Argument238 【7\8\9\10】第十五次作业 8.5

DemiquaverUID: 203651

TOPIC: ARGUMENT238 - The following appeared in a memorandum from the president of Mira Vista College to the college's board of trustees.

"At nearby Green Mountain College, which has more business courses and more job counselors than does Mira Vista College, 90 percent of last year's graduating seniors had job offers from prospective employers. But at Mira Vista College last year, only 70 percent of the seniors who informed the placement office that they would be seeking employment had found full-time jobs within three months after graduation, and only half of these graduates were employed in their major field of study. To help Mira Vista's graduates find employment, we must offer more courses in business and computer technology and hire additional job counselors to help students with their resumés and interviewing skills."


In this argument, the author suggests that in order to help Mira Vista's graduates find employment, the college should offer more courses in business and computer technology and hire additional job counselors to help students with their resumes and interviewing skills. I find the argument flawed in several aspects.

First of all, the author makes an unconvincing analogy between the Mira Vista(MV) College and the Green Mountain(GM) College. Drawing a conclusion by comparing on the courses held by a college is insufficient. Perhaps GM College is originally a famous school whose graduates are regarded as top students. Naturally they are more favored by prospective employers. However, the graduates from MV College are comparatively lacking of competence in human resource market. Given this possibility, it might be no use for MV's graduates to take the author's suggestion.

Furthermore, I find the statistics in the argument is also flawed. The author only informed us that 70 percent of the seniors had found full-time jobs within three months after graduation. How about the other 30 percent? Perhaps they had also found jobs later last year. Or perhaps some of students those who informed the placement office that they would be seeking employment changed their minds and chose to take further education. Moreover, the author doesn’t provide the precise amount of graduates in both colleges last year. Perhaps MV had far more graduates than GM. A percentage of 70 indicates that more students are employed than a percentage of 90. Without statements about these information, it’s hasty for the author to conclude that situation of employment for graduates in GM College last year is better than MV College.

Last but not least, the author fails to provide the information about students' majors in MV College, which leaves the suggestion of offering more courses in business and computer technology unconvincing. Perhaps, the GM College is generally a business school which naturally has more business courses. However, majors of most students from MV might probably be engineering. Therefore, offering more courses in business might be a waste of time. Moreover, the author provides no evidence to show that it is because of more computer technology courses and job counselors that graduates from GM College have more job offers. Consequently, the suggestion of offering more courses in business and computer technology and hiring additional job counselors for graduates from MV College seems groundless.

To sum up, the conclusion of this argument is unconvincing. Before taking the suggestion made by the author, the college’s board of trustees should further investigate the difference between GM and MV. Meanwhile, inquiring actual situation of graduates’ employment last year. After all, offering more courses and hiring additional job counselor requires investment.