Blog Post 2

My opinion editorial is about American business being outsourced to other countries and whether or not that is okay. So the big question my opinion editorial is answering is what should we do. My argument will be that it is okay but things need to be done about it. Regulations need to be made for the purpose of keeping our own American morals while doing business overseas. We shouldn't be okay with child labor for our own benefit when it comes to our wallets. I plan to be convincing with my argument by sharing with reader some common information to help them understand their affiliation with the globalization of American business. I will mention big companies like Apple and Wal-Mart and how they do most of their labor in countries like China. I will ask rhetorical questions and then answer them so that the reader believes that I am educated about this topic and it will give them a sense of closure as they finish my editorial. I will also make sure to bring forward counter examples and then go on to disprove them with the research I've done. That will also help the reader know that I know the other side of the argument and that I'm not close minded. The worst thing I could show the reader is that I am close minded and not believing that there are always two sides to an issue. I will make sure I format my essay well so that it flows and that anything I mention in my thesis will be explained through out my writing.

When you think of the word family what comes to mind? Do your thoughts go to inside jokes, family vacations on the beach, or even teasing your little sibling? What about if I say the word clown? Does the fond memory of your sixth birthday party pop into mind or maybe being chased down by scary clown at the last haunted house you visited? Well, what about the word rape? I believe in today’s culture we misuse this word and wrongly give it a positive connotation at times. For example, after doing well on a test I’ve heard people use the expression, “I raped that test!” In this instance the word rape is being used to glorify your actions rather than being used to describe a disturbing and morally wrong act. In my opinion editorial I will be answering, ‘What should we do?’ when referring to the misuse of this word.

                In order to argue my claim that the use of the term rape is being abused and used lightly I plan to bring many statistics and examples to the table to open the readers’ eyes a bit. Rape is not a light issue and by throwing the word around to describe a ‘positive’ action such as succeeding academically we are, to a certain point, saying it is okay with causality.

Blog Post 2

                What exists? How many times have you even thought differently of or seen a biracial couple as different from the norm? Racism exists all around the world. The number of biracial couples is growing, and it is a huge step away from racism. My claim is going to explain the amount of racism that still exists, especially with biracial couples. It is so beautiful to see two people who can become one and let a difference in skin color make no difference.

I plan to persuade the BYU audience with the statistics that tell the demographic percentages at BYU. I plan to show students how outnumbered the minorities are and how easily it can be for them to feel left out. I will appeal to the emotional side of students and help them to see the way that students on our campus are affected by racism.  Our generation is the least informed yet because we did not grow up during Civil Rights Movements and during many of the peaks of racism. History classes throughout education teach students all about the past, but to actually live in that time made a huge impact on the minds of many Americans. Through interviews with biracial couples, I will find out how the families of each couple dealt with the marriage. Specific evidence will help to prove that there is still plenty of racism alive today.

This editorial is not to say that students at BYU are racist or that they do not care about races other than their own. This editorial is to inform those who may not understand the extent that racism flows to and to help them see all races in the same light. It is to encourage appreciation for those who are blind to skin color. 

I guess that my OpEd topic answers the question "what exists?". I have decided to write my opinion editorial on the fact that on-campus BYU jobs only let students work up to 20 hours a week, and how they should, let us work more. I suppose this could also address the question, "what should we do?". I plan on addressing the opportunities and positive outcomes being able to work more hours could bring about, not only for students but for the administration as well. But in order to do so I have to show them the negative impact that limited hours is making, which they may not see exactly. I don't think this is something that students and the administration think about daily as a very noticeable issue, so by exposing its flaws it will become one that is important to them, and therefore, they will be more keen on trying to fix it. However, I believe that if I can show them all of the possibilities that are available to them if they had the choice to work more or higher students to work more, will convince them that this change can only be good.
I want them to feel as though I am on their side. I don't want to be seen as trying to rally a gang and fight the administration, but that this change would be for the good of everyone and that what exists now is less than what could be. Basically, I want to show them what they are missing out on, by showing them what they are lacking. I hope this makes sense. I am still formulating my plan of attack!

Icy BYU

Almost exactly a year ago a video went viral from BYU. It showed byu students basically sliding on their butts to class because they could not walk. People were seen falling down and taking other people out. I personally thought it was really funny. Well, about a month ago, right around christmas time, there was a decent sized ice storm. I had to get to work, and since my motorcycle and regular bicycle seemed too dangerous to ride in the inclement weather, I decided to walk. I got to work just fine, but when I was on my way out, I slipped and fell. Let me tell you, when you're 6'7", falling on ice really hurts! My back hurt for about 2 weeks after that. Suddenly that video of people falling all over wasn't quite as funny.  Once again, about a week ago I found myself walking around campus while it was snowing heavily. It was super icy everywhere. My feet were slipping everywhere, but I managed to keep my balance. That's when I noticed that on a particular slope, not a single person could stay standing. In the entire time that I was skiing by I saw about 20 people wipe out, and some of them hit it hard! This is a problem!

