The Race to College

In the next few weeks I am going to start applying to Law School. I did well enough, though not as well as a I hoped or expected, to have a legitimate shot at gaining admission to almost any law school in the country. Only the top fifteen schools or so are likely unattainable. If only I was black or hispanic. If that were the case I would be a shoe-in at virtually every law school in the country. (Save for state schools in Washington, California, and, as of last tuesday, Michigan- voters in those states have the crazy idea that applicants should be judged as individuals and not as members of racial groups.) According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, I should be glad I'm not Asian. I can't link to it, because it is subscription only, but here is compelling snapshot:

The University of Michigan may be poised for a similar leap in Asian-American enrollment, now that voters in that state have banned affirmative action. The Center for Equal Opportunity study found that, among applicants with a 1240 SAT score and 3.2 grade point average in 2005, the university admitted 10% of Asian-Americans, 14% of whites, 88% of Hispanics and 92% of blacks.

There is no reason to believe that graduate school admissions work any differently. The idea that we should treat people so drastically different based only on their race is, despite the best of intentions, so blatantly wrong and un-American. Again, I understand the intent behind racial preferences, but the logic is deeply twisted. The real problem lies largely with the public education system from K-12. Minority kids are not less smart than whites or asians. What they need is a level playing field, not an artificially adjusted scoreboard in the form of de facto quotas.

How do we level the playing field? For one, by widening access to private schools and the better public schools. Relatively wealthy white families can afford to send their kids to private schools or move to the best school districts. If more minorities were allowed the use of vouchers, this advantage would cease to be so pronounced. One of the more interesting political stories of the last few years is the unlikely alliance between many minority groups and conservatives in support of vouchers.

Teachers unions continue to be the largest roadblock to vouchers. From what I have read and from news reports that I have seen about them, when it comes to this issue, I find them to be one of the most self-interested, morally repugnant unions around. It seems like then exist solely to protect bad teachers. Ultimately, they are afraid of the competition that private schools would bring. If it was easier for students to flee bad schools then, inevitably, many of them would fold. Public school teachers' jobs would be lost. The unions can't have that. They would quite literally rather see millions of kids suffer through a poor education.

But don't believe me. Read this.


That was weird. I just happened to stumble upon this guy who's got very different ideas about how to improve education.

Rev. Haggard: Gay or Not Gay? and more.

This story will be HUGE if the allegations about Rev. Ted Haggard having gay liasons with a manwhore turn out to be true. The "expert on lying" in this article doesn't believe his denials. Here is how I break down the story.

Things that suggest it is

1. Haggard sure stepped down awfully quick from the NAE
2. His denials do not seem nearly strenuous enough. If someone accused me of this I would be outraged, and I'd be calling the guy a lunatic and saying that I couldn't wait until everyone realizes this wacko doesn't have a stitch of evidence, because there is none.

Things that suggest it is not

1. The accuser has not released any evidence. (Though he says he has some and may be trying to sell it)
2. The timing is suspicious. Colorado is voting on a gay marriage amendment, and this guy may be trying to discredit a prominent supporters.
3. If I'm Ted Haggard and I'm looking for a prostitute, do I really choose a 49-year-old? Really? Don't I try and find someone a little younger? I think I do.

This whole story makes me nervous. My dad was a professor at Jimmy Swaggart Bible College when he had his downfall. It created chaos in many many lives that were connected with his ministry. I really really hope this story is not true. Besides the specific impact on people's lives, it will be another reason for people to distrust ministers, and another angle for hollywood to lampoon Christians. Did we really need another prominent hypocritical pastor? Again, let's hope this is not true.


This article in Christianity Today is one of the best I've read in a long time. Professor David Gushee spells out, much better than I ever could, some reservations I've held for a long time about the church's "outsourcing" of it's duties to the government. Here is an excerpt:

How can we truly believe that the world's transformation is happening right here, right among us, when we can't stop divorce in our midst, or abortion, or greed, or internal church conflicts?

Ironically, we turn to the state to enforce the values we can't seem to advance in our own churches. We're rightly concerned about our collapsing families, internet pornography, decadent movies and music, and the weakening of sexual morality. But we often can't seem to prevent the encroachment of these problems in our own Christian families and congregations. As if in response, we keep trying to change our nation's laws.

I have more to say on this, as it pertains to gay marriage, but I'll save that for another post.


Son of famous evangelical says he is leaving the Republican party.


If you're a fan of the NBA and/or humorous writing, you should read this NBA preview. This guys is one of my favorite reads.


These are some of the coolest pics I've ever seen.

SNL and more

Interesting story about how iTunes saved The Office.

Cool picture of a message the troops in Iraq have for John Kerry.

Long, but worthwhile article on SNL. When I think about SNL for too long it kinda makes me sad. When I was in junior high and high school, it used to be a show that peopled looked forward to watching. It used to form pop culture in way that it doesn't anymore. Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'brien have taken the mantle, I think.

I recently had a conversation about "the next Will Ferrell," and I decided that the very fact that we were talking about SNL in such a way was very informative. If you asked people, circa 2000, who their favorite SNL cast member was, 90% of people would say Ferrell. SNL might as well have been called the Will Ferrell Show during his years. Contrast that with the early-mid 90's. If you asked people the same question then, you'd get answers like: Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, David Spade, Kevin Nealon. I wish we weren't hoping for the next great cast member. I'd like to see the next great cast.

For the Arrested Development fans among us, you'll be happy to hear that the show's creator is working on a new series. Although nothing will ever replace that brilliant show.