*7th Article*

*Main Points:
- "If the Duggars aren't willing to issue an apology for this recent move, then the show should be cancelled."

*Minor Points:

-People feel the parents of the show, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have expressed anti-gay sentiments over the years.

-The parents spend a large sum of money in hopes to repeal an anti-discrimination law in their home state of Arkansas.

-The couple took down pictures of same sex couples kissing off of their facebook wall after they asked the community to post pictures of couples kissing.

-A petition was brought up last August on Change.org in an attempt to get the show canceled.
-Jim Wissick (found of the petition) calls the parents "hate-mongers" and fully believes in the cancellation of the show.
-The petition has been gaining popularity very quickly going from 7,000 signatures to 12,500 in one week.
-The Duggar family is known for their strong religious beliefs and fidelity to the Catholic church

-Being against the idea of gay marriage being legalized in 2014 is outrageous

-Gay marriage is legalized in most of our 50 states and most people are very aware of the gay culture.
-A popular family-centric reality show should not be against the ideas of gay marriage.

*Respond to each point - why is it wrong/ right?:

-Even if the parents of the show have expressed anti-gay sentiments that is %100 ok, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and to express it.
-If Jim and Michelle want to spend their hard earned money on repealing a law they feel is not right then power to them. There is no law on how a person can and cant spend their own money.

-If Jim and Michelle don’t want their children to see pictures of same sex couples kissing then that is their choice. If they don’t agree with that type of lifestyle there is nothing anyone can do about it.

-Just because a family has different view points then your own that doesn’t mean their source of income (the tv series) should be canceled. Its not like you are being forced to watch it.

-Again, just because someone has different views then you that doesn’t mean they are "hate -mongers" in fact this family is far from hate mongers, they just want their children to grow up differently.

-Just because a petition gains popularity that doesn’t mean an outcome will actually occur. There are hundreds of petitions out there with millions of people backing them but the outcome is never achieved.

-The Duggar's strong religious beliefs are probably what account to their views against the gay community. Again, someones opinion doesn’t make them a bad person.
-Yes, gay marriage is legalized in many of our states, but the majority doesn’t represent everyone's opinions.

-If a show doesn’t appeal to your own views don’t watch it.

*Other topics to bring to the conversation:

-The Christian faith

-The gay community

-Freedom of Speech

*Outside sources and how I will use them:

http://www.fcc.gov/openinternet : Talking about how anyone can post what they want on the internet. 
https://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/internet-free-speech : Free doom of speech on the internet 

  

3 Column Notes (Scholarly Sources)

Source #1 http://www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/FootballAnnual.pdf

Main Ideas:

-Survey of football injuries 

-Helping make the game of football safer

Small Ideas/ Quotes (Evidence):

-Direct and indirect football related fatalities

-Statistics on the amount of highschool/ college football players and how injuries compare.

Response:

-I used this source in my essay to help compare football injuries to injuries sustained in paintball

Engage:

-Its obvious that paintball is a far safer sport compared to football in every aspect. 

Source #2 http://www.livestrong.com/article/412897-what-muscle-type-should-basketball-players-develop/

Main Ideas:

-The main muscle groups you need to strengthen to succeed in basketball
-How to strengthen these specific muscles effectively

Small Ideas/ Quotes (Evidence):
-"Strengthening your quads, glutes, upper body and core will help build the muscular endurance and strength necessary for the court."
-" Plyometrics, exercises that focus on power, speed and agility, improve coordination and muscle response."
-"Strengthening your shoulders will make it easier to keep your arms up for defense or to shoot the ball." 

Response:

-All of the main ideas and evidence in this article are crucial techniques and muscles groups that need to be exercised to be a good paintball player.

Engage:

-I agree with this because me being a avid paintball and basketball player I know what muscles need to be worked for both sports and how important they are when it comes to being the best at each sport.

