Jeremys ABs

Buchmann, C. (2010, December 01). Shadow Education: Theory, Analysis, and Future

Directions. Social Forces, 89(21), 483-490.

This article focuses on high school students and their preparation for the SAT along with other
college enrollment tests by students who are applying to be enrolled into their choice of
university. It hones in on the policies of affirmative action procedures in accepting students and
how minorities prepare for standardized testing. The minorities testing preparation may change
due how affirmative action policies affect their enrollment. This idea of shadow education
changes how colleges enroll minorities and look at their test performance. It also argues on how
more prestigious colleges will be more likely take in more privileged and famous students in
contrast to disadvantaged and no name families. Students who have enrolled in these schools
have also enrolled into more selective courses which statistically improve standardized testing
scores. The author suggests that shadow education should be a tool used designed to be able
to help all students. This provides a new approach on how a university can diversify its student
demographic. This will be useful in my argumentative research paper.

Question is what difference does it make in minorities preparation in SAT and ACT tests when
affirmative action is in place? It would make more sense that minorities would work harder to
achieve what they previously couldnt,

Bollinger, L. (2007, October). Why diversity matters. Education Digest, 73(2), 26-29.

Bollinger talks about the importance of diversity in a university setting and how it leads to a
continuum of social progress for minorities in universities. He continues this by continuously
reiterating on how affirmative action bans in past history have stopped social progress for said
minorities. He shows his concern for the future of students and education and is worried that the
United States is moving in a backwards direction for diversity and a more culturally informed
society. He comes up with the idea that employers want a more diversity workplace with the
creativity to match to share with colleagues, partners, customers, and leaders. Employers focus
on the rationale that students need the credentials and communication skills in order to be
successful in the workplace. Bollingers idea is that students should not be enrolled solely based
on their successes in high school and standardized testing scores. This article is a great
rhetorical analysis article that will help my argumentative research paper.
Question is when it comes to working in the workplace, what does race have to do with it? What
does it matter if you are a minority or white when it comes to working with others?
Henrichs, P. (2010). The effects of Affirmative Action bans on College Enrollment, Educational

Attainment, and the Demographic Composition of Universities.

This research paper by Peter Henrichs depicts the adverse effects on bans on affirmative action
would have on the minority population of students enrolling in university and their
demographics. He thoroughly explains this by saying how affirmative action bans have the
potential to discourage minority students from apply to university due to feeling inferior and
having no reason to stand a chance. He continues by saying it is neither clear, nor certain what
happens to these minority students who get crowded out from admissions. They have to choose
between going to college or choosing the second best option for them. His research shows
affirmative action bans have no effect on the typical student and the typical college but decrease
minority enrollment and increase white enrollment at more selective universities. Affirmative
action does not have a statistically significant on enrollment in universities that are less
competitive. At more selective universities though, it has a significant impact. The research
done in this study has good feedback on how I should approach my inquiry project.
Question is If affirmative action has no adverse effect in the majority population, why does it
matter to keep affirmative action when it only affects the most merited students?

Sams AB

Crosby, Faye J. Affirmative Action Is Dead: Long Live Affirmative Action. Yale University Press,

2004.
a) Affirmative action is dead is a book against affirmative action. The author

favors merit over affirmative action. The author discusses several reasons why

she herself opposes affirmative action. The author Faye Crosby is an American

social psychologist who got her Ph.D. at Boston university. She is now currently a

psychology teacher at the University of California Santa Cruz. The purpose of the

book was to oppose affirmative action. The author will receive a large number of

scholarly readers. But will probably not receive much attention from the lower

class. This may be somewhat counterproductive for the author because the lower

class is where affirmative action matters the most. The author receives the most

credibility because of her education level and her occupation. This may be

somewhat counterproductive for her credibility because her status is less relatable

to the general public.

b) Crosby writes Nor is affirmative action consistent, according to its critics, in

how it approaches the issue of skin color and disadvantage. At one time Asian

Americans were considered a targeted group; now Asian Americans often suffer

because of their phenomenal academic and professional successes, successes

achieved through hard work and dedication. Many consider it harder for an Asian

American student with excellent grades and high test scores to gain admission to

elite universities than it is for a member of any other group. The skin tone of Asian

Americans has not changed but their affirmative action status has (Crosby 38).

