Alternative to Affirmative Action

Kunal Patel

article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20080328/cm_usatoday/texas10admissioncouldteachcollegesathingortwo 

I think that it’s a good idea to give students from inner city and rural areas a chance to get a good college education.  This 10% automatic admission rule does just that, but now it has gone a too far.  If 81% of the incoming class falls under the 10% rule, then that doesn’t leave much room for other students who are just as qualified but fall just below the line.  The supporters of the law say that those in the 10% category get better grades than other students, but the higher grades are usually from students who would’ve been admitted into the university without the law anyways.  It’s good to let poor students from rural and urban areas get a proper education, but the increased diversity comes at too great of a cost.  I see people here at Michigan who should have clearly not been admitted but were because of certain loopholes and policies.  What makes me mad is that I knew a lot of people from my high school who didn’t get accepted here even though they were way more qualified than these people.  Just because my high school was quite competitive shouldn’t be considered a punishment to those who weren’t at the top of the class.  If this 10% law was implemented in Michigan, then these people I knew would have clearly been excluded from coming to places like here.  Things as important as college admissions shouldn’t be considered in such simple senses; a person’s college education is a vital part of their future and colleges should make sure to look at more than if a person was in the top 10% of his or her class.  Things like test scores, such as the SAT and ACT, as well as extra-curricular activities are important parts of a person’s application and should be given its due diligence during the admissions process.  I think that while this 10% law has potential to be beneficial for state education, it needs to be scaled back in order to compensate for the unfairness to other equally-deserving students.  

“Love It or Hate It, In-Flight Cellphone Use Has Arrived”

Suny Kim 

article: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/03/love-it-or-hate.html

After one more month, I will be going back to Korea. It takes about 13 hours to get to Japan from America, and another 3 hours to get to Korea from Japan. I would say that 16 hours of flight is not the most exciting thing to experience. I used to enjoy plane rides because I got to watch several movies all throughout the ride and there were some good snacks to munch on. But now, even though I am excited about going back home, it is dreadful to even think about the 16-hour plane ride. Seats are terribly uncomfortable (at least in the economy class). Falling asleep in those seats require immeasurable effort. And when I finally find the right posture to fall asleep, someone sitting next to be asks me to move in order for him to use the bathroom. Moreover, food in plane is the worst ever. Extremely annoyed by the entire situation, I get irritated very easily when people chat with each other, laugh hard, or snore. And if cellphones are introduced to the planes, ah, I don’t even want to imagine. I am not saying that all the people in the plane will use their cellphones during the flight, but you know what happens during the phone calls. Well at least for me, when I call my friends, I get all excited about what I’m talking about and my voice gets unconsciously louder and louder. I don’t know how I would bear this when I’m in a highly irritated state. For the business people, this might be very good news. They can continue their business talk while they are on the plane. But for me, 16-hour plane ride is torturous enough. I don’t need any more pain involved in my way back home.

A parent’s gender shouldn’t matter…

http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2007/09/21/1 

and for Info on state Adoption laws…. see the Human Rights Campaign’s website at http://www.hrc.org/documents/parenting_laws_maps.pdf .

 And now for my actual Blog…

It’s nice to see that some people are of the understanding that it doesn’t matter if you have one mother, two mothers, one father, two fathers, or one of each. WHO raises you doesn’t directly affect how you are as a grown up, but HOW you are raised does.  The fact that this study was done in more than one country, with each having a different set of social standards means that this information is reliable enough to have an impact on the laws that govern the lives of LGBT people throughout the country. With so many states not allowing either a joint adoption between two people of the same sex or second parent adoption by someone of the same sex as the original parent, a study like this has the ability to fuel the change of these restricting laws. It can also be used to combat organizations such as Concerned Women for America, the American Family Association, and the Traditional Values Coalition, all who are extremely anti-LGBT.

I also think that it’s kind of interesting to see that most of the lesbian couples were happier with their partner and their contribution to the raising of the child than those in a heterosexual relationship. It also mentioned that lesbian couples split the responsibilities of raising the child more equally than those who were in heterosexual relationships. This kind of logic helps to defend the point that LGBT people can enter into fulfilling relationships and are ‘normal’. I wonder what will happen in the future with studies like this, and legislation that we have now…

People Power – Chen Li

People Power

Chen Li

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10640707

With oil price wobbling around $100 per barrel and other natural resources shrinking in our planet, it seems crucial to save resources and develop alternative energy supplies.

This article is interesting that it provides us some cheerful news and unique solution—we can rely on the power of ourselves!I really love the idea of generating power by ourselves; it has a bunch of advantages: 1) A backup of current depleting resources. 2) Ecological, environmental friendliness. 3) Cheap, low costs. (We do not need to pay for the electricity bills…) 4) High mobility and flexibility. (In case we go to the middle of nowhere.) 6) A cause for workout. 5) Simply fun.  More importantly, it promotes a social responsibility and do-it-yourself philosophy.

