NASA's Dark Day

On January 28, 1986 the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded 73 seconds into its flight, killing six astronauts and one school teacher. The aftermath of this tragedy seriously damaged our country's faith in NASA. What disturbed Americans more than anything was the investigation of the accident and the mere fact that a more thorough systems check could have easily prevented the explosion.

Dombrowski's critique of this accident focuses on three areas.

1) The lack of clear and concise communication within NASA
2) The lack of organization in the common set of values and language within NASA
3) The lack of ethical responsibility within technical documentation resulting in a system without common ethical requisites.

Dombrowski makes the very good point that the business of NASA is far from risk free. The nature of space travel assumes many variables and hazards however the astronaut, the person placed in risk, must be able to assume that the utmost amount of preventative maintenance and research are completed before lift off.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Challenger_%28STS-51-L%29_Liftoff.ogg

*The investigation revealed that it was glaringly obvious that such measures were not taken prior to lift off.

This, by no means,was the first major NASA disaster. Apollo 1: Fire during training (3 dead). Malfunction with Apollo 13 while in space (nearly killed all members)

In the case of the CHALLENGER; After inquiries and reports came in it became apparent that a long series of unethical decisions had been made and were inconspicuous because they were nestled in technical documents.

*Big issue here is oversight. The communication gap between Research and Development and the practical/testing side of NASA was essentially a language barrier. The barrier between them was technical jargon differences. As technical writers, it is vitally important to know our audience. Having a common body of language is important for oversight.

1) Two big hitters

*Presidential and *Congressional reports

a) Pres Rep. focused on weak links in safety precautions but failed to clarify communication issues in regard to PROPORTIONS and the end result appeared to be obfuscating the results to direct its readers in one direction (confusing lingo)

The Infamous O-Ring

The problem that Dombrowski has with these reports is not so much the raw data but the way they were interpreted. It was not tested enough and the results made assumptions about tests that weren't carried out. The charred O-Ring was directly related to temperature but the O-Ring, which is a huge safety factor, was ASSUMED to be functional for launch. COULD haves and SHOULD haves can't cut it in such a costly endeavor.

"Disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter (WIKIPEDIA)."

NASA was literally left to pick up the pieces after the explosion and Dombrowski constructs a clear format that could highlighted relevant information and organized preventative check-lists.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Challenger_%28STS-51-L%29_Liftoff.ogg

Resumes

Preparing and Writing Resumes:

1. No one size fits all resume or cover letter
- Advice not Mandates
- Getting away from templates
2. The businesses reading your resume might look at one subject of the document, usually application material like experience and proficiencies/skills
- What are the hooks? What are the detractors?
- How do recruiting managers read them?

Munschauer
1. Why use it
- Message not Ritual
- Inundation with conflicting 'ritual' advice.
- Losing sight of the 'message'
- Speak to the employers' needs
2. Think "You" not "I"
- Researching companies' needs. (industry trade journals and other literature about the company
- Long and Short according to Melcher...put yourself in the employer's shoes.

Letters of Application
1. Employment managers burn through letters.
- What are they dismissing?
- Poor grammar, narcissistic terminology, unprofessional appearance, etc.
- What good letters have in common...
- Neat/organized, succinct, no grammar/spelling errors.
2. How to avoid pitfalls?
- Attention to detail!!
- Have someone with credibility check it
- Don't delegate job of writing

Resume Prep
1. DO NOT include unnecessary information (Nancy Jones on 287)
2. Communicate career-related experience
- It is good to throw in stuff like playing collegiate hockey, just don't put it first
- Separate job essential/relevant stuff from extra stuff.
3. Use proper headings. Don't cap information that is not extremely important.

Resume Prep for Specific Job
1. "You can't get blood from a stone"
- Basically, understand the market for your desired job. Don't send a resume to a dead-end, or shrinking company.
2. Functional Resume.
- Mark Meyers

Page length???
Harty says two

Dem Nazis

** Dombrowski makes the somewhat inane disclaimer that he does not endorse any of the NAZI's research.

1) Biggest fundamental ethical issue: Nazi's attempted to justify their actions by calling them "scientific research"
The scientist writing the technical documents stripped the humanity from the people they were testing, subjugating them to mere specimens.

2) Second fundamental ethical issue is sacrificing morals because of some great scientific cause or scientific merit.

*Reality behind the research: Nazi scientists were mass murderers/torturers/eugenicists.

Argument against using unethical scientific data still exists today and organizations like The New England Journal of Medicine has made it very clear that no matter the brilliance or groundbreaking nature of a scientific report, it has refused to publish anything with questionable ethics.

Drawing a hardline against progress in order to preserve ethics is vital, however opposition in support of progress at all cost will try hard to stretch the boundaries.

