Today’s Goals

Finish up the first round of the debates

New Debate Rules/Structure

All individual speakers will have 90 seconds to speak

Evidence rules strictly enforced: if it is not printed and brought to the debate, you may not use it.

After all group members on both sides have presented their arguments, a brief recess will occur

A hypothetical problem related to the debate topic will then be presented

Debate groups will be given 2 minutes of planning time

Then a final 2 minute speaking session will occur. In this time, each group should present a solution to the problem (that aligns with their view on the issue), support it with the evidence at hand, and making closing remarks about their topic

Revised Debate Grading System

Arguments 40% At least 1 salient point per group member

Utilize all rhetorical appeals

Arguments are rhetorically sound

Propose a solution(s)

Counterarguments 30% Did the group take advantage of any rhetorical weak points?

Does every group member (aside from the initial speaker) address some kindn of counterargument?

Time Management 10% Are all speaking points adequately explained?

Individual Participation 10%

Groupwork 10% How well coordinated is the group?

Do speaking points overlap?

Final Problem - Euthanasia

Let us consider the hypothetical situation of Tom

Tom was your regular, everyday IT guy. He had a wife, a 5 year old son, and a steady job doing tech support. Unfortunately, Tom’s job didn’t offer healthcare, so he paid for Obamacare for himself and his family. It never bothered Tom though; he was generally regarded as a nice and caring person, and he frequently volunteered for charities like March of Dimes.

That all changed one night when Tom was driving home with his family from the movies. A drunk driver ran a red light and crashed into Tom’s car, instantly killing his wife and son and giving Tom severe injuries as well.

Tom lived through the experience but remained in a coma after the car crash. The doctors say that due to his severe brain trauma, it is not very likely he will wake up. They estimated about a 1% chance he could recover from the coma although if he does he will likely regain his full facilities.

It has been three months since the crash. Tom is still deep in the coma. At this point, many hospitals would be considering taking him off life support with permission of his next of kin. Unfortunately, Tom has no more living relatives, no other emergency contacts other than his wife, and no one with power of attorney over him. His steep medical bills for round the clock intensive care have already gone into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This has already gone far over his insurance maximums, but neither the doctors nor the hospital are sure what to do.

How long should Tom be kept alive on life support? How long should the government be responsible for paying his medical expenses? Who should be the one to decide when or if to terminate Tom’s care? And finally, what are the ethical and moral implications of the government being in charge of Tom’s fate?

Final Problem – Textbooks vs. Tablets

Let us consider the hypothetical situation of Coleridge Elementary School

Coleridge is a relatively unremarkable school located in a small town in Nevada. However, one of Coleridge’s alums went on to become a very successful owner of a computer company. In her generosity, the alum offered to sell tablet computers to the school at 30% of the regular price if they switched the entire school over to tablets instead of textbooks, something that could potentially save the school tens of thousands in the long run.

Unfortunately, not everyone in the town is on board with the idea. Several parent groups are strongly advocating against the use of tablets because they believe it will allow students access to inappropriate online content or subject them to cyberbullying. Another group of religious activists in the town refuse to let their children ever have access to or utilize tablets or other similar electronic devices.

The school board for Coleridge is unsure of how to resolve this dilemma. Switching to tablets, with the generous price cut, would allows the school’s budget to improve other educational areas by hiring additional faculty, facilities for handicap students, and a new playground and athletic equipment. However, they are concerned that many parents will react negatively to this because of the above mentioned groups.

Should the school switch to tablets or remain using traditional textbooks? Should the school be required to keep having textbooks to accommodate people’s religious beliefs? Should the small parent group’s opinions about education be taken into consideration, or should the school benefit all of their students with the increased funding they would have for education and other facilities?

Note: the tablet offer is an all or nothing situation; the school will only get the discount if they switch over entirely from using textbooks.

Final Problem – Child Discipline

Let us consider the hypothetical situation of Casey.

Casey is a 10 year old orphan and has grown up in foster homes and orphanages. Like many children in this situation, Casey has developed behavioral problems, disrupting class, vandalizing school property, and even threatening a teacher.

Casey’s newest foster parents do their best to help Casey live a normal, happy life. They frequently use time outs or restrict tv/computer access as punishment for misbehaving, and this has worked for most of their foster children in the past but not Casey. They have, once or twice in the past, used physical discipline with Casey to punish severed behavior. Although this physical discipline seemed to have better results, after the last time Casey threatened to run away if they ever did so again.

One day at school, Casey had an altercation with another student, and afterwards, tripped the student as he went downstairs, causing the child to suffer many injuries, including a broken leg.

Casey’s foster parents are outraged but unsure of how to handle the situation. Grounding Casey and their other traditional methods of punishment seem inadequate given this violent and upsetting behavior.

How should Casey be disciplined? Is it ok to use physical discipline in an extreme situation like this? What if this causes Casey to run away? If Casey should not be given physical discipline, what would an appropriate response to this situation be?

Homework

Journal Entry 30 Focus: CA Source Evaluation 3

Find the third source you will use for your classical argument essay

Read and analyze the source.

Sum up the argument it makes or find its thesis statement and write it here

Identify the source as supporting your view, supporting an opposing view, or providing neutral background information

Finally, play the Believing and Doubting Game to find the strongest and weakest elements of the source.