Sports in the United States 2014 Georgia Debate Institutes Jeffrey Miller, Marist School
Transcript
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Sports in the United States 2014 Georgia Debate Institutes
Jeffrey Miller, Marist School
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The Two Choices for September/October Interscholastic Sports
Topic Resolved: On balance, students in grades 6-12 in the United
States benefit when their schools offer interscholastic sports.
Public Subsidies Topic Resolved: On balance, public subsidies for
professional athletic organizations in the United States benefit
their local communities.
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Benefit and its effect on Framework Cost Benefit Analysis
Remember goals of the resolution Benefiting students 6-12
Benefiting local communities
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Choice # 1 Resolved: On balance, students in grades 6-12 in the
United States benefit when their schools offer interscholastic
sports.
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At first sight Pro has a massive ground advantage, since most
schools have sports which probably isnt just a coincidence Point of
conflict in the resolution may lie in grades 6-8 Why is this a
topic choice? School budgets always consider eliminating
(non-revenue) sports programs to save money. Focus of the debate is
on the students, not school systems However, school systems could
still find their way into the topic. A return of the phrase on
balance why? Teach new kids the purpose of the phrase A lot of
research will be limited to few school districts (not many meta
analyses in) Resolved: On balance, students in grades 6-12 in the
United States benefit when their schools offer interscholastic
sports.
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Definitions Interscholastic Sports An interscholastic sport is
defined as athletic competition between multiple academic
institutions (or schools). It could also be seen as a team sport
played between schools, or representative of different schools,
especially secondary schools: Interscholastic Sports: Any school
sponsored sporting event that holds competition (North Carolina
Department of Public Instruction Curriculum and School Reform
Services, 2005). Richmond: Interscholastic Athletics are team-based
organized sports activities sponsored by the district which occur
outside the school day and do not receive academic credit toward
promotion and/or graduation. Richmond: Resolved: On balance,
students in grades 6-12 in the United States benefit when their
schools offer interscholastic sports.
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Core Pro Ground on the Topic Educational Benefits Athletes have
higher graduation rates (Bailey, 2006) Athletes have higher GPAs
than non athletes (Broh, 2002) The athletic role enhances the
academic role increases college changes (Snyder, 1990) Labor Market
Benefits Athletes get paid more 32% in NLSY study (Barron, Ewing,
Waddell 2000) Average Household paid 8k more (Stempel, 2006)
Resolved: On balance, students in grades 6-12 in the United States
benefit when their schools offer interscholastic sports.
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Core Pro Ground on the Topic, continued Civic Engagement
Benefits Increases political participation (Braddock & Dawson
2007) Increases involvement in youth sports later in life (Perks
2007) Health Benefits the positive effects of athletic
participation for student-athletes: self discipline, self-
confidence, lower dropout rates, and smaller percentages of drug
and alcohol abuse. (Sitkowski, 2008) Resolved: On balance, students
in grades 6-12 in the United States benefit when their schools
offer interscholastic sports.
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Core Con Ground on the Topic Academic Performance Academics is
Better. Although students did not perform better academically
during the semester they were enrolled in physical education, the
results indicate that they did not show a decrease in academic
achievement compared with students who received an extra hour of
academic instruction per day (Coe et al 2006) Purpose of Sports.
Instead of feeling compelled to relate the traditional ideals of
athletics, coaches now feel compelled to produce results above all
else. (Davis, 2009) Repeating Grades. More children are repeating a
grade in school to gain an edge in athletics. Experts worry about
fairness and skewed priorities (Wharton, 2004) Changing Grades.
Grier discovered some coaches in that school were consistently
fielding ineligible athletes on teams that then went on to compete
in statewide tournaments. Coaches had asked teachers to change
students grades and attendance records to cover up the infractions.
(Beem, 2006) Resolved: On balance, students in grades 6-12 in the
United States benefit when their schools offer interscholastic
sports.
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Core Con Ground on the Topic, continued Interscholastic Sports
are selective Budget Tradeoffs Basic Skills: Inverse relationships
between presented budgets for athletics and proficiency scores,
implying that shifting the budget toward athletics might detract
from the educational goal of providing students with basic skills.
(Ward, 2008) Facilities Improvements. schools compete in earnest to
produce the best facility and therefore utilize the facility as a
tool to recruit premier athletes in surrounding counties
(Obel-Omia, 2007) No Causation Thomas found athletics participation
did not improve academic achievement for certain minorities. Thomas
summarized the findings of a 1980 study conducted by the Womens
Sports Foundation which tracked 30,000 high school sophomores for a
six-year period. The racial groups studied were Caucasian, African
American and Hispanic students from rural, urban, and suburban
backgrounds. (Thomas, 1989) Ableism Resolved: On balance, students
in grades 6-12 in the United States benefit when their schools
offer interscholastic sports.
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Choice # 2 Resolved: On balance, public subsidies for
professional athletic organizations in the United States benefit
their local communities.
