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• Due Date

  Monday, May 1, 20179:00 AM

  Points Possible

  150

• Assignment 2: Block Business Letter

  Due Week 4 and worth 150 points

   

  Choose one of the professional scenarios provided. Write a Block Business Letter (in the form of the posted example from Week 4) from the perspective of the company management.  It should provide bad news and follow the guidelines outlined in Chapter 7: Delivering Bad-News Messages in BCOM7 (pages 110-128).

   

  The message should take the block business letter form from the posted example; however, you will submit your assignment to the online course shell.

   

  The block business letter must adhere to the following requirements:

  1. Content:
     1. Address the communication issue from the scenario.
     2. Provide bad-news from the company to the recipient.
     3. Concentrate on the facts of the situation and use either the inductive or deductive approach.
     4. Assume your recipient has previously requested a review of the situation via email, letter, or personal meeting with management.
  2. Format:
     1. Include the proper introductory elements (sender’s address, date, recipient’s address).
     2. Provide an appropriate and professional greeting / salutation.
     3. Single space paragraphs and double space between paragraphs.
     4. Limit the letter to one-page in length.
  3. Clarity / Mechanics:
     1. Focus on clarity, writing mechanics, and professional language/style requirements.
     2. Run spell/grammar check before submitting.

   

  Your assignment must:

  • Be typed, single-spaced within paragraphs/elements and double spaced between the paragraphs/elements, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

   

  Submitting your assignment:

  • Submit your assignment through the online course shell only.

   

  The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

  • Use writing process strategies to develop brief business documents, such as routine messages, bad news messages, and persuasive/sales messages.
  • Support ideas or claims in body paragraphs with clear details, examples, and explanations.
  • Organize ideas logically by using transitional words, phrases, and sentences.
  • Use sentence variety and effective word choice in written communication.
  • Write clearly and concisely using proper writing mechanics.

Generating a Policy Proposal

Although some states and cities have passed laws to ban texting and using handheld phones while driving, there is no current law to ban all cell phone use while driving. However, according to the National Safety Council (2009), 28 percent of all crashes—1.6 million per year—are caused by cell phone use and texting by drivers. The mission of a new national nonprofit organization called FocusDriven, patterned after Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is to make phone use while driving as illegal and socially unacceptable as drunk driving. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood supports FocusDriven and its efforts: According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, LaHood said this movement will become “an army of people traveling the countryside” to push for bans on cell phone use and tough enforcement (Schmit, 2010).

As a political advocate interested in this issue, you will be writing a policy proposal that utilizes the current research to propose a solution to the issue and submit it in this assignment.

Please note that your proposal is not an opinion/position paper, and your conclusions need to be based on the scientific research you reviewed earlier. Please follow the typical steps in proper academic writing (planning, outlining, drafting, revising, proofing, and editing) to generate the following proposal structure:

Introduction

In the introduction, you should set up the purpose for the proposal, provide a bit of background on the topic, and present your thesis.

Policy

Now that you have researched a variety of studies (in M4: Assignment 2), compile that information together to create a recommendation for policy makers regarding cell phone use while driving.

1: In a one-page summary, compare and contrast the results of the various studies regarding the cognitive abilities that are affected during cell phone use while driving.

2: Using that research, develop and explain particular recommendations for policy makers. For instance, restrict texting, or regulate the use of hand-held phones. All your recommendations must be supported by your research findings.

3: Based on the gaps in current research, describe the variables, populations, and situations which you would like to see future research address.

Conclusion

Review the important current research, your conclusions from that research, and how the future could look in both policy and research. Keep your goal in mind: To convince the reader to support your current policy proposal and future research to examine this issue more closely.

Your proposal should be written in APA style (which includes a title page with running header and a reference page), and free of typographical and grammatical errors. The body of your proposal should be 4–5 pages long.

By Monday, April 24, 2017, deliver your assignment to the M5: Assignment 1 Dropbox.

