¶ … local newspaper: "This past winter, 200 students from California State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest cuts in funding for various state college programs. The other 12,000 California State College 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 the protesters; therefore, the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students." Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. You can also discuss, what if anything would make the argument more sound and persuasive or would help to better evaluate its conclusion. The argument 'the bigger the better' is specious when applied to car advertisements and portion helpings at fast food restaurants and is similarly inappropriate when applied to evaluating the strength of support of a protest. All the students on campus to a man and woman could support the student protesters' sentiments regarding funding at California State College. However, the students who chose to remain on campus might feel that the ears of the legislators would be deaf to their appeals. Moreover, the other students might support the protester's stand on the issue of cuts in funding, and even the protestor's feelings regarding the issue's importance, but not necessarily the specific students and organization in charge of this particular protest. Perhaps a radical socialist or communist student group organized the protest, and students did not wish to associate themselves with the other issues advocated by the group organizing the protest.

Also, the issue at hand...

Perhaps the cuts for the proposed programs are relatively minor, except in the eyes of those students most affected by the cuts. But those who will be affected by the cuts -- perhaps students of minority or sociologically disadvantaged backgrounds, still deserve to have their voices acknowledged as valid.
Also, the fact that the California State College is quite vast in its numerical population, rather than a small liberal arts school of uniform socioeconomic and ethnic composition, may mean that many part-time students might be counted in the numbers of the 12, 000 strong of its population. Some of the 12,00 students may only be taking a few classes at California State College. Full-time students and students embarking upon professional undergraduate degrees, in for instance, engineering, education, or social work, might be more adversely affected and more inclined to protest than those taking only a few subjects half-heartedly, whose future livelihoods did not depend upon the maintaining of the funding at stake in the legislature, or whose main commitments are to the office and to the home rather than the school. Thus, 200 out of 12, 000 might not be an accurate percentile, and the 200 whom are affected might have a great deal at stake that is important for the legislature to consider.

Lastly, the timing of the protest, perhaps to coincide with the legislative vote, might have been deliberately undertaken by legislators to coincide with final exams, when many California State College students are busy studying to keep their merit scholarships, or to succeed in their work study jobs, or, if away, to earn even…