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Why this topic area? Since 2000, 28 new major league stadiums
have been built costing over $9 billion dollars. More than half,
over $5 billion, of the costs of the new stadiums were funded using
public dollars. Even more, two thirds of teams in the five major
sporting leagues are playing in stadiums built or significantly
renovated since 1990with 28% built or significantly renovated since
2000. So despite the precarious results, the success rate at which
owners get subsidized for their requests is astounding. Resolved:
On balance, public subsidies for professional athletic
organizations in the United States benefit their local
communities
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Definitions public subsidies A public subsidy is a provision of
economic value by the City or the RDA to a private entity for
purposes beneficial to the public, such as the operation of a
business or event within San Jose, but for which the City or RDA do
not directly or indirectly receive goods or services in return for
that expenditure. (Brownstein, 2007) professional athletic
organizations The Big Four (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA) Other: AFL, Minor
League Baseball, WNBA, MLS, USLL, NLL, WPS, local communities
Resolved: On balance, public subsidies for professional athletic
organizations in the United States benefit their local
communities
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Core PRO Ground on the Topic Economic Benefits by generating
increased spending on lodging, meals, and other travel and
entertainment that takes place outside the stadium or arena, and
will not accrue to the team or building owners. (Groothuis, 2004)
Since direct expenditures result in indirect expenditures, the
direct expenditures are said to multiply through the economy.
Economists attempt to quantify this effect by calculating a
multiplier. For a given level of direct expenditures, higher
multipliers indicate higher levels of economic impact. Television
exposure can lead to more tourism and business. Keynesian Economics
Good Psychological Income The justification of subsidies tends to
be based on the concept of psychological income, that is on the
effects of identification or stimulation and on the feelings
created within the community. Thus subsidies are justified by their
internal rather than their external effects. (Szymanski, 2005)
Sports teams provide a tangible focus for building community
consciousness and social bonding. They are an important part of the
collective experience of urban dwellers since they tie them
together regardless of race, gender or economic standing. They are
one of the few vehicles available for developing a sense of
community. (Crompton, 2004) Resolved: On balance, public subsidies
for professional athletic organizations in the United States
benefit their local communities
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Core PRO Ground on the Topic, continued Community Image and
Visibility Professional sports increase community visibility given
the magnitude of media coverage that is showered upon major sports
franchises. When a major sports franchise is mentioned throughout
the print, television, and electronic media, the host city is
typically given positive exposure. (Shwester) Major league teams
have become a critical talisman of the status of cities and
metropolitan areas because of the popularity and visibility of
professional sports. Art museums, symphony orchestras, theaters,
and zoos are all marks of major cities, as are libraries and
universities, leading law rms and banks, and great commercial and
industrial corporations, but big league teams are seen by many as
more easily and widely recognized symbols of a places importance.
(Danielson, 2007) Resolved: On balance, public subsidies for
professional athletic organizations in the United States benefit
their local communities
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Core PRO Ground on the Topic, continued How do you quantify
intangible benefits? Contingent valuation method (CVM) is a stated
preference technique that is used to quantify the value of public
goods and services. (Johnson, Groothuis, and Whitehead, 2001) Study
Results: Metropolitan area residents were willing to pay between
$0.83 and $2.30 per year in higher taxes to retain the Penguins,
thereby suggesting that the franchise offers some type of public
good benefit. Resolved: On balance, public subsidies for
professional athletic organizations in the United States benefit
their local communities
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Core CON Ground on the Topic Economic Diversion Theory these
jobs are really not new, but rather are a result of other projects
that did not occur because funding went to the stadium instead.
(Jensen, 2000) Low Skilled Jobs The type of work is generally
non-technical, and requires little or no skill, unless you consider
the ability to hit a fan with a bag of peanuts from several rows
away or the ability to balance a tray full of beer while scaling a
flight of stairs, a skill. Tax Revenues Public financing is tax
exempt: it creates lost tax revenues that under normal
circumstances would be assessed and paid. To illustrate the effect,
consider the following: for a stadium completely financed with
tax-exempt bonds, costing $225 million, and built today, it is
estimated that the lost federal tax revenues will total $75 million
over the life of the bonds. (Jensen, 2000) Low Income Areas When a
new stadium is financed with public dollars, the lower-income
citizens of a host city are nonetheless the first to have their
wallets raided (Cagan and deMause 1998) Resolved: On balance,
public subsidies for professional athletic organizations in the
United States benefit their local communities
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Core CON Ground on the Topic, continued Economic Studies "In no
instance did a positive, significant correlation surface among
stadiums, professional sports, and city income as a fraction of
regional income. (Baade, 2000) Increased export sales result from
attracting net new inflows of spending from outside the area. This
regional increase in exports might occur if, for example, people
from another region decide to attend a baseball game in the area,
rather than go to their local movie theater. If, on the other hand,
people from another region spend money at an area stadium rather
than at a movie theater or restaurant near the stadium, the stadium
is not increasing export sales-it is simply shifting them. (Baade,
2000) Many public subsidies do little to promote economic equity,
and rather than correcting for market failure, they induce
distortions in economic decisions and behavior; such programs may
justifiably be scaled back or terminated when they come under
increased scrutiny (Treist, 2009) Resolved: On balance, public
subsidies for professional athletic organizations in the United
States benefit their local communities
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Core CON Ground on the Topic, continued. Alcohol and or tobacco
Tax General Retail Sales Tax Special District Taxation Tax
Increment Financing Pari-mutuel Tax Insurance Premium Tax Utility
Tax; Permit & Licensing Tax Property Tax Mineral Tax; Public
subsidies creates 20 new taxes (Greenburg, 1994) Surplus Property
Tax Property Transfer Tax Property Donation Property Sale
Redirected Tax from Stadium Special Lottery Eating & Drinking
Establishments, Food & Beverage Sales Tax Ticket Surcharge
Parking Surcharge Room Tax. Resolved: On balance, public subsidies
for professional athletic organizations in the United States
benefit their local communities
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Which topic do you prefer? Where do we go from here?
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Recommendations Topic 1 Analysis by Mark Allseits at the Pine
View Debate Camp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VZzLy05E1c
Research both topics more. Talk to your friends from other schools
(camps) about the topics