Response to The Daily Reveille’s resident asshole

My English Paper (Rhetorical Analysis) response to THIS article:

 

Chris Guillot, a writer for Louisiana State University’s official campus newspaper, The Daily Reveille, has recently written an article attacking an arrangement made between Baton Rouge Community College and Louisiana State University that will allow students in certain majors, including business and the sciences, to transfer more easily from BRCC to LSU to obtain a bachelor’s degree. He makes a weak argument that is supported by nothing but his ego and his own warped opinions.
Guillot’s article,”‘ Bears 2 Tigers’ insults LSU’s hardworking student body,” claims that BRCC students are not good enough to attend LSU, much less be given a less complicated way to transfer there. He states that BRCC students could not handle the classes at LSU, and that BRCC students don not work as hard at their college careers as LSU students. Guillot uses his summer class at Delgado Community College and quotes from former BRCC students to support his claims. Guillot’s reasons are weak, and his argument seems to be fueled by prejudice and arrogance.

 

First, Guillot claims that Baton Rouge Community College’s students could not handle LSU’s classes because they are easier than LSU’s classes. Stating his experience at Delgado Community College, he claims “community college classes do not require anywhere near the amount of studying and thinking as the University’s classes.”(The Daily Reveille) Guillot does not say exactly which classes he took that summer at Delgado Community College, but I doubt any summer class would be a good indication of what a college has to offer academically. Summer classes, no matter what college you choose to take them at, are known for being easier than regular semester classes. This is simply because the professor does not have time to go over as much as he or she would in a normal, 15-week semester. Students generally take these to improve a grade they were not pleased with or take a class they do not feel requires as much intensive training. With that said, I have to wonder why Chris Guillot took summer classes at Delgado College in the first place. Was he looking for an easy way out of a tougher LSU class? Now that he is a community college student, based on his low opinion of these students, should he even be allowed to attend LSU?
Next, Guillot suggests that BRCC students are stupid, lazy slackers counting on programs like BEARS 2 TIGERS to get them through their education. He even suggests that in forming this partnership, BRCC and LSU are promoting slacking off in High School; “This partnership essentially makes putting forth effort in high school a thing of the past. Why try so hard in high school when you can attend BRCC without even an ACT score, then take advantage of ‘Bears 2 Tigers’.”(The Daily Reveille) His suggestion that community college students did not try in school or do not try in college is a generalization he has made without considering other reasons a person might attend community college. Family issues, illness, cost of tuition, and work are just a few other reason a person may choose to attend a community college instead of a university for their core classes.  Cost seems to be the most common reason. The average cost of attending a community college is $2,544 compared to $7,020 at 4-year universities. (American Association of Community Colleges) This is a huge difference and some might say the choice to first attend community college is financially smart, not stupid or lazy.
Guillot also uses quotes from LSU students that transferred from BRCC. He quotes interior design major, Lauren Godfrey, as saying “[Community college] helps if you don’t do well in high school … but I don’t think the people that go [to BRCC] can handle LSU… Students are [at BRCC] for a reason.”(The Daily Reveille) The implied “reason” is that community college is the highest level they can “handle.” This is another gross generalization that just is not true for all students at community colleges.  Another student, Paul Park, is quoted as saying “The status of being at LSU is better than at BRCC”(The Daily Reveille), which only implies that LSU is a school of elitist snobs, and that the stigma associated with being a community college student is not welcome in their high social ranks. This is not a good reason to take away the opportunity to make a seamless transfer to a 4-year university from hard-working, deserving students who may have had a few more challenges in their lives than the typical status-concerned LSU student.  Guillot also fails to inform his readers of how these two students are handling their classes at LSU. Obviously, they have not flunked out. How are their grades? How have they managed to “handle” LSU’s tough classes? I suspect the answer to these questions would not be beneficial to Guillot’s argument. Why is it acceptable for the students he is quoting to attend LSU, but not the students who may take advantage of the BEARS 2 TIGERS partnership?
This is not the first attack Chris Guillot has made towards Baton Rouge Community College. On August 22, a particularly sarcastic article was published in The Daily Reveille entitled “Community colleges offer alternative to studying.” In this article, Guillot labels BRCC and other community colleges as promoters of cheating. He claims “The friendly teachers at community colleges know what’s best for a learning student, and what’s best is doing as little work as possible so the students have a solid grasp of the material the class covers”(the Daily Reveille) and suggests that it is simple to bring a cheat sheet into class and cheat on every test, ensuring yourself a good grade in community college classes. Having attended Baton Rouge Community College for four semesters now, I can personally attest to the fact that I have never seen the opportunity to cheat on a test in any of the classes I have taken. It just is not true.
Chris Guillot has made an ineffective argument against this partnership between Baton Rouge Community College and Louisiana State University. His argument is based completely on a short-lived experience at a community college other than BRCC, and a few quotes from transfer students who seem to share his prejudiced attitude towards community college students. He cites no proof that community college students who transfer to universities don’t do as well as students who start at a university.  Guillot has a bad attitude that is based in bias, not fact.