The Observer, September 22, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 4
In Other News
Big step for gay rights at Missouri State
Missouri State University's board voted 5-3 last Friday to bar bias toward sexual orientation. The issue has been debated for years. MSU is now one of 562 colleges that bar bias based on sexual preference.
The university's former president, John Keisier, had opposed the change, saying that it was unnecessary. A letter written by the president was found where he called homosexuality a "biological perversion." He also said that he "always believed that homosexual or lesbian acts are intrinsically disordered, contrary to natural law, and cannot be approved."
The change was made to Missouri State's non-discrimination statement, determining what will not be considered when evaluating potential students or employees. It added sexual orientation and political affiliation to a list already including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, and veteran status.
The professors and faculty overwhelmingly approved the change. However, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt described the change as "unnecessary and bad," saying that students of diverse backgrounds already felt comfortable on the campus.
Five students shot at Duquesne University
Five Duquesne students, all basketball players, were shot at 2:15 a.m. last Sunday leaving a dance sponsored by the Black Student Union at the student union. Four of the students were in their first year.
The shooting took place near student residence halls. Many students were outside and saw the shooting.
The suspect is not a Duquesne student, but he was believed to have attended the dance. The dance was open to all Duquesne students, to members of local black student unions, and to guests of any of the invited groups.
The suspect was part of a group of students who attended the dance, and he opened fire on the basketball players when his group encountered the players after the dance. Some report that another person presented a gun during the shooting.
Two students were released from the hospital that same day, but three remained in the hospital longer, one in critical condition.
University of Texas might lose a controversial admission policy
The Senate subcommittee on higher education is considering temporarily discontinuing a University of Texas admission policy that guarantees admission to Texas students graduating in the top 10 percent of their class. The committee hopes that this suspension will show which colleges are trying to enroll a diverse class in good faith.
Texas was the first state to develop a program of this kind. Its purpose is to give students coming from historically underperforming high schools a chance. It was implemented in 1997 after a U.S. Court of Appeals decision making affirmative action illegal in Texas. The ruling was later overtaken by the Supreme Court.
While some university officials say the rule hurts the chances of talented students who are not in the top ten percent, Senator Royce West, who proposed the moratorium, supports the rule. "I'm still behind the program 100 percent because kids in the state know what they have to do to get into our colleges. We have predictability," West said. "It's our responsibility to educate our own students first."
Professor suspended for offensive test question
Professor Peter Ratener at Bellevue Community College, near Seattle, set up a series of test questions with some information that read: "Condoleezza holds a watermelon just over the edge of the roof of the 300-foot Federal Building, and tosses it up with a velocity of 20 feet per second…"
The question was first given on a test in 2004 without incident, but the backlash came when another professor used it on a practice test. Students took the name Condoleezza to be Condoleezza Rice, and took the combination of her name with a watermelon to be a racist suggestion.
Ratener has apologized and said that the question was originally written with the name Gallagher instead of Condoleezza, who is a comedian known to smash watermelons. He frequently uses celebrity names on exams to help students relax, and changed the name when he realized not many students recognized Gallagher. Condoleezza is "a fascinating name to me," Ratener said.
The college found that he should be suspended for a week without pay. He issued a formal apology for not catching his own mistake.
Princeton, Harvard end early decision
Princeton ended its early decision option Monday, a week after Harvard announced its own identical change. This led to increased buzz in the academic community about whether or not more schools will follow suit. However, some experts say that because schools like Princeton and Harvard are in a league so far above most universities, that the idea is impossible, or very hard, for other colleges to implement.
The idea behind the eradication of the early decision program is that it is found to favor students who are financially advantaged. These students are more likely to be informed about the program and the advantages of applying early, and are also less likely to be reliant upon scholarship and financial aid information that only comes in the spring.
Students from lower income households are somewhat barred from the process in many cases, especially when the decision is binding, because they are unable to compare the aid packages between schools before making a decision. For many students, the aid package is the deciding factor.
Administrators also hope that it will reduce the pressure on students to make college decisions in their junior year and that it will make the whole admissions process more relaxed for prospective students and families.
