Class slides for2/9 & 2/10

Agreeing and Disagreeingwith what “They Say”

College Athletes of the World, Uniteby Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

When I played basketball for UCLA, I learned the hard way how the NCAA’s refusal to pay college athletes impacted our daily lives. Despite the hours I put in every day, practicing, learning plays, and traveling around the country to play games, and despite the millions of dollars our team generated for UCLA — both in cash and in recruiting students to attend the university — I was always too broke to do much but study, practice, and play.

What little money I did have came from spring break and summer jobs. For a couple summers, Mike Frankovich, president of Columbia Pictures and a former UCLA quarterback, hired me to do publicity for his movies, most memorably Cat Ballou (which was nominated for five Academy Awards).

In 1968, I needed to earn enough summer money to get through my senior year. So, instead of playing in the Summer Olympics, I took a job in New York City with Operation Sports Rescue, in which I traveled around the city encouraging kids to go to college. Spring breaks I worked as a groundskeeper on the UCLA campus or in their steam plant repairing plumbing and electrical problems. No partying in Cabo San Lucas for me. Pulling weeds and swapping fuses was my glamorous life.

Despite my jobs, every semester was a financial struggle. So in order to raise enough money to get through my junior and senior years, I let Sam Gilbert, the wealthy godfather of a friend of mine, scalp my season tickets to his rich friends. This brought me a couple thousand dollars. Spread out over a year, it was still barely enough to survive. I was walking out on the court a hero, but into my bedroom a pauper.

Naturally, I felt exploited and dissatisfied. In my first year, our freshman team beat the varsity team, who had just won the NCAA championship. We were the best team in the country, yet I was too broke to go out and celebrate. The more privileged students on academic scholarships were allowed to make money on the side, just not the athletes.

In groups of 2 or 3, read the passages you marked and discuss WHY you marked them – what words or phrases indicated Abdul-Jabbar’s position?

Exercise 2: Write an essay responding in some way to the essay that you worked with in the preceding exercise. You’ll want to summarize and/or quote some of the author’s ideas and make clear whether you’re agreeing, disagreeing, or both agreeing and disagreeing with what he or she says. Remember that there are templates in this book that can help you get started; see Chapters 1-3 for templates that will help you represent other people’s ideas, and Chapter 4 for templates that will get you started with your responses.

Write a one-paragraph summary of the article.

Write a one-sentence summary of the article.

Even if you had not read the article, but you knew only the topic and the author, what would you expect him to say, and why?

Now, try some “duh” statements.

Of course Abdul-Jabbar think students athletes should get paid. He’s an athlete, and every athlete thinks he or she should get paid – and usually, get paid more.

The title of the piece gives away his position. Why would athletes “unite,” except to improve their lot?

Labor wants to maximize pay, while management wants to maximize profits. As a player, Abdul-Jabbar falls clearly into the “labor” camp; revenue is not his concern.

Disagreeing; my models:

Zinczenko is mistaken when he compares the fast food industry to the tobacco industry because he fails to consider that tobacco is addictive, whereas burgers are simply a dumb choice.

His position that fast food is like tobacco is based on the questionable assumption that kids are somehow addicted to pizza and burgers.

By focusing on blame, Zinczenko ignores the larger issue of responsibility.

Disagreeing; complete one or more sentence stems:

Abdul-Jabbar is mistaken because he fails to consider…

His position that colleges should pay players is based on the questionable assumption that…

By focusing on paying college athletes, Abdul-Jabbar ignores the larger issue of …

I’m not the only one who disagrees. _____ has already said…

Agreeing; my models:

Zinczenko’s observation that calorie information “can be hard to understand” is right on target.

My own experience confirms Zinczenko’s claim that fast food alternatives are hard to find.

Zinczenko’s comparison of fast food to tobacco is important because it points out the responsibility that companies have for protecting the health of the people who consume their products.

Really, the issue simply boils down to truth in advertising.

Agreeing; complete one or more sentence stems:

Abdul-Jabbar is on target with his argument, because…

My experience at The Citadel supports several of Abdul-Jabbar’s claims: …

Abdul-Jabbar’s position on paying student athletes is important because it sheds light on …

Spectators who have never considered this issue might find Adbul-Jabbar’s article enlightening because it …

Really, the issue simply boils down to …

Agreeing and disagreeing; my model:

Zinczenko might be correct that fast food was the only option “then” – in his youth – but it’s certainly not the only option “now.” Burgers and pizza are no longer the only options for hungry teens, and even chicken is healthier than it used to be. Most grocery stores have deli sections that sell prepared foods, and while Whole Foods might charge more than McDonald’s for a salad, kids can still find a healthy meal at a reasonable price at the Publix deli.

Agreeing and disagreeing; your turn:

Although Abdul-Jabbar is right about the exploitation of student athletes, there’s still the problem of …

In the abstract, Abdul-Jabbar is right – but in practical terms, …

Although I disagree with Abdul-Jabbar’s suggestion that student athletes should be paid, I still agree with his ideas about …

I concede Abdul-Jabbar’s point about ____, but I’m still not convinced that …

As time allows, begin working on Ex. 2 in class. Select key ideas to reference, and key words or phrases to quote. (Remember, quote only words and phrases – not entire sentences.) Use some of the templates from the textbook to help you express your ideas.

Exercise 2: Write an essay responding in some way to the essay that you worked with in the preceding exercise. You’ll want to summarize and/or quote some of the author’s ideas and make clear whether you’re agreeing, disagreeing, or both agreeing and disagreeing with what he or she says. Remember that there are templates in this book that can help you get started; see Chapters 1-3 for templates that will help you represent other people’s ideas, and Chapter 4 for templates that will get you started with your responses.