Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Minority admissions plummet

Numbers point to dramatic effect of affirmative action ban


I chose this article because I am from Michigan and Affirmative Action was just voted on this last election period. It was something that my mother, my sister, and I talked about. It was a topic that kept coming up for my sister because she goes to college in Michigan and while she was in school speakers came to talk to the college about Affirmative Action. They had people that wanted her to vote against it and they had speakers that wanted her to vote for it. What the speakers said that argued against affirmative action was that it caused reverse discrimination. Some argued that they were not accepted into the University of Michigan because they were white and they had chosen a less qualified minority to fill the spot, while the speakers for affirmative action argued that Affirmative action would be good for the college because it made sure that the classrooms were diverse. I have to say that I agree with Affirmative Action. The reason that I say this is because it will provide diversity in the classroom. Its good to get other peoples point of view and way of thinking and one cannot hear others point of view if everyone is from the same race. I feel sad that this law was actually passed, but I am not shocked because I know how Michigan is. It says that the number of minority students that got accepted this year has declined by 16 percent. They also say that this is in line with California who also banned Affirmative Action in their schools. Michigan’s acceptance rate for minorities will still probably decline. Everyone does not come form the same background or get the same privileged and affirmative action makes sure that some people get a chance to come up in the world.
The website for the article is below
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/02/19/Academics/Minority.Admissions.Plummet-2727909.shtml

1 comment:

Bridgette said...

When growing up as a little child my mother always watched the news, read the news, and goggled the news on the internet. She always made sure she was aware of everything that would be going on in the world and understood everyone’s point of view. I would ask her why we always had to watch the news over and over again and on different channels when it was so boring and on top of that it was depressing. She told me its good to know what is happening in the world, but not just what one person says, but what many people have to say. I believe that my mom was right its important to get all the facts you can especially during election week, so that you can figure out which candidate would be best for the job. One that believes in some of the things that you believe in.
When my mother was not watching the news or reading the news. She talked about the news and what the president wasn’t or was doing with her friends. I have to say that because my mother was always making her beliefs known and making sure I watched the news with her I get my political beliefs from her. Even though I say that I got my beliefs from my mother I believe they have become my beliefs and values.
Everyone may be wondering what beliefs and values did my mother pass on to me. Well after taking the political compass test and the Political Topology test on line. I can say that I am a liberal who is pretty far left. This was no surprise to me because I have taken the test in high school and also the liberal view are pretty close to my own. This is also means that I will more then likely vote Democratic.
One of the interesting ways they categorized people is if they believe in God or not and weather not they go to church or not. “Least religious group in typology: 43% report they seldom or never attend religious services” (Political Compass Analysis). I would have to say that I severely agree with this statement. This is because my family and I are very religious and attend church every Sunday. I believe that me being a Christian and going to church has made me the liberal that I am. My belief in God have influenced all my political beliefs. For example liberals support gay marriage. Many might say that if I am a Christian I would not support gay marriage, but that is not so. I believe that everyone has the right to love the way they would like to. I am not the one to judge other people. That is Gods job and not mine. God always says to love others and that what I will do. I don’t agree with being gay and I would not want anyone in my family to say there were gay, but I am not one to tell them they are going to go to hell because of it. There life is between them and God.
I don’t get those people who say “well that person is going to hell because they are gay” Well, then what about them. They could go to hell for hating someone else because they are gay or even just for something else. I feel that everyone should worry about what they are doing and not what other people are doing. If gay people want to get married that is there prerogative and that is between them and God. I am not God. Furthermore, If we allow homosexuals to get married I don’t see how that will affect my life. Gay people already live together and have families together no matter if they get married or not, so how will allowing them to get married make a difference.
This brings me to the death penalty. I believe that we should not have th death penalty at all because again I have to say it “I am not God!” This also goes for everyone else in the world. Who are we to say that God wanted that person to die. In the bible when Cain killed Abel God said to Cain that noone was to kill him for him killing his brother. I feel that the person who kill someone else has a right to live just as much as the person they killed. They may not be able to live with the rest of us in this world, but they have a right to live in jail. Who knows while they are in jail they may repent and be one of the ones to go to heaven. You never know. It also may be tortures for them to stay locked up in a jail cell where they could never see the light of day and they have to constantly think about what they did. That would be enough to drive me insane.
Another political issue that democrats and Republicans seem to argue about is the issue over abortion. I feel that this is another issue wherein people would say that I can contradict myself. If I don’t believe in th death penalty why do I believe in abortion. I would have to say this si because I believe in abortion as long as it is in a certain trimesters. If it is done right away I don’t believe that one has taken a life. I also feel that a baby should not be brought into this world if he or she is not wanted. There are so many “unwanted” babies in the world right now. I feel sorry for all the children that have to grow up without parents who love them. That is not the way to go through life. If someone feels that they are not going to give there baby the attention they need and deserve then I would rather them not have the baby.
An issue that people have been debating on today is weather or not we should have harsher immigrant laws. I feel that we should not make it hard for people to come in this coutry. If people come here and they are willing to work hard and make a good living for them and their families then we should let them. That is what America was built on. Everyone can trace their ancestors back to immigrants of some kind from some where. We need to remember how America was founded and try not to turn people away who clearly want to come here for a better life. If there country offered some of the things that we offer then they might not want to come here. So maybe, we should think about why they want to come here instead of kicking them out. Maybe, we could help them and talk to there country and figure out what they need to thrive instead of worrying about them coming here and “taking our jobs” Jobs that we don’t want by the way. I work at Uno’s and most of the cooks and dishwashers that work there are from Brazil. We needed a new dishwasher and another waitress came up to me and said why can’t we get a foreigner to wash the dishes. This made me mad. Noone not even her wanted to wash the dishes but so why would she think a foreigner wanted to. We should be glad that they take these jobs like washing dishes instead of trying to kick them out.
I feel that democrats do more for the poor, immigrants and minorities. They have values and want to pass bills that would benefit those group of people. A group that I fall into. I feel Republicans want to get the richer even richer and the poorer even poorer. They believe in tax cuts for the rich who in my opinion don’t need tax cuts. We need taxes to help pay for our public schools and government organization, which would help out the poor. The poor go to bad schools and live in bad neighborhoods, but if we invest or money as a country on bills that will help the poor out there would not be as many people who are poor in this world.
I feel that being a democrat and a liberal is a wonderful thing to be in which my mother has taught me to learn more about and understand the issues that go into being a democrat or a liberal and I feel that I made the right choice. These issues that I brought up have been th issues of democrats and republicans and as long as the democrats sort of agree with what I agree with then I will continue to vote for them and if they change their minds then I might have to change mine because its not the part you vote for but the issues.