While minorities have made great social strides in the United States in recent decades, many still experience disproportionately higher incidences of disease — especially cancer. The American Cancer Society is working to eliminate cancer disparities among minority populations and the medically underserved, a fact underscored by National Multicultural Cancer Awareness Week, which is April 15-21, 2007.

Sounds like more white people need to get cancer . . .

The issue of having less diversity in the management ranks than in the aggregate among the workforce is faced by virtually every company in America and is one for which we do not have a ready answer.

You don’t have a ready answer? I’ll give you one: From a management perspective, diversity, like outsourcing, is best implemented on some other sucker’s job.

The BCA asked each of the 28 schools that had job openings during the past year to complete a form that was analyzed by an outside firm. Any school that does not complete a form receives an F.

At USC, our traditional football rivalries are with UCLA and Notre Dame. Both of these schools have black head coaches and we kick their tails every year.

Last year’s scores:

USC 47, UCLA 22
USC 45, Notre Dame 14

More black head coaches!

Fight On!

The Football Argument

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Hall of Famer Paul Hornung said he won’t return to Notre Dame football radio broadcasts this season because of a flap over his comments that the school should lower its academic standards to recruit black athletes.

“The reason I’m not going to be on the air for my last year is because Notre Dame does not want me there,” Hornung told the South Bend Tribune for Sunday editions.

What Hornung said to cause the “flap” was this:

“We’re playing eight bowl teams next year . . . and it’s always year in and year out . . . one of the toughest schedules.

“You can’t play a schedule like that unless you have the black athlete today. You just can’t do it, and it’s very, very tough, still, to get into Notre Dame. They just don’t understand it, yet they want to win.”

The Diversity Argument

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that race can be a factor for universities shaping their admissions programs, saying a broad social value may be gained from diversity in the classroom.

This was a case involving admissions standards at the University of Michigan. The president of the university, Mary Sue Coleman, had this reaction:

“This is a wonderful, wonderful day — a victory for all of higher education, because what it means at its core is that affirmative action may still be used and the court’s given us a road map to get there.”

Strangely enough, there was no “flap” over Dr. Coleman’s remarks, even though she’s saying exactly the same thing as Hornung, i.e., we need to be able to admit black students under a lower set of academic standards than white students . . .

On average, black students who graduate from high school are equipped with the skills the average white student mastered by the eighth grade, according to federal tests.

— “Equal access to schools fails to equalize education,” USA Today

Blah blah blah . . .

A few months ago, the president of the University of Michigan stood on the steps of the Supreme Court after winning an affirmative action case and said what a wonderful, wonderful thing it is that in America, black students can still be held to a lower set of standards than white students.

And a lot of people agree with that. I don’t, but a lot of people do.

So — because kids will perform to the standards and expectations that are set for them — this academic skills gap is what we’re going to end up with. There’s no reason to sit around scratching our noggins over what’s causing it, or how to fix it.

Lack of Funding

Though more money doesn’t guarantee a better education, poor students suffer when per-child spending on them falls well below the national average. Typically, that means they won’t get the extra resources they need, such as reading tutors and high-quality preschools. Last year, schools spent an average $8,260 per student, excluding school construction. By contrast, Albuquerque spent only $5,399 per student. A district in Dillon, S.C., part of a lawsuit by rural schools that claims the state denies the schools adequate funding, spent $6,332 per student.

— USA Today

First of all, even $5,000 per student seems like a lot of money to me.

Let’s do the math: $5,000 times, let’s say, 30 students in a class is $150,000. Subtract out the teacher’s salary and the price of some chalk and you should still have a lot of money left over.

So schools are not being run in a cost-effective manner.

But that is not an easy problem to solve, so let’s frame the problem a different way . . .

I live in Irvine, CA. The school district is ranked in the 98th percentile nationally, while spending only $4,915 per student, $3,345 below the national average.

We also have large class sizes. My son’s 5th grade class has 34 students.

The difference between Irvine, CA, and Dillon, S.C., is that Irvine parents don’t stand around pissing their pants and suing people. They read to their kids, they help the kids with homework, they volunteer in the classroom . . .

CAT/6 testing starts next week. If you go to a local bookstore to buy a CAT/6 prep book, you’ll find that they sold out weeks ago.

My kid’s school also asks parents to kick in an extra $200 a year to make up for funding shortfalls.

Your kid’s education isn’t worth a little extra time and money to you? Then please shut your piehole . . .

Not everybody’s born on a level playing field.

That is undeniable. I, for example, was born in a hospital . . .

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that race can be a factor for universities shaping their admissions programs, saying a broad social value may be gained from diversity in the classroom.

The Fairness Argument

If it was unfair when we used to discriminate against blacks and Jews, don’t tell me it’s fair now to discriminate against whites and Jews.

The Diversity Argument

What sort of “value” is gained from “diversity” in the classroom? Are universities to be run like petting zoos, where interesting and unusual creatures are assembled for the amusement of the white kids?

The “Who, Me?” Argument

I understand the desire to make amends for past inequities, to be punitive even, but at whose expense? Mine? My kid’s? Why? We didn’t have anything to do with it, and I don’t really feel like taking the hit for it.