Discrimination in College Admissions Essay

There can be many factors that determine whether or not you can get into a college. Do you have the grades, are you involved in your community, have you been convicted. Many questions like those listed above have been commonly asked to applicants who apply for major colleges universities. However, you are never asked your ethnicity during an interview, usually they give you an application to fill out and they have a space that allows you to check which race you are. Some people feel as though they may have been discriminated against because of their race or ethnicity. It may be true for some, but not all cases are alike, in the sense that racial discrimination in college applicants has been going on for quite a while now. In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, a thirty five-year old man named Allan Bakke applied to the University of California Medical School at Davis and was denied admission on the two occasions that he applied for the university. The school claimed to have had denied his admission because they were designating sixteen of one hundred spots, in each new set of applicants, of one hundred â€Å"qualified† minorities as part of their cooperation of the new affirmative action legislation. Bakke did not qualify for any of these sixteen out of on hundred spots because he was white and not black, or a minority. They did this to readdress the long-lasting one-sided minority omissions from the medical sector. Now, Mr. Bakke’s test score and other qualifications he needed to enter the program were beyond acceptable, but he was still rejected. He then took his case to court. Bakke went to California court primarily, then he decided to go to the Supreme Court, saying that he was rejected from the university because of his ethnic group. The question at hand was did the University of California violate the 14th Amendment equal protection clause and/or the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when denying Allan Bakke admission because he was white. Also, the fact that they used affirmative action to do so, would it still be a violation if they were just following the new law laid down by the big guys to help increase the assortment of the minorities already in the university. Also, you have  to take into account that they had very limited resources and wanted to make sure that everyone had a fair chance to apply and get accepted, which is the point of the reservation of the sixteen spots of one hundred for the minorities. To balance the statistics some would probably say. The case concluded with five votes siding with Bakke, and four votes against Bakke. Ultimately he won the case, but that didn’t stop colleges from not admitting people by their race. This case is similar to the sentiment the Asians are feeling with the bar for them to be able to get admitted into a good college or university being set beyond the maximum. Some Asians feel as though they are not getting a break and are getting harsher treatment then most American. So is this the same as Allan Bakke felt? Did he feel as though he was given an unruly standard that he would have to live up to in order to be admitted inside of his dream school? I believe that the Asians and Allan have been tested with the same trial that they have to battle out. Asian-Americans are now feeling that they are losing out because the Board of Regents established a new undergrad admissions policy that gives them expectations at a chance to widen their applicant consortium. However, not everyone is satisfied with the new legislation, especially Asian-Americans. The new policy however, does not state that Asians wouldn’t qualify, it simply gives colleges and universities more tractability in selecting new students. As the media grapples on to the new concept more and more Asians are coming forward with complaints and angry phone calls and letters from the students of these Asian students and the students themselves. This new policy differs from affirmative action, but not everyone sees the difference between the two. One analysis from a person at the college supports the view of the Asian-American student, implying that the number of Asian students would regress under the new policy. Parents of these Asian students also seem to feel the sting of the new policy. Outraged, many say that they were blindsided by the university and see it as an act of discrimination. Compared to Board of Regents v. Bakke, it was simply discrimination in the obvious form. They denied him because he was a man of Caucasian decent and they wanted to save sixteen spots  specifically for minorities. Which in my view was fair at the time because minorities weren’t given as many opportunities as the whites were. I would have seen that as socially acceptable if I were there in that place of time. Even with the high grades Mr. Allan Bakke presented to the college, he was still rejected twice. In this case when we are about thirty-five years after that incident, we have arrived to a time in the United States were almost everyone has ‘equal’ rights, per say, and we all have ‘equal’ opportunity, but to deny someone because of their race in this day and age will most definitely result in a law and to me is seen as discrimination because if we work hard and meet the qualifications for a specific job, college, or university we fancy to attend we should be able to do as so. However, I do understand that some colleges might look at the campus population and notice many members of the same race and decide that they want it to be more diverse, and that’s understandable, but if someone makes the cut, they make it and if the college or university decides not to accept them