Admittedly, such “human power” might still be insufficient to support our laptops, turn on the TVs or whirl the fans; but it’s very likely that we use our power at a humble starts to our portable radios, iPods and cell phones. The performance of these people power facilities might still undergo several tests and the industrialization of these products needs time; but they will become a success.

I believe with advanced technology and successful marketing, such promising people power products will become buzzes and grab frenzies. After all, we are pursuing a healthy lifestyle and a good cause. Innovation not only involves designing or creating new stuffs, but it might also mean creative combination and application of existent knowledge and technology in some other fields. The principle behind such energy-generating appliances is really simple physics law of conservation of energy, yet the ingenious application of the law shows the real mastery of knowledge and transforms such knowledge into power. “Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth.

Only you can be responsible for that.”—Stacy Charter

College Shooting in the Midst of Elections

Gianna Fazioli
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/rights/77533/

I live about forty-five minutes from Northern Illinois University and many of my friends were drastically affected by what happened on February 14th. I think that it hits everyone pretty close to home, as these shootings continue to happen and the media glorifies the shooter. When and how is this going to stop happening? I don’t know how much I agree with this article’s focus on the Democrats’ stance on gun control, but it does have a point. It should be addressed anyway, but especially because innocent people are dying. Also, since both of the shooters used high capacity ammunition magazines that would have been prohibited under the expired Federal Assualt Weapons Ban, politicians should have a statement on gun control. Though, they need to worry about their campaigns, it would relieve a lot of American’s worries.
It doesn’t shock me however, that politicans haven’t made bold statements about these issues, because they are very difficult to approach. Although this is such a big problem in today’s society, there should be some stance that is clear-cut about the issue. I think there should be some discrepancy about Obama’s stand about “Protecting Gun Rights” for hunting and target shooting. In my opinion, it is far too easy for anyone to get a gun. Of course there will be no quick, easy solution to this problem, but there is a possible neglegence in our system in regards to gun control. I also do not mean to place the blame on politicans or our law system, because that is not the case. I just really hope that whoever wins the election, whether it be a Democrat or Republican, Hillary or Barack, can help to restrain these terrifying situations.

GOOD COP MAKES A BAD DECISION

Brian Grossman
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez20jan20,1,5340575.column?page=3&coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=2&cset=true

As children we are indoctrinated with the idea that police officers are here to protect and serve. They are here to help us and prevent harm to those who are innocent. In these trials of protecting law-abiding citizens police offers occasionally make brash decisions based in intuition, in order to protect their own lives. In this situation a police officer “brutally” beat a car thief who decided to run away from the police. He ran holding his chest as if he had a gun. Ultimately there was no weapon present however should a police officer risk the chance of being shot and killed on a prayer that he is only holding a little cash? The law is supposed to protect those who abide the law, and in this situation politics of race and pop culture destroyed this cops career. One may argue that he used excessive force but in actuality how can one describe this situation as “excessive” when someone is protecting their own life in attempt to drive home safely and have dinner with their families. The evolutionary concept of fight or flight is a automatic response in humans when in danger. This police officer chose to fight and protect. How can his act of altruism be considered malicious? This quote from the article sums up the entire politically view of this situation. “The rules are different” in a high-profile incident, Rice said, especially one involving a black suspect and an African American community that sees the LAPD through an 80-year prism. There were protests at the time, comparisons to the Rodney King case and a call for heads to roll.” I cannot justify the actions of this police officer however it is clear that the politics surrounding the Los Angeles police department prevent cops from taking absolute necessary actions due to race and socio economic backgrounds.

Diversity at Michigan

Hira Hussain
November 11, 2007

When I chose to come to the University of Michigan in the fall, I thought it would very difficult to leave home. Not only was I leaving my family members but I was also leaving a cultural environment. My feelings were mixed. I was very scared and excited at the same time. The first couple of weeks at Michigan were horrible in terms of transition. I wanted to leave right away. I was home sick. I missed my cultural food, my people, and most all of my customs. I felt as if I could not practice my customs here. Until I was introduced to an organization called Muslim Students Association (MSA).

MSA made me feel at home. The people were so friendly and willing to help with the transition from home to dorms. They made me realize that I was not away from home but very close to it. During the religious month of Ramadan they hosted many dinners and prayers in tower plaza. They arrange for a Friday prayer at the Michigan League every week. Friday prayer is very important in Islam. As time passed, I realized how diverse Michigan was. MSA was not the only religious student organization. There were all kinds of cultures that were portrayed in many student organizations. I was not the only one away from home but so many people were. People who were open to the other cultures. I remember meeting a friend in my chem. 130 discussion who was so curious about my culture and my religion. I started to make all kinds of friends. Realizing that each was different. After coming to MI is when I learned about numerous other cultures.

