Jon Carroll
My columnist Jon Carroll is a very active and persuasive writer. From the columns I have read I noticed that he has a very one sided opinion on the topics he chooses to write about. One of his columns called ” College athletics: It’s not a pretty picture” he frequently comments on the issue of college athletes not having time to get a proper education. He also said “It’s an educational system based on commercial values.” This shows that he thinks that students get into great educational schools for athletics not for their educational value. During the article he rarely talks about the other opinions people could have about the issue. He only advocates for his opinions.
Do you think that having a one sided opinion is better than being open minded? Do you agree with Carroll about college acceptance having more to do with athletic value rather than educational? Do you also think that athletes don’t have enough time to focus on their education?
Having a one sided opinion is like having a closed mind, so no, I don’t think having a one sided opinion is better then having an open mind. When you have an open mind, you are willing to learn new things and hear other opinions, and Jon Carroll doesn’t seem to like to do that. I also don’t agree with him when he said that college acceptance has more to do with athletic value rather than educational. I don’t agree with him because, personally, I don’t think sports are going to get you anywhere in the world. An education will. I think that colleges look for athletes but also look for a good educational foundation. I think they look for people good in all areas not just one. No, I don’t think that athletes don’t have time to focus on their education. The things that matter and that are important, people make time for. I don’t think at all that it’s the colleges fault if someone is playing a sport and doesn’t get their homework done. I think this because when someone signs on to play the sport, they know the responsibility they have so it’s up to them to make time and focus on their education. If they don’t have time, they shouldn’t play a sport. You should only do what you can handle.
Personally I believe that it is better to be open minded rather than having a one sided opinion. It gives you perspective to be more open minded. I do agree with Jon Carroll, I think that colleges pick student athletes more for athletics rather than for their intelligence. Although it shouldn’t be that way, it is. Some athletics may not allow students to have enough time for their school work but school should always come before sports. Getting an education to pursue a career is very important. Even if you want to be a professional athlete you should have a backup plan and getting a good education is key.
I think that having a one sided opinion is effective if you are the writer trying to convince readers to agree with you. I think that as the reader, it is preferred for the writer to be open minded. This way, the reader will most likely not get offended in any way and the reader will also probably feel like the writer is being more honest. I partially agree with Carroll on the fact that colleges accept students based on athletic value rather than educational. However, if an athlete does attend the college they must keep their grades up in order to play. Colleges will remove you from the team if your grades are low therefore they do pay attention to your educational value as well. I do think that college athletes will be very limited on their time, but, when they accept to play the sport they know what they are getting themselves into. When they commit to being on the team, they commit to balancing school and athletics.
I think having a one sided opinion can be good if you are trying to make a point, like Jon Carroll is trying to do, yet in life I think it is better to be more open minded. I think colleges do put sometimes too much focus on athletics value rather than education, yet I do not think it is a bad thing to focus on athletics. In fact, athletics is a good way to get in to college for people that could otherwise not go, with all the scholarship money for athletics and things like that. Also, I think that if a person manages their time right they can have enough time for athletics and education. And, if the person is trying to go pro in athletics, then they should focus more on athletics than education if they are trying to follow their dreams.
Having a one sided opinion really gets your point across to the readers. I think that Jon Carroll is smart for using this technique. I do believe that schools do focus on athletics more than educational value. This can be a good and bad thing but it seems to normally work for the better. I also agree with Ana that if the student manages their time correctly it is possible to get a good education and still play your sports. Athletics are a large part of college life nowadays.
I think that having a one sided opinion can be good and bad. It can be good while trying to get your point across but it can be bad because it makes you seem biased and unopen to new things and views that other people have. I disagree with Jon Carroll. Many schools will not let students in unless they have a high enough GPA. Also many student athletes graduate college and move on to other things in their lives such as the subjects they study while in college. I do agree that it is hard to balance sports and school but if you want to play sports then you will keep your grades high and learn how to do both at the same time.