This quote is relatively easy to read. It is very relevant to our topic because it

opposes affirmative action and provides us with an argument supporting the side

of merit. It provides an instance where the once thought to be fairer way of

educating individuals has proven to be unfair. It fits with our current conversations

because it shows my side, I tend to favor parts of both sides but I think in the end I

side with merit a little more than I side with affirmative action. I think that it was a
good proposition of a solution to a very big problem at the time. Back when

affirmative action was set in place the south was still discriminating against

African American education. But now there is discrimination against all people in

some shape or form. And I think rather than repeating the past and increasing

further discrimination by allowing academic ability to be represented by the color

of ones skin. I think that universities should strive for a new system that give the

gifted and individuals of unfair circumstance equal opportunity regardless of their

sexual orientation, race, or gender. I dont think race should be a factor. I think

universities should do something more in-depth to access an individuals

childhood issues to learn about what obstacles mightve stood in their way.

c)

a. According to Crosby Probably the most cautious conclusion is that

some people, whether prominent opponents or average citizens, are

adamant in their condemnation of affirmative action as a violation of justice

principles, while many suspect, without total conviction, the unfairness

plays a part in most affirmative action plans (Crosby 39).

b. In Crosbys view Affirmative action does not consider gender and race

or ethnicity because of past wrongs. It examines gender and race and

ethnicity because of present wrongs. The present wrongs may or may not

be produced by present prejudices (Crosby 42).

c. Crosby says Some scholars see the micro-injustices as necessary

minor evils, rendered acceptable by the greater good affirmative action

aims to accomplish. My argument takes a different form. Instead of

picturing affirmative action as a tradeoff between micro-injustices and

macro-justice, my account focuses on the ways affirmative action can be

seen as more fair to all individuals than equal opportunity (Crosby 30).
Rotthoff, Kurt W. "Could Affirmative Action Be Efficient in Higher Education?" Economics

Letters. North-Holland, 09 Oct. 2007. Web. 7 Nov. 2017.

Rotthoff is a professor at Seton hall university. He wrote this article in 2007 when states were

banning affirmative action and replacing it with a completely new system. The author gives

himself ethos by quoting the United States Supreme court showing the reader that he is

knowledgeable about the topic he is discussing. He also then discusses the topic from an

economic point of view using terms and graphs to describe his argument. Giving insight onto

how knowledgeable he the author might be. The author writes about the pros of the current

system (affirmative action) and how reforming it, is harder than one might think. The author

believes that using affirmative action pushes colleges and employers to hire those they wouldnt

typically hire. The author emphasizes this when he writes This creates a down-stream demand

effect, causing schools that train future employees to also accept minority students over equally
qualified majority students. This incentive drives a school's desire to continue to use affirmative

action in the hiring process

This downstream demand means that two equally qualified candidates will be

considered unequal if one is a member of the protected class.

Much research has been done showing that even when schools are no longer allowed

to include affirmative action in the application process they continue to use instruments to

replicate it. This makes the screening of applicants more costly for the schools and has been

shown to be inefficient.

To do this they adjust admissions policies to reflect the hiring practices of firms. So

schools, like firms, will not view two equally qualified candidates the same, but will have an

incentive to accept the minority candidate.

I thought that the text was relatively easy to read. When the author did start referring to

the math and the graphs that brought him to his conclusions about the subject I found that

paragraph harder to understand. After reading this article I think that our question is still a valid

question to be asking today because we are living a time when schools are debating whether or

not to remove affirmative action. The writer suggests that affirmative action is necessary

because it allows minorities to have a better chance at getting into a harder school or get a

better job. While I think giving the minority these opportunities are a good thing I also believe

that there can be holes in this system which may leave some individuals out. Having read this

article I still side with the states that want to repeal or reform affirmative action. I think affirmative

action preys on the minority but overlooks some people who are the majority and may or may

not have been victims of circumstance. It seems like it is a very tough to make the playing field

equal. Especially since the players are so diverse. I think affirmative action offers a lot of

solutions for some but leaves a lot of unanswered questions for others. I believe that unless
there was a system that did extensive investigations on each individual, individuals will always

be unequal or in the eyes of their employer or college admittance board.

Smith, William A. Gender and Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Affirmative Action Attitudes of

U.S. College Students. The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 67, no. 2, 1998, pp. 127141.

JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2668223.

