Should pit bull terriers be banned in my community

Course Theme Reading List
Students:
Below you will find a reading list that includes 62 references on the theme and topics you will discuss and research in this class in preparation for the Course Project. Although you are not required to read all 62 of the references, you should plan to dedicate sufficient time to retrieve and preview sources on topics that are of interest to you. The list of readings will help you narrow a topic for your Course Project.

These selections should be the first ones that you consult as you explore potential topics and begin your research process. Read and review the selections on topics that you are considering. Those that you do use will provide content that can be incorporated into your writing assignments as support or contrast for your thesis and your Final Project.

A final requirement of the Course Project is that all students must include at least one of the selected course readings below in their final research projects.

Once you are introduced to library search strategies, you will search for the remaining number of sources required for inclusion in-text and on the References page of the final assignment.

Each selection can be accessed in Writing Today or in the DeVry Library databases: EBSCOhost, LexisNexis, or ABI Inform.   <click here for a tutorial on accessing the DeVry Library databases>

For more information: Talk to your professor or use the Ask the Librarian service.

Theme: Education (16 references)

Topics:    Articles
1. School Bullies
Cloud, J. (2012, March 12). The myths of bullying. Time, 179(10). Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine
Cornell, D. G., & Brockenbrough, K. (2004). Identification of bullies and victims: A comparison of methods. Journal of School Violence, 3(2-3), 63–87. doi:10.1300/J202v03n02_05
2. No Child Left Behind Act/ Race to the Top
Ravitch, D. (2011). Dictating to the schools: A look at the effect of the Bush and Obama administration on schools. Education Digest, 76(8), 4-9.

Onosko, J. (2011). Race to the Top leaves children and future citizens behind:  The devastating effects of centralization, standardization, and high stakes accountability.  Democracy & Education, 19(2), 1–11.
3. Grade Inflation
Kohn. A. (2013). From grading to degrading. In R. Johnson-Sheehan & C. Paine (Eds.), Writing Today (2nd ed., pp. 254–261). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Hall, R. A. (2012). A neglected reply to grade inflation in higher education. Global Education Journal, 2012(3), 144–165.
4. College Students and Underage
Drinking
Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2013). Underage alcohol use among full-time college students. In R. Johnson-Sheehan & C. Paine (Eds.), Writing Today (2nd ed., pp. 743–745). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Wechsler, H., & Nelson, T.  F. (2010). Will increasing alcohol availability by lowering the minimum legal drinking age decrease drinking and related consequences among youths? American Journal of Public Health, 100(6), 986–992. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2009.178004.
5. Student Debt
McArdle, M. (2012, September 17). The college bubble. Newsweek, 160(12).
Wenisch, M. (2012). The student loan crisis and the future of higher education. Catholic Social Science Review, 17, 345–350.
6. College Students, Cheating, and Plagiarism
Malesic, J. (2006, December 11). How dumb do they think we are? The Chronicle of Higher Education.
McCabe, D. L., Trevino, L., & Butterfield, K. D. (2001). Cheating in academic institutions: A decade of research. Ethics & Behavior, 11(3), 219–232.
7. College Dropout Rates

Husain, S. (2012). Student success at the community college Level. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 29(7), 40–41.
Tuckman, B. W., & Kennedy, G. J. (2011). Teaching learning strategies to increase success of first-term college students. Journal of Experimental Education, 79(4), 478–504. doi:10.1080/00220973.2010.512318
8. High School Dropouts
Lubrano, A. (2012, December 30). Diminished diplomas: The job market is bleak even for millennials with college degrees. For those without, it’s a different world. The Philadelphia Inquirer.  Retrieved from http://articles.philly.com
Tavakolian, H. R., & Howell, N. (2012). Dropout dilemma and interventions. Global Education Journal, 2012(1), 77–81.

Theme: Technology (16 references)

