Speech: Ahmed

Ahmed Hamad Mr. Logsdon AP English Language and Composition 13 December 2015 I am going to play an excerpt from a song for you, I want to see who here can recognize it. *Play The Star Spangled Banner* I could of sung that for you, but I wanted you to recognize the song. Now, Through a show of hands, who can name this song? So, I can safely say that everyone in this class, (except for ______) knows that song. What is it? The Star Spangled Banner. We’ve all learned this song through our music teachers. What does this song do? It unites us, Americans, as one. So Music does many things. It can be argued for how it fosters creative thought, or to how it unites us all, or to how it makes us well rounded people. What do these things all have in common? They make us better… stronger people. And what we strive for, right? So it makes sense that we'd prefer to play music. Alright, let me give an example of how music’s important to us. When babies are born they use their “music processing networks” in their brains to understand and recognize their mothers and their voices(Source). That’s kind of insane. That means, we are all born thinking musically. I could go into a tangent here about how this makes us all the same. But what it really does is show how of an influence music has on us, from right after our birth to when we are on our deathbed. SO what else does this mean? It means, That we are all the same, and that music unites us because it is universal. That music shows how we are all the same because it breaks down through every wall, from language barriers to social barriers. I mean look at it this way, Every civilization everywhere throughout time has made music. Why? Because Music isn’t something hidden behind a language, because it isn’t something definable, because it isn’t something definite. Music can be portrayed through raw emotion. As in it can communicate without using words our feelings, and replicate them inside of someone else. There are songs, that can bring tears to my eyes, they were made for that purpose. There are songs that motivate you immensely, they were made for that purpose. Music reveal our true emotions, because you can’t lie through Music, there are no any words to manipulate. “Music is worth teaching for its own sake,” argues Richard Gill(not to be confused with Mrs. Gill’s husband), why does he believe that? Because Music teaches us patience, it grows our memory, and most importantly it develops our perseverance. All of these define a strong person, Don’t get me wrong you can gain these skills through other paths. For example my father has never played an instrument, unless you count when he used to blare on my recorder, but he has gained all of these skills throughout his life. So does that mean that Music doesn’t need to be taught? No, because while my father may have gained these skills, it took him a lifetime to gain and perfect them, but a musician can do the same before the first two decades of his life are over. When you are playing an instrument, that you love, you enter this zen state of mind, and I have felt a similar feeling of connection only once while not playing an instrument. I feel as though it is a crime to hinder children, no, people from ever experiencing it. So, We should make more people have access to instruments and proper instruction. Because Music promotes creative thought, unifies us, and just ‘Cause of it’s plain awesomeness. Brown, Laura Lewis. "The Benefits of Music Education." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. Collins, Anita. "What If Every Child Had Access to Music Education from Birth?" TEDxTalks. TedxCanberra, 3 Nov. 2014. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. Gill, Richard. "The Value of Music Education." TedxTalks. TedxSydney, 7 June 2011. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. Key, Francis Scott, and John Stafford Smith. The Star-spangled Banner. Carr Music Store, 1931. MP3.

Andrew Reese Speech

               Andrew Reese Speech

We all know homeless people exist, but we also don’t seem to like talking about the issues that surround it. After all, homelessness is a big, important issue that seems to get much less discussion than it deserves. About one in every two-hundred Americans is homeless, a fact that should be alarming. Many people have tried to solve this issue, but, none of the solutions have been permanent. From what I have read, the best solution seems to be to provide for more low-income housing so that people who are currently at risk of homelessness do not end up homeless themselves.

               This solution does pose its fair share of challenges. For one thing, there is the cost to be considered. How, exactly, would we find the money for such a proposal? Indeed, to house that many people would probably take quite a bit of money. That number may be large, but I have found a solution to it. We just need to build around eight fewer fighter jets. Okay, the real number probably looks a bit bigger, but the point still stands. We live in a country that can apparently afford to spend twenty percent of its budget on crap it barely ever uses, but can’t afford to house its own citizens. That should boggle the mind, it should cause anger and indignation in the hearts of the people. But it doesn’t, for reasons that escape me. This could be an affordable strategy, but people continue to act like paying for someone to not die of exposure is like giving them a free brick of solid gold.