Nazi's redefined medical terms to suit their purposes and clear their consciences.
*For example: "Euthanasia" is commonly understood as "mercy killing" but Nazi scientists redefined it to suit a diabolical/pragmatic end which basically included being able to put someone to death if "science" deemed them unworthy to live.

*That's seriously messed up and Dombrowski/Katz points out that the objectification of humans must be avoided at all cost. It is a slippery slope.

THe scientists would talk about the machines and methods they used to kill the Jews in technical terms, completely avoiding the reality of what they actually were doing. They were completely blinded by constantly reminding themselves in their documentation that what they were doing was nothing more than scientific research for human betterment.

The

Dombrowski CHPT 4: Ethic Tradition

Foundational Ethics, according to Dombrowski, can be broken up into four main categories; Aristotelian, Kantian, Utilitarianism, and Ethics of care. There are subcategories but he doesn't deem them necessary to talk about. I appreciate the disclaimer that Dombrowski throws out in the first paragraph that ethics are as broad and multifaceted as there are ideologies and different religions. What he is trying to do is hit the heart and foundation of the ethical system. What he really does is narrow down the basics of Ethics in WESTERN CULTURE. Ethics, in my opinion are not social conventions that have evolved over time, they are based on an individuals' worldview. The way they see the world, the ideologies that they have adopted--all these things make ethics a subjective thought. Ethical decisions are important, but what if the person committing a crime sees it as an utilitarian ethical decision. How can I then say to him, that is not ethical since I am talking out of my own ethical framework...

Aristotle.

*Believed ethics to be more practical than theoretical (a diversion from the metaphysical sophists of his time).
*He took a pragmatic approach to ethics.
-each person, each thing, when functioning correctly, will be virtuous. This is completely based of analysis of action. If the eye works well, the eye is good and virtuous.
*Be good for goodness sake ethics. Why? Aristotle thought he could empirically understand everything and categorize based on its optimum activity level.
*Even thought he could determine the optimum activity of the human soul.
*We have to seek after virtue so that we can become more proficient. Basically, Aristotle is saying that virtue and ethics are not genetic, they are not instinctive.
*The first step towards virtue and true "happiness," is, in the words of Wikipedia, "having the fortune to be habituated not deliberately, but by teachers, and experience, leading to a later stage in which one consciously choses to do the best things.
*Not like Plato, Aristotle is more practical than metaphysical. Plato wanted to know the substance of virtue. Aristotle is interested in the action that ethics produce.

Kant

*Categorical imperative
*Moral, ethical lives are centered on a sense of duty. Duty to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
*Good comes from the man, unlike Aristotle who believed goodness and virtue to be entities in and of himself.
*It requires "one's chosen decision to be ethical." Duty as freely imposing obligation on one’s own
self
*The Categorical imperative requires men to be loyal to the laws that are imposed on him by society. Live respectfully.
*Kant wasn't a big fan of human feelings. Thought they, and human motivation, were very unreliable.
*What is fair for one is fair for all. Flaws in this system of thought? Yes. It is theoretical.
*So these laws, these imperatives, who enforces them. Kant would say that the individual enforces them on him or her. They should be binding commands at all times.
*Kant gives his input into the imperatives by providing a list of maxims that should be innate to every man.

The vision of this project is simple—equip recovering men with practical skills that will give them a marketable edge before reentering the work force. In the form of a two to three week workshops, it is my intent to organize a program that will feature intensive blocks of instruction that focus on specific TRADES and SKILLS necessary on the CONTRUCTION SITE.

Agenda

1) Examine the overarching idea behind this program
a) Putting the blessing of work in perspective. (“six days you shall labor…”)
2) Breakdown of the curriculum’s structure
a) List of workshop classes
b) Representatives/instructors for each trade
3) Talk about major and minor constraints
a) Time, Finances, Inexperience…
b) Coordination with the WCRM recovery program
4) Resources required to field operations
a) Construction site
b) Materials and tools
c) Transportation
5) Collaboration outside of WCRM
a) Habitat for Humanity
b) Public Relations with Construction Companies
6) Conclusion



A common falsehood that we often fall into is believing that our jobs, whatever they may be, are a tiresome duties that we have to do. Living for the weekends is completely against the way we need to view labor. “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work.” This is not merely a compulsion; it is a gift and an honor. This is the end state of my goal—that these men would view work from this perspective.

Western Carolina Rescue Ministries not only has a heart for the poor and needy, it has a Christ-centered commitment to the poor and the needy. More than promoting my project ideas, I want to help continue the vision that WCRM committed itself to 28 years ago.
The basic idea behind this project is threefold. The first priority is to put valuable, dignity-gaining skills in the hands of men who have devoted themselves to transforming both body and mind.