because they might want the African-American straight A student to join their institution rather than accepting another Asian straight A when they already have so many people from that heritage. Colleges might also look at creating a more diverse campus as a way to prevent those lawsuits, because if the media starts getting reports of there being an overflow of white students at a college or university ran by a white man or woman, they look dubious, and just racist, but if they start accepting more minorities into their school, spreading a little color over the campus, in a sense, then they look more appealing to applicants who want that diversity in their dream school. Plus it shows good when schools are being taken to court for discrimination. If they show the statistics, the numbers, of the racial diversity, then that builds on their case. If they show a pie chart and 75% of the chart is green, and green represents white for example, then that makes the school look bad, ultimately allowing a jury to see a possibility of discrimination, but if it’s near equal for minorities and whites, etc. , then it’s good for the school. Making their case more believable. Debacles like this may never end for years to come because we need diversity  in public places, without it, it would be like the Civil Rights era all over again, and we don’t need any more violent protests like we have today. I agree and disagree with the Regents v. Bakke ruling because I believe he should’ve been accepted, but I also believe that if he was aware of what they were doing after the first time he got rejected he should have went to the courts sooner, but there is always the accusation of speculation and that can hold grounds for a dismissal of the case. However I do agree with the Board’s idea of creating a more diverse campus. By doing so they allowed minorities, who back then had fewer opportunities then the white men and women, to integrate themselves with the majority and find out for themselves that they are all alike. They have two legs and a beating heart and they can tolerate each other’s presence. They should America that public places shouldn’t be segregated, but should hold equal opportunities for minorities and majorities, and by the Board striking the thought of holding those sixteen spots was just the start of a major movement towards desegregation and eventually diversity. Although it’s sad to see that even in these ages we still have to do that, it is understandable when the media scrutinizes people for the smallest things, and does it even worse to larger corporations, businesses, colleges, universities, etc. I still do not believe that the decision of the Board to make that decision was intentionally targeting keeping Asians out of there schools. I still believe that they did that to create more diversity in a place they saw a populated with the majority of one race. If that is the case then I think everyone should come to an understanding that there will be a majority and people will want to see changes in that majority, by adding none other than minorities. Adding those minorities keep things balanced and keeps the media away. Again, it provides the students who want major diversity to see that as the perfect school for them. If a fresh out of high school student decided to go an all-African-American school, applied and got denied, even with the best grades and extracurricular activities. Would that be considered discrimination, even if he was in fact African-American? I doubt that people would try to fight that, but only see that as he didn’t rise up to the standard that the school  had set for the applicants. The case would not stick because he qualified, just wasn’t admitted to the institution. In conclusion, Bakke v. Regents is similar to the slim chances of Asians getting accepted into colleges and universities because of their race. However, in Bakke v. Regents the Board was trying to create equal opportunity for minorities, but in the example of the Board seeking new policy to give the campus more flexibility in who they choose to accept into the college, just seems like discrimination. In both cases there was discrimination, but is there a thing as good discrimination? I think that there is a good grounds for discrimination if there needs to ever be more diversity, but I don’t think us, being the ‘land of the free’, should ever succumb to that. As far as we have come from the Civil Rights movement itself and having to decide whether or not the whole world was racist, pretty much. We shouldn’t have to input new policies like that, making a certain group feel insecure about their educational future. Works Cited † Asian Americans sue University of California System over Holistic Admissions sham – College Confidential. † College Confidential. N. p. , 4 Apr. 2009. Web. 15 May 2013. . Daniel, Golden. † Asian Americans sue University of California System over Holistic Admissions sham – College Confidential. † College Confidential. N. p. , 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 May 2013. . â€Å"Regents of the University of California v. Bakke | Casebriefs. † Law Cases & Case Briefs for Students. N. p. , n. d. Web. 15 May 2013. . â€Å"Regents of the University of California v. Bakke | The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. † The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law | A Multimedia Archive of the Supreme Court of the United States. N. p. , n. d. Web. 15 May 2013. . SCHMIDT, PETER. â€Å"Asian-Americans Give U. of California an Unexpected Fight Over Admissions Policy – Students – The Chronicle of Higher Education. † Home – The Chronicle of Higher Education. N. p. , n. d. Web. 15 May 2013. . View as multi-pages

