4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, June 14, 1999
Edited and managed by EMitY ACHENBAUM NICK WOOMER
students at the Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor
University of Michigan
Unless othenwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinlont of the
420 Maynard Street matorimm of the Dail's editorial boar. All other articles, letters and
Ann Arbor, Ml 48109 cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Dail.
A s the defendant in a lawsuit that could
determine the future of affirmative
action at colleges and universities nation-
wide, the University must maintain a com-
mitment to diversity in both word and
deed. Preliminary statistics indicating a
lower admissions rate for underrepresent-
ed minorities in this coming year's incom-
ing class cast doubt on how seriously the
University takes its status as an instrumen-
tal proponent of affirmative action.
The University defines an underrepre-
sented minority as black, Hispanic, or
Native American. While the number of
applications submitted by underrepresent-
ed minorities only decreased by seven in
the last year, the University admitted 100
fewer underrepresented minority appli-
cants during the same period. In 1995, 15
percent of the incoming class were under-
represented minorities. That number has
decreased to 13 percent for the years 1997
and 1998. While these figures only repre-
sent data processed by May 17 and may
Champion of diversifty?
Low admissions rate embarrassing for the 'U'
change, they still reflect a disturbing trend
that is occurring at a critical time. The
University must take steps to ensure that
the same mistake is not made next year.
Certainly, setting quotas for admissions
is undesirable, but steps can still be taken
to ensure that an acceptable percentage of
entering classes is comprised of underrep-
resented minorities.
Simply stepping-up recruitment of
underrepresented minorities throughout
the state may solve the problem. It is high-
ly unlikely that the University puts forth a
significant effort to promote itself in most
of the high schools where disadvantaged
underrepresented minorities tend to live
- in the inner cities or on reservations.
Rather, the University's efforts are concen-
trated on elite schools such as Cass
Technical or Renaissance High School in
Detroit, while other schools in the district,
like Cooley High School, are marginal-
ized. This attitude reflects a destructive
bias that has probably resulted in the loss
of many potential high-caliber students
with unique personal backgrounds.
In contrast to their suburban counter-
parts, underrepresented minority students
from economically disadvantaged areas
may have all but dismissed thoughts of
attending a college or university. But
awareness will only achieve so much when
the recruited completely lack the financial
means to enroll in the institution with the
highest tuition rate of any public universi-
ty in Michigan.
The University must investigate ways
to financially enable underrepresented
minorities so that they can enroll.
Increasing financial aid opportunities -
especially for in-state students, and hel
ing underrepresented minorities tap int
the network of available scholarships are
possibilities the University should consid-
er. Even with this type of assistance, some
students may still find it impossible to
afford four years at the University and
attend a less expensive institution instead.
Lowering, or freezing tuition may also be
part of the solution to increasing admis-
sions of underrepresented minorities.
As a national leader in the fight to
maintain diversity in higher education, tl
University ought to be embarrassed by th
slump in the admissions rate for underrep-
resented minorities. By allocating a little
more money towards financial aid and
recruiting efforts, the University ought to
be able to maintain respectably diverse
incoming classes.
Held back
Social promotion not a positive policy
Sworn out
Cursing prohibition violates civil liberties
I n January's State of the Union address,
President Clinton's desire to end social
promotion in all schools received biparti-
san support. Last month, the White
House proposed withholding federal
money from states that don't come up
with plans to end social promotion with-
in four years.
Social promotion is a policy that
allows underachieving students to be
automatically passed to the next grade,
regardless of their skill level. Educators
who support social promotion argue that
being held back is too damaging to a stu-
dent's self-esteem and confidence to be
effective. Their views are reinforced by
numerous studies which find that over
half of all retained students either drop
out of school or do worse than their peers
when they eventually advance to the next
grade. But social promotion results in stu-
dents passing through high school without
basic skills, or possibly even literacy: In
the long run, social promotion will have a
negative impact on a student's life.
The answer is making sure that stu-
dents who pass a grade have the appro-
priate skills. Obviously, this is not a goal
that is easy to obtain. Lawmakers can
start by making sure that all public school
districts have the appropriate funds and
training to teach their students.
