English 12

Mass Media Communicati

ons

Research Project

Standard Requirements

Be sure to follow all of the requirements for the research paper listed below. If any of these requirements are not fulfilled then your paper will be returned as unacceptable and the highest grade you may receive is a 65%.

Four-six pages typed

Double spaced

12 point font (Times New Roman only)

One inch margins

Black in and white paper only

One staple on top left corner of the paper.

MLA style cover page (in addition to four-six page paper)

Pages numbered correctly

Thesis statement

MLA style works cited page

12 MLA style parenthetical citations

Six sources

Only one website can be used as a source.

Only one encyclopedia or dictionary may be used as a source.

A minimum of four print sources must be used.

Include photocopies of original sources you used.

Underline any facts on the photocopies that are cited in your paper.

Final paper must be submitted on a CD or flash drive

Topics for Research Paper

You will be assigned one of the following topics for your research paper, or you may choose another topic as long as it is approved by your teacher.

Remember, a good topic addresses the effects of a specific media on a specific population.

1. Government should invest more money in public broadcasting.

2. Government should do more to support alternative media.

3. The internet should be completely uncensored.

4. The internet should be censored the same way TV and radio are.

5. Media should be granted complete freedom of speech.

6. Large corporations have too much influence in the media.

7. Celebrities have less right to privacy.

8. Rap has ruined the music industry.

9. Pop music has ruined the music industry.

10. I-Tunes has saved the music industry.

11.Government propaganda should be illegal.

12.Government has the right to use propaganda.

13.Journalists should be protected from law suits.

14.Electronic media will end the need for traditional school.

15.Social networks should be censored.

16.Mass media are too violent.

17.Video games should be censored.

18.Sports media should always present a positive image.

19.Journalists have failed in their capacity as “watchdog”.

20.Violence in media increases violence in teens.

21.Mass media promotes an unhealthy body weight.

Bibliography CardsOnce you’ve determined your topic, you should focus on finding useful sources of information. You must

use at least two books, and you can only use one website and one encyclopedia or dictionary. Initially, you should focus on learning what the general issues are that affect your topic – gather background information. Once you have a fairly good idea what the background issues are, you must select eight sources and construct one bibliography card for each. The objective for making bibliography cards is to have a reference of your sources each time you return to the library or computer lab.

Determine your topic Find sources of information Get a general idea about the topic Select eight sources to read further Make a 3x5 inch bibliography card for each source

1. Finding sources:Credibility – Websites under the .com domain are not considered credible. Sites that are .org or .edu may be, but you should check with us to see. Not all books are equally credible. Reference books and articles in a professional journal or professional reference work are reviewed before they are published and are generally considered trustworthy. Databases are reviewed by experts and are credible sources. When in doubt ask us.

Recent and relevant – All sources should be as recent as possible. If one is more than ten years old you should have a good reason for including it.

2. Creating your bibliography: Refer to your sources using the standard college style which is called MLA style. Double space and indent the second line of information as well as any lines that follow.

A BookLast name, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Medium of Publication.

Article in a MagazineAuthor(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of

publication.

for example:

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.

Article in a Newspaper

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article.

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May

2007: LZ01. Print.

Website

Last name, first name(if available). Name of Site. Name of sponsor or publisher, date of

resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

for example:

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2008.

An Article from an Online Database

Cite articles from online databases just as you would print sources, just be sure to include medium of publication and date of access.

for example:

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal

50.1 (2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.

A Book by More Than One AuthorLast name, first name of first author, “and” last name, first name of second author. Title of

Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

A Multivolume Work

When citing only one volume of a multivolume work, include the volume number after the work's title, or after the work's editor or translator.

Editor’s last name. Title of the book. “Vol.” number. Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of

Publication

for example:

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980. Print.

Book with No AuthorTitle of book. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication. Medium of

publication.

for example:

Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York: Somerset, 1993. Print.

A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection

Works may include an essay in an edited collection or anthology, or a chapter of a book. The basic form for this sort of citation is as follows:

Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection. “Ed.” Editor's Name(s). City of

Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.

for example:

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers

One to One. Ed. Ben Rafoth. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2000. 24-34. Print.

Rough OutlineAfter you have created your bibliography or bibliography cards, it’s time to start thinking of how you will use

your information. That is the purpose of a rough outline. At this point you should have a general idea of many of

the main ideas of the sources (books, articles, etc.) that you chose. Now is the time to start focusing on how those

main ideas can work together to prove the main point of your paper.

