Affirmative Action - The Battles Against Race-Based Educational Plans California's decision in 1996 to outlaw the use of race in public college admissions was widely viewed as the beginning of the end for affirmative action at public universities all over the United States. But in the four years since Californians passed Proposition 209, most states have agreed that killing affirmative action outright would deepen social inequality by denying minority citizens access to higher education. The half-dozen states that are actually thinking about abandoning race-sensitive admissions policies are themselves finding that the only way to enlarge the minority presence in college without such policies is to improve dramatically the public schools that most black and Latino students attend. As a result, these states are keeping a close eye on California, Texas and Florida, where "percentage systems" have sprung up to replace affirmative action. Under these systems, students who achieve a specified ranking in their high school graduating classes are guaranteed admission to state colleges. In California, for example, the so-called 4 percent plan guarantees college admission to everyone in the top 4 percent of high school graduating classes statewide. Minority enrollment, which crashed after Proposition 209 passed, has rebounded at the second-tier colleges. But the decline has continued at the flagship colleges, U.C.L.A. and Berkeley -- largely because the high schools in black and Latino neighborhoods routinely fail to offer the advanced placement courses that are readily available in white neighborhoods and that are taken into account when the elite colleges make admissions decisions. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has challenged this arrangement in a class-action lawsuit. Having eliminated the race-sensitive policies that once compensated for these inequalities, California is now being forced to deal with the inferior public schools that made those policies necessary. The University of Texas has learned a similar lesson since a federal court ruling forced it to abandon race-based admissions policies in 1996. Black and Latino enrollment dipped precipitously in the first year, but rose again after the legislature passed a law guaranteeing college admission to all students who graduate in the ... ... middle of paper ... ...no children to fall behind. Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida is currently embroiled in a fight over an executive order that outlaws race-based admissions at the state universities -- while guaranteeing admissions to the top 20 percent of high school classes. Mr. Bush's order was meant to render moot a ballot initiative on affirmative action that Republicans feared would heighten black turnout in this year's presidential election. The 20 percent rule seemed non-controversial and even generous -- until Governor Bush found that roughly two-thirds of additional black students who might benefit from the rule had been so neglected in high school that they had failed to graduate with the necessary credits for admission to the state university system. The state is now pushing public schools that serve black students to provide better course offerings. What all these states have learned is that the only real way to make race-sensitive policies unnecessary is to guarantee black and Latino children from poor communities a realistic chance at a decent education that prepares them for college. To kill the policies before those guarantees are in place is to court civic disaster.
The initiative to help diversity among college admissions was a well thought out plan supporters argue. They believe One Florida will work if we give it some time. Once we get used to the plan we will see how well it is working we while will learn more about. Supporters are sure that this plan will improve the way Florida works and that we will influence other states to do the same. "Bush's plan would replace the state's affirmative-action policies, which have been used with mixed success, in university admissions"(Porter 1). Opposers of One Florida ask what is he replacing it with? He is not replacing it, he has just eliminated it and this is a form of equivocation.
...ion Approach Path Indicator). “The PAPI lights are just like the PLASI lights. They tell you the proper slope for landing, but the big difference is they don’t flash unlike the PLASI lights,” Christopher said. 10-28 also has center line lights and edge line lights. The Albany Airport also wan the Balchen-Post award in 1996. The Albany International Airport website say, “The airport was awarded the prestigious 1996 Balchen-Post Award for Outstanding Achievement in Airport Snow and Ice Control for U.S. Medium Commercial Airports.” The airport on average has 90 commercial arrivals and 90 commercial departures. The Albany International Airport lists all of their commercial airline services. They are, “Air Canada, American Eagle, Continental, Continental Connection, Delta, Delta Connection, Northwest, Southwest, United/United Express, US Airways/US Airways Express.”
The Maya and Aztec civilizations were both indigenous people that flourished in Mesoamerica during different periods of time. Maya 's classic period is dated from 250 to 900 AD, which was considered to be the peak of their civilization. They covered much of the Yucatan Peninsula and were centered in what is now known as Guatemala. The Aztecs dominated from 1325 AD to 1521 AD, in what is now modern day Mexico. Although they shared cultural similarities such as their social structure, they also had their differences in military and religious rituals.
This in itself is the problem that black conservatives see in implementing raced based uniform admissions policies. They feel that this system is not only demeaning to African Americans, but that school desegregation laws are based on a theory of black inferiority (Magelli 2). Shelby Steel, a Stanford University Professor and black conservative thinks that the federal government should focus on fixing old public school systems instead of giving minorities a leg up later in life when it is often too late to undo the damage inflicted by poor public schooling during childhood (Magelli 11). This is a valid point especially in many urban areas where underpaid teachers teach from outdated school books. But what is the answer? Would everything be fine if,,Ÿlike the black conservatives feel,,Ÿ the federal government removed itself from the situation (Magelli 3)? We need only to look at our own neighborhoods to answer that question.
In our undergraduate admission system, fully 110 points out of 150 are given for academic factors including grades, test scores, and curriculum. We only count 12 points for test scores, but that is because we value high school grades to a much greater extent--- they can earn up to 80 points. We consider many other factors as well. Race is one of those, but a student who is socioeconomically disadvantaged also can earn 20 points (students cannot earn 20 points for both factors, however). Geographic diversity is also important, and a student from Michigan’s upper peninsula, for example, earns 16 points.
