Monday Money: When All Else Fails, ASK!

One of the most common trends I see working as a writing counselor is students’ lack of confidence in their writing.  Many students enter the office looking and feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, and unconfident.  Oftentimes, they were too afraid to go to their TA or professor prior to making an appointment because the instructors were intimidating or they had given the students negative and/or unhelpful feedback before.

Today I want to encourage all of you students out there (confident or unconfident) to ASK QUESTIONS! Whether its from a TA, a friend, a peer counselor, a mentor, a classmate–you name it! Asking questions is a vital component of growth not only in our writing but also in our daily lives.  Without asking questions, we are often left confused, stressed, and scatterbrained.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions whether or not you feel they are a “dumb question” or an irrelevant one.  EVERY QUESTION YOU HAVE DESERVES TO BE ANSWERED!

So I encourage y’all to ask away!! It will take you far in life

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill

American Cultural Literacy: Pride goeth before a fall

“Pride goeth before a fall”

PROVERB

People who are overconfident or too arrogant are likely to fail.

Daily Word: Acquiescence

ac·qui·es·cence

[ak-wee-es-uhns]

noun

1. the act or condition of acquiescing  or giving tacit assent;agreement or consent by silence or without objection;compliance (usually followed by to  or in ): acquiescence to hisboss’s demands.

2. Law . such neglect to take legal proceedings for such a longtime as to imply the abandonment of a right.

American Cultural Literacy: “Shot in the arm”

“Shot in the arm”

IDIOM

Something that boosts one’s spirits: “After my recent financial troubles, that raise was a real shot in the arm.”

Daily Word: Kvetch

Kvetch

v.

to complain.

Free-Speech Friday: Bill Gates’ Speech at a Harvard Graduation

 

Today I chose to share a speech that multi-billionare Bill Gates gave at a Harvard Graduation. I personally am extremely grateful to Bill Gates because of his dedication to assisting underrepresented communities by financially supporting them via his Gates Milleniunm Scholarship.

If you listen to both clips, you will see his comical personality and just how inspirational he is. Enjoy

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill

 

The Resurrection of Affirmative Action?

Affirmative Action. It is one of the most controversial issues currently up for debate in the higher education system  (second only to the issue of fee increases). Currently, affirmative action is deemed unlawful for admissions considerations in the UC system; it was solidified with the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996 which prohibited state government institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity in public employment and public education. The effects of Prop 209 on minority students have been significant; after the ban was adopted the number of Black, Latino and American Indian students admitted to the systems most notable schools,UCLA and UCB, dropped by 50% . There has been a recent student movement through various organizations such as the University of California Student Association (UCSA) to repeal Prop. 209 and have affirmative action reinstated in the admissions process. With strong opinions of both sides, and neither side necessarily being right or wrong, the real question is: Should the UC consider race in the admissions process?

In my opinion, I believe that race should be considered in the admissions process.  We hear time and time again that we live in a post-racial society and everyone has an equal chance at success but in reality this is not entirely true. Just on the UCLA campus alone only roughly 0.6% American Indian, 4.4% African American/Black, and 15.59% Chicano/Latino students are enrolled while the rest of the campus is comprised of Asian and White Non-Hispanic people (however 6.2% of students are unaccounted for  because their ethnicity was either unknown, unstated, or other).  If this is how it is on our campus, I can only imagine what the ethnic demographic is like on the other 10 UCs. The fact of the matter is our UC campuses are not representative of the richly diverse demographic of California and that needs to change. There are many misconceptions as to what purpose affirmative action serves. Many people see affirmative action as, “ a handout and an arbitrary selection process” but I that really is not an accurate description. Affirmative action is not a handout, it is not a quota, and it is not a way to play favoritism to minorities. I see, as well as other proponents, affirmative action as a way to even the playing field for everyone. This is because it gives students who might not necessarily have been granted all the opportunities to advance academically in high school a chance to obtain a college degree, regardless of their disadvantages. Considering race in admissions does not mean that the UC would be taking in unqualified students. Of course it is important to put significant weight on a person’s G.P.A, test scores, and overall scholarly merit,  but there are more factors to consider that could make a student deemed “qualified” . Proponents of affirmative action think current measures being taken in admissions to compensate for the ban, such as the use of  ’comprehensive review’, “ have not been enough to boost opportunities for historically excluded minorities”. As a Black student attending UCLA, I would like to see more people who share my ethnic background on campus. I want to see more American Indians. I want to see more Latinos. We should not just be a blip of a statistic on a campus that serves over 35,000 students.