The second, overarching idea behind this project is to give experienced Christian builders the opportunity to share the practical knowledge of their trade while simultaneously teaching them how to be a Christian in a work setting. I have worked several different construction jobs over the last five years—mainly under Christian management. There is something simple, yet extremely effective about receiving hands-on job skills and spiritual training all at once.

The third and final side of this equation is fund-raising. Bottom line, I want to plug WCRM into the social media network that is rapidly becoming the most prolific mode of sharing information and conversing in the United States. I am convinced that opening WCRM to social networks like “facebook,” “twitter,” “Youtube,” and “Flickr” will succeed in allowing more people who are earnestly looking for ways to help Christian ministries like WCRM. By increasing and diversifying publicity coverage many things can happen, namely, growing the donor base to include a younger demographic of people.



The Workshops will feature an instructor who preferably offers his services freely and any number of “apprentices.” I do not know the process that residents of WCRM go through to become eligible for reentry into society, but, for the sake of this proposal, I will assume that during the last phase of the restoration program, members of the program will be connected to various employers and begin working. I understand that I know next to nothing about the process of rehabilitation, but I want this program to work. Whether it is feasible or not, this is how I want the program to run:

- find a group of Christian men who are eager to teach one of the six workshops
- coordinate with Habitat for Humanity and set up a project house that will be built from the ground up. My vision is to simultaneously provide a home to someone in need and teach hands-on skills to the workshop members.
- provide a list of available workshops to WCRM.
- based on who is eligible, residents of WCRM will be able to choose the workshop that interests them the most.
- begin two to three week workshops. These will begin in classrooms and slowly transition into a real work setting.

Business and Technical Coorespondence

Although the medium has changed from paper to electronic, the fact that memos and letters require careful, precise writing remains the same. It is dangerous to assume that a simple follow up corrective memo or letter will fix the situation (on paper or electronic)--this only creates new problems. Bottom line up front, don't blow off the structure and format of a business letter or memo. Memos need to have the same font, size, heading, format, and concise manner in order to ensure that the guy reading 100 of them a day skims over the right information.

Letters: Reflect attitude/the art of writing letters is a rare commodity in the business world. (Note to self: put yourself ahead of the game now). The principle of "writing for him, not to him" brings into

Proposal Outlines

Big Picture "Proposal"

Big Picture Goals:

Develop a unique, fresh approach to raising support and reaching new donors, sponsors, etc. To do this, I would like to propose to the Western Carolina Rescue Ministry a couple different ideas that will push them into a more up to date social network. My main goal is to create a website that will have multimedia capabilities to include a live video feed of the ministry members and their testimonies about the mission, a highly aesthetic video presentation which encapsulates the vision and purpose of the ministry. As of now, I am still waiting to hear back from my contact, Mr. Wood. I understand that my goal for the mission might not agree with them, making flexibility on my behalf a very important component of this project. I’m convinced that I can help them reach completely new spheres of influence by broadcasting their message and ethos on things like facebook, twitter, etc. By doing this, I can put links to their website on more frequented online resources, and simultaneously get people on board with the Mission’s vision and get people talking and spreading the word.

Another idea that I have for the rescue mission is to develop a program that promotes skilled labor among homeless or needy people. The mission could facilitate the “classes” or “seminars” that would be necessary to teach the individuals that want to make themselves more marketable in a weak economy. In order to broadcast this idea, I would have to revert back to paper media. My audience would be without the internet and not at a specific location. How do I reach homeless people in a broad scale? Flyers and handouts would be the primary source of spreading the news, but the more desired method would be word of mouth. The structure of this program would be supported by donors and sponsors who want to see the homeless off the streets and in the work force. Every contractor and subcontractor needs assistance at some point in time but the problem with organizations like Labor Ready and Hired Labor organizations is that the skill set of the laborers being hired is limited to grunt work and manual labor. My program, run by the ministry, would offer two week, two day, or whatever it takes to give an individual a specific skill set—make them a specialized worker, rather than another rent-a-grunt without marketable assets. This idea would keep my hands full and getting it off the ground would be a long process. My goal would be to consolidate a portfolio of ideas, to include a visual presentation and literature explaining the process and ethos of the project.

Intro/BrainStorm

My first choice is to come alongside The Western Carolina Rescue Mission and create portfolio that includes brief but dwe information about the Mission

I have an idea that pertains to the military, however the specificity and focus of this idea remains in question. I would like to shadow a recruiting officer/personnel and devise a more aesthetically pleasing mode of recruitment, whether that be through upgrading the medium (websites, twitter, facebook, etc) or finding an alternate method of communication, namely