In their first paper, students in WR 150, “The World’s Waters,” tackle the debate about water as a commodity versus a human right. Is privatization of water the remedy to waste of this finite resource? What are the implications for industry if water is viewed as a human right? Questions such as these motivate claims that seek to enlarge knowledge or address the gap between conflicting viewpoints on water as a public good. Most academic papers across the disciplines engage conceptual problems to advance arguments about how we should think.
In the arena of public policy, however, writers are called to respond to questions about what we should do. “What don’t we understand about competing demands on the Ogallala Aquifer?” leads to a fundamentally different claim than “What can we do about the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer?” Policy arguments, whether in the form of congressional testimony, memoranda that advise elected officials, or op-ed pieces that aim to sway public opinion on a particular issue, advocate a course of action, offering practical solutions to public problems.
Therefore, for their second assignment in “The World’s Waters,” students took on the alternative genre of public testimony to argue for or against hydraulic fracture, a natural gas technology that offers a less expensive energy source than oil or coal, but also poses serious risks to the water supply. The assignment required that students rethink their approach to argument. They had to decide which hat they were wearing: future taxpayer, voter, or environmental advocate? They had also to consider their audience: federal or state; legislative or executive? Writing as stakeholders in a real-life debate pushed students in a fundamentally new direction; they drew on evidence, first-hand experience, and exhortative language to persuade their audience. Addressing his comments to the Congressional committee with EPA oversight, Yash—speaking as an environmental advocate—makes the case that federal regulation of fracking operations is insufficient. Though the genre was unfamiliar to Yash, his meticulous research and diligent editing resulted in testimony of a quality on par with that delivered by experts in the field. The reader is left to decide if Yash has made a persuasive argument; clearly the editors of WR believe he did!
— MELANIE SMITH
WR 150: The World’s Waters