aM_i_a_Player3 [Online Version]

www.jyhwang.com/newsletter

aM_i_a_Player3 [Printed Version]

Communication: Positive Effects of New Technology in the Workplace

The most recent century has seen rapid change occur more frequently than ever before, especially in 'style of living', due to technological developments. These developments obviously have the aim of making lives better, simultaneously bringing better producing environments to the workplace. Many companies use modern technologies to develop their productive capacity. This means that technological advance improves the quality and quantity of products, affecting staff communication within organisations. This essay will demonstrate that the introduction of new technologies makes communication within organisations, easy and effective.

It has been argued that new technologies such as blogging, instant messaging, Pod casting and streaming media have negative effects rather than develop productive environments. According to Crainer and Dearlove (2004, p. 24), dealing with e-mail requires approximately one hour and forty-seven minutes a day by the average U.S. employee. "It is funny that in an age when e-mail has become such a dominant form of communication, people are writing more than they ever have", Jeff Skoll, eBay president said. He also describes many managers using at least two hours per day answering e-mail at work (Crainer & Dearlove 2004, p. 24). Resulting henceforth is that "the use of electronic communication makes it hard to build a strong culture and develop solid working relationships, and create a mutually supportive atmosphere of trust and cooperation", having replaced traditional communication methods, such as face-to-face meetings and conversations (Davidson & Griffin 2006, p. 602).

Irrespective, these results are a by-product wherewith technology brings more effective and desirable outcomes. Many companies require further developed technologies to improve their workplace. Technology has the potential to mend less-desirable outcomes, continually increasing productivity.

Employees, namely new employees, prefer to use new technologies that reflect their traditional communication methods, in the workplace. According to Parsons and Groh (2006, p. 57), employees' learning styles have become short, simple and personalised in easy and quick environments of education for the workplace. Through their changed styles, most new technologies focus development on quick response, now a common feature of new technologies. The younger generations have been titled the new employees, coming with the move from the "passive" or "pushing" communications to the "active" or "pulling" communications (Goman 2006, p. 8). Moreover, through the new communication methods, employees in a negative emotional state (a bad mood) may turn away from the work at-hand to socially communicate with staff (Eastin et al 2007, p. 436).

Technological developments in the workplace, offers beneficially so, easier communication methods. Even though there are less-desirable effects, for example writing shortcuts of words from please to pls, it is clearly defined that when technologies combine with fundamental tools, such as writing skills, new technologies become more effective, persuasive and powerful as communication methods. An illustration of this is a well-written e-mail, because it is "has numerous other positive attributes, including its ability to be sorted, archived, indexed, and so on" (Crainer & Dearlove 2004, pp. 23 & 26). As such, technology provides the best way to reach, educate, and motivate employees, whether it come through development or more widely introducing current technologies (Parsons & Groh 2006, p. 60).

New technologies can help interaction between employers and employees. As mentioned already, a quick-response is a vital element in producing better quality and quantity products. Parsons and Groh (2006, p. 60) also state that new technologies allow for gathering immediate feedback, connecting with the organisations, and learning about employee desires through interactive tools like blogging, instant messaging, podcasting and streaming media. In addition, it is now the general trend that the employer-employee arrangement is closely connected to the current workforce climate, the overall economy, and generally the events of the generation's formative years (Goman 2006, p. 8).

To conclude, using new technologies to communicate with staff in the workplace is now a natural trend and must be further implemented. Although there are negative effects at the introduction of new technologies, employees prefer new technologies, because they provide and expand friendly communication methods which they are already accustomed to use. In addition, through its strength and effectiveness, employees can work more comfortable and easily. More effective producing systems does technological advance bring to employers. New technologies and technological advance provide positive effects in communication for employees, likewise its affect on employers.


References
Crainer, S. & Dearlove, D. 2004, 'Making Yourself Understood', Across the Board, May/June 2004, pp. 23-27.

Davidson, P. & Griffin, R.W. 2006, 'Managing Interpersonal Relations and Communication', Management, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Milton, pp. 590-608.

