The following appeared in a memo from the director of student housing at Buckingham College."To serve the housing needs of our students, Buckingham College should build a number of new dormitories. Buckingham's enrollment is growing and, based on current

The argument placed by the director is to build new dormitories in the campus of Buckingham College to house the students that would be enrolled to the college. The argument seems very concerning, but it is not bolstered well to be convincing, and also does not indicate well the priority and how important it may be.

Firstly, the director from student housing does not state where and how these dormitories would be constructed. The area and cost required for these new buildings is not assessed by him. There is a possibility that there may not be enough space on the campus to build them. Also building of new dormitories would require a lot of funds, which could be an issue for the college. It could be possible that they can just manage to renovate the old dormitories and few more storeys to it to increase the number of available rooms. This will be more cost effective and will not require any campus space.

Secondly, as he states that the average rent in the city has increased, he never says the reason behind it. If the increase is due to increase in property tax, water tax, electricity tax or some other government levity, then the college also has to pay the same for the area and dormitories. So there will be increase in the fees of the students as well. Also, the cost of new constructions will be compensated from the students in their fees, which would make it even more costly for them. Wouldn’t the reputation and number of students being enrolled be hampered by this? There would be a possibility that staying outside the campus may be more convenient to students in terms of rent they pay, as the rent of the dormitories may become be very high.

Also, the director states that the number of students will become double after 50 years. This statistics is not a valid one as the director does not mention the source of this. It could fairly be an assumption by him. Also, if the courses and limit of the student enrolling does not change in the duration, then it is highly implausible for so many students being enrolled.

On a contradictory note, where the director is concerned about the unavailability of rooms for the increasing enrollments, he states that the new and better dormitories will attract more number of students to the college. Seeing the problem that the college faces, it is not very logical to try and attract more number of students. This would only increase the burden of managing and housing the students.

So by the given reasons, it can be concluded that the argument of the director is not full proof and the memo should not be considered for passing. The concern for less available rooms for the students is genuine, but the solution does not answer the problem well. Better assessment and solution must be found for the same.