Argument52 April小组第三周第一篇习作

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TOPIC: ARGUMENT52 - The following appeared in a memo to the human resources manager at Baobob Inc., a large architectural firm.

"Several well-known, retired architects were interviewed in Architecture Today about changes in the field. Only one had earned a college degree in architecture. All others had come into the field at an early age by serving apprenticeships that required them to work under the direct supervision of an experienced architect. Several of the colleges that we recruit from report that many promising architecture students leave school early in their undergraduate career. Therefore, because finding talented architecture graduates is becoming more difficult, Baobob Inc. should start an aggressive apprenticeship program and hire students who express an interest in architecture directly out of high school rather than wait for them to get out of college."
WORDS: 449          TIME: 00:53:00          DATE: 2008-3-31 20:48:57

The argument has drawn the conclusion that Baobob Inc, should start an aggressive apprenticeship program and hire students instead of waiting for them to get out of college, which is based on the fact stated in the memo. Yet, this is not the real case and maintains several unbelievable points.

First of all, the author has stated the assumption that several retired architects experienced apprenticeships that offered the opportunity for them to work under the direct supervision of  experienced architects. Yet, this might not be the case and is lacking in some reasonable considerations. Since, several architects who are successful in the architecture now cannot be the sample which represents all architects, which means this is not a considerably large sample. Otherwise, the author can not make any general conclusions that Baobob Inc. should start an apprenticeship program.

What's more, the author fails to assure me that only one retired architect get degree in architecture among those several retired architects means that there's no need to wait for the college students to get out of college. Perhaps at that time, it's difficult to have access to college and even get degree. For that matter, perhaps, those retired architects didn't have sufficient expense to afford to go to colleges and finally the only way they could choose was to learn from experienced architects. Therefore, the author can not justifiably conclude that it's wise for Baobob to employ the students who express an interest in architecture directly out of high school.

In addition, another problem with the argument is that it assumes that the many promising architecture students leave school according to report from several of the colleges. Yet the author offers no evidence to substantiate this assumption. Perhaps, these students don't satisfied with the lectures addressed by the professor and the instruction offered by these college, so the leave the college without degree. Also, the quantity of the colleges can not be equal to all the numbers of colleges and don't constitute a sufficiently large sample. Thus, the author cannot defend the conclusion that based on this evidence that Baobob should start an apprenticeships program.

In conclusion,  even assuming that those retired architects who accepted apprenticeships become well know later, this does not give me evidence that it's the wise way for Baobob to hire the students out of school who should have good opportunities to receive education concerning architecture in college. Perhaps, retired architects can shoulder much more burdens and more durable when they were young than students nowadays. Therefore, Baobob Inc, should take a further consideration of their next strategic decision whether they will start the apprenticeships program immediately and hire students who are not equipped with degree.