Meghan_Kean

"We recommend that Monarch Books open a café in its store. Monarch, having been in business at the same location for more than twenty years, has a large customer base because it is known for its wide selection of books on all subjects. Clearly, opening the café would attract more customers. Space could be made for the café by discontinuing the children's book section, which will probably become less popular given that the most recent national census indicated a significant decline in the percentage of the population under age ten. Opening a café will allow Monarch to attract more customers and better compete with Regal Books, which recently opened its own café." There is a lack of evidence to support Monarch Books opening a cafe in its store. This argument makes a lot of broad statements and conclusion with very little or not proof. There should be more comparisons to other bookstores, besides one. If Regal Books just recently opened up its own cafe then there is not enough evidence as to if it increased or decreased their sales. The statement does not have any evidence or remarks from Regal Books customers as to whether they like or dislike the new cafe. There needs to be more concrete evidence from multiple bookstores with cafes in them being successful and helping increase business, in order for them to consider opening up a cafe. Their competition trying something new is not a concrete reason to do follow Regal Books footsteps. The evidence from the national census for children under the age of ten may or may represent the area surrounding Monarch Books. Since it is a national census it is the average of many different areas, some may be higher or lower than others. We do not know for sure how the area of Monarch Books compares to the national census. If the children in the area of the Monarch Books did not decrease then it could be detrimental to close down the children’s book section. Lastly, in the statement it says “probably become less popular” this is a vast assumption with no evidence to support it. We cannot assume causation here because there may be correlation. The key word it may since there is no proof of stores around the countries doing poorly in their children’s section from the decrease in population of children under age ten. Children’s book sections are an attraction to many families. Parents will bring their children in and allow them to pick one and may end up buying a book themselves. If there customer base is because of their wide selection of books it could be detrimental to close down the children’s section. Through closing the children’s section the Monarch’s book is narrowing their diverse book section, which could possibly deter loyal customers. Many of these customers may not enjoy the cafe because it would be loud and rambunctious. The customers may like it to be silent while they are roaming the isles and finding books they enjoy. There is no evidence as to whether the customers like the silence or would prefer the white noise of a cafe. A survey to its large customer base needs to be done in order to determine this. If Monarch Books were to build the cafe then they could be criticized as copying Regal Books. Businesses that do well can often attribute their success to distinctions in their companies. If Monarch Books opens a cafe they could lose their sense of distinction from Regal Books, which would deter its customers. The company should focus on ways to improve itself in ways that are different from Regal Books to allow it to stand out more.

Governments should offer college and university education free of charge to all students. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position. I do not think college and university education should be free of charge to all students. It is a lofty idea that is appealing, however not applicable or possible for our country. Even though education would be more accessible I believe it would have more downfalls than positive ones. The education department is already lacking in funds to serve the K-12 population in our states. If college is made accessible to all then the money that is already used sparingly by the government in the lower grades will be forced to be evenly spread out in the higher education grades as well. This would have negative effects on the lower grades as well as the higher grades. If the government struggles to fund the grades it already has under its department, I do not see how it is plausible to add four more grades to this. Even though education would be more accessible I believe it would have more downfalls than positive ones. Many students are motivated to do well in high school in order to receive academic scholarships. If education was free to all then the motivation for many students to do well would be removed. In contrast, there still would be motivation to do well to get into well known schools. However, these well known, expensive schools may not be considered prestigious without their high tuition rates. For instance, Northeastern is over $60,000 a year while UMass Amherst is $25,000 a year. Northeastern University is very prestigious university and one of those reasonings is the expensive tuition. Without this I think it would lose a big part of what makes it prestigious. Students from middle class families may chose a school like UMass Amherst because it is affordable while students from well off families do not have to make this choice. Even though affordable schools such as UMass Amherst are great schools as well I believe more students would chose to attend schools such as Northeastern University causing a reduction in enrollment. This may cause schools such as UMass Amherst to be forced to close down. If governments made college education free for all students universities and colleges would be forced to make many cut backs in their programs. They would not be receiving yearly tuitions from students, which they depend on to function. Instead they would likely be receiving money from the state to function. Many universities require more money than others to run a successful college. I assume the government would give each university and college the same amount. This could potentially harm the schools that require more money to run in comparison to others. I do not believe the schools be given sufficient funds to be the same schools they once were dependent on tuition. Many schools would be forced to make numerous cut backs and some may be forced to close. This cut backs in their programs could be extremely harmful to their students. For instance, if they could no longer fund a certain undergraduate program the students in it would not be able to finish their degrees at the school. They would be forced to start over as most schools would not accept most of their credits. The staff working at these schools from janitorial to professors would be forced into unemployment. In Iceland the citizens are able to receive an undergraduate degree for free thanks to the government. They have a prosperous scenario for students and professors. However, this is a long established system. If we were to introduce this idea here it would be a long and difficult battle until it was as successful and established in Iceland. In the process it would be harmful to current and upcoming students as well as to the people in academia. Also, countries such as Iceland have fewer citizens than in the US, which makes it easier for them to establish this.