The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 02, 2003, Image 5

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    A ( ; ( ;!ELi Jews
THE BATTAli Ihe BATTALION
5A
Wednesday, April 2, 2003
e
eld said Blue October's
lugmented by an unusual.
.nown Ryan (Delahoussay
Colleges seek diversity options
s case reaches Supreme Court
By Fred Tasker
KRT CAMPUS
n a long time,” he said.1
ight that the violin is one
iinding instruments out
of my lyrics focus on soc
ould lx* a cool ideatogei ;
music down on some
ful how he made thesoune
we decided to stick with
Ikie, a longtime
equents the concert see: „
at ion and surrounding
he believes the band hastli
ility to bring recorded mi
lot of energy to their pe r
How do college admissions
fficers decide who gets in and
/ho doesn't, especially when
he goal is student diversity?
It's a crucial issue as America
comes increasingly diverse.
In fact, by 2050, the United
^^^Etates could be a society in
^^^p/hich no single race or ethnic
roup will make up more than
0 percent of the population, the
J.S. Census Bureau says.
I "Every selective university
^wants to have a diverse student
been to many local and:®ody _ economically, geograph-
:erts, and I know how ran kally, racially," says Rachel
ist re-create what they nuBoor. who spent two years as an
ting in concert,” he said ■dmissions officer at Duke
is exceptionally talenie. mlniversity and wrote the book
^■Admissions Confidential" (St.
plartin's Press),
tober will be perform:: I With Tuesday's U.S. Supreme
dnesday night at 8 p.m. »ourt hearing putting in jeopardy
the University of Michigan's
^■Ifirmative-action plan of race-
^■ased preferences, U.S. universi-
^■es are turning to other ways to
encourage diversity.
The system for which the
.*din on your shirt. “Mori'::
ulay has found a style thi
iurprising guitar work aiK
nd energy that has been ci
i as The Used, Coheed an
e appeal, this album is an
hone has labeled Takingl
e never heard of.” These,
ks.
—Daniel Chapn.
University of Michigan is being
sued is an affirmative-action
plan in which students are rated
on a 150-point scale, earning 20
of those points for being black,
Hispanic or another underrepre
sented racial/ethnic minority.
They also can earn up to 110
points for academic achieve
ment plus points for being
socioeconomically disadvan
taged, for being a "legacy"
(child of an alum) and other fac
tors. A score of about 130 is
often enough to get in.
In a lawsuit on behalf of
three non-Hispanic white appli
cants, lawyers for the Center for
Individual Rights call the point
system "a race-based double
standard in admissions."
They say the university
admitted all the minority appli
cants with high school grades
similar to the three rejected stu
dents (3.3 to 3.8 GPA), but only
32 percent of the non-minority
students with such scores.
Michigan says that, since it
received 13,500 applications in
1997 and had only 3,958 fresh
man slots, it had to reject many
qualified applicants.
, my ears are bleedi
your harddrive sp
riend's copy
nigh, buy your ora
i it, tell a friend b
KRT CAMPUS
Posters lay on the sidewalk Tuesday in front of the U.S. Supreme Court
after a demonstration as arguments were heard in two cases involving
University of Michigan’s affirmative action admissions policies.
NEWS IN BRIEF
"Grades, test scores and
other academic indicators are
important, but not the only rele
vant factors," the university says
in its brief to the Supreme
Court.
Michigan says that it gave
the extra points for race to
achieve diversity in its student
body, since only 6 percent of the
minority applicants had the usu
ally required B average and
1200 SAT score.
In place for 20 years,
University of Michigan's affir
mative-action program had
achieved gains in diversity, but
not total parity. In 2002,
Michigan's freshman class was
75 percent non-Hispanic white,
8 percent black and 5 percent
Hispanic. The state's college-
age population in 2000 was 76
percent non-Hispanic white, 15
percent black and 4 percent
Hispanic.
Percentage admissions plans
are favored by the Justice
Department. In their brief to the
Supreme Court opposing
Michigan's affirmative-action
plan, the Justice Department
lawyers accept the value of a
racially diverse student body. But
they say such diversity can be
achieved by such "race-neutral"
policies as the three states' "per
centage plans."
Texas universities were seg
regated by the state's constitu
tion until 1954. The affirmative-
action plan it later instituted was
overturned in 1996 by the Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals, with
the U.S. Supreme Court refus
ing to hear appeals.
No longer able to consider
race, the state turned to admitting
the top 10 percent of each Texas
public high school's graduates to
any of the state's 35 universities,
regardless of test scores.
Result: Between 1996, the
year before the plan began, and
2001, blacks went from 12.5 per
cent to 12.8 percent of Texas uni
versity students; Hispanics went
from 19.6 percent to 21.3 per
cent.
Problem: Blacks made up 13
percent, and Hispanics made up
39 percent of Texas' college-age
population, according to the
2000 U.S. Census. So while the
percentage plan did not reduce
diversity, as some had feared, it
didn't produce anything near
parity for Texas' Hispanics.
I N U M
“Never cease to
amaze her.
Always exceed hr
greatest expectations.
4
I'Jun says protest at missile
js worth 30 years in prison
I DENVER (AP) - A Roman Catholic nun represent-
ng herself against charges she and two other sisters
allegedly defaced a missile silo tearfully told jurors
)n Tuesday that the peace protest was worthwhile,
bven if the nuns are jailed.
Sisters Ardeth Platte, 66, Jackie Hudson, 68 and
larol Gilbert, 55, are accused of breaking into a
linuteman III missile silo site on Colorado's north-
sastern plains Oct. 6, swinging hammers at it and
minting a cross in their own blood on the structure.
All three have been charged with interfering with
the nation's defense and causing property damage
of more than $1,000 - a crime could put them
behind bars for 30 years if they are convicted. Platte
said serving a sentence would be worth it if people
think more about the weapons.
"If we have to spend the rest of our lives in
prison we will," she said, fighting tears. "We
have friends who are in the war zone. We must
do more for peace."
Hudson's attorney, Walter Gerash, said the nuns
may be guilty of trespassing, but never jeopardized
national security.
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Looks Like a Rock Star,
A
Plays Like a Classical Star
"kH. >
' r to/
I wm
W ;
> :
w
If a rock star like Bruce Springsteen or John Mayer decided
to trade in their vocals and guitar and replace them with a
viola, the result would be Yuri Bashmet. Bashmet will
astonish audiences with his inventive play when he is
joined for a one-night-only concert by the Moscow Soloists.
THE MOSCOW SOLOISTS
with YURI BASHMET, violist
Thursday Night, April 3
7:30 PM
Rudder Auditorium
TICKETS
Call 845-1234.
Order Online at www.MSCOPAS.org.
A concert of this caliber might cost $100 in NYC, London or Prague.
With MSC OPAS, you can witness this piece of classical music history
for less than $30! (And, there's no airfare!)
MSC
OPAS
Three Decades of Performing Arts
From Rudder to Carnegie! Shortly after their performance in
Rudder Auditorium, the musicians will head to NYC
to answer a concert invitation from Carnegie Hall.