TOPIC: ISSUE185 - "Scandals-whether in politics, academia, or other areas-can be useful. They focus our attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could."
WORDS: 531 TIME: 00:45:00 DATE: 2008-4-6 20:59:04
The speaker asserts that various kinds of scandals are useful in attracting our attention to important issues. However, in my view the speaker is cursory too claim that. I concede that in many cases scandals can call our attention to paramount societal or political problems. On the other hand, scandals can also cover certain important sociopolitical problems with which we fail to concern.
Admittedly, under a few circumstances, scandals can call people's attention to pressing matters that the masses would otherwise ignore. This is especially true in politics and academia, in which scandals of prominent political leaders or professors may arouse great concern of multitudes, in the present as well as the past. Perhaps the most distinguished scandal is the Watergate event. In this scandal, the president of U.S.A., Nixon, was eager to steal information from his rival, aiming to win the campaign. In effect, the behavior committed by Nixon violated the law of privacy, and eventually abdicated from the position of presidency. Without this scandal, people would never care about others' private information. Another example involves a physic professor in a university located in my city. A paper proposed by this professor was unveiled to be a plagiary, which considerably call the university community's attention to the problem of academia and resulted in a system-wide reform. Our academic areas are the dear beneficiary of such reform.
However, scandals sometimes can distract us from more paramount and pressing societal matters. For example, several years ago, a judger who worked in Chinese Football Tournament was forbidden to engage in even one football game in respect that he was discovered that he committed bribery from a few football clubs. Every new development in that scandal became front-page news in almost every newspaper of sports. Any way, did this scandal work any positive feedback to football sports? No. That scandal was solely one incidence of paltry corruption. Moreover, for more than one year, the scandal distracted us from our most important sports' problems, such as vocational training, athletes' health, and normal schedule of the tournament. Consequently, this football scandal did not bring to our society any useful function when in retrospect.
Furthermore, in the realm of entertainment, scandals can serve chiefly to distract us from urgent matters. Consider, for instance, Chen Guanxi, a Chinese actor, whose personal photos which were exposed to mass media a few months ago. These unmasked photos taken by Chen Guanxi involve many noble singers, actors and costume models, in which there are some intimate scenarios including Chen and those stars. Admittedly, this scandal sparked a debate about duties and obligations of prominent stars and forever increased the level of mores to which our public figures were held. Nevertheless, this photo-gate scandal has distracted the masses from more important issues in the realm of performing--new stream of music, great discs of other stars, and appealing teleplays. Therefore, this photo scandal indeed provides more deleterious effects than rewards to the area of entertainment.
In summary, scandals can flag paramount matters in society more effectively than any speaker or reformer. However, whether a scandal works more benefit than harm to a community or society ought to be judged on a case-by-case basis.
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TOPIC: ARGUMENT9 - The following appeared in a memorandum from a dean at Omega University.
"Fifteen years ago, Omega University implemented a new procedure that encouraged students to evaluate the teaching effectiveness of all their professors. Since that time, Omega professors have begun to assign higher grades in their classes, and overall student grade averages at Omega have risen by thirty percent. Potential employers apparently believe the grades at Omega are inflated; this would explain why Omega graduates have not been as successful at getting jobs as have graduates from nearby Alpha University. To enable its graduates to secure better jobs, Omega University should now terminate student evaluation of professors."
WORDS: 443 TIME: 00:30:00 DATE: 2008-4-6 20:59:04
In this argument, the verdict concluded by the speaker is that Omega University ought to immediately discontinue student evaluation of professors in order to enable its graduates to find better careers. To substantiate this culmination, the speaker compares the situations before and after the policy of students’ evaluation of faculties. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from several critical blemishes, as discussed below.
To begin with, the fact that Omega professors have started to assign higher grades in their classes is not necessarily the result of teachers' feeling press from the evaluation procedure. The speaker fails to give evidence that professors are afraid that their students' low appraise will influence faculty’s salary or promotion. Perhaps this phenomenon is just the purpose that the new procedure of evaluating resolves to effect. It is highly possible that higher working efficiency of teachers in Omega University brings more vivid knowledge to its students, the performance of which indeed ameliorates.
Secondly, no valid data is provided by the arguer to demonstrate that potential employers conspicuously trust the grades at Omega are inflated. It is ridiculous of the arguer to assume that employers have such prejudice. The speaker has neither conducted a survey of investigating job market nor had conversations with employers in corporations outside Omega University. Therefore, this presumption lacks enough evidence to make it more convincing. The speaker would have to provide more detailed information about what potential employers are concerned with.
Thirdly, the fact that graduates of Omega University are not so successful at hunting jobs as those of Alpha University are also does not represent that Omega University's students are not sufficient skillful. Whether students of Omega University had found promising jobs more easily than graduates of Alpha University had before the new procedure of evaluation was carried out is left untended by the arguer. If Omega's graduates are difficult in finding jobs all the time, this fact would not be so powerful as the arguer states. Moreover, probably, current job market needs plenty of graduates who are good at business, which is the strongpoint of Alpha, but the advantage of Omega University is arts. Therefore, low rate of successful job findings does not surely imply that the new procedure works a negative function.
In summary, this statement actually suffers from a few vital fallacies as mentioned above. To solidify the ultimateness, the speaker would have to prove that professors of Omega are indeed afraid of low evaluation from their students, and further provide enough information about the current job market. Without considering and obviating those potential factors aforementioned, the speaker is too cursory to arrive at the conclusion.
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