Steve Benson for December 13, 2015

I knew Scalia was an anti-gay, snide, mean old man, but that one caught me off guard for some reason. It’s time he either retire or be impeached. Bigotry has no place on the bench.

Bruce4671: —Actually, the criteria in place for UT are that the top 10% of the senior class for each Texas High School are automatically admitted. These students are definitely not getting into UT " …on the basis of race rather than on other qualifications."—Note also that, beyond the upper 10% program (which is race blind) UT has a supplemental affirmative action program which uses race as one factor. . From The York Times, 10 Dec 2015” He (Scalia) was addressing Gregory G. Garre, the lawyer defending the University of Texas at Austin’s affirmative action policy, which supplements the automatic admission of top-ranking students from all high schools across the state with the use of race as one factor in a “holistic” approach to admissions.In asking such a pointed question, Mr. Scalia was stepping into a long debate over what has been called the mismatch theory of college admissions.The proponents of the “mismatch effect” say that large allowances based on a student’s race are harmful to those who receive them, that they learn less than they would if they attended a college more closely matched to their level of academic preparation, receive lower grades, become academically discouraged and socially segregated. Critics say that the “mismatch” research is based on flawed assumptions that cannot be validated by other researchers, and that the evidence is more likely to show that all students, regardless of race, benefit from enrolling at the most challenging college that will accept them."

Clarence Thomas complained that he could not get a position at law firms after his graduation from top notch schools. He blamed this on affirmative action, saying that there was a perception that he only got onto the school BECAUSE he was black.Ruth Bader Ginsberg could not get a position at a law firm because she was a woman. Thomas could not get a position because he was black, not an affirmative action issue.

I have it on good authority that Justice Thomas said nothing.

This is the transcript, but it’s just a segment of an hour and 1/2 dialog:

I saw many abuses of “affirmative action” that did the parties involved no real favors when the person (racial, ethnic, and for women, actually) wasn’t actually qualified for the job. Clarence Thomas is the most prominent example that also damaged the country and the Court.

Getting into schools to be able to compete is however a factor of “affirmative action” where the most good for the individual and nation, gives that individual a chance to grow,and succeed, on their own merit and effort. The fault comes in rejecting qualified non-minority folks from the same opportunity. There must be a fair balance.

A long while ago, I worked at an ivy league university and one of the perks was being able to audit courses that I was interested in. I went for the entire semester of an infinite series math course and was surprised when the final exam was reviewed the week before it was given.When I worked for a state university, I had the same experience of finding that many of the private school students who could not get into the private university of their choice were. in fact, in need of remedial courses at the state university

My own opinion is that Harvard’s reputation is a little overblown. The graduate programs there are excellent, mostly, but others I know of are just as good. I was an undergraduate at Cornell, and I think for me it was better than Harvard would have been, and less stuck up, as well. I wasn’t a rich kid, and I don’t think I would have liked the rich kid atmosphere at Harvard. Cornell was much less stuck up. I had friends at Harvard, and I don’t think their programs were any better than the program at Cornell. There are lots and lots of good colleges, and some of the smaller liberal arts schools do a fine job. What I did like about Harvard when I was there was that all the best people in my field would come to give seminars; that was exciting.

I’m currently doing advisory work at the ivy league college that I rejected when I graduated high school, to go to a big name engineering school. I was in the top 5% at my high school graduation, but when I went to that college, I discovered, so were all my classmates ,and after 2 semesters my GPA was not high enough to maintain my scholarship. I took a year off and worked construction, taking all the overtime I could get, to pay for another semester’s tuition in the hope that I could get my GPA back up to snuff. It was not to be. I found that many of the courses at the engineering were taught by TA s that were not fluent in English, and had limited office hours as they were busy with their thesis or defense. The lectures were great but not always live … video taped. I finished my undergraduate and graduate degrees at state universities, where I was able to spend more time with tenured professors. I worked in manufacturing for many years and was asked to do some teaching, while I was taking courses to become familiar with current technologies. I elected to do that and found ,that if I had it to all over again, teaching would have been my first choice. One of the other professors at the state university, went to the ivy league college that I rejected and said it was the best decision of her life as it provide all the skills that she needed to get her engineering doctorate.

Is that good or bad?

Had two professors who asked me to go to Berkeley for a PhD in physics, my wife said we needed a job and money – she won, and it was a good choice.

Husrice Thomas , from what I’ve read, can’t even write a good brief. But he alsways votes Republican.

I remember reading that Thomas was fine using affirmative action for himself, but later denied it to other blacks and minorities. And he very ever writes on a court decision because…ZZZZZ.