Eastin, M.S., Glynn, C.J. & Griffiths, R.P. 2007, 'Psychology of Communication Technology Use in the Workplace', Cyber Psychology & Behavior, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 436-443.

Goman, C.K. 2006, 'Communication for a New Age', Strategic Communication Management, August/September 2006, pp. 8-9.

Parsons, A. & Groh, K. 2006, 'The New Road to Effective Communications', Compensation and Benefits Review, July/August 2006, pp. 57-64.

The Relationships between Governments and Media of South Korea and the United States of America

Introduction
The media is known to be a link between the government and the public. Both try to take the media on their domains in order to be more powerful. All governments seek to control the media and all countries impose restrictions on freedom of speech (Minehan 2007). However, they have been many instances where the public have played a major role in influencing the media against the government.

This essay will analyse the case studies between the two countries of South Korea and the United States of America. These case studies will briefly demonstrate the relationship between the governments and the media of the two respective countries.

South Korea
During the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, two Korean middle school girls were killed by A US military AVLM (Armoured Vehicle Launched Mine Clearing Line Charge) on 13 June in Uijeongbu, South Korea.

The Incident Made by the United States Military in South Korea
According to Ray (2002, para. 1), the two girls, named Mi-Sun Shim and Hyo-Soon Shin, who were close friends since early, were walking on the right side of the country road on the local election day. Tracked vehicles normally travel 50-100 meters apart. The AVLM that squashed the girls was the third vehicle in the convoy. An AVLM has a crew of two: a commander and a driver. The former has a wide view and guides the latter, whose view is restricted to the front and the left side. The driver claimed that he did not see the girls who were on his right.

Normally, the commander should have warned the driver of the time because of the curving uphill slope. At the time, a convoy of armoured cars called Bradley came toward the AVLMs from the opposite direction. Bradley machines are 3.6 meters wide. AVLMs are 3.67 meters wide. And the lane is only 3.4 meters wide. The vehicles swerved away to avoid head-on collection. The killer AVLM swerved to the right to the edge of road which was a sharp drop. The girls saw the Bradley coming in the opposite direction and overed their ears to muffle the Bradley engine noise. However, they could not hear the noise coming from the AVLM bearing down on them. The AVLM commander saw the girls and shouted STOP three times but the driver did not hear him because of a faulty earphone. The AVLM swerved out to squash the girls to death.

The US Military with SOFA (Status-of-Forces Agreement)
Status-of-forces agreements play a vital role in preserving command authority, guaranteeing fair treatment of individual service members, and conserving scarce resources. More importantly, SOFAs deal with civil and criminal jurisdiction. They are a vital means by which the Department of Defence carries out its policy directive "to protect, to the maximum extent possible, the rights of United States personnel who may be subject to criminal trial by foreign courts and imprisonment in foreign prisons" (Global Security 2008).

It may be that SOFA itself is fair and equal - but the truth of the matter is that the Korean lawmen have been shy on taking US military personnel to courts of law. No US military personnel who have committed a crime against Koreans have ever been tried in a Korean court. In the case of the murder of the girls, the Korean prosecutors asked the US military for the right to try the guilty GIs in a Korean court of law, which was rejected by the US military. This was the first time that the Koreans have asked, although half-heartedly and ineptly, to try US military personnel who had committed a crime while on duty.

Sensing belatedly the seriousness of the Korean people's anger at the acquittal of the US Military involved in the death of the girls, Dae-Jung Kim, Korean President at that time, had instructed his lame-duck cabinet to do something to stem the anti-US sentiment sweeping South Korea. Many people suspected that Kim was merely going through the motion in order to look ‘presidential’ and that his heart was with the US military, not with the Korean people. More specifically, Kim instructed his cabinet ministers to come out with ideas to change SOFA so as to placate the Korean people, most of whom deem SOFA humiliatingly one-sided (Kimsoft.com 2002, para. 1).

