...Group Analysis and Debate Paper University of Phoenix XBCOM/275 Fredrick Dean September 13, 2015 The topic of debate might sometimes hold a negative connotation, as people associate having a debate with having an intense argument with an individual or group or individuals. However having a debate can sometimes be very beneficial, as it is as a way to see a belief or idea from other’s perspectives. A debate is a formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward. It is an essential tool for developing and maintaining democracy and open societies. Having a debate can be done individually or in a group setting. When debating with a group, it can have both benefits and drawbacks. Having a debate enables individuals to think critically and analyze situations in order to formulate new ideas. The biggest difference between one-on-one debate and group debate is the number of different viewpoints. However, this is a benefit as well because you get the opportunity to see things from other vantage points. In this respect, an open mind is needed, as it makes it easier to receive information and evaluate it. Group debates are also an excellent way to exercise critical thinking skills, communication skills, and active listening. Group debates also allow the opportunity to exercise self-control, as you have to allow others the opportunity to express themselves without interruption, and also not to get angry...
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...Associated with Group Debates Competitive debate in any format sharpens the ability to research and analyze problems, think and listen critically by expressing thoughts clearly and fluently. It increases your confidence and poise and provides constant intellectual stimulation. Group formatted debates gives each debater an active role, members are generally randomly placed into groups of only two or three on each team, resulting in four to six debaters for each topic. When debates are set up in a group manner, people who make up the audience benefit from critically evaluating of each debaters on content, involvement, language, and speech; fishbowl discussions used in the fields have demonstrated positive learning opportunities for participates. Some drawbacks to these type of debating style are more reserved people are less likely to actively participate and there a tendency for males to be more comfortable than females in adversarial environments and the preference of some cultural groups for harmony over open opposition. This debate format has been criticized for oversimplifying complex issues into dichotomous options. The use of groups debating in front of the rest of the class allows for diverse evaluation of the issues by the student listeners, who are observing the debaters. The people who are listening are less focused on winning or losing the debate and can offer critical evaluation of the arguments presented. During the discussions following the debate people may assess...
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...Gun Control Team Debate Paper BCOM/275 May 7, 2013 Gun Control Gun control is a hot topic in the United States with primarily two sides of the conversation advocating for either more control of guns or more freedom of guns. The current laws on gun control or gun rights are disagreed upon by these individuals essentially based on the interpretation of such gun control laws. Firearms and the effects of gun rights has many cases that call for the strictest form of gun control. Some of these instances involve elementary school shootings, shootings at theaters, and even shootings on military installations by military members. The 2nd Amendment in the constitution has long been the proof of rights for citizens to bear arms to defend themselves from tyranny. Gun rights supporters say firearms should be unrestricted as it allows for self-defense in the case of another individual holding a weapon. Gun control supporters state that less regulation on gun control does not allow the government to provide its role of security because of it. The statistics for gun ownership in America are interesting to look at. For example, in the United States the average gun ownership per 100 people is 88.8, the highest of all other countries. Both sides of the argument have valid points, however it is important to dive deeper into each argument to analyze the logic and statistics involved in each argument. Major Gun Control Arguments Every day there are a countless instances that show that...
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...Learning Team Debate Paper Team C BCOM/275 September 23, 2013 Kai Hintze Learning Team Debate Paper Entering into an armed military conflict with another country has few positive results. Unfortunately the US intervening in the Syrian Civil War may be a necessary evil to preserve the long standing belief that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated in warfare. Many will argue that there is no proof the Syrian government was responsible for the chemical weapons attack near the capital city of Damascus. In contrast to these beliefs U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said "The technical details of the U.N. report make clear that only the regime could have carried out this large scale chemical weapons attack,"(Fox News, 2013). Also according to intelligence analysis, conducted by several countries and the Human Rights Watch group (BBC News 2013), the evidence collected does point to the Syrian government using chemical weapons in the attacks near Damascus. The supposed use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government may not completely justify US intervention but it may help to deter further use of chemical weapons in future conflicts. Another benefit of US intervention in the Syrian Civil War would be increased credibility for the US and the Obama administration. Last year President Obama declared the use of chemical weapons a “red line” that would force him to rethink his “calculus” about that country’s conflict. (Crowley, 2013). If the US conducted...
