Research Experience

Source Search:
Lexis Nexis Academic:
Most of the articles that came up were not primary sources, and many were about the general topic of same-sex marriage. However, after a lot of looking, I did find a some good more specific articles.
Lexis Nexis Congressional Publications:
Most of the bills that came up were state bills which is not what I was trying to focus on so I didn't find this database very helpful.
Lexis Nexis Government Periodicals:
I found nothing in here. Nothing even came up when I typed in my subject, and I thought of many different ways to word my subject.
Gale Databases:
I could only find one article here. A lot that came up where state policies and bills on same-sex marriage or visitation rights which is not what I am looking for.
Presidential Documents website:
I don't know if I am using this website incorrectly, but whenever I type in my subject, I get all these links and a lot of the titles have to do with Prime Ministers and leaders of other countries.
Debates Website:
I really liked this website; I thought it was easy to use, and I found three debates that talked about my issue.
Election Advertisements:
I did not find any advertisements on this website that mentioned anything about hospital visitation rights of gay partners.

Overall, it took me a VERY long time to find my sources. Some of them I found without using these databases and just by using Google. I hope that the sources I found are good enough because I am tired of researching...haha!

Unit 2 Topic

1. For my topic, I am choosing to do hospital visitation rights of gay partners.
2. Politicians that advocate and vote on policies have experience with this issue. Health care workers also have to deal with this issue on a regular basis, and the person that this issue probably impacts most would be the gay patients and their partners.
3. I think the people that talk about this issue the most would be the politicians and the gay people that are being denied their rights.
4. I think testimonies from gay patients and their partners and families would be a good source. Testimonies from the health care workers would also be good sources, and any bills that have been passed would also be very helpful sources.

Humorous Argument

My topic is universal health care, and for my humorous argument, I drew a hospital check-in room. There is a sign above the check-in desk that says "Universal Health Care: Free Care for Everyone." In the picture, there are three very long lines ,and most of the people waiting are not happy. I also have an Approximate Wait Time sign that says the wait is 2:59 hours long and a comment from one man saying, "I guess my broken leg will have to wait!" I think my argument is an example of satire because it is highlighting one of the major problems of universal health care. The picture might not make people laugh out loud, but its purpose is to make the viewer think- which is what satire is supposed to do.

Argument with Humor

For my argument with humor, I chose a political cartoon by Garry Trudeau out of the Star-Telegram. It depicts Sarah Palin as a figurine, like a barbie, that a little girl just received, and her mom is reading the directions about her. The doll says things like, "Obama wants to raise taxes" and "God's will has to be done to get that gas line built!" The instruction booklet that the mom is reading says things like "Enjoy your Sarah sound bites...if you play them enough times, after a while they will actually sound true" and "to hear Sarah before she was reprogrammed by the McCain campaign, press her nose twice." This is an example of satire. Clearly, one can see the problem that the creator of this cartoon is trying to inform us of. I think that the cartoon has a better effect on people than just simply stating things like this because it is funny, and it is hard to get mad, even if you do not agree with what he is saying.

OP-ED

Many proposals have been brought forth on how to solve the nation’s health care problem, one of which is universal health care, but universal health care is too drastic an approach because we don’t have that many uninsured people in the first place. Proponents of universal health care use statistics that blow our small uninsured problem into one that seems much bigger than it is. They say that the number of uninsured Americans is between forty and fifty million Americans, but according to the Census Bureau report “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005,” it is actually about twenty million, which is about seven percent of the population. They arrived at this conclusion by subtracting the uninsured people that are not citizens, which is about ten million. Then, according to the same report, “there are 8.3 million uninsured people who make between $50,000 and $74,999 per year and 8.74 million who make more than $75,000 a year.” That is about 17 million people who should be able to purchase health insurance because they make considerably more than the median household income of about $46,000. So if you subtract non-citizens and those that can afford to buy their own health insurance, the remaining number of insured people is about twenty million which is only about seven percent of the population. (I would like to point out that I realize these statistics are a few years old but that I have looked at the latest Census Burea report, and the results have not changed much.) This is not to say that there is not a problem, but the problem is much smaller than proponents of Universal health care would like you to know. Just to make the case stronger, another study was done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, and they reported that the number of uninsured Americans who do not qualify for current government programs and make less than $50,000 a year is between about 8 million and 14 million which is only about 3 to 5 percent of the population. Surely, these statistics will not sway the beliefs of every one, so I will now discuss some of the major potential problems of universal health care coverage.

