Week 6 Blog
Write ten sentences about your argument topic. Arrange them however you wish.
Week 1 - Listening Process & Writing Process
Describe your personal listening process. Next, describe your writing process. Upon reflection, how are these related?
My argument topic is gun control. This is a rather relevant topic because of what has happened down in Florida. I feel gun control is effective, but to a point. I also believe it is necessary, but to a certain degree. Gun control has and can keep saving lives. However, too much gun control creates issues for me and many others. I believe there is a happy medium to the amount of gun control there should be. However, there are always extremists on both sides of the aisle that will always want complete control or complete absence of control. I believe that finding the middle ground/compromise that makes the majority of people happy will be the best option. I also believe that compromise will be the one that saves many lives.
ReplyDeleteMy argument topic is discussing whether veganism is actually a healthy way of eating. A person who practices veganism does not consume any meats or anything containing any sort of animal product. Most people think that going vegan is a healthier way of living as opposed to the normal omnivorous diet that most human eat. However, by not consuming any animal products, a vegan's source of protein is very limited and it may be a lot harder for vegans to consume enough protein that their body needs. This may lead to the vegan feeling weak during exercise and they may also get tired quickly. Therefore, is a vegan diet actually healthier than an all-inclusive balanced diet? And if not, why do most people think that a vegan lifestyle is healthy? I would like to research studies that compare a vegan's athletic ability and endurance to that of an athlete who most likely consume animal products and meat. I want to inform people that healthy fads may not always be the healthiest way to live. And also, that you can maintain a healthy diet that includes meats in your diet.
ReplyDeleteMy argument topic is children being forced to play sports. As obesity continues to be on a steady rise in America I believe that this topic becomes even more relevant. Kids form habits based on their childhood and how they were brought up and if a kid was never forced to be active when they were young they'll probably never be active as they get older. There are also so many valuable things that a child learns in sports that simply cannot be taught else where. Sports teach you how to get along with people, how to work hard, how to win and lose and so many other things. We force kids to sit in school for six hours a day to learn things like the pythagorean theorem and how to count syllable but we fail to teach them a lot of real life skills. There are so many kids that excel in school but do not excel in life because they never learned life skills. In general kids who participate in sports tend to be better students and more successful in general. As America becomes a more and more troubled place I believe we need to start forcing kids to learn how to be people and not just robots that can spit information back at you and this can be taught through sports.
ReplyDeleteI have chosen Clemson University's Medical Alcohol Amnesty Policy as my argument topic. I chose this as my topic because I thought I would be most effective discussing a topic that is directly relevant to my life as a Clemson student. I also chose this topic because I learned in my Aspire Creative Inquiry class that this policy is currently under revision. I was intrigued to hear about this and wondered how they would be revising it. I think that there are some alterations that should be made to this policy. As of right now the policy states that no individual may receive amnesty under this section more than once in a two year period. I feel that Clemson’s Office of Community and Ethical Standards should omit this section from the policy in order to remove all barriers related to such emergency situations. As I was working through my research proposal, I started to realize that I am not passionate enough about this topic to make a convincing argument. I am currently in consideration of switching my topic entirely, and possibly to the topic of gun control in light of the recent mass shooting in Florida. Although, gun control is a global topic, it is still extremely relevant to my life as a student and to the lives of all students at Clemson.
