| Due Dates: | Requirements: |
| Working draft: November 24, 1999 Final draft: December 3,1999 |
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For the next assignment, you will need to write an opinion piece on an issue of your choice. In order to choose an issue, think about what you plan to do when you leave the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Then, think about a political issue that will influence your career. It might be the issue that you researched for the Comparative Analysis. The next step is to think of this issue in terms of an existing problem and a possible solution to that problem.
Thus, your topic should have at least two parts: an existing problem, and your solution to it. At this point, it will be necessary to research some of the pieces that have already been written in response to this problem. While these pieces will be helpful to you, the focus of this paper should be on your own argument for change.
The following are few general areas for research and possible topics from current newspapers, but you are welcome to choose your own topic. If you are using the topic from your Comparative Analysis, you will need to specify the problem more clearly than you did for that assignment and emphasize much more your own ideas for change. The following are general topics. You will still need to identify a problem and solution for the one that you choose.
Local Issues: Development vs. preservation of buildings and natural areas in Duluth. The Technology Village in downtown Duluth. Preventing a cataclysmic forest fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Snowmobile access to natural areas vs. ski access to these areas. The strengths and weaknesses of the Edison school. Etc.
State/Regional Issues: Welfare reform. The Ventura Administration. Maintaining the corrections system. School safety. The 1999 Farm Crisis. Methamphetamine usage. Etc.
National Issues: What to do with the budget surplus. How to protect privacy in the Internet Age. Concerns about health care and Health Management Organizations. Campaign finance. Access to guns. Abortion and reproductive freedom. The War on Drugs. Etc.
International Issues: The United States' obligations to the United Nations. How to respond to wars in distant regions-Kosovo, Bosnia, Chechnya, East Timor. Issues surrounding free trade and protectionism. Etc.