Topics:    Articles:
1. Multitasking and Technology
Willingham, D. T. (2010). Have technology and multitasking rewired how students learn? American Educator, 34(2), 23–28, 42.
Ellis, Y., Daniels, B., & Jauregui, A. (2010). The effect of multitasking on the grade performance of business students. Research in Higher Education Journal, 8, 1-10.
2. Technology and Social Isolation
Vroon, D. (2009, May/June). The distracted generation victims of technology. American Record Guide, 72(3).
Massimini, M., & Peterson, M. (2009). Information and communication technology: Affects [sic] on U.S. college students. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 3(1), 1–12.
3. Perils of Social Networking
Azriel, J. N. (2011). Using social media as a weapon to harm victims: Recent court cases show a need to amend section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Journal of Internet Law, 15(1), 3–10.
Dailey, K. (2013). Friends with benefits: Do Facebook friends provide the same support as those in real life? In R. Johnson-Sheehan & C. Paine (Eds.), Writing Today (2nd ed., pp. 218–221). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
4. Online Dating/ Online Predators/Sex Offenders
Clark-Flory, T. (2013). Reconsidering Match.com’s sex offender ban. In R. Johnson-Sheehan & C. Paine (Eds.), Writing Today (2nd ed., pp. 707–709). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Essex, D. (2009). From deleting online predators to educating Internet users. Young Adult Library Services, 7(3), 36–45.
5. Illegal Downloading of Protected Content
Hamilton, M. A. (2013). Why suing college students for illegal music downloading is right. In R. Johnson-Sheehan & C. Paine (Eds.), Writing Today (2nd ed., pp. 693–695). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Sheehan, B., Tsao, J., & Yang, S. (2010). Motivations for gratifications of digital music piracy among college students. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 18(5), 241–258. doi:10.1080/15456870.2010.521471
6. Internet Censorship/ Classified Information Leaks

Albanesius, C. (2012, August). Google sees spike in requests to censor political speech. PC Magazine.
Keen, R. (2012). Untangling the Web: Exploring Internet regulation schemes in Western democracies. San Diego International Law Journal, 13(2), 351–382.
7. Identity Theft
Sullivan, M. (2012, August). Data snatchers! PC World, 30(8).
Albrecht, C., Albrecht, C., & Tzafrir, S. (2011). How to protect and minimize consumer risk to identity theft. Journal of Financial Crime, 18(4), 405–414. doi:10.1108/13590791111173722
8. Texting and Driving
LaVallee, A. (2009, August 26). Tech journal: Firms racing to end texting and driving—as states pass new bans, companies build services to disable in-car cellphone messaging. The Wall Street Journal.  Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com
Pascual-Ferrá, P., Liu, Y., & Beatty, M. J. (2012). A meta-analytic comparison of the effects of text messaging to substance-induced impairment on driving performance. Communication Research Reports, 29(3), 227–238. doi:10.1080/08824096.2012.696079

Theme:  Family (14 references)

Topics:    Articles:
1. Sexualization of Girls
Kaiser survey shows prevalence of abuse. (Cover story). (2005). DATA: The Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory & Application, 24(S7), 1.
Zubriggen, E. L., Collins, R. L., Lamb, S., Roberts, T., Tolman, D. L., Ward, L. M., & Blake, J.  (2013). Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls: Executive summary. In R. Johnson-Sheehan & C. Paine (Eds.), Writing Today (2nd ed., pp. 293–302). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
2. Gender Discrimination
Coy, P., & Dwoskin, E. (2012, June 25). Shortchanged: Why women get paid less than men. Bloomberg Businessweek, 4285.
Nadler, J. T., & Stockdale, M. S. (2012). Workplace gender bias: Not just between strangers. North American Journal of Psychology, 14(2), 281–291.
3. Unequal Rights in Marriage, Children
Perrin, E., & Sprigg, P. (2013, March 21). Interview by A. Spiegel [Radio series episode]. Pediatric organization endorses same-sex marriage for its benefit to children. All Things Considered (NPR).
Russo, C. J. (2011). Respect for me but not for thee: Reflections on the impact of same-sex marriage on education.  Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, (2), 471–494.
4. Children of Divorce
Whitehead, B. D. (2013). The making of a divorce culture. In R. Johnson-Sheehan & C. Paine (Eds.), Writing Today (2nd ed., pp. 712–717). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Kim, H. S. (2011). Consequences of parental divorce for child development. American Sociological Review, 76(3), 487–511. doi:10.1177/0003122411407748
5. Domestic Violence
Parachin, V. M. (2013). Terrorism in the home: Eleven myths and facts about domestic violence. Priest, 69(1), 13-16.
Alhabib, S., Nur, U., & Jones, R. (2010). Domestic violence against women: Systematic review of prevalence studies. Journal of Family Violence, 25(4), 369–382. doi:10.1007/s10896-009-9298-4
6. Cyberbullying

