Computers in Public Administration-spring-2005

For Jay Mendell's book on overcoming stigma in fund raising, please surf to http://black-sheep-library.com That's Black Sheep Fundraising: Obtaining Dollars Despite Stigma and Prejudice toward Abortion, AIDS, Alcoholism, Birth Control, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Eating Disorders, Gambling, Homelessness, Homosexuality, Mental Disorders, Partner Violence, Sex Education, Teenage Pregnancy, the Unemployed, the Ex-Offenders, the Illegal Immigrants, the Juvenile Offenders, the Elderly, and Other Outcast Causes .

PAD 3712, Computers in Public Administration

Spring 2005, Thursdays, beginning 2004-January-13, from 7:10 p. m. to 10:00 p. m., in LA 340
Florida Atlantic University, Davie Campus

How to reach me.

I'm Jay S. Mendell, professor of nonprofit management in the School of Public Administration. My office is room 470 in the so-called Liberal Arts building in Davie. Never mind my phone number there: use my home phone (954 597-0574) or (for short calls) cell phone (954 895-6364).

Course objective.

I want you to wow your professors in the B. P. M. and later the M. N. M. or M. P. A., programs. I want you to be the "go-to" person when your fellow students in other courses need Internet research help and other computer assistance, and I want them to owe you big favors.

Surprise!

Whenever I feel like it (and I will feel like it often) I will administer a short quiz. My quizzes cover anything I have told you to read, anything in the syllabus, and anything I have said in class. Favorite times for quizzing are one minute after the start of class and right after a break and before I let the class go. You may use your notes and printouts, but you may not borrow. So bring all your material to every class, And please pay close attention and ask questions.

Your grade for a missed quiz will, of course, be a zero. So don't get lost during a break or on the way in from the parking lot.

Attendance and promptness.

You are required to attend every class from the beginning to the end, since you are responsible for every lecture, discussion, comment, and verbal or non-verbal nuance.

If you come up to me and say, "I have got to skip class next week to [insert your lame excuse here]," and I reply, "Okay," this does not mean I have excused you. It just means I have decided to fume quietly. So, if you think that I have promised you an excused absence, see if you can get it in writing or it doesn't count. On the other hand, if you don't discuss your absences with me, I may be more annoyed than if you do.

Limits to compassion.

Various bad things may happen to you if you are absent or late. Late homework will possibly be misplaced. If you are not here to pick it up, already graded homework, it will be trashed.

The importance of visiting this Web page frequently.

Often I will direct important material to you by adding it to this Web page. So you please need to check in here at least twice a week and look carefully for changes. It's a course requirement.

About e-mail.

If you need to send me e-mail, please use mendell@bellsouth. net. And when you send me e-mail, be sure to include your name and maybe your phone numbers, not just your e-mail address.

When you send me e-mail, be sure to use the subject line "I am [your name], a student in CAPM." E-mail from "Hot Lady" or "Super Hacker," about "Easy Dollars" or "You'll never believe this one," goes straight to my delete file, unopened and unread.

Not waiting until the last minute.

Some of the assignments may send you scurrying into the FAU computer labs or hastily calling the wish-I-could-help line or a friend. Don't wait until the last minute to do your assignments

Written work.

I want your written work to look terrific.

For original work, please use Arial or Times Roman fonts, in 10-pt or 12- pt. Don't turn in anything you would not wish to have tacked to the wall, posted on the Web, or duplicated for fellow students to study as a good or bad example. No strange colored, strange sized paper, please: this is HW, not a party invitation. Also, write your name lightly in the upper right every sheet you turn in and identify which assignment it is.

HW that is brought to me on time will be graded 100>, 75>, 50>, or (rarely) 0>. The ">" means the HW may be resubmitted. Late HW will be graded 75, 50, 25 or 0.

What about supper?

We will meet in a computer lab, so eating is out of the question. Eat before class, during the break, or after class.

My teaching style.

I am who I am, and I don't plan to change. If you don't like my style, that's tough. This is an elective course, so go find another.

Free email

http://billing.mail.yahoo.com/bm/MailReg?.done=&.intl=us&.src=ym&.u=1v4avr10qn4ug&partner=&.p=&promo=&.last=

Scholarships

Searching the FAU site http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=site%3Afau%2Eedu+%28scholarship+OR+scholarships+OR+fellowship+OR+fellowships%29

Several scholarship sites http://www.google.com/search?q=scholarships&sa=Google+Search&cat=gwd%2FTop%2FReference%2FEducation&hl=en

Check the end of this Web page for an assignment.