A good idea is to develop three or four subtopics that have some logical connections to the thesis you are

offering. Each subtopic lays out information or ideas that builds upon the others. Each subtopic may provide a few

paragraphs in your final paper, so a good way of thinking about them is as three or four essays – all closely related

– that share the same introduction and conclusion.

Thesis: Children’s television misrepresents its programming when it claims to be educational.

I. Examples of children’s shows that claim to be educational.

A. Channels that target children (Johnson 8)

B. Between show infomercials (Rogers 227)

C. After-school specials (Smith 128)

II. Defining “education”

A. Types of learning (Groswell 28)

B. Stages of mental development (Klein 228)

III. A closer look at the ways in which TV shows claim to be educational.

A. Social skills (Ludonovich 65)

B. Foreign language learning (Johnson 89)

C. Mathematics (Mitchell 312)

IV. Scientific studies of children’s TV shows.

A. Social development (Bonner 90)

B. Language learning (Bonner 94)

C. Mathematics (Takamura 74)

Your Thesis:

Subtopic I:

A.

B.

C.

Subtopic II:

A.

B.

C.

Subtopic III:

A.

B.

C.

Subtopic IV:

A.

B.

C.

Note Cards

The purpose of research is to become informed on a topic so that you may take an

educated position that is supported by strong evidence. In order to do that you will have to

gather compelling facts. Your note cards can help you. 30 note cards are required and they

should be in the format outlined below. It’s a good idea to use 3x5 inch index cards so that you

can rearrange them easily when writing your rough draft.

Be sure to:Record the exact words from the source you are using.

Identify the author and page number of your quote.

Note Card Format

Author: Page number:

Direct quote:

For Example

Bukongo 213

Eleven percent of drivers aged 18 to 20 who were involved in an

automobile accident and survived admitted they were sending or

receiving texts when they crashed.

Using Note Cards

Your note cards provide you with easy access to your research, but since there are 30 of

them it may be difficult to know how you’ll use them unless you take the time to organize them

well. These are your cards so how you organize them is up to you. An easy way of doing this is

to follow your rough outline and decide which quotes best support each of your subtopics.

Some general methods of organization are:

Most important to least important

General facts to more specific facts

Oldest to most recent

Simplest to most complex

Several simple facts that build on each other

Facts followed by a conclusion

Recommendation followed by facts

Definitions followed by examples

Cause and effect

The ways in which you organize your ideas are up to you, and you will need to get

creative at times. Just try to remember that the more time you spend organizing now the more

clear things will be when your write your paper.

Once you have placed your cards in the order you like, you must number each of them

from one to thirty.

Final Outline

Once you have thoroughly researched your topic and created your note cards it is time to start your final outline. This is a step that is meant to give you a chance to organize all of your information and ideas so that you won’t have to think about it as much when you are drafting your paper. A final outline is basically the same as the rough outline but it is more specific in its details. The organization of this outline may be slightly different from the rough outline since you’ve had more time to research and think about your work. This assignment must be typed and follow the format illustrated below. This shows only one body paragraph, but yours will outline as many body paragraphs as you may need.

IntroductionThesis:

Main Ideas / Subtopics:

I:

II:

III:

IV:

Body ParagraphMain Idea:

____________________________________________________________________________

Information and ideas:

A. (Note Card #)

B. (Note Card #)

C. (Note Card #)

ConclusionMain Points to Remember:

Final Conclusion:

Rough DraftThe next few pages will give you more information about writing your rough draft. The most important thing

is to be prepared to concentrate on writing clearly. That means you should have a good general understanding of

the issues surrounding your topic. You should have all of your note cards organized using a finished outline and

you should have some idea about what ideas and examples will best prove your main points. If you are prepared,

you should be better able to focus on the writing process because most of your organizational thinking will be done.

Once your rough draft is done, the majority of your work is complete and you should only have to correct

minor details.

When writing your paper be sure to:

1. Have a clear one to two paragraph introduction.

Include a clear thesis on the topic.

A thesis:

Takes a clear position

Addresses a specific type of media

Focuses on the effects on a specific group of people

Have two or three main ideas that support your thesis.

Each main idea will be developed into a major subtopic of your paper.

2. Divide the body of your paper into at least three related subtopics.

Write at least two to three paragraphs that provide ideas and examples on each subtopic.

