The UT Free Speech Wall has been posted to the YAL blog!
If you are so inclined, you can read about the event, look through pictures of it, and watch the video (it’s just that great of a video). c:
The pricing structure is there to bring attention, to cause people to get a little upset. But it’s really there to cause people to think more critically about what this kind of policy would do in university admissions.
UC Berkeley College Republicans president Shawn Lewis • Discussing his group’s reasoning for having a bake sale where people paid different prices based on their race and gender. The pricing scale’s kinda like this: $2 for whites, $1.50 for Asians, $1 for Latinos, $0.75 for Blacks and $0.25 for Native Americans — with a discount of 25 cents for women of all races. As you might guess, this bake sale, scheduled for Tuesday, is flaring up emotions quicker than a character in the movie “PCU.” It’s not the first time it’s been tried — a couple of other schools have tried the idea, and it’s been shut down at least once. What do you think? Does this seem disrespectful and worth getting angry over, or is there a valid point here? (via fuckyeahemergence)
I’ve definitely heard about this event before, being in campus activism, but I am a little irritated as to the accuracy of the pricing as a metaphor. For example, Asians are at a higher disadvantage than Whites. The biggest beneficiary of Affirmative Action is also white women, which isn’t reflected here. As someone who identified as Native American on college apps and who got rejected from 5/6 of the schools to which I applied, despite having scores above all of their 75th percentiles, being President of the debate team, and having comparable stats to other white students from my school, I would attest that Native Americans really don’t seem to get all that much preference (though I’m sure, in a lot of cases, especially for those on reservations, there are some decisions favouring them—let’s just ignore how hypocritical that qualification is when compared to Blacks that receive AA benefits, despite being generations removed from slavery, some without any slave ancestors (not all Blacks got here centuries ago, beeteedubs)). Ugh, I just cannot believe that we have such an arbitrary system in place which preferences people based on their appearance, rather than merit (or even some random characteristic that’s less effing shallow).
I am not even remotely surprised. While my 5-10 lb gain was mostly muscle (I started lifting at school), I did go through half a package of Tums over the course of 3 months, because my stomach really just has no idea how to digest processed foods (honestly, I had stomach cramps after every single meal and this is from someone who had never had them before. Ever). I only survived by getting pasta with garlic and spinach for virtually every single meal (that helped) and eating my own organic whole wheat bread with organic crunchy peanut butter and organic jam after going to the gym (so good). That, perhaps, is the one downside of being raised on healthy, organic food. The other downside is when I went to purchase organic milk (for my coffee/health) only to find that a half-gallon in Worcester, Massachusetts costs about the same as a full-gallon in Austin, TX. I actually threw out three cartons of ‘normal’ milk before I realized that they hadn’t gone bad; that’s just what non-organix milk smells like. Nothing has ever made me feel more granola in my life… That, and my dad shipping me Dublin Dr. Pepper (cane sugar, not HFCS) and my mother shipping me organic, homemade banana nut muffins and organic Ruta Maya coffee grounds.Researchers from Oregon State University surveyed 582 students – many in their first year and presumably living on campus – about their eating habits and found that few prioritized balance when they chose their meals and snacks. Males consumed more fat but averaged five fruit and vegetable servings per week, while female students consumed more fibre but fewer servings of fruit and veggies altogether, at four per week. More than one-third of their calories consumed came from fat – that juicy cheeseburger, or the bag of chips from the vending machine – versus healthier sources such as a side of steamed broccoli. One of the study’s authors points out previous research shows people tend to eat healthier, well-rounded meals when they cook at home. Few dorms, especially for first-year students, come equipped with full kitchens so students tend to eat at campus dining halls or nosh on fast food (which, as previous studies have shown, contributes to the infamous “Freshman 15” weight gain).
thecheekylibertarian 