It strikes me that this project offers you some ease in approach, as, in most cases, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports mirror rather closely what you’re going to be trying to do. Be careful, though, that you avoid over-relying on or over-using that source, and be especially sure that you don’t plagiarize from it.

One thing that will be helpful, I think, is finding a way to recenter your individual report on you in such a way in that it serves as your professional preparation kit. Let’s start the proposal there:

Part I: What Field and Why

In the first paragraph of your proposal, explain what field/career path you’ll be researching and why you’re interested in it. I hope that we will be able to find away for you to revise this material and use it early in your report.

Part II: What do you already know about this field?

Your second paragraph should provide some background: What do you already know about this field? What don’t you know about it? What do you want to find out? Do you know people who work in this field and, if so, could you possibly interview these people? Who are they?

Part III: How can this project serve you?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics are broad, intended to serve anyone looking into a possible field. You have the chance here to particularize the project to your own needs. Describe two ways that you think you can make the report speak specifically to your interests. For example, maybe you’re only interested in living in a certain geographical region; similarly, maybe you’re only interested in certain subfields of the larger field. Come up with two possible ways that you can make this report work for you.

Part IV: Questions

Ask two questions about your project, and I’ll respond, attempting to give you ideas on sources, organization, etc.

First, let me go through a couple of broad concerns, and then I am going to focus on the green business philosophy section.

Broad Concerns:

Research/Outside Sources: So far, I’m not seeing a lot of good library-research type sources. You’re doing a good job with field work and with finding online sources, but without some peer reviewed sources to balance the information, you risk being a little lopsided in your information. See a balance. The Green Business Philosophy as well as your methodology or recommendations sections seem to be a good place to incorporate books on green business. In recent years, business scholars have published a great deal on green business models. I’ll email you the PowerPoint on outside research that we went through before spring break; I think your groups may benefit from reviewing the presentation and employing some of the techniques included in it.

Quality of Writing: I’m less concerned about this issue right now, as you have plenty of time to go back and address it; just remember that it needs addressed. Right now, I am seeing numerous wordy and unclear constructions, typos and grammatical errors, and formatting flaws. Once you feel like your content is under control, spend a lot of time on the writing: read portions aloud, rewrite sentences for clarity, and use your St. Martin’s Handbooks.

Green Business Philosophies:

You seem to be making these more difficult than they have to be. Broadly, a philosophy or theory is something that you later put into practice, something that informs your methodologies and habits. Don’t overly rely on any of the models I’m about to show you or other models; I want you to be original. However, a quick google search turned up some concise and clear green business philosophies from actual companies:

Attune

Industrial Woodworking

Also, I found this NY Times article that may interest you.

What should your green business philosophy say?

Imagine that the owner or manager of the business you are working with asked you to answer three questions at the beginning of your report:

1. What do you mean when you say “green business”?
2. Why is green business important?
3. How does green business apply to my business?

All-in-all, your green business philosophy will probably be 1/2 to a full page single-spaced, and your group may put it before you describe your purpose and, therefore, use it to transition into more particular details, or you may place it after you describe your project’s purpose, which help provide some background for concepts you apply. You may not need sources in your green business philosophy, but they could be especially helpful in defining what you mean by green business or in explaining why green business practices are important in 2008.

A Closer Look: Now let’s take a closer look at the two green business philosophies that we looked at in class yesterday. I’m going to make some comments about them, but I am not going to be exhaustive in my comments for two reasons. First, I don’t want to overly tear apart either group’s work. Second, I don’t want to be so specific in my feedback that I  essentially rewrite the group’s philosophy for them.

