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George Mattingly | The Houstonian
Theatre masters pupetry in their production of “Dying for It,” a comedy based on Soviet life, which runs Thursday to Saturday.
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Volume 123 / Issue 20
Barbie’s make-under should be what people accept as normal.
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www.HoustonianOnline.com
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Sports staff weigh in on the Rangers and Astros’ division rivalry.
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Thursday, April 4, 2013
Mertz: SHSU diversity means ‘no need’ for affirmative action JAY R. JORDAN Senior Reporter The US Supreme Court is hearing another affirmative action case, though Sam Houston State University admissions won’t be affected by its outcome. The court is considering whether or not an appellate court’s decision to overturn Michigan’s 2006 college admissions-barring referendum is constitutional. Sam Houston State University is among the many Texas public universities that use an automatic admission policy for high school students who rank in the top 10 percent of their class. According to Inside Higher Ed, because of the amount of schools in Texas that have a large minority population, the automatic admission policy covers the need for affirmative action and results in no such affirmative action policy existing in most schools. Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Scot Mertz said that SHSU does not use any affirmative action policy because the school is already diverse. Of the 17,316 students enrolled at SHSU, about 59 percent are white, while blacks and Hispanics each represent 17 percent. Asians comprise 1.2 percent of the student body and 6.5 percent is either unknown or classify themselves as another race. SHSU political science professor Michael Smith said that the reason the Supreme Court took this case even after the precedent has been set could be because of a growing minority population.
“At this point in our history, Caucasians… are still the majority of the population, but are not over 50 percent,” Smith said. “If you have more minorities applying to college and the colleges accepting them, there’s no longer a need to force [the colleges] to do it.” The Schuette case started when the people of Michigan decided to bar universities from using race and ethnicity in the admissions process in 2006. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned the referendum and has placed the issue before the Supreme Court to decide the final ruling. Another case from 2008, Fisher v. University of Texas, is still being deliberated by the Supreme Court justices. Plaintiff Abigail Fisher claims that UT discriminated against her because she’s white. At the time, UT used Texas’ top 10 percent rule from which 81 percent of Longhorns gained admittance in 2008, according to the official Supreme Court blog. Precedent was already set by previous affirmative action cases in which the Supreme Court ruled that universities are allowed to use race or gender to determine whether or not to admit a prospective student. University of California v. Bakke was the first landmark case that allowed affirmative action for colleges in 1978. Another landmark case was Gutter v. Bollinger in 2003 that dictated that the affirmative action taken by University of Michigan Law School was constitutional because it did not use a quota system for admissions. The Fisher and Schuette cases are both being deliberated by the Supreme Court.
AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File
AFFRIMATIVE ACTION. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette challenged the consitutionality of affirmative action policies. The Supreme Court on Monday said it would add the Michigan case, which focuses on the 6-year-old voter-approved prohibition on affirmative action and the appeals court ruling that overturned the ban. The new case will be argued in the fall. A decision in the Texas case is expected by late June.
Report: Traditional dating no safer than dating online SOPHIE NELSON Senior Reporter
SOPHIE NELSON Senior Reporter
AP Photo/David Goldman
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ev. Timothy McDonald, center, leads a protest against the high bonds set for 35 defendants in Atlanta’s school cheating scandal outside the Fulton County Jail on Tuesday in Atlanta. The 35 defendants are named in a 65-count indictment that alleges a broad conspiracy involving cheating on standardized tests in Atlanta public schools. All 35 defendants must turn themselves in Tuesday. Several teachers and administrators were arrested for allegedly altering grades on standardized tests in order to raise their average scores. The teachers recieve several benefits including salary increases depending how well their students do on the tests.
Rumors fly about Spotify video CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ Staff Reporter Steel yourselves: Spotify has been rumored to soon join the fray of video streaming content along with Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu Plus. Two sources of BusinessInsider. com said that Spotify “intends to become an on-demand music and video service.” This move would immediately put the company in competition along with Netflix and HBO. One student at Sam Houston State University doesn’t think the move is
necessary. “I don’t think they really need to do it,” sophomore student Catherine Pope said. “Their music service is good enough. There are just a lot of other providers that already have good shows to watch. So I don’t know how well that would turn out.” Senior Brian Howard said he thinks the move is a great idea because it helps Spotify diversify. “It’s a good move for the competitive market,” Howard said. “If they just stick to music, they’ll stay stale. And when you stay stale, you fall behind.” For some, this news comes as
no surprise. Spotify is worth $3 billion thanks to several rounds of investment from Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs. When multi-billion dollar media services like iTunes are successful in music, the companies that own them branch to video content to increase their profit. Spotify has also been rumored to bring original content to their video service as well. The sources from BusinessInsider.com said that Spotify is “looking for partners that can help it fund and create original content.” Spotify has not commented on the rumors.
Even though online dating has become more common, the Crime Victims Institute at Sam Houston State University warns that becoming a victim through dating is still highly possible. The CVI published a study comparing the dating safety and victimization rates between traditional relationships and online relationships. According to Molly Smith, one of the doctoral student researchers for the study, one of the main focuses in the study was that regardless of how people meet, the rate of victimization was very close. She urged people, especially SHSU students, to remain aware when entering dating scenarios and to always be cautious. “Use your better judgment when going on dates with anyone, regardless of how you met them,” Smith said. “Even if you have met someone in person, you are still at risk of victimization.” Maria Koeppel, another doctoral student researcher, said that while online dating has become socially acceptable, people have to remember how important it is to think of safety measures when going on a date with someone they met online. She said it is important for everyone in the dating world, but should especially be emphasized to the younger dating population like people in high school. “As society is becoming more technology based, education about online dating, as well as continued information about traditional dating, needs to be stressed to high school kids and even preteens,” Koeppel said. “Even a segment incorporated into a health class specific to the dangers of online dating would be helpful.” For college students, Koeppel said that they should make smart decisions when choosing who to meet or date. “Just be smart when going into dating situations or trying to find someone to date,” Koeppel said. “Don’t put yourself out of your comfort zone. Many dating situations in college tend to be fueled by alcohol or drugs, so be smart.” According to the study, online daters tended to have a slightly lower victimization rate than traditional daters. Smith attributed the results to factors such as people paying higher amounts of attention when dating on the internet. “People who seek out potential partners on the internet seem to exhibit higher levels of caution and utilize more protective measures,” Smith said. “In addition, many people who use online dating sites tend to [talk to] their potential partner for a longer period of time prior to meeting them in person, thus making them more aware of potential “red flags” that might arise in a face-to-face situation.” Smith advised that students should make sure to take a fully charged cell phone when going on a date, and should always tell a friend about their plans.