UnitIVExampleLitRevwNotes1.pdf

1 Safety First: Open Carry Firearms on Higher Education Campuses in Arizona Student Name Columbia Southern University EH 1020 English Composition II Instructor Name Due Date APA: Full title of the paper with the major words beginning with a capital letter APA: Top of page, plain page number on right of header APA: Student’s first and last name APA: Name of the institution will always be “Columbia Southern University.” Unit IV Color Key: • Blue: APA Style document formatting • Red: Example common mistakes in APA Style • Brown: Paragraph number and label • Green: Sentence-level number and explanation Please note that the margins are a little wider than standard on this example paper so as to make room for the comment bubbles. 2 Safety First: Open Carry Firearms on Higher Education Campuses in Arizona Much has been made in the past few years about gun restrictions in the United States. Proponents of gun regulation are in a constant state of lobbying for state and federal bills that restrict access to firearms, whether that takes the form of more extensive background checks on potential gun owners or longer waiting periods before guns may be sold to individuals. On the other side, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other like-minded individuals advocate for looser restrictions on the sale and carrying of firearms. For these supporters of pro-gun legislation, owning and carrying guns is a fundamental right—even a civil right. While this national debate continues to loom over the hot topic of guns, there are breaking news stories, especially within the last few months, that bring this fundamental debate to the threshold of our nations’ colleges, high schools, even elementary schools. Seung-Hui Cho’s massacre at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, is perhaps one of the more infamous school shootings, but there are others that are perhaps more difficult to remember, like the deaths of 27 killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012 (CNN, 2015). Shootings like these in educational settings have drawn attention from both anti-gun proponents and pro-gun lobbyists, and the State of Arizona is no exception to this firestorm. The Arizona State legislature has proposed SB 1474, a gun bill that will allow students and faculty to carry guns on the campus grounds of its three state-funded universities. Supporters of the bill claim that Arizona is an open carry state, and those rights should not be restricted simply because the carrier crosses the border of a college campus. Those against the bill assert that guns have no place in education and that those who support the bill are only after their own election-year agendas. While the Second APA: Full title presented again at the top of the page. Paragraph 1: Introduction Sentence 1: Amanda introduces the main topic (gun control) in a generalized manner; this sentence also introduces the con side of the controversy. Sentences 2 & 3: Follows Sentence 1 by introducing the position of the pro side; again, Amanda is general, focusing on the larger controversy. Sentence 4: Amanda begins to narrow the scope of the project by pointing towards a specific debate within the controversy of gun control: gun control in educational settings. Sentence 5: Specific examples from the news. Note that these are examples of school shootings with which most people are familiar. This grounds the project to what is at stake in making arguments about this topic. Sentence 6: Amanda again narrows the scope of the project by moving from gun control in educational settings to this debate as it takes place in a specific location: Arizona. Sentence 7: In this sentence, the writer introduces the specific topic of the project: the controversy around SB 1474. Sentences 8 & 9: Following the same order from above (con first, then pro), Amanda presents the sides of the controversy by introducing each specific position. 3 Amendment should be upheld, the educational learning environment should be protected; therefore, SB 1474 is a detrimental and dangerous bill that has the potential to change the university campus culture in Arizona state universities. The Literature Review In order to better understanding the origins of SB 1474 and the controversy that surrounds it, the history of gun violence in school settings must be taken into account; therefore, a brief look at some of the events of the past few decades is presented. Further, this review will examine in greater detail the positions of the two sides of the controversy, beginning with the pro-SB 1474 side, which is in favor of allowing open carry on all Arizona state-funded campuses. Then the position of those against SB 1474 will be presented; again, this con side is arguing for Arizona campuses to remain as they are now: a place without firearms. A Brief Look at Gun Violence in Schools The topic of gun control in educational environments exploded in 1999 when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into a virtually unknown high school in Littleton, CO, and killed twelve students and one teacher (Gibbs and Roche, 1999). Questions of how