ReplyDeleteMy argument topic is DACA, which stands for deferred action for childhood arrivals. This issue is one of the many that divides our countries. In September of 2017, Trump announced he was ending DACA, and gave Congress until March 5th to replace the program. Since then, there have been many protests and debates, and this issue is also part of the reason the government shut down in January of this year. I believe DACA should be re-instated with a path to citizenship. Some people have no sympathy for those brought to the United States as a child, and believe they should be deported. However, those children never had a choice, and if they are deported, they would have to return to a country they don't know and don't remember. Also, immigrants contribute a great deal to this nation's economy, they would be able to contribute more if they were given full citizenship. I also disagree with the idea that DACA recipients are stealing opportunities away from Americans, because I believe they are Americans too. I believe that revoking the opportunity to work and to get an education from these dreamers is not only unethical, but an economic mistake.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is organ donation. It is relevant because there are an excess of people that need organs but not enough people registered for organ donation. There are currently about 115,000 people on the transplant list. About 130 million people in the US are registered, but their organs can only be used when they die. However, only about 3 in 1,000 of those registered donors can actually provide organs to people that need them. People are sometimes on that list for years and their health only gets worse and they could die if they don't get the necessary organ in time. It is an interesting topic to me because I am pursuing the medical field and when people are registered for organ donation, it helps doctors save lives. There are some myths about organ donation that cause people to be hesitant to register. One of those myths is that if something happens to you and you are registered for organ donation, the doctors/medical staff will let you die so your organs can be donated. It is untrue, as if a doctor fails to provide the best medical care that they can, they'll get sued. Some common organs that are donated are kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs and pancreases.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is about human trafficking. I want to define human trafficking and talk about the history and how it came about to the extent of where it is today. I also want to talk about the experiences of the women involved so that people understand what it is truly like. I want to focus specifically on sex trafficking because human trafficking can technically include labor trafficking but I feel like that can cross the line with immigration. If you consider human trafficking as “sex salves” then are more slaves now than there have ever been in history. So not only has it been going on for generations, but it is now more relevant than ever. It is not a very widely discusssed topic. Although we really do need to start talking about it considering how big of a problem it really is. Human trafficking can happen anywhere at anytime. So I also want to talk about what we can do to take action and why people should take more action than they are now.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is the prescription drug problem in America. In the US, 15 million people abuse prescription drugs. I want to research the consequences of overprescribing drugs that can lead to addiction and overdose. Many painkillers are made of a drug called oxycodone, an opioid that is very similar to heroin. Doctors prescribe these pain killers to anything from a nagging back pain to cancer. However, many people who take these pain killers like oxycontin, hydrocodone, and percocets became crippling addicted in a short time. Many people transition from the expensive, more difficult to attain painkillers to the cheaper more dangerous heroin. The number of Americans who use heroin has skyrocketed since the early 2000's. Another commonly overprescribed drug in America is ADHD medication. Highly addictive drugs like adderall, vyvanse, and ritalin are given to millions of American children each year.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is food establishments being required to have calorie information on their menus. I chose this as my topic because I am a Nutrition major. I am interested in researching the history and debate of why restaurants and other places that sell food should be required to have calorie labels. In 2010, President Obama’s Affordable Care Act stated that chain restaurants must provide calorie information on standard menu items. Although this occurred almost eight years ago, restaurants are still not required to post this information. They will have to provide this information in May 2018. Only chain restaurants with more than 20 establishments will be required to provide this information on their menus. I plan on arguing that all establishments that sell food should be required to provide calorie information. It may be difficult to disprove the argument that small independent restaurants should not be required to provide calorie information on menus because they do not have the sufficient resources to find this information. I want to find sources to contradict that statement and prove that all restaurants should provide calorie information.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is on the overuse of antibiotic resistance. This topic originally came to me because my Biology professor kept emphasizing that bacteria are evolving and will soon be fully resistant to antibiotics (and this is mostly because of our overuse of antibiotics). This was also emphasized by another professor of mine who said the Gonorrhea would be incurable in 10 years due to fully resistant bacteria. Also, I want to be a physician one day and this problem is partly the fault of physicians over-prescribing. Other than the use of antibiotics on humans, I also wanted to talk about its usage on livestock. This actually contributes a lot to resistant bacteria and I also want to see if the antibiotics have negative effects on the produce coming from livestock. I think that finding opposing viewpoints for this argument would be hard. Most people agree that we need to lessen our usage of antibiotics and understand the consequences. I could see farmers disagreeing because lessening antibiotic usage could lower their amount of produce (and ultimately profit). Overall, I think that finding evidence for my argument will be easy. However, I'll definitely have to search for opposing viewpoints that I can rebuttal.