PDP: Update

Form 5 contacts in South Africa or around the world for possible animal care jobs: 

I found this site to be a great source!!

http://www.pherkad.com/jobs.html

wildlife@cradleoflife.co.za - Charles Jones @Craddle of Life- Animal Rehabilitation

http://www.aza.org/joblistings/ offer jobs in zoo keeping in the US

http://www.conservationafrica.net/projects/rehabilitation

http://aazk.org/job-listings/ the American Zookeepers Association offers jobs in the us and occasionally has international opportunities :)

Entrepreneurship

Choose a focus of either your final project topic or your career plan to develop an entrepreneurial assessment of yourself. This should be about a "1-page" activity. Some of these questions may help guide your thoughts: Do you want to be a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?" What traits and/or strengths do you see in your PDP that aligns with your thought? What weaknesses or opportunities for improvement do you notice that you would like to address to become a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?" Is entrepreneurship just about starting a business? Or is it much deeper and holistic than that? As the world quickly changes, which type of folks do you feel will be more on their "toes" and less on their "heels." Who do you think will achieve and live the happinesses that they seek in life?

 I see myself as a businessperson/entrepreneur...I would like to utilize both aspects into one. In working at a zoo you are a group but work independently. And if I decide to go into more vet work down the road I would need to be a entrepreneur with great business women skills. I would need to know how to manage and keep a business organized. I believe everyone can achieve and live the happiness that they seek because at one point in life what you think will make you happy you might find later on isn't really what makes you happy. Happiness and the overall goal is all in the eyes of the beholder what me see that looks like unfulfilled happiness to that person could be sweet and utter bliss. For instance, there are many people who when going to school seek being a high powered business person who once they have a family and kids decide that being a stay at home parent actually makes then happier then the business field ever did.

Implementing a Lean Process

Based on our discussion in class today, implement and document a quality improvement process to the project/situation in which you performed a 5S process. This implementation must be based on the muda listed on the lean manufacturing wiki site. (note: there are several additional more modern types that you could utilize if need be)

For the documentation, list/describe the waste you have identified and explain the process change you have implemented. Either collect some data that demonstrate your improvement, or realistically estimate the effect that your improvement will have on your process.

 I discovered I waste more time later trying to organize all the mess that accumulates, if I sort and put away my clothes right after they are washed and dried then no mess seems to build. Also when I got home and come back I need to take the time as soon as I get home to put my things back where they belong or they will sit where I put them until I eventually have enough time to get to putting them away. I estimate doing this will eliminate time lost spending organizing later on or time I spend going through my belongings trying to find the intended article of clothing. Overall this has eliminated some waste and will save me more time in the long run. 

Criterian for Evaluation: Group Rnaking

Here are the Criteria discussed in class. Use these to shape the final criteria that will be used by your group. Post the final criteria and the process you will use to evaluate and rank the members of your team related to the final project.

-Attendance/Participation

-Tasks Accomplished

-Professionalism

-Communication

-Contribution

I don't feel this evaluation is fair or just seeing that my group is having to work so much as a team to tackle each part. Ranking us wouldn't be right. But I think for redoing our project so many times after the main topic got changed my group did an awesome job!!! :)

5S Process

Tackling cleaning my room....

1st-I sorted through my clothes, divided them into what needed to be hangup or put in the drawers and bags that needed to be hung in my other closet. 

2nd-I straightened up and put everything in its proper place, I like to keep my clothes and closet color coordinated. 

3rd- I'm trying to maintain cleaning up after myself so that it stays clean!! 

4rd-I now make sure that once I do laundry or come home from vacation to put everything away once its clean and washed otherwise it will just turn into a massive pile once again on my futon. 

5th-Sustain clean room!! This requires me to put things away when I'm done using them and not expecting to come back later and deal with it because then it just turns into a bigger pile with everyday that goes by.

Quality Management

Association of Zoos and Aquariums 

Animal Management

More than 175 million people visit AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums annually. Exceptional management of the animals within, and cooperatively between these institutions, is vital for ensuring that healthy, genetically diverse populations are sustained.  Information, protocols, and tools have been developed for animal record keeping, collection planning, and population management that serve to facilitate exceptional animal management techniques.

Animal Data and Record Keeping

Animal data and records must be expertly documented in an effective and efficient manner. The AZA Animal Data Information Systems Committee and Institutional Data Management Advisory Group focus on advancing and providing the latest technology in this field of expertise. A variety of reference materials and animal record keeping software programs including ARKS4, MedARKS, and SPARKS, have been developed to meet these objectives. 