such events could occur and concerns about the violence of which teens and young adults are capable became the concern of pressured administrators and horrified parents in big cities and small towns alike. A string of school gun-centered violence followed over the next few years. Perhaps most striking though was the way in which this one incident changed the culture of America: clear backpacks, more metal detectors, and (of course) Sentence 10: Amanda presents her thesis statement. She responds to the controversy by crafting a thesis statement that simultaneously agrees and disagrees. Paragraph 2: Preface of the Literature APA: First-level heading: All major sections of the paper will be first-level, including The Literature Review, Body, and Conclusion. You may choose to mark the Introduction, but it is typically not done because the title of the paper stands for the heading level. Note that the title is centered and bold with title-case capitalization. APA: This is a second-level heading. It is left-hand justified and bold. All major words are capitalized. This tells the reader that this next section is a division of the first-level heading that is directly above. Sentence: Note how Amanda prefaces the LR by giving the reader an idea of what will be included. You might also note that the paragraph is written in passive voice so that she can avoid using personal pronouns such as “I.” Paragraph 3: Brief History Error: Amanda has made a mistake: Only the ampersand (&) should be used in a parenthetical citation. APA: This citation is in APA Style. It shows the authors and year of publication. This sentence is a paraphrase of Gibbs and Roche. The reader can look at the references page to find the original document. 4 fear. Cloud (1999) points out some of the extreme, “zero tolerance” actions taken by schools shortly following the Columbine shootings: A seven-year-old boy in Cahokia, Ill., is suspended for having a nail clipper at school. A 10th-grader at Surry County High School in Virginia is booted for having blue-dyed hair. A Minnesota high school nixes a yearbook photo of an Army enlistee in the senior class because it shows her sitting atop a cannon outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post. (para. 10) Far from the exception, these actions considered these many years later seem unreasonable, even in a post-9/11 world filled with uncertainty. The Argument for Open Carry Everywhere in Arizona However, in Arizona, the newly proposed SB 1474 would not seek to disarm students; on the contrary, the bill would allow students the right to concealed carry on state-funded university campuses. Proponents of the bill assert that such a measure is long overdue. According to an NRA (2012) posters that were taped to message boards all over The University of Arizona campus, “[s]elf-defense is one of the most fundamental rights of every human being” (para. 2). Further, the poster states that the NRA has worked diligently over the past 25 years to expand the right of open carry: the NRA has been “working for passage of fair Right-to-Carry laws, expansion of carry reciprocity between the states and the elimination of many ‘no-carry’ zones that only affect the law-abiding” (para. 4). For the NRA, one of the major private-public backers of the SB 1474, the restriction of concealed-carry on college campuses is an infringement on these basic rights. The flyer goes on to state the following: APA: Here is another way to include a parenthetical citation. Amanda has incorporated the author’s name into the sentence. Note that the year of publication is presented after the author, but there is no citation at the end of the sentence because the information is already presented at the beginning. APA: This quotation is called a “block.” If a quotation is 40+ words long, then you must “block” it by removing the quotation marks and indenting the entire quotation ½” from the left-hand margin. If the quote is from a print text, then include the page number; if it is from an electronic source, include a paragraph number or section title as shown here. Paragraph 4: Pro side APA: There are three second-level headings in the LR. Headings help you and the reader to see the organization of your paper. Sentence: Amanda presents a closer look at the pro side before the con side. Note that she is not engaging with the arguments, only presenting them as fairly as she can. The LR is about the arguments of others. Amanda knows she will be able to make her own arguments in the Body of the paper. 