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Legacy admissions often don't fit equality goals [Pres. breaks up academic crony scam.]
The Daily Dispatch (Henderson) ^ | 7AUG04 | The Daily Dispatch

Posted on 08/07/2004 12:33:42 AM PDT by familyop

President Bush on Friday told a conference of minority journalists that he believes the practice of "legacy admissions" - accepting the applications some students because their parents were alumni - should be abolished.

Bush, whose own family has its own Ivy League legacy, should be credited for his statement.

The president was a self-described "'C' student" at Yale and was admitted to that prestigious university despite an undistinguished prep school career. But his father, future President George H.W. Bush, and grandfather, the late Sen. Prescott Bush, were Yale alums, so the younger Bush of course would be accepted. Since then, our current president's daughter, Barbara, also has graduated from Yale.

But Bush said there should not be "a special exception for certain people in a system that's supposed to be fair." And for the most part, he's right.

Many private colleges and a number of public universities favor legacy applicants as a means of building institutional loyalty and boosting fund-raising. And we believe that a private school such as Yale is entitled to accept such applicants if it so chooses.

But taxpayer-funded universities should be choosing students based primarily upon their academic qualifications. Conservatives argue that quotas based on race give some students an unfair edge over equally or better-qualified students, and choosing applicants whose scale-tipping qualification is that Mommy or Daddy is an alumnus is even less merit-based.

Bush, who opposes quota systems, says universities should seek diversity, and we agree. That diversity is best reached by offering a top-notch educational experience that attracts a wide array of applicants, then selecting the very best students who apply, regardless of race, gender, religion, color or creed.

Particularly when taxpayers are footing much of the bill for a public university's operations, "Who's your Daddy?" shouldn't be part of any equal-opportunity admissions equation.




TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: academia; academic; admissions; bush; college; corruption; left; liberal; pc; policy; unity2004; university
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To: dsc

If you're going to respond to a definition by authority and claim it's incorrect, let me know how A) your authority is better or B) how you distinguish the current situation from the definition. You can't just say 'you're not right' and claim you've done ANYTHING to forward discussion. What you have done is essentially restate your argument, which has already been substantially decimated by the presentation of authority disputing your claim.

I've pushed a pawn...and a queen. Let me know when you decide to play chess instead of Hungry Hungry Hippos.


21 posted on 08/07/2004 11:11:22 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: LibertarianInExile

Okay, if you insist on unpleasantness so be it.

Let's look at the definition you posted in note 12:

hypocrite
\Hyp"o*crite\, n. [F., fr. L. hypocrita, Gr. ? one who plays a part on the stage, a dissembler, feigner. See Hypocrisy.] One who plays a part; especially, one who, for the purpose of winning approbation of favor, puts on a fair outside seeming; one who feigns to be other and better than he is; a false pretender to virtue or piety; one who simulates virtue or piety.

All right, now what is the core of that definition?

one who plays a part...a dissembler, feigner...one who...puts on...false pretender...simulates.

In other words, for those in the cheap seats, the sine qua non of the status of hypocrite is pretending to be something you're not. If you're not pretending to be something you're not, or to virtues you don't practice, you're not a hypocrite. Period.

A person who once was something, but has stopped and now freely confesses and accuses himself, is not playing a part, dissembling, feigning, putting on, pretending, or simulating anything.

In other words, your own authority shows that your understanding of the concept of hypocrisy is totally wrong.

For the last paragraphs, just assume that I've made various slurs on your intelligence and reasoning abilities in the same tone as your notes to me, and then say bye bye.


22 posted on 08/08/2004 2:47:52 AM PDT by dsc
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To: somniferum

You should be as much against legacy admissions as you are against racial preferences. Legacy admissions is basically buying a seat in a school.


23 posted on 08/08/2004 2:51:58 AM PDT by cyborg
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To: cyborg

BTW, in terms of who gets affected by affirmative action/legacies, it's minorities esp. black people. Blacks get more stigmatized by quota/legacy admissions because their peers will forever question if they were admitted based on their color and thus less qualified. Also, legacy appointments have always benefitted whites and in the past, esp. with universities up north desiring to keep blacks out but needed ingenious ways to do so because there were no segregation laws.


