Writing Through Life Challenges

The Ethic of Expediency In Steven B. Katz,  1992 publication, “The Ethic of Expediency: Classical Rhetoric, Technology and the Holocaust” he informs us of the dangers of ethical problems in rhetoric. The  document is written during a neo-nazism time period that gives directions on how to carry out executions by the firing squad (Shirer 1248-49). He looks at several documents with three different lenses to see the  technical communication, argumentation, and style view of the documentation. From a technical writing standpoint the document is near perfection. It explains all the needed information. The document covers the who, what, when, where and how of getting  the executions done. There is no confusion because everything that is needed to carry out such acts is answered in the memo. The writing is clear and concise. The writer of the memo takes the human side out of the memo by writing,  "97,000 have been processed" (Katz 257), instead of writing; 97...

Branding Guidelines and Constraints When I think of the branding, I think less is more.  There are many different ways one can look at branding. They can consider it to be the companies Logo or the quality of an item. Branding can go as far as a company’s reputation in society. While companies have to be careful  that they stay within their core business, many companies are branching out so much that there original core business is getting lost in translation. Companies like Burger King and KFC had to learn how to use constraints. Burger King went from being known for burgers to sales, hot dogs, tacos, bean burgers, turkey burgers, mac and cheese bites, Cheetos chicken fries and sliders( www.Burgerking.com ). While KFC went from being known for fried chicken to think thin, marketing their grilled chicken. They use to sale a fried chicken pizza that did not go over well with consumers.  Currently they are in the process of discontinuing their grilled chicken. I th...

I was honored to be able to attend this years Council of councils meeting in Champaign Urbana, IL. I was elected to be one of  ten members of the Universities Operating Staff Council. At these places the who's who of the University are present in hearing information before it is presented to each university. While I was at this meeting I learned so much information that I felt like more people would know what is going on with the state. They talked about buy outs, furloughs and lay offs. While I don't have as many years as some, I felt like people who have worked 18+ years, should be receiving this information firsthand. Often times our University talks about the lack of diversity for employees at our university, but many times I can count the amount of diverse people at the events on one hand. I wish that we would incorporate some form of equity to ensure that we are hiring some diverse staff, if the opportunity arise. Otherwise, I would prefer that we stop talking about ...

Well                                                                  All Aboard  I plan to take a cruise for Spring Break with  my daughter as my gift to her as a senior trip. I have to make a decision on who's Spring break will we take it on. The universities  schedule or her High school schedule. You would think this was an easy decision. I started by looking at NCL and guess what.. All cruises are not created equal. There is so much information out there. Where do you want to go, how are we going to get there, what is included in the price etc... I decided that we will go on either a Carnival cruise because there prices are fantastic and they seem to have longer days at places that seem to be interesting to my daughter. The other option is to go on NCL as I know several people who take a crui...

BOX-LOGIC Geoffrey Sirc begins his essay "Box-Logic" by expressing his frustrations with the typical learning in writing while society is ever-changing. He says, “The rapid advance of technology has meant a pedagogical dilemma for me: just what do I do in the classroom, what do I teach?”(113) He battles with the traditional  way of writing and creating some other style of writing that the world seems to going towards. He uses several pieces of works by different writers and poets to argue his points. Geoffrey has some questions that he has to ask himself and anyone who is in the teaching profession. Essentially he is saying, what do you do, when everything you have been taught seems to be changing? He looks at a writing from Marcel Duchamp’s Green Box (1934) to help him find some unconventional ways to view writing. From taking notes, to rearranging post-its to playing with the way you present the words, in an art form . He also looks at Joseph Cornell, Walter Benj...

CAMPUS SIGNAGE PROJECT As I begin to write about this Campus Signage Project (CSP) I realise that this may not be as easy as I first anticipated. As I go through my day-to-day life at Northern Illinois University (NIU), I am beginning to understand that I rarely have time to “smell the roses.” I spend most of my time in the Student Recreation Center (SRC), as that is the location where my office is. When thinking of what poster or signage will I pick, as there are an insurmountable amount of posters and signage all over NIU. As I stated that I am often very busy, I actually found a sign within my own location. Two signs to be exact. Now the question is, which will I choose? Picture of Wellness At first I walked through the long cold hallways of the SRC and stopped to see the signage locate d above. At first glance it looks as though they are a way for you to be well, and they are, but as I look closer, I realise it is more than just information about wellness ...

DOCUMENTARY PROJECT REFLECTION- AFTER TILLER I chose to do my Guided Reflection on After Tiller . Dr. George Tiller is one of four doctors in the world that perform abortions during the third- trimester of a pregnancy in 2009. This is during a time when bombings are known to happen at any abortion location at any time. Society is very out spoken on their views and the Dr. had received an insurmountable amount of death threats. He has gone through many lows in like due to the nature of his work. He has not only been divorced because of his job, but also feels alienated for the rest of the world. I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness, when I hear the secretary trying to explain how the procedure will work to a potential client over the phone. She is very detailed in her description and make sure the client knows that this is a labor and delivery, not a surgery. I can’t help thinking,” how does she feel? She looks like she may be under a lot of stress. She says, “You need to be...