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...Debate Paper XBCOM/275 February 8, 2015 Debate Paper Prayer in our schools today has almost died out completely. Prayer is a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to god or an object of worship. As it states in the First Amendment that it protects the right to freedom of expression from government interference. Although prayer in school may focus on religion, violate the first amendment, and separation of church and state, there are some good things and bad that come out of prayer in schools. Being that we are an unequal society and everyone has his or her own personal opinion on prayer in our schools; it still remains one of the most controversial issues today. Just like the different types of religion. The decision to take prayer out of public schools has become one of the most controversial issues throughout our society. The argument of whether prayer should or should not be allowed is so misunderstood. When determining whether or not prayer should be allowed in public schools, it is important to consider both the advantages and disadvantages. In our society, 90% of America’s children attend public schools. The children that attend public schools come from homes that use a fluctuation of religion or don’t practice religion at all. The good and bad of prayer in public schools are not a cut and dry issue. There are many outlets to this matter. The arguments of the people that want to banish prayer in the school system are not giving...
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...Debate Paper Jason Emilio Cotto/Jason France Business Communication and Critical Thinking- BCOM/275 2 December 2013 Instructor: Todd Breton We have all noticed that in all news outlets the rise in violence amongst the youth of the United States is out of control. Whenever a rise in violence happens people are always looking to blame someone. Back in the 1950’s Elvis and Rock and Roll were to blame. In the 1960’s and 1970’s it was blamed on drugs. Now in the age of information technology the new scapegoat is the video game entertainment industry. To understand video games and it’s inception we must first know the history of it’s predecessor, the computer. People believe that computers and the information age are a new concept, but most would be surprised that computers have been around since 1936. Mr. Konrad Zuse created the first programmable computer that would change the world forever in the decades to come. The real turning point for the history of computers came in 1983. The first home computer was created. This allowed people the flexibility to purchase and work from home. There were video game systems out in the 70’s, but it wasn’t till 1983 that it really hit mainstream. That was the year that Japan released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It took the entertainment value of computer games with the graphics of the computer to create the perfect combination. Arcade consoles were wildly popular and Nintendo realized a niche in being able to bring that entertainment...
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...Women of Wal-Mart debate University of Phoenix Axia College Women of Wal-Mart Debate This article is about a sex discrimination against Wal-Mart. Three women started a lawsuit against Wal-Mart about not being paid as much as men for the same position. According to (Young, 2011) nearly 23 of women make up hourly wages and 13 of management are women but (Young, 2011) states that disparities, the complaint argued, can be explained only by bias, which this may be true but I do not believe that the women that work at Wal-Mart can make up a story like this. I never worked at Wal-Mart to know how they treat women or even if they get less pay then men but when you have about 120 women or more it might be true how Wal-Mart treats women. What I do not understand is how these women cannot be able to state their problem with Wal-Mart without bias or how Wal-mart cannot state their statement without bias. One thing I do agree with is that other companies are bought into the lawsuit by the equal employment opportunity commission. I do not think any company should get away with sex discrimination. Well not just sex discrimination any discrimination is bad for a company. I feel that no company should not discriminates against anyone whether if it race, religion or sex. According to (Young, 2011) 25 years ago men were the breadwinner and women were the homemaker but now times are different women are more likely to work and men are more likely to be more involved in childcare...
