AWA - Critique!
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27 Jan 2019, 22:35
Prompt: “This past winter, 200 students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest against proposed cuts in funding for various state college programs. The other 12,0000 Waymarsh students evidently weren’t so concerned about their education: they either stayed on campus or left for winter break. Since the group who did not protest is far more numerous, it is more representative of the state’s college students than are the protesters. Therefore the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students.”
The prompt argues that state legislature should not consider the appeals of protesting Waymarsh State College students against budget cuts for various state college programs because there was a much smaller number of Waymarsh State students traveling and protesting at the state capitol than the overall student population. This assumption that only 200 students cared about budget cuts as compared to 12,000 is completely biased. Not all college students have the accessibility to travel distances and budget cuts wouldn’t only affect just Waymarsh State College.
Although some students stayed on campus, not all students have the luxury of traveling at their will. A lot of students are out of state/international and do not possess the necessary means to travel around. The prompt never considers this. Instead, the prompt only assumes that students can travel anywhere at will. For this prompt’s argument to be effective, it would need to understand that are logistical issues that students face which limit them to travel to the state capitol to protest.
It would be unreasonable to assume that only 200 students care about budget cuts. The prompt must consider that there are many other students from other state college programs that would be affected. By considering this new population, the number of overall students that protested could extend from 200 to potentially be in the thousands.
The prompt must consider all else that is beneath the surface. Students do not have the luxury to consistently travel wherever they please at will. In addition, the prompt only considers Waymarsh State College students. It does not consider that these budget cuts include other state programs as well. Therefore, for the original argument to be made, the prompt must consider that students have difficulty traveling and other college programs protesting as well.