No, I do not think that having a one sided opinion is better than being open minded. Being open minded is better because you get to see both sides of the story and then decide for yourself. I do partially agree with Carroll about college acceptance having more to do with athletic value rather than educational because colleges do just pick student athletes for their athletic ability, but if they’re not doing so well academically, then they can be removed from the team. Students education should be more important than their athletics and some don’t give student athletes enough time for school work as they should.
Like Keegan I believe that one sided opinions really gets your point across to the readers because its repetitive and gets them to see your point and why you think it. I do think that colleges look at there athletics just as much and if not more than the kids education and grades. because they think that having good athletics will more more kids to will want to go to that school which means more kids that are smart. I do think that if athletes really wanted to get good grades they do have enough time to get a good grade
I do not believe that having a one sided opinion is better than being open minded. Instead, I believe that being open minded allows you to consider both positions on a controversial topic or argument. In regards to writing articles or columns, I strongly believe that authors should write about both sides of the topic in order to inform and better educate the readers. Once the readers are informed on the topic, then the authors who do have a specific opinion on the matter they can take their stance. In Carroll’s article, I do not seem to agree with him in that college acceptance having more to do with athletic value than educational. College is for students who are willing to pursue careers that involve receiving foundations of education. Students are paying colleges to provide them with this education and thus if the student can not handle the maintenance of his or grades, then they are only hurting themselves. Athletes in college are definitely given special treatments in regards to due dates on assignments, however, they are given enough time to focus on their education. Although these athletes may have daily practice, they are considered “student athletes” for a reason. Being a student athlete means that these students excel both educationally and athletically. Although their lives may be extremely busy, these students are considered adults and are hoping to pursue careers which in turn motivates them to get their work done.
I believe that having an open mind is much better than having a one sided opinion. When having an open mind you can learn so much more about other peoples opinions and ideas. I believe that most colleges look more into a student than just their athletic abilities. I believe that you have to have the whole package to be accepted. If you are extremely gifted in athletics and slack in your school work, I believe colleges will pay close attention to that. Participating in a college sport does cut off a lot of your time for education. I do believe that you can succeed in both athletics and education if you manage your time right and put in effort.
I don’t think it’s better either way. If someone is too one-sided, they won’t listen to anyone else’s opinions and will not be able to create a strong point. However, it is necessary to have some sort of an opinion but still be willing to listen to others. Therefore, I believe it is important to be a little of both, by maintaining a position on a topic, but still being open to others’.
I also believe that college acceptance has more to do with athletic ability. There are plenty of college athletes who are dominant at the sports they play, but are not the smartest people. I think sometimes it is an unfair advantage that these athletes are getting into the best schools, while great students are unable to because they don’t play a sport. Not all college athletes aren’t’ smart though, and many actually deserve to be at the college. Unfortunately, in many cases, exceptions are made, and the students athletic ability is more important than their academics.
I am not sure if college athletes actually have enough time to get an education. It seems that they do not, and I’m sure that they are very stressed trying to balance both, but I am not in their situation so I would not know personally.
I do think it is better to have a one sided opinion. I think this because it is better to be decided and stand by an opinion than to be undecided and not sure what to think. Also, I do agree that college acceptance is more based on athletic ability for athletes rather than about education. And these athletes do not have time for their education during the season they play. Between practice every day and games, players will not be able to do their work to the best of their ability or they just won’t do it at all.
I think that having an open mind would allow you to see other variables besides your one opinion. College acceptance has a lot to do with money, and if they get a great athlete, than they would be more useful to the college. Athletes know how to manage their time according to their lifestyle. If being both an athlete and student is too stressful, than that student needs to cut back on athletics.
Colleges do not specifically look for athletic people. It depends what type of person you are and what you first brought to their attention. If you go to them with an athletic portfolio then they will focus on athletics. If you go to them with good grades then they will focus on grades. However, sometimes athletes do suffer from being such. They do not get as much time to do school work and it could hurt them. But usually school create a compromise to help the student athletes. Some schools give extra time to do assignments for athletes and others will give them extra help during the sports season. So no, in my opinion sports do not fully affect a colleges choice and, if a student athlete does as they should and a school is willing to help, athletics do not affect the students education enough to cause a problem.