For this assignment you must write an opinion article (~600 words) about a contemporary political/policy issue. You MUST pick an issue where you can have an opinion. Your task is to write an opinion article in which you try to convince a reader of your position. In your article you must: • Take a position on (makes an argument for) a position regarding a social, political, educational, or cultural issue. Opeds are not reporting or reviews of facts. Please consult the resources I’ve posted on Blackboard and read a few newspaper oped sections for examples and more background. • Cite at least one academic article/research in your OpEd. You will need to describe the study and what it tell us, but the description of the study will be brief (you don’t have much space! and used to support your point. • Cite at least one nonacademic article (i.e. newspaper, magazine, etc.) that provided you with information for the article. Helpful(?) Hints • Think of a topic based on what interests you. You can pick a topic based on 1) a topic this class has covered or 2) your previous interests. • Make sure you have a thesis. I strongly encourage you to have a sentence in your essay that reads: “In this essay I argue that [insert your opinion/argument].” • Ground your opinion in social science, i.e., back it up! • Connect your OpEd to something that has happened in the world recently. The connection should be about something very recentÍž it should not be too difficult to find one if you expand your standards to include news events all over the globe, relatively more local and more national in nature. Sample Topics: If you need ideas I would suggest you look at articles or opinion columns in the New York Times, The Economist, Washington Post or publications from think tanks such as Brookings, Cato Institute, or the American Enterprise Institute among other ideas. Here are some sample topics from which you can choose from or you can choose your own idea. 1. Federal legalization of recreational use of marijuana 2. Federal reenactment of the assault weapons ban 3. Immigration/DACA 4. Tax reform: increasing taxes on wealthy earners, implementing a Universal Basic Income, cutting corporate tax rates, etc. 5. Federal/State support for higher education Grading criteria (100 points total) 1. Does the topic address politics/policy? (10 pts) 2. Did you express your opinion? (20 pts) 3. How well did you justify your opinion? The following two components will contribute to this part of the grade. (50 pts) a. Logical consistency of the argument b. Empirical support for the conclusions/claims 4. Writing style, grammar, and conventions (20pts)