Debate Preliminary Worksheet

NAME Andy Weaver

Refer to the links to the topic specific articles located in the Tech Ed Distribution Folder.
ET-EA5 – Students will identify the impacts of social, economic, and environmental issues on the engineering design process.

1. Should your use of social media, on or off the job, affect your employment status?
Position No, social media should not affect employment status.
statement
Related http://www.selectinternational.com/blog/social-media-hiring-decisions Lexile
article Level
Reason 1 A social media persona isn't indicative of character.
Reason 2 Data between candidates on or off social media is incomaprable.
Reason 3 Unless the information gained is relevant to competance to preform job duties then it cannot legally be used in the
hiring process.

2. Is too much money spent on space exploration?

Position No. Space exploration is an important field of research that produces many other technological advancements and
statement scientific discoveries, and if anythng, funding should be increased.
Related https://www.space.com/15310-nasa-budget-future-space-exploration.html Lexile
article Level
Reason 1 Would stimulate the economy opening up new means for space buisnesses
Reason 2 Space exploration research has led to the invention of many things including velcro and tang
Reason 3 The new innovations from their increased budget could also lead to military applications as they have previously
proven to do.

3. Should animals be used for medical testing?

Position Yes, It is important in the development of products.
statement
Related http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/about-us/science-action- Lexile
article network/forty-reasons-why-we-need-animals-in-research/ Level
Reason 1 Animal research has been important in every medical breakthrough in the past decade
Reason 2 97% of animal research is done on mice, rats, fish, and birds.
Reason 3 There is currently no other system as good as animal research available.

4. Should anonymous posting be banned?

Position No, it would not be a feasable solution to the problems anonymous posting can cause.
statement
Related https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/banning-anonymous-comments-unlikely-to-end- Lexile
article internet-bullying-0728161 Level
Reason 1 People bully online even when using their real name.
Reason 2 It is to some degree limiting freedom of speech when you ban anonymous posting.
Reason 3 There is no real anonymous posting, the government can almost always find the source of a comment.

5. Should middle school students have cell phones?

Position Yes, they should have cellphones if their parents let them have cell phones.
statement
Related https://itstillworks.com/ten-reasons-kid-should-cell-phone-1554.html Lexile
article Level
Reason 1 Important for communication with their parents.
Reason 2 Used in emergencies like fires or earthquakes.
Reason 3 Is now important in the social development of kids.

6. Should physician assisted suicide (euthanasia) be legal?

Position Yes, Assisted suicide should be legal.
statement
Related https://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2009/jul/01/euthanasia-assisted- Lexile
article suicide-uk Level
Reason 1 Prevention of cruelty for the terminally ill.
Reason 2 Humans have a right to death.
Reason 3 lessens healthcare spending for those that choos euthenasia.

7. Should vaccinations be mandatory?

Position No, Vaccinations should not be mandatory.
statement
Related http://www.stopmandatoryvaccination.com/ Lexile
article Level
Reason 1 Humans have the right to not medicate themselves.
st
Reason 2 Some religions are against vaccinations and it would violate the 1 amendment.
Reason 3 Vaccinations are not proven to be 100% effective and making them mandatory is more trouble than it is worth.

8. Should we ban human cloning?

Position No, we should not ban human cloning.
statement
Related http://www.humancloning.org/essays/alexa2.htm Lexile
article Level
Reason 1 Human cloning, if done safely, can benefit society.
Reason 2 The clone would be like a twin that would have to mature at its own normal rate.
Reason 3 Human clones would have rights so they would not be harvested for parts.

9. Is internet access a human right?

Position Yes, but it should not be provided for free.
statement
Related https://gizmodo.com/internet-access-is-now-a-basic-human-right-1783081865 Lexile
article Level
Reason 1 The right to use the internet is very similar to freedom of speech.
Reason 2 It is important in many necessary processes like applying for college.
Reason 3 The internet could still be restricted for people who commited crimes using the internet.

10. Should nuclear weapons be banned?

Position No, nuclear weapons should not be banned.
statement
Related https://www.opencanada.org/features/six-deceptive-arguments-against-nuclear- Lexile
article weapons-ban/ Level
Reason 1 Global security is currently dependant on nuclear weapons.
Reason 2 Getting rid of all nuclear weapons is logistically impossible.
Reason 3 There are still weapons capable of mass destruction.
11. Are electric vehicles adequately comparable to gasoline powered ones?
Position Yes, electric vehicles are comparable to gas vehicles.
statement
Related https://www.fleetcarma.com/why-electric-cars-are-better-than-gas-top/ Lexile
article Level
Reason 1 Electric cars cost less than gasoline cars.
Reason 2 They are better for our environment.
Reason 3 don’t need gas stations when you can charge at home

12. Should net neutrality be repealed?

Position No, net neutrality should not be repealed.
statement
Related https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-youth-why-we-need-net-neutrality-protections Lexile
article Level
Reason 1 The repeal of net neutrality could allow for a monopoly on internet service.
Reason 2 Allows cencored speech on the internet.
Reason 3 Could be more expensive to visit different websites.