One of a kind of discrimination in US

2.11.2010
asian americans and college application discrimination

Here's an interesting op-ed piece from the Boston Globe on the possible discrimination (an "Asian ceiling") Asian Americans face in the college admissions process -- a topic that isn't new, but continues to persist as access to higher education gets even more competitive, and the numbers reveal some questionable disparities: Do colleges redline Asian-Americans?

Princeton sociologist Thomas Espenshade, who reviewed data from 10 elite colleges, writes in "No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal" that Asian applicants typically need an extra 140 points to compete with white students. In fact, according to Princeton lecturer Russell Nieli, there may be an "Asian ceiling" at Princeton, a number above which the admissions office refuses to venture.

Emily Aronson, a Princeton spokeswoman, insists "the university does not admit students in categories. In the admission process, no particular factor is assigned a fixed weight and there is no formula for weighing the various aspects of the application."

A few years ago, however, when I worked as a reader for Yale's Office of Undergraduate Admissions, it became immediately clear to me that Asians - who constitute 5 percent of the US population - faced an uphill slog. They tended to get excellent scores, take advantage of AP offerings, and shine in extracurricular activities. Frequently, they also had hard-knock stories: families that had immigrated to America under difficult circumstances, parents working as kitchen assistants and store clerks, and households in which no English was spoken.

But would Yale be willing to make 50 percent of its freshman class Asian? Probably not.

Indeed. Probably not. I find it hard to imagine any elite university busting open ts admissions to let all the qualified Asians applicant in. Is it possible for a school to be "too Asian?" Somebody out there certainly thinks so, and to prevent that from happening, it essentially means maintaining that ceiling -- and a white student majority. What's a college-bound Asian kid to do?

taken from:

http://www.angryasianman.com/2010/02/asian-americans-and-college-application.html

Hang Out With Rita

Iyey, mari menulis dengan bahasa Indonesia!

Jadi, hari ini aku pergi nonton sama salah satu besty jaman SMA, namanya Rita, dia kuliah di Teknik Kimia Universitas Gajah Mada (keren ya?). Kita nonton Sherlock Holmes di XXI Jogja, tempatnya ada di Jalan Urip Sumohardjo. Bioskopnya masih baru, belum ada 1 tahun lah. Sampe sana, suasana parkiran sepiiii.... Mungkin karena hari Jumat dan kebanyakan mahasiswa Jogja masih belum selesai ujian. (Guess what? Bahkan beberapa dari mereka menyempatkan diri untuk baca catatan dan buku sambil nungguin film main) Weee... Filmnya keren banget. Aku suka bagaimana sang penulis novel membuat penonton penasaran sekaligus mengecohnya. Pertanyaannya adalah : apakah resep formula kimia yang ajaib itu dan teori tentang tubuh manusia itu bener-bener merupakan suatu kenyataan? Kalo iya, tau dari mana ya si penulis novel? Hebat banget. Jadi pengen baca novelnya ah...

Selanjutnya, kami pergi makan di Plaza UGM (tempat ini semacam foodcourt gitu). Yang unik di sini adalah (selain banyak counter makanan dan banyak yang jual es durian) yaitu tukang parkirnya cewek ber make up yang usianya sekitar 28 tahun dan cukup seksi. Sayang, aku nggak sempat mengambil foto Mbak itu. Di sana yang makan tentu saja mayoritas mahasiswa, tapi ada juga anak SMA yang makan di sana.