Connect each subtopic to the next in a way that makes sense to the reader.

Use a total of 12 cited facts in your paper.

Use some direct quotes.

Use some paraphrasing.

Cite all your facts properly.

Make clear connections between each of your subtopics and your thesis.

3. Have a clear one to two paragraph conclusion.

Remind your reader of your main ideas.

Explain clearly how all of what you’ve written proves your thesis.

Direct Quotations

In your research paper it’s okay to copy an author’s words or ideas as long as you give them credit. You will be expected to use direct quotes for some of the 12 quotes in our research paper.

Some examples:

“Nine out of ten doctors recommend limiting exposure to violent video games” (Johnson 87).

According to professor Ken Johnson, ” Nine out of ten doctors recommend limiting exposure to violent video games” (87).

“Nine out of ten doctors,” according to professor Ken Johnson, “recommend limiting exposure to violent video games” (87).

Why use direct quotes?

• As examples• To prove a point you’re making• To lend credibility

How are direct quotes punctuated?

• Put quotation marks before and after someone else’s exact words.• Capitalize the first word in the quote.• Most punctuation goes before the quotation mark.• Author and page number are cited at end of the sentence, followed by a period.• Do not put a period at the end if followed by a citation.

Advanced use of direct quotes:

• Use ellipses ( . . .) if you leave out a part of the quote.• Long quotes (more than one long sentence) are introduced with a colon, then skip a line

and indent each line of the long quote. Do not use quotation marks.• A quote within a quote uses apostrophes as quotation marks.

Things to avoid:

• Too many quotes from one source• Using quotes out of context• Very long quotes• Too many quotes in a single paragraph.

Paraphrasing (Indirect Quotes)

Sometimes information you get from a source just doesn’t fit into a paragraph in your writing. The

information can be too wordy, too long or it might not fit grammatically. There are several choices you can make as

a writer, one of those choices is to paraphrase or put the quote into your own words. This is perfectly acceptable as

long as you give credit to the author of the information.

What is a paraphrase?

It is a brief summary, in your own words, of the original information.

When should we use a paraphrase?

To condense the material.

To omit information in the original source that is not on your topic.

To simplify the information and make it easier to understand.

How are paraphrases cited?

Paraphrases are cited just like direct quotes, but they are not punctuated using quotation marks.

When should we not use paraphrases?

Avoid putting more than one paraphrase in any one paragraph.

There should write more paraphrasing than you write about your own ideas – remember it’s your paper.

Do not paraphrase when you do not give credit to the author; That is plagiarism and you may receive a

zero for the assignment.

For Example:

Here’s the original information you found in a newspaper article:

“Information stored in cellphones seem to be increasingly attractive to the Department of Justice – law enforcement

agencies affiliated with the department used more than 37,600 court orders in 2011 to gather cellphone data, a

sharp increase from previous years” (Sengupta B3).

Here’s how you might paraphrase it:

In the past year federal law enforcement agencies have dramatically increasing their use of information stored on

peoples’ cellphones (Sengupta B3).

-or-

According to a recent New York Times article by Somini Sengupta, Law enforcement is much more likely to use

information stored on someone’s cellphone as evidence in an investigation (B3).

Parenthetical CitationsHere are a several ways you can give credit to various sources of information.

1. Mention the author as part of your sentence.

For example: Johnson mentions at least five reasons not to text and drive (67-69).

2. Cite the author after your sentence.

For Example: There are at least five reasons not to text and drive (Johnson 67-69).

3. Use information that the author of your book found elsewhere – a second-hand quote.

For example: The US Attorney General stated in a recent interview that, “Texting and driving is a serious crime that should have serious consequences under the law" (qtd. in Johnson 66).

4. If there is no known author to your work (like many websites), or when using two works by the same author, you can use a brief version of the title.

For Example: “In the time it takes to read and respond to a single text message, a driver can travel the distance of two football fields” (Sound Driving 137).

5. If your book is part of a multi-volume work insert the volume number and a colon.

For Example: “In the time it takes to read and respond to a single text message, a driver can travel the distance of two football fields” (Johnson 3: 137).

6. Sometimes an organization publishes a work with no authors name listed. You should use the name of the organization as your citation.

For Example: At highway speeds a driver can pass the length of two football fields in the time it takes to read a single text message (NTSB 2).