               There are other reasons people object to the ideas presented thus far. One of the biggest and most important argument states that providing for such housing incentivizes people to not work and just mooch off of the government without ever having to work. That may be true to an extent, but the alternative is for people to sit on the street, being unable to work. The old “get a job” argument remains as popular as ever, but have any of you tried getting a job while you smell like a garbage truck threw up, died, and then somehow threw up again? If you have, please talk to me after class because that sounds like an absolutely fascinating story. In addition to the lack of hygiene caused by the limited resources available to people whose address is “the space behind the gas station where somebody died”, quite a few homeless people also suffer from a mental illness. So please tell me how to find a job when your brain renders you literally incapable of acting like a normal human being, or at least normal enough to hold down a job.

               Related is the argument that we shouldn’t be giving money to drug addicts. There are a number of flaws with this statement, the most glaring of which is how it misrepresents addiction. People like to think of addiction as something that only happens to those who lack the will to just not do drugs. This is a gross oversimplification of how addiction actually works. Some people start when they are young and stupid. Other people start to deal with some sort of trauma or constant source of mental pain. Often, addiction continues long after these issues have ceased to be relevant. Besides, addiction is one of those things that a lot of people like to give solutions to without having any actual first-hand experience, and while I could say that seems unfair, I am giving solutions to something with no first-hand experience myself right now. But even if being addicted to drugs automatically makes you a terrible human being deserving of death, these people still have children. Saying that a child should starve because their parents are drug addicts is like saying that children should starve for any other reason, because saying children should starve is pretty hard to justify in any context.

               So I see no good reason that my idea is bad. The money poses a significant issue, but it can be overcome with effort. The incentive to not work is overridden by the inability to find work. And the whole “giving stuff to drug addict” thing doesn’t hold any water either.

Bibliography

Steel, Danielle. A Gift of Hope: Helping the Homeless. New York: Random House Publishing, 2012. Print.

Gulcur, Leyla et. All. Housing, hospitalization, and cost outcomes for homeless individuals with                                                                                                                psychiatric disabilities participating in continuum of care and housing first programmes. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. 9 April 2003. Web. 20 June 2015.

Hendricks, Kevin D. Open Our Eyes: Seeing the Invisible People of Homelessness. Monkey Outta Nowhere. Saint Paul: Minnesota. 2010.

Napper, Thomas Q. Lost Angel: Skid Row Is My Home. Krasnoff Foster Productions. June 2010. Film.

(Yes, I know it's bad. I did what I could.)

A speech in favor of the legalization of marijuana

(I would like to just explain that this manuscript is really more of a conglomerate of the ideas i wish to express in my speech pulled otgether as best i could to get the ppint across like an essay)

Can anyone name an illegal substance that has caused a death by overdose? go ahead and raise your hand if i you thought of any thing like, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, meth, LSD. what about Marijuana? if you raised your hand, guess what, you would be wrong, Marijuana has caused exactly 0 deaths by overdose, and yet it remains illegal due to an antiquated piece of legislation. over the next few minutes I hope to convey to you the benefits of total legalization of marijuana for recreational, by allowing the statistics to speak for them selves, as well as to deliver to you a plan by which the states can reap the benefits of this already mass produced cash crop.

Lets start with the economic benefits, in 2006 Jon Gettman compiled a few charts detailing the production of marijuana in the united states, in that year the nation as a whole produced a whopping 35.8 billion dollars of the green stuff illegally, Kentucky was the third most active of the states in this production raising 4.4 billion on its own, and while thatnumber doesnt seem like much compared to something like national debt its actually very impressive. If marijuana were to be legalized, this number shows the potential of increasing exponentially, providing the economic stimulus that kentucky needs to grow in todays world. If you dont believe me just look at the economic benefits that recreational marijuana legalization had on colorado this past year, the state made twice the money off of marijuana taxes than they did off of alcohol. This is incredibly similar to the affect that the legalzaion could have on kentucky as weed is already our true cash crop. and total national legalization could only lead to the increase in state revenues across the board. this influx of money in state governments could be used to increase funding for things like education social security and health care, and could help to stimulate local economies in agricultural states like Kentucky.

Despite the economic benefit it could have the fact of the matter is that legalization of marijuana is happening. in 2012 there were over 658000 marijuana related arrests. The use of marijuana in the united states has become far to high justify arresting everyone who uses it and a lot of states are tired of locking up citizens for possession or use of the substance.[wegman] some sates including dc have decriminalized marijuana, reducing possession charges to the equivalency of a traffic ticket or small fine. these legalization efforts are happening all across the nation, with 72% of the states legalizing either medical use, recreational use or both despite the possibility of national laws penalizing the growers.

