Alternatives to Affirmative Action

Alternatives to Affirmative Action Free Online Research Papers Affirmative Action is one of the most controversial policies ever enacted by the United States government. Under Affirmative Action, women, African Americans, and other minorities are given preferential treatment when they apply for jobs and/or admission to college. In some cases, this has meant that qualified applicants who are white males have been passed over in favor of less qualified minority or female applicants. Those who support Affirmative Action claim that the policy is necessary to overcome centuries of previous discrimination and other disadvantages that minorities and women have faced. Those who oppose the policy point out that that Affirmative Action is just another form of discrimination, except in this case it is discrimination that is deliberately directed against white males. Opponents of Affirmative Action also claim that the policy lowers academic standards and takes away from the accomplishments of truly qualified women and minorities. Affirmative Action programs have significantly improved diversity on America’s college campuses. However, there have been many legal and legislative challenges to preferential treatment based on race (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2002, Executive Summary). Various alternatives to the quotas and preferential treatment of minorities under Affirmative Action have been proposed, including the alternative of ending Affirmative Action altogether. An acceptable alternative would need to provide opportunities for minority students without discriminating against white males. Californias approach to admissions Schools in California are prohibited by state law from using race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin as criteria for college admission (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2002, Chapter Two Percentage Plans). California has tried several different admission policies for its University system. Under one plan, no less than 50 percent to 75 percent of students would be admitted based solely on their academic achievements. This plan was phased out and replaced with a plan that provided automatic admission for students who graduated in the top 4 percent of their high school class. This plan was replaced in November 2001 with a plan in which students were considered not just for grades and test scores, but also for evidence of such qualities as motivation, leadership, intellectual curiosity, and initiative (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Chapter Two Percentage Plans). Each of these plans shows promise. Percentage plans provide some guarantee that non-minority students will not be discriminated against on the basis of their race. At the same time, these plans also provide a way for minority students who might not otherwise qualify for admission to be considered. The 4 percent plan rewards the best students for their accomplishments without penalizing other students. Although the percentage plans are not perfect, they are more fair than systems that place more emphasis on race than they do on academic achievement. Texas Top Ten Texas guarantees college admission to the top ten percent of students from every graduating class (Watson Levin, 2004). Like the California plan, the Texas Top Ten plan guarantees that no highly qualified students will be passed over on the basis of race. The plan does not, however, guarantee that lower achieving students will have equal access. Unfortunately, the Texas plan has resulted in some problems. The plan makes no distinction between students from higher achieving schools and students from schools that are less rigorous. Some top ten students are arriving at college to find that they are not prepared. Universal Admissions Another possible alternative to Affirmative Action would be to allow all students who want to attend college to do so. Under the current system, a college education is a privilege, not a right. A universal admission policy would change that and would provide all students with the right to a college education, just as all children in the United States are now entitled to a free education in grades Kindergarten through High School. One of the arguments made for Affirmative Action is that minority students can succeed when they are given the chance. Lower admission standards for minorities are designed to compensate for any lack of educational opportunities these students may have had while they were growing up. The theory is that once these students are provided with the same opportunity, they will be able to catch up. A universal admission policy would eliminate all academic and other criteria for college admissions and allow all students, regardless of their past academic performance, to attend college. Under a universal admission policy, the only criteria that would be applied would be whether the student could afford to pay for classes. This may seem unfair to some. However, students who could not afford tuition could qualify for scholarships, grants, and loans just as they do now. One potential problem with a universal admission plan is the lack of space at colleges. If everyone is allowed to attend for at least one year, then it is possible that there would not be enough teachers and other resources to go around. However, this problem could be solved through the use of Community Colleges, distance learning, and other alternatives. Universal admission is the only truly fair way to provide equal opportunity to all students. It eliminates the bias of Affirmative Action and allows students who may have performed poorly in high school to have at least a chance to prove that they can succeed in college. References U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (2002). Chapter Two-Percentage Plans Beyond Percentage Plans: The Challenge of Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. Retrieved on October 12, 2004, from usccr.gov/pubs/percent2/ch2.htm U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (2002). Executive Summary. Beyond Percentage Plans: The Challenge of Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. Retrieved on October 12, 2004, from usccr.gov/pubs/percent2/summ.htm Watson, B. and Levin, M. (2004) The Texas Top Ten Percent Rule: Bad Policy, Good Politics. Austin Review. July 9, 2004. Retrieved on October 12, 2004, from texastop10.princeton.edu/publicity/AustinReview070904.pdf Research Papers on Alternatives to Affirmative ActionStandardized Testing19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesPETSTEL analysis of IndiaCapital PunishmentHip-Hop is ArtPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyOpen Architechture a white paperWhere Wild and West Meet