Many people are pressuring colleges to change their admissions policy and abolish affirmative action. As a result, many colleges are abolishing their affirmative action policy. According the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), states like California, Florida, Michigan, and New Hampshire have passed laws prohibited the use affirmative action in public colleges or universities. In Michigan, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rul...
Affirmative action has been a controversial topic ever since it was established in the 1960s to right past wrongs against minority groups, such as African Americans, Hispanics, and women. The goal of affirmative action is to integrate minorities into public institutions, like universities, who have historically been discriminated against in such environments. Proponents claim that it is necessary in order to give minorities representation in these institutions, while opponents say that it is reverse discrimination. Newsweek has a story on this same debate which has hit the nation spotlight once more with a case being brought against the University of Michigan by some white students who claimed that the University’s admissions policies accepted minority students over them, even though they had better grades than the minority students. William Symonds of Business Week, however, thinks that it does not really matter. He claims that minority status is more or less irrelevant in college admissions and that class is the determining factor.
As cliché as it sounds, it is true that many African American students come from very harsh and poverty stricken environments. They tend to go to under resourced schools as well that do not provide the proper knowledge for them to further their education. And even worse, these schools tend to be segregated since they are usually in the harsher parts of a neighborhood. Sadly, it’s the segregated schools are one of the main reasons why black students decide not to go on to pursue a higher education. According to "The Way Out of the Black Poverty Cycle", a black student that attends an integrated suburban school is six times more likely to graduate compared to a segregated under resourced school. An African Americans family structure and the opinions of family members affects if their decision to further their education as well. Many African American children grow up un...
Affirmative action has improved the overall life of numerous people. Many minorities, specifically African-Americans, have improved due to educational opportunities acquired via affirmative action. Enrollment of black students skyrocketed because of affirmative action. Blacks had accounted for less than one percent of students entering into universities in 1951. Affirmative action, starting in the 1960’s allowed for blacks to make up 6.3% of Ivy Leagues by 1978, and approximately eight percent of law and medical schools by 1995. The same schools that were less than one percent black in 1951 now had a population consisting of 7.1% black students in 1989. A study d...
Racial preference has indisputably favored Caucasian males in society. Recently this dynamic has been debated in all aspects of life, including college admission. Racial bias has intruded on the students’ rights to being treated fairly. Admitting students on merit puts the best individuals into the professional environment. A university’s unprejudiced attitude towards race in applicants eliminates biases, empowers universities to harness the full potential of students’ intellect, and gives students an equal chance at admission.
In the early centuries A.D., the Mayan peoples began building their civilization in the center of Mesoamerica. This location allowed the Maya to conduct trade and exchange their local products. They also participated in the slash and burn method, however, evidence shows that they may have developed other methods such as planting on raised beds above swamps and on hillside terraces. Not only did location have an influence on agricultural life, it also had an influence on all other aspects of life. The Maya drew influence from a neighboring society, the Olmec. The Maya blended their customs with the Olmec to create a culturally diverse society. These Olmec customs had quite an influence on other aspects of the Maya society. The Maya had a polytheistic religion with gods of corn, death, rain, and war. These religious beliefs led to the development of calendars, astronomy, and mathematics. The Maya developed two types of calendars: religious and solar. The religious calendar was based on the belief that “time was a burden carried on the back of a God.” The solar calendar was based on the observations of the sun, planets, and moon. Unlike our calendar today, it was consisted of twenty-five da...
With an increasement of students attending public schools, there tends to be a shortage of space and resources. Schools begin to limit open seats for new comers. They also increase the difficulty on academic standards. The Consent Decree was created in order for equality between different ethnicities in public schools. Some administers created control target race numbers for their faculties. The article Desegregation in a Diverse and competitive Environment: Admissions at Lowell High School by Racy Ming describes how Lowell high school changed its admissions policy to have an equal number of each ethnicity in the school and the result of that change.
Did you know that in the United States an abortion occurs every 25 seconds? This equates to 137 abortions per hour or 3,300 abortions every day, which is more that 1.3 million abortions every year! Abortion has always been a controversial topic and even more so since the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling. Most people have very strong opinions about abortion and inadvertently form their opinions without knowing all of the facts. Abortion should be abolished because it is killing innocent human beings, causes health risks in women, and defies the religious and ethical standards of our country.
Abortion is unlike any other subject debated today; millions of women have aborted a child, and the loss, pain, and emotional need to justify what was done, both on the part of the mother and on the part of her loved ones. Abortion is a gut-wrenching debate that has been going on for centuries, and does not plan to cool off anytime soon. The Supreme Court case in 1973, Roe vs. Wade, placed abortion on the map for the United States. The result of the Roe vs. Wade case legalized abortion to protect women’s health, however the good intentions of the ruling opened the doors for people to take advantage of the case outcome. Approximately 1.06 million abortions took place in the United States in 2011, which goes to show that women maybe abusing the privilege of the rules set in place to protect their health and practicing abortion as a form of contraception. Abortion is not only a dangerous procedure for women to endure, however it is also unethical to abort a child. Abortion is immoral because life begins at conception, people need to live with the consequences and not take the easy way out, and there are other available options.
The nineteenth century was truly a different time for women and what their assumed roles in life would be. Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” is an examination into those assumed roles and a challenge to them. It was a time of obedience and inequality and in the first act each character is shown to portray these qualities. However, the characters in this play have multiple layers that get peeled back as the story progresses. As each new layer is revealed the audience is shown that even with the nineteenth century ideals, the true nature of each character is not quite what they appeared to be initially.