This coflict between states like colorado and washington, and the CSA is the only real reason that the push for a written and approved legalization exists. the Controlled substance act prohibits the farming and use, medically or recreationally of marijuana in the united states, this means that at any time washington could decide to bring down the hammer and charge all the various stores in colorado with massive fines and jail time. in colorado one grower is allowed to have no more than 10200 plants growing at any time. the legal standard of punishment for this is 10 years in jail and a $10 million dollar fine for only a thousand plants, the act isnt prepared to effectively punish the crime and the crime its self has already become to integrated as a part of the american society to be eliminated at all.

One of the main points that opponents of legalization like to cite is the negative health affects of marijuana. sure its a fair argument, if you ignore the fact that marijuana is less harmful and addictive than either acohol or nicotine, both comercially available and both incredibly harmful to human life. last year the world heath organization reported more than 3.3 million deaths related to alcohol,[casillo] and in the US there are a repoted 2200 deahs every year due to alcohol poisoning. and nicotine in cigarettes not only is more addictive but is a major cause of cancer and lung and heart disease due to the massive amounts of chemicals that the companies that make them add to them causing the mortality of cigarette smokers to be twice that of non smokers. by comparison marijuana, as caused a whopping grand total of 0 deaths world wide over the course of its recorded history seems to be not nearly so harmful, and the fact that its affects are truly not that different from those of alcohol makes this argument seem ephemeral at best. It has even been found that teens who smoke marijuana casually due better academically than their peers who smoke cigarettes. its also been shown that it would take 40000 times the amount of THC in a joint to cause a fatal overdose of marijuana, so its safe to say that its not a realistic concern or piece of evidence against its legalization.

its important to address that legalization efforts that have been made arent being made to force a national legalization of marijuana as aright s=citzens have, but is actually to merely eliminate any government interference in the process of allowing the states to decide for themselves whether or not it is acceptable to allow medical an recreational use of the substance. It isnt fair to anyone to have the federal government force a law like that upon the nation, unlike abortion and same sex marriage not only do the majority of people not want an full out nationally imposed legalization but also the issue its self falls under a different category, where as the first two are moral debates and have more to do with human rights to life and the pursuit of individual happiness, the debate over marijuana is truly a state issue. One piece of legislation that i personally hope will be pursued in this process is the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act proposed by colorado representative Jared Polis[firestone]. the act calls for the complete removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act(CSA) as well as requiring distributors and growers to have a license similar to that of alcohol for ditrubiting product.

I would simply like to close my speech with this idea, its time for us to recognize that one way or another marijuana legalization is fast approaching, the true debate now is whether or not congress and the white house will get on or in front of the train.

Works Cited:

Firestone, David. "Let States Decide on Marijuana." The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 July 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/opinion/sunday/high-time-let-states-decide-on-marijuana.html?op-nav>.

Boffey, Philip M. "What Science Says About Marijuana." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 July 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/opinion/what-science-says-about-marijuana.html?op-nav&_r=0>.

Castillo, Stephanie. "Marijuana vs. Alcohol: What Science Has To Say." Medical Daily. N.p., 06 May 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <http://www.medicaldaily.com/marijuana-vs-alcohol-effects-psychoactive-drugs-have-physical-and-mental-health-332094>.

Gettman, Jon. "Domestic Marijuana Production." Domestic Marijuana Production. Drugscience.org, 2006. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <http://www.drugscience.org/Archive/bcr2/domstprod.html>.

"Controlled Substances Act." Controlled Substances Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/legislation/ucm148726.htm>.

"Tobacco-Related Mortality." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/>.

Aditi Lohe Speech Final

Water, water everywhere; not any drop to drink.

Every time you clap, a child in Africa dies from dehydration. By the end of this speech, thousands will be dead. Living here in the United States, we have not had any problems with water scarcity; in fact we take water for granted. In other places such as India and Africa, water is a treasure. People travel long and hard distances to find water for their families. We haven’t gone through the trouble of searching for water; instead we just turn on the faucet. We haven’t gone through the pain of dehydration, we have cold and hot water that runs from the tap. Others are not as fortunate as us. They actually understand the true value of water and its uses. So today, I’m going to enlighten you on the problems with the lack of safe drinking water, other factors affecting the proverbial drought our world is facing, and finally, some possible alternative methods we can use to help solve this over-flowing issue of water scarcity.

