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GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
ARE IVY DEGREES WORTH THE SACRIFICES
ending their kids to ivy league universities is the dream of every Asian American parent. Or so it seems. And there is no shortage of young AA willing to oblige. As of 2000, Asian Americans made up 12-19% of the undergrad enrollments of the top-20 ivy league universities.
No one questions the prestige associated with ivy degrees. In fact, sneer critics, that's the only thing bought with the extra money. And even that, they add, is wearing thin in a nation in which he cultural center of gravity has shifted to California.
It's true that investments in high ivy tuitions often don't show up in career earnings when compared with graduates of public universities of comparable student body profiles. But the criticisms run deeper than return on investment. Some Asian Americans who have attended ivy league colleges have come away regretting their decisions for other reasons.
Foremost is the sense that the ivies are structured for the benefit of legatees, the progeny of blueblooded alumni. Comprising upwards of 40% of some ivies, the legatees are often exempted from stringent admissions standards. The result is that AA students with excellent credentials are the workhorses preserving the institutions' high academic reputations, thereby giving a free ride to undeserving legatees.
Another common complaint is that the deck is stacked socially against Asian males in a system designed to preserve the princely status quo of the scions of WASP families. A disproportionate number of attractive AA females are admitted by the ivies, some have observed, while far fewer attractive AA males are admitted. This subtle bias, suspect critics, is implemented in the screening interviews used by most ivies.
Then there's the Eurocentric worldview imposed by the courses. Not to mention the lousy weather, bland food and having to put up with locals hostile toward Asians. Contrast all this against the majority-ease lifestyles enjoyed by the AA in, say, the UC campuses.
The bragging rights an ivy education affords parents, conclude critics, are far outweighed by the psychic and emotional sacrifices exacted from their kids.
Does an ivy education provide rewards commensurate with the sacrifices? Or is it a trap for AA with overzealous parents with old-world views?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:01:18 PM)
"Evil UK sewer system"? I suggest you go and SEE what life is like in many parts of India. Even the worst European sewer(white or otherwise) doesn't compare.
As for disease and plagues, your ignorance is staggering. Europeans don't need to take plagues "to" Asia...because Asia has been one of the worst areas(health-wise) in the world for years. Conditions have improved greatly, but many parts still have a long way to go. And please, no nonsense about how "evil whitey" brought all the disease. In certain parts of Asia, they use unsanitized human excrement as fertilizer in areas like Southeast Asia and China(feel free to research this). In more recent times, however, China's lessened that problem, but the Southeast is another matter. Cholera and maleria are two diseases that have been wiping people out in Asia for centuries. Scarlet and typhoid fever are certainly crowd pleasers, and let us not forget about elephantitis in India.
Problems with disease among Europeans(regardless of color) is documented, I would never deny that. However before you go talking about who's spreading what, I suggest you check your own backyard before going off on bigoted tangents.
DV8 Ragazza
Tuesday, December 18, 2001 at 06:27:19 (PST)
DV8 Ragazza,
Actually you need not look so far back in history to see that Asian scientists helped create some of the major break throughs in turn of the century science and physics. It was hardly a Europeans only club as many would lead you to beleive. Forget the ancient Einstein-Newton-Eastern knowledge chain of events. Think rather of the two Bose of India and Abdus Salam of Pakistan.
Jagdish Chandra Bose created the first successful wireless signalling at 60Mhz in 1895. He was the first to utilize microwaves. He was the first to succesfully use semi-conductors. He was the first to plot non-linear voltage currents and the limitation of Ohms law at electronic arch points. He was also given the first patent to a device that measures electromagnetic radiation. He also theorized about the existence of electromagnetic radiation from the sun and in 1942 he was proven right when the first solar emissions were detected during the invention of the radar. Unfortunately Bose was denied a Nobel because Marconi was the first to patent such research (not invent) even though it has been proven his machine was an indirect forgery of Boses work. The actual devise Marconi used to graph his wave formations was given to him by the Italian naval officer P. Castelli who later claimed he read about such a devise in a London science journal article and built one himself. That article was witten by J.C. Bose in Calcutta. Bose went on to be a professor of Physics in Calcutta where one of his students named Satyandra Nath Bose (no relation) would further the study of theoritical physics.
In 1924 S. Bose and Einstein worked on the theory of atoms being literally frozen at absolute zero and that at this state there would exist differing aspects of energy flow, resistence, atomic sequence behavior and that a new form of matter would surface. It is called the Bose-Einstien Molecular Condensation statistic. The 1924 Nobel prize for Physics was origianlly going to be awarded to Einstein alone but the Nobel committee found out that most of Einstiens theortical work on that subject was based almost exactly on the theories of Bose with a few modifications. So it was concluded that the Nobel would be shared and the theory was named the Bose-Einstien statistic. This theory was proven as fact in 1995 and was the intellectual origin of super conductor research.
