uhcord

...considered as a deciding factor in accepting or declining a college applicant?

I belive the answer should/is no.

<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/05/14/michigan.admissions.ap/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/05/14/michigan.admissions.ap/index.html</A>

Above seems to be their strong (only) point in why to do so. I really don't think it is a very valid point, but sorta stuck on a rebuttal to it. (Higher educated people would bring in more diversity? Possibily?)

What do you guys think?

Jamie_L

This seems more like a political topic.

At any rate, I think we've come far enough that race is no longer the appropriate issue. I also think that higher education and hiring are no longer the appropriate places to deal with the problem.

There are still racial inequities with roots in past injustice, but I think almost all of them are now tied up in economics. And it is economic inequities that lead to educational inequities that lead to reduced representation of minorities in colleges and the workforce.

In my opinion, the solution should be early educational assistance to the poor - of any race. If everyone is put on a good footing from the start, then they will be better able to sink or swim on their own merits when they're older.

Jamie

free12thinker

What she said.

RyanS2

I don't know if you've ever read the book "The Bell-Curve", very controversial, but some of the findings are significant. (Though I disagree with it, at least somebody was willing to publish and write about a subject most people just whisper).

One of the major ones to me is that it compared different races with the same I.Q. in the same jobfield, and showed there was no variation in job earnings. This is because two people, with the same intelligence and training, will not differ much, (in a wide-range study incorporating more than just a one-on-one ratio), in how well they can perform a job. Thus, I can't find any significant reason to conclude that there shouldn't be diversity within the schools, provided the effects are equal to everyone. Racism is an idea, and by substituting the words "white" or "black" or "Asian" etc., you still have the same basic idea waiting to be transmutated into something else. Let's remember that Nazi's were originally formed because of protests against an unfair treaty, likewise, almost every single dispicable organization, (The Mafia, as another example), started off in reaction to a real problem. In the mafia's case, the government was so corrupt that people went to powerful families to correct the problem. I'm going to assume we all know what happened from there. By making race a factor, it opens up legitimate grievances and is only asking for trouble. Cut the nasty bugger off at the source I say, race makes no difference.

Bubbly

Here is an article I found that you may certainly find of value with regards to your topic & weblink I believe you'll like...

<a href="http://www.wwinfo.com/gen/lfr.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.wwinfo.com/gen/lfr.shtml</a>

Enjoy!

2tadpoles

What sort of educational assistance are you talking about? Stuff like Head Start?

I don't think such programs do a whole lot of good, to be honest. People who use Head Start fall into two categories....those who are too poor to pay for regular daycare but aren't really concerned with education (they just want the subsidized childcare), and those who are too poor to pay for preschool and truly want a good "head start" for their children, academically.

Those who really want a good start for their kids would be likely to give it to them at home even without the "assistance." Face it, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to teach a child the sounds of letters and how to count. I can't believe we actually feel the need to pay "workers" to teach our kids this stuff. What good does 13 years of government schooling do a person if they can't teach a four-year-old the necessary things?

The parents who don't give a rat's behind about their kids' education are likely to have uneducated kids, anyway. The kids aren't taught about the value of education, so they blow off school. The parents don't value education, so they don't help the kids learn outside of school.

I don't think government programs help many children to have an equal footing unless the parents put forth some sort of effort.

And there are different kinds of "poor." There are poor people who live out in the boonies, and there are poor urban people. The urbanites are those who are most likely to utilize such programs. I've seen how most of those kids act, even at a young age. I don't see how being around a bunch of hellions is beneficial to any child.

If we give any educational assistance to the poor, it should be to the parents. Birth control education, vocational education, and parenting education. I'm really not trying to sound harsh; I know that not ALL poor people are uneducated or ignorant. Hell, I'm not very far from being poor, myself. I just know what I've seen in the different towns I've lived in, which have been many.