Your Questions About Doing Business Online Unit 8

Finishing my degree — which major?

In 1994, I left college, but was still allowed to go through graduation ceremonies, some hours short of completion. Now that I see it, I have basically 30 hours or a full year of undergrad left. I really wrangled my way into the line for grad. Naturally I never got a diploma for my empty folder. But, my whole family thought I had graduated.

I have worked as a freelance writer, holding myself out as having a degree in English. I got 2 books published 4 and 8 years ago, I have published articles, blogs and business and grant proposals. I have done mission trips and ministry work with my writing, and am up for a major journalism fellowship (I did not pretend to have a degree on that application). Lately, I have felt very guilty about pretending to have a degree when I don’t.

Due to serious illness in our family, the construction and publishing markets (my husband’s and my work) and a variety of other factors I’m not going to detail here, our family is on welfare right now. As a bit of background, I have not been offered a full time job in five years in spite of my best efforts. I get part time jobs easily and freelance writing jobs easily — they just don’t pay enough for us to pay our bills. My husband (who remodels houses but doesn’t charge near enough to support us) and I have to cooperate with the job placement plan in order to keep getting welfare. It’s not that the few hundred dollars is such a big deal, but under the program, and since I don’t have outstanding student loans, I can go back to school and finish my degree with distance learning through a university about 40 miles from here. I can take online classes or some classes at a center in my town. It will actually take about 2 years because I have to earn 45 hours at this new school to graduate from it. This program offers adult learners courses at the upper undergrad levels and counts whatever coursework you’ve done to meet the core education requirements. You have to have completed 60 hours to get in and I’ve completed 98.

Here are possible majors available to me:

1. English. Pro: it was already my major and I have a lot of work done in it. Con: I don’t see how it will get me farther than I am now. I’m already a published author and journalist and not making enough money at it. I can already get hired for writing jobs based on my talent — not to brag, it’s just a fact.

2. Psychology — Pro: I like people and helping others. Con: I have absolutely no hours in psychology right now and would have to start with Psych 101. Like all of these, I have the educational core done, but would have to take a bunch of psych and other social science courses.

3. Business administration. I do have nonprofit experience but my lack of degree has kept me from ever getting a job with it. I have no interest in business courses, I’m bad at math, possibly too chaotic for accounting, but I would make more money I think.

4. Teaching certification — I would go for secondary English. Pro: very easy for me to finish up and possibly steady work that I’d enjoy. Con: Our local school district cut a bunch of teachers this year and I don’t want to uproot the kids. I quit the teaching unit when I was at uni before because I didn’t think I would be the best teacher.

5. organizational management — like bus admin but less accounting and other drudgery. Might help me grow my writing business or get a job with a cool organization.

What’s your advice? Hope it wasn’t too long. I tried to break it up into a lot of paragraphs. Thanks.

Spiritually Speaking — what should I study going back to college?

In 1994, I left college, but was still allowed to go through graduation ceremonies, some hours short of completion. Now that I see it, I have basically 30 hours or a full year of undergrad left. I really wrangled my way into the line for grad. Naturally I never got a diploma for my empty folder. But, my whole family thought I had graduated.

I have worked as a freelance writer, holding myself out as having a degree in English. I got 2 books published 4 and 8 years ago, I have published articles, blogs and business and grant proposals. I have done mission trips and ministry work with my writing, and am up for a major journalism fellowship (I did not pretend to have a degree on that application). Lately, I have felt very guilty about pretending to have a degree when I don’t.

Due to serious illness in our family, the construction and publishing markets (my husband’s and my work) and a variety of other factors I’m not going to detail here, our family is on welfare right now. As a bit of background, I have not been offered a full time job in five years in spite of my best efforts. I get part time jobs easily and freelance writing jobs easily — they just don’t pay enough for us to pay our bills. My husband (who remodels houses but doesn’t charge near enough to support us) and I have to cooperate with the job placement plan in order to keep getting welfare. It’s not that the few hundred dollars is such a big deal, but under the program, and since I don’t have outstanding student loans, I can go back to school and finish my degree with distance learning through a university about 40 miles from here. I can take online classes or some classes at a center in my town. It will actually take about 2 years because I have to earn 45 hours at this new school to graduate from it. This program offers adult learners courses at the upper undergrad levels and counts whatever coursework you’ve done to meet the core education requirements. You have to have completed 60 hours to get in and I’ve completed 98.

