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Group Presentation Reviews

Group #1: Should College Athletes Be Paid by Andrew, Francisco and Ivan

There were a few strong points to this presentation that I found to be very persuasive to their argument. First, I had no idea that college athletes were officially employees. That changed my perception entirely. All employees are entitled to some form of security, especially if your mode of work is extremely dangerous and subject to severe injury. Also the fact that many athletes can't obtain proper nutrition is astounding to me considering the mass amounts of profit the NCAA receives per year. A few criticisms I have are that some slides had too much writing on them, and at times the presenters were reading too much. I don't think it was necessary to have the interview script as a slide in the presentation. I think there is a better way to present the information that was obtained from the interviews.

Group #2: Violent Video Games by David, Pavel and Forrest

I think this group did a good job of proving their question true. Knowing that mass murderers testified to using video games as a form of practice for their premeditated murder proves to me that violent video games have a negative effect on the psychology of the individual. I think it would be noteworthy to mention if in any of these incidences, the murderer had a psychological disorder prior to playing video games. That could have strengthened their argument. Their points were clear and concise and it seemed that they had rehearsed well before the presentation.

Goup Presentation Reviews

Group #1: The Truth Behind Diets by Jessica, Randee and Irania

This group did an overall good presentation. The slides contained only brief and concise points and they made good use of visuals. I especially thought the magazine covers made great visuals because most people have at one point looked at them and turned them into an aspiration or unrealistic goal. I think they made good use of logical persuasion (logos) when stating that dieting reflects our self-perception. Using Demi Lavato's personal experience was a perfect play on the audience's emotions and allowed us to witness the effects of having an unrealistic perception of perfection. By showing that dieting can also be good, the group established their credibility.

Group #2: Space Exploration by Blake, Daniel and Doyle

This group did a great job of presenting both sides of their argument on the subject of whether or not space exploration should be a private enterprise. For the pro side, I found it logical to claim that private competition would drive down prices with just a basic knowledge of economics. I didn't entirely agree that private companies would be the source of new innovations and industrial development, for government can contribute to this too. I like that they sourced the first industrial revolution and how labor and resources were exposed to very unethical practices. They made it seem practical that this could happen with the revolution of space exploration as well. I appreciated how the presenters knew what they wanted to say with minimal reading and were enthusiastic about the topic.

Group #3: Hypocrisy is a Whore by Saul, Bryan and Carlo

I was very confused by this presentation. Their argument and stance on prostitution wasn't clear from the very start of the presentation and throughout the presentation. When they would present an opposing or favoring view of prostitution, I wasn't sure if they were agreeing with the point or not. The only argument I was able to follow and agree with is that we as a society have been desensitized to sex, and I found their example of Miley Cyrus to be appropriate. At times, the group would be reading directly from their slides when they should have a grasp on the ideas they want to present.

Group Presentation Reviews

Group #1: Show Me the Money by Dana, Thor, Ben and JB

For the most part, this group was very persuasive, effective and well prepared. I found that there was too much text on the slides and that most of what the speakers had to say was written on the slides. It would have been better if the slides had shorter, more concise points. However, I think the presenters made up for this error by making eye contact with the audience and projecting their voices. I think they did a good job of relating to the audience and putting us in there point of view particularly with the editorial. It was comical, relevant, and persuasive. I'm still not entirely convinced that college athletes should receive payment, but I am convinced that they deserve financial security should they become injured.

Group #2: Fast Food in America by Matt Jose and Brett

This group was very good at relating to the audience with their anecdotal support, for example, talking about how fast food always sounds really satisfying late at night, or how one might crave fast food like they might crave a cigarette. With this anecdotal support they were able to make connections to their argument of how fast food has caused a rise in obesity. They also made a great use of visuals in their presentation. By showing pictures of the obese eating fast food, we could really picture the severity of the problem at hand. I also appreciated how their slides contained only short concise points that were supplemented by the group. They did a good job of showing the opposing view, blaming the rise in obesity on parents, but this left me unsure if I was persuaded by their main argument. I was confused too when they stated at the end that they like fast food and have no problem with it. What was the purpose of your presentation of you didn't even have an issue with the problem.

