argument140 [大杀四方 yibin.he 第五次作业]

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TOPIC: ARGUMENT140 - The following appeared in a report of the Committee on Faculty Promotions and Salaries at Elm City University.

"During her seventeen years as a professor of botany, Professor Thomas has proved herself to be well worth her annual salary of $50,000. Her classes are among the largest at the university, demonstrating her popularity among students. Moreover, the money she has brought to the university in research grants has exceeded her salary in each of the last two years. Therefore, in consideration of Professor Thomas' demonstrated teaching and research abilities, we recommend that she receive a $10,000 raise and a promotion to Department Chairperson; without such a raise and promotion, we fear that Professor Thomas will leave Elm City University for another college."
WORDS: 475         TIME: 上午 12:30:00          DATE: 2007-2-2

The reporter recommends to give Professor Thomas a raise in her salary and a promotion for her demonstrated teaching and research abilities as the reporter argued. The reporter is well-written, yet has some logic flaws as it stands.

First, the arguer takes it for granted that the facts that the classes of the professor are among the largest in the university is due to the popularity of the professor. It is entirely possible that the subject that Professor Thomas teaches is only offered by her, or by much fewer professors compared with other subject. For that matter, the largest class does not necessarily mean that students like the classes taught by Professor Thomas, so that the conclusion of her popularity and her outstanding teaching is unreasonable.

Secondly, the amount of money that the professor brought has little to do with her research abilities. Perhaps some program organizations outside the university wants to utilize the lab she is working for to do some research, or perhaps the money is for the research group she joined and she just took the money as the representative of the group, either case can prove that her research ability is strong. Therefore, the assertion of her demonstrating research abilities is unpersuasive.

Even if Professor Thomas is outstanding in her teaching and research abilities, the arguer cannot conclude that we should give her the salary raise and promotion. The suggest presumably equals the way to appreciate the work of Professor Thomas to raise in her salary and promotion. In my commonsense, there are plenty of ways to express appreciation of one's good work according to different demands of different people, such as stimulative words, honors, etc. If the professor is insensitive to money but more concerned with her fame and honor, maybe the way to raise her salary contribute little to her job-satisfaction. Besides, the Department Chairperson is more involved in managerial matters, and if the professor does not like some official things while only wants to teach and research, the promotion will serve to a reverse effect. Further more, even though we do not take these two recommendations, the fear of Professor's leave is unnecessary, in that it will not only take one's time and energy to search for another job and to adapt to a new environment, but also to consider the salary offered by another university which is probably lower than her current salary. The reporter fails to consider all of these mentioned above, thus makes the recommendation unpersuasive.

In sum, the recommendation is not substantiated as it stands. To better evaluate it, the arguer needs to give substantive evidence of the Professor's demonstrating teaching and research ability, and the information about the effects of money and promotion on Professor Thomas is also necessary if we really want to know that the Professor will remain in the university.

提纲：
TOPIC: ARGUMENT169 - The following appeared in a letter from a department chairperson to the president of Pierce University.

"Some studies conducted by Bronston College, which is also located in a small town, reveal that both male and female professors are happier living in small towns when their spouses are also employed in the same geographic area. Therefore, in the interest of attracting the most gifted teachers and researchers to our faculty and improving the morale of our entire staff, we at Pierce University should offer employment to the spouse of each new faculty member we hire. Although we cannot expect all offers to be accepted or to be viewed as an ideal job offer, the money invested in this effort will clearly be well spent because, if their spouses have a chance of employment, new professors will be more likely to accept our offers."

提纲：
1．        The target place of the studies conducted is not stated so that the results may not apply to the professor living in the town where Bronston Colledge is placed.
2．        The results of the studies does not mean the same attitude for the staff excluding professors.
3．        Those teachers and researchers as well as other staff may not live in small towns.
4．        Offering employment to the spouse of the new faculty member has little to do with improving the morale of the entire staff.
5．        The recommendation does not necessarily lead to the interest of the most gifted teachers and researchers.(which may be more concerned about the salary, environment, etc)