would be funner with my dad than by myself. For a long time, the answer was, "No." It was almost like a tradition-I would watch my dad lace up his tennis shoes, and I would say, "Daddy, can I go run with you?"

One summer day, (I actually remember the date-July 8, 1992. Don't as me how I can remember that, but not facts I'm tested over) I sat watching my dad put on his tennis shoes and I asked if I could go running with him. He looked at me once, then said, "Sure." I was surprised, but hastily grabbed my shoes. I couldn't wait to see what was in store on our run.

You runners can remember what your first run was like, the one that got you addicted to running. I just remember running under the shady trees, thinking to myself, "This is great!" I talked to my dad the whole time, and three miles went by pretty quickly. At the end, my dad raced ahead of me and told me, "Kick it in!" I ran so fast I was flying. I ran into a hug, and my dad took me back home. My mom thought we were crazy, but for me, that was it-I was hooked.

Not every run was as great as that first one. In Virginia, a particularly dreadful route included "Killer Hill," a tall mountain of pure sand. And while my dad was my best running partner, he pushed me like any good coach would. When I was older, he began pulling his old cross-country tricks on me. Even as we ran at 5:00 in the morning, he wouldn't be too sleepy to mess with my head. He would tap me on the shoulder and start sprinting; he would run very close behind me, to make me speed up; he would make me change the course I was running subtly.

While I've had great runs, there were difficult ones, ones that I wanted to fly home and go back to sleep. When I competed in cross-country as a ten-year old, they were the ones where every girl passed me up at Region. When I competed in a 5K two years ago and had just a little too much to eat before it. When my dad would say, "Man, I'm getting tired, don't you want to stop now?" which to me was a code for, "We're running another two miles" (my dad never got tired on a run).

But no matter how difficult a run is, there's always a sense of accomplishment at the end. I think that's why we runners keep on, well, running. Even if a run can be mentally painful, once we stop, all the pains go away. We learn from our mistakes. We gain endurance and become stronger and faster. We can bring a friend on an enjoyable route, and a long run will suddenly become shorter. To me it's the best sport, and I become furious when my friends imply that running really isn't one.

I lost my best running partner when I went to college, and it's been hard to find someone who loves running (and matches my morning run schedule, that is). So when I'm by myself, and I have a tough run, I stop and remind myself why I became a runner in the first place. Then, the run doesn't seem so bad.

Ethics Assignment #2: Forwarding Your Email

Ok, so imagine this: I am at work. I have two employees that I work with-Adam, who's pretty nice and hardworking, and Amy, who is snarky and has the worst fashion sense EVER. And she thinks she's a know-it-all, too, from her last email she sent Adam and me regarding the project we're working on. I find some grammatical errors in it, and gleefully send a reply to Adam-"Seems like she writes like she dresses-with little thought and a lot of mistakes!" I'm quite proud of my quip until Amy comes to my office, furious, holding a piece of paper. Uh oh. Looks like when I pressed the "reply" button, Amy was informed just what I thought of her fashion sense and English skills.

Email at work poses new challenges, both through job-related experiences and personal experiences and thoughts. Information you carelessly typed or forwarded something that was supposed to be kept secret can reach the whole office before lunchtime if one isn't prudent.

My dad always used to say, "Always be careful of what you put into writing." And over the years, it seems to make more and more sense. This adage can be applied to both the employee and the client. As a client, would you want to put sensitive information, like a social security number or bank account information, into an email? As the employer, you have to consider-will my client appreciate the fact that ten other people are going to view this email?

Both the client and employee can solve this problem by communication. The client may ask to keep sensitive information private, or the employee can provide a disclaimer, letting the client know that some sensitive information may be viewed by others.

As for the scenario I used in my introduction, the same maxim applies-be careful of what you put in writing! All employees should be prudent. The email has become the equivalent of watercooler discussions, with much more hurtful impacts. It's one thing to deny you ever said your boss looks fat, but it's quite another to have it in writing. As an employee, you should conduct yourself with professionalism, and think-if I send this off, will I be able to defend what I'm writing later?

MP3 Players: To Have or Have Not?

As I walk the sidewalks of this fine university, I can almost surely expect to see 2 common activities at any given time-people gabbing on cell phones, or people possessing the the iconic white headphones, listening to Ipods.