Water scarcity is one of the most major problems in our world, affecting more than 1.1 billion people. This being said, one in every six people lacks access to safe drinking water.

In 2006, one third of all nations suffered from clean water scarcity. When my family and I visited India, I was astonished by just how large the problem of water scarcity really was. Kids were eating scraps off the road and drinking from puddles, littered water bottles, and dirty lakes. In many parts, the land is dry and cracked; it’s only a wonder how many survive. I mean when people think of India what comes to mind? Saris, food, elephants, curry, monkeys, the movie Bend it Like Beckham, the “red dot” people wear on their foreheads? But what no one considers is all of the raw sewage pollution, the dust, the poverty, the lack of available water resources. How many people walk miles every day only to be able to carry back one or two pots of water for the whole family to live off of.

This type of problem exists almost everywhere in the world, except here in America. Sure California is suffering from a drought, but it is no comparison if you put it up against other countries in our world. For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa, out of the 800 million people living there, 300 million of them live in a water-stressed environment. According to the findings presented at the 2012 Conference on water Scarcity in Africa, “it is estimated that by 2030, 450 million to 650 million people in Africa will be living in high water stress areas, which will most likely displace anywhere between 350 million and 400 million people as conditions become more difficult to live in.” Just think about it. 400 million people will be forced to leave there home.

Also, there are other factors affecting the proverbial drought our world is facing. For instance, in Texas, there was a large drought which caused fights for the water between residents and the oil companies. Not only is there this prolong drought, but for several years there has been an excessive demand of water for fracking, which is where water and toxic chemicals are mixed together and used to drill into rock, by the oil and natural gas industries. Many of the communities in Texas are having trouble with finding a clean water resource. Millions of gallons are used annually for fracking. This is increasing the rate of water-stressed areas and also the rate of water pollution.

Considering how we rely on clean water to survive, I say it is terribly sad to know that we are currently heading towards a water crisis; and that too, we are just breeding the problem, not attempting to fix it? Sources that we tap for drinking water are being tainted with pollution and the variation in climate patterns are threatening lakes and rivers. Water pollution is caused by many different things. A few examples are sewage and wastewater, marine dumping, industrial waste, radioactive waste, oil pollution, underground storage leakages, atmospheric deposition, and global warming. Basically, all types of water pollution are harmful to the health of humans, plants, and animals. Water pollution is not something that has an immediate effect on us, but rather it hurts us after long term exposure. Examples of some pollutants are:

·        Heavy metals from industrial processes that accumulate in water sources.

·        Industrial waste- and I don’t mean Kim Kardashian- which often contains many toxic compounds.

·        Pollutants from sewage water that can often result in infectious diseases like Cholera and Typhoid Fever.

These are only a few examples of the consequences of water pollution. And while water pollution is having a great effect on everyone, there are alternative methods that we can begin to use to solve this overflowing problem with water scarcity.

For example, we can:

·        Conserve water by turning off the tap when running water is not necessary.

·        Be careful about what we throw down the sink and not throw paints, oils or other forms of litter down the drain.

·        Use environmentally friendly household products and cleaning agents.

·        Take great care not to overuse pesticides and fertilizers.

·        Plant more in our gardens

·        Not throw litter into rivers, lakes or oceans but helping to clean up any litter we see instead.

Basically, be like a stereotypical teenage boy and only shower once you start to smell.

Lastly, we can conserve water by using better farming techniques and better manufacturing techniques as well as recycling water.

It is clearly obvious that water plays a great role in our world. We use it to drink, to manufacture, to clean, to farm, to advance our society, and much, much more. I mean without water, where we would all be? Dead. Not to be crude but, we would be dead. This wonderful resource is not unlimited. We need to conserve our water usages and recycle water. Many communities around the world do not have water easily available to them whereas here we take it for granted. We cannot survive without water, so we must keep it clean and protect it.