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is about the overuse of antibiotics. Overusing antibiotics can cause the creation of resistant bacteria. Resistant bacteria are pathogens that that no longer respond to an antibiotic that worked in the past. Antibiotic resistance is threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases. Most of the time people don't think that taking antibiotics could have negative effects but this problem is much more prevalent than most people realize. This problem is not only because patients are overtaking the drug, but it goes along with doctors overprescribing the antibiotic without fully knowing the patients illness. Antibiotics are not supposed to treat viral infections but many people still take them for a viral infection. Taking antibiotics for a viral infection can cause the antibiotic to attack the bacteria in your body that is helping you. There are some challenges in stopping the overuse of antibiotics but not too many. There is a lot of research to support the claims about overuse of antibiotics.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is why college athletes should be paid. The NCAA has many specific rules and regulations outlining that collegiate athletes cannot receive any financial benefits other than than scholarships covering tuition, room/board, textbooks, etc. However, I am arguing that athletes should be able to profit off of their names and even receive payments through the NCAA, not their respective schools. The first half of my argument revolves around the principle that collegiate athletes cannot profit off of their own names. They cannot sell their own autographs or other memorabilia and make a profit, even though they are the ones that make their names with their talent, not the NCAA. The second branch of my argument is more controversial, but would eliminate a problem that has begun to poison college sports. In the last few months, an FBI probe has discovered countless college basketball programs illegally paying athletes. This is a reoccurring issue in all college sports which is damaging its integrity. If the NCAA paid each athlete a set amount, coaches would be less incentivized to pay players.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is why the drinking age should be lowered. Not too surprising of a topic coming from a college student, I know, but I believe that there could be a lot less issues in this country if the drinking age were 18. The age was changed because states were bribed by President Regan in 1984 to get their infrastructure for highway funds to be lowered. Not many states were in agreement, but they needed better highways. In America today, you are considered an adult at age 18. You can join the war, buy a gun, buy tobacco, but can't buy a beer. Yes there are many counterarguments as to why 18 is too young, but the thrill of breaking the law for people under 21 can cause many problems. People under 21 enjoy the thrill of breaking the law and this causes many issues. It can cause kids to binge drink and really get sick/hurt from, causes young kids in high school/college to throw house parties which provides these kids a dangerous environment to party in. Many countries have a drinking age of 18 or lower, and they are making out fine.
ReplyDeleteMy argument topic is whether or not college athletes should be paid. I was originally confused at first about what to claim and how I should approach this, but I decided that I would claim that they should not get paid because they are already being paid to come to college and play their sport, and it would be too difficult to determine how much each athlete should be paid. I feel that this topic is relevant, considering the NCAA basketball tournament is coming up. This tournament generates a lot of buzz about paying athletes because the tournament is such a huge press event and generates a lot of revenue. This will take away the incentive to work hard to earn playing time and also takes away from the real reason these athletes are going to college: to earn an education. The NCAA and certain boosters would be in charge of paying these athletes and so any appeal would be to them. I would also like to focus on the consequences that have come from paying athletes under the table. Certain instances have come up with athletes accepting cars or fancy dinners and its encouraging athletes to go to a school without directly paying them money. These consequences would be evidence enough to not pay these athletes. I still need to formulate more about my argument because my claim is still not as strong as I would like.
ReplyDeleteMy argument topic discusses the UFC becoming more of a business instead of a sport. I believe that a sanctioned athletic organization should follow the same guidelines that other sports do. While the entertainment aspect is an important factor, there is a certain point where they have completely sold out to sell more pay per views and make more money. That is where the aspect of a sport is dismissed and that is not what the athletes are competing for. Champions should be determined by who has proven to be the best not by who is the most popular. The success the UFC has found with Conor McGregor has changed the way they make decisions. It has taken a turn towards a WWE type company instead of a fair sports organization and that is a problem if they want to be considered a sports company like the NFL, MLB, and the NHL. I have no problem with them trying to make money and become more mainstream but it should not punish fighters for not being fan favorites. Dominant champions like Demetrious Johnson are paid less than average fighters like Nate Diaz just because of their name.
ReplyDeleteMy topic is the paying of college athletes. I am arguing against the idea that college athletes should be paid salaries. Many people including myself believe that this would take away from the game because college sports should be mostly about fun and school spirit not money. I think it would make the sport too similar to professional sports and it would not allow for healthy competition. College athletes likely are already being paid by members of the school anyway. This is becoming more and more of a controversial topic in today's society. People believe that it would not impact the sport and the athletes should be allowed to receive money because of how much that they do for the school. If athletes are paid I believe it would draw too much attention to them and take away from the true meaning of team sports. With that being said it should all be about competition between teams and the fight to make it to the next level based on your skill level. It should not be about how flashy of a player you are or how much your school is paying you. If that happened it would allow for players to seem better than they are actually are because they are paid more.
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