Graduation Frustrations a la Policy Conflict

            As my graduation approaches I am having to deal with a workload the size of Mt. Vesuvius. While in the past I’ve only had to worry about schoolwork, I am now faced with the task of entering the workforce. My free time has been consumed with cover letters, resumes, and personal narratives in an attempt to woe employers. Recently, it came to my attention that there were no hotel rooms available for the weekend of graduation in May. About a month ago I my mother called me to ask if I graduated on May 3 or 4. I told her I was not sure and that I had to get back to her. Fast-forward a month to now. She calls me in a state of panic and rage and tells me it’s my fault that she can’t find a hotel room because I did not tell her which day I was graduating.

            My cup is already running over attempting to graduate, can’t my family take care of making their own hotel reservations? Besides, the 1-day difference should not have been the deciding factor; they knew they needed to be here those days. Kaufer’s third level supports my cause of policy conflict. I disagree that it is my fault that she does not have a hotel room as she already knew the exact weekend of my graduation. When I discovered and told her in late January that there were no vacancies is when she decided to point fingers and blame me. 

     According to Jones a simulation of an argument is when it different views are openly discussed. When discussing serious issues Jones finds perspective to be important. Mark Moran’s “Top 10 reasons Students Cannot Cite or Rely on Wikipedia” is blatantly biased hence cannot be characterized as a simulation. This argument falls more into the ethical deliberation category as it uses details to offer a strategy for developing sound, ethically aware arguments (Jones 161).

            Kaufer reminds us that authorities taking a side on an argument will meticulously use relevant information to develop their discourse. In this case the author uses differences in scales (values) to lure the reader in. For example, the 7^th reason to not cite Wikipedia is: Individuals with agendas sometimes have significant editing authority. This statement is relying on the assumption that the authoritative entity is misusing his or her power. This list was created to convince students to not cite Wikipedia; attaching value to the argument via the difference of scales is effective and increases the likelihood of the text making an impact on someone.

            In my situation with my mother, she made sure to stay away from the value statements because she knows I am in the right. She relied on weight of policy to place the fault on me through selective facts.

     “The Top 10 Reasons Students Cannot Cite or Rely On Wikipedia” uses the word credibility as an ideograph. The audience is clearly outlined in the title of the article and will catch their attention, as students are constantly hearing about issues of property rights and legitimacy. The word most definitely carries ideological assumptions as a resource without credibility means little to nothing in academia.

            The discourse goes on to give examples of people who, without bad intentions, took advantage of the system to prove that illegitimate information could be posted on Wikipedia. Shane Fitzgerald made an illegitimate comment about deceased French composer Maurice Jarre. After major newspapers were using his quote he emailed them questioning their sources. Genius!

            My mother, a lovely lady indeed, used the word graduation to wrap me up in an argument based on values. I could argue the fact that she did not make the reservations soon enough but in the end I’m either part of the solution or part of the problem. I ended up taking over the hotel issue and found a local Marriot and used my personal Skymiles to pay for most of the room. I better be getting a jaw dropping graduation gift after all of this, just saying.