Today we discussed the problem with the lack of safe drinking water, other factors affecting the proverbial drought our world is facing, and the possible alternative methods we can begin to use to help solve this over-flowing issue of water scarcity. And I know that this is a large problem that needs time to fix, and we’re just teenagers so what can we do, right?  But let’s just take into account that it is our generation that will be the most affected by this growing issue, so therefore we are the ones that really need to take action. The smallest of things can add up to make a large difference. I urge all of you to consider the ramifications of taking our clean drinking water for granted and to take action to minimize the impact our carbon footprints are making. Founding father Benjamin Franklin sums up the importance of having clean drinking water best with his statement, “When the well is dry we know the worth of our water.”

Works Cited

National Geographic. “Ocean Acidification: Carbon Dioxide is putting Shelled Animals at Risk.” National Geographic Society. 1996-2015. Print.

The Guides Network. “Water Pollution Guide.” Fubra Limited. 2003-2015. Print.

“Ocean Acidification by the Alliance for Climate Education. May 22, 2012. Non-Print. Video.

Jeff Orlowski. “Chasing Ice.” November 16, 2012. Non-Print. Documentary.

Speech: Ben Edition

Ben McCarty 

AP Lang Speech Manuscript 

12-13-2015 

Logsdon, 4th 

Did you hear that one joke about the terrorist? I heard it was the bomb. To those that believe my joke to be offensive, I question your judgement-what part of my humor was it that distracted you from it's goal of jovial appeasement? Should I not joke about such a touchy subject in today's culture? If you believe so, I recommend you change your stance. Comedy is such an important part of civilization, yet so frowned upon, and even censored, when it involves certain "touchy" subjects. This isn't only wrong, but an encroachment on our basic human rights. Comedy is part of our society, all of it. You can't pick and choose what is and isn't funny; either it's all okay, or nothing is. All of comedy is essential, and should never be censured.  

Either everything is okay to joke about, or nothing is. Comedy is powerful. It can introduce us to new and dangerous ideas. It can start the conversation on the elephant in the room, much like how I started this speech. It can even heal. Joan Rivers, one of my favorite stand-up comedians, said it best: " Comedy is to make everybody laugh at everything and deal with things." This was in response to an attack on her "Helen Keller" joke by a man with a deaf son, to whom she replied with the acknowledgement of her deaf mom. So before you go on that witch hunt for that offensive joke, wishing to keep it from reaching the eyes and ears of others so they aren't offended either, confront yourself with the possibility that what you find to be offensive and harming is helpful and healing to another. Comedy is subjective, and what you find funny may not be so for someone else, as well as vice versa. But trying to keep something that is helpful to others and hurtful to you away from them is wrong.  

But comedy isn't just healing; it's downright efficient. Perhaps you remember the Tina Fey impersonation of Sarah Palin that essentially destroyed the chances of her running mate, John McCain, from reaching the White House in 2008. Almost over night after this emotive satire was Palin regarded as a joke and McCain virtually removed from the polls. I leave it up to your own political alignment if this was for better or worse, but you can't deny the sheer power this simple mimic had on the world. Comedy is powerful, and if utilized right, it can alter our very perception of certain individuals, establishments, and even constructs that we accept as facts in our day to day lives.   

It's hard to recognize the logical implications of comedy; it's hard to measure a social construct. One would usually look to statistics in this case, but I propose a more accurate and universal unit of measurement. Cold, hard, cash. In a study showcased in the article "Why offensive jokes affect more than you realize", subjects were asked to read sexist jokes and neutral jokes immediately before deciding how much money to donate to a fictional women's organization. Subjects that were rated to be highly sexist contributed almost nothing after reading sexist jokes; however, those that didn't rate as a high sexist donated more to the organization after reading sexist jokes compared to neutral jokes. So sexist jokes don't make us sexist. You either are sexist, or you aren't. Comedy won't change that; only a person's sincere choices reveal their true beliefs. That's why comedians that preach racist, sexist, and generally offensive material don't essentially hold those views. I'm not saying there aren't some out there that do hold these beliefs. I'm simply remarking that a mere joke shouldn't dictate how others view you.    

Mike Celestino agrees with me in his documentary "That's Not Funny", where he gives several insightful points on offensiveness in comedy. But my favorite is his concluding claim: "Art is where bad ideas belong." I agree with him. Much like Celestino, I would much rather prefer people put their hurtful ideas into art than to act them out and harm others. It also puts these ideas on a level playing field with other ideas, and allows the individual to decide which they agree or disagree with. "That's freedom of speech." You may exclaim that what Mr. Celestino proposes provides essentially a "recruitment" process for people that share the same bad ideas. You are correct in saying this, but recognize that people would fall behind these ideals regardless of the media it is communicated to them; thus is the trouble of human existence. That's what comedy does- It provides the choice. So it's your choice: it's all okay, or none of it is.

