Week 4--English 333

Dear The Designer of the Domestic Abuse Family Shelter Website,

The website I decided to look at for my Technical Writing English class was the Domestic Abuse Family Shelter of Hattiesburg, MS--http://www.domesticabusefamilyshelter.org/index.html.  During my analysis of the website that was designed for your organization, I looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the overall design and information presented.

The website is set up with a lot of information about the shelter and organization. The website is very structured so that a person looking for information can find out just about anything they may need. The only problem with that is if someone can find everything on the website then why do they need the services that are provided by the shelter? Why should they take that step to come in and talk to someone or make that phone call that may change their lives? The person looking at the website needs the extra push to make contact with the agency to find out more information and just make the initial contact to break away from the abuse that they are suffering. Also, the website’s name should be something different so that if the person where to look it up, the offender could not trace it by just glancing at the history of the victim. 

The website does not give the feeling of security and seriousness; it has a sense of immaturity.  I feel like the website should have more of a ‘you are safe with us’ feeling.  Most of the women, and sometimes men, may look at this website and feel like they are not being taken seriously, or even overwhelmed. The crisis line provided in bold at the top of the page is very drawing—it definitely helps the reader see that this is the line that is necessary to contact for more information.  The fonts and colors used on the page are something that brings in the immaturity vibe. There needs to be a more business like tone, even if it is a family page.

There is a support us logo at the top of the page and that is fantastic to have, but having a donate button on several pages could make the reader think that this is a networking site more than an actual service site—in other words, I would suggest picking one or the other. There are also several buttons for volunteers to click on—this makes things confusing instead of helpful.  One might only look at one of these and completely miss the application or job descriptions. 

There were several strengths that I did notice.  The testimonials page is off to a good start but it would be great to have a few more volunteer and possibly women, anonymously of course, who could be quoted on the site—this might also draw in a few women who have been abused and help them understand that they are not the only ones in the same situation and that they can be helped. The upcoming events page was a good idea as well, it just needs to be updated regularly with different fundraisers and events that DAFS will be involved with. There are also a few links on the side to different web pages that could be sorted into the ‘links’ tab such as United Way and the Shafer Center. Many people do not know what these places are and would be confused to think they are all in the same place if not otherwise notified. Some of those links do not work and should be updated as well. The homepage should probably start out with what is domestic violence as well as a definition so that the reader can go into the website knowing the exact legal definitions instead of having to click and find it under a link of facts.

As an overall website, I feel that DAFS is a good one, it just needs to be tweaked a little to have a more professional appearance. It should also combine a bit of information as to not overwhelm the reader. I commend the organization in the mission of the program; I just feel these critiques might help with the website as it stands.

Thank you for your time.

Carli Hankey 

Eng333 Week3 Blog

The two websites I found within my major that I found a particular interest in was Boston University and Southern Miss's. I looked into several schools, but I found that Boston University was the most organized and eye appealing. One can find just about anything they are looking for on this site.  Boston University's link is http://cjdegreeonline.bu.edu/program-overview/.  It was simple but unique. On the other hand, I hate to say it because I am an eagle through and through, but the CJ website for Southern Miss is very unprofessional.  The link to the University of Southern Miss's Criminal Justice Department's link is http://www.usm.edu/cj/. This does not just go for the Criminal Justice department, but all the departments. The are informative, but the way the website is organized is a little confusing. It is also not eye appealing.  Instead of the photo on the home page being a picture of Arthell Kelly Hall (home of the CJ department), it is actually the dome in the front of campus.  What I noticed on both sites is that they do not try and persuade people to join their majors--they just give information.  The reader of a prospective student is usually a high school senior and needs to be persuaded in some form or fashion, such as giving advice about what careers a person could get after they complete the program. 

The purpose of writing and creating the website is to inform readers about my current major and its importance. I am going to write a persuasive and informative website about Criminal Justice, while also being organized and having the website very eye appealing.  The outcome I hope to achieve is that I can get others to recognize their interest in criminal justice and I hope that it helps other students to realize that this major is for them, or that they were not as interested once they learned the actual facts about the major.  The primary reader of this site will be current students of the school, or future students—high schoolers and possibly older students who are intending to come back to school.  My relationship to them would simply be to address them in a way that they can understand what criminal justice is all about—not just the short facts, but what they can do once they achieve their degree.  Other people who might read this page would be other professionals looking for jobs within the field and other members of the school.  The reader usually knows slightly about a major, the point of the website is to give a more thorough follow up.  Something I will consider for my reader is that they need an organized way of finding things.  Events and circumstances that might influence my writing is that criminal justice has sprouted interest in the last ten years and information for students should be more readily available.