Smith is an ethnic studies professor at the University of Utah. He is a black man

which gives him credibility because it allows him to sympathize with himself and others of his

race about how they were discriminated against or treated unfairly in todays education system.

He also is a professor at a well know University and he is a professor of a subject that pertains

to affirmative action. His book The Journal of Negro Education discusses discriminations that

take place in education. And offers several avenues where this discrimination might be taking

place. The author also emphasizes several sides to the arguments and provides arguments

from students perspectives who might oppose affirmative action. The author stresses that

Differences in opinion can be better explained by an exploration of group resentments and

sympathies. For example, whites may oppose affirmative action because of bitterness they feel

towards blacks, while blacks may support affirmative action because they feel it to be
beneficially directed to their race (Smith 127).

Hence, a student may support affirmative action because he or she views it as a means

of achieving equality of opportunity; alternatively, a student may reject affirmative action

because it goes against deeply held beliefs about individualism and merit. (Smith 127).

That is, competitive self-interested white students are less likely to support programs or

policies that they do not believe benefit them. They tend to be opposed to affirmative action

because they believe they have more to lose by virtue of their social and academic status if

affirmative action policies and programs are implemented (Smith 129).

As a result they might contend that social inequality performs a beneficial purpose by

rewarding individual hard work and effort, and punishing individuals who violate this work ethic

with lower positions in the social economic hierarchy. Therefore, either institutional barriers or

individual deficits or a combination of both are generally proffered as the most significant

reasons for African Americans failure to achieve the so called American Dream of upward

social mobility (Smith 132).

The author of this journal uses complex language allows him to be concise about the

statements that he is making but also renders it difficult to read. I agree that affirmative action is

necessary but I think this author mainly focuses on the racial tension between blacks and

whites. Rather than discussing affirmative action. He also only uses comparisons between black

and whites judging by what I have read so far. And this makes his argument more about race

than about the benefits of affirmative action. I think that it would greatly improve his argument

supporting affirmative action if he pertained to other ethnicities, because everything is not just

black and white. And failure to do so disrupts his credibility. He basis the majority of his

argument off of the perspective of an African American. And I think it would behoove him to

gather perspectives and go more in depth on those perspectives. Here he just grazes the

subjects of other matters such as gender before going back and making it an issue between
whites and blacks. Overall though the journal was very well written and made solid arguments.

Miles First AB

Nankervis, Bryan. Economic-Based Affirmative Action in College Admission. Journal

of College Admission, Issue 225, p6-10, 2014.

This article was written by Bryan Nankervis, who writes about how selective
universities are for selecting their students. The author examines how 74% of
students at the most selective universities come from the top quarter
socioeconomically, while only 3% are from the bottom quarter. Some states,
along with the Supreme Court, have banned affirmative action in the higher-level
education to help prevent race-based admission policies, as most black and
Hispanic families represent the bottom two quarters economically. A study, from
Hinrichs 2009, shows that bans on race-based affirmative action in college
administration are resulting in greater underrepresentation of blacks and
Hispanics, while there is overrepresentation of whites and Asian Americans. This
article focuses on the administration plans for Texas and how these universities
administer their students and the current Top Ten Percent Plan in Texas. One
university described in the article is Texas A&M and their enrollment based on
race. According to this article, roughly 80% of people enrolled at Texas A&M are
white, 10% are Hispanic and 5% black. This shows how southern universities like
for more white people to be at their university that other races. Dr. Nankervis also
examines how the SAT is used in the administration process for most universities.
The SAT also correlates with the family income distribution. In conclusion, the
Texas universities do not do a good job of evenly distributing their college
diversity on campus by having a low number of students from the low-income
families.
in an attempt to create greater college campus diversity, it relies heavily on
segregated school districts to supply minority students for the flagship universities
Since, on average, whites and Asian Americans score much higher on the SAT
than do blacks and Hispanics, the shares of whites and Asian Americans in the
pool of college-bound students that score above 1300 in Texas, 66 percent and 22
 percent, respectively, are much greater than that of blacks and Hispanics, 2
percent and 10 percent, respectively
The current Top Ten Percent Plan in Texas is a blunt instrument that misses the
mark in terms of providing equitable access to college for low-income students
and creating diversity on campuses that approaches the demographics of the
college-bound population in Texas.
My question from this article is How can the Top Ten percent plan be solved in a
better way?. Based off this article and some research, I can find some interesting
points that I can use for my paper. This article was an easy read as it provided
information easily within the text. This source relates to our inquiry proposal as it
revolves around affirmative action and how it is a problem.

