If I were President... (Affirmative Action)

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geneman

The Transgenic Hobo
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Hi. My name is Ayluv A. Akshun and I am running for President. I think Affirmative Action is so great that it shouldn't just be applied to education -- let's do it everywhere we can!

How about Politics? Just like in health care, there are so many benefits when people see other people like them as leaders! There are many ethnicities underpresentated in government. I propose that, depending on the fraction of underpresentation, each vote for a candidate should get multiplied by the inverse of that fraction.

How about Sports? Certainly, the makeup of all athletic organizations does not match that of society's, and thus we are missing out on all of the great benefits of proper representation. I propose that we develop financial incentives and special programs to allow in underrepresented ethnicities (e.g., white, Asian). Certainly, we want the best of the best, but as long as they are good athletes, we should allow them in for the sake of diversity. But I am absolutely against quotas! That would be discrimination!

How about the Television? Aside from ZOOM on PBS and the morning Saturday shows, there are no programs that show a balanced representation of all ethnicities. I propose we get rid of Phoebe and Joey on Friends and replace them with Halle Barry and that Asian guy from VIP.

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Note: Although the poster wrote this, the contents do not necessarily reflect his point of view. The purpose was to stimulate discussion.

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i sense sarcasm.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I'd like to add that there aren't nearly enough hot Asian men in the stripping business... I'd really like to see more hot Asian men taking their clothes off for money...
 
Originally posted by relatively prime
I'd like to add that there aren't nearly enough hot Asian men in the stripping business... I'd really like to see more hot Asian men taking their clothes off for money...

Damn, RP, I was going to ask you out on a date but I guess you wouldn't be into that being that I'm just a hot white guy who is willing to take his clothes off for money.

What are you, a racist?? ;)
 
I would argue that politics is in some ways a great exampe of "affirmative action" at work. Each region, district, ward, etc elects leaders from their area to represent them in their governmental bodies. Medical schools could theoretically to this too. The could allow, for example, one person from a certain part of a state to represent that region in the med school. So, NYMC could have 200 med students from every state in the nation. Larger states could get more slots.
 
Originally posted by geneman
we should allow them in for the sake of diversity. But I am absolutely against quotas! That would be discrimination!


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
Originally posted by relatively prime
I'd like to add that there aren't nearly enough hot Asian men in the stripping business... I'd really like to see more hot Asian men taking their clothes off for money...

put up and i'll put out
 
damn you geneman, haven't you seen me blathering on the other thread for god knows how long, and you have to start another discussion, didn't you? plus, i never got your thoughts/responses on that thread, so i wanted to hear.....

but i'm packing it for the day. onto the gym

peace,
DW
 
Sup DW. I did see your "blatherings" in the other thread and was fairly impressed as usual. Hard to debate someone you often agree with. :)

Re: Idea about having "extra" economically disadvantaged students serve in rural areas under finite, contractual terms.

I think it's a potentially workable stab at a major problem. The idea of creating incentives in exchange for rural work, of course, is not new (i.e., NHSC) but it's been only mildly successful. As a result, you add the twist of allowing in additional socioeconomically disadvantaged students, who would not have been accepted otherwise, in exchange for a commitment of 'x' amount of years to working in a rural area (you suggest up to a decade).

If this plan were implemented, I see one immediate and very positive effect: rural areas will see a sustained spike in physicians.

My biggest problem with this plan concerns the quality of those physicians. I am extremely hesistant about knowingly giving the title of MD to "sub-par candidates"/"people who wouldn't get in anyway"/"extras". It diminishes the title of MD and might even prove dangerous to the communities it was meant to protect. How would you deal with this problem?

Originally posted by DW
damn you geneman, haven't you seen me blathering on the other thread for god knows how long, and you have to start another discussion, didn't you? plus, i never got your thoughts/responses on that thread, so i wanted to hear.....

but i'm packing it for the day. onto the gym

peace,
DW
 
"My biggest problem with this plan concerns the quality of those physicians. I am extremely hesistant about knowingly giving the title of MD to "sub-par candidates"/"people who wouldn't get in anyway"/"extras". It diminishes the title of MD and might even prove dangerous to the communities it was meant to protect. How would you deal with this problem? "

Fair enough concern. As I alluded to earlier before, the incentive/contract thing is only part of a greater solution, the "late stage" AA reform if you will.

As far as decreasing the gap in quality of physician, i dont think the answer just lies entirely in just letting people with low GPAs and shoddy MCATS in later. To at least temper that gap, economic disparity adjustment should start at an earlier level, i.e. before college even starts.

Here is where I admit I dont have quite as concrete a suggestion. There are many issues, financial, educational, social, cultural, self victimization, etc, that predispose some minority groups and the poor to academic deficiency. Even the current state of aa basically creates this horrible cultural assumption from all aspects that underrepresented minorities can put forth sub par credentials, which hurts everyone in the long run (which is why i base my suggestions, while they in part intend to alleviate racial disparity, solely in economic terms). So, the answer lies not only in the token complaints of poor or minority students have access to bad public schools, and providing financial breaks to these students to alleviate economic distress in their education, but dealing with a serious cultural expectation of failure, whether self or externally inflicted, in minority and economically disadvantaged groups that needs to addressed. any suggestions are welcome.

Dont hold me on this one, but this is just a very weird opinion that a buddy of mine from high school at Duke was relaying to me a while back I'm just tossing out there. His feeling was that a lot of the cultural expectations of failure in minority groups, and many of the racial and socio economic prejudices of society in general, are rooted in our education system. His thought is that most american history is taught at way too young an age in the U.S., and the inability in the juvenile stage to decipher the world outside of the transgressions of history against certain groups exaggerates feelings of oppression, insufficiency, prejudice, etc. While not marginalizing some of the real obstacles that some minority groups do face in this country, when a poor minority child is bombarded at a young age in school about images of slavery/jim crow/george wallace, it creates a subconscious predisposition to academic and social failure. His partial remedy to this fallacy is to attack the controversial stuff, including race relations, at a later developmental stage where children can actually form an argument, and not think in completely hopeless terms. Again, thats not coming from me, but i thought it was an interesting thought nonetheless.

and, there are some people and interest groups that frankly make a living off of grandstanding on the issue with no real suggestions for change, and they are not only not helping the issue but adding to the expectation of failure in certain areas.

as always, your points are well taken
 
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