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...now made our present day precedence in relation to laws and rules. We now have the freedom to vote, be active in our government, and have an opinion. Our opinions are shaped by the physical world around us and the controversy we have created as a people. However, The United States as an ideal presents a uniquely contradictory set of principles that is generally not openly discussed. This includes the tendency to accept government officials, network media personalities, other experts, or voices of authority concerning sensitive topics. The new topic of dispute for governmental and state legislature is to face the question of whether or not drug testing should be mandatory in order to receive welfare benefits. This question represents a debate of both pro’s and con’s that everyday voting citizens have a voice to help when deciding the final...
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...Should United States Employer's be Held Accountable for Hiring Illegal Immigrants? Jason Ross, Kellie Carroll, Kimberly Fitzpatrick, Mallory Hildebrandt, & Sherry Baxter BCOM/275 September 26, 2011 Mr. Dion Williams Our borders are surrounded with security to help stop immigrants from flooding illegally into the United States of America. After the September 11th terrorist attacks on our nation, it is hard to ignore the fact that we have to tighten up. As the world’s melting pot it is a dream for so many to come into our country. As read on the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” This represents what America is all about, from our founding fathers, The Constitution clearly states, “We the People.” So many Americans feel it is time to shut our doors as the welcome has worn off. With crime rates, terrorism, and unemployment at all-time highs, it begs the question: Should U.S. employers be held accountable for hiring illegal immigrants? Yes, they should! Because of the U.S hiring illegal immigrants, there is less jobs for citizens. “Undocumented immigrants are gaining a larger share of the job market, and hold approximately 12 to 15 million jobs in the United States (Justich, Ng 2005). The documented number for immigrants is roughly over 900,000. The American unemployment rate is approximately 9%. The jobs that we have available are not just being outsourced to other nations, but also to non-citizens...
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...Allowing women the option to have an abortion up until twenty four weeks gestation. Leading the way for other states to change their laws governing abortions. This brought about a whole new issue as to whether abortion should be legal or not. Prior to Roe vs. Wade an abortion could not be performed unless the mother’s health was at great risk. After the case, many states reevaluated their laws so that mothers could have an abortion for various reasons including “just because they weren’t ready to settle down.” This decision divided the American people as to whether it was ethically and morally right for a woman to choose abortion. In 2013, there were over one million abortions performed in the United States. We will examine both sides of the debate from an ethical and moral stand point as well as the pros and cons. Pro-life activists state that abortion is morally wrong because it takes the life of an innocent child. The belief is that a life begins at the moment of conception. Therefore having an abortion is the same thing as murder. In society, it is not acceptable to allow one human...
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...There are many different things that can be said about the subject of drug testing welfare recipients. It can be said that it is unfair, and that may be true. It can also be said that it is justifiable, and this may also be true. In this paper I plan to prove that drug testing welfare recipients is unconstitutional, as well as costly to the state administering such test. Testing the recipients can be considered stereotypical and very demeaning. While making sure welfare funds are used properly, it is too costly and does not provide adequate results. In the past ten years drug testing welfare recipients has been a huge issue. While most people are all for it, there are just as many people if not more that are against it. While it may be true that some welfare recipients are doing drugs, all of them are not. It can and will be proven that drug testing these recipients is a waste of time and tax payers’ money. Yes, yours and my hard earned tax dollars are and will be spent on welfare recipients who may or may not be using drugs. Think for a second…what else can my tax dollars be used for? Possible improving badly paved streets. How about fixing that run down playground with the overgrown grass? Maybe the money can even be used toward the remodeling the library of a school. While other states such as Florida have tried testing and been semi-successful other state such as New Hampshire attempt turned out differently. According to Concord Monitor (2013) “while the drug testing was...