Miles Second AB
Katel, Peter. Affirmative Action: Is it time to end racial preferences?. CQ Researcher,
Issue 36, p. 841-864, 2008.
In this article, Peter Katel writes about how affirmative action has played a role in
how people get jobs and accepted into college. The author argues that it should be
time to end racial preferences so that each race has an equal chance for the same
opportunities. Peter emphasizes how affirmative action used to focus on job
hirings but over the recent years, affirmative action has focused more on
admission into schools. This has been in place for almost two decades and mainly
focuses on race, gender, and ethnic background for admissions. The author
examines how race has been a major part to affirmative action even after the civil
rights movement to outlaw discrimination against race, ethnicity or gender. Katel
believes that there should be no preferences that employers and schools offer to
people that have a difference race, national origin or gender. Affirmative action
appears to be an ad to help reform children in the K-12 schools as some schools
are giving a leg up to the minorities who can overcome odds at school.
According to this article, if a low-income student got the same score on the SAT
as a high-income student did, 63% of people would take the low-income student,
as they had to fight harder to get a good score. One part of the article talks about
forming equality and how there needs to be more equality for jobs and schools for
all races and ethnicities. There has always been the debate how affirmative action
has played a role in admitting students to universities due to racial preferences. In
conclusion, affirmative action has not been a big factor as of recently but
nevertheless, there needs to be an end to discrimination and there should be equal
opportunities for jobs and universities.
Race is central to the affirmative action debate because the doctrine grew out of
the civil rights movement and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed
discrimination based on race, ethnicity or gender.
Affirmative action has generated enormous conflict over the decades, played out
in a long chain of lawsuits and Supreme Court decisions
Racial preferences were openly discussed in the political arena as a tool to
equalize opportunities
My question to this article is How do we go through with a plan to prevent
affirmative action?. In some cases, it could be easier to prevent this in K-12
 schools but becomes bigger and more difficult to prevent in job opportunities and
universities. This article was an easy read as it was pretty easy to find the main
points of the article. This source relates to our inquiry proposal as it involves
affirmative action and how it is a problem and should be solved to have equal
opportunities for jobs and universities.
Miles Third AB
Leiter, Brian. Academic Ethics: Is Diversity the Best Reason for Affirmative Action?.
Chronicle of Higher Education, Issue 5, p. 1, 2017.
This article is written by Brian Leiter and he describes how the U.S. Supreme
Courts decision in 1978 to invalidate racial quotas, diversity has dominated
higher level education in America. Even before this decision in 1961, President
Kennedy wanted to end affirmative action so that there would be less
discrimination. Leiter emphasizes that human-resources experts pointedly argued
that diversity training and work-family programs were not affirmative-action
measures at all, but were there to increase productivity.. The author notes how
there have been arguments against affirmative action and how it has caused
grievance and became morally wrong. On the flip side, there have been arguments
for the justice of affirmative action and how sometimes it is just about the gain of
one person and the loss of another. The author describes the effects racial and
ethnic diversities on education. Research has shown that racial and ethnic
diversity has produced some positive education effects but for the most part, it
remains neutral with respect to other equally important ones. In conclusion,
affirmative action has played a role in the American history and how there have
been many effects from it, such as racial diversity.

diversity was good for capitalism and for education. Justice for the victims of
discrimination, or their descendants, largely dropped out of the national dialogue.
Individuals do not choose their race, though we might hope they choose their
political views, yet the post-Bakke consensus in higher education about diversity
is now being exploited on behalf of a chosen political ideology.
The justice argument for affirmative action, needless to say, offers nothing to
libertarians or scholars of Chinese philosophy, but it might remind us why
affirmative action arose in the first place and what grievous moral wrong it meant
to remedy
This article was a good read as it helped me gain even more knowledge about
affirmative action that I did not know previously. My question for this article is
that What are some other major reasons for affirmative action besides
diversity?. Even though this was a good read, this one was a difficult read as
sometimes it was difficult for me to understand what the author was trying to say,
which made it difficult for me to write about. All in all, this was a good article
and I am glad I found it. This article relates to our inquiry proposal as it talks
about how affirmative action plays a huge part in the history of America and in
some cases, still today.
Brian Nankervis Peter Katel Brian Leiter