Group Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1N438i8R_LTue6sT8Otsnh6xlR1oztmrmmRWEZ7VcyoM/edit?usp=sharing

Reflection:

 As a group, we were very good at distributing the workload equally and efficiently. For the content of the presentation, we divided our topic into three subtopics. We did this based off the fact that the academic sources we retrieved focus on distinct aspects of marijuana legalization. Thai's articles focused on the economy, Melissa's focused on changes to the justice system and mine were geared toward social change and the safety of marijuana use. We proceeded to do extensive research on our topics and find a way to relate them back to the same problem and question. When composing a power point presentation, interview script, and speech outline, we all contributed insightful thoughts and ideas.
I think the only challenges we faced as a group was finding a time slot to meet in person. As an individual, I struggled to find an interviewee that had an insightful point-of-view and credible experience with witnessing the impact of drug cartels and marijuana use on society. I was able to overcome that problem eventually with enough searching, but I still had a challenge speaking during the presentation. I felt confident, and I said everything that I believe was necessary for our argument. However, I have trouble with talking too rapidly. I hope that my part in the presentation was clear, concise and slow enough for everyone to receive my ideas.
As a group I believe we deserve full credit for having for having identified a clear problem with the legality of marijuana and supporting our argument and stance with credible and logical information. As an individual, I'm satisfied with the research and composition that I contributed in order to argue that marijuana legalization will increase the safety of the public. My demonstration of persuasion techniques such as credibility, logical and emotional appeals were proficient and deserving of an A on this assignment.

Response Paper #3

Annotated Bibliography

Caulkins, Jonathan, et al. "Design Considerations for Legalizing Marijuana." Addiction 107.5 (2012): 865-871.

The authors of this article have graduates in public policy, law and criminology. They aim to enlighten readers of the potential effects of legalizing marijuana and discuss possibilities for how such a law would be implemented. This article does not declare a bias, but the authors argue that legalizing marijuana would raise tax revenues, eliminate arrests and save costs to law enforcement, stop illegal trade of drugs, ensure the safeness of cannabis products, and prevent underage youth from obtaining marijuana. The intended audience is for voters considering advocating for the legalization of marijuana or voting in favor of it. The research methods used was an analysis of recent ballots proposed to legalize marijuana. The article concludes that the sale price of marijuana would go down if legalized and consumption would rise. Whether or not the tax revenues will be sizable depends on numerous variables. The article has an extensive works cited and reference page. It was very organized and easy to look for specific information. This paper is limited because it is based off of speculated effects of legalization. There is no case study or analysis of other states that have legalized marijuana.

This text was very relevant to the research needed for my paper. One of our group's goals is to demonstrate how legalization will reduce crime rates and save money for tax payers. This article is a great reference for this point. It talks about how the justice system can refocus its efforts to other more serious crimes. My reaction to this article was very positive. It does a great job of pointing out the benefits to legalization and the flaws the law can have.

Bloomquist, Edward R. "Marijuana: social benefit or social detriment?." California medicine 106.5 (1967): 346.

The author has his credentials as a Medical Doctor. The article analyzes the typological features of marijuana, the effects it has on the body, clinical and social uses of the drug and the attitudes and arguments people have for marijuana today. The author's main argument is that the attitudes about legalizing and using marijuana are flawed. The intended audience is for those who are in favor of legalizing and using marijuana; specifically people who have these attitudes but are uneducated on the facts of the matter. The author concludes that marijuana can be and is damaging to the individual and society. Issues with legalizing alcohol are still unsolved, so he asks why we should take on another unsolvable legal issue. The text has multiple reliable sources lending it credibility. 

This text is perfect for our group research project. It presents an opposing view on the matter of legalization and he gives arguments that are sometimes difficult to refute. I was able to agree with the author on many of his points, but his bias and use of charged language makes the benefits to legalizing marijuana seem insignificant. His points will help motivate our group's arguments.

Response Paper #2

Recently, over spring break, I visited the city of San Diego for the first time. While I was there, I experienced a dessert shop that's very simple but innovative and genius. It's called The Baked Bear, and you can customize and create a wide variety of ice cream sandwiches. It's located on Mission Blvd, the main street running along Pacific Beach. Surrounding the dessert shop are a number of surf and clothing shops along with an assortment of restaurants providing fast comfort food. The exterior of the shop is covered in a smooth gray stucco and bare except for the sign proclaiming "Baked Bear" with an image of a polar bear's head, wearing sun glasses and eating an ice cream sandwich. The inside of the store is a very laid back and social setting. The floor is smooth light gray concrete, and the walls are lined with rustic hardwood that looks to have been weathered by the beach. The borders and trim of the walls and menus are lined with an ocean blue color, and the counter is made of glossy metal. Right when you walk in, the ordering counter is stocked with cookies of every kind along with brownies and waffles. You can pick any two cookies you like and the ice cream you want to sandwich between them. I came here because it offered a delicious and cool snack after a long afternoon of walking along the beach in the sun. It attracts people of all demographics, from young to old. Most of the people who frequent the place are the college students who live in the fraternity houses near by, but it's also very successful at attracting tourists and local San Diego residents. I would love to go back! The sunshine and sugar are such a fun and happy combination.

 If I had a free ticket to anywhere in the world, it would be a year long travel pack to fly around the world. There's too many sites to see and cultures to experience for me to pick one place to be.