Works Cited PageBe sure to:

Center the words “Works Cited” at the top. Do not bold, underline or quote the words “Works Cited”. Place your last name and page number in the top left. Organize your works cited in alphabetical order. Indent the second and subsequent lines of each entry. Follow the 2009 MLA handbook exactly.

Works Cited McGillicuty

8

"Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense

Fund.

Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.”

New

York Times. New York Times, May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.

Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." New York

Times.

New York Times, 22 May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.

GlobalWarming.org. Cooler Heads Coalition, 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Gowdy, John. "Avoiding Self-organized Extinction: Toward a Co-evolutionary

Economics of Sustainability." International Journal of Sustainable

Development and World Ecology 14.1 (2007): 27-36. Print.

An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Al Gore, Billy West.

Paramount, 2006. DVD.

Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of

Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print.

Milken, Michael, Gary Becker, Myron Scholes, and Daniel Kahneman. "On

Global

Warming and Financial Imbalances." New Perspectives Quarterly 23.4

(2006):

Article from

a website

Newspaper

article

A book

A website with

no title or

author

An chapter in

a journal by

multiple

authors

A 2nd work by

the same author

63. Print.

Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control

Global

Warming." American Economic Review 96.2 (2006): 31-34. Print.

---. "Global Warming Economics." Science 9 Nov. 2001: 1283-84. Science

Online. Web. 24 May 2009.

Shulte, Bret. "Putting a Price on Pollution." Usnews.com. US News & World

Rept., 6 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Uzawa, Hirofumi. “Running on the Earth and With the Earth – a Way of Life.”

Historical Journal 50.1 (2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.

An online

magazine

article

A database

Final ChecklistBefore submitting your work check your paper for all of the following things.

Page Setup_____ Typed 12 point Times New Roman font

_____ double spaced

_____ 1 inch margins

_____ Four to six full pages.

Cover Page_____ Title

_____ Name

_____ Class

_____ Teacher(s)

_____ Date of submission

_____ Do not include your last name or page number

Works Cited Page_____ Name and page number on top right

_____ “Works Cited” centered no formatting

_____ Organized alphabetically by author (or title if there is no author or editor).

_____ Do not skip lines between works

_____ Do not indent the first line of information for each work cited.

_____ Tab second and subsequent lines of information for each work.

_____ Quote article or chapters titles.

_____ Italicize books, magazines, newspaper and journal titles.

_____ Include at least six sources

_____ Cite only the sources you cite parenthetically in your paper

Body of paper_____ Your last name and page number on top right of each page

_____ No comma or “page” between your name and the page number

_____ Start page numbers on second page at “2”.

_____ Include at least 12 parenthetical citations.

_____ Make use of all six of your sources.

_____ Use one or two full sentence quotes or paraphrases per paragraph.

_____ Do not use personal pronouns “I”, “you”, etc.

Other_____ Highlighted photocopies of everything you cited and underline the facts you used.

_____ Save work to a Flashdrive.

The finished paper and all materials are due on . . .Research Paper Grading Rubric

Submission CriteriaIn order for the paper to be evaluated it must contain the following basic components. A NO on any single

item listed below will result in the paper being immediately returned to you so the omission(s) can be corrected.

YES NO N/A____ ____ ____ Paper typed____ ____ ____ One inch margins____ ____ ____ 12 point Times New Roman____ ____ ____ Cover page in MLA format____ ____ ____ Thesis____ ____ ____ At least six sources used____ ____ ____ At least 12 parenthetical citations____ ____ ____ Correct use of parenthetical citations____ ____ ____ Works cited parenthetically are listed in the works cited page____ ____ ____ Works cited page is formatted correctly____ ____ ____ At least four full pages____ ____ ____ Highlighted photocopies included____ ____ ____ Work saved to a Flashdrive____ ____ ____ No plagiarism---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once your paper is deemed acceptable it will be graded according to the following criteria:

Excellent 5 points) Clear, consistent and thorough skill applicationGood (4 points) Sound basic skill applicationSatisfactory (3 points) Superficial or inaccurate skill applicationPoor (2point) Unacceptable or incorrect skill application

1. Use of Sources: 5 4 3 2 1All information is documented ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Sufficient information to support thesis ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Mix of your own ideas and outside information ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Research information used to support the thesis ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Citation format ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Works cited match parenthetical citations ___ ___ ___ ___ ___All information properly cited (no plagiarism) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Use of Sources Score ______