Thomas Werner Speech

THE NCAA IS A DAMN GREASY ORGANIZATION

You are a college football player, and your coach gives you a bagel. That seems ok right? Right. But uh oh, here he comes with a bagel with cream cheese. Well now you’ve done it. That is a violation of NCAA rules and your career and scholarship can be ripped out from underneath you. Believe it or else, this is an actual rule. A bagel fits under the NCAA’s nutritional supplement category, of which athletes are allowed unlimited amounts. But using a spread such as cream cheese makes it a meal, of which athletes are only allowed 3 a day. The NCAA is full of ridiculous restrictions like this, which anyone who has chosen sports as a way of life is doomed to follow. And the NCAA knows it. The NCAA is able to use their complex language and rules to take advantage of kids and remain a non-profit organization, raking in millions of tax free dollars off the labors of athletes. And this needs to be changed.

You could say the system of college sports is part of America: a person under contract to work for a definite period of time without compensation for free passage through college. But when we first saw it, it was free passage to the New World: Yup, college athletes pose a scary comparison to indentured servitude. By forcing athletes to adhere to a code of amateurity, the NCAA cannot compensate the athletes for their work (except with education), and it is able to stay a non-profit organization. By claiming to be “an association of colleges and universities sharing a common academic mission,” and saying that the kids are only amateurs, they are able to maintain their non-profit status and heap in close to a billion tax-free dollars a year from ticket sales, TV deals, brand sponsorships, and merchandise. All fruits of the players’ labor, who are left with nothing. But what about their scholarships? That’s what they’re rewarded with, right?  A scholarship to UCLA is worth about $28,000 a year, while the school estimates the total cost of attending is actually around $34,000. This is a difference impoverished students simply can't make up. While the coaches are often the highest paid people in their state, players don’t have enough money for food, and will turn to stealing, selling drugs, or worse, violating NCAA rules. Think about this: an English major needs some extra cash, so he writes for a blog that pays him a little bit. Should his scholarship be taken away for it? If he was an athlete who wrote his name and got paid a little bit, then according to the NCAA, yes his scholarship should be taken away. Because if the athlete is allowed to do this, or allowed to have a bagel with whatever he wants on it, he can no longer be called an amatuer, and the NCAA loses its non-profit status.

Along with being deemed amateurs, the kids are also labeled “student-athletes”. The NCAA claims that “maintaining amateurism is crucial to preserving an academic environment in which acquiring a quality education is the first priority,” and that kids will always put academics ahead of sports. A free education is the reward for their grind on the field. However, education is treated as being of secondary importance. How can you claim that college basketball players who take an entire month off of classes in March are putting their education first? The people don’t care if Marcus Lee got an A on his math test. They care if he slams it over a whoremonger Cardinal next weekend. The fact of the matter is, the players simply can’t put their education first. They could have a 4.0 GPA, but still have their scholarship taken away if they don’t get it done on the field. This leads to the state of mind that eligibility to play is the focus, rather than actual learning. For 18 years, UNC had independent-study “paper classes”, which were basically fake classes that athletes could enroll in to artificially improve their grades and remain eligible to play. This kind of scandal is not unique to UNC and demonstrates that education is not the priority, no matter how much the NCAA pushes their student-athlete facade. This notion of being a student athlete also lets the NCAA stay slippery in tricky situations, where god forbid, they might actually have to do something for an athlete, at the risk of jeopardizing their non-profit status. In Waldrep v. Texas Employers Insurance Association, Kent Waldrep sued his school, Texas Christian University, for the expensive medical bills he racked up from being paralyzed from an injury he sustained in a game in 1974. He claimed he qualified for workman’s comp, as he was working for them at the time. However, TCU was able to say, under NCAA guidelines, that Kent was a student-athlete and sustained his injury during an extracurricular activity. If Kent was ruled to be an employee, the NCAA could potentially lose their non-profit status. In the end, TCU didn’t pay a dime. Kent wasn’t classified as an employee, and the NCAA remained non-profit. Kent, being a model student athlete, was still determined to get his education. But guess what? TCU cut his scholarship.