Scholarly Writing Awareness

While the paragraph focuses on the social reaction towards the development and evolution of computers through the years, the reader can immediately notice in the introductory sentence that the author of the paragraph does not provide scholarly research to support the presumptive claim that there is the â€Å"widespread availability of the personal computer. † Had the author indicated a recognized research or study on the widespread availability of the personal computer, the claim that such a widespread phenomenon has been â€Å"one of the greatest breakthroughs in the past 50 years† could have easily been upheld. Further, substantiating the claim that such a widespread phenomenon has been a breakthrough would have also played a contributing role to the latter arguments stated in the paragraph. The second sentence in the paragraph indicates that the personal computer is a â€Å"powerful learning tool† because of two primary stated reasons: one is its revolutionizing influence on commerce and education, and; two is its effect on â€Å"the very way everyone conducts his or her daily lives. While it is good to indicate the reasons behind qualifying the personal computer as a powerful learning tool, the author failed to take note of the other influencing ‘side’ of the personal computer, which is that the use of it has also already turned into an addiction to some people that it has altered their ways of dealing with other people. The exposition of the other ‘side’ of personal computers is important so as to avoid bias in writing an essay with a scholarly voice. Inasmuch as it balances the pros and the cons pertaining to personal computers, providing a view of both negative and positive influences of these tools is equally significant as it gives the reader a broader understanding of the issue at hand. Moreover, the third sentence of the paragraph shows the hasty generalization of the author by denying the fact that there still remain significant debates surrounding the â€Å"digital divide between those who could afford computers and those who could not. By neglecting that fact, the author then proceeds to assert the claim that â€Å"poor people can now save enough to buy their families a computer for home and school use. † In writing scholarly papers, one should avoid using opinion as a premise or evidence for further arguments as it weakens the very arguments of the author. The opinion that there is almost no more â€Å"digital divide† is not enough to stand as a factual evidence and to support the claim that less fortunate individuals can now actually â€Å"save enough† money for them to be able to purchase personal computers. If the target audience of the author is a group of people who experts or who have sufficient knowledge on the effects and history of personal computers, it is highly probable that the audience will be unable to connect with the statements of the author precisely because there is little evidence used to back-up his arguments. Worse, the audience might simply disagree with the author, with the latter failing to convince the audience or failing to send his message across effectively. If, on the other hand, the audience of the author is a group of individuals who have little to no background knowledge about personal computers and are expecting an objective presentation of ideas from the author, it is most certain that the tendency is for the audience to believe in the claims of the author and, eventually, hold these beliefs as close to being treated as facts. Both of these two instances are not commendable as far as scholarly writing and scholarly voice are concerned because both fail to consider the fact that the author’s writing should be fair and objective, or should render no bias and should make use of accepted facts. In essence, the substance of the paragraph can be improved by citing facts and removing opinion. Doing both things can give the paper and the author more credibility and will not be suspect of unsound arguments and invalid points.

Black world study Intellectual Autobiography Essay

Black world study Intellectual Autobiography - Essay Example e the black historical experiences, the African-American experience, the race and ethnicity struggles, social stratification and black American renaissance movements that fostered black cultural identity (Bobo and Hudley 43). I am now aware that Africa continent is the cradle of mankind since there is existing documented anthropological evidence of existence of human beings and evidence of early civilizations in countries such as Egypt. The history of European colonization of African countries and enslavement of blacks in Western Hemisphere was critical for understanding how blacks of contributed to the diverse nature of societies across the world and how their force labor furthered overseas trade. I learned about the origins of transatlantic slave trade that mainly supplied slave labor to the southern cotton plantations in the new world between 1400 and 1800. The Jim Crow laws and Black Codes discriminated the blacks and perpetuated slavery by ensuring segregation and arrest of violent and escaping slavery. The blacks encountered extreme poverty during the Great Depression due to lack of formal jobs and low education levels (Bobo and Hudley 47). The program introduced me to the race, gender, and class oppression that affected the Black world and how the blacks struggled to overcome the various forms of enslavement, oppression, discrimination and prejudice in the society. The program enabled me understand how the black struggles against oppression led to the amendments of the US constitution such as the provisions that allowed equal participation in elections and fair justice procedures. Accordingly, black power movements strengthened human right activists who spearheaded the anti-discrimination legislation such as the Civil rights Act of 1967. I have learned that black people used civil disobedience to steer racial reforms and some organizations that spearheaded the demand for equality include Black Panther Party and Black Student Movement (Bobo and Hudley 44).