2. Content, Organization 5 4 3 2 1Introduction is focused and engaging ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Thesis is clear and focused ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Thorough, relevant research ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Logical organization of ideas ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Sentence structure and vocabulary ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Effective transitions between subtopics ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Conclusion connects all ideas together ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Content, Organization Score ______

3. Conventions of Standard Academic English 5 4 3 2 1Title page format ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Page formatting -- font, spacing, margins, etc ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, etc ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Grammar – agreement, clear reference, etc. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Mechanics -- run-ons, fragments, etc. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Formal, academic English ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Conventions Score ______

Overall Score ______

Regulate the Use of Cell Phones on the Road

Angela Daly

Title of this

research paper

Student’s name

English 12 Media Communications

Ms. Cinque

22 April 2014

Class

Teacher’s name

Date of

submission

Daly 2

When a cell phone goes off in a classroom or at a concert, we are irritated,

but at least our lives are not endangered. When we are on the road, however,

irresponsible cell phone users are more than irritating: They are putting our lives

at risk. Many of us have witnessed drivers so distracted by dialing and chatting

that they resemble drunk drivers, weaving between lanes, for example, or nearly

running down pedestrians in crosswalks. A number of bills to regulate use of cell

phones on the road have been introduced in state legislatures, and the time has

come to push for their passage. Regulation is needed because drivers using

phones are seriously impaired and because laws on negligent and reckless

driving are not sufficient to punish offenders.

No one can deny that cell phones have caused traffic deaths and injuries. Cell

phones were implicated in three fatal accidents in November 1999 alone. Early in

November, two-year-old Morgan Pena was killed by a driver distracted by his cell

phone. Morgan’s mother, Patti Pena, reports that the driver “ran a stop sign at 45

mph, broadsided my vehicle and killed Morgan as she sat in her car seat.” A

week later, corrections officer Shannon Smith, who was guarding prisoners by

the side of the road, was killed by a woman distracted by a phone call (Besthoff).

On Thanksgiving weekend that same month, John and Carole Hall were killed

when a Naval Academy midshipman crashed into their parked car. The driver

said in court that when he looked up from the cell phone he was

Your last name and page number. Page number starts at 2 because cover page is not numbered.

Clear thesis statement

Topic sentence introduces the paragraph

Source of quote is introduced in the sentence

Web source with no page number.

dialing, he was three feet from the car and had no time to stop (Stockwell B8).

Expert testimony, public opinion, and even cartoons suggest that driving while

phoning is dangerous. Frances Bents, an expert on the relation between cell

phones and accidents, estimates that between 450 and 1,000 crashes a year

have some connection to cell phone use (Layton C9). In a survey published by

Farmers Insurance Group, 87% of those polled said that cell phones affect a

driver’s ability, and 40% reported having close calls with drivers distracted by

phones. Many cartoons have depicted the very real dangers of driving while

distracted (see fig. 1).

Daly 3

Fig. 1. A cartoon shows the dangers of using cell phones and other devices while driving (Lowe A21).

Scientific research confirms the dangers of using phones while on the

road. In 1997 an important study appeared in the New England Journal of

Medicine. The authors, Donald Redelmeier and Robert Tibshirani, studied 699

volunteers who made their cell phone bills available in order to confirm the times

when they had placed calls. The participants agreed to report any nonfatal

collision in which they were involved. By comparing the time of a collision with

the phone records, the researchers assessed the dangers of driving while

phoning. The results are unsettling:

Page 8 of section B of the source

This is the source for the quote by Bents

Graphic does not count towards your minimum page number

Graphic includes figure #, caption and citation

Use colon and skip a line before long

We found that using a cellular telephone was associated with a risk of

having a motor vehicle collision that was about about four times as

high as that among the same drivers when they were not using their

cellular telephones. This relative risk is similar to the hazard

associated with driving with a blood alcohol level at the legal limit

(456).

The news media often exaggerated the latter claim (“similar to” is not

“equal to”); nonetheless, the comparison with drunk driving suggests the extent

to which cell phone use while driving can impair judgment.

Daly 4

A 1998 study focused on Oklahoma, one of the few states to keep

records on fatal accidents involving cell phones. Using police records, John M.

Violanti of the Rochester Institute of Technology investigated the relation

between traffic fatalities in Oklahoma and the use or presence of a cell phone.

