Argumentative speech

A. Problem: There are too many underage students drinking alcohol and getting into trouble.

1. Statistics of minors drinking

a. According to Reporter Jones, NYT, 2/23/2019, 80% of drunk and disorderly arrests were of students who were under 21. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. According to the CDC website, in their June 2019 report on alcohol abuse by minors, there were 270 alcohol poisonings during spring break, with 200 of those being under 21. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

2. Consequences of drinking

a. According to the FBI’s website on sexual assaults on college campuses, in their report of September 2019, there were 347 confirmed reports of sexual assault at Greek parties. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. According to that same FBI report, drunk students were also found to commit assault in the surrounding neighborhoods, attacking individuals who were not at the party. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

B. Blame: It is too easy for Greek organizations to buy alcohol and serve it to minors because there is no supervision or consequences.

You would provide your reasons and evidence in subpoints here.

C. Cure: VS allows students to make own choices

1. Greek orgs make rules for the House through meetings

a. According to a study by Y Org, published in the June 2018 issue of Psychology Today, young adults are more willing to comply with house rules when they have input in creating those house rules. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. Additionally, [provide another piece of evidence with citation]

2. They are aware of the risk of excessive drinking

a. At Univ of the North, Greek members were surveyed about the dangers of drinking, with results published in the school newspaper, UNTimes on April 23, 2017. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. Another study conducted by researchers at Southern Univ also showed that [evidence and citation]

A. The problem is overexaggerated (or there is a problem, so you move to refute the other claims)

1. Those statistics were for all schools in the country, not for Univ of Midwestern State

a. According to the City’s own police reporting, there were only 10 D&D arrests in all of 2019 [You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. Also from the City’s police reporting, 9 out of those 10 were by senior students who were all over 21, and this was on graduation weekend. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

2. At Univ of MS, there have been reports of sexual assaults.

a. Those reports were instances of date rape in the dorms, not at Greek parties or associated with Greek members. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. Instances of community members being assaulted by students were found not to be related to drug or alcohol consumption. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

B. Liquor stores make sure they sell only to those who are over the age of 21. It isn’t their fault that those who purchase it allow underaged drinking. Legally, anyone who is 21 or over has the right to purchase alcohol.

C. VS will fail – students can’t be trusted

1. Greek houses create an environment which encourages binging

a. Examples of Greek hazing [You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. Examples of drinking games [You would provide a full citation for this source]

2. Supervisors will drink and will miss violations

a. Testimonials from students who claim they can hold their own liquor[You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. Testimonials from students saying they get drunk all the time and have never had problems other than a hangover. [You would provide a full citation for this source]

b. Examples of RAs themselves getting into trouble. [You would provide a full citation for this source]