In “The Real Scandal,” Sharon Begley and Martha Brant develop an argument against tacitly permitting the use of “banned” performance-enhancing drugs among Olympic athletes . Newsweek's 1999 cover story details incidents involving individual athletes caught using banned substances, the ongoing race to discover new performance-enhancing drugs, and examples of International Olympic Committee complacency (THAT IS). In particular, the authors question the validity of the IOC's current drug testing policies and protocols in the context of their self-defined role to "lead the fight against doping in sport" and to "encourage and support measures that protect the health of athletes " (Organization ). In order to better argue against doping in sport and advocate for more efficient and rigorous drug testing, Begley and Brant use emotional appeals, logic and a kairotic stance in their writings to persuade the public of the need for firm action by the IOC and of the world community on the topic of abuse of doping drugs. One of the opening points of the article recognizes the health and safety repercussions of taking performance-enhancing drugs. The authors include this information to inform readers about the severity of the drugs involved and the situation as a whole. For example, in 1997 cyclist Erwan Mentheour tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO), which “increases the number of red blood cells in the blood and therefore an athlete's endurance” (Begley and Brant 1). This initially seems harmless enough until the authors later explain that the drug "can turn blood into the consistency of yogurt" and that "EPO has apparently killed at least 18 Dutch and Belgian cyclists since 1987" (4). With the argument......at the center of the article describing the problems related to current policies, the authors arouse the desire for change in readers. Additionally, the timing of the article contributed to its overall impact. Since the change was conceivable at the time the article was published, bringing attention to the issue had a real effect on the debate and may have convinced people important to the issue. By using rhetorical devices in combination with each other, Begley and Brant significantly strengthened the persuasiveness of their arguments. Works Cited Brant, Martha and Sharon Begley. "The real scandal." The daily beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, February 14, 1999. Web. September 10, 2013. Macur, Giulietta. “Olympic blood samples must be retested.” NYTimes. The New York Times, October 9, 2008. Web. September 12, 2013."The Organization." Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee, nd Web. 11 September. 2013.