5 Those who oppose campus carry [of firearms] argue that educational institutions should be treated differently, based on emotional claims that places of higher learning are somehow exempt from real-world violence. But the truth is, despite current prohibitions on legally carrying on campuses, crimes already occur on campus, and the right to self- defense from those violent acts should be respected. (NRA, 2012, para. 3) The NRA is correct. In fact, given the number of school-related shootings in the past few months alone, it would seem that a student’s chances of being shot on campus seem greater than if that same student were walking the streets of the community. From larger cities to small towns, it seems that the size of the community does not matter: the violence of a shooting can occur anywhere. However, even with this fact floating in the backs of students’ minds, students must still attend classes, and while it would seem obvious that lawmakers on both sides want student safety, they just see the means to that safety from different sides of the same coin. The Case for Campuses as Unique Eugene Sander (2012), the Interim President of the University of Arizona, released the following statement about SB 1474: “I have been a gun owner for my adult life, and am fully supportive of the right to own a gun. However, having faculty, staff, or students bringing weapons into classrooms will do nothing to make our campus safer” (p. 12). While Sander does not go into detail about what this newly proposed bill does have to do with, he makes his case on the basis that 50,000 students, staff, and faculty attend the campus daily, along with over 20,000 visitors annually. For Sander (2015), the educational environment is a “unique atmosphere that is dependent on open and vigorous Paragraph 5: Con side APA: This citation is correct. Amanda did not have to include the author’s first name, but it is fine to do so the first time that the author’s name is mentioned. Error: Amanda has made a mistake. The actual year of the publication is 2012. Be careful about editing for errors like this in your own paper. 6 debate. Introducing guns into classrooms would dramatically and negatively impact the ability to engage in constructive dialogue” (p. 2). In other words, even if the NRA does not believe that the university is a unique atmosphere, as Sander and others do, then there is still a possibility that introducing the right to carry concealed weapons on campus might lead to a change to the very culture of the university. While Arizona lawmakers continue to debate the merits of SB 1474, the public debate grows, as this issue concerns both public safety and citizens’ rights. Because the three state universities in Arizona are publicly funded, the debate about allowing open carry is very much a concern held by the communities in which these universities reside. Those who are in favor of the change to an open carry status on university campuses wish (a) for the open carry laws of the State of Arizona to be extended to all areas, which includes all publicly funding institutions, such as the universities, and (b) for the open carry of firearms to act as a deterrent to gun-related violence on college campuses. For those who are against the passing of SB 1474, many of whom occupy the space of the university as professors, students, or administrators, the question of allowing the open carry of firearms is no actual question at all: there is simply no need to involve weapons in a space that is meant for open dialogue and debate. In as much as the Second Amendment should be observed and upheld in the fashion adopted by the state of Arizona in the form of open carry, the university setting is unique in that concerns about open and free expression should be at the forefront—essentially making this bill a potentially dangerous one that should be reconsidered or withdrawn completely. Paragraph 6: LR Conclusion Sentences 1 & 2: Amanda creates a topic sentence that encapsulates the concern of the controversy, and she includes a second sentence to increase understanding. Sentence 3: Amanda summarizes the two main arguments of the pro side, which favors the passing of SB 1474. Sentence 4: Amanda summarizes the main argument of the con side, those who are against the passing of SB 1474. Sentence 5: Amanda reiterates her own position by reasserting her thesis statement. Note that the thesis statement is slightly different than the original at the end of the Introduction paragraph. 7 References CNN Library. (2015, October 19). 28 deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history fast facts. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/20-deadliest-mass-shootings-in-u-s- history-fast-facts/ Cloud, J. (1999, November 28). The Columbine effect. Time. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,35098,00.html Gibbs, N., & Roche, T. (1999, December 20). The Columbine tapes. Time. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,992873,00.html National Rifle Association. (2012). Arizona Self-Defense on Campus [Flyer]. NRA. Sander, Eugene. (2012, March 20). UA president opposes campus guns bill. KGUN-TV. http://www.kgun9.com APA: An APA Style list of references should be labeled “References,” not “Works Cited” or “Bibliography.” APA: Titles in APA Style are presented in sentence-case capitalization, meaning that only the first word and any proper noun should begin with a capital letter. APA: The last name is presented first; then the first name and middle (if present) are included as initials. An ampersand (&) is used for more than th Error: Amanda has made a mistake. Only the “A” in Arizona should be capitalized in this title. Error: Amanda has made a mistake by including the full name of the author here.