Here are possible majors available to me:

1. English. Pro: it was already my major and I have a lot of work done in it. Con: I don’t see how it will get me farther than I am now. I’m already a published author and journalist and not making enough money at it. I can already get hired for writing jobs based on my talent — not to brag, it’s just a fact.

2. Psychology — Pro: I like people and helping others. Con: I have absolutely no hours in psychology right now and would have to start with Psych 101. Like all of these, I have the educational core done, but would have to take a bunch of psych and other social science courses.

3. Business administration. I do have nonprofit experience but my lack of degree has kept me from ever getting a job with it. I have no interest in business courses, I’m bad at math, possibly too chaotic for accounting, but I would make more money I think.

4. Teaching certification — I would go for secondary English. Pro: very easy for me to finish up and possibly steady work that I’d enjoy. Con: Our local school district cut a bunch of teachers this year and I don’t want to uproot the kids. I quit the teaching unit when I was at uni before because I didn’t think I would be the best teacher.

5. organizational management — like bus admin but less accounting and other drudgery. Might help me grow my writing business or get a job with a cool organization.

What’s your advice? Hope it wasn’t too long. I tried to break it up into a lot of paragraphs. Thanks!

Kitchen remodelling? How to choose a kitchen fitters?

I’m hoping to get my very, very old and unsafe kitchen redone. The units, frame, worktops etc are beyond repair and despair.
I cannot spend a fortune on it, I have had a quote for about a grand over my budget not including all appliances from B&Q for the cheapest units/doors they can do (their fitting cost is double that of the kitchen)
I have had a quote from a local company (I have seen their showroom/business near where I live for over 10 years) for about £500 under my budget, including all the appliances I will need, in the style I originally wanted but couldn’t afford at B&Q.
Do I go for a large well known company with fairly bad reviews on the fitting or a local company, that’s quite a bit cheaper but have no reviews online anywhere?
What sort of questions should I ask or research should I do to avoid being ‘scammed’ by a dodgy company (B&Q or the local one)
Its our first time to do this frankly disgusting kitchen (mould, burnt, falling apart, peeling layers of paint on worktops, the whole thing is over 25 years old and not safe for us or our kids) I don’t want to spend forever deciding, the work needs to be done within 6-8 weeks.
Part of me thinks the work needs doing so badly, anything is better than whats there at the moment. Just get it done and if in 5 years things need doing its just a case of changing doors or whatever and will be cheaper to do.
Also I’m worried that from looking at my kitchen they’ll know I’m desperate and it’s already so bad and just do a cr@ppy job?
Any ideas, advice, your own experiences, things you would have done differently if you could, etc much appreciated.

Now we see there is school book bias..?

Wisconsin mother is furious that her tax dollars helped buy a middle-school textbook that includes a passage from Barack Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention — but has no mention of John McCain.

The woman, who spoke to FOXNews.com on the condition of anonymity because she feared business reprisals, became upset after her 13-year-old son told her his advanced English class in Racine, Wis., had read about Barack Obama in a textbook, “McDougal Littell Literature, Grade 8.”

The textbook, published by an arm of Houghton Mifflin Company, focuses on a portion of Obama’s 1995 autobiography, “Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance,” in which Obama writes about a month-long visit by his Kenyan father when he was 10 and living in Hawaii.

The 20-page section, which kicks off with a student discussion of “What Makes You Proud?” ends with a portion of Obama’s speech, “Out of Many, One,” at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston, and a photo of him there, surrounded by Obama placards.

Obama was running for Senate in Illinois in 2004.

