essay

Argument Topics for Kathryne TafollaYoung’s WR121 class

EDUCATION ❑ Should principals be allowed to censor school newspapers? ❑ Should drug dogs be allowed on high school campuses? ❑ Should girls be allowed to play on boys’ sports teams if no girls’ team exists for that sport? ❑ Should the words, “under God” remain in the Pledge of Allegiance? In what contexts? ❑ Should students be “tracked” by academic ability? ❑ Should there be mandatory drug tests for high school athletes? ❑ Currently, many colleges give preference to “legacies”—that is, people whose parents attended the school. To what extent is this good policy? ❑ Should SAT scores be a factor in college

admissions? ❑ Are “early action” application practices to

college a good policy? ❑ At what level should school curriculums be set? Federal? State? District? School? Teacher?

FREE SPEECH
 ❑ Should the KKK be allowed to march in a city-wide parade? ❑ Should the Internet be regulated by the government? If so, to what extent? 
 ❑ South Carolina’s state flag—should it be illegal? ❑ Should it be legal to burn an American flag? ❑ Should students (while at school) have more restrictions on their freedom of speech than other people? ❑ Where should the limits of individual free speech begin? To what extent are current laws fair and effective?

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT ❑ Should valid evidence be excluded from a court case because police made a minor procedural mistake? ❑ Should criminals get added punishment for a crime if they committed it as part of a gang? ❑ Should prostitution be legal? ❑ Should the prison system be privatized? ❑ Three-strikes law: is it a good policy? ❑ Should minors convicted in adult court of committing capital crimes be eligible for the death penalty? ❑ Has the application of the death penalty been racist? ❑ Is the death penalty an effective deterrent? ❑ Jury system—fair, or is there a more ideal alternative? ❑ Should juvenile offenders be tried, sentenced, and jailed as adults?

❑ Should prisoners be allowed to accumulate “good time” credit? ❑ Should the FBI be able to use racial profiling in terrorist cases?

WAR AND HISTORY ❑ Was the US justified in military action against Iraq? ❑ Was the draft in the Vietnam War fair? ❑ Should the U.S. government be able to

declare American citizens “enemy combatants?”

❑ Did the US know ahead of time that the Japanese

were going to attack Pearl Harbor? ❑ Should “conscientious objectors” to war be allowed to avoid the draft? ❑ Did the war on Iraq unjustly compromise civil rights? Of Americans? Of Iraqis? (Pick one) ❑ Analyze the efficacy of the Patriot Act in combating terrorism thus far ❑ Who blew up the USS Maine? ❑ Was it ultimately in the best interest of the Soviet Union for Stalin to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact? ❑ Historically, has the U.S. government been forthcoming with its citizens about what it’s doing around the world? What do people have a “right” to know?

LOCAL ❑ Should Oregon impose a sales tax schools? ❑ Is OSU currently making financial decisions that are in the best interest of the school as a whole? ❑ Does OSU unjustly favor science and engineering departments? ❑ Should OSU have required classes?

ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT ❑ Is there too much corporate consolidation in the United States (for example, AOL Time Warner)? ❑ Should the States government force its citizens to attend school until age 16? ❑ Should states pay for social services to illegal immigrants? ❑ Should the government have the right to establish a minimum wage? ❑ Should state Supreme Courts have to follow federal Supreme Court decisions? ❑ Should the US government hold American companies with factories in other countries to US legal standards (in terms of wages, child labor, etc.)? ❑ Should the U.S. Supreme Court have gotten involved in the 2000 presidential election? ❑ Should extra taxes be imposed on cigarettes? ❑ Should SUV’s be illegal? ❑ DISCRIMINATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS ❑ Should women be allowed to be drafted by the U.S. military in wartime?

❑ Should English be made the “official national language” of the U.S? ❑ Which is the most difficult prejudice to surmount in America: gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation? ❑ To what extent, if at all, is television responsible for our concepts of female beauty standards? ❑ Is race-based affirmative action done serving its purpose? ❑ Should college admissions practice affirmative action based on economic class? ❑ Should schools be required to offer the same sports opportunities for women as for men? ❑ Should a landlord be able to deny someone housing based on sexual orientation (as is allowed in the city of Albany)? ❑ Is pornography harmful to women? ❑ Should homosexual couples be allowed to adopt children?