In my opinion editorial I will be arguing the existence of a problem. That problem is the un-manageably icy walkways on BYU campus.  Yes, byu has snow plows, but they seem to only make things icier in the short term. I understand that they help the snow and ice disappear quicker, but in the short term it doesn't seem to help one bit. I will also answer the question "What is good?"  by arguing that heated sidewalks similar to those at the University of Idaho in certain key locations is key to the safety of students. BYU students have enough to worry about with the rigorous curriculum. They should not have to worry about their physical safety as well.

Blog Post 2

The topic I plan to address for the opinion editorial is whether countries around the world should share their resources and unite with each other in order to improve different areas such as electronics and medicine. This topic addresses the questions, is this good because this topic compares the pros and cons of this situation. By using this comparisons, I can prove to the audience whether this idea is beneficial or malicious to the world. I can see clearly since the day I was born till this present time that technology has dramatically improved. Looking back through my life, I realize that the way I lived would be completely different without these improvements. I wouldn't be able to perform nearly as well in college without recent technology such as laptops and new improvements to the Internet. If I didn't have those resources, college activities would have been extremely difficult to achieve. If the world continued to improve through the sharing of resources, the results could be endless and the world could have more unity and less contentions. These are the reasons why this topic could be beneficial to the global community.

2022 World Cup

I have decided to discuss what I believe to be a mistake in awarding the 2022 Soccer World Cup to Qatar. I believe that the people at the International governing body of soccer, FIFA, have caught themselves up in globalizing for the sake of globalizing. FIFA has chosen to sacrifice the quality of play, and safety of the players for the sake of breaking into a new market. The main reason why Qatar was not a good choice is that it is too hot. With an average temperature of about 105 degrees, it is simply too hot to play. The main purpose of my paper will be to steer the direction of the policy in the direction I think it should be going by showing that all of their solutions to the heat problem are not reasonable. So I guess I am using the “what is good?” to answer, “what should we do?” However, since my audience is the BYU community, I will probably have to answer “what exists?’ by explaining what the globalization of soccer means.

I will be persuasive/convincing by going through some of the problems with having the World Cup in Qatar. Such problems include: overwhelming heat, basic human rights violations, low population, expensive accommodations for traveling fans, and much, much more.  I will also go through all of the proposed solutions to the problems and display how they are incorrect. This is a very important issue right now that must be thoroughly thought out and resolved.

            

Blog Post 2

My Opinion Editorial will be focused on the issue of some religion teachers not allowing electronics in their classes. I'm taking two religion classes right now - Book of Mormon and New Testament. Both of these professors has a no electronics rule. This is an issue for me because I like using the Gospel Library app on my phone. When I study personally I use that app. I don’t like being required to use hard copies of the scriptures just for these two specific classes. It makes it difficult for me because now I have to buy hard copies just for those classes. There are other religion teachers who allow smart phones and seem to be successful in their classes, so why can’t we make them the same? This is the issue I’ve decided to base my Opinion Editorial on. It will answer all three of the big questions: What exists? Smart phones. What is good? Having the Spirit in the class with the ability for the students to take away as much as they can from the class. What should we do? Allow smartphones so we don't have to buy scriptures just for that class. My opinion editorial will answer these three questions more in detail than what I just gave. I plan on being persuasive with my argument by asking other students from my classes and other religion classes how they feel about the specific rule of their class. I foresee that many other students will share my view and this will make a convincing argument. 

Blog Post 2

The other day on campus, I heard a girl talking about how she loved the app tinder because she could control what her first impressions to guys were. As the conversation escalated, she then said, "sometimes when i see guys walking on campus, I even think 'swipe right, swipe left' based on if i think they are attractive or not". The culture of BYU is changing indefinitely due to social media network sites brought about by globalization, and this conversation is a pure example. Students all across campus have shifted their approach of gaining status and interacting with others, from person to person, to building a seemingly media empire. For my opinion editorial topic, i want to address this issue because i believe it exposes whether these new social media network sites are influencing our society for better or for worse (in my case for the worse). I think it is important to express the usefulness of these sites, but show however, that they are pulling social activity to the extreme and are causing negative effects on society. In order to be persuasive in writing this paper, i plan on making the reader realize how much they really use social media network sites and give examples on how i've seen it affect others lives, including my own.