Bazelon, E. (2013, February 19). Interview by T. Gross [Radio series episode]. Today’s bullied teens subject to “sticks and stones” online, too. Fresh Air (NPR).
Murray, S. S., Hewitt, P., Maniss, S., & Molinatti, J. (2012). “They’re Just Being Kids”: Recognizing and preventing bullying. National Social Science Journal, 39(1), 56–64.
7. Life-Work (Im)balance/
Flexible Work Schedules    Pofeldt, E. (2011, October). Flex your day week year career. Working Mother, 34(7).
Masuda, A. D., Poelmans, S. A. Y., Allen, T. D., Spector, P. E., Lapierre, L. M., Cooper, C. L., Moreno-Velazquez, I. (2012). Flexible work arrangements availability and their relationship with work-to-family conflict, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions: A comparison of three country clusters. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 61(1), 1–29. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2011.00453.x

Theme:  Health/Wellness (16 references)

Topics:    Articles:
1. College Students and Weight Issues
Kwiatkowski, J. (2009, August 22). Avoiding Fatter U: How not to gain the freshman 15: Managing the stress and lifestyle changes of college helps new students keep the weight off. Buffalo News, The (NY). [EBSCOhost]
Carithers-Thomas, J. A. “Freshman fifteen: Fact or fiction.” [Writing Today]
2. Childhood Obesity
Ludwig, D. S. (2010). Ending the childhood obesity epidemic. Natural Foods Merchandiser, 31(5), 10–12. [EBSCOhost]
Larson, A. A. (2012). Childhood obesity in USA: A descriptive snapshot of current responses, disconnects, and what could hold promise for additional mitigation. Movement & Sport Sciences / 7861-74. doi:10.1051/sm/2012016 [EBSCOhost]
3. Fad Diets
Koch, R. (2010). Food fads. Today’s Chiropractic Lifestyle, 39(5), 20–24. [EBSCOhost]
Whyte, J., Marting, R., & Pennachio, D. (2005). How to guide patients away from fad diets and toward healthy eating. Patient Care, 39(5), 16–22. [EBSCOhost]
4. Junk Food
Lee, J. (2012). Nourishing change. Partnership enlists dozens of hospitals to put healthier food on their menus and kick junk food out of the cafeteria. Modern Healthcare, 42(41), 6. [EBSCOhost]
Datar, A., & Nicosia, N. (2012). Junk food in schools and childhood obesity. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 31(2), 312–337. doi:10.1002/pam.21602 [EBSCOhost]
5. Sedentary Lifestyles
Masters, M. (2010). Sentenced to the chair. Men’s Health (10544836), 25(7), 112–117. [EBSCOhost]
McCrady, S. K., & Levine, J. A. (2009). Sedentariness at work: How much do we really sit? Obesity (19307381), 17(11), 2103–2105. [EBSCOhost]
6. Teenage Pregnancy
Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (2011). Abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: Why we need comprehensive sex education in the U.S. PLOS ONE, 6(10), 1–11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024658 [EBSCOhost]
Basch, C. E. (2011). Teen Pregnancy and the achievement gap among urban minority youth. Journal Of School Health, 81(10), 614-618. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00635.x Full text through [EBSCOhost]
7.Concussions in Athletes
Sander, L. (2010). Colleges struggle to protect athletes from concussion and its aftermath. (Cover story). Chronicle of Higher Education, 57(6), A1–A10. [EBSCOhost]
Lueke, L. (2011). High school athletes and concussions. The Journal of Legal Medicine, 32(4), 483–501. doi:10.1080/01947648.2011.632710 [EBSCOhost]
8. Insurance Premiums for Smokers and Obese Employees
Economic woes may ratchet up penalties for obesity, smoking. (2011). Occupational Health Management, 21(10), 109–110. [EBSCOhost]
Li, J., Linnan, L., Finkelstein, E., Tate, D., Naseer, C., & Evenson, K. (2011). Knowledge and perceptions among overweight and obese employees about lifestyle-related health benefit changes. North Carolina Medical Journal, 72(3), 183–190. [EBSCOhost]For this assignment, you will choose a topic, narrow it, research different points of view about it, and identify your audience in order to develop your angle on the topic.

After looking at the list of topics below, which was shared in Week 1’s lecture, choose a topic in which you have more than just a passing interest.  The best topic to choose is one which impacts you in some way.  Having personal experience with the topic will probably lend some perspective on it and may get you closer to an angle on it.  Also, sometimes research can be daunting, but if you have personal experience with the topic, or are even passionate about it, you will probably be more motivated to keep working when the “going gets tough.”  Thus, while “interest” in a topic is important, mere interest will probably not sustain you through this project. You might ask yourself, “What is it about this topic that sparks my interest enough to write a ten page paper about it?”

Once you choose the topic, please respond to the five questions below.  Each of your responses should be approximately two paragraphs in length.  This assignment will be graded using the Week 1 Assignment Rubric available in Doc Sharing.