At first, I scoffed at these people, those who would spend so much money on an MP3 player. I was perfectly content with my 2001 c.d. player. Sure, I was a little behind on times, but who cares? Why did I need an MP3 player? Why did anyone need one, especially an Ipod? Just to make your music look pretty in little folders?

Then my c.d. player's condition started to worsen, i.e. start skipping randomly. To make it play, I had to place it perpendicular to any surface. I suddenly started looking at the MP3 owners with jealously. Suddenly I felt like I did a year ago, in my transportation engineering class, when I had a TI-82 and everyone else had a TI-89. (For those of you who are not a math-related major, TI-82s are um, pretty archaic.) It was hard to console myself when I could barely listen to music, while everyone was jamming away.

So I started researching these mysterious items, these "MP3 players," and they didn't sound so bad. But seriously, why does anybody need 40 gb of space? I don't even know how I could fill something like that. But you have to hand it to Ipod for their marketing brilliance. Having an Ipod is a status symbol-you are at the cusp of pop culture. You are cool. Others envy you as they listen to their broken c.d. players.

Of course, with all the coolness and jamming the MP3 players bring, you can also pay a hefty price. One of my friends, who had gotten an Ipod for his birthday, told me never to walk around with those white little headphones. Basically, they are a target for thieves. "HEY EVERYONE, I AM WALKING AROUND WITH A REALLY EXPENSIVE MP3 PLAYER. STEAL IT FROM ME. PLEASE." Unfortunately, a kid from New York was killed this summer for his Ipod. Even scarier, these thieves don't steal the Ipods to sell them again (they have a retail value of $175-$200...good, no?) No, they steal it just to listen to it themselves. How sad that they can't acquire one the normal way, like as a gift or saving up for one.

I guess what this entry boils down to is yes, I ordered an MP3 player. Not an Ipod though-I refuse to pay the money just for the status symbol. And I've always been wary of name brand-status symbol items anyway, so why not keep with tradition? And yes, I bought the 40 gb one, only because my brother started calling me the name of our dad's notoriously cheap friend. (The fact that I could be coerced by my seventeen-year old brother to buy something is not the subject of this discussion). I'm making an Excel spreadsheet list now of songs I need. I'm up to 500 now, about 9500 or more to go?

But hey, if you see me walking by, just know that I'll be listening to a cool collection of classic rock, alternative, 80s music, classical music, oldies, a little rap, jazz, Italian music, and whatever else I can think of. Or at least, that's what I tell myself as a justification for buying something so expensive. Hey, beats the broken cd player, right? Right....

Ethics Assignment #1: Your Private Blog vs. Your Job?

Ok, so imagine this scenario: I have a terrible day at work. N0thing went my way. So I go to my blog, which I assume that maybe only two of my friends read, and post about my day. I keep the names of my bosses private. Heck, I call one of them "John Doe" just to make sure that no one knows who I'm talking about. But say I have a reference to my real name in my blog address or profile. If my boss looks up my blog through a search engine, he can read about my post. I can get fired over it. People have been fired for the same scenario I just described, and I could be next!

When blogging about your work in a public forum, two issues conflict. One is free speech. The other is the "employee's responsibility." So what if you don't like your job? Don't you have the right to say it? But you, as an employee, owe it to the company not to bad-mouth them in such a public forum. No company likes bad publicity, and by blogging negative information about a boss, how you hate your job, or potentially embarrassing or classified information, you essentially are a walking advertisement for this company.

I don't agree with companies firing employees who, as the assignment scenario described, kept details of the company (as in name, location, names of employees, etc) private. But with at-will contracts, there's really nothing the blogging employee can do about termination. However, as an employee of the company, these wronged bloggers should also exercise caution. There's no need to put your real name in a profile. Why not trying a journal with private capabilities, like livejournal? You can make your journal friends' only, so all those rants about your job can stay between you and your selected group of friends.

As employees of a company, you have a responsibility to keep your life at work private-to a point. Yes, you can tell your friends and family about a crummy day or a silly incident at work, but blogging it in a public forum is the equivalent of walking through the office building and voicing your opinions through a megaphone, outside of your boss's office. Yes, you can have an opinion-but be smart on how you express it.