Anti-America Sentiment, Official Apology and Not-Guilty Verdict
The media through newspapers and television only delivered general information and updates about this incident. They did not want to be a reason of the government's immediately concerns with the 2002 FIFA World Cup going on. However, the public did not forget this occurrence. Five months following the girls’ death, the bubbling anger lead to massive protests by the public. Free media, such as the Internet played a major role in the communication between the citizens. Anti-America sentiment had mounted as a result. Around 100 protesters rallied in front of Camp Casey, a US military base in Uijeongbu, as the US military court opened the trial of one of the two US soldiers who were in charge of the vehicle (AFP 2002). In addition, military commander Lieutenant General Charles Campbell repeated the US military's apology over the deaths, but defended its legal system. "I want again to express my sincere apology and deepest sympathy to the families of Mi-Sun Shim and Hyo-Soon Shin. This was a tragic loss of life and we are deeply sorry," he said in a statement. "Taken together, the verdicts in the two trials that were rendered by two different impartial panels indicate that what occurred was a tragic accident without criminal culpability". The South Korean government had asked for jurisdiction in the case, but the US refused. South Korea's Justice Ministry said it was "dissatisfied" by the verdict but respected the US process (BBC 2002).

The United States of America
The Virginia Tech Massacre
Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old South Korean national arrived in The United States of America at age of eight with his family. Although he was not granted the citizenship status he was granted permanent residency. Furthermore, he was diagnosed with a severe form of an anxiety disorder known as selective mutism in middle school, as well as depression (Wikipedia.org – search term Seung-Hui Cho).

On 16 April 2007, Cho made the deadliest school shooting in US history. He used two firearms during the attacks: a small-bore. 22-caliber Walther P22 semi-automatic handgun and a 9 mm semi-automatic Glock 19 handgun. The shootings occurred in separate incidents, with the first at West Ambler Johnston Hall and the second at Norris Hall. During the two attacks, he killed five faculty members and 27 students and wounded many more. Eleven students died in an intermediate French language class in Norris Room 211. Nine students died in an advanced hydrology class in Room 206. Four students died in an elementary German language class in Room 207. One student died in a solid mechanics class in Room 204. Two students died from the earlier attack in West Ambler Johnston. The Virginia Tech review panel reported that Cho's gunshots wounded 17 other people; 6 more were injured when they jumped from second-story windows to escape (Wikipedia. org – search term Virginia Tech massacre).

South Korean Response
When the citizenship of him became known, most South Koreans were shocked and expressed a sense of public shame. The day after the massacre, South Korea's ambassador to the United States, Tae-Shik Lee, spoke at a candlelight vigil organized by Korean churches. Through tears, Lee suggested the Korean-American community needed to "repent" and volunteered to lead a 32-day fast, one day for each victim. "On the occasion of this shocking incident, the Korean community needs to reflect on itself and take it as an opportunity to incorporate itself with the mainstream of American society", Lee said (Siegel 2007). In addition, the South Korean Cabinet convened an emergency meeting to consider possible consequences, and the South Korean President, Moo-Hyun Roh sent condolence messages to the United States and expressed sorrow that "It was shocked beyond description again over the fact that the tragic incident was caused by a South Korean native who has permanent residency" in the U.S., The Associated Press reported (Sohn 2007). Some Korean-Americans criticised the fasting proposal, saying that it directed undue and irrelevant attention on Cho's ethnicity and not other, more salient, reasons behind the shooting. News reports noted that South Koreans seemed relieved that American news coverage of Cho focused on his psychological problems (Wikipedia. org – search term Virginia Tech massacre).

Conclusion
Through the about case studies of the relationships between governments and media of South Korea and the United States of America, one can notice the difference between the two countries.

In my opinion, the South Korean government has been extremely passive to respect to the killings by officials of a foreign government. I would also believe that the South Korean government is still influenced by the United States of America. In contrast, the shootings by the South Korean national created massive public and media uproar in the United States of America, which made the Korean government, express their deep regret.


Bibliography
'Bush effigy burned as US troops stand trial for girls' death' 2002, AFP, 18 November.