First Example: W.T. Young Library Group

  Green Business Plan

“We no longer see the world as a single entity. We’ve moved to cities and we think the economy is what gives us our life, that if the economy is strong we can afford garbage collection and sewage disposal and fresh food and water and electricity. We go through life thinking that money is the key to having whatever we want, without regard to what it does to the rest of the world.” [Jeff's Comment: Beginning with a quotation like this can be a good idea, especially if it's something so rich in meaning and complexity that it somehow informs the rest of the philosophy. You may even choose to return to this author's words later in the philosophy or in your concluding remarks for the whole project to show how this person really informs your thinking. Be sure, though, that you footnotes the sources of this quotation.]
A quote from a famous Environmentalist, David Suzuki, who believes now is the time to look to the future and not just to live in the present [This sentence should be addressed for clarity and grammatical correctness; right now, it's missing a verb. Environmentalist David Suzuki believes now is the time to look to the future and to stop living in the present.].  He hints towards the idea that the human race has waited too long to do something about the world we live in.  In Suzuki’s eyes, we have to start taking action to protect the environment and world we live in.  There are [I noticed this structure in all of the drafts we looked at yesterday; remember our discussions from last week and watch out for "there are" or "there is" sentence constructions.] both large and small choices we can make to improve the world, such as sharing rides to work or using solar powered cars to cut down on emissions.  This idea of green business has not always been as influential as it is today.  Around the time of the Industrial Revolution, the human cultural saw no advantage to conserving energy or reducing waste because our culture was unable to clearly foresee the detrimental hazards that develops from overconsumption and the linear system of principals followed by people in the early 19^th century.  Comparative to today’s population, who is now beginning to see the repercussions occurring from an apathetic population during Industrial Revolution.  Some of such environmental repercussions include deforestation, polluting drinkable water sources, killing off species because of habitat reduction, and mountain top removal.  All these instances lead to the need for an immediate reworking of the processes in which businesses perform.  The human race has waited as long as we possible could to take action.  The time is now!   [Jeff's Comment: Overall, I like numerous things about this green business philosophy: it's concise, it's persuasive, it's full of specific examples of environmental destruction, and it emphasizes the urgency of the situation. But what doesn't it do? I'm not sure that it says enough about what green business is for this group. In other words, what does "green business" mean for this group, and how does it apply to the W.T. Young Library? I don't think that it needs to be much longer, but I think it should gesture towards specific implications and ideas for the library before moving more particularly to them in the next section of the project. The call for action (the last three sentences), though, should probably be kept at the end of the philosophy, as they seem to  be rhetorically effective and persuasive as the last remarks.]

Second Example: Raddison Group

Green Philosophy

The environment and ecosystem in which we are a part of is comprised of resources that are only available in a finite amount [Jeff's Comment: I hate to point out flaws in one group's writing, but since the whole class doesn't know who wrote this, I think this situation offers an appropriate time to reiterate some of the style lessons we addressed last week. This opening sentence and some others in this philosophy are probably unclear due to their abundance in words. A shorter, more direct sentence here would work better and say the same thing, and I think it could even be combined with the second sentence: Our environment's resources are limited, and our consumption draws into question the earth's ability to sustain human life. In all of your projects, look for instances like this where you can use fewer words and/or combine sentences to be clearer in your meaning.]. Due to our society’s compulsive consuming habits, over the years, the sustainability of our environment has come into question. With us being the dominant species occupying God’s green earth, we are the primary consumers of these resources and the responsibility of sustaining our environment falls solely on us. [Jeff's comment: Again, I think we can look for ways to reduce words and be more direct. "With us being the dominant species occupying God's green earth" seems wordy, and I think we can replace these ten words with five: As the earth's dominant species, we use many of the earth's resources; therefore, we have the responsibility of protecting and sustaining the enivironment.]
            Muhammad [Mahatma] Gandhi tells us, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” As individuals we can accomplish a great deal by simply doing the small things. For example, we can recycle recycling is a great way to conserve resources by using recyclable products that can be reused in the future. Recycling our waste is probably one of the most basic steps to benefiting the environment.  There are [Again, like in the last example, we want to watch out for this weak subject verb construction: "There are..."] several small steps we could take to make our lives more environmentally efficient.  But unfortunately most of our society thinks that these steps are tedious and that the repercussions of not taking care of our environment will not affect them. The harsh reality of the situation is that with the questionable carrying capacity of mother earth, eventually our luck as well as our resources will run up. [Jeff's Comment: Whereas the first example we looked at was maybe a little too short, I feel as this example might be a little too long. Put yourself in the position of the person reading this report. He or she will probably want something that is direct and clear in meaning. The statistics that come in the next portion of the report will either confirm or challenge these opinions. Also, I like the last point made here about resources running out; however, I think this group also made this point in the first paragraph of their philosophy.]              

