<p>yeah i had the former umich system explained to me and i was like that’s excessive. but still a law removing it wont do anything to change the opinions of schools or readers who feel like it was a good system or working.</p>
<p>and d-yu your name is a work in progress</p>
<p>and true i really see this as a matter of a institution that may or may not be past its prime.
i agree that mixing races doesnt make diversity but i dont think having a school full of middle class white kids did either.</p>
<p>Yeah, but I think UMich can expect some regulation from the state, because the president (Mary something, I forget) had already made inflammatory statements about continuing AA, and our constituents aren’t digging that…</p>
<p>The idea behind AA is that it won’t “hurt” anyone. It will only help. But someone has to be hurt! There is no solution that will be fair to everyone. I think we should remember how we all decided that fixing problems only creates new ones…</p>
<p>Having a school of a mix of middleclass white kids and middleclass black kids doesn’t do much for diversity either.</p>
<p>i know. i think somewhere along the line people need to realize that college isnt like high school, its not on where you live and age alone. there are many tricky factors that when put together often lead to one group of people. not necessarily decided on skin color. eg a pack of middle-class republicans.</p>
<p>the main underlying question is : how can we get more “racially varied” students in without shafting people of equal ability?</p>
<p>this touches upon a much larger issue : racism. how can fight prejudice of one group of people without prejudicing others?</p>
<p>i may be shooting myself in the foot, but i say base 90% of college admissions on merit alone. if no diversity inbalance occurs, the remaining 10% will also be based upon merit alone. if a diversity inbalance does occur, the 10% can be used for aa on the condition that the merit of all aa students match those of the “regular” admitted students</p>
<p>but racially varied people doesnt do a damn thing if they are all the same. there isnt real diversity. its only racial diversity. and if we sit around and say o we have to have 10% of this race and 10% of this etc. then we are just demeaning the people for one aspect of who they are. and that is wrong.</p>
<p>d-yu: if there is that 10% they will have to walk around knowing they are the aa admissions. that maybe if it wasnt for aa they wouldnt be there.</p>
<p>^many people disagree and desire cultural diversity in a school, especially minorities themselves. If a top school wants to attract the top minority students, it has to have a welcoming environment for them, which often includes a fair amount of people who share that culture.</p>
<p>I’m sure if you went to school in India you would want a decent amount of other Americans in your school right?</p>
<p>and i guess if you do anything to benefit anybody, then you are hurting everyone else. If the school decides it wants to expand its football program, it hurts everyone else, If they want to restore a gender balance, they hurt the non-preffered gender. </p>
<p>I just want to remind people that you can’t subsitute socioeconomic AA for race AA because it simply doesn’t work. </p>
<p>And i have to strongly disagree with Wink that the government forcing UMich to end all AA programs was the best thing that ever happened to the school. Even if you were just exaggerating to make a point, or maybe you don’t like minorities but i doubt thats it, the fact that it completely abolished all forms was not even a positive thing for the school.</p>
<p>I am more in favor of AA based on socioeconomic factors than race alone. Minorities probably are more disadvantaged economically (that is part of the argument of AA) and this would be more likely to benefit them anyway. It would also illustrate their ability to take advantage of opportunities in overcoming obstacles. But the middleclass black kids who grew up with the same bourgeois values as myself wouldn’t necessarily be favored over me.</p>
<p>Skin color shouldn’t be an issue when being picked for a job or being admitted to a school. It should be 100% merit. If a white A student doesn’t get in, but a B minority student gets in, a crime has been committed, one in which our drive for “diversity” has been erroneously fulfilled.</p>
<p>By the way, I’m putting down HISPANIC in big bold letters when I apply. Yes, I am a hypocrite.</p>
<p>India is different because it is a totally alien culture to us (well, to most of you). The language is different, the customs are different. A middleclass URM I doubt would have a very different language or customs from the rest of middleclass American society.</p>
<p>If I went to school in India, I would want people I could communicate with. But I wouldn’t want to limit myself to associating with people of a certain race.</p>
<p>Hudson - there is nothing wrong with taking advantage of a faulty system if said system works to your benefit :)</p>
<p>supposedly , a deep american belief is all men (and women) are created equal. everyone should have an equal chance at success. sorry if this sounds blunt, but if your abilities don’t cut it, then you don’t cut it. Try and change yourself instead of changing the system. if you don’t meet the bar, jump higher. don’t lower the bar.</p>
<p>also, as for me, i wouldn’t mind goin to a school where my culture/race is rare, it would be more interesting</p>
<p>wink - agreed, but i fear you may have “sparked the beast” in don :)</p>
<p>one of my essays talked about that hudson. people who may not know of or appreciate their heritage but will still put it down enthusiastically when applying for something. i agree fridge a better system would be for those with lesser economic means.</p>
<p>What if two students are exactly the same in ever conceivable way, except on is white and one is a minority? Which one do you think most schools would accept?</p>
<p>I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told to refrain from checking the “Asian” box on applications in the future, because apparently it will work against me. No matter how much we try to deny it, universities hold higher standards for those who come from certain backgrounds, and lower standards for others.</p>
<p>Hudson - The university should ideally accept both or neither. Or interview both or ask for additional materials for further evaluation.</p>
<p>Of course, that probably wouldn’t happen. /Most/ schools would accept the URM.</p>
<p>that is the problem. people arent gonna flip a coin on it, the fear is they will pick the minority because they are a minority.</p>
<p>Speaking on this subject, I’m planning to apply to the University of Florida(It’s one of the best public schools in America and my family doesn’t have the money to send me outta state). Anyway, a friend who also plans to apply told me that the university is taking off the race identification part of the application, and when she said it(she’s white), she was so happy, and I was so bummed about not being able to use my token advantage card.</p>
<p>people want to walk around and act as if they will look past people’s differences and pick them on their merit alone. but that’s bull. and attempting to make laws that will fix the problem wont because we are imperfect and so are the fixes we enact. am i gonna run around actively trying to break down the aa system, no because as of now it is working to my advantage.</p>
<p>Hudson, I doubt you will have trouble getting in regardless. :D</p>