24 posted on 08/08/2004 3:06:35 AM PDT by cyborg
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To: dvwjr
Do you happen to know what Barbara Bush's SAT scores were, or her GPA for that matter? She may have been a stellar student in high school, able to get into any school she wanted, at least qualification wise, so it's not fair to assail her entry into Yale as being purely due to legacy.

OTOH, the reality is that the Bush twins would be let into ANY school they so desired -- because their father is President! Therefore, the legacy point is moot.

25 posted on 08/08/2004 3:42:06 AM PDT by IrishRainy
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To: LibertarianInExile
At least legacies have a family history and connection with the institution.

Also -- like a strong football team -- a good source of donations.

26 posted on 08/08/2004 3:46:27 AM PDT by maryz
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To: dsc

Blah, blah, blah, but the crux of your blahing is:

"If you're not pretending to be something you're not, or to virtues you don't practice, you're not a hypocrite. Period."

Lest you forget in your haste to avoid the issue at hand, Bush didn't practice the virtue of not taking advantage of legacy admissions. Ever. Not in his daughter's case, not in his own case. And he'll never be able to take that back. Period. Not doing it NOW is irrelevant because he CAN'T do it now.

So the part of the definition you conveniently leave out in your summation, "one who feigns to be other and better than he is; a false pretender to virtue or piety; one who simulates virtue or piety," absolutely applies. When he had the opportunity, he was not virtuous, and now that he CAN'T be virtuous, he claims piety.

My authority, your attempts notwithstanding, only shows that he IS a hypocrite. And your wrangling around the definition only shows that you can't deny the authority, only attempt to delineate it, and poorly. You again restate the same argument, which is that if you're not doing it now, you can't be a hypocrite. So Clinton can spout all he wants about sexual harassment, Carter can yap all he wants about military adventurism, and Gore can rail against out-and-out lying all he wants. Since they aren't doing it now (so far as we know), under your logic, they aren't hypocrites.

BUT IN REALITY, THEY ARE HYPOCRITES, AND YOU KNOW IT.


27 posted on 08/08/2004 4:31:08 AM PDT by LibertarianInExile (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: cyborg

Why is that a problem? I can buy a seat in a stadium. I can buy a seat in a private high school or parochial school. Why should colleges be different?


28 posted on 08/08/2004 4:33:25 AM PDT by LibertarianInExile (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: LibertarianInExile

Bu it all you want from a private institution.


29 posted on 08/08/2004 5:11:53 AM PDT by cyborg
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To: LibertarianInExile

I meant to say BUY it. Either way, the argument is about people getting into universities on pure merit then legacies like every other 'edge' goes against that argument and isn't legitimate. A private institution can do whatever it wants.


30 posted on 08/08/2004 5:15:08 AM PDT by cyborg
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To: cyborg

I agree that at a state university unless the applicant is admitted purely on merit then the university isn't serving the state purpose it was established for. I also think that as long as affirmative action is there, legacy admissions should be, and that legacy admissions are far more legitimate than affirmative action.

That said, I expect you will be against athletic scholarships as well. And set-aside scholarships for specific major areas. And special loan and grant programs for specific major areas.

All of these work against the state purpose of generally increasing the populace's education, and instead, specifically for a state purpose of increasing graduates in some major areas, which works against the market, to my way of thinking.


31 posted on 08/08/2004 2:51:21 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: familyop
I am reasonably sure that family members who are alumni of an educational institution can be very significant factors in the admissions process, but I have yet to see how they influence the awarding of Degrees!

Your pop can help get you into YALE, but you have to work for the outcome!
32 posted on 08/08/2004 2:57:42 PM PDT by leprechaun9
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To: LibertarianInExile

What makes legacy admissions more legitimate than affirmative action? I don't get it. I think I'll just have to say I have a difference of opinion with you on that. I don't believe admissions should be based on anything but merit and not because one is black,white, or can play football. Scholarships, if they are privately funded, are different and the state run school should NOT be offering money to anyone based on race, ethnicity,legacy,sports,etc. This concept of admission on merit is a very new concept, and one that has rightfully been born on the recent discussions of affirmative action/quotas.


33 posted on 08/08/2004 3:01:31 PM PDT by cyborg
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To: leprechaun9

Ever hear of a gentlemans C. (Now it's a gentlemans B)

That's when an legacy admission gets a C even though he never showed up for class.

All part of the same system.


34 posted on 08/08/2004 3:08:13 PM PDT by Dinsdale
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