Surely there are other options. Do kids really have to go through the NCAA to make it to professional sports? Of course not, says the NCAA. They say that if you don’t like it, then just don’t do it. It is really that simple? .Since 2006, when the NBA stopped drafting kids straight out of high school, only 3 US born athletes have been drafted into the pros without going through the NCAA. OK, so the kids are pretty much trapped into going through the NCAA. But can’t they be the voice of change? They’re the ones on the front lines, the ones who know firsthand about the injustices committed against them. Why not speak out? They wish they could. The NCAA has full control over their eligibility, something the players aren’t willing to risk. The NCAA has all the power.

The NCAA needs to be changed. There are many routes we can take to mending the bureaucratic monopoly they have on kids. We can pay the players evenly across all sports, we can have salary caps like professional teams, we can allow players to make money off endorsements or signing autographs. The one problem that stands in our way is the powerhouse that is the NCAA. Their worst nightmare is allowing this to happen, and losing their non-profit status. Their argument, that “it’s too complicated,” is hypocritical for a company that conducts hundreds of business deals a day.

We need to stop the NCAA from taking advantage of college athletes and using complex rules to hoard as much money as possible. Kids shouldn’t be bound to a strict amatuer code so the NCAA can remain non-profit. Student athletes can’t put school first, because if they do, they won't play as well and the revenue from their play will go down. Kids shouldn’t be trapped into adhering to so many rules. We know that calling athletes amateurs provides the NCAA with their tax-free money. But we have to ask ourselves, what does amateurity provide the athlete?

Bibliography

Branch, Taylor. The Cartel inside the Rise and Imminent Fall of the NCAA. San Francisco, CA: Byliner, 2011. Print.

Infante, John. "Athletic Scholarships." How the NCAA Banned Cream Cheese. 4 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA." NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

Schooled: The Price of College Sports. Dir. Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, and Jonathan Paley. Makuhari Media, 2013. Netflix.

"UCLA Undergraduate Admission." Fees, Tuition, and Estimated Student Budget Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

Waldrep v. Texas Employers Insurance Association. Court of Appeals of Texas, Austin. 15 June 2000. Print.

Speech- Hannah Price

Hannah Price

13 December 2015

AP English

The Devastation of the Prescription Drug Epidemic

Don't you open up that window / Don't you let out that antidote / Poppin' pills is all we know / In the hills is all we know… Antidote by Travis Scott

Or what about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis song Kevin

From a pill that a doctor prescribed
That a drug deal a million dollar industry supplied
I blame the pharmacy companies
And a country that spends trillions fighting the war they supplying themselves
Politicians and business and jail
Public defenders and judges who fail
Look at Kevin, look at Kevin
Now he's wrapped in plastic
First dealer was his mom's medicine cabinet
Got anxiety, better go and give him a Xanax
Focus, give him Adderall, sleep, give him Ambien
'Til he's walking 'round the city looking like a mannequin
Ups and downs, shooting up prescriptions you're handing him
So America, is it really worth it? I'm asking you!

The lyrics of these songs capture the pervasive prescription drug epidemic that has engulfed every segment of this country, and many of our music artists today describe these experiences in their lyrics.  While the United States (U.S.) comprises only 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. consumes 75% of the world’s prescription drugs (United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, 2011). Additionally, many of the people who use prescription drugs do so illegally, or with a prescription that is for non-medical use.  According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH, 2011), 6.1 million people reported using prescription drugs non-medically in the past month.  Among the drugs most frequently used are painkillers (5.1 million), tranquilizers (2.2 million), and stimulants (1.1 million) (drugabuse.gov, 2010). Such states as Arkansas, Indiana, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, and Colorado have the highest non-medical use of prescription drugs (NSDUH, 2011).

Many people blame the prescription drug epidemic on doctors who prescribe addictive medication for non-medical reasons.  According to the NSDUH (2011), doctors prescribe 82% of all prescriptions.  Many of these doctors, also known as dirty doctors, write prescriptions for various addictive drugs without treating or giving proper attention to their patients.  Some people in waiting rooms of these doctors are experiencing symptoms of withdrawal while waiting to see the doctor.  Among the doctors who write prescriptions (82%), 54% of the population reports obtaining drugs from friends or relatives, with an additional 17% report buying or taking prescription drugs from friends or relatives. 