He found a ninefold increase in the risk of fatality if a phone was being used and

a doubled risk simply when a phone was present in a vehicle (522-23). The latter

statistic is interesting, for it suggests that those who carry phones in their cars

may tend to be more negligent (or prone to distractions of all kinds) than those

who do not.

Some groups have argued that state traffic laws make legislation

regulating cell phone use unnecessary. Sadly, this is not true. Laws on traffic

safety vary from state to state, and drivers distracted by cell phones can get off

with light punishment even when they cause fatal accidents. For example,

although the midshipman mentioned earlier was charged with vehicular

manslaughter for the deaths of John and Carole Hall, the judge was unable to

issue a verdict of guilty. Under Maryland law, he could only find the defendant

guilty of negligent driving and impose a $500 fine (Layton C1). Such a light

sentence is not unusual. The driver who killed Morgan Pena in Pennsylvania

received two tickets and a $50 fine—and retained his driving privileges (Pena). In

Georgia, a young woman distracted by her phone ran down and killed a two-

year-old; her sentence was ninety days in boot camp and five hundred hours of

quote.

Long quote uses indentation not quotation marks

In a long quote, period comes before the parenthetical citation

This is a paraphrase (indirect quote) and even though there are no quotation marks it still gets cited.

community service (Ippolito J1). The families of the victims are understandably

distressed by laws that lead to such light sentences.

When certain kinds of driver behavior are shown to be especially

dangerous, we wisely draft special laws making them illegal and imposing

specific punishments. Running red lights, failing to stop for a school bus, and

drunk driving are obvious examples; phoning in a moving vehicle should be no

exception. Unlike more general laws covering negligent driving, specific laws

leave little ambiguity for law officers and for judges and juries imposing

punishments. Such laws have another important benefit: They leave no

ambiguity for drivers. Currently, drivers can tease themselves into thinking they

Daly 5

are using their car phones responsibly because the definition of “negligent

driving” is vague.

As of December 2000, twenty countries were restricting use of cell

phones in moving vehicles (Sundeen 8). In the United States, it is highly unlikely

that legislation could be passed on the national level, since traffic safety is

considered a state and local issue. To date, only a few counties and towns have

passed traffic laws restricting cell phone use. For example, in Suffolk County,

New York, it is illegal for drivers to use a handheld phone for anything but an

emergency call while on the road (Haughney A8). The first town to restrict use of

handheld phones was Brooklyn, Ohio (Layton C9). Brooklyn, the first community

in the country to pass a seat belt law, has once again shown its concern for

traffic safety.

Laws passed by counties and towns have had some effect, but it makes

more sense to legislate at the state level. Local laws are not likely to have the

impact of state laws, and keeping track of a wide variety of local ordinances is

confusing for drivers. Even a spokesperson for Verizon Wireless has said that

statewide bans are preferable to a “crazy patchwork quilt of ordinances” (qtd. in

Haughney A8). Unfortunately, although a number of bills have been introduced in

state legislatures, as of early 2001 no state law seriously restricting use of the

phones had passed—largely because of effective lobbying from the wireless

industry.

Notice that this paragraph has no quotes. The paragraph is bringing together some of the main ideas already mentioned.

These final three paragraphs develop the conclusion of this research paper. Notice how opinions are stated as facts.

This quote is a second hand quote. Haughney quoted the Verizon spokesperson on page A8 of her book.

Despite the claims of some lobbyists, tough laws regulating phone use

can make our roads safer. In Japan, for example, accidents linked to cell phones

fell by 75% just a month after the country prohibited using a handheld phone

while driving (Haughney A8). Research suggests and common sense tells us

that it is not possible to drive an automobile at high speeds, dial numbers, and

carry on conversations without significant risks. When such behavior is

regulated, obviously our roads will be safer.

Because of mounting public awareness of the dangers of drivers

distracted by phones, state legislators must begin to take the problem seriously.

“It’s definitely an issue that is gaining steam around the country,” says Matt

Daly 6

Sundeen of the National Conference of State Legislatures (qtd. in Layton C9).

Lon Anderson of the American Automobile Association agrees: “There is

momentum building,” he says, to pass laws (qtd. in Layton C9). The time has

come for states to adopt legislation restricting the use of cell phones in moving

vehicles.

Daly 7

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Sundeen, Matt. “Cell Phones and Highway Safety: 2000 State Legislative

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