“The kicker was the photo towards the end with Obama and at least eight visible Obama signs, and the one with the Web site on it,” she said. “Obviously, it was the 2004 Web site, but you can still go right to it, and I think that to me was just over the top. It didn’t need to be in there.”

The mother said any mention of Obama should have included passages from other politicians, such as McCain.

“McCain is a prisoner of war — that’s a story in itself,” she said. “Or Dick Cheney’s wife has written children’s stories. Was that in any of their books?”

But she said she’d prefer not to see any politicians in the English text.

“As a taxpayer, we’re paying for these books, and there should not be a story about Obama in this book right now and there should not be a story about McCain in this book,” she said.

Obama’s passage appears in the textbook along with noted authors and thinkers, including Maya Angelou, Isaac Asimov and Emily Dickinson, according to ClassZone.com, which is the online educational supplement to the book.

A representative from the Racine Unified School District said no parent has complained to officials about the text, which is used by students in the district’s eight middle schools. The district has 21,000 students.

“The Racine Unified School District DOES NOT endorse any candidate or political party,” the school said in a written statement. “The choice of this selection was to provide a contemporary and multicultural figure to explore the unit on community.”

Six teachers and three district staff members chose the textbook, district spokeswoman Stephanie Hayden said.

“The Racine Unified School District is a multicultural school district with 49 percent of our student body comprising students of color,” the school said. “Identifying materials that reflect our student population is a priority.

“The selection in question is part of a larger unit centered around the question, ‘If the people within a community accept each others’ difference, how do individuals and their community benefit and prosper?'” the statement continued. “The selections, ‘Dreams of My Father’ and ‘Out of Many, One,’ fit into the curriculum by requiring students to engage in the central question around these and other selections.”

The mother, who says she’s an independent, contacted the blog “Real Debate Wisconsin” to tell it about the textbook, rather than approach teachers, because she said she didn’t want to jeopardize her son’s grades.

She said she was also angered by Obama’s biography in the textbook that included a passage entitled “A Life of Service,” which said Obama “was offered jobs working for an important judge and in high-powered law firms, but instead he chose to return to Chicago to practice civil-rights law.”

“They had to go into all the details about his ‘life of service’ and how he could have taken a higher paying job … It just doesn’t feel right to me. It’s very political,” the woman said.

Her son, she said, doesn’t understand her concern.

“It worries me that, you know, he’s in eighth grade and already he’s thinking that Obama is just going to win because everybody likes him,” she said. “Why in a school does everybody like him? I’ve got to believe there are kids who like McCain too.”

A spokesman for Houghton Mifflin said Obama’s passage appeared in its national edition of the 2008 textbook, but that the decision to include his writings occurred in 2005, before the Illinois politician decided to run for president.

“The more recent editions bearing 2009 copyrights of these books, published in 2008, do not include the selection,” Richard Blake told

help! is this scam from beijing olympic games or what ?

okay i recently received this msg, :

Printable View This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message – Mark as Unread ]

Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 21:51:47 +0200
From: “PROMOTION OLYMPICS” ..
Subject: BEIJING WORLD CYBER OLYMPICS GAMES CONGRATULATION (YOU JUST WON LOTTERY)YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS WON THE LOTTERT””’
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
Category A Prize Winner
CONGRATULATIONS!!

BEIJING WORLD CYBER OLYMPICS GAMES 2008 LOTTO PROMOTION.
SPONSORED BY AUTOMOBILE AND TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRIES IN HONG KONG AND CHINA

Sir/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the NLF ONLINE International Lottery BEIJING WORLD CYBER OLYMPICS GAMES 2008 Lottery programs that entered on your e-mail addresses amongst other addresses for the international lottery programs conducted by NLF ONLINE, were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individuals e-mail addresses from all over the word as part our automobile business and telecommunication promotion programmed in hong kong and china.

