posted by Mr. Carlisle at 11:29 AM
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
About Me
- Name: Mr. Carlisle
- Location: Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm a native South Carolinian and I attained my undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Carolina. I taught fourth grade for two years in the Mississippi Delta and two years at an alternative high school in Western North Carolina. I have been at Tigard High School since the fall of 2003, where I teach U.S. History and Psychology.
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17 Comments:
I think it is obvious that economically stable people have more opportunities to getting into good colleges.
2:46 PM
Do you think that a lack of diversity at elite colleges/universities is not a good thing?
2:54 PM
It's not a good thing because then the poor people would not have as much opportunities as the rich people, which will increase the gap between the poors and the riches. And America is supposed to provide equal opportunities to everyone, right?
3:34 PM
His name is Marx! It's a communist plot!
But seriously, mad props to Amherst for this. Finally something is being done. The backlash from the upper-class will be immense if this spreads.
4:10 PM
I think it is wrong that the more poor people have a disadvantage when it comes to getting into a private college. This is connected to the affirmative action discussion. If the student is the most qualified, they should get in no matter what.
4:32 PM
I think diversity is an important way of judging a college to see if it is somewhere you are interested in. You can see behind what they say they are doing, and look at what they are actually doing. I have gotten many college pamphlets that say how diverse they are, but in their stats, they are mostly upper-class students. Amherst is doing a great thing and I hope others follow.
5:40 PM
Do you think major colleges would actually implement a system that would help lower-class students though??
I think at the end of the day the focus has to be on changing the way the majority of these students are brought up. The family/parents are focused on other things, and learning is not emphasized. A stable learning environment is not created, and I think that colleges should work to change this before implementing major changes.
5:47 PM
GVD,
I don't think its the responsibility of colleges to make the type of deep societal changes you described in your comment. I think the gov't should ensure that ALL students, regardless of income have the best educational opportunities possible.
That being said, schools can't solve every problem.
5:59 PM
Yeah I agree. For sure.
It just seems like most/all students do have those opportunities, from first grade all the way to 12th though...
6:10 PM
I agree with Ivan, no matter what, regardless of the situation, if your more qualified then you should get into the college of your choice. Race and economic status should have nothing to do with the selection process.
Anthony N.
7:24 PM
But Anthony, what if you're a poor person who supports their family, gets good grades in school, does some community services and studies hard to get a good score in the SAT in order to get into a prestigous school... But then you get outshone by this upper class person who only got in because they never had to work for money and thus had more time for community service and their parents loaded all the possible SAT classes they could onto them...
To you, who would you rather have get into the school? And even if the richer person got in... What's the lesson in this?
Doesn't it show that it won't matter if you slave away and work hard to try and go to a better college and therefore get a more profitable job because the person who inherits the better situation will always win. Does this influence lower class citizens to stop trying to get into prestigous colleges?
8:06 PM
Brett, this is not an attack on you or anything, but the world doesn't care WHY someone is better or worse than the rest, whoever gets it done will get more opportunities. Who wants someone less qualified to work for them just because they came from a harder situation than others? I'd rather have the best work for me whether they come from a rich or poor family.
10:07 PM
That's not good. The only difference is that the less privileged kid probably has to do that.
10:31 PM
Matt, the point is that people SHOULD care. I'd rather have the less qualified person that came from a harder situation honestly. It would feel good to help them see a payoff for their hard work, plus there wouldn't be any need to doubt their work ethic. I think it's necessary to look below the surface before judging who is the best candidate for enrollment/employment.
4:48 PM
Turzillo, are you suggesting that upper class students have a bad work ethic? Do people have to come from a hard situation to have a strong work ethic?
Bret and Jack, I'd like to be on your side but unfortunately I agree with Merckling. I'd rather have the person who is more qualified to work for me. If that just happens to be someone who came from a harder background then that just makes it all the better.
7:55 PM
Obviously I'm not saying rich people have a bad work ethic. But if rich people want to achieve, for example, SAT Score X, they won't have to work nearly as hard to get it as impoverished people will. What I'm saying is students who come from tough situations ARE more qualified because they've had to work harder to succeed. Obviously, Harvard isn't going to accept any person off the street if they're poor, but I think they should value a poorer person's qualifications more than a rich person's. Basically, if you value work ethic at all, you're making a mistake by looking only at qualifications like test scores, etc.
8:16 PM
Yes, I agree with Jack. Rich people may have work ethic, but poor people have had more experience in working harder to get what they want. Plus, standardized testing like the SAT doesn't really judge how much more qualified student A is over student B, it just judges who is better at standardized testing. Even if the rich person got a better score than the poorer person on the SAT, the poorer person has qualifications that can only come from living an impoverished life.
8:52 PM
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