Course Project Grading Criteria and Rubric

Use the organization you selected in Week One to write a 1,050- to 1,750-word paper that contains the following:

•Explain how different leadership styles would affect group communication in your chosen organization.

•Analyze the different sources of power found in the organization. How might those different sources of power affect group and organizational communication?

•Given the culture in place at your chosen organization, identify the motivational theories that would be effective within that culture. Evaluate the role of communication as an element of these theories.

•Describe the commitment of the workforce to the organization and their relationship to the organization’s communication.

•Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Electrical Engineering: Single-Transistor Amplifier
Paper , Order, or Assignment Requirements

Design a single-transistor amplifier that delivers at least ten times as much power to the load as it draws from the source. In other words, the power gain must be at least 10 (10dB). The signal source has a resistance of 10kΩ and the load has a resistance of 1kΩ. Your power supply is 5V. You are allowed to use a BJT or a MOSFET, as well as any amplifier configuration of your choosing.

A SPICE template file has already been created for you and is available for download from Blackboard. It contains all the information you need besides the actual circuit. Follow the instructions given and add the rest of your circuit to make it complete. Use the instructions and analysis commands given to evaluate your amplifier.

In order to do a hand analysis with the MOSFET, you need to know the transistor parameters. The MOSFET given in the template has Vt = 1V and kn’ = 35.9μA/V2. I have fixed the W/L ratio at 500, giving kn = 17.9mA/V2. Do not change W or L.

If you use the BJT, assume β = 70.

In addition to the basic performance requirement above, a pool of bonus points will be awarded to the top performing designs. These bonus points will apply to your final grade in the course. The pool is for the entire class and will be divided up amongst the best performers. You can receive points from more than one category. The pool total is as follows:

Overall voltage gain (40 points)
Highest input resistance (40 points)
Lowest output resistance (40 points)
Lowest DC power consumption (40 points)

Engineering
Paper , Order, or Assignment Requirements

The University regards the diversity of its graduate student body as an important factor in serving the educational mission of the university. We encourage you to share unique, personally important, and/or challenging factors in your background, such as work and life experiences, special interests, culture, socioeconomic status, the quality of your early educational environment, gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity. Please discuss how such factors would contribute to the diversity of the entering class, and hence to the experience of your classmates.

What significant and unusual educational, social, cultural, economic, or other barriers have you overcome in pursuit of your education? Describe the challenge as well as any unique insights, perspectives or skills you gained while overcoming this challenge. Describe how overcoming the aforementioned challenge will enable you to contribute to the campus community in a unique and positive manner that enhances campus diversity.

Engineering
Paper , Order, or Assignment Requirements

Introduction:
· Brief description of the project & objectives (problem definition)
· Brief description of the design requirements
· A brief description of the environment (renewable energy sources that are available in Sparkyville)
· Brief description of the structure/content of this document (i.e. what will be discussed in the document, and
in what order)

Background
· Brief description of power generation from the renewable energy sources you are using (i.e. how does it work
to produce power; what energy conversions take place)
· Calculations and/or measurements of the power available from each source you are using
· Brief description of existing technology for power generation (solar collectors, turbines, etc.) that inspired
your design and how aspects of those designs appeared in your design (be sure to talk about why you chose
to use those aspects). This could also include other research that you did that helped you make your design
decisions. Cite these sources appropriately.

Design Implementation
· Include a description and picture(s) (photos) of your final system prototype.
· Final Budget & materials (should be included as a Table)
· Describe the testing procedures you used (when preparing for the final demonstration) to ensure your
design’s success (data from these tests can be included as a part of Appendix 2…be sure to direct reader to
appendix in text). This is a chance to show what your system could do under ideal conditions (especially if
you had not ideal conditions for the final demonstration)
· Describe the performance of your system, including final test results from final demonstration
o Plot of Power produced over time
o Report values that describe your system’s performance (i.e. maximum voltage, maximum power,
average power, and standard deviation of power)
o Comparison of predicted power to actual power produced (% difference)
· Include the calculated efficiency of your system