            We can also help preserve the environment by practicing what most like to call “green business”. Green business can be defined as the practice of conducting everyday business as environmentally efficient as possible. Due to the size of many corporations, the steps taken to practice green business can be much more complex than the things that we as individuals can do to help. But the great sacrifices corporations would have to make would yield astronomical benefits in making our planet more sustainable. [Jeff's comment: I really like what the group does here to define their terminology. Perhaps they can take it one step further and connect their green business philosophy to the hotel sector to identify guiding principles for their project.]
              Corporations are powerful entities. They generate billions of dollars annually and shape our society’s economic wellbeing [Jeff's comment: I like the way this paragraph opens, and I think that the paragraph should continue with a statement on corporate responsibility. Stakeholder theory or environmental ethics come to mind: Why is it important for a large corporation like Radisson to care about the environment? The rest of this paragraph could probably be omitted to provide space to go in that direction.]. Corporations use advertising to target buyers to consume their products and in some ways shape our popular culture. Everywhere you look you are sure to see some type of label or marking that identifies a different corporation. Driving across the United States it is not uncommon to see large factories owned by these corporations from the roadside pumping out cloud after cloud of thick, black smog. When you see this you might think to yourself, “How is this legal? How can these corporations be allowed to dump all of this pollutions and contamination into our air?” To think that thousands of factories all over the Unites States are doing this all around the clock is spine chilling.
                Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. There are several steps businesses can take to become more environmentally sound. Many corporations have already taken the necessary steps to become more “green.” [Jeff's comment: Remember, you are writing to the business, so address to them, and maybe this is the place--if you don't add it in above--where you can define the green business principles that are important for the hotel industry. The rest of your project will then put these philosophical principles into practice.] In our project we have selected to analyze the hotel industry and its involvement in green business practices. The Radisson downtown Lexington, the hotel we are working with firsthand, claims to be one of the greenest hotels in the industry. But after looking at their numbers and at some of the ways they did things, our groups has decided that there are some serious improvements that could be made to the way the Radisson did a few things.
                Adopting a green business plan is very important. If done correctly, corporations can have a huge positive impact on our environment. and its sustainability

Final Remarks:

I hope the above remarks and comments about green business will be helpful to your groups. This blog post took me a considerable amount of time to write, and I thank the W.T. Library and Radisson groups for allowing me to comment on their work. I only offer constructive criticism  because I think that all groups are making similar mistakes and can benefit from my commentary.

As you develop your group projects, you need to be thinking about your group’s green philosophy. In other words, what does “green business” mean to you? What does “green business” mean in relation to the industry-type you have selected? For example, a “green business” model for a hardware store will differ from a “green business” model for a restaurant or coffee shop.

I will spend a small amount of time at the beginning of tomorrow’s class talking about resources on green business, and I’ll go through a small tutorial (on our wonderful projector–if the classroom behind us is open, maybe we’ll try its projector…) on finding books and journal articles about green business models. We’ll then discuss Hawken’s chapters, paying special attention to principles that you, as groups, can adapt for your projects. If you have a draft of your green business philosophy, I will collect it and provide your group with feedback. If your group does not yet have a draft, I’ll let you get that section to me later on by email. In the end, your group is responsible for getting the various sections of your project completed by the rough draft deadline(s), but I am willing to meet with you and discuss sections along the way; in this case, I’m even willing to email you feedback before or during spring break on this one important section of the project.

