University administrator: Graduate students incorrectly claim that

Question

University administrator: Graduate students incorrectly claim that teaching assistants should be considered university employees and thus entitled to the usual employee benefits. Granted, teaching assistants teach classes, for which they receive financial compensation. However, the sole purpose of having teaching assistants perform services for the university is to enable them to fund their education. If they were not pursuing degrees here or if they could otherwise fund their education, they would not hold their teaching posts at all.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the administrator's argument?

(A) The administrator is cognizant of the extra costs involved in granting employee benefits to teaching assistants

(B) The university employs adjunct instructors who receive compensation similar to that of its teaching assistants

(C) The university has proposed that in the interest of economy, 10 percent of the faculty be replaced by teaching assistants

(D) Most teaching assistants earn stipends that exceed their cost of tuition

(E) Teaching assistants work as much and as hard as do the university employees

nightblade354 · Accepted Answer

University administrator: Graduate students incorrectly claim that teaching assistants should be considered university employees and thus entitled to the usual employee benefits. Granted, teaching assistants teach classes, for which they receive financial compensation. However, the sole purpose of having teaching assistants perform services for the university is to enable them to fund their education. If they were not pursuing degrees here or if they could otherwise fund their education, they would not hold their teaching posts at all.

Conclusion: Graduate students incorrectly claim that teaching assistants should be considered university employees and thus entitles to the usual employee benefits
Premise: the  sole  purpose of having teaching assistants perform services for the university is to enable them to fund their education
Premise 2: If they were not pursuing degrees here or if they could otherwise fund their education, they would not hold their teaching posts at all

Ah, isn't that nice? The administrator says they are doing a charity by hiring these student teachers. How could we weaken this? By showing that there is another, unrelated reason for hiring them. And if you miss the one, key word in this question "sole", you will probably get this question wrong.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the administrator's argument?

(A) The administrator is cognizant of the extra costs involved in granting employee benefits to teaching assistants --  OK, and? This doesn't tell us anything other than we know the costs associated. We would have to assume that this is the reason to not pay them. Cannot make this assumption. Out.

(B) The university employs adjunct instructors who receive compensation similar to that of its teaching assistants --  OK, so what? They are paid similarly to employees so they should be given the same benefits. Really? If I make as much as an NBA player, do I get to consider myself an NBA player and do I get the same benefits as they do? Out.

(C) The university has proposed that in the interest of economy, 10 percent of the faculty be replaced by teaching assistants --  Bingo! So we are told that this is not out of the goodness of the University's heart, but because it makes economic sense. The sole reason, as mentioned above, is to help students. Well, this says that this isn't the sole reason, and that weakens an argument.

(D) Most teaching assistants earn stipends that exceed their cost of tuition --  Caught me for a while. But think about, is tuition the only thing that enables students to go to school? Nope. What about cost of living? We have to assume cost of school is the only cost. Out.

(E) Teaching assistants work as much and as hard as do the university employees --  Wonderful, but who cares about working as hard? I am sure students work as hard as Professors. Do they get benefits? And this attacks the wrong idea. We are never told that work level constitutes pay grade or benefits.

yashsharma1 · Answer

nightblade354  Isn't option C just a proposal. We don't know whether the current employment of students is because of this or some other reason. D says that the stipend exceeds cost of tution which is a concrete reference value for saying that if only funding the education was the reason universities were employing students as TAs, then the remuneration should cover the costs and not go beyond that. The fact that that is happening means they are providing value beyond their own survival.

guddo · Answer

University administrator: Graduate students incorrectly claim that teaching assistants should be considered university employees and thus entitled to the usual employee benefits. Granted, teaching assistants teach classes, for which they receive financial compensation. However, the sole purpose of having teaching assistants perform services for the university is to enable them to fund their education. If they were not pursuing degrees here or if they could otherwise fund their education, they would not hold their teaching posts at all.
 
 Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the administrator's argument?

The administrator’s point is that teaching assistants are not really employees, because their teaching is supposedly just a way to fund their education. So the best weakener will show that the university is using them for  the university’s own staffing needs , not merely to help the students.

(A) The administrator is cognizant of the extra costs involved in granting employee benefits to teaching assistants

This does not weaken the argument. It says something about the administrator’s awareness, not about whether teaching assistants are truly functioning as employees.

(B) The university employs adjunct instructors who receive compensation similar to that of its teaching assistants

This is not enough. Similar pay does not show that teaching assistants should be treated as employees.

(C) The university has proposed that in the interest of economy, 10 percent of the faculty be replaced by teaching assistants

This most seriously weakens the argument.  If the university wants to replace faculty with teaching assistants to save money, that shows the university is using them as workers to meet its own labor needs , not merely as students receiving financial help.

(D) Most teaching assistants earn stipends that exceed their cost of tuition

This weakens the argument somewhat, because it suggests the work is not just for tuition support. But it is still weaker than C, which directly shows the university sees them as labor substitutes.

(E) Teaching assistants work as much and as hard as do the university employees

This is too vague. Working hard does not by itself establish employee status.

Answer: (C)

gullyboy09 · Answer

In paragraph, this is given - “...the sole purpose of having teaching assistants perform services for the university is to enable them to fund their education”

If we focus on “Sole purpose”, it becomes a very easy question. Simply we need to find a different reason and then “sole reason” argument will fall. C exactly does that. Rest all the other options doesn’t help the cause in any way. But if anyone has any concern regarding any option, let me know.

University administrator: Graduate students incorrectly claim that

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