The following appeared as a letter to the editor from a Central Plaza store owner."Over the past two years, the number of shoppers in Central Plaza has been steadily decreasing while the popularity of skateboarding has increased dramatically. Many Central

The author's appeal in the letter to prohibit skateboarding in Central Plaza to restore its previously high levels of business is flawed. At several places in the letter loopholes exist that may preclude the readers from believing the text.

First of all, the ground on which the author asserts the decrease in number of shoppers and increase in the popularity of skateboarding over the past two years has not been mentioned. In order to strengthen his/her argument, the author could have included a valid survey (covering all the Central Plazas) stating that the above happened over the past two years. Additionally, the increase in the number of skateboarders may not be related to the decrease in the number of shoppers. Other reasons might be existing causing a decline in the store's business. e.g. the decrease in quality or increased prices of the products at the store could have led to such a situation. So, the author should have done more research on the reasons for this downfall.

Second of all, the author says that 'many' Central Plaza store owners believe that the decrease in their business is due to the number of skateboard users in the plaza.

But he/she doesn't provide any evidence of the number of store owners he/she has interacted with. Moreover, the owners the author is referring to have not given a concrete proof of their assumption. Again, there is a lack of authenticity and the reason behind the owners' belief of decline in business due to to the increase in the number of skateboard users in the Plaza has not been well supported with facts and figures.

Another very important point where the author fails to persuade the readers is the claim of dramatic increase in the amount of litter and vandalism throughout the Plaza resulting in a decrease of the number of shoppers. If the amount of litter and vandalism has risen, it should equally affect skateboarding and not only their business. The jumping on to this conclusion shows the confined perception of the author. So, the prohibition of skateboarding in the plaza is no solution to regain the former business levels.

Last but not the least, the skateboarders may be interested in buying stuff related to the sport from the Plaza shops thereby increasing their business. If skateboarding is prohibited, the stores may suffer a further loss.

To conclude, I would say that due to paucity of data, confined thinking, and insufficient research on the reasons behind the downfall,the argument is not enough persuasive. Encompassing of the possible reasons for decline in the business, buttressing the assumptions made with data, and a wide perception could have aided in the effectiveness of the argument.