And, on a positive note, many school
districts have increased funding and
training already. Chicago's Board of
Education spent $24 million on summer
programs designed to give kids one last
chance to pass their grade before the start
of the new school year. The city also
invested $10 million in hiring new teach-
ers specifically for tutoring retained stu-
dents. The attitude in Chicago shows that
being against social promotion doesn't
mean being in favor of holding kids back.
It means making sure they have the nec-
essary skills to advance.
Additionally, by sending the message
to students that they must have learned
certain skills to advance in school, an end
to social promotion could result in
increased efforts from students. AsTime
magazine reported, while studying the
Chicago system, Northwestern
University professor Fred Hess found
that the lack of a social promotion pro-
gram "instilled a new commitment to
learning among those kids who scored
well enough to be promoted." By show-
ing kids that they are in school to learn
and not to simply advance to the next
grade, an end to social promotion could
increase the attitude that students have
towards learning.
With presidential candidate and Texas
Governor George W. Bush making elimi-
nating social promotion a focal point of
his education agenda, it looks like social
promotion is finally receiving the criti-
cism it deserves. In addition to Bush's
plan, which requires third graders to pass
state reading and math tests, other urban
school districts such as Boston and
Philadelphia have started initiatives to
end social promotion.
While those in favor of social promo-
tion argue that holding students back is
more damaging than advancing them
without the necessary skills, this is sim-
ply not true. It is worse to allow kids to
pass through the school system without
preparing them for life after high school.
While social promotion may advance stu-
dents temporarily, eliminating mandatory
passage for students will help them
obtain the skills necessary to advance in
life.
n Michigan, swearing should land a
person with a $100 fine and 90 days
in jail - or so prosecutors in Standish,
Mich., a small town of about 1,400 resi-
dents, believe. Detroit-area resident
Timothy Boomer has been convicted
under a 102-year-old law forbidding
cursing in front of women and children.
A sheriff's deputy claims he could
have heard, from a quarter mile away,
the string of expletives Boomer
screamed after his canoe hit a rock and
he was dumped into the Rifle River.
Canoeing nearby was a family with two
young children.
The American Civil Liberties Union
provided a lawyer for Boomer and will
appeal his conviction. Prosecutors
argued that Boomer's profanity amount-
ed to "fighting words" which the courts
have deemed exempt from First
Amendment protection.
As with all government attempts to
regulate speech, Michigan residents
should reject prosecutors' attempts to
criminalize what has become common in
many modern conversations - be it
offensive to some or not. Such regula-
tions constitute the worst conceivable
assault on individual civil-liberties
because they target verbal speech that
has absolutely no socially destructive
potential.
Unlike hate speech, which some
would argue causes irreparable social
harm, expletives have been ingrained
into the vocabulary of the vast majority
of Americans and undoubtedly occupy a
specific cultural niche within American
society. Laws imposing restraints upon
common modes of expression are a
quintessential aspect of the worst
Orwellian nightmare scenarios.
District Judge Allen Yenior, who
presided over the trial, ruled earlier that
the law violates the equal protection
clause with regard to cursing in front of
women. This ruling only accentuates the
absurdity of a dated and puritanical law
that, in its original form, is blatantly sex-
ist as it equates women's sensibilitie
with those of children.
The remaining section of the law
seems equally illogical when ticket sales
have proven that PG-13 movies are now
typical American family fare. Whether
some believe it is a sign of decadence or
not, there is no denying that cursing has
become socially acceptable in most cir-
cles.
Boomer's conviction would set a teiO
rible precedent throughout the state. The
barriers between citizens and law
enforcement would only become more
accentuated, with people talking guard-
edly or not at all in the presence of
police for fear that an expletive could
land them jail time. Now that the law has
been unearthed, over-zealous decency
advocates have a weapon to impose their
moral agenda on entertainment venues
like concert halls and theaters.
The fundamental principles upon
which democratic society was founded
forbid government to take on the role of
a cultural policeman. Government's role
is to protect the rights of everyone rather
than promote the values of one group,
much less those of an obvious minority.
The Constitution does not guarantee the
right not to be offended but it does guar-
antee the right to free speech
Consideration for the sensibilities oo
others is certainly a laudable virtue, but
it is not one that the government should
enforce.