Jen Noborikawa’s (attempt to) blog

I’ve been thinking about the new take that popular culture has on love. So many times, a person in love will let go of their happiness in order to pursue other dreams and become successful. After all, the “American Dream” is all about giving everything you’ve got to get to the top.
Work, work, and more work. Our society is obsessed with stress, and it shows through our addiction to coffee. Time? What is that? Ah yes, it’s that thing we never have enough of. Like Lee Ann said in class a few weeks back: she gets sick, and relies on Robitussin rather than sleep to make her well because she doesn’t have the time for sleep. This concept should be very familiar to all of you; we are all college students after all. This sad fact about our culture leaves me wondering: Have we redefined our unhappiness as our “happy ending” because true happiness has become unattainable?
The movie, “Prime,” my constant stress, and lack of sleep has spurred this tangent of thought. The plot of the film is the basic love story for the most part—classic, funny, and quite girly. But the ending really got me thinking. In the end, the woman, Uma Thurman, lets go of her man, Brian Greenberg because he has the dream of being an artist. She knows that if they stay together, he won’t be able to attain his dreams. I suppose that modern times has given us this amazing freedom to be able to choose how we live our lives—what our careers will be, when we’ll have kids, etc. And don’t get me wrong, I am all for this freedom. At the same time though, have we taken this freedom too far? Have we lost sight of ideal “happy endings” through convincing ourselves that success is a synonym for happiness? (Sorry about the girly topic boys…)

Peter Gao’s Blog

Last week, my psychology professor set up an activity to assess the classes’ stance on a series of social justice issues. The one thing that opened my eyes was the overwhelming majority of my peers that opposed the use of affirmative action in college admissions. Last November, there was a vicious campaign to pass the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, more commonly known as Proposal 2, which would ban the use of race, gender, and ethnicity in granting government positions and more importantly in university admissions. Michigan voters passed MCRI by a large margin, making us the third state to ban affirmative action, thereby eliminating any preferential treatment in admissions.

As our usual rebellious selves, U-M took a defiant stance against this ban, and just one day after the election, President Mary Sue Coleman, an outspoken advocate of affirmative action, delivered a passionate speech on the Diag in which she pledged to maintain campus diversity, “We will not be deterred in the all-important work of creating a diverse, welcoming campus,” further saying, “[U-M] will find ways to overcome the handcuffs that Proposal 2 attempts to place on our reach for greater diversity.” This later lead to the creation of the organization dubbed Diversity Blueprints, which would work to find innovative solutions to maintain diversity despite Proposal 2.

However, our class of 2011 is already starting to feel the effects that have precipitated from the ban of affirmative action. With U of M’s rolling admissions, Proposal 2 only started to take effect in January but admissions this year reported that enrollment of underrepresented minority groups declined slightly from 12 to 11 percent. I am sort or split on the issue; I believe we should maintain a system of equality so that scholarship is maintained but at the same time, diversity would not be compromised. On a different note, I think that we should make it a higher priority to target people who are granted legacy admission into universities due their families’ wealth and affiliation, for example, George W. Bush who was admitted to Yale because of this legacy system.

Jessica Farr: Home Sweet Home

Fall break is almost here, and I am so excited to go home. But I have to wonder what life at home will be like since everyone has moved on to college. A lot of my friends are staying here to go to the football game. However, as much as I love Michigan football, I am going home. I love school, but I have come to realize that there is absolutely no place like home. No bed will ever come close to being as comfortable as mine. Moreover, no meal in the Markley Dining Hall or the Hideaway will come close to tasting as good as a home cooked meal. I may be missing a variety of parties, but there will be more in the future. I wouldn’t want to go home every weekend, but I think that it’s about time to go back to the place where I feel like I belong, Connecticut.

The weird thing about going home these days is, however, that almost no one is there. Sure, my family and pets will be there, along with a few friends. But unfortunately, most of my friends are away at college right now—nowhere near Connecticut. I know I’ll have a great time during fall break, but I’m worried…will home ever be the same as it was during high school? I worry that everyone will change and grow apart. I guess this is a normal part of life, but I sincerely hope that it never happens to my friends and me. Change is hard to deal with, but maybe it makes us stronger. Maybe when college is over, we will have a better sense of who we are. Maybe as we grow older, our pool of friends from high school will get smaller. However, it is the people who we will remain friends with that truly matter. Those are the people that will be there for us no matter what. And maybe when it’s all over—college—we will have new friends that are just as reliable. Change is scary and the future is unpredictable, but whatever should happen, will happen. For right now, I am living in the moment, loving life and looking forward to fall break.