Blog #6

Should Tobacco Advertisement Be Banned?

            Throughout the years, the idea has been pushed around concerning banning the advertisement of alcohol and tobacco. In the last few years, the focus has been on tobacco advertising. The statistics on the death rates caused by tobacco is the main reason for this debate. “More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined”(McGinnis 5).  Tobacco use causes “443,000 deaths annually (including deaths from secondhand smoke)” (Centers 2). The grim results of these statistics appear to be excellent cause for banning tobacco advertisement. There are many people who believe that it is, and they are doing all they can to bring it to pass.

            I have never smoked, and I never will smoke. I think that being subjected to secondhand smoke it gross and inconsiderate. But, my dislike, or anyone else’s dislike for smoking, is not the issue. The fact that tobacco use is extremely detrimental to your health is not the issue either. The real issue is a matter of whether to uphold the 1^st Amendment or not. The tobacco companies have every right under the clause of free speech to advertise their cigarettes, and various other tobacco products. Their advertisements are not racially inclined, they do not “falsely advertise” their products, etc; so under the constitution they have the right to advertise.

            “The advertising-to-sales ratios for tobacco and alcohol companies are about 6 to 9 percent while the average American firm has an advertising-to-sales ratio closer to 3 percent” (Saffer 20). As can be seen by this economic statistic, tobacco advertising is extremely effective. Although it is against the Constitution to ban the advertisement of tobacco products, the FDA has made some good progress on counter-advertising in the last few years. They are now requiring certain graphic advertising to be placed on all cigarette packs and various other advertising mediums:

Cigarette packages will now carry one vivid color image and one of these warnings about the consequences of smoking: . . . "Tobacco smoke can harm your children"; "Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease" . . . "Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease"; "Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby" . . . "Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers"; and "Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health."

The warnings, which must be in place by September 2012 . . . At least 50% of the package will have to be covered. In addition, the warnings will have to cover at least 20% of a cigarette ad. Each warning will also have a phone number -- 1-800-QUIT-NOW -- that smokers can call to get help if they want to quit. (Young 1)

The FDA claimed that the new warnings are an effort to simply help make certain that smokers “know exactly what risk they're taking” (Young 1) when they pick up a cigarette. Just as the advertising of the cigarette companies is protected under the Constitution, counter-advertising is as well.

            Our Constitution was written for a reason, and all of the Amendments that have been made to it are also extremely important. If Congress were to ban the advertisement of tobacco products, even though it is dreadfully harmful, where would it stop? As much as I detest tobacco use, I love my freedoms even more. We would eventually end up in the same situation as all the nations that are ruled by dictators; a nation devoid of freedom. I believe I will gladly settle for the lesser of the two evils; to be honest, there is not much of a contest in my mind.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2008;”. Cdc.gov. 2011. Web. 26 April 26, 2012.

McGinnis J, Foege WH. “Actual Causes of Death in the United States”. Journal of American Medical Association. 1993. Web. 26 April 26, 2012.

Saffer, Henry. "The Control of Tobacco Advertising and Promotion". New York: Oxford University Press. 2000. Print

Young, Saundra.  "FDA reveals bigger, graphic warning labels for cigarette packages". Cnn.com. CNN News, 2 June 2011. Web. 26 April 26, 2012.

Blog #5

Are Our Texas Universities Quality?

            My Texas Representative is Paul D. Workman, and my Texas Senator is Kirk Watson. There are always an innumerable amount of issues that need to be addressed, but there are always a few that stand out for me. The issue that stands out most for me at this time is the quality of higher education in Texas. Due to the way that some of the funding and incentives are set up, some Texas universities focus on research over education and the students lose out. Fortunately this is not a problem with community colleges, only the 4-year universities.

            It is not an issue that is on the news a lot, but it is one of the causes for the deficit in the average test scores for Texas students in civic classes. There was a survey completed at some universities around the nation that tested students on a standardized American History test. The Texas average test scores for freshmen was 47.9%, and the national average was 51.7%, for a deficit of 3.8% (Keener 1). “Worse still, just 2.9 percent of their civic knowledge (according to the survey) comes to them in the college classroom” (Keener 1). On other subjects they are competitive, but the civic core curriculum classes are lacking, as can be seen by the aforementioned statistic on American History. Texas has always been a bit lower on the scale of other schools, and the graduation rate from 4-year universities is rather low at 48.5% (Graduation 1). The Texas graduation rate in is the bottom third of the nation, with the national average being at 55.5%, and the top state, Massachusetts, at 69.2% (Graduation 1).

            The universities don’t want to lose their grant money they are receiving for the research they are undertaking, so the “professors are judged mostly according to their research accomplishments rather than their teaching ability” (Keener 1). They not only fail to spend the extra time helping the students learn the curriculum, they spend a very small percentage of their “at school time” in the classroom. The average amount of time many of the professors in the classroom is “about 21 percent of their time” (Keener 2).

            I understand that research needs to be done, but there are better places or businesses at which it can be done. There is still a need for research to be done at colleges and universities for learning purposes, but not as much as is being performed at this time. There are also other methods in which federal funding can be awarded to colleges, some of which are programs that are already in existence but are seriously under-funded. The best way to try and fix the problem is by “switching from a university-centered approach to student-centered, graduation-focused funding” (Keener 2). This, unfortunately, is not an issue that can be solved quickly, but it is an issue that definitely needs to be addressed.

Keener, Justin. “Higher Education Quality.” TexasPolicy.com. Texas Public Policy Foundation, 2011. Web. 12 April 2012

“Graduation Rates”. Higheredinfo.org. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. 2009. Web. 12 April 2012