Readers usually look for particular answers to questions they have thought about before looking at the website, such as:  how much is tuition? What are the requirements? What can I do with this degree? The reader will usually look for subheadings within a text or even in different tabs throughout the site. The reader will use this information to determine how the information provided that they found on the site will affect him or her. If they decide this is something that they want to further engage, they will have the contact information and resources to further their plan.  I want the reader’s attitude towards the subject to be positive so that they will be interested in the topic before even reading more into it, because it is hard to persuade someone who is not open minded. Other stakeholders in communication would be professors in the field that would actually follow up with the students and ask them about their interests. They will be affected by how many more people will actually email them about the major, hopefully.   Some limiting facts that might get in my way of the site would be that I can only provide as much information as I am given.  Also I might not be able to provide certain links to career websites without permission. 

            I learned a lot from the previous websites I looked at.  I learned that some websites are more organized, eye appealing, and informative than others. This is helpful to the reader in many ways so that they will be able to make an appropriate decision for themselves in the future. 

Eng333 Week2 Blog

           In “No Matter How Loud I Shout,” Edward Humes explores many different children in the juvenile court system. The book explores the juvenile justice system in the 1980s.  He portrays that the system is not saving the children from the dangers of the street and their potential fate, nor is it protecting the public from the children who need to be locked up before they cause serious harm.  Humes shows many different children’s stories in which they all have taken part in some kind of crime.  The children see a significant difference in the court sentences—so much in fact that it seems unfair to everyone—the children as well.

            The writer seems to be giving an expose about the juvenile justice system in California.  He wants to see how kids just fall through the cracks every day and how the people in charge are put there—a lot of times, they have no desire even to be there.  Through the classes I have taken on the justice system, it is easy to see the flaws in the system from the 1980s and how they have changed since then.  A huge debate that will always be in the juvenile justice system is whether or not the system is fair to youths.  There is always the question of whether the punishments are too harsh, or whether they are hard enough. Humes explores that with the children that he sees on a daily basis as they go through his writing course and their experiences within the system and court proceedings. He was researching the juvenile justice system and found a perfect match when he entered as a teacher into the system with the kids.  The publisher, Touchstone, seems to do non-fictional teacher tools, which makes me think this was why my professor assigned us to read it.  It is a true story, some of the kids that are in the book are now out of jail and trying to do good things for kids in their community.

            The author’s intended audience is anyone who is interested in the topic of juvenile justice. It is a good learning tool for teachers and students, but also for those who are studying the subject in general.  The writer seems to make the assumption that the readers know the lingo of the juvenile justice system, because it is much different than that of the adult court system.  The wording is different so that the children are not subjected to discrimination or labeling, and will hopefully be rehabilitated after entering the system.  The juvenile justice system has gotten so large over the years that kids started to slip through the cracks and not have the chance of rehabilitation.  When the juvenile justice system, first began there were several rights that did not exist for minors. They did not have to have a lawyer present or contain any due process rights. Now a days, they are required to have some of these, but a jury still is not present.  The juvenile justice system has progressed a lot since the 1980s, but it is a good tool to make sure that it does not get as bad as it did then.   

Eng333 Week1 Blog

Hey everyone! My name is Carli and just turned twenty years old. I am a senior at the University of Southern Miss, where I am a Criminal Justice Major with a Psychology minor. I am planning on going to grad school and hopefully getting a federal job--I would love criminal investigations or forensic interviewing. I currently work for Campus Link AmeriCorps, which entails working full time in their office and the Shafer Center for Crisis Intervention--the rape crisis center in Hattiesburg, Ms.
So far, I have only written career and case summaries; soon, in my summer class I will be reviewing evidence cases and writing on my findings. I suppose that detailed accounts of stories and topics would be the most helpful to my major.  For my job, I have worked with public announcements and witnessed my boss write her grant and put everything together. In high school, I was an editor for my school newspaper three years in a row.
I enjoy writing analysis type papers; I also enjoy anything with an interesting topic.  I do not enjoy group writing assignments--these are difficult because not everyone pulls their weight.  Research papers are also difficult, but once the paper is started, it is not so bad. With research papers I always have been a B student and I would really like to improve on them.
Writing was broken down for me when I was in high school. I attended the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Sciences and we were able to take college courses instead of general English for our junior and senior years. I was able to build back up my writing skills into a new level.  Failing with writing happens, but with critiques and helpful teachers, it is possible to make writing a fun learning experience.  Writing as a communication sometimes fails because the audience cannot hear the writer's tones--this happens a lot in emails/text messages.
I really hope to learn more about writing techniques and tips that can help me professionally.  I am excited about starting this blog, it is really a neat way of communicating. I am hoping to learn and accomplish better writing styles and ways of organizing papers.