Russian = URM?

[nika22]

can't speak for amelus, but i thought he/she was rather clear in stating that URM status appears to be largely political and not a product of social location (which is problematic)

the bottom line is overcoming adversity- and not every immigrant or URM has done such

that's what i took from amelus's post at least

[amelus]

wow, blunts, your response pretty much ignores everything i wrote.  

my line of reasoning does not say every immigrant should be considered a urm.  i specifically addressed that in the last post.  just because it is complex doesnt mean we shouldnt try to make who qualifies for a urm more representative of what groups are underrepresented.  at the moment we are at as simplistic and innaccurate a way of determining urm as can be, and that is largely because of the political reality.  we should strive for a process based more in the social reality.

[TrojanChispas]

then you are saying that the definition of URM should be changed to an individual designation?

[amelus]

huh?  i just dont know which part of my post you got that from.  maybe something i wrote was unclear. just quote the part that gave you that impression and i'll be able to respond better, but in short, no, i never said that or meant that.  i did just the opposite.  i distinguished between urm and individual hardships as two seperate categories that you, ruskie, and others seem to lump together into a policy that is inconsistent and does not make much sense.

[TrojanChispas]

what would you ideally like to see URM defined as? you know where i stand but i am still unclear on where you ustand

[UMHBmom]

I thought that it was already common practice for schools in different regions to define URM in different ways? I know that when it comes to discussing Asians, their URM status varies edpending on region. For example, I would clearly not get any preference in American Japan...er....California, but here in TX (Waco, specifically), Asians are specifically defined as URM. From Baylor's diversity statement:
Minority candidates are strongly encouraged to apply to Baylor Law School.  We recognize that many racial and ethnic minorities are under-represented in the legal profession, and therefore, minority status may be considered as a “plus factor” in the context of individualized consideration of each and every applicant.  Groups of people who are classified as racial minorities for affirmative action purposes include the following: Latino/Hispanic/Chicano; Black/African American; Asian/Pacific Islander; and Alaskan/Native Indian.
I also believe that Asians get URM status in most of the midwest. I was wondering about Howard University, though. As an historically black college, all of the other races are under-represented in each entering class. Should whites get URM status at that school in order to encourage a more diverse class, or should URM status still include African-Americans because they are still under-represented legally, even in the region that the school serves?

Blunts: Amelus is kinder than I am. You're an idiot. He broke it down to third-grade reading level just for you and you still didn't understand his point. No one said you had to agree but to keep repeating the same obvious lack of understanding with your "holes" "argument" (I'm baffled as to which one deserves the air quotes more) makes me wonder how you did or will fare on the LSAT with your pitiful level of reading comprehension.

Point made:

Amelus-

many groups, different groups of immigrants being a prime example, deserve urm status since they fit within the true purpose of urm, giving different groups that are not properly represented at law schools the neccessary representation.

i highly doubt every immigrant would be a urm.

my point is that the reason that african-american should get urm and not the jewish person is because jews are represented plenty within law schools. african americans are not. they need representation. i dont care about personal background when it comes to URM.

Blunts' sad response-

bottom line: under your definition every immigrant would be considered a URM and be given preference. i think this is wrong...have you seen the holes on your reasoning?

[amelus]

 

I don't always give a lot of thought to what I post, "wild assumptions" included. 

i ignore a lot of posters on this board for this reason.  i didnt know you wanted to be included in the category of people who just babble incessantly and constantly write ridiculous things (you've probably typed a good 3 to 5 pages on the subject and yet want people to think you are putting no thought into it?)

the fact that i took the time to delineate exactly why i was bothered with what you wrote was because i actually thought in general you have valuable and substantive points.

i will say that for someone who has no problem calling everyone an angry white guy (wild assumption) with no thought put into that cheap and reinforcing-stereotypes comment, you sure do have a problem with people telling you that you were out of line.

[maricutie]

Oh Lord.  Boy, do I know what you mean - that is totally awful.  I'm actually living in Ireland right now, and here those same stereotypes of the Asian sexual woman/prostitute really flow out to all minority women.  I was out in the city centre of Dublin a couple weeks ago with a Latina friend of mine, and we were like SERIOUSLY harassed.  Like, we were afraid to leave the restaurant.  I get propositioned all the time here because African women are thought to be sexually promiscuous.  I know Asian women get it across the globe, though...and I can't believe that guy actually thought he had something to brag about!  Oy, how disgusting.

This brought to mind the experience of my white/italian friend who was studying in Europe for some time with an Asian friend of hers. Apparently, all European men have a foreign fetish -- this Asian friend would get looks everywhere she went, to the point of being really distracting. I've heard it happens with other races as well.

I'm divided. On the one hand I like that women of color are being thought of as beautiful -- as long as it's respectful. It's kinda like, finally!, an alternative to the anglo-western notion of beauty! But I'm also wary that this kind of attraction is being fed on by pre-concieved notions of sexuality, like the "Asian fetish" referred to above.

[BAFF213]

You make a good point.

I will whole-heartedly agree that Hispanics and African Americans are woefully under-represented (the ratio of representative lawyers with respect to the general population is terrible), but this is a fact with many other groups, too, some of which happen to be Asian, some of which happen to be white. If the sole purpose is to promote more African American and Hispanic lawyers because they are the "right" color, and if this is done to the detriment of other cultural groups because they are the "wrong" color, then this is the very definition of reverse discrimination. Frankly- and I realize that I'm going to sound inflammatory at this point but see no politically correct way to say this- I don't believe that universities are in the business of making social reparations. The purpose is to ensure that what is IN the schools accurately reflects what is OUTSIDE of the schools. As such, immigrant representatives need special consideration regardless of skin color.

[no name]

Ok, so maybe being Russian is not really a minority, cuz you're still white.  But does being Russian (or just an immigrant in general) help in the admission process or no?