Final Exam Articles

Watching TV Makes You Smarter
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/magazine/24TV.html

Twilight of the books
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2007/12/24/071224crat_atlarge_crain

The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html

Does your social class determine your online social network?
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-13/tech/social.networking.class_1_myspace-users-facebook-users-social-networking-site?_s=PM:TECH

Mind Over Mass Media
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/opinion/11Pinker.html

Is there Hope for the American Marriage?
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1908434,00.html

The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1940697,00.html

Essay #3 Ideas

Here, at long last, is the list of essay ideas for essay #3. Obviously, you don't need to write on these topics--they are just meant to get you thinking and help you generate ideas.

Essay #3 Topic Ideas

• Raising the debt ceiling
• Violence in the media
• Human trafficking
• Flat tax
• Better nutrition as cure for disease
• Pay for college athletes
• Poverty in the U.S.
• Violent video games
• Divorce in America
• Disciplining children
• Physician-assisted suicide
• Utah’s alcohol laws
• Children’s exposure to violence: parent vs. media responsibility
• Public vs. private health care
• Changing a 4-year degree to a 3-year degree
• Texting while driving
• Eliminating senior year in Utah high schools
• Childhood obesity
• Causes of climate change
• Alternative fuels
• Video game addiction
• America’s oil dependence
• Daylight savings time: should it be eliminated?
• Is drug testing worth it?
• Cell phones: a benefit or a hazard?
• Effects of computer use on children
• Are parents and coaches pushing young children too hard?
• Capital punishment
• Should undocumented students be allowed to pay resident tuition in the state where they have grown up?
• Climate change
• Public education vs. homeschooling
• Is texting affecting our ability to communicate effectively?
• Bullying
• Divorce in the U.S.
• Homelessness and hunger in the U.S.
• Benefits of early college
• Online classes vs. face-to-face
• Growing problem of obesity in the U.S.
• Positive vs. negative effects of social networking
• Are prisoners given too many comforts?
• Health effects of diet colas
• Debate over online universities
• Body image issues for women
• The risks of nuclear energy
• Effects of college sports on academics
• For-profit universities
• Sex education in schools
• Genetic engineering of food