Technology and Group Projects

As my group, "Team Dynamic", has assembled our proposal for Health Promotions, we have extensively used the "Group Page" in Blackboard. The ability to use blackboard storage space for different pieces of the project has been especially useful because it allows different group members to access different pieces of the project at any time from any computer. Since group files have been edited at different computer labs on campus and on our own laptops, it is reassuring to know that they are safely stored on the Clemson University servers. Uploading and downloading from these servers is possible regardless of location and always faster than dealing with oversize email attachments. Few things are more aggravating than waiting several minutes for a powerpoint attached to an email to finish downloading. Speaking of email, the other convenient thing that blackboard does is allow you to send group emails to each group member without having to individually look up their email address. This avoids the concern I usually have about the validity of the email address I handwrote in class.

On the flip side, the technology that most hindered my group's progress was the text message. I personally prefer to talk directly to my group members because it allows immediate answers to multiple questions. If I am texting with that person, the "conversation" is slower because only one question can be addressed at a time. When you add that to the fact that I am paying for each individual text message I receive (regardless of how short it is), it is easy to see why I prefer actual audio exchange or even voice mail to the text message.

Ethics in the workplace

I feel like ethics in the workplace boil down to respect. You have to be able to respect yourself for making the decisions you make first and foremost. After that, you hope to garner some amount of respect from others for the decisions you make; people like Jim Cramer or the executives at AIG are unable to do that.

Miscommunication at Work

In my time working for an architecture/engineering firm in Charlotte, I've seen several different versions of one particular type of miscommunication. When coordinating all of the engineering drawings with all of the architectural drawings, one will always find an instance or two where a light is overlapping a vent or pipes run through a doorway... This boils down to a failure to exchange updated drawings between the architect and engineer; one will move a door or a pipe without informing the other. When it is time to plot all of the drawings and send them off to the client or the contractor, you find conflicts between engineering drawings and architectural drawings. Then you have to chase down the people responsible, convince them to fix the problem immediately, listen to them grumble about how little time they have or how it wasn't their fault, and print all the drawings again.

This is the most common manifestation of the social divide between architects and engineers. Their constant need to collaborate on projects only lends itself to scapegoating and general disdain. Bottom line: if you have a personal relationship someone, you're more likely to successfully collaborate on a project.

Redfern Health Promotions Project

Jennifer Goree visited our english class this past Wednesday and charged us with creating either a marketing campaign or a master plan for a healthier campus. These were quite broad topics at the beginning which only seemed to widen as the discussion progressed in terms of options for what my group could produce.

I was dismayed to learn that Jennifer had spoken to Aramark about including organic produce from Clemson's garden in Clemson's dining halls. This kind of closed-minded thinking by Aramark in order to save a few dollars while they hammer another nail in the Earth's coffin is disgusting. Aramark isn't the only Amercan company that insists on shipping products to it's retail locations from suppliers huge distances away from the consumers, but it is one that interacts with college students. If anyone is going to stand up to American corporations on the basis of environmental policies, it is the college student demographic. So I think Aramark should watch their back.

Job Interviews: Do's and Don'ts

Out of this list ( www.10biggestinterviewmistakes.com/ ), I have to say that matching and mirroring your interviewer is the most important aspect of a job interview. The concept of reflecting a similar demeanor and level of humor is logical because it allows you to put your interviewer at ease. The interviewer needs to be comfortable with you before (s)he can be comfortable with recommending you for the position. Since you have already passed the first few filters with your résumé and perhaps phonecall, you can be relatively certain that it is not your credentials that will be the tie-breaker between you and the rest of the applicants. A personal connection can be developed through this mirror idea; the value of connecting to a prospective employer (on any level) can not be devalued.

Super Bowl XLIII

Vegas' line opened with the Steelers as 7 point favorites. I am not nearly as offended by that as this. Apparently the mayor of Phoenix thinks she is sooooo smart. I am on record as saying that I am in favor of removing the tree inside of our football stadium; however, should I be able to find a cactus outside of Heinz Field, I would advocate complete destruction of the "tree". Actually, I think if we covered it in ketchup, that would pretty much eradicate the problem as well. You can see from the photo included to the right that Pittsburgh's riverfront is also at stake here. Should the Steelers fail miserably on Sunday, a lot more than my weekend will be ruined.

I would also like to take a moment to discuss the fact that this pending super bowl victory would be the franchise's 6th--finally breaking that ridiculous tie with the 49ers and Cowboys. The Steelers are the model franchise in terms of player conduct (makes us better than Dallas) and philosophy (makes us better than San Francisco). Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys, meddles in team affairs constantly (which is why he kept Wade Phillips on as Head Coach--the man has no backbone) and will go out of his way to take risks on players like Terrell Owens and Adam Jones who are best classified as locker room poison. This ensures that Dallas is always in the media spotlight, but at what cost? Meanwhile if you look at today's 49ers, they are miles away from the Bill Walsh/George Seifert era--especially in terms of talent, coaching and attitude (things I have jointly referred to as "philosophy"). The steelers have only had three different head coaches during the super bowl era; Knoll, Cower and Tomlin all agree on the same basic formula: defense wins championships. The blue collar attitude of western pennsylvania is clearly reflected...

on 1/25/19...

So let us assume that ten years down the road I'll be doing what I want to be doing. For starters I'll have my masters of architecture degree from a large state school in the pacific northwest. Why there? The environment is mostly intact, the seafood is fresh and glulam is a commonly used material. And then the state school part is really about feeding my need for division 1 college sports.

I'm thinking that it would be a wonderful testament to my relationship skills if my current girlfriend is still in the picture. She and I understand each other; that is quite a feat. Ideally we would be settled into a large metropolitan city (actually living within the city limits) and tinkering with the idea of making a couple of rugrats to leach off of us for the next 20-30 years.

In the professional world, I would love to have enough years of practicing architecture under my belt to start looking for a university to settle down at and teach. The ultimate goal here has always been teaching architecture because that limits the amount of time you have to spend working; less demanding work hours mean less stress on my family.

So how do I go about a resumé for that...

Web 2.0

This video points out that the internet is quickly outgrowing society's ideas about "copyright, authorship, identity, ethics, aesthetics, rhetorics, governance, privacy, commerce, love, family, ourselves." I'll admit that I don't know that much more than the politicians that are responsible for catching our laws up to the times, but I do know that an open mind that does not fear change is absolutely necessary in today's world. The astounding rate of technological development requires that society keep pace; the values and laws governing societies need to be reformed to account for the speed of information exchange and the other aspects of the digital realm. And the boundaries of the digital realm that we see as inherent today need to be ignored and persevered through with the same ingenuity that allowed us to invent a way to exchange information instantaneously.

Introduction

At the request of my business writing teacher, I've created this blog to post assignments and other written forms of communication and art. I presume they are then shared with the world and that the world will enjoy them. Luckily for me I am also taking a course in playwriting, so I can post lots of varied forms of writing here.

But this entry is actually supposed to be about me--Joe Ulaky. I was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina by parents that were born, raised and educated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By playing with too many Legos during my childhood, I cultivated an interest in buildings and architecture that I am now finally able to pursue here at Clemson.

I measure the quality of my day by the current news and exploits of my favorite sports teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Panthers, Clemson Tigers and Dallas Mavericks. When architecture studio work and dislocated shoulders aren't preventing me, I have been known to pick up a basketball, hockey stick, tennis racquet or football to pass the time.

If you want to know more about me, you're just going to have to find me and ask me; I'm busy.