Your e-mail address attached to the ticket number
719-226-1212 with serial number 802-57, drew lucky numbers 5, 12, 18, 30, 17, 43, and Bonus numbers 777 , Your INSURANCE Number: FLS411/ 820L /GMSA, which consequently won in the 1st category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of USD$ 500,000.00 (Five hundred thousand United States Dollars) from a total sum of USD $2,500,000.00 shared amongst the first 5 lucky winners entered in their 1st category, BEIJING WORLD CYBER OLYMPICS GAMES 2008 FORTUNE LOTTO DRAW.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individuals email addresses and names from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every year. This lottery was SPONSORED BY AUTOMOBILE AND TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRIES IN HONG KONG AND CHINA.
However, you have automatically qualified to take part in our next year USD5 million international lottery programs.

To file for your claim now, please contact transglobal
Trust finance Agency lottery Agent. Mr. LINZ HONH

CHINA HEADQUARTERS
WINNERS ORIENTATION CENTRE,
# R04 UNIT/639 HUANSHI DONG LU
BEIJING, CHINA
EMAIL:beijing_olympics@movemail.com
ENGLISH SPEAKING DEPARTMENT
DIRECT HOTLINE:+86 13265110917
FAX=86 -020-38297882
Please provide him with your 6 digit numbers 8, 3, 7, 9, 5, 2 and your password RRTAz15. You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information as soon as possible:
1. Name in full:
2. Address:
3. Nationality:
4. Age:
5. Occupation:
6. Phone/Fax:

If you do not contact your claims agent within 7 working days of this notification, your winnings would be revoked. Winners are advised to keep their winning details/information from the public to avoid fraudulent claim (IMPORTANT) pending the transfer/claim by Winner.
Congratulations once again!
REPLY linzhonh@hotmail.com

Sincerely yours,
Mr. linzhonh
V.P. Finance
The LOTTERY COORDINATOR.
en. beijing2008. cn

AND THE SCAM PART IS THIS:

Scam Related to the 2008 Beijing OlympicsWe have recently seen a scam purporting to be from the China National Offshore Oil Corporation that makes claims of winning money and a trip to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The email looks like the usual “Winning Notification” lottery emails that are all too common. However, the twist is that not only do you “win” money, but you also win a trip to the 2008 Olympics. This is the first scam that we have seen that tries to live off the name of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The China National Oil Corporation is currently a hot stock market pick and owns a certain portion of valuable crude oil worldwide. By utilizing this known company to promote a “free” trip to the Olympics the scammer is looking to receive a lot of interest on this offer. And what does the spammer hope to receive in return? Valuable personal information. Here is a sample of one of the spam emails:

From: XXXXXX@hotmail.com
Subject: CONGRATULATION!!!! Beijing 2008 Olympics games promotion

WINNING NOTIFICATION/ FINAL NOTIFICATION
We happily announce to you the results of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation Olympic LOTTO AWARDS,International online Sweepstakes ……which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e. match 5 plus bonus.
Our organization here in China decided to sponsor 100 eligible adults
to visit the Peoples Republic of China in August for the Olympics and
you have therefore been approved to start the process of opening line
of communication with our agents in other to obtain visit permits.

Your agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him and
provide him with the below details.
*Name of Winner:
*Address:
*Nationality:
*Sex:
*Tel:
*Occupation:
*Age:
*Amount Won:
*Lucky Nos:
*Ticket No:

The fact that the company this scam is purportedly coming from is a hot stock market pick right now combined with winning money and a free trip to the Olympics is bound to incite interest amongst recipients. This is a classic example of enticement. Scammers that pretend to come from a well known source immediately ease the recipient’s doubts using the “known” factor. Then, they offer up free goods. In this case, the free goods consist not only of money but also coveted Olympics tickets.

As always, be cautious of opening and/or responding to unsolicited email. Before you open any email, be certain that you are expecting the email or at least have a good idea of what it is about, you know the sender, and that the sender’s email address is familiar. The unfortunate part of this classic type of ruse is that in many cases, the old adage applies: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Posted by Kelly Conley on November 15, 2007 05:00 AM

THE THING IS ARE BOTH THE SAME ?
And what should i do? reply it ? im just 14 and i shouldnt be playing lotteries. i never take part in the contest before