We just completed our final draft of our final project. We finally heard back from Jane McCann our supervisor. It appeared she really liked what we had done with the newsletter and only suggested that we make minor changes to the newsletter like the title. Our group completed the project despite our busy schedules with finals approaching. We mainly communicated via text messages and emails. Our group worked really well together and completed the project successfully.

Finishing the white paper proved to be a struggle, however, due to the help of the group we were able to get it finished. I think we worked well together and seeing as everyone has very busy schedules it was impressive to see it all come together and work out as well as it did.

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After reading the "Bioteaming Manifesto" I realize there are twelve different rules listed to working in a group. The author helped to identify how old teams approached team work and how new teams approach working together. The one main thing that jumped out at me while doing the reading was that it hurts the group when a group member tries to do it all them-self. On top of that, it helps when a group member is assigned a task everyone in the group holds them accountable.

Currently we are in the very beginning stages of the project. We came up with our group name, The Garfunkels, and also came up with out topic, which involves cell phone technology, specifically GPS and voice software recognition. Our group got online on Wed. February 20th to make sure everyone agreed on the name and topic of the group. Prior to this everyone in the group sent out an email with all of their contact information. As everyone was online, we all came to an agreement, and it appears the group will continue to function well.

As most students, at the beginning of this project I to had no idea what a white paper project was all about. However, after all of the readings and after previewing a couple of other white papers, I believe I now have a pretty good understanding of what white papers are. I think the two most helpful articles were Stelzner's, "How to write white papers," and the article "Guide to Group work and Collaborative writing." Stelzner's article helped me understand some of the different ways to do white papers, and some of the processes people use to accomplish them.

tTIn previous experience working in groups I have been positive. Because I believe when people get negative it becomes contagious. Therefore, if one person becomes negative other peole will follow right in their footsteps. With that being said I think it becomes a lot easier to stay positive when the group gets a lot accomplished and encourages each other. All in all, my group working experiences have been positive. I think it is very encouraging when people work together to accomplish a sudden goal, which is the main reason why I like working in groups.

The main difference between the white paper reports that focus on a subject and the ones that focus on a product or policy is obviously the objective. The white paper that reports on something is going to be less persuasive and more factual. It will also have less persuasion involved. However, the white paper that is trying to sell something will be much more persuasive. In Michael Stelzner's paper he clearly explains the you cannot be to biased because it makes you less believable and sometimes makes you lose focus of your objective.

Before this reading I had never heard of white papers, therefore, this project will be a new experience for me. Although, earlier in the course we read a little bit about it, this reading re-enforced some of its purpose and components. A white paper is a document that summarizes facts about a certain subject. With this broad of a description the paper can vary tremendously in length. These types of papers are useful in all walks of life, so I think it is a very important skill to master.