Interview consumers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Interview consumers - Assignment Example The 8 megapixel camera found in Galaxy S2 has flash and autofocus but no filter (Marcus 2011). The iPhone 4S has larger storage options than the Galaxy S2. It offers storage capacities of 16GB, 32 GB and 64GB. On the other hand, Galaxy S2 has a storage capacity of 16GB and can be expanded up to 48 GB. The iPhone 4S is also smaller with dimensions of 115.2Ãâ€"58.6Ãâ€"9.3mm. The Galaxy S2 has dimensions of 129Ãâ€"66Ãâ€"8.9mm (Smith 2011). Unlike Galaxy S2, iPhone 4S supports the voice-to-text messages. The user can send a voice message to apple via a microphone to Apple and get a reply within a short time. Moreover, iPhone 4S has a personal assistant that helps in sending text and emails, scheduling meetings, giving weather updates, setting reminders, answering complex queries, calling, and computing various conversions. The personal assistant in Galaxy S2 has limited capabilities such as music and launching applications, sending messages, calling and scheduling meetings (Marcus 2011). Consumer B: Galaxy S2 is my smart phone of choice. This gadget has a larger screen of 4.3 inches which has a Super AMOLED Plus display. This display is better than the Retina display of iPhone 4S which is smaller at 3.5 inches (Smith 2011). Galaxy S2 has a RAM of 1GB while iPhone 4S has 512mb. The Galaxy S2 also downloads data at a faster speed than the iPhone 4S. Galaxy S2 downloads data at a speed of 21mbps while iPhone 4S downloads at 14.4mbps. The Galaxy S2 front camera is more detailed than that of ipohone 4s with 2 megapixels. The iPhone 4S has a VGA camera. Galaxy S2 is also lighter with a weight of 117 grams while iPhone 4S weighs 149 grams (Marcus 2011). Unlike the iPhone 4S, Galaxy S2 has capability to transmit payment information wirelessly, thus making payments by credit cards easy and efficient. Galaxy S2 can be used to make wireless payments in purchasing goods, entering

Ethos, Logos and Pathos that Rev King Used Essay

Ethos, Logos and Pathos that Rev King Used - Essay Example This document analyzes the use of Ethos, Logos and Pathos that Rev King uses in his argument. The document concludes with the essence of using these forms of argumentative writing and their application in a real-life situation. Introduction An argument can be defined as a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal. In other cases, an argument is a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true. Arguments are defined by the circumstances in which they fall (Ramage D John, Bean C John Bean & C Johnson 94). There are three ways of presenting an argument. These are Ethos, Pathos and Logos. Ethos refers to the impression given by an author to his or her audience. It is being based on the convincing the reader of the potential of a character. Pathos is a form of argumentative based on how well the author impresses the reader’s emotions. The language of choice is of much weight since it predicts the emotional appeal of the audi ence which in turn can be used to develop an argument. Logos is simply the swaying of people by making use of reasoning, which can either be the inductive or deductive reasoning. Its impact on the audience is referred to an argument’s logical appeal. The logos can also be termed as the details and statistics that aid in sustaining the argument. Ethos It is determined by the credibility of the authors. It is expressed through tone and by how the authors refer to various views. The authors’ character  influences ethos. The writers show this by showing how one can make an argument to triumph for professional and also personal reasons fall (Ramage D John, Bean C John Bean & C Johnson 132). In the book ‘Informed argument,’ the others portray this style of writing Rev King writes a letter to the clergymen in Birmingham. In the letter, he tries to respond to the wrong accusation posed by the clergymen. The clergy referred to the activities of King Luther as unw ise. Rev King was unhappy about the  treatment of black people  in Birmingham. The bombing of degrees in Birmingham city was a sign of racial segregation that annoyed Rev King. He influenced the reaction of people in opposition to racism. The clergymen accuse him of taking this course and refraining from solving the problem diplomatically. He argues that dialogue cannot occur with only one party involve in the decision making. This was in reference to the white people. He farther insists that people in Birmingham live in monologue rather than dialogue. Ethos is present in this argument as the authors try to create an impression on why the black people resisted oppression. Rev King argues that the black people did not opt for chaos but were forced to react after their hope of negotiation with the white failed to produce results. Rev King tries to convince the clergymen that he was not wrong when he indirectly convinced the people to rebel. He argues by creating an impression that the situation was out of hand due to the bombing in Birmingham and the failure of dialogue to make peace. Ethos can simply be referred to as a convincing language.

