[488] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Take the Anti-AA Challenge!!!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Phife)
Thu May 3 13:16:30 2001
Message-Id: <200105031715.NAA15244@oedipus.mit.edu>
To: "Hesky Fisher" <hfisher@MIT.EDU>
cc: mit-talk@MIT.EDU, aca3@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 03 May 2001 09:13:14 EDT."
<000f01c0d3d2$cfff93c0$8700dd12@mit.edu>
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 13:15:25 -0400
From: Phife <aca3@MIT.EDU>
Word. Here's some more on whining. (This is not to imply that it is in
the same vein as Hesky's mail, or that he would agree with this.)
This message contains a RANT and a CHALLENGE. They are clearly
labelled in capital letters in case you want to skip one or the other,
as the rant is rather long.
RANT:
To be honest, nothing is more ridiculous than listening to a bunch of
MIT students, sitting on a campus of opportunity, probably on their
way to successful, lucrative careers and comfortable lifestyles for
themselves and their generations to come SIT AND WHINE AND WHINE AND
WHINE ABOUT HOW THEY ARE "HURT" AND "MADE TO SUFFER" AND "BEING
TREATED UNFAIRLY" by affirmative action. I'm laughing with Hesky on this
one.
Would someone like to explain to me how the majority (however you want
to define it) is suffering from AA? Is there rapidly increasing
poverty among white males that I am unaware of? A sudden shortage of
health insurance in white neigborhoods? Have the fancy private schools
and elite universities become predominantly black and hispanic last
night while I slept, leaving caucasians suddenly out in the cold? Am I
unaware???
Or maybe self-entitlement knows no bounds. Tell me, why is it that so
many of you have such vehement reactions to affirmative action, but
say nothing about "legacies"? Why isn't anyone saying that
Stuyversant's close relationship with Harvard's admissions office is
unfair and should be banned? Why has nothing been said about the fact
that if your parents donate enough money, you can go anywhere? Can we
say hypocrisy?
Do any of you pause to think that it would not be in MIT's interests
at all to admit someone they know did not *deserve* to be here? Why
would they choose to admit someone that they don't believe is worthy
of the challenge? So they can borrow MIT's money (speaking
statistically, of course), use a spot in the class, as well as a spot
in housing only to do poorly, as expected, drop out or get kicked out,
fail to reflect positively in any way upon MIT, never be in a position
to donate to the Institute and possibly even default on their loans?
So either you believe that MIT likes wasting money on "unqualified"
students, or you don't believe MIT has the right to make their own
decisions when it comes to a pool of *qualified*, *deserving*
applicants. Either way you need to check your logic. Or grow up. When
you have your own college, you can use whatever random number
generator you want. When it's not your college, the decisions will be
made based on THE OVERALL GOALS OF THE UNIVERSITY, not some
self-centered, the-individual-is-everything, self-entitled bullshit
you read in Atlas Shrugged.
CHALLENGE:
So here is the Anti-AA Challenge. Since so many of you seem to believe
that, despite that fact that none of you own or administer your own
institution of higher learning, it is your right to declare what is
and is not acceptable admissions criteria, we will review YOUR
admissions criteria. I dare you all to go to the admissions office and
find out *EXACTLY* what is was about you that got you in here. If they
won't tell you, send your advisor, because I KNOW that they can find
out. Come back and send email to this list with your results. We will
then review them and decide by consensus whether or not you got in
fairly, i.e. whether we believe that you deserve to be here or
not. If we reject you, you will immediately withdraw from MIT forever,
since you are so morally opposed to people being given opportunities
that arrogant 18-2x year olds don't believe they deserve.
SO PUT UP OR SHUT UP. ANYONE NOT WILLING TO PROVE THEIR OWN "MIT
WORTHINESS" SHOULD AVOID THE HYPOCRISY INHERENT IN BITCHING AND
WHINING ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK OF OTHER'S WORTHINESS W.R.T. AA.
Thank you.
--->phife
Peep game on what "Hesky Fisher" told me:
>
>On whining:
>
>I'm hearing people complain, "oh my god, what if the reason I got picked to
>come here over thousands of qualified applicants is because of my race (or
>some other nonsense). "How can I possible live with myself?" Frankly,
>that's some of the funniest garbage I've ever heard.
>
>Life isn't a game and working hard doesn't entitle you to get into MIT or
>any other school. It takes a while to get used to it but nobody owes you
>squat. Going to school here is an opportunity, like many others, to get
>ahead in life. If you are here then you have the opportunity to get a good
>education and, perhaps more useful, a diploma with the name MIT on it. It
>doesn't actually matter where this opportunity came from. If you are so
>intent on fair play you may want to adopt the following habits:
>Give your business competitors part of your VC funding
>wear a Harrison Bergeron style outfit everywhere you go
>donate to charity any money or items your parents give you that your friends
>don't have
>
>If I got in here for reasons other than academics or whatever is currently
>deemed an "appropriate" reason by everybody then I have no qualms about
>being here and taking advantage of it. If anything would keep me awake, it
>would be laughing about it all night long.
>
>On Objectivism:
>
>You can correct me if I'm wrong (and I'm sure you will) but if you are an
>objectivist and are more likely to get in here with Affirmative Action then
>shouldn't you be selfish about it and accept it? If you are trying to
>change the system, who are you changing it for? Is it so that other people
>will have an equal or better chance than you? Wouldn't that be (gasp!)
>Altruism?
>
>Final note:
>
>I have yet to see anybody concerned enough to withdraw on principle.
>