Post Submitted by Jadessa

Thursday Take-off: What’s Your Biggest Fear?

As college students, we spend a big chunk of our time discovering our personal identity, figuring out what our beliefs are, and overcoming obstacles as they come along. We are all on this path of self-discovery together; it’s a natural part of life, and for many it does not just last during college.

At one point we must ask ourselves the following questions: what’s my biggest fear?  What is the root of this fear? Does this fear hold me back from anything? If so, what and why? Is this fear something I can control or something that is out of my control? How can I conquer this fear? Am I willing to conquer this fear? Is this fear something that is healthy or unhealthy?

The reason these questions are important is because oftentimes our fears manifest in our academic experience.  For example, let’s say a student named Susana is afraid of failure.  Thus, whenever it comes to writing a paper or studying for a test she spends so much time worrying about failing that she does, indeed, fail or at least comes close to it.

We need to overcome our fears (whether they are directly related to academics or not) so that we can live a more freeing and joyous life. Fear has the power to hold a person back or to strangle that person in worry, frustrating, or self-deprication.

That being said, What’s your biggest fear? How can WSP help you overcome it?

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill

Daily Word: Conflate

Conflate

v.

combine (two or more texts, ideas, etc.) into one.

American Cultural Literacy: Pooh-Bah

“Pooh-Bah”

IDIOM

A self-important person of high position and great influence.

Considering Race Can Actually Lead to Racism: Casey’s Response to Affirmative Action Initiatives

Should the UC be allowed to consider race in the admissions proces? Why or why not?

No–I do not believe that the UC should be allowed to consider race in the admissions process.  While I see that considering race in admissions has the aim to promote diversity and give more access to minorities, I argue that it will, instead, give grounds for racism to fruition.  Furthermore, I argue that UC students should educate underrepresented high school students on the admissions process and motivate them to apply to UC’s from a young age.

Let’s start with a definition of the word racism: racism is “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race  is superior and has the right to rule others” (Dictionary.com). Most people focus on the second part of the definition yet neglect the first part.  The second part highlights racial superiority; therefore, according to this definition, a racist believes his race is more superior than others.  However, what many people fail to realize is that racism also includes the belief that our racial differences contribute to our degree of achievement.  For example, some people hold the view that Asians are inherently smart, thus explaining their prevailing presence on top-notch universities in the U.S.  On the other hand, some people believe that African Americans or Latinos are inherently lazy or even uneducated, explaining their lack of presence in universities.  These beliefs, according to the said definition, are racist.

With that in mind, let’s consider the ramifications of considering race in the UC admissions process. Let’s say that an admissions officer reads over an entire application and has her mind set on admitting the student, but then she sees on the last page of the application that the applicant is African American. In her mind she thinks, “This student has shown strong academic performance at her high school compared to the other students, but I don’t know if she will be able to handle the competition here at UCLA.  Being academically successful requires a lot of hard work, and I don’t know if this student is cut out for that.”  Then she puts the application in the reject pile. No one would know the true reason she rejected the student; the officer’s reasoning all took place in her head.  Thus, there is no clear way to prevent such discrimination from occurring.

Speaking of rejection, I wonder how many minority students do not even apply to the UC system due to fear of rejection. In fact, how many minority students actually apply to schools like UCLA? Probably not as many as there should be because many are indoctrinated with the misconception that they won’t be able to survive here, let alone get in. They are constantly told by their peers, parents, society, people from their hometowns, even high school counselors that they aren’t good enough, which discourages them. Probably a lot of minority students are told that they aren’t smart enough to get into college, so they better focus on sports because that’s the only way they would have the opportunity to go to college.  This oppressive mindset inhibits the majority of underrepresented youth from even applying to college.

