JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK IN THE SUN

I’d like some deep penetrating rays of death, please!

Go ahead, slather on that SPF 75 for your 30 minutes in the sun, which you’re told is good for your health. You think you’re doing something good for yourself with that sunscreen, saving your skin from early aging, wrinkles, freckles, and looking like we’re second cousin to rawhide. After all, that bottle you picked up during your weekly shopping had claims like “anti-aging formula” and “blocks UVA and UVB rays”. How couldn’t it be good for you?

For one, it turns out, according to this Washington Post article from early this month, SPF 75 is only marginally better than the SPF 30 you passed up as “just not heavy enough”. Bet you wish you had known that before and saved the two or three extra bucks. And, since its UVA ray blocking properties might be half its UVB ray blocking potential (UVAs are the nastier, cancer-causing siblings to UVBs), it is probably more useful to slather yourself in baby oil and head out during the prime death ray times – 10am to 4pm - to get your “healthy dose of sun”.

Does it get worse? Absolutely. Some of the ingredients in commercial sunscreens, like retinyl palmitate, can act as an accelerant for skin cancer tumors.

Of course, Europeans don’t have to worry about what’s in their sunscreens. The European standards are about 100 times more strict than the ones set forth by the US’s own FDA. In fact, the FDA has been trying to come up with a set list of safety standards since the 70s. Thanks for having our backs on that one, FDA…

So, what’s a health-conscious sun-lover to do?

One, don’t try to pound on the heaviest SPF you can find – it’s just a waste of money. Two, try the Skin Deep website, where you can learn about truly health-conscious sunscreen brands and where to purchase them. Third, remember to apply liberally and often. Even if it says “waterproof” on the bottle, they don’t mean it’ll still be working after four hours in and out of the ocean.

-Conrad, Moderator

COLLEGE MAJORS: NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY

Today, my target falls on a Washington Post article discussing a report on future earnings based on college major. While the opening lines reference an "old joke in academia", I can tell you, I'm not laughing.
I'm one of those English majors that the joke is poking fun at, and I've never asked, "Do you want fries with that?" I happen to hold a writing position in the technology field, that I started right out of college, with just (*gasp*) a BA in English.

The idea that high school students going into college should choose their future major based on their potential future earnings is ludicrous. Sure, I could have done a dual major in English and Computer Science, and probably would have done even better in salary and job growth. I happen to have a knack for computers, as well as writing. But, who's to say I'd be happy?

Money isn't everything geniuses.

Is the report quoted in this article going to guarantee that someone who goes to school for engineering (1) is going to be any good at it - the key to being employed in the field - and (2) that they aren't going to start burning out five years in and wonder why they didn't major in what they really wanted to major in? You know, like writing?

I'm not trying to hold writing up as the best major one can choose. You need to have a passion for it, and there are plenty of writers who will never make it in a writing career (just as there are plenty of non-practicing law school graduates and philosophy majors who went into construction contracting instead). But, I love writing and can't imagine doing anything different. However, I will also say that many of us who choose writing as our field are low wage earners because of a flawed internal system.

It has been my experience that our worth in the job market is supremely underestimated. This is our own fault. Unlike those in many other fields, too many of us are so busy feeling privileged to get paid to do what we enjoy that we forget to ask for a decent paycheck. I, too, fell into this trap for the first few years after my entry into the field. And then I stumbled upon a Bureau of Labor Statistics report on median wages in my field.

I was taken aback when I saw the median wage for someone in my location and position, and compared it to my own paycheck. So, what did I do? I talked to my manager about the discrepancy, pointed to the report, and asked for a raise.

Two years have passed, and I'm still employed, at a fair rate, so I guess it was a good move.

My suggestion to anyone who finds themselves in a similar position: try what I tried (as long as you feel secure enough in your standing with your particular employer). You might be pleasantly surprised. And, if you happen to be in a writing field, you'll be helping to start a positive trend. We can only hope to make what we're worth if we stand up and ask for it.

Otherwise, we'll continue to be the butt of stupid jokes like the one referenced in the Washington Post article, and we'll deserve it.

RESUMES: TYPO-FREE IS NOT OPTIONAL

Here’s one for all those recent college grads seeking to land their first post-college jobs and also for those more experienced players .

As  someone in a management role, I can tell you that there are few things that will get your cover letter and resume dumped in the round file (the trash can) faster than if either or both are poorly written, riddled with typos, or in a font I need a magnifying glass to read. Crazy formatting ranks up there, too. To lend a hand, I’m going to give you a tip list. It also helps me vent a little, of course.