Random Walk Theory of Share Price Movements Essay

Random Walk Theory of Share Price Movements - Essay Example A lot many efforts were made towards identifying a predictable trading pattern which could be used for chasing profitable deals. From the mid-1950s to the early 1980s, a random walk theory (RWT) of share prices was developed based on the past empirical evidence of randomness in share price movements. RWT basically stated that speculative price changes were independent and identically distributed, so that the past price data had no predictive power for future share price movements. RWT also stated that the distribution of price changes from transaction to transaction had finite variance. In addition, if transactions were fairly uniformly spread across time and were large in numbers, then the Central Limit Theorem suggested that the price changes would be normally distributed. Kendall (1953) calculated the first differences of twenty-two different speculative price series at weekly intervals from 486 to 2,387 terms. He concluded that the random changes from one term to the next were la rge and obfuscated any systematic effect which may be present. In fact, he stated that 'the data behaved almost like a wandering series' (random walk). Specifically, an analysis of share price movement revealed little serial correlation, with the conclusion that there was very little predictability of movements in share prices for a week ahead without extraneous information. In 1959, Roberts generated a pattern of market levels and changes akin to actual levels and changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Index. He estimated the probability of different share price movements over time by using a frequency distribution of historical changes in the weekly market index, and assumed weekly changes were independently drawn from a normal distribution with a mean of + 0.5 and a standard deviation of 5.0. He concluded that changes in security prices behaved as if they had been generated by a simple chance model .The fundamental concept behind random walk theory is that competition in perfect mar kets would remove excess economic profits, except from those parties who exercised some degree of market monopoly. This meant that a trader with specialized information about future events could profit from the monopolistic access to information, but that fundamental and technical analysts who rely on past information should not expect to have speculative gains.From the theory of random walks arose the theory of efficient markets. The Efficient Markets Hypothesis (EMH) states that current prices always 'fully reflect' available information, so that the only reason prices change between time t and time t+1 is the arrival of new information. The EMH requires that only two necessary conditions be met. First, the market must be aware of all available information .The type of information available is determined by the strength of the EMH being tested. In a Weak Form EMH, current prices entirely reflect all that can be known from the study of historical prices and trading volumes. If the Weak Form is valid, technical

Simplified Acquisition Procedures Research Paper

Simplified Acquisition Procedures - Research Paper Example The government report uses Simplified acquisitions to illustrate the approach that legalizes a test method that permits government purchasers to acquire profitable items that do not surpass a certain amount (Engelbeck, 2001, p. 29). 2. Describe the circumstances under which the government allows the use of the simplified acquisition procedures One of the conditions offered by the government concerning the use of the Simplified acquisitions is that the government able to validate purchases. Agency officials have been authorized to impose maximum amounts for purchases made. In 1996, the congress widened the use of simplified acquisitions by legalizing a test plan that permits buyers to purchase items that do not go beyond $5 million. As a result, the maximum price set was a requirement that all regime buyers had to follow up. Another condition is the permission of issuing a combined outline and solicitation. This solicitation procedure laid out the plans, procedures, buying modes and v endors to be used throughout the buying procedure. This way, the government would account for every dollar used in the transaction. The issuing procedure might have also needed proposal compliance in less than 45 days as would or else be needed (GAO, 2003, p.3). Government buyers would also be required to set up an official assessment plan or aggressive variety, carry out debates with dealers or achieve quotations or bids. Potential buying risks will be realized through this condition, and make the government less prone to losses or budget upheavals. Another condition that the government applied to all buyers under Simplified acquisitions was the minimization of the credentials needed to give strong reason for compensation decisions. The credentials used for such transactions consume lots of government expenditure, and Simplified acquisitions are one way for the government to reduce expenditure on subsidiary goods and services as such (GAO, 2003, p.2). Currently, the government issu es a test program to include contact procedures for all officers involved in the purchasing procedure. The government seeks maximum efficiency and saving with minimal expenses or financial burdens. Another condition that the government looks forward to is the adherence to the contract clauses prearranged by special documentation that limits administrative costs. This documentation has requirements arranged by FAR 12.3 with the aim of limiting occurrences of sole basis acquisitions. Simplified acquisitions also require a short written report of the processes of employed when compensating the contract file. Other compensations in the contract include the number of bids established, a description of the foundation of the contract reward assessment, and some validation for a sole basis acquisition (Engelbeck, 2001, p. 44). 3. Three examples of the simplified acquisition methods and where they might be appropriate in a government procurement contract An example of Simplified acquisitions techniques is a test plan employed by the government in January 1, 2004. The government used Simplified acquisitions to smoothen the flow of contracting vehicles that federal bureaus use for acquiring goods and services. The test program involved the use of delivery agreements between buyers and the sellers tor educe the chances of acquisition risk, and save time in the course of acquiring the items (GAO, 2003, p.3). Another example is the use of purchase cards that