Collection Planning

Extensive collection planning processes are required to meet not only the needs of each AZA-accredited institution, but also to secure the well-being of the species as a whole between these institutions. Several tools and mechanisms are provided to facilitate the development of superior Institutional and Regional Collection Plans including an online Animal Exchange Database. 

Population Management and Related Centers

AZA-accredited institutions must work cooperatively to ensure that the species they care for are managed in a way that assures appropriate population sizes, demography, genetic diversity, and sustainability. The AZA Population Management and Wildlife Contraception Centers play integral roles in meeting this purpose. Group population management strategies and a variety of population management software programs including MateRX, Outbreak, PopLink, PM2000, SPARKS, VORTEX, and ZooRisk have also been developed to further cooperative management techniques.

http://www.aza.org/animal-management/

General Ethics

Code Statements:
AZA Code= http://www.aza.org/Ethics/
USA-Example from the Buffalo Zoo Keeper Manual: http://www.buffalozoo.org/Keeper_Manual__Auckland_Zoo_.pdf 
Australia-http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/about-us/faq/general-zoo-questions/guidelines-and-ethics/
India-http://cza.nic.in/
Thailand-http://www.seaza.org/CommitteeWelfare.html
Saudi Arabia-http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/special_report/section/174.pdf (women's right to work in zoo)
Isreal-http://www.jerusalemzoo.org.il/
Canada- http://www.zoocheck.com/Reportpdfs/Indianreport1.pdf

Ethical Question

Is it ethical for a physician to accept Wild tickets from a pharmaceutical rep to take her family to the game?

-It depends on the circumstances of the ticket giving. If the physician has no intend to buy from the rep and has made his/her intentions to the rep clear and the tickets weren't given as a form of rep hoping to get orders from the physician then yes it is ok. Say the rep had the tickets and is close friends of the physician and all of a sudden the rep has a event or issue that arises preventing the rep from attending the game and they know the physician and their family are fans of the Minnesota Wild then I find no problem in the physician attending the game. But if other motives are behind the ticket gifting then no the physician would be out of line to expect the tickets.

Provide an argument for this based on the current ethical fabric of society and what is accepted in the organizations involved.

Post 9: Project Title, Issue, and Action Plan

Our project is "Solar Power"
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AR-g2f6dIA0oZGdxZG1zaHdfNDN3N3FwMnZoZw&pli=1 "
Is solar power a wise choice for the average household.
Divide and conquer into different options of possible choices for consumers.

Ethical Question for Your Field of Interest

Is allowing/keeping animals in zoos/captivity the best for the animals?

Pros-Zoos and animals in captivity serve as a huge education tool. Animals invasive to particular areas present at zoos allow children and adults to learn and interact with them like they never could before. In many areas certain animals have stereotypes and bad stigmas behind them, but education of people helps to break and make people see past these bad stereotypes. Zoos also have species on the verge of extinction and AZA accredited zoos breed to keep certain genetic lines pure. In the wild due to decreasing numbers animals are interbreeding creating mutations within genetic lines without the work of zoos a clean genetic line in some species would not be found anymore. And many species on the verge of extinction would in fact be completely extinct. Another large need for zoos is that zoos allow animals who are kicked out of there natural habitats by humans a place to continue there lives, with cities growing bigger and country area depleting space in the wild for animals is largely decreasing.

Cons-Confinding animals that are meant to be roaming in the wild to a cage for the rest of their life can be very tramatising to the animal. People view zoos as a form of exploiding animals instead of as a means of education and think the animals are being treated in a way like some would say "circuis" freaks put in cages to ooh and aww at instead of being praised and appreciated for the beautiful animals they are and their interesting ways of life. By keeping and mating animals in captivity many lose their natural mating and parenting abitlites they develop over time in the wild.
Personal-In my eyes a zoo is a good and a bad thing. AZA accredited zoos are great places for animals to live since they have such high standards set for the animals being kept at there facilities. They only encourage the best and cleanest genetic line to help animal species approaching extinction. Zoos also play a large role in education, from working at the Green Bay NEW Zoo this summer as an education intern I saw first hand the many steps and areas a zoo covers to education chilren and adults on the animals we have in the zoo and in the wild. I believe zoos can be a great thing if they are kept up to a certain standard of living for the animals and education standard for the fecilitators of the zoo.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-zoos.html
http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=1

Diversity

Talk about what diversity means to you. And explain how valuing and championing diversity will help you in your career.
-Diversity to me means being diverse in religion, culture, race, and so many more ways of life.  In my career I'll be open to all diversities, especially since I want to travel being open to different cultures will really help me keep an open mind and not judge others and the way they live.