Instead of focusing on adding race to the admissions process, we should focus on motivating underrepresented minorities to stay focused in school and apply for colleges and scholarships. We should educate and motivate the youth, especially if they are discouraged or are not educated of how things work.   We need to educate them about resources like Fee Waivers, FAFSA, and the fact that UCLA, in particular, admits students based on the “holistic review” approach (see http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Adm_fr/fradms.htm).  In doing so, not only do we replace the aforementioned oppressive mindset with truthful statements, but we will also significantly increase the amount of minority students that apply to UC’s.  And with that, I believe we will further diversify the campuses.

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill

Peer-To-Peer Drop-In Hours now available for UCLA students!

Wednesday Word: Obama continues efforts to “Stop Kony”

A little over a month ago a 30-min video entitled “Kony 2012″  sponsored by the documentary series “Invisible Children” went viral among every social media outlet imaginable (Facebook, twitter, etc..). The video chronicled the lives and struggle of the people of Uganda as they attempted to fight the influence of Joesph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army. This rebel group is responsible for the kidnapping of thousands of children, turning the young girls into sex slaves and the young boys into child soldiers.

Read the article to find out how Obama pledges to make efforts to stop and capture Joseph Kony. Read Here

Post Submitted by Jadessa

American Cultural Literacy: “When it rains, it pours”

“When it rains, it pours”

PROVERB

When something good or bad occurs, it usually occurs more than once and often within a short period of time: “I have a new supervisor at the office, three new assistants to train, and enough work to keep me busy for months- when it rains, it pours.”

Daily Word: Apotropaic

Apotropaic

adj.

supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck.

Affirmative Action is Not Progressive

Prompt:  Should the UC be allowed to consider race in the admissions process?  Why or why not?

Mary Clark, in her Daily Bruin article in support of race-based admission decisions, argues that affirmative action is critical in a society that has yet to “[transcend] racism and undone all of its effects.”  However, what she ignores is the way in which affirmative action reinscribes racial divisions and further institutionally encoding constructions of a ‘racial experience.

Here, it’s useful to visit Foucault, a discourse theorist whose ideas have been incredibly influential to the fields encompassed within minority studies.  For him, power is not “a general system of domination exercised by one element or one group over another,” but needs to be “understood [as] the multiplicity of relations of force that are immanent to the domain wherein they are exercised, and [which] are constitutive of its organization.”  Power is not exercised by a dominant power (e.g. white society) over a minority group — that is, power does not act restrictively, as a form of oppression.  Rather, is exists as an “omnipresence,” as a force that disguises itself as acting simply within the binary of oppressed/oppressor.  In such a binary, to become empowered is simply becoming un-oppressed, of acquiring education/money/governmental position.  However, Foucault argues, we must understand the larger discourse surrounding our perceptions of what is oppressed.

Proponents of race-based admissions seem to ignore the discursive implications of affirmative action, the way in which it might actually reinforce the current power relations that produce certain minorities as powerless.  That is, it reinscribes the minority as occupying an inherently disenfranchised position.  It homogenizes and essentializes the racial minority’s experience as being one way, while simultaneously essentializing the experience of ‘whiteness’ as being inherently different from that of the racial minority.  The end problem of this is that this leaves no room for a white person to ever have a similar experience as someone from a racial minority — it affixes traits as inherent and exclusive to race.  And isn’t this precisely oppositional to the aims of the progressive, anti-racist individual, the very same person who “should” be supporting affirmative action?  It takes the incredibly racist social Darwinist arguments of the 19th century (certain races are biologically one way) and resituates them into the realm of social construction.

This is certainly not to say I don’t believe that racism exists and that there are many factors being of a racial minority can carry with it certain impediments.  However, I can’t abide by the way that race-based admissions foreclose on the great diversity of experience while perpetuating a discourse in which the racial minority must occupy the oppressed position, forever “otherized” and homogenized.
This rubs up against my own concern for individual narrative, the desire to view individuals as individuals rather than needing to situate somebody within an institution — a belief that any body is capable of any diverse array of experience.

But yes, racism does exist, people of color are more likely to experience impediments based off of institutional biases than are white people.  What is to be done other than affirmative action to curb this?