The goal for tomorrow is that your group will be thinking about and working on a central component to the entire project, and I hope that you will dedicate at least some of the 25 minutes I’ve alotted for your group to meet during class to discussing your green business philosophy. Your group’s definition of “green business” should serve as a foundation for all of the designs and ideas you propose.

Each group needs to submit only one proposal for the group. Your group leader should send the proposal to me, and I’ll send my response to the group leader, who can then forward the response to the entire group.

Like with your proposals for the research-based ethics essay, the goal of the proposal is again to begin a dialogue between us. I want to have an idea of what your group is working on and of any questions or problems you are having.

Your proposal will consist of four short sections:

Section 1: What business, campus unit, or non-profit organization will your group be working with? Remember, you have to receive written permission from the group that you’re working with and only one group can work with any one business. Have you received permission from the business you picked? If not, what are your backup choices? Finally, will you need to arrange meetings with the owner or manager of the business to get information for your project?

Section 2: Provide a brief breakdown of each group member’s responsibilities? Who will be doing what? I want to see that the workload will be distributed roughly evenly throughout the group. Also, remember as a group to create your own deadlines and to take advantage of your group members’ strengths. For example, if someone in your group is good at making graphs or charts, then you should have that person work on that material.

Section 3: What types of sources is your group going to use? Where are you finding your sources? What types of information do you need to generate yourselves? What information, depending on the business’ cooperation, do you need from the business?

Section 4: Ask at least two specific questions you have about this assignment. I will respond to your questions the best I can. Please do not ask questions such as “What do we need to do to get an A on this project?”; instead, your questions should be about content or structure: “How much space should we dedicate to introducing our green philosophy?” or “Where in this business plan should we express our own opinions?”

Evaluation: Like other homework assignments, your proposal will be graded on a check-plus, check, check-minus, no credit scale. All group members will get the same grade.

MLA Style

The Corporation. Dirs. Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. Zeigeist Films, 2005.

APA Style

Achbar, M. & Abbott, J. (Directors). (2005) The Corporation [Motion picture]. Canada: Zeitgeist Films.

This weekend, I’ll go through the pages you turned in yesterday, and I’ll provide you with some feedback, especially pertaining to your introductions and thesis statements.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Extra Credit Opportunity: After viewing these films, pick an ethical framework to describe the dilemma presented and the ethical solution. Your opinion doesn’t have to agree with Anne Lewis’s; your task is to offer a well-reasoned interpretation and a thoughtful solution/resolution for a dilemma presented in one of the two films.

Your extra credit paper should be well-written and approximately 1.5-2 pages, double-spaced. Be detailed in presenting the ethical framework, and include as many specific examples as you can remember from the film.

Here’s what you’ll get: I’ll grade your paper on a normal 12 point scale (12 for check plus, 9 for check, 6 for a check-minus), and I’ll add as many points as you get to your homework points total. At the end of the semester, you’ll have these extra points built into your sum before it’s averaged. For those of you who missed a quiz or homework or who have turned in assignments late, this extra credit should especially help you. For the rest of you, it’s a chance to either boost your grade or to get out of a single-weighted homework assignment down the road.

You don’t have to sign in at the film, but please make sure I acknowledge seeing you there. Also, you can’t leave the film early if you want to receive the extra credit.

Let me know if you have any questions about this extra credit assignment.

Here’s what you have to do:

1. Attend the Writing Program Film Series screening of Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? on Thursday, February 14, in the W.T. Young Library Auditorium. Doors open at 7:00 P.M. and the screening begins at  7:30. You don’t have to sign in, but make sure I see you there. Make sure you stay the whole time. If you get up and leave during the film or the Q&A (except for an emergency), then you won’t be eligible for the extra credit.
2. After seeing the film, write a one page letter to a specific person or audience (it could be a friend, parent, grandparent, sibling, etc.) explaining why that person should see this film. Reference specific parts of the film that you think appeal to the person, and think about the needs of that person: why would that person like this film? What would he or she gain from seeing it? You don’t actually have to send the letter to the person; you just have to give it to me.

