California Colleges Mull Return of Affirmative Action

Haha yeah... pretty much. Looks like they won't get enough votes, you know?

 

Except it's not.

 

Everybody wants a shortcut. Gold diggers want to marry rich guys to live in Upper East Side penthouses and ride Bentleys. Unfortunately for gold diggers, there will always be more younger and more beautiful women ready to give up their poontang. It's easy for gold diggers to find guys who will sleep with them, but putting a ring on it is a different story. Nothing is easy in life and there's no shortcuts.

Proponents of AA based on skin color want a shortcut solution to a problem. As if AA will magically change everything. If shortcuts was so easy, everybody would be doing it. Women can't just bring only their looks, they have to bring something else of value to the table, bring more to the table; whether they come from money themselves, incredible intellect, etc. Instead of expecting affirmative action, one needs to find ways to bring up those grades and test scores so they can BEAT everyone else on a level playing field. Then colleges can't deny their admission.

Like a 3rd world country trying to grow their economy to eventually compete with economic powerhouses. There were no handouts for these countries. Korea as an example, was a 3rd world country 50 years ago. Extremely, extremely poor. Now they are a member of the G12. A war torn country that had to start from the ground up and slowly created momentum in the right direction. It won't happen overnight. But that is the long term solution. AA is a band-aid solution.

 

Wow, they couldn't even get Breyer on board...affirmative action in state universities may be wiped out in a decade or two.

 

except it is....

 

No need for a solution when there isn't really a problem. Life is unfair but making it even more unfair is NOT A SOLUTION and is only going to create a bigger problem. Also please add something concrete to discuss on why you support your so called AA. Okaaaayy?

 

He's not going to give you a good reason because he only wants black rights, not equal rights.

 

Can you point to an example of a quota-based AA program currently in effect?

I'm not really a supporter of AA, but I think it's important to understand what it is and isn't.

 

In your first sentence, you suggest that unfairness is not a problem at all. In the second, you suggest that it is and is made worse with AA. Which is it?

 

This is just ignorant. There's no problem, that's why AA was instituted... to solve a problem that never existed. If by adding something concrete you mean feigning ignorance and quoting MLK then yeah, good job.

 

As Scalia says, every justice needs a stamp, "Stupid, but Constitutional".

Sotomayor might think banning racial preferences is stupid, but nowhere in the Constitution does it mandate states discriminate based on race. Quite the opposite, in fact.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/376340/half-win-racial-discrimination-editors

 

In this specific context on university admissions there isn't a problem. Only the most qualified candidates based on merit alone should be accepted regardless of their skin color. Simple as that. There is no problem to solve!. Admissions based on qualifications and merit IS
FAIR!
My statement on unfairness is just a fact of life. Life isn't fair. People need to deal with it and stop trying to get a free ride for something they didn't earn or achieve.

 

You know what's ignorant?....

Spoiler

you

Once again you failed to add any substance to the discussion. Good job.

 

He won't be able to because quota systems are considered an unconstitutional form of affirmative action, so no one advertises that they use racial quotas because that would be asking to be sued. That said, it's difficult to imagine that there is not a de facto quota system in effect at certain schools. For instance, at Harvard, the racial demographics have remained fairly similar for many years despite the massive demographic shifts going on in the US and within its applicant pool. Many admissions officers around the US have admitted that there is a three-tiered admission system at places that practice AA: one for asians, one for whites, and one for URMs. Such a system by necessity creates quotas even if there are not specific numerical targets.

 

Great post..couldn't have stated it better.

 

There are two things to consider here.

1. A state school should represents the interests of the state - what will be best for the long term health of the state of california. Is it making sure in-state resources are used to educate the richest?

2. Merit based admissions have a problem. They are based on a myopic view of what it is to be qualified. Standardized tests are only one measure of merit. If you have a school full of kids who are great at standardized test but nothing else, you won't be doing a service to them. What about leadership skills? What about emotional intelligence? What about inventiveness or creativity?

Cultural diversity is a foundational element to innovation. If you don't believe it look at music - and you can see how so much of it is mixed by other cultures. Most pop artists today can trace elements of their music to multiple countries and foreign cultures. Same is true for food, art, etc. Oh, and it's also true for technology as well.

So what's the answer? I don't know. Perhaps they should consider different merit categories, in which certain attributes get higher scored than others. So you have quotas for math, science, artistic, writing, debate, etc. Something that inherently will pull from a diverse background.

 

Standardized tests may be an indicator how a person will perform at the school. That could be part of the reason why its used. I know the LSATs have historically proven to be the best indicator of how that person will do in law school. That is why law schools take LSAT scores precedent (about 80% depends on the LSAT score) over GPA, major, or undergrad school name.

EDIT: I'd like to add that I don't see anything illogical about a predominantly science, engineering, or business school putting an importance on math aptitude. Similar to an art school critiquing portfolios or music schools holding auditions. Law school is a ton of reading so it makes sense why people who score well on the LSATs tend to do well in law school.

 

Don't know why it would be educating the riches. Not all kids who score high on the SATs are millionaires. I don't see how its fair they get shut out because of their race?

Thats another common misconception. The vast majority of immigrants from any country don't come to this country rich. And I'm not talking about international or exchange students since they are in a separate admissions pool all together paying about 4x the tuition. But the 1st gen or the parents of 2nd gen immigrants often came here with nothing. Its a common trend you see throughout history whether they are Mexican, Indian, Korean, Filipino, etc. If you look at any country, generally the wealthy stay in their own countries.

 

I think there may be a misconception here. Schools that use ethnicity as one of the factors in admission don't make it the top factor. Students that get accepted to science or business programs have done well in Math, and managed to get sufficient scores on the math portion of whatever test they took.

It isn't like the colleges are only looking at the race and ethnicity and nothing else. These are students who are already qualified. It's a misconception to think that race trumps everything in schools that are using affirmative action.