DON’T forget to run the spell checker on your cover letter, resume, and any other documents you are including. In Microsoft Word, it’s as easy as hitting the F7 key. (And, if you don’t know what key I’m talking about, we have a whole new problem.) Then, after you let the spell checker run, read through the entire document yourself, out loud, to catch all typos that the spell checker didn’t catch. And, there will be typos it didn’t catch. This is especially important if you’re filling in your job experience and other skills into text boxes on an online form that doesn’t have a spell checker. More than two typos in your submitted documents make you look SLOPPY and DISORGANIZED.

DO pick one of these fonts for your resume and cover letter: Arial, Courier New (although most people don’t like this one), Garamond, Times New Roman, or Verdana. These are universally accepted as readable fonts, although with Garamond, you may need to bump up the font size, because it runs a little small. Deviation from these fonts, because you think another is cute, fun, pretty, cool, sophisticated, or worst of all whimsical, is unacceptable. You’re applying for a job, not showing your potential employer how clever you are.

DON’T make your font less than 10 points in size. I don’t care if this is the only way you could make your cover letter fit on one page or keep your resume to two pages (and, yes, these are all the longer either of these documents should be). If you can’t keep these documents to the proper length any other way than shrinking the font, you put too much into them. Take words out, unimportant words that your future employer will know immediately are fluff that you packed in to make yourself sound like a better candidate. The preferable font size is 11 or 12 point. Anything smaller, and we need to get out our glasses, and the annoyance factor goes up.

DO be consistent with the font you choose and the formatting style. Switching fonts midway through your cover letter or resume is the same as a typo. This holds true for job title/employer and employment date formats. For example, if you start out with saying you worked for Company X from January 2005 to March 2007, switching to saying you worked for Company Y from 4/2007 – 5/2009 is an error that will be noticed.

DON’T get fancy with your formatting. Adding tables and putting your skills, job experience, and education into neat little cells may seem like a good idea, but I can tell you from having looked at enough of those types of resumes, more often than not, the table formatting goes awry once it reaches the hiring manager. And, don’t try to center justify a bunch of text, the same thing as with tables usually happens. My suggestion is to make all of your text left justified (name and contact info in the header can be centered without prejudice). However, if you really must get fancy with tables and such, because you feel you just have to show off your skills in Word, try converting it to PDF form when you’re done. There are several free tools out there for converting Word docs to PDF. Google Docs is my favored method.

Now, you may argue that I’m wrong and that the skills you have to offer will trump all cover letter and resume issues. But, you would be wrong. Some employers won’t even finish reading a poorly written cover letter or resume, and if they do, they’re looking at your skills and experience through the vaguely red haze of irritation that you couldn’t afford their job opening enough respect to proofread your submission before you sent it to them.

-- Statler, Moderator

SUGAR: ARCH NEMESIS

Last week, I was in my favorite “natural foods” store, staring at an endless row of organic, all natural, mostly natural, and “passed by something organic” honey jars. Next to that was agave nectar and stevia. (I can’t really tell you want either of those are, but one’s an herb, I think.)

This, all because of an article by Gary Taubes in the New York Times Magazine about the EVILS of sugar.

After having the fear of death by multiple types of cancer driven into me, I drove to the grocery store to pick up what other websites tell me is a “better” alternative to sugar: honey. So, I happily picked up a cute little bear full of nature’s sweetener. Only later did I read elsewhere that grocery store brand honey can contain up to 20% water.

The bear hosed me.

So, later in the week, while picking up dishwasher detergent guaranteed not to ruin all the waterways after it kind of cleans my dishes, I looked at the natural food store’s selection of “natural” sweeteners. Can someone tell me why I need honey to come in four different shades? Buckwheat honey just sounds like something the bottler came up with to make their product sound like the Pottery Barn version of honey.

I think what burns me the most about the article is that it doesn’t tell you what you should use instead of sugar. And, there’s enough conflicting information on the Web to give me a migraine for the long haul, too. Are they seriously suggesting that if I still want my coffee kick in the morning, I should get used to it black?

I’m all for eating healthy, and I agree that there’s way too much sugar added to most things we eat (you know when they add it to commercial French fries, things have taken a turn for the absurd). But, tell me what I can eat. Don’t just tell me to ditch all sugar and enjoy the dull food life.

-- Statler, Moderator

WELCOME TO THE ROW

Warning, profanity may ensue without warning.

Did something in the media, politics, pop culture, or your grocery store ever mystify you, get you worked up, or just plain piss you off? Ever find yourself making a personally unflattering comment in public, loud enough for strangers to hear?

You’re in good company, and you’ve come to the right place. We’ve been there, done that, and we’re not going to keep quiet about it anymore. In the Ranter’s Row, we enjoy making the occasional unflattering comment within earshot of other people, or just muttering loud enough for our fellow ranters to hear. And now, you can join the row, too. Mutter away!