Blog Post 2- Parking Problem

Right outside my apartment there is loads of parking! Plenty of space for the residents in Heritage Halls.. but wait. That little sign with the letter "G"  keeps anyone actually living in these apartments from parking there. I'm not hating on Graduate students because I'm sure they've worked so hard to earn their parking place, but I'm not taking the parking places in front of their apartment building, so why should they be able to park in front of mine? While I don't actually have a car here at BYU, two of my roommates do and countless others in my ward do as well. The only parking available besides about 10 highly coveted spaces is the parking down at LaVell Stadium. Imagine these poor souls walking all the way from LaVell Stadium in the cold after getting home late from work or a grocery trip. The streets of Provo, Utah are not safe, especially for new freshman who haven't learned how things run in this city. If your little sister was walking that far at night, would you feel uncomfortable and nervous for her? Yes. You would.

The big question I'm going to answer in my opinion editorial is "What should we do?" I feel like this question has two possible solutions. Either let the residents of Heritage Halls park in front of their building, or build other parking for the Graduate students. I don’t want to make any one upset here, and if there was a way we could satisfy both sides and accomplish both solutions that would be great. 

Blog Post #2: DOES IT EXIST? Supporting Sweatshops by Buying Apparel from the BYU Bookstore?

     For my opinion editorial I intend to look at the brands of apparel that BYU sells in the BYU bookstore and research the manufacturing of those brands to determine whether or not they outsource, and if so what the working conditions of their manufacturing plants are. The purpose will be to determine if sweatshops exist under those companies.

     Last semester in my Comms 101 class I did a small analysis on Nike manufacturing and discovered that they have been struggling to end sweatshop conditions among their overseas manufacturing plants in Asia. I don't perfectly recall what I found, but I believe I read among the research I did that currently nearly two-thirds of Nike factories don't live up to company standards.

     It would interest me to see if the trend exists under the other brands, such as Under Armour, Puma, Adidas, Badger Sports, and Champion. If there is a trend, it is clearly bad, which would take us from the question as to whether it exists directly to the third question regarding globalization issues: what should we do about it?

Blog Post #2

For my opinion editorial I have decided to write about a subject that I feel passionate about. My claim is that Cougarettes at BYU should be given scholarships. For those of you who don’t know what the Cougarettes are all about, I would love to tell you! They are a 12-time National Championship dance team at Brigham Young University. They strive for perfection and excellence on the dance floor and also in life. Unlike most of the Athletic programs here at BYU, being a member of the Cougarettes is a yearlong commitment. They begin in the summer and finish around Winter Semester Finals. Along with practicing and rehearsing every day, sometimes twice a day; they cheer at all of the home football games and most of the basketball games. Bringing smiles and entertainment to the crowd are some of the most important moments of this exciting experience. Because of the demanding schedule of being a member of the Cougarettes, many are not able to work.  The Cougarettes receive a small amount of money from the University dependent upon their year and leadership on the team. Unfortunately the needs and costs of being on the team heavily out-weigh the amount given to each member; this doesn’t begin to include the cost of tuition and housing for the average college student. Not only do the Cougarettes represent the BYU community here on campus, but they represent the church by holding high standards for music, costumes and choreography in the dance world. As a young girl I watched with wide eyes the Cougarettes at all of the games and also at their concert every year. They inspired me to work hard and strive to meet goals as a person as a dancer. The Cougarettes continue to represent the university extremely well by showing that you can be successful in dance while holding high standards. Scholarships would help to grow this program even more, relieve the stress of financial burden, and for many, make this opportunity possible. 

Blog post 2

My op-ed topic is whether businesses should outsource parts of their business overseas.  This topic mostly answers the question “what is good?” but I could also answer “what should we do?”  My claim answers what is good because it asks whether or not outsourcing is good or bad and will discuss some of the pros and cons to help make that decision.  My claim could also answer what should we do because depending on where I want to go with my op-ed I could provide a solution to outsourcing that could potentially limit it or get rid of it all together.  It just kind of depends what I feel like doing.  I would be persuasive in my claim because I would discuss the pros and cons of each situation as well as discuss the kairos of my claim and why I think this argument is taking place in the opportune moment.  Other strategies I could take is telling a few stories that supports my claim and that also pulls at the heart strings a little bit and brings some emotion into the paper.  On top of all that I could also use some facts and figures that would help support my claim as well.  Once I explain these things to the audience and use these sneaky tricks hopefully they will be able to see that this is a big issue and that it’s important to take a position on it and/or find a solution and that it need to be done now.  