Opioids, stimulants, tranquilizers, and sleeping pills are the non-medical prescription drugs most frequently abused by adolescents (Rogers and Copley, 2009). As communicated in the lyrics Kevin by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, most adolescents begin experimenting with drugs from their parent’s medicine cabinet.  In the documentary, Behind the Orange Curtain, adolescents report many of the drugs they use are easily found in their parents’ medicine cabinet, and these parents never realize their children are using their drugs. The documentary states 1 in 5 school age students have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. The NSDUH (2004) reported that approximately 9% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes in the past year. However, the number of adolescents who use drugs has increased over the years.  In a study of 1086 adolescents from an ethnically diverse school district in southeastern Michigan that included adolescents from 7^th grade to 12^th grade, researchers found that 12% of the population had used opioids for non-medical use in the past year for sleeping, anxiety, and as a stimulant (Boyd, McCabe, Cranford, & Young, 2006).  Adolescents reported such reasons for non-medical use of prescription drugs as pain relief, help with sleep, decreasing anxiety, to get high, experimentation, help with concentration, and to increase alertness. There are also other adolescents who use drugs to fit in and feel accepted among peers (Behind the Orange Curtain).  Others report the need to numb their feelings or the enjoyment of euphoric feelings that they have never experienced before.  It does not take long before casual drug use becomes an addition, and people resort to illegal and immoral behavior to satisfy their drug addiction.   

The devastation of the drug epidemic is limitless.  As seen in the documentary, Behind the Orange Curtain, the non-medical prescription drug use is not limited by gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic level. An average of 22,000 teens in the U.S. uses drugs on a daily basis (Behind the Orange Curtain). Orange County California, one of the richest areas in the U.S., has been referred to as the pill capital of the world and has more treatment centers per miles than any other city is the U.S. Many of the adolescents interviewed reported using drugs as early as age 12 or 13, and OxyContin, Vicodin, and Valium were the most frequently used drugs.  Unfortunately, far too many children are prescribed medication for anxiety, stress, and depression. Thus, taking medication is not unusual, and adolescents from rich families have a lot of disposable income to purchase recreational drugs.  Parents are thought to be naïve and choose to deny the fact the drug use of their children. Whether adolescents live on Park Beach Boulevard or sleep on a park bench, no one is immune from the drug epidemic, and far too many adolescents die prematurely as a result of non-prescription drug abuse.

In this country, we have become far too dependent on both prescription and non-prescription drugs, and we typically take medication when other forms of treatment can be used. For example, in situations where there is anxiety and stress, what if instead of using medication, more people would use meditation, relaxation, or yoga. What if we escape our surroundings with the soothing sounds of music or the ocean? Also, rather than using drugs to escape our reality, what if we learn to accept life as it is or work to change things that are within our control. We can also talk through our problems with rained counselors.

Given that many non-medical prescriptions come from doctors, doctors hold the key to the prescription drug epidemic in this country.  Rather than prescribing medications, doctors should take time to understand the problem of their patients and assist them with identifying healthy solutions.  In closing, in the lyrics of Kevin, by Maclemore and Ryan Lewis, they state…

Doctor, please give me a dose of the American Dean. Put down the pen and look in my eyes. We’re in the waiting room and something ain’t right. Doctor, your medicine and your methods can’t cure my disease without killing me. You’re killing me.

References

Boyd, C., McCabe, S. E., Cranford, J. A., and Young, A. (2006). Adolescents’ motivation to abuse prescription medications.  Pediatrics, 118(6), 2472-2480.

"DrugFacts: Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications." Http://www.drugabuse.gov. N.p., 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

Rogers, P. D. and Copley, L. (2009). The nonmedical use of prescription drugs by adolescents.  Adolescent Medicine State Art Review, 20(1), 1-8.

National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2011). http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Results-from-the-2011-National-Survey-on-Drug-Use-and-Health-NSDUH-/SMA12-4713.

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, 2011. http://www.unodc.org/docs/treatment/PDmtg/Clark_WHO.pdf.

Behind the Orange Curtain. Dir. Brent Huff. 2013. Documentary.

Scott, Travis. Antidote. Travis Scott. WondaGurl and Eestbound, 2015. CD.

Macklemore. Kevin. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Ryan Lewis, 2015. CD.