Source #3 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/7/prweb9710799.htm

Main Ideas:
-Industry market research 

-Paintball industry revenue is falling 

Small Ideas/ Quotes (Evidence):

-"In the five years to 2012, the Paintball Fields industry entered a protracted state of decline, and industry revenue is expected to fall at an annualized rate of 8.1% to $584.0 million during the period."

-"Two significant factors combined to drive down revenue for the Paintball Fields industry over the five years to 2012: consistently falling interest in the sport of paintball and falling consumer disposable incomes brought about by the recession."

Response:

- It is obvious that the paintball industry is in a slow decline and something needs to be done about it or else prices to play will continue to rise and more and more players will be dropping out of the sport.

Engage:

-This is quite evident to me as well as an avid paintball player, I have seen many people leave the sport because of the high prices and have seen many people become hesitant to get into  the sport because of the prices.

Source #4 http://www.statista.com/statistics/191920/participants-in-paintball-in-the-us-since-2006/

Main Ideas:

-Number of people who played paintball from 2006 to 2012

-Paintball participation has been in a slow decrease since 2007

Small Ideas/Quotes (Evidence):

-"2007: 5.48 million"
-"2012: 3.5 million"

Response:

-The majority of industries rise and fall in popularity but most return to a solid status eventually.

Engage:

-As an avid paintball it hurts me to see statistics like these. Hopefully the paintball industry can work it self back into a steady rhythm of participants as the economy slowly continues to heal.

Source #5 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/218330-growth-of-american-football

Main Ideas:

-The growth of American football in other countries.
-Football is no longer just an American sport.

Small Ideas/ Quotes (Evidence)

- American football, or "gridiron football," has been going strong for some time now. Football is being played in several countries around the world.

-In 2009 a player from Germany was selected in the NFL draft.

-Football has been introduced to the entire world.

Response:

-Football has been introduced to many countries across the world, as has the sport of paintball.

Engage:

-For people to accept paintball as a competitive sport they need to realize that its is played across the world.  

Outline:

*Intro, Problem, Change, Map*

How Society Views Paintball vs What Paintball Truly Is.

            Throughout my entire life I have been a competitive, athletic individual. Form an early age I have always engaged in sports. I played soccer all through my elementary years, baseball and basketball since 4^th grade and football during my freshman and sophomore year in high school. But about a year and a half ago I started to get into one of the most intense, team driven, fast paced sports that I have ever experienced. That sport being competitive paintball. During the past year and a half competitive paintball has taken over my life, but there has been one problem that I have ran into, that problem being the small amount of respect paintball is given by society. In general society does not respect paintball as a competitive sport, like basketball or baseball. When paintball is looked at by society it is seen as a war game that you play with your buddies in the woods, that idea is what I am trying to change.

            The purpose of this essay will be to shine a light and explain the true nature of paintball, and how it is just as much a sport as baseball or football. The beginning portion of this essay will be comparing paintball to other generic sports such as baseball, basketball, and football. In my comparisons I will explain how things like rules/ regulations, team work, and athleticism are implemented in paintball and how they compare to generic sports. After the comparison portion I will supply statistics on the sport of paintball and how those statistics relate to other sports. These statistics will help show how safe the sport of paintball is and help estimate how many people play paintball. Following the statistics I will go in depth on the main reasons society and schools/ local sporting programs do not consider paintball as an official sport, these reasons will be followed by counter evidence that will help change those reasons/ ideas. The next segment of the essay will be on comparing the paintball industry to the football industry. I will do so by showing the similarities between the NFL and PSP paintball tournament series, along with college level paintball teams/ clubs. The final portion will be on how paintball and the industry itself is affected by the majority of society not considering it an actual sport. I will also include why you the reader should care about the topic of this essay and what I am going to change to help get it recognized as a sport.

*Conclusion*

To conclude this essay I will tell you what needs to happen to make paintball gain respect/ the status of a sport in society. The main thing paintball needs is lowered prices. If the cost to play paintball is lowered that that will make it more of a viable sport for people to play. To lower the overall cost to play paintball, paintball needs more publicity/ more people wanting to play it. To get more publicity paintball needs to be put into the news and into advertising as a fun, family friendly sport that everyone can play. As soon as all of those things are full filled paintball will start to gain its respect in society. After that, the sky is the limit for the potential that this amazing sport has to offer.

