Should the traditional standards be abolished so that race can become the most important qualification an individual has to offer?

[Samm]

@TheDoctorIsIn

@e7alr

No they gamed it. The system they gamed was an early attempt at equity. Instead of it being the top 10% of the state’s graduates, it was the top 10% of each district. That created the opportunity for those wealthy enough to temporarily move to a low performing district to game the system. The district became the protected identity group.

They built the system.

It wasn’t an accident.

No. The system was built by well-meaning liberals trying to get more poor kids into colleges. But like all systems, it doesn’t take long for people, particularly people with means, to figure out how to manipulate them to their own advantage.

Think about it. If the wealthy had built the system for themselves, they wouldn’t have to game it. That girl’s family would have never had to downgrade their place of residence to get her into college.

[Samm]

@TheRedComet

It’s not unusual in wartime. US Army standards dropped dramatically during WWII, Korea, and the later part of Vietnam.

But it is weird to see this have to be done during peacetime. That’s honestly scary. As a society, we simply aren’t really prepared to fight another extended war. Especially if it’s against a near peer enemy like China.

We’ve gotten too soft.

And fat. Compare a picture of a crowd of scantily clad youths at an outdoor music fest today with the thousands of youths at Woodstock. The contrast of body fat between the two groups is startling.

[Samm]

@TheRedComet

If they ever reintroduce conscription it must include women.

The courts have already decided that Selective Service is unfairly biased against men and must be reformed.

They would do the same with an actual conscription law.

The total number of personnel in the US military is about 1.4 million. There are about 22 million Americans in the 18-23 demographic. No matter how conscription is done, most will never be called up. Therefore, there will have to be a system for selection … a system which can be gamed.

[Samm]

@TheRedComet

Yepp. If I remember correctly the number of drafted sent to Vietnam was about 30% or something like that.

The “majority being draftees” was an exaggeration and misdirection perpetrated by the anti-war movement back then that has since stuck in American collective memory about the war.

That is true, but it’s not quite that straightforward. My brother, for example, was drafted in 1964, but then enlisted because he was told (a lie) that he could chose his MOS and duty station. What a surprise he was in for, not only did he not get the schools he requested, but he got a whole additional year (spent in Vietnam) in which to contemplate his decision.

He was not alone in that …

[JayJay]

@DougBH

@DougBH

What is your source?

Waiting

Sorry getting caught up.

Here’s one such study…there are plenty more out there.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0013189X20902110

So I ask again…why push for a metric that is doubtful as a predictor of future achievement?

PS I’ll look at what you posted…but it is unsurprising College Board would have a test that swears to the validity of tests they themselves administer!

[DougBH]

So different studies show different degrees of reliability of the test scores. If the tests add nothing, which is not at all clear, then there would be no point to them.
The study you reference is actually an analysis of other peoples studies. I certainly don’t have enough at stake here to chase down those studies and see what sort of correlation they show.
In any case, my opinion is pretty much in favor of where I took accounting courses. Anyone who had graduated was allowed in the first semester, few made it into the second semester.

[zantax]

@DougBH

So different studies show different degrees of reliability of the test scores. If the tests add nothing, which is not at all clear, then there would be no point to them.
The study you reference is actually an analysis of other peoples studies. I certainly don’t have enough at stake here to chase down those studies and see what sort of correlation they show.
In any case, my opinion is pretty much in favor of where I took accounting courses. Anyone who had graduated was allowed in the first semester, few made it into the second semester.

I automated all my accounting homework, professor wasn’t interested heh. Back when my home computer had a twenty meg hard drive. I was hoping for extra credit but mostly just did it because it was interesting. Of course you had to enter the data because it was before optical character recognition was really a thing.

Can’t even imagine how many students are using chatgpt3 and tome to do their homework these days.