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POPSDuke University: Justifying affirmative action for rich white kids Duke University has been rather shameless in pandering to wealthy parents of potential students. In his book The Price of Admission , Daniel Golden estimates that between 3 to 5 percent of Duke's student body in the late 1990s were admitted under pressure from the development office--that is, kids of wealthy parents who were below Duke's standards. In this 2003 letter to the Wall Street Journal (where Golden is a reporter), Duke University president Nannerl Keohane argues that showing preference for kids of wealthy parents is just as justified as showing preference for minority kids. She cannot imagine how one can justify affirmative action for minorities but not for rich kids. Try harder, President Keohane.
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POPSVCU gives Philip Morris veto power over tobacco studies Over all last year, Virginia Commonwealth, with nearly 32,000 students, received $227 million in research grants from government and private sources, a sum dwarfed by the amounts the nation’s largest research universities take in. For example, the University of Washington received $1 billion in grants last year, while Johns Hopkins got $1.4 billion in federal money alone. I think this is key to understanding VCU's decision to compromise on academic ethics and knuckle under to Philip Morris. A university's status determines its ability to attract highly qualified students & faculty, large donations, and research grants. High-status universities can afford to adhere to academic ethics (I hope), and low status institutions are pressured to bend the rules to get their research grants.
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POPSWashington Monthly College Rankings Washington Monthly ranks colleges according to (a) how well they perform as engines of social mobility (b) how well in fostering scientific and humanistic research and (c) how well they promote an ethic of service to country. The two universities at which I have been a student (Northwestern and Indiana) fare pretty poorly.
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POPS Republicans unveil $100 million school voucher plan
This is not going to work. This is even worse then the non child left behind gimmick. This also leaves out the middle class. If they want to give out vouchers, then this should be equal for all, not just the poor kids. Personally the reason I think it won't work is that the schools that are having problems are a result of Parents not helping the kids at home. Putting these kids into schools where other kids excel and have the support system at home, will just lower the self-esteem of these kids. Granted there are a few that will be an exception, there are a few that are willing to put in the extra work. There are also social issues that will cause problems. The big difference I feel is that a rich kid (who might be lazy or stupid) will still have the advantage over the poor kid (who might be smart but have no support at home). Since the rich kids parents can push more money toward the school or private tutors to at least get him through. The poor kid will be struggling, probab
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