I support the current system, in which issues of race, class, sexuality, gender, disability, and other personal, specific factors are taken into account within the essay and context portions of the UC admissions process.  This allows the reviewer to understand holistically and in a non-rigid, non-homogenizing way the relationship of a specific applicant to structural bigotry.  In this way, a wealthy African-American applicant who wears Prada daily, is well connected, has been privy to the best educational support, has travelled the world, is not immediately given an edge over someone with equivalent aptitude, but from an urban, poor, single-parent — white — background.

Posted by Lee.

Daily Word: Panegyric

Panegyric

n.

a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something.

American Cultural Literacy: On the level

“On the level”

IDIOM

Honest, without deception: “We doubted that the offer could be genuine, but it turned out to be on the level.”

The Cost of Di-versity in a Uni-versity

How much would you pay for diversity on campus? With the end of another admissions cycle at UCLA, comes a new class of freshmen and transfer students that are more diverse than ever. Even with UCLA admitting its largest pool of students to date, past tuition increases and recent efforts to recruit international and out of state students have been viewed as a threat to UCLA’s diverse culture.

Tuition hikes over the past few years have not only deterred students from enrolling or continuing in the UC system; in reality, these increases have also specifically hindered historically underprivileged  communities from enriching our campus diversity. Every time that UC regents approve another percentage increase on our tuition, they are disproportionately cutting certain communities from access to higher education. In California, low-income families are typically within Hispanic, African-American, or Asian-American communities. When students from these communities struggle to finance their education at UCLA, it not only affects cultural diversity on campus; more importantly, it threatens UCLA’s intellectual diversity.

Recent efforts by admissions officers to increase revenue by recruiting more out of state and international students seems to me an effort to offset the negative impact of tuition hikes on campus diversity. While this represents a step towards diversity, however, it also signifies a step away from UCLA’s duty as a California public university. Chancellor Gene Block outlines the following in the University of California Diversity Statement, adopted in 2006:

Diversity – a defining feature of California’s past, present, and future – refers to the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance. Such differences include race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, language, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and geographic region, and more. Because the core mission of the University of California is to serve the interests of the State of California, it must seek to achieve diversity among its student bodies and among its employees.

Diversity is a value and a product innate within the rich culture of California. It shouldn’t be a far-fetched ideal that has to be attained by recruiting students worldwide. Having more students from outside of California and of the U.S. will undoubtedly enrich all aspects of diversity at UCLA, but at what cost?

Instead of legitimizing UC admissions’ recruitment efforts under the guise of increasing diversity, they should focus on fostering the already abundant intellectual, cultural, and socio-economic diversity that is within their reach.

Post submitted by: Miqi Cos

Tuesday Title: King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild

King Leopold’s Ghost is a riveting and shocking account of how King Leopold II of Belgium executed a conquest and massacre in the Congo during the Scramble for Africa. This “story of greed, terror, and heroism” typifies the atrocities of colonialism during the twentieth century, and unravels the inner workings, psychology, and methodology behind the conquest of the Congo. King Leopold’s Ghost reveals the desperation felt by an unpopular king, and his insatiable greed; it documents the many lies told by King Leopold to his own country–lies that led the Belgian government to finance what seemed to them like humanitarian efforts, but was, in reality, a large scale murder of a people.

What truly struck me about Hochschild’s book is how he portrays such genuine accounts of the various players in the great Rape of the Congo, that by the end he even managed to gain my sympathy for King Leopold. It only reminds us of, and leads us to question, the sheer inhumanity which humans are only capable of doing.

Most importantly, this book raises an even greater tragedy than the mass murder in the Congo: the Great Forgetting. The story of the Congo is one that is not often told. King Leopold’s Ghost is a great and alarming remembrance of one of history’s first genocides. Read this book not only to explore important universal themes, but also to add an important historical story to your memory.

And yet the world we live in—its divisions and conflicts, its widening gap between rich and poor, its seemingly inexplicable outbursts of violence—is shaped far less by what we celebrate and mythologize than by the painful events we try to forget.

Post submitted by: Miqi Cos