Bake sale stirs debate on affirmative action

IndyStar.com ^ | November 6, 2003 | Tim Evans

[No Truce With Kings]

It sold just three cookies, but a unique bake sale Wednesday at Indiana University turned up the heat in an ongoing debate about affirmative action.

Modeled after similar events on campuses across the country, the sale offered cookies at different prices based on customers' race and gender. White males were charged $1; white females, Asians and Pacific Islanders, 75 cents; American Indians and Hispanics, 50 cents; and blacks, 25 cents.

[No Truce With Kings]

We are quick to let college administrators know when they do something wrong. We need to be just as quick to let them know when they do something right. Damon Sims (sims@indiana.edu), associate dean of students, deserves an "attaboy" for his stand in allowing -- no encouraging students to express their opinions in the marketplace of ideas.

[Experiment 6-2-6]

Pacific Islanders, 75 cents

HEY! I save money! Or do they charge me the full $1.00, 'cause I'm a white male?

Hmmm. Maybe they would at least split the difference?

[Blood of Tyrants]

I say we start using affirmative action everywhere. Let's start with sports. Basketball teams should get 5 additional points added to their score for every white person on the team and 10 points for every person shorter than 6'.

[Damocles]

"This is one of the more significant social and political issues of our time. . . . It is exactly the kind of dialogue that should be encouraged on college campuses."

Bravo! Free speech does not equate to freedom from offense...

[EdReform]

BTTT

IU Affirmative Action Bakesale Followup

Northwestern University Affirmative Action Bake Sale - After-Action Report

[Phantom Lord]

White males were charged $1; white females, Asians and Pacific Islanders, 75 cents; American Indians and Hispanics, 50 cents; and blacks, 25 cents.

This bake sale provided a golden opportunity for an enterprising black person. They could have bought out the supply and then set up a table selling everything for 50 cents and made a nice profit.

Surprisingly, this didn't happen.

[NicknamedBob]

"...all three cookies sold were of the $1 variety..."

Unh-hunh, that's what I expected.

"...It was a slap in the face, especially since there is no affirmative action policy for undergraduates," said the 20-year-old junior from Indianapolis. "It was like they were saying we wouldn't be here without it."

This would be a good comment, if she only realized how much this applies to Affirmative Action, and how insulting that is.

[ken5050]

Did they ever consider selling watermelon..

[pogo101]

"Their message implies the playing field is level, and it isn't," said Charleston, regional director for the American Association for Affirmative Action. "They are assuming that all people have the same opportunities in their formative years, and that's not true."

Then the solution is to work on equalizing opportunities during those formative years, not lower the bar to let in people who are less qualified because you feel guilty. Focus on the other end of the pipeline, bright boy.

[StriperSniper]

Surprisingly, this didn't happen.

Why? Most have been so indoctrinated into the Marxist mindset that the thought of profit would make them feel 'unclean'. ;-)

[John O]

Affirmative action policies, she said, help ensure a diverse mix on campuses and in the workplace, which benefits everyone.

Just once I'd like someone to explain, using facts and not feelings, just WHY a diverse racial mix benefits everyone.

After years of pondering I have yet to come up with reason one.

[thulldud]

Just once I'd like someone to explain, using facts and not feelings, just WHY a diverse racial mix benefits everyone.

Get them to tell you why the supposed benefit of a diverse racial mix offsets the detriment of the rigid ideological conformity that accompanies it. The answer will certainly not be that the former is actually meant to conceal the latter.

[agrace]

"It was a slap in the face, especially since there is no affirmative action policy for undergraduates," said the 20-year-old junior from Indianapolis. "It was like they were saying we wouldn't be here without it."

No, I think it's like they were saying that you should be glad you're there without it, that you shouldn't want to be there WITH it.