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Argument 61 The arguer concludes that the Grandview Symphony is now totally capableof supporting itself and that the routine funding assigned to it should notappear in next year’s budget list. As evidence the arguer points out that privatecontributions and attendance at concerts-in-the-park series have all boomed. Additionally,it’s announced that the ticket prices of the company is going to increase nextyear. All of these may seem as salient signs indicating the symphony beingfinancially independent at the first glance; yet lacking more accurateinformation, we can not assure that company is ready to be self-supportive, anderasing it cursorily from the budget list might seem unfair. Firstof all, before arguing that the symphony is now financially independent ofgovernment support, it would be necessary to prove that private donations can fullycover the yearly expense of the company in place of the funding from Grandview;however, the tripled private contributions itself is not necessary. According the data,there is possibility the funding from individual donator could be few two yearsago, so the fact it increasing by 200 percent last year may still onlycontribute to a small part of the funding needed. As a result, it’s notsufficient to argue private funding could substitute municipal support entirelyunless absolute amount of two means are notified and compared. Moreover,rise in attendance of a particular series could not simply be explicated as growthof profit-generating ability. A lot of factors would affect audienceattendance: some of them might be ever-lasting while others can be ephemeral. Theincrease in attendance could result from the symphony blending some novel ideasin the past year’s performance, which seemed to catch citizen’s eyes initially;yet gradually, audience might get use to these new elements and attend lessthan before, or not any more. Without further evidence implying the symphonycould perpetuate this trend, we can not conclude it would last. Finally,it’s rational to ask whether increase in price tickets necessarily produces incrementin revenue. First, higher ticket price normally inhibits potential audiencefrom purchasing. Second, the more expensive the price is, the higherexpectation customers may, naturally, attach to the service. As a way tosatisfy customer’s need, the company may have to employ more distinguishedmusicians, set up more aesthetically appreciated establishments and provide moresystematic services, all of which inevitably demand increase in cost. Insummary, increased amount in private contributions, higher rate of attendance,and elevated ticket price could be quoted as clues in suggesting the symphonyhave shifted, to some extent, to be more self-dependent. For this reason, it’slikely the company may have generated more revenue than before. However, it isstill not persuasive for the arguer to posit that the company is able to coverits cost without the support of public funding. |
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