The Future Perfect Tense in Italian

The Future Perfect Tense in Italian â€Å"In two years, I will have learned Italian.† How do you express a sentence like that in Italian? You use a tense called il futuro anteriore, or the future perfect tense in English. You’ll notice that it looks similar to the il futuro semplice, the simple future tense, but has an extra addition. Here’s what that sentence above will look like: Fra due anni, sarà ² riuscito/a ad imparare l’italiano. If you’re familiar with the future tense, you’ll notice the â€Å"sarà ²Ã¢â‚¬ , which is the first person conjugation of the verb â€Å"essere - to be†. Immediately after, you’ll see another verb â€Å"riuscire - to succeed at/to be able to† in a past participle form. (If you’re not sure a past participle is, take a look at this article. It’s basically just the form a verb changes to when you need to talk about something that happened in the past. Other examples you might recognize are â€Å"mangiato† for the verb â€Å"mangiare† and â€Å"vissuto† for the verb â€Å"vivere†.) I’ll give you a few examples first and then we’ll break down how you can start forming and using the futuro anteriore. Esempi Alle sette avremo gi mangiato. - By seven well already have eaten.Noi avremo parlato al padre di Anna. - We will already have spoken to Annas father.Marco non à ¨ venuto alla festa, sar stato molto impegnato. - Marco didn’t come to the party, he must have been very busy. When to Use It Typically you’ll use this verb tense when you’re talking about an action in the future (like you having already eaten) before something else happens (like it being 7 PM). You can also use it when you’re unsure about something that’s happening in the future or that happened in the past, like you thinking that the reason Marco didn’t come to the party was because he was busy. In this case, other words that you could use instead of forming the futuro anteriore would be â€Å"forse - maybe†, â€Å"magari - maybe† or â€Å"probabilmente - probably†. How to Form the Futuro Anteriore As you saw above, the futuro anteriore is created when you combine a future tense conjugation (like sarà ²) with a past participle (like riuscito), which makes it a compound tense. To be more specific though (and easier on you), there are only two verbs that you can use in the future tense conjugation spot, and they are the auxiliary verbs avere or essere. Take a look at the two tables below that show you the future tense conjugations for the verbs â€Å"essere - to be† and â€Å"avere - to have†. Essere - To Be Sar - I will be Saremo - We will be Sarai - You will be Sarete - You all will be Sar - He/she/it will be Saranno - They will be Avere - To Have Avr - I will have Avremo - We will have Avrai - You will have Avrete - You all will have Avr - He/she/it will have Avranno - They will have How Do You Choose Between â€Å"Essere† and â€Å"Avere†?| When you’re deciding which auxiliary verb to use either â€Å"essere† or â€Å"avere† you use the same logic as you would when you’re choosing â€Å"essere† or â€Å"avere† with the passato prossimo tense. So, as a quick reminder, reflexive verbs, like sedersi - to sit oneself, and most verbs that are related to mobility, like â€Å"andare - to go†, â€Å"uscire - to go out†, or â€Å"partire - to leave†, will be paired with â€Å"essere†. Most other verbs, like â€Å"mangiare - to eat†, â€Å"usare - to use†, and â€Å"vedere - to look†, will be paired with â€Å"avere†. Andare - To Go Sar andato/a - I will have gone Saremo andati/e - We will have gone Sarai andato/a - You will have gone Sarete andati/e - You (all) will have gone Sar andato/a - He/she/it will have gone Saranno andati/e - They will have gone Mangiare - To Eat Avr mangiato - I will have eaten Avremo mangiato - We will have eaten Avrai mangiato - You will have eaten Avrete mangiato - You (all) will have eaten Avr mangiato - He/she/it will have eaten Avranno mangiato - They will have eaten Esempi Quando avrà ² finito questo piatto, verrà ² da te. - When I will have finished this dish, I will go to your place.Sarai stata felicissima quando hai ottenuto la promozione! - You must have been/I imagine you were happy when you got the promotion!Appena avrà ² guardato questo film, te lo darà ². - As soon as I have watched this movie, I will give it to you.Riuscirai a parlare l’italiano fluentemente quando avrai fatto molta pratica. - You will succeed at speaking Italian fluently when you will have practiced it a lot.Appena ci saremo sposati, compreremo una casa. - As soon as we are married, we will buy a house.