Abdus Salam created the famous electroweak theory which is the synthesis of reaction between electromagnetic energy and weak nuclear reactions in the late 50's. It was Einsteins great hope to figure out the Grand Unifying Theory (GUT theory) which would explain the interaction of all forms of nuclear energy and particle energy in the universe. Hence we would be able to predict and undersatnd anything that happened in our universe in terms of physics. Unfortunately Einstien passed away before he could acheive his dream. To date the latest stage of developement on two of the five energy aspects relating to the ultimate scientific theory of science has been the genius of Abdus Salaam of Punjab Pakistan. He did not receive his Nobel until 79. His theories were later proven as fact in Geneva in the 90's.
No one is doubting the overwhelming contributions of Western scientists between of the late 19th and mid 20th century. But the fact remains that without the practical and theoretical genius of certain eastern men in that early era of discovery, the science of today would hardly be the same.
Seaman
Tuesday, December 18, 2001 at 01:21:49 (PST)
Dude,
if you're a guy, then your name should be "DV8 Ragazzo", not "DV8 Ragazza".
Oh wait, you never mentioned whether or not you're a guy or a girl. My bad...
Un Ragazzo Coreano.... parliamo Italiano!! =)
Monday, December 17, 2001 at 18:40:29 (PST)
"Given the high number of Chinese people who never even see a college, your statement becomes hard to prove."
You know if even 20% of the China population attends college. That is 240 million people. That is the population of the USA. Look around your college TA and RA, you will see a lot of Chinese people. And actually more than 20% of the population in China obtaining college education either abroad or in China.
"Jews and Asians do not own and run the world and all great scientific research therein."
Being a person who once contemplated a career in acedemia. Your generalization just shows a lack of understanding of the political game need to fund or begin research in the USA. Just with any political game race will stick up its ugly head every once and a while.
Asian hardly own and run the research in the USA. The issue is that they do a lot of the grunt work of the research and are not given the opportunity to rise to become department heads as other non-Asians are allowed. Or are left out of the old-boys network that promotes research.
No one is denying any achievement made by non-asians. However, there is a bias in the sytem in the USA that is undeniable.
AC dropout
Monday, December 17, 2001 at 14:38:22 (PST)
"Got the plague and died. Evil white people and bad sewer system again."
Problem with mice...was also a problem with Singapore and Barbados in the 1950s. However, these countries imported a lot of cats to control the mice population and plague disappeared. Pretty innovative...is n't it?
Asian American Male
Monday, December 17, 2001 at 13:32:46 (PST)
"Most European countries aren't homogeneous."
I agree with you. But white Americans consider all of you as white. May be convenience to look for allies. The only "real whites" are the Southern whites here in the US, who came three centuries ago and simply became "white".
"Western Eurocentric"?
I meant American Eurocentrics. History here begins with the Pilgrim Fathers, and while the schools glorify the Roman empire, they hardly mention the fact that the Romans looked down on the "primitive" North and Central Europeans from whom most of our whites are descended.
"Contrary to what ignorant people often believe(including many of those who claim to be "white"), all Europeans are not "white"."
What exactly do you mean? Are you including the recent immigrants to Europe?
"Whenever one mentions great European or American achievements someone loves to jump in and claim Jews and Asian power it all."
No. They do not power it all. Entrepreneurial European corporations such as BMW and Benz set up plants in America, as do the Japanese and the Koreans. The reason is simple: the US does get the best brains from around the world, including Germany.
"Enron? What is that meant to prove? Hopefully it isn't being mentioned just to add a healthy amount of "bad things" to list about Europeans, because Asians certainly have their share of screw ups as well."
It was and is a white homogeneous organizations (not including European born like you) who claimed to know about the rest of the world, while in fact they are small town Texas boys who know nothing beyond the borders of Texas or the South. They sent Texas boys to negotiate with the Indians, regarding a power plant in the western states. Of course, these guys had never stepped out of their environs before going to India. They made a lot of foolish investments including in India. Why? Precisely because they are a bunch of Texas boys who knew nothing beyond America's borders...and they were pushing everyone else to buy Enron...and some of these boys also want to reform multilateral agencies...because they claim to have a better knowledge of developing countries than the rest of the world!! Japanese and Koreans have similar attitudes...that is why they will go nowhere....and regarding Europeans...is n't it interesting that countries which welcome talent from all over the world such as the UK and the Netherlands do well while others do poorly. Again, they are all small compared to the US and as long as the US brings in the best talent from around the world...the US would dominate.
Asian American Male
Monday, December 17, 2001 at 13:29:16 (PST)
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