Employment

Career Builder http://www.careerbuilder.com/index.htm?cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=c3431054108b40e09aa37b8e0396743d-155062104-xm-2. Note the section on "diversity jobs" http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/Diversity.htm?sc_cmp2=JS_HP1_SD_DI

Monster.com http://www.monster.com/

Monster.com Career Advice http://content.monster.com/. See especially “salary advice.”

Yahoo! Hot Jobs http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/

Check the end of this Web page for an assignment.

Reference letters

Guide from University of Michigan http://www.cpp.umich.edu/students/refletter/writingguide/

Guide from the National Association of Colleges and Employers http://www.career.vt.edu/Faculty/ReferenceLetters.htm

Check the bottom of this Web page for an assignment.

Purchases

Froogle http://froogle.google.com/

Half.com http://half.ebay.com/index.jsp

Check the bottom of this Web page for an assignment.

The FAU Library Online

Main screen http://www.fau.edu/library/

Proxy Server https://login.ezproxy.fau.edu/login

Books http://webluis.fcla.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/fclwlv3/wlv3/DBwebluis/CM02/DGcat/DBFA/P1basic

Find also "Electronic journals," especially "Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center."

Find also "Electronic books."

Check the bottom of this Web page for an assignment.

Getting the most from Yahoo!

Getting the most from Google and the "Invisible Web"

The Invisible Web

Here is a link on specialized search engines (http://www.leidenuniv.nl/ub/biv/specials.htm).

Here is a tutorial on the Invisible Web (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/InvisibleWeb.html).

And here are locators for the IW.

Posted 2005-03-02

Finding and using databases

Please go to answers.com and find and skim the article on "database." Now find and skim the article on "brownfield land," paying special attention to pollution as an issue.

Now, using Google, find databases on brownfield pollution in Broward, by selecting buzz words from each column in the following table. (Don't feel you have to read straight across the table; feel free to mix and match.)

database	"real estate"	brownfields
"data set"	social conditions	pollution
statistics	pollution	environment
abstracts	brownfields
reports	political conditions
profiles	economy
indicators	economic conditions

Example:

+Broward database +brownfields pollution

Posted 2005-03-21, for the class session of 2005-03-24
Blogging and RSS Syndication

First read and print (hint: I may ask a q. on a quiz) the answers.com essays on blogs and glance (very briefly) at the essay on RSS feeds.

Now, recalling your Yahoo! username and password, go to My.Yahoo.com and log in.

Now go to blogger.com and get a username and password. (You might want to use your Yahoo! username and password.)

Now watch as I set up a blog. You might want to watch the clock.

Now watch as I syndicate by blog to a volunteer's instance of My.Yahoo.com.

Here are two very professionally done blogs:

Michelle Malkin, syndicated in Atom as http://michellemalkin.com/atom.xml

NewHound, syndicated in Atom as http://www.newshounds.us/atom.xml

Let's see you do a blog on blogger and syndicate it on someone else's My.Yahoo.com.

Here, at Fagan Finder, is info on how you can learn the gritty details of syndicating your blog.

Posted 2005-03-31 to improve on blogging.

What is a niche?

Purpose of pursuing a niche.
    Recognition, e. g., in job hunting
    Part-time income
    Full-time occupation

Find your niche
How much interest is there in your niche? See especially Overture.

Niche marketing

Viral marketing and word of mouth

Blogs link to other blogs.

Publicizing your blog.

What makes a blog special?

Making your blog

Now watch as I syndicate by blog to a volunteer's instance of My.Yahoo.com

Social meetings (http://www.meetup.com/)

Networking and schmoozing (http://communication.utexas.edu/ccs/pdf/Handouts/Networking8-02.pdf)
Power-Schmoozing Your Way to the Top (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,299448,00.html)
SCHMOOZING AND BUSINESS ETIQUETTE (http://www.mgt.ncsu.edu/studentinfo/careerserv/Etiquette.doc)
Getting The Most From A Good Story (http://www.sayitwithastory.com/articles/GettingTheMostFromAGoodStory.pdf)

Windows Annoyances

Next, give me a list of three computer topics that you would like to see covered in this class after we have finished with the topics I have picked. Don't go on and on; just commit to three topics, and expect me to call on you in class to justify your choice.

This HW is due at the start of class on 2005-JAN-27. In the upper corner of each page write your name and "HW due 2005-JAN-27."

First, visit salary.com and obtain an estimate of the starting salary for a new (starting) sheriff's deputy in Broward county. Simply print the final results; don't give me an essay.