GlobalSecurity.org 2008, 'Status-of-Forces Agreement [SOFA]', viewed 16 January 2008, <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/sofa.htm>.

Kimsoft.com 2002, 'US military personnel commit more than 600 crimes a year in Korea', viewed 16 January 2008, <http://www.kimsoft.com/2002/us_sofa.htm>.

'Korean anger as US soldiers cleared' 2002, BBC, 22 November.

Minehan, M. 2007, COMM 218 Class Lecture Notes.

Ray J.C. 2002, 'How Two Korean Girls Were Killed by Americans - The Basic Facts', viewed 16 January 2008, <http://www.kimsoft.com/2002/how_two_korean_girls_were_killed.htm>.

Siegel, J. 2007, 'Massacre Triggers Korean Soul-Searching', Forward Association, 27 April, viewed 16 January 2008, <http://www.forward.com/articles/10597/>.

Sohn, J.A. 2007, 'South Korea Shocked by U.S. Shooting Link', CNN, 18 April, viewed 16 January 2008, <http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/17/vatech.seoul/index.html>.

Wikipedia.org 2008, 'Seung-Hui Cho', viewed 16 January 2008, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seung-Hui_Cho>.

Wikipedia.org 2008, 'Virginia Tech massacre', viewed 16 January 2008, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre>.

The recipe of BUL GO GI

Ingredients

* Beef(sirloin) 600g

* Sauces:

- Soy sauce : 4 table spoons

- Honey: 2 table spoons
- Minced green onion: 4 table spoons
- Minced garlic: 2 table spoons
- Sesame: 1 table spoon
- Black pepper: 1/2 tea spoon
- Red wine: 5 table spoons
* 2 green onions
* 1/2 onion
* mushrooms
* 2 tea spoons sesame oil

Instructions
1. Slice the beef and chop it
2. Slice the onion and green onions and mushrooms
3. Make sauce
4. Mix all of this with your hands
5. Put it in the refrigerator for one hour
6. Please ready big wok or frying pan and sesame oil
7. Roast that beef and all the ingredients

Mother of Feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft

"Women's rights" is no longer a strange term in these days. Even though it continues to develop in many parts of modern society, it has been accepted more than it was previously. Acceptance of "Women's rights" with its serious considerations and activities has developed considerably in the twentieth century. Within the span of human history before that time, women did not belong to the category of human beings. Women, who were as men's possessions, did not have any rights of politics or finance. Women in that time belonged within men's boundary. Assertion of women's rights by women was treated as madness. Men, even though with progressive ideas, like John Locke, shared the same view regarding women's matters.

Mary Wollstonecraft was the first woman who claimed that women are also humans having rights like men.

Mary Wollstonecraft's Life
'Mother of feminism', Mary Wollstonecraft was born on 27 April 1759 in London and died on 10 September 1797 in London. Wollstonecraft was a writer, philosopher and feminist in the eighteenth century British Enlightenment. She also wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book and a children's book.

Her early life influenced her future activities. Young Wollstonecraft grew up with her father, Edward John Wollstonecraft, who physically abused his wife. In those times, the meaning of wife was not an equal human being with her husband. Woman was the husband's property. For this reason, Wollstonecraft's mother was obliged to live with her husband. One of Wollstonecraft's sisters, Eliza, got married while young to escape her family, but failed in married life and became a mentally deranged person. Moreover, the sister suffered social condemnation and subsequently could not remarry, being doomed to a life of poverty and hard work.

Mary Wollstonecraft recognised that women must have the right to live as no men's possessions when she was a private tutor for an upper class family. Even though the upper class people possessed political and financial power, they thought that women were just like men's accessories, without personal rights. In that time, irrespective of social rank, women of society were treated as sexual objects, housekeepers and child breeders, being allowed to learn only of being these. Wollstonecraft insisted that educational inequality must be destroyed and women needed education to get back women's rights and equality through equal opportunity in education for men and women.