Education    Technology    Family    Health and Wellness
School Bullies    Multitasking and Technology     Sexualization of Girls     College Students and Weight Issues
No Child Left Behind Act/Race to the Top    Technology and Social Isolation     Gender Discrimination    Childhood Obesity
Grade Inflation     Perils of Social Networking     Unequal Rights in Marriage, Children    Fad Diets
College Students and Underage Drinking     Online Dating/Online Predators/Sex Offenders     Children of Divorce     Junk Food
Student Debt     Illegal Downloading of Protected Content    Domestic Violence    Sedentary Lifestyles
College Students, Cheating, and Plagiarism     Internet Censorship/ Classified Information Leaks    Cyberbullying    Teenage Pregnancy
College Dropout Rates    Identity Theft    Life-Work (Im)balance/Flexible Work Schedules    Concussions in Athletes
High School Dropouts    Texting and Driving         Insurance Premiums for Smokers and Obese Employees

What is your possible topic? Brainstorm five questions about it.  In this section pick a topic from the above list and then brainstorm five questions you have about it.  If you feel disconnected from the topics on the list, choose one of your own, but make sure it is not an “overused topic,” such as abortion, gun control, capital punishment or legalization of marijuana.  That is unless you have personal experience with the topic and can offer a unique perspective.  Also, beware of current issues that might not be well-researched yet; you may not find enough sources at this time. Your purpose for brainstorming five questions is to narrow the topic to a manageable scope.  Who knows, one of the questions may eventually become your research question, the question that directs your entire paper.  Need help getting started?  See the list of questions below that are related to the following topics:  perils of social networking, concussion and athletes, and grade inflation. (The examples below do not include five questions; but yours should.)

Examples:
Perils of social networking: How does social networking affect our social lives and our outlook on the world? Does it make us more socially isolated? What dangers are involved in meeting people online? Should my children be on social network sites, and at what age might it be okay for children to be on social networking sites?
Concussions and Athletes: How do head injuries affect athletes over the long term, especially when repeated head injuries? What are the medical data and statistics?  My kid plays football; what are the statistics on injuries to teenagers, and thus, should my child play football?
Grade Inflation: How should the world of higher education my world—copes with problems of grade inflation? Should students complain about grade inflation knowing that it might affect the rigor of the course?

How is the topic important to you and how does it affect you? What do you personally hope to gain or accomplish by writing about this topic? In this section, describe your topic and how it first affected you. Explain why it is important to you. Reflect on how or why your background, motivations, needs, or interests sparked you to choose this topic. The best topics are those that are important to and involve you.

Research your topic and provide a brief summary of the current points of view about the topic. Share at least two different/opposing positions on the topic. While this section asks for summaries of two others’ positions, write each summary in your own words.  Each should be a paragraph in length.  To conduct research on your topic, find at least two credible sources that offer opposing perspectives and summarize those points of view in a paragraph. Additionally, although we will be learning more about APA documentation style next week, use Citation Machine, the DeVry APA Handbook, APA tutorials in the syllabus, and/or Chapter 26 in your textbook to provide full APA references for both sources. (Note: The “click here” for your references is formatted as hanging indent.)

Describe whom you might choose as your audience. Who are your readers, and what are their needs, motivations, and influences? In what ways will you need to structure your writing to appeal to them? Think about who will need/want to read your paper. What do you need to consider about those readers? Will they be open-minded or antagonistic? Are you outside your group of readers, which means that you need to choose a formal voice and use “they,” or are you part of your group of readers, which means that you can use a more conversational voice and use “we”? Analyze the groups and individuals who are reading and writing on your chosen topic. Work to define who they are and how their backgrounds will dictate your writing approach.

What specific issue will you write about within the larger topic, and what unique angle will you provide?
In this section, decide upon and explain which “side” of the argument you are on and what your thesis statement will be. To do that, you should attempt to come up with a question about the topic that you will answer in your paper. Your answer becomes your working thesis statement. For example, you might write the following: “With the growing instances of road rage across the nation, it might be argued that drivers who do not abide by the rules of the road are the cause of road rage (e.g., not using a turn signal when changing lanes; travelling slowly in the left lane when others are trying to pass; not turning into the same lane when turning a corner). If drivers who do not follow the laws are the problem, then shouldn’t states require extensive driver’s education of all new drivers?” Note that this question can be answered either yes or no. Additionally, the question asks, “Should….” Your question should begin with “should,” “must,” or “do we need to” because your thesis will be a persuasive, “should,” “need to,” or “must” statement.

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