Blog #7

I looked over the proposal Student Example- 1.

I agree with the argument made in this proposal. Tuition for students to go University and achieve a degree is extremely expensive, especially for those who are from out of state. On top of fees for school, books add a even heftier bill to the students, especially students in the science field who require large scientific textbooks. If being able to access the required books online would save students money, then I think it’s an idea that should be looked into. Also, as said by the student, it would be making a step towards becoming even more green campus wide. 

I think the argument was fairly made; the student brought two good points forward and even addressed the issues that this proposal would face.

The audience for this proposal is the president of Arizona State University, Mr. Crow. I think he appeals to Mr. Crow’s interests when he mentions how this would aid the University to still be regarded as one a University with one of the most environmentally friendly campuses. As a president of the school I’m sure he takes pride in any innovation and recognition the school has and receives, so this would make him take more notice of this proposal. The student also states that it would help other students with the cost of school. This would appeal to his values because a main concern is always trying to keep costs of attending school as low as possible.

I believe the author’s ethos is strong, he wrote about something that as a student he is personally involved in and affected by. This means that it is something that he truly cares about and wants to see the change made.

I would think that this would be a good model for our project. The student is clear and concise about what he would like to have done, and explains the benefits and setbacks that this proposal would bring. It would obviously be very difficult to execute, but if enough people got on board it could be possible.

The student researched the expected amount of e-reader sales that would take place, and he also showed how much books are costing students on average. He maybe could have done a survey to other students asking them what they thought about his proposal. Had the percentage been high in agreeing with his proposal then he would have had a very strong argument with many students supporting his idea. The student also could have sought out how many and which publishers are on board with making e-books for the textbooks, and if the publishers used by the school right now create e-books. Having those facts could have added extra padding to his argument.

Blog #2

In Obama’s speech, a wise rhetorical strategy that he used was using arguments based on emotion, or so-called pathos. He helped convince his audience of what he was trying to say by relating to He shared a story, using the time that he ran against Alan Keyes for US senate in 2004. It connected him with the audience and it also allowed him to smoothly begin his speech on faith in America. He used that personal experience and the emotion behind it to build bridges between him and the audience.

While in the midst of his speech, Obama established his credibility (an argument based on character: Ethos) by using statistics and polls of people with faith in America stating, “…90 percent of us believe in God, 70 percent affiliate themselves with an organized religion, 38 percent call themselves committed Christians…”. That showed that he had done his research and knew the facts surrounding religion in the country. Although these aren’t hard facts, it showed that he had looked into the background of his argument. This would have established trust in his speech. Also, the language he used in his speech showed that he was a very competent man when it came to education.

Obama also used a letter written by a doctor who was very religious, but was also in agreement with most of Obama’s ideals. This letter was a testimony that faith and politics could mesh, it was a very convincing argument based on facts and reason (logos). By reading this letter it also showed the audience that he listens to his supporters.

All in all the speech was very well done with many hidden arguments that without evaluating, one would never come across.

Blog #6

Something that can be hoped for with all the upcoming technology that is replacing jobs will be that new jobs will also be created. Yes, robots that are more efficient will replace many jobs, but with all the new technology, jobs that no one ever even considered may be created. Just like back when farming was much more popular, farm equipment took over many jobs from the farms but new jobs were also created because of it. Machines have obvious positive impacts on production efficiency, but one of the downfalls of machines is that they don’t have any creativity. Machines could take away the mainstream jobs but humans must still do the jobs that resort to any type of art. That’s one type of job that technology can’t do better than a creative mind. It’s important for money to still be circulating, and for that to happen money has to be made and spent; that being said, employers have to be careful how many jobs they replace by machines. Even if machines could potentially do the same job, the government should watch over the unemployed to employed ratios and try and keep it under control. Perhaps mandate a rule that only so many machines can do certain jobs, so that unemployment doesn’t shoot down, resulting in an even worse economy than what is around at this moment. 

Blog #5

In this day and age, not even highly specialized professions will be safe if robots begin to start replacing human employees. Laborers are clearly certain jobs that will tend to be replaced, as stated in the question, but more surprisingly is the jobs that have significant skill level and require years of schooling. One job that has already been replaced in two hospitals by robots so far is being a pharmacist. It’s been said that in one hospital a machine has filled approximately 350,000 prescriptions without fail. That shows that that will most likely be a job that will slowly be phased out in this century. Another highly skilled job is that of a lawyer, they’re saying that software can now review hundreds of documents much quicker and more efficiently than lawyers and paralegals. Lastly, we’ve already seen technology replace the need for store clerks and bank tellers. ATM’s have reduced the need for bank tellers significantly, and self-serve lines at stores have begun to be extremely popular. A lot of these jobs have already slowly begun to be phased out, and if it continues to develop, will become an exceedingly significant problem. It is said that one robot will be able to replace up to 5000 people doing the same job. The economy wouldn’t be able to support itself; the lower class won’t be able to find jobs because labor has begun to be taken over, but the upper class aren’t protected either. This means that the government will have to support millions of people that will lose their jobs, from all social classes. The economy will end up being dug into an even deeper hole since there will not be the same ratio of consumers to suppliers.

Blog #1- Obama's speech

This speech was made to a group of religious people in order to show that religion can be apart of politics. Obama began making his points by first sharing an example of what a man he ran against once said about liberals. That Democrats didn’t believe in faith and didn’t understand religious people. This brought Obama to say that it was time liberals  address their faith rather than avoid the topic like liberals typically do. Stats on the population of America who believe in God, have an affiliated religion, and are committed Christians were then shared, showing that belief in angels outweighs belief in evolution in America. He went on to explain the he understood the assurance of acceptance that belief gave. He then reached out to the audience by sharing his story on how he became apart of a church and a religious community.

His story showed that all religions have the same set of values in common, and they all have hope. Whether a person is secular or religious, they have a common morality spread through, and then everyone could work together and sacrifice in order to help those who need it. The poor and underprivileged may not need religion, but they need to be provided with influences with strong morals.

He then mentions that they need representatives of more religions on capital hill to add morality to political debates. Conservatives and liberals each have to bend and compromise in order to allow reconciliation between faith and politics. The words and ideas behind all arguments must be accessible to people of all faiths.