First of all, many people believe that there could not be anything wrong with “free” health care, but in reality, universal health care is not free. We would pay for it with our taxes which means that the people working hard for their money will be paying for those that do not work or those who do not make enough money. I do believe that everyone should be able to have access to health care, including those that do not have enough money to purchase coverage, but after doing research, the portion of the population that can absolutely not afford it is very small, and such a drastic move such as universal health care is probably not the best solution. Second of all, healthy people that have good dietary and exercise habits would have to pay for those that do not take care of themselves such as people that over eat and people that smoke, both of whom require health care procedures that are much more expensive. Furthermore, those with bad habits would have no incentive to change because their health care will be provided to them, no matter how expensive it might be. Another downfall of universal health care coverage is that costs would be much higher than they are now because patients are not likely to limit their visits to the doctor or their use of drugs. People will go to the doctor for things that they normally would not, for example a cold or a head ache-- something that would pass without treatment from a doctor. Another bad outcome of the coverage would be that both doctors and patients will most likely lose flexibility. The patient will not get to choose their doctors because that will now be the government’s decision. The doctors will also not get a choice in the patients they see and will most likely, not get to choose the methods they would like to treat the patient with which could potentially lead to poor patient care. In addition, many doctors enjoy the privileges and life they have now. With the loss of private practice options and possibly a lower pay, many potential doctors may decide not to pursue the profession because it no longer provides the benefits that it once did. Furthermore, with universal health care, comes the possibility that citizens may even lose some of their personal freedoms. The government would be more likely to put higher taxes on items that are not health-conscious, such as fast food, smoking, alcohol, and other things that may decrease the health of an individual. Finally, just because someone is uninsured, does not mean that they do not have access to health care. There are many nonprofit and government-run organizations that provide services to those without insurance and to those that can not afford to pay.

I, like most of the caring people of this nation, believe that people have a right to health care, but our specific situation does not constitute the need for such a drastic policy as universal health care. John Goodman and his colleagues from the National Center for Policy Analysis have been studying this problem for twenty-five years, and have come up with a way to solve the problem without any new taxes or any new spending programs; his solution encompasses McCain’s health care proposal of giving tax credits to those that purchase health insurance and gives every American the ability to receive quality health care coverage. After reading about his solution, I also believe that this or perhaps another similar plan would be better fitted for our specific situation and would cause us a lot fewer problems.

Argument of Definition

For my article of definition, I chose "There goes the neighborhood ban on political signs" from the Dallas Morning News. It talks about how Coppell homeowners association tried to force a man to pull up his yard sign supporting Barack Obama. What he was not aware of is that there is a relatively new state law that prohibits associations from being able to ban "reasonably sized political signs." This "reasonably sized" is an argument of definition because someone must define what reasonable actually is and give some reasons to prove it which the law does- no larger than 4X6 feet. State Senator Eddie Lucio said that "legislators wanted to strike a balance between residents' rights to political expression and associations' attempts to prevent eyesores." Again, another argument of definition would be defining what exactly are the residents' rights and what exactly is an "eyesore."

For my venue, I chose Newsweek because I want my audience to be people with different opinions, and after talking to my workshop group, I learned that Newsweek caters to just about everyone. I want to educate readers about universal health care coverage and the many problems that would most likely come about if it was implemented. In my process of choosing, I first decided my audience and then decided Newsweek was a good fit.

Argument of Fact

For my argument of fact, I chose the article, "Officials expect storm of voters for the elections," by Anthony Spangler, and it is from the Star Telegram. This article basically just talks about how officials are expecting a huge turnout at the polling place this year since the presidential election is getting more attention than normal. It says that the turnout in March primaries was about 33% of the county's registered voters, which is the highest percentage for a primary in 20 years. Also, officials are expecting a higher turnout of voters because more people are asking to volunteer at the local party offices-- about four times the normal number. Both parties are working very hard to get people registered to vote. As of now, 30,000 new voters have registered since March. This article not only gives these facts to the reader, but it also includes helpful information on how to register to vote, when the deadline is, and how to find your polling location. I think this article fulfills the qualities of an argument of fact based on what chapter seven says. Although it does not really challenge beliefs and assumptions, it does make the public aware of information, and it educates the reader. This article also follows the Toulmin argument. It makes a claim and then gives supporting evidence and good reasons as to why this claim is true.