Synthesis Matrix

Source One:http://www.paint-ball.org/paintball/statistics.htm
Theme 1: In the early 2000s paintball was taking off in popularity as an extreme sport.
Theme 2: Statistics on paintball, paintball players, and ages.


Source Two: http://paintball.about.com/od/discussion/qt/Paintball-Is-Not-Dying-Part-1.htm
Theme 3: Older players (people who have been playing paintball for a decent amount of time) are leaving the sport at a heightened rate.
Theme 4: Not enough young players are getting into paintball (ages 9-13)

Themes 3 and 4 for Source Two directly relate to Theme 2 from Source One. All 3 of those themes from both topics talk are based around "paintball players age". Theme 1 talks about the statistics on paintball players ages, and themes 3 and 4 go into detail on why the players ages are import parts of the sports development.

Major Writing Assignment #1 - Conclusion Revision

Original:
In conclusion to marijuana being more tolerated on a global scale, we can see the positive and negative perspectives of marijuana. Whether you are for it or against it, marijuana plays a big role in today's societies. 

Revised:
In conclusion to this essay, we can see that the creators of south park are for the legalization of marijuana. They use multiple examples through out the episode trying to show how silly it is that the drug is illegal. I find that the method they use to try and convince their audience to agree with their opinions are very persuasive. I personally agree with the episodes ideas, and I feel that you should as well. 

Three Column Notes

Source #1 http://www.paint-ball.org/paintball/statistics.htm
Thesis: The sport of paintball is just as safe as conventional sports, if not safer because...

Main Ideas:
-Explaining how safe the sport of paintball is.
-Supplying statistics on the sport of paintball.

Small Ideas/ Quotes (Evidence):
-Statistics showing how there are "0.2 yearly injuries per 1,000 participants for paintball." (Hospital emergency room injuries, statistics from 2003.)
-In 1996 Chelsea Clinton (President Bill Clintons daughter) played paintball for her 16th birthday party.
-Statistics on how there are more injuries each year on people getting out of bed opposed to playing paintball.

Response:
-If the president will let his daughter play paintball, and the odds of you injuring yourself are so low while playing then why would you consider paintball as a "dangerous sport"?

Engage:
-I agree with this because of my first hand experience as an avid athlete in paintball as well as others sorts. I have had countless injuries inflicted on me from playing sports like football and basketball, where in paintball I can only recall a couple injuries.

Source #2 http://paintball.about.com/od/discussion/qt/Paintball-Is-Not-Dying-Part-1.htm
Thesis: Many people think that paintball is a dying sport, but they are wrong because...

Main Ideas:
-Paintball is a dying sport
-Paintball is getting fewer new player each year

Small Ideas/ Quotes (Evidence):
-"The primary reason that many people mention as why paintball is dying is that many long-time players are leaving the sport."
-As people grow older they usually lose interest in high level competition that sports brought them in their youth.
-Fewer new players are coming to take the places of the people leaving the sport.

Response:
-Every industry has its ups and downs, look at Twinkies as an example. They went out of business but are now slowly coming back into the worlds industry.

Engage:
-I agree with points in this but also disagree with others. As an avid and regular paintball participant I see new faces and new players all the time. I also see plenty of old faces of people who continue to come back every weekend to feed their addiction and have a good time with friends. I have multiple friends over the age of 40 that I see at the field on a weekly basis.

3rd Major Writing Assignment - Research Proposal - Subject

The main overall topic I will be doing my project on is going to be Paintball. The 3 specific areas that are possible areas I will be focusing are...

1) Why competitive/ tournament style paintball is not apart of the Olympics and how I can change that.
2) The negative view that society has on paintball, why society has that view, and how I am going to change their view.
3) How I can get paintball viewed as an actual competitive sport and not as a hobby.