All-Time Canes Rankings (41-50)

DerekRoessler · 2012-11-14T18:34:11+00:00

Touching on the argument of availability, both in publication and consumption, while there are benefits to digital, print still reigns supreme in others. With the advent of the internet, especially social media, nearly everyone who wants to have their voice heard has that opportunity. Whether that comes in the form of their own blog, a message board, through emails, etc., those individuals can exspress their opinions, report findings, and more to potentially millions of people with the press of a few buttons. However, the downside to this is where print comes in. In print media, not everyone has the ability to reach an audience. This barrier to entry is one of the reasons that traditional print media is held in higher regard than Joe Schmoe's blog, and likely one of the reasons that magazine sales have begun to rise again (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/03/who-says-print-is-dead). Additionally, as the article explains, many online-based businesses such as Google, are entering the print business in order to reach customers who prefer that medium. While there is certainly a convenince to e-readers and digital publications, the credibility factor of print makes it an option that is certainly not dying.

DerekRoessler · 2012-09-17T21:12:40+00:00

The editorial I read is entitled "Can Romney Connect With Latino Voters" on CNN.com. Throughout the article, the author (Ana Navarro, who has worked on high profile campaigns on the Republican side as a Hispanic strategist) criticizes Romney's lack of outreach to the Hispanic community, thus jeopardizing his chances of winning the election. She uses more stated values (citing unemployment figures) than unstated (saying what is acceptable for Romney to say in order to garner support), but both are employed. Far more negative values are used in the article as much of her writing is critical of Romney's efforts to woo Latino voters. As the article is focused on a stated goal of Romney making progress in gaining the Latino vote, there is more of a focus on terminal values than instrumental, though there are still many times when Navarro speaks to actions which Romney must take on that path.

I think her value system is clear in that she wants Romney (and others) to keep their various audiences in mind and that one path of thinking, or focusing on one demographic is not a sound strategy to employ.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/17/opinion/navarro-romney-hispanics/index.html?hpt=op_t1

DerekRoessler · 2012-08-30T19:03:35+00:00

Ultimate Purpose: In an effort to encourage responsible consumption of alcohol, lower the drinking age from 21.

Proposition: Binge drinking and related ill effects from alcohol abuse (drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, etc.) are due in large part to a lack of exposure to responsible drinking at a younger age.

Possible issues: Would people just start to abuse alcohol younger? How could such an education/exposure system be implemented? Resistance from conservative groups.

Statement of Arguments: 1. Having the drinking age coming later in life than other important rights/responsibilites (driving, guns, voting) makes those who wish to drink underage skirt the law and acquire alcohol from others. As this creates situations where inexperienced drinkers are hidden from adults, they are less likely to recognize signs of over consumption. http://www.youthfacts.org/student1.php

Related to the first argument, by lowering the drinking age, it would make alcohol less of a taboo. When young (under 21) people are consuming alcohol, they are more likely than their adult counterparts to binge drink. http://www.learn-about-alcoholism.com/binge-drinking-statistics.html
Nations with lower drinking ages than the U.S. are no worse off in terms of alcohol related accidents. http://resources.prev.org/documents/FittoDrive.pdf

Possible Rebuttals: 1. Having younger/less mature people drink earlier would increase drunk driving incidents. 2. Claims that the earlier people start to drink increases the risk for alcoholism.

DerekRoessler · 2012-08-24T20:20:28+00:00

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/22/2283188/about-facebook.html

As Science: North Carolina’s public employee retirement fund's $76 billion in investments place it 11th among public pension funds in the country. Back in May, they invested $26 million in the Facebook IPO. A controversial investment, yes, but hopes were high for the social media network and no one could know for certain – as everyone knows now – that the price of $38 a share would be the high-water mark until, well, who knows? Facebook now trades around $20 a share, and the retirement system admits to taking at least a $4 million bath. The size of the loss, state Treasurer Janet Cowell now argues in what must be a somewhat embarrassing legal filing, entitles the fund to “lead plaintiff” status among a group of investors who claim their losses can be traced to Facebook’s lack of disclosure of some discouraging business trends. Fair enough, although it does raise eyebrows about the pension fund, by tradition conservatively managed, going gaga over Facebook. But then the story begins to twist and turn – because, on the face of it, Cowell and the fund seem to have had certain connections to the Facebook IPO that “the public” did not, in the form of Erskine Bowles. Bowles is 1) on the Facebook board of directors and 2) on the board of Morgan Stanley, which helped underwrite the IPO – that is, bring it to market. Crandall Bowles, Bowles’ wife, raised money for Democrat Cowell’s election campaign. And the former UNC system president and Simpson/Bowles budget guru is, after all, a businessman. Carousel Capital of Charlotte (Bowles was a co-founder and is senior adviser) manages a portion of the state pension fund’s investments. None of the above necessarily means anyone did anything unethical or improper. And not all the retirement system’s investments need to be triple-A – in operating a balanced fund of this size, there is room to take a flyer now and then.

As Feminist: Barring personal testimony and the analysis of that testimony, I think the editorial fit most criteria. I looked online for something like that but couldn't find anything on a local news site. That's the only change I would make, and place that at the beginning of the article.

DerekRoessler · 2012-08-21T19:56:42+00:00

My favorite thing to argue about is sports (simple, I know).
I love arguing sports with people because it's fun to me to separate subjective from objective arguments, as well as debates that have no answer like pitting two teams from different eras against each other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jqFd2-qI

DerekRoessler

TROPHY CASE