In the period which gave birth to the French Revolution, human rights were regarded as a significant concern. Mary Wollstonecraft published books which expressed concepts of women's rights, then coming to Paris- the mecca for development of human rights generally- she broadened her knowledge through argument and companionship with the intellectuals. At that time she met a man, Gilbert Imlay, an American adventurer. She fell in love with him but their relationship ended, leaving Wollstonecraft pregnant. Men leaving women while pregnant was not a matter of taboo at the time. However, such occurrences in conjunction with societal status, dealt a harsh blow to women. Mary Wollstonecraft was deserted with Imlay's baby. After returning to London, she tried to kill herself at the River Thames. Wollstonecraft was not to die that day, soon after entering deeply into the study of inequality and issues of love between men and women.

Mary Wollstonecraft met with William Godwin, an anarchist, who had friendly feelings towards her. Godwin consoled her, suggesting a rectified approach to relationships between men and women, henceforth the pair themselves, as equal human beings. They wed, both continuing to dwell separately, not interfering with each other's work. After their marriage, they continued to respect each other's personality and individuality.

Wollstonecraft died of septicaemia on 10 September 1797, 10 days after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary. However, her thoughts regarding women's rights were handed down to her daughters. Her first daughter, Fanny, kept company with George Gordon Byron, an English poet and a leading figure in Romanticism, all her life. The second daughter, Mary, was the author of Frankenstein, a novel infused with elements of a Gothic nature and the Romantic Movement.

The Eighteenth Century
During the eighteenth century, in Britain, women were separated in 'function' and disposition from that of men. Separations occurred in both public and private domains. Men developed progressively in the public area while women stayed home, functioning as a support for their husbands, personifying a pure heart for the private domain. Through such imposed character functions, women were not independent human beings. Women were relative beings defined by their relationship to others. Moreover, women required their virginal purity, deviation from the expected purity being cruelly judged, where not so with men. As such, two distinctions in judging of sexual standards were reinforced and amplified in the societal psyche.

Marriage was a purpose of life for women, but by law it meant an end to a life of individual decision. Women's rights were limited. Women could not sign any contracts, institute any lawsuit or leave a personal will. Even though one's "home" was the private area of a woman as wife, the financial rights in the home were dominated by the husband. All property, income and children were also a husband's possessions.

In the late eighteenth century, the French Revolution brought many changes for women. Women's participation in the Revolution was unique and unprecedented, being involved individually and in combination with men more than ever before. Women became members of political clubs and established clubs of their own. In addition, women's ideals about rights were publicised, notably For the Admission to the Rights of Citizenship for Women (1790) by Marquis de Condorcet, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791) by Olympe de Gouges, and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft.

Hyena in Petticoats
In Europe, the eighteenth century, there was a movement to recover human rights from the aristocratic class. Many people of progressive ideas published personal theories to accomplish the aim. The public supported these approaches, subsequently diffusing throughout the world. However, Wollstonecraft's book was not supported by the general public, being innovative thought at the time; few people then thought that women and men were equals. Furthermore, two of the most progressive thinkers, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, also thought that women were naturally weaker than men, and as such women are never equal to men. Her ideas were truly revolutionary. One critic described Wollstonecraft as a "Hyena in Petticoats".

Wollstonecraft did not express thoughts as combatively as the French supporters of women's rights, such as Marquis de Condorcet and Olympe de Gouges. Her ideas focused on which women were not treated reasonably, being human beings in the society. Moreover, she claimed that both men and women were equal human beings and denying women equal rights treat them as worthless.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
One of her major books, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), presents a kind of report analysing sexual differences between men and women within each historical age. The book arranged well her argument, explaining the rights of men and the rights of women to be one and the same thing, stating that to obtain social equality, society must rid itself of the monarchist, church and military hierarchies (Simkin 1997, para. 7). The aim of this book was that women must be recognised as sharing with men the capacity and right to be regarded as autonomous beings, entitled to recognition as citizens in the civic sphere (Caine 1997, p. 24). This was conveyed as her main point, decidedly more important than specifically women's participation in politics the same as men. In addition, she emphasised that "Till women are more rationally educated, the progress in human virtue and improvement in knowledge must receive continual checks" (Wollstonecraft 1792, Ch. 3), and the young women they tried to teach had already been effectively enslaved by their social training in subordination to men (Kemerling 2006, para. 1).