Post the diversity statements from 5 companies or organizations in your field of interest, comment how they are similar and/or different. How do each of these fit with your own diversity values?

-Diversity statements could not be found under any of the jobs postings I found for my career path.

My Professional Development Plan (PDP)

• What should be in a PDP for this class? -My career/life overall goals for the future.
• Where are you now in your life? -Graduating in May 2012 looking to seek employment in the Zoo Keeper field or some field working with animals. Wanting to travel the world and experience more in life.
• Where do you want to be? -5 years I want to have traveled the world, be married or in a loving/happy relationship. Happy with my career and life choices. Hopefully working at a job centered around animal care potentially working my way up to be a Animal Curator at a Zoo. 1o years I want to have children, a house and a career I enjoy with lots of family and love in my life.(Be happy!)
• Long Term Goals -A career centered around animals and being happy with my job no matter what. I don't ever wanna feel like I'm not enjoying what I'm doing.
• Strategy -Work hard in school to graduate, be focused on what I really want for my career/future and not what others expect from me or want me to do based on financial situations. Be very open to trying new things and experiencing everything life has to offer.
• Enduring (Values) -Be focused, family is always the most important thing in my life, remember to make myself happy in the long run, morals, and ethical values. I value local/small business.
• Skills list -Willing to learn, eager, focused, determined, hard working.

Carbon Dioxide Paper Evaluation

1.      https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dd6z7wfr_11cqfghqhg

2.      Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the criteria established. Where these good criteria, or should there have been different criteria established?

As a class we agreed on the following criteria to determine if the paper presented is a legitimate scientific paper in today’s society.

a.       References/sources used in the paper are from credible published works.

b.      The scientific methods used in the paper are valid. This includes: accuracy/repeatability, open perspective, non-bias approach, and proper data analysis.

I personally felt that though the criteria established was broad, it did cover many of the main ideas one would use in determining the legitimacy of a scientific paper. Because this was a review publication and not new research the paper became naturally biased by the opinion and viewpoints of the authors.

3.      Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the presentations as a whole. Consider the "yes" and "no" groups as a whole.

As a class I would say that our presentation method improved over the penny presentation, they were more on point with less filler. Some groups from both sides of the argument did put some emphasis on the content of the paper, which was not in the scope of the instructions for the presentation. Another weakness on both sides of the presentation was the lack of collaboration between the groups. If the Yes and No groups would have focused their points on a united front it would have made the presentations flow together and build up on one another.

4.      Reflect on the group management of your group. What went well, what did not?

I would have to say that our group was not as united during the research for the presentation as we should have been. There was an unbalanced group dynamic which I felt took away from the strength of the presentation. Our group decided to go with two presenters who understood the information intimately, this allowed for a united front at the end of the presentation when questions could be asked from the audience.

5.      Reflect on the personal "ethic" you felt in your group. Did you believe in your position? Where you arguing against your beliefs?

As a group we did not discuss if we personally believed in the paper or not, we just focused on the task at hand and felt that we did not want our personal feelings to sway our presentation in any way. When I first read the paper I felt I was on the correct side, the no side, but as I read further into the paper and did some research I flipped by personal belief on the paper. I feel that there was solid information presented along with some “not so solid/more personal or biased” information in the paper. But honestly there are flaws in all papers, given enough time we could have done this class discussion/presentation with any paper and found ways to “tear it apart”.

6.      Did the class make the correct decision when considering the broader impacts of the global warming/climate change debate? Why?

The class decision for the paper was; No it is not legitimate in today’s standards. I think that the class voted based on the groups that presented on Monday rather than the previous Friday groups. I personally felt that one of the Yes groups from Friday did a great job, but because two No groups and one Yes group presented on Monday the No groups tipped the vote.

7.      Explain the statement, "What we do in the US, soon will not matter." Provide evidence to justify this statement.

Because the US has been the super-power for so long we sometimes forget the huge population difference between the US and that of India or China. These are two densely populated countries whose prime focus is developing their country and technology.  There is currently a slow shift in the financial power as the dollar is becoming weaker and the euro is becoming stronger. There is also a rise in anti-American beliefs throughout the world. http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-20/politics/global.trends.report_1_china-power-report-projects?_s=PM:POLITICS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population

8.      Explain this statement, "What we do as individuals matters." Provide evidence to justify this statement.

      What we do as individuals has a impact on our world. For instance look at great icons in history such a Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Albert Einstein. If it weren’t for the actions that these people completed in history our world wouldn’t be what it is today. We have advanced so much over time due to their actions.