Second, go to the Broward sheriff's Web page and print out the description for a deputy trainee. Simply print the final results; don't give me an essay.

Third, print out a set of suggestions from the Web on how to dress for a job interview. Assume you are preparing for an entry-level position in the city manager's office. Simply print the final results; don't give me an essay.

This HW is due at the start of class on Thu 2005-02-03. In the upper corner of each page write your name and "HW due 2005-02-03."

Find the complete title, the date (year, at least), and institution (university) of Jay S. Mendell's Ph. D. dissertation. Provide a list of the steps you took to locate the information. Include "dead ends" that led to no answer.

Take notes as you go along, but remember that this has to be typed when you turn it in.

For extra credit (counts as an extra HW), print a page from the dissertation as it appears on line. (It won't be easy to find.)

"Are you aware that FAU changed Reading Day from April 27 to April 28, the day of class?

"http://www.fau.edu/registrar/docs/acadcal0405.pdf

"Can you announce during class if we will still be having class?"

No, there will not be a class that evening. The last evening of required attendance will be April 21, 2005.

This HW is due at the start of class on Thu 2005-02-10. In the upper corner of each page write your name and "HW due 2005-02-10."

One day I was driving on I-95 and listening to WXEL. It was Black History Week, and someone came on and read a rather striking passage from a novel about a hurricane that passed over Lake Okeechobee in western Palm Beach county and killed a many residents. The novelist described the lake as a beast that had been roused from its bed, or some such thing. I jotted down the following notes: "Okeechobee," "beast," "bed," and "hurricane," intending to call FAU's reference desk to see if someone might be able to identify the novel for me. But, first I typed those four words into Google.

Use those four words in Google and you may be surprised to discover that Google identifies the novel and its author. Then go into NetLibrary in the FAU electronic collection and see if they have the novel, and, if they don't, see what the NetLibrary has online about the novel. Just give me a single page -- screen shot from NetLibrary that identifies what they have online.

1) Go to yahoo.com and enter the section on groups. Find grants-central-station and join it. (You can un-join it after this semester.). Now post a message to the group (no later than 2005-02-17 at 7:10 p. m.) The subject line should be "Hello, Jay," and the message should simply be your name in recognizable form, e. g., "John Smith."

2) Concerning the quiz last Thursday. If you had gone into the Britannica in the FAU library, you would have come up with "Hitchiti" and "Kissimmee watershed" as the right answers. If you gave me any other answer, please bring me a screen shot of the Web page on which you found the contrary answer. I'll want the screen shot at 7:10 p. m. this coming Thursday.

For HW, I want to revisit the matter of shopping on the Internet, since the latest issue of Computer Shopper (now on the newsstand, but not yet on the Web (computershopper.com)) offers some good ideas in "25 Ways to ShopLike a Pro."

Suppose you need a new or refurbished laptop computer, which you are willing to buy in a local store or by mail order, You are interested in getting a deal, either a discount coupon or free shipping on your mail order.

First, visit coupon-code.com and dealsdujour.com and find what you consider a good deal. Give me a screen shot and circle the deal.

Third, visit dealsites.net, dealexpert.net, and dealcatcher.com, and see what you come up with. Give me a screen shot and circle the deal. Give me a screen shot and circle the deal.

Spring Break is coming. Be sure to check the official university calendar, especially if you are taking a Saturday class.

In preparation for the lesson on blogging, I want to assess you readiness to express yourself on the Internet.

First, please edit the passage below, improving its spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.

"But I must explain to you, how awl this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born. And I will give you a complete account; of the system; and expound the actual teachings, of the grate explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human hapiness, know one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself (because it is pleasure) but because those who do not no not to pursue pleasure rationally, they encountering consequences that are extremely painful."

Second, please tell me in four to six sentence what you like and don't like about this passage:

Sorry, folks, but I have to cancel class for Thursday evening, 2005-03-17, to recuperate from a bad cold. If you know the phone or email of anyone from class, please make sure they hear about this.

No new HW for next Thursday (March 24, 2005). Just bring the HW I assigned for last Thursday (March 17, 2005).

Deborah Kluge maintains a very interesting Web site called www.proposalwriter.com/, which is easy to locate using Google by entering "deborah kluge". . . She also maintains a blog. Locate her blog and print the first page. Take a pen and circle on the firsdt page of her blog features that are not present in www.proposalwriter.com/,

If you don't believe that web pages and blogs promote communication among strangers, please read the following email exchange between Ms. Kluge and me.

This story about Chris Rock's call phone shows how blogs are disseminated virally.