Hello again, everyone! I’m looking forward to Persuasive Presentation I, which will begin this week. Please remember that you need to upload your typed, full-sentence outline to SafeAssign at least 48 hours before the class period in which you’re scheduled to present — for those of you who will be presenting Tuesday of this week, that means your outline should be submitted by 4:30 p.m. today, so be sure you get it done!

Also, I noticed that there have still been few replies to last week’s spring break post. However, that post will remain open until midnight tonight, so you can still add your contribution if you hurry.

We’ll start this week where we ended the last one: the NCAA basketball tournament. Let’s continue to delve a little deeper into the subject than just Purdue’s chances. A large part of public speaking is being able to draw and retain your audience’s attention, and every year, “March Madness” captivates a substantial portion of the nation. What do you think is the reason for this fascination? Do you think that we’re more or less drawn to the big dance than we are to other similar sporting events, such as the College World Series? What do you see as the reason for any disparity in our interest?

One possibility is that we love the thrill of the upset, when the underdog triumphs over the dominant favorite. We had some big upsets in the round of 64, but nothing quite as shocking, for instance, as Coppin State’s 1997 win over South Carolina, Villanova’s 1985 championship, or George Mason’s 2006 Final Four run. However, some believe that upsets aren’t really a surprise based on performance forecasting models like AccuScore, and others claim that the phenomenon has lost its luster over the years. (To reference the latter article, two of my own brackets correctly predicted the Richmond upset. I’m not telling how many brackets I have, but it’s fewer than 263.) What do you think about our perspective on upsets? How about other unique statistics, like Michigan piling up the all-time largest margin of victory in an 8-9 matchup and becoming the first team to win an NCAA tournament game without making any free throws?

On a much different note, considering that the tournament takes up a significant part of the academic semester and is given great importance by the public as well as participating universities (which tend to receive more alumni donations following a successful tournament appearance), how do you think that the players juggle their athletics as well as their studies? For that matter, how do student-athletes of any sport handle the competing obligations? Do you think that participating in college athletics is detrimental to academic performance, or alternatively, does life as a student-athlete foster added knowledge and skills? What about other students, or employees in the workforce?

As an aside, are there any other Comcast customers among those of you watching the tournament? If so, whether you love Comcast or hate it, you have to at least be thankful that they carry TruTV. I suppose that’s another topic of interest — what do you think of the new 14-year agreement that will split tournament games between CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV? Are you happy to be able to watch all the tournament games live instead of being subject to one network’s whim of which game is most exciting at any given moment? Or is it a hassle having to find lesser-used channels and actively determine which game you should be watching at any given moment?

Keeping with the sports theme for now, an NFL lockout looks increasingly likely from week to week. In the wake of the NFLPA’s decertification, Goodell is taking the risky step of directly contacting players, circumventing the organization that he is implying no longer has any authority in this matter. It’s possible that this will be enough to connect both parties and start moving toward a mutual agreement. It’s also possible, as Farrar noted in the above linked article, that this might destroy any trust that remains between the players and owners. Do you think this was a good move by Goodell, or was it a mistake that he’ll later regret? What do you think will happen as the negotiations (or lack thereof) continue? For that matter, how does all of this affect third parties such as NFL employees and even video game developers?

Let’s look back to the big ongoing world events. Japan’s nuclear crisis has grown to frightening proportions, with its government trying to restore but also considering burying the affected plan to limit the immediate danger. Traces of the fallout have already reached California, although it is believed that it is too minor to cause harm stateside. Nonetheless, the Air Quality Management District is now offering daily radiation level updates, just in case. More substantive local effects from this crisis include higher oil and technology prices (Apple’s also facing a possible shortage of iPad 2 components), overall economic instability, and even early challenges for President Obama’s re-election campaign. Before-and-after images of Japan are rather astonishing, although it’s rather hard to beat the revelation that the country’s coastline moved eight feet as a result of the earthquake that started this catastrophe. The quake even made St. Louis shake. What should world leaders doabout the continuing disaster, and why? Should we be donating to relief efforts, as Ichiro Suzuki did in spades on Friday, or would we be wise to save our money? Do you see this changing future policies relating to building construction, coastline restrictions, nuclear power, or anything else?

In a dramatic turn of events, on Thursday the U.N. authorized military strikes against Libyan forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Shortly thereafter, the Libyan government declared a ceasefire, but rebel forces quickly disputed the claim, protesting that the attacks only continued. I’ll spare you extensive explanation of the situation, as we’ve already discussed the background over the past several weeks, but what are your thoughts on these most recent developments? Do you trust Libya’s ceasefire claim, or is it just political posturing by Gadhafi and his forces? How do you see international intervention, if any, proceeding? What are your thoughts on Obama’s Friday address to the nation? What do you think about his approach to Libya? How will the possible commitment of military forces to the region affect governmental support for Japan? Is Libya ultimately headed toward civil war, as some in our class have previously suggested? Will a ceasefire or international pressure defuse the situation? Or will bringing more nations into the conflict only push it to a regional or global scale?

It’s also becoming increasingly difficult to ignore Yemen, as its government has declared a state of emergency after at least 30 people were killed in a Friday crackdown on anti-government protests. This might be less disturbing if they had been mere consequences of chaotic clashes between protesters and officers, but the deaths instead appear to have been coordinated, strategic sniper killings. Where do you see the Yemen crisis moving? Can the violence be curtailed and a peaceful solution found, or is escalating violence inevitable? Bringing it all together, what do you see in all these overlapping world crises (and, in particular, the violence)? Is this largely a case of one revolution inspiring another in turn, or is there some common cause that is inspiring unrest throughout the Middle East? Will all of these coalesce into one major war, or will they remain as separate intranational conflicts? As a worst-case scenario — the question has to be asked — do you see all of these things as a beginning stage preceding an apocalyptic event, such as that which some believe will come in 2012?

(Yes, I just cited Wikipedia. It’s a blog; different standards apply. Feel free to discuss that conjecture, as well!)

Okay, we need to close on a lighter note this week. Reporter Ben Higgins was covering San Diego State’s first-ever NCAA tournament victory Thursday night when an SUV almost hit him.

What? I said almost. It’s still a light note.

It’s not yet clear what the driver was thinking. As you can tell from the video, it’s hard to imagine that the driver didn’t see Higgins, especially given the pace at which the SUV was moving and the fact that one would generally at least glance backward when reversing a vehicle. Nonetheless, as blogger Chris Chase aptly noted, “He finished the report! The guy was just saved from an over-sized SUV and managed to finish his sentence and barely breaks a stride.”

Truly, anything can happen when you’re giving a presentation. There will be time to dwell on it afterward. In the moment, the best thing you can do is forget about it and keep on moving forward. If you can deal with external interference as serious as this and still finish the job without a hitch, like Higgins did here, you’ll just look awesome.

Other articles of interest:
Netflix Watch Instantly: A Sea Change for TV
PS3 jailbreaker claims Sony is misleading the courts
Optometrists: Nintendo 3DS could ID vision issues
3DS review hardware: why the 3D slider is the best thing ever
Gene therapy ‘treats’ Parkinson’s disease
Reality TV and the SAT: Did students miss the point of the essay question?
‘American Idol’ ratings fall to season low: What’s to blame?
How Did 50 Female Celebrities Get Hacked?
Diet Coke Wins Battle in Cola Wars
Fed Completes Stress Tests
Oops! Wrong prince appears on royal wedding souvenir
Newt Gingrich cries foul over Obama’s NCAA tournament picks
Luis Salazar loses eye, but Braves say he still has a job waiting
Rare double disqualification leaves national event without champion