| |
The following appeared in a memo from the director of student
housing at Buckingham College. "To serve the housing needs of our students,
Buckingham College should build a number of new dormitories. Buckingham's
enrollment is growing and, based on current trends, will double over the next
50 years, thus making existing dormitory space inadequate. Moreover, the
average rent for an apartment in our town has risen in recent years.
Consequently, students will find it increasingly difficult to afford off-campus
housing. Finally, attractive new dormitories would make prospective students
more likely to enroll at Buckingham." Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument
and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument. In the memo,
the author argues that to serve the housing need of our students, Buckingham
College should build a number of new dormitories. Although this proposal seems
pertinent and logical at first sight, a pieces of specific evidence are needed
for the director to persuade the readers without sharp objections.
First of all, the author argues that
Buckingham’s enrollment is growing and will double over the next 50 years.
However, this survey can hardly be accepted with a complete trust. The author
should give the readers more statistically credible and analytical documents so
as to forecast the future enrollment rates correctly. The author should provide
the readers with specific and dependable data explaining the recent growth of
Buckingham’s enrollment and a keen analysis of the future enrollment of the
college with a reliable prediction. If the reason of the college’s enrollment
is depending on temporary interest, a indiscreet increase of new dormitories
could be a serious financial deficit in the future. Also, the author needs to supplement the
argument with more sound information on the resent average rent for an
apartment in our town. The information given by the author is hard to be
accepted as the fact happening in the places near school. The data that shows a
growth of the average rent for an apartment in our town might not betray the
risen rent for an apartment “near the colleges”. Since usually in apartments
closed to the colleges lives many students, apartments could propose a rent at
a discount costs for the students attending the colleges. Without more
information on whether students practically feel the high rent cost of the
apartment near the colleges, the argument would be weakend.
Likewise, the author does not consider the
actual trend among the students. The argument that attractive new dormitories
would make prospective students more likely to enroll at Buckingham is a too
optimistic and unsophisticated view. For most students, an attractive
dormitories may pales in comparison with the reputation or financial aid when
they consider choosing a school. In a sense, the Buckingham college should take
into account the scout of well-known professors or offering the students a special
amount of a financial support. It is a naive suggestion that simply fascinating
dormitories would attract more students. In a summary, the author’s proposal shows leaks
on evidence on many grounds. To fortify his suggestion, the author need to
improve the evidence so that it can explain the relationship between growing
enrollment and current trend and predict the future situation with a concrete
analysis. Also, the author should offer more specific information about the
rent for the apartments near the colleges. Lastly, linking new dormitories with
attracting students seems too casual in their relations, so the author should
consider other reliable plan which can support the proposal in a solid
manner. | |