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...Demonstrative Communication Sandra Sharples BCOM/275 October 29, 2012 Dr. Betty Bernstein Demonstrative Communication Nonverbal and unwritten communication would be considered as Demonstrative Communication and this type of communication is seen not only in the workplace but also in homes and many other social situations. There are many errors that are involved with communication messages within the workplace and the sender of the messages, within the workplace should make sure that he or she limits the errors so that the message can be understood correctly by the receiver. The most common form of communication between co-workers and clients would be the use of emails and there may be sometimes that an honest mistake with the email can cause for a lack of understatement and confusion. When I was an insurance salesperson, I wrote an email to a client, reminding the client of their payment and I had written the email with the Caps Lock. This made the email as if I was yelling at the client about her payment when in reality I was trying to just be polite and remind her of the payment so that the payment would not be late. The next day, I received and email from my district manager stating that I needed to get in contact with her immediately because the client had contacted her about the email. After contacting the district manager and explaining to her the honest mistake that I had made, she informed me that I needed to email the client and explain to her that I was not...
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...Should the U.S. take Military Action in Syria? Syria, a country in the Middle East bordering Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon has experienced growing civil unrest since 2011. The current government, led by Bashar al-Assad, has responded with violence and human rights abuses. In September 2013 the United Nations (UN) (United Nations, 2013) confirmed chemical weapons were used against civilians in Damascus on August 21st. These actions have generated an outcry for intervention. Arguments Some believe taking action is the only way to stop the killing of civilians and end human rights abuses perpetrated by the military. These pro-interventionists conclude Assad continues his oppressive actions because he doesn’t believe anyone will take action to stop him. Assaults on Syrian civilians are documented by many sources. Since January 2011 it is estimated over 100,000 citizens protesting against the Assad regime have been killed by military forces (Table, 2013). A report commissioned by the UN in June 2013 estimated 5,000 were killed each month since July 2012. This number exceeds reported deaths in Iraq at the height of war in 2007. In a September 2011 report many atrocities against children were documented. Over a hundred children were killed in connection with protests, many others reported injured. A group of children in the town of Dara’a, as young as 8, were taken into custody in connection with anti-government graffiti on a schoolhouse wall. These children...
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...When discussing something as controversial as the decriminalization of the use of recreational drugs there must be validity to the argument that you are presenting. The most important point would be what the impact on society would be. There would be without a doubt both a positive as well as a negative result. The most important thing about the outcome would be whether or not the positive result would outweigh the negative. This is where many citizens reach an impasse when arguing the topic. The use of different drugs for recreational purposes has been illegal for many years. There are opinions that are shared by many different people that suggest that the criminalization of recreational drugs is even more harmful to society. With the criminalization of the use of recreational drugs, this in itself yielded both a positive and negative outcome. With drugs being illegal to both use and distribute it keeps more of the population “sober”. People are not always under the influence of substances which can impair their ability to drive, work or operate machinery. This would lead to less fatal accidents including car crashes. Fewer mistakes tend to happen all around. When not under the influence of controlled substances people can perform duties much more efficiently especially while on the job. This in turn leads to better business practices, better customer service, better operational service which also keeps the economy strong. This is how American society has functioned...
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...Should the words 'under God' be removed from the pledge of allegiance? I. Introduction II. Ethical a. First argument i. The phrase “under God” was not introduced into the Pledge of Allegiance until the 1950’s when Americans were afraid of the communists taking over. Do we really want to continue a tradition founded in fear and discrimination? ii. Con b. Second argument iii. The term ‘under God’ can be viewed as exclusive of other beliefs. As a country founded on religious freedom, shouldn’t we respect all beliefs? Isn’t ‘one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’ more appropriate and just as powerful? iv. Con III. Moral c. The pledge of allegiance reflects America’s civic culture. v. By saying "under god" is not referencing a certain religion or making this a religion statement. ii. By definition the word "God" has ties to religion. According to webster's dictionary God is "the perfect and all-powerful spirit or being that is worshipped especially by Christians, Jews, and Muslims as the one who created and rules the universe : a spirit or being that has great power, strength, knowledge, etc., and that can affect nature and the lives of people : one of various spirits or beings worshipped in some religions." d. The Pledge of allegiance is not mandatory vi. Everyone has the right to freedom of speech and can opt to leave out...
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