Stipulations

1. Your letter has to be satisfactory level for you to receive the extra credit (equivalent to what would receive a “check” on homework); if it’s not satisfactory level, I’ll give you one chance to fix it.
2. For doing the extra credit, you will receive one-half letter grade added to your first project. On the 12 point scale, this means that you will get one more point. For example, a B- (8 points) would become a B (9 points).
3. Remember, for Eng 203, you must receive a C-level grade or higher grade on all major assignments to pass. The extra credit cannot take you from a non-passing grade to a passing grade. For example, if you received a D+ on the paper and did the extra credit, then you would still have to do a rewrite. The project itself has to be at C-level. Your extra credit would be applied after the rewrite succeeds. Therefore, the rewrite would take you to a C- (5 points), and the extra credit would bring your grade up to a C (6 points).

Let me know if you have any questions about the extra credit assignment.

For more information about the Writing Program Film Series, please visit the website.

If you would like to learn more information about Film Series event, you’re invited to join the Film Series Facebook group.

This assignment is due by 1:00 P.M. on Sunday, February 3. You may turn in this assignment early, as soon as you have it ready, and I will get my feedback to you that much sooner.

*Assignment should be submitted via e-mail as an attachment. Please be sure that your file is saved as a .doc/.docx (Microsoft Word format) or a .rtf (rich text format) file. I will use the comments feature in Microsoft Word and return your proposals to you via e-mail. The proposal gives you an opportunity to spell out your ideas before you begin your rough draft, and it gives me a chance to provide you with any kind of feedback that I deem useful to you.

Directions: Your proposal will be approximately 1 page single-spaced and consist of three paragraphs that contain the following information.

In the first paragraph, identify the ethical system that you’re applying to the work in your essay. The way you define ethics–based on both your own ideas and the definitions and examples that you find–will influence the way you write about the situation. As the assignment sheet suggests, you should choose a specific ethical framework (shareholder theory, stakeholder theory, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, environmental ethics, and so on) to set up your analysis. Explain why you have chosen the specific ethical system (or combination of ethical systems) that will use in the essay.

The second paragraph should summarize the specific situation within the play or film that you will discuss. Describe why you picked this situation and how it represents an ethical dilemma. Point to specific parts of the play where this situation stands out. Also, in this paragraph, give your working thesis statement; what is your argument? As you work on the essay, you may decide to revise your thesis; in fact, you should probably revise your thesis to address complexities that come up in your research. Chapter 5 of Business Writing and pages 289-90 of The St. Martin’s Handbook provide you with some useful advice on writing thesis statements.

In your final paragraph, write two specific questions you have about this assignment. I will respond to your questions the best I can. Please do not ask questions such as “What do I need to do to get an A on this project?”; instead, your questions should be about content or structure: “How can I represent another side of this argument?” or “Where in my essay should I present opposing viewpoints to my own?”

Evaluation: Like other homework assignments, your proposal will be graded on a check-plus, check, check-minus, no credit scale.

Directions: Choose an important character from An Enemy of the People and write a one page (single-spaced) profile of this specific character. You can organize your profile in the manner that serves you best, but the following questions may help develop your profile:

• With which character(s) is your character in conflict?
• What are some of the key scenes where your character acts in particularly ethical or unethical ways?
• What seems to motivate this specific character?
• What sacrifices is this character willing to make in order to get what he or she wants?
• How does this specific character change over the course of the play? What factors motivate the changes in this character?

Feel free to move beyond these questions. Develop your profile with specific examples and incidents from the play’s text; be sure to reference your use of these examples (quotations, paraphrases, etc.) in MLA, APA, or Chicago style.

If you have questions about this assignment, email me.