"It would be an endless task to trace the variety of meanness, cares, and sorrows, into which women are plunged by the prevailing opinion that they were created rather to feel than reason, and that all the power they obtain, must be obtained by their charms and weakness" (Wollstonecraft 1792, Ch. 4).

The First Feminist
Through the French Revolution, liberalists declared that all human beings were considered to be equal, but all equal beings did not include women. Women had recognised their own rights since the French Revolution. In this historical background, Mary Wollstonecraft's book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), became the first declaration of feminism in Britain and the United States of America. This book is still very important, because it proclaimed women's rights, namely suffrage, education, occupation, whilst directing the Enlightenment campaign towards the realization of women's rights. This book can be defined as the beginning of feminism. As such, it can be said that the history of feminism spans 200 years, however, Wollstonecraft herself would never have referred to her text as feminist because the words feminist and feminism were not coined until the 1890s. Moreover, there was no feminist movement to speak of during Wollstonecraft's lifetime. According to Caine (1997, p. 24), a new dimension to political theory means stretching the liberal temperament so as to incorporate into political thinking explicit concern for the quality of personal relations and day-to-day conditions of the ordinary citizens. Although Wollstonecraft enunciated that women's independence in finance had to be reinstated from the hold of men, she did not suggest any substantial ways to implement this. However, she assisted in helping women achieve a better life, not only for themselves and for their children, but also for their husbands (Kreis 2004, para. 9).

In the late twentieth century, many books evaluating Mary Wollstonecraft were published when women's rights were reassessed more than ever before, namely One Woman's "Situation" (1970) by Margaret George, Mary Wollstonecraft (1972) by Eleanor Flexner, and The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft (1974) by Claire Tomalin. Interpretation of success aside, she remains the first feminist, having prepared the theory and paving the way of feminism.

... To represent women's hopes of a society free from misogyny and sexual injustice. However distant her ideas and imaginings may be from feminist thinking of the present -- very distant indeed in some cases.… -- as a symbol of what remains to be achieved. Mary Wollstonecraft remains as vital and necessary a presence today as she was in the 1700's… (Taylor 2003, p. 253).


Bibliography
Caine, B. 1997, English Feminism, 1780-1980, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
── This book organised well the history of feminism for 200 years. Also conveyed in this text was a chronological history of feminists. This allowed for an understanding of feminism which connected feminism and social histories.

Kemerling, G. 2006, 'Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)', viewed 8 January 2008, <http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/woll.htm>.
── Records of Wollstonecraft's two daughters’ were provided this text.

Kreis, S. 2004, 'Mary Wollstonecraft, 1759-1797', The History Guide, viewed 8 January 2008, <http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/wollstonecraft.html>.
── Wollstonecraft's early life with her sister Eliza is referenced in this text. This provided her background and an understanding of how it affected her later activities.

Simkin J. 1997, 'Mary Wollstonecraft', Spartacus Educational, viewed 8 January 2008, <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wwollstonecraft.htm>.
── Summarised well her major book, A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Also described simply how her book was received at that time.

Taylor, B. 2003, Mary Wollstonecraft and the Feminist Imagination, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
── Wollstonecraft's reputation at that time is contained within, additional to presenting her inspiration for other feminists.

Tims, M. 1976, Mary Wollstonecraft, Millington Books Ltd, London.
── This book contains Wollstonecraft's life in details, focusing on the meaning of her activities as a social pioneer.

Wikipedia 2007, 'Mary Wollstonecraft', viewed 8 January 2008, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wollstonecraft>.
── This text in the Internet was very helpful to understand general information about Wollstonecraft, providing useful links to further informative texts.

Wollstonecraft, M. 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London.
── Wollstonecraft's ideas are directly expressed through this book. This helps to recognise how women were treated at her time.