Champion Boys Who are Forever Strong

It's a hot, sweaty evening.  I smell the aroma of roasted nuts and crunchy sweet caramel popcorn.  I feel the sun on my neck and the green painted grass under my feet.  I hear the trumpets and drums of the band playing behind me.  I see the stadium sprinkled full of blue and white as students and fans cheer.  I feel my pom poms rustle against my hands as I jump and dance to the music.  It is then that I realize, BYU football is not just a game, but is a culture. 

BYU football is a religion to BYU’s alma maters.  BYU is their team, and when the score at the end of the game is not pleasing, there has to be someone to blame.  Regrettably, the coach is often the one condemned.  Bronco Mendenhall, the head coach of BYU football is under constant scrutiny.  After the depressing loss at the Fight Hunger Bowl game last month, Coach Mendenhall was the one blamed.  In my Opinion Editorial Essay I will be answering the question, “What is good?”  Many people say that Bronco Mendenhall is not a good coach, but I say differently.  As a coach, he does not focus on building a winning team, but instead, building winning men.  As Coach Larry Gelwix of the Highland Rugby team once said, “…I’m more interested in turning out champion boys than champion teams.  I want you to be forever strong on the field so you’ll be forever strong off it.”  I believe BYU’s Coach Bronco Mendenhall leads his team by this philosophy, and that is what I will be arguing in my Opinion Editorial Essay.  

bikes of terror

As of today students at BYU can ride their bikes on campus however they want. The only rule is it has to be registered and you cannot ride it when classes are changing. Well who follows rules anyway right? I find bike riders are never walking their bikes during passing periods and just riding at a million miles an hour straight into a crowed of people. Maybe i'm just a bike magnet but I feel like every day walking on campus I just about get ran over by a bicyclist. It comes to the point where I fear for my life walking on campus. Okay maybe I don't fear that much but still when ever I see a bike I freeze because I cant play that game where we both try to move to the side so we don't run into each other but end up moving to the same side with a bike. They would run me over. If it wasn't for my athletic abilities in some cases I would have been hit plenty of times. So I state that in my opinion editorial I will answer the question “what should we do?” I will tell you what we should do. It should be instated that students are not allowed to ride bikes on campus walking areas and only on streets and to the bike racks. I can easily walk from my book of Mormon class in the MOA to my American heritage class in the JSB, without a bike. There should be no reason for a student to have to have a bike to get from one class to the next and put other students in danger.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

What should we do? is my question and my argument is inspired by a line my grandmother would recite, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water", when she would want me to take a closer look at a decision. I will clarify her statement in relation to globalization by defining 1st the bath water. My Grandmother did not have indoor plumbing so she would bath the baby in a small metal tub and when the water was dirty and no longer good or needed she would throw the water out the back door.  In this analogy the bath water is how and what we used to do, in our homes, market place, medical world, political arena, social life, personal relationships, etc.  I think we would all agree that we would not want to keep using the same bath water when fresh water is available hence "out with the old and in with the new". But let's not forget the baby who represents the good in the tub of old water.  Not only is the baby of great blessing to us now, it will become even a greater blessing to us in the future. Therefore, the baby symbolizes many good things that are being "thrown out with the bath water" through globalization, but in this analogy I would like to address the issue of eating locally and keeping a personal and real connection to our food vs. our food sources that spend more time traveling than we do and come with ingredient lists that we can't understand or identify with.  The challenge of the wise will be to find ways to balance the amazing benefits of globalization with the richness and wisdom of our past. I believe this can be done by small and simple but deliberate ways.

The Island Life

Kayla Cummings

                If you had a moment to just relax, to unwind from the daily stresses you face, what would you do? Would you go see a movie with some friends? Perhaps go skiing or snowboarding? Maybe you even go out and eat at a nice restaurant. Now imagine you were stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean, how would you de-stress then? Your options are severely limited, you are left with only what the island provides for you. Add to that island a couple of cream colored walls, a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a beautiful view of snowy mountains to the East and you have just created on-campus housing at Brigham Young University. Good for you!

                Like the island we had first imagined those who live on campus are limited to what the island provides. Generally that is food, water, any random knick knack that is needed for random classes, and even parking. The only difference between campus and the island is the fact that all that campus provides is controlled by administrators. That being said facilities like the BYU Creamery, the BYU Bookstore, the Cougereat, and campus parking are in fact monopolizing on those poor little freshman (and occasional upperclassman) by controlling all commodities or services. How you ask? Well I hope to cover that in my opinion essay and answer the main topic, what exists. I hope that by me raising the subject to scrutiny I may perhaps make a difference and maybe even my delicious gyozas may once again return to the shelves of the BYU Creamery. Don't be telling me it may be a long shot, I know it is but we'll just have to wait and see won't we.