Di sana aku pesan es campur dengan durian di dalamnya. Harganya Rp 7.000,- Lumayan enak juga... Aku juga pesan tahu ketupat yang harganya Rp 5.000,- tapi tahunya dan ketupatnya dikit banget, yang banyak malah taogenya, udah gitu nggak pedes lagi... (padahal pesennya pedes)



Satu hal yang menarik tentang mahasiswa UGM adalah... pakaian mereka sopan banget! Pada pake kemeja ke kampus dengan sepatu dan jeans ato celana panjang. Cewek-ceweknya juga sopan, bajunya rapi, dan nggak ada yang pake baju seksi ke kampus.
Beda banget sama di UI, kampusku (khususnya Fakultas FISIP, di mana aku berada).
Mahasiswa boleh pakai sandal ke kampus (yang pake sandal swallow pun ada), boleh pake kaos, dan cewek-ceweknya beberapa memakai pakaian agak seksi (rok agak mini, tapi yang bener-bener mini juga ada pun tidak dirazia). Dan sayangnya aku kadang-kadang juga berpakaian sedikit seksi ke kampus (sekali dua kali lah), dan outfit ku bener-bener mencolok saking cintanya dengan dunia fashion (sampai kayaknya semua orang notice sama aku). Kalau di FISIP UI aja aku udah sering diperhatiin dari atas sampe bawah, gimana kalau kuliah di UGM? Dengan outfit seperti itu, aku pasti kena razia dan langsung famous mendadak se-antero kampus. Hahaha... Kalau aku kuliah di UGM, pasti bisa stress karena tidak bisa meng ekspreksikan my fashion style.


Kemudian, aku pergi sholat di masjid kampus UGM, sayangnya aku nggak ambil interior dalam masjidnya, tapi sedikit mirip dengan masjid UI, bahkan mungkin sedikit lebih bagus.
Cuaca waktu itu sedang mendung, jadi habis aku sholat, Rita langsung mengantarku pulang.




Aku baru balik ke Jakarta tanggal 22 Januari nanti, dan Rita bilang, masih ada waktu main bareng lagi. Huhu... Senangnya bermain dengan teman masa SMA..

My pancake

Yeah, so yesterday I made pancake like the one above, I filled the pancake with melting dark chocolate and I gave slices of pear, white soft sugar, and ice cream as the topping. So yummy...

Meet my best friend again!!

I was so glad and surprised yesterday when I went to Seaworld Indonesia with my sister, there was something unpredictable happened. When I was looking around in the main tank, suddenly my sister yelled at me, "Nia, that's Norah!"



and then, I looked at the direction where my sister pointed at. And that's right, there's Norah, my Chinese friend. OMG, I was so surprised and I just can't explain how happy I was. Spontaneously, we hugged each other. I really missed her, and I know that she did so. So, Norah is my best friend when she studied Bahasa Indonesia in University of Indonesia, my campus. She rented a room next to me, and that's why we were so close. We didn't meet each other for around 5 months!!! Right after she finished the Bahasa Indonesia course, she went for a vacation to Bali, and she head back to China. She said that she would turn back to Indonesia to work, but I don't know when. And suddenly, I saw her there yesterday!!! I was so happy, even many friends of mine are gone to their origin country (like Korea, Japan, USA, and Netherlands), but my closest foreign friend is coming back here.


After we hugged to share our missing feeling, we talked each other. And she introduced me to some of her working partners, which are also Chinese. And I also met Tao, her Chinese friend, who brought her to my boarding house 8 months ago for the first time. Tao said (as Norah said), that I was getting prettier. LOL. (Well, actually what Norah said was that I always looked pretty). Unfortunately, Norah had to leave the place with her friends, but before that, we share our phone number since both of us lost it! And also we took some pictures together. My friends will be surprised to see this pictures because they also missed Norah as I did. Later, we will hang out together and I hoped that we can have another great times again. Yeah, we will, for sure.

Cute Hat

When I just browsing on modcloth.com around two months ago, I found a very cute hat and I really want it, but the price is quite expensive for me (around $40). But now, this hat is no longer available on the website, I suppose (after I re-check open the site).



But around 2 days ago, when I went to the shopping mall, I found a cute hat that finally I bought. It only cost $7 and it looked similar with the one in the Modcloth website.






So, how do you think about my new hat?

Heels

I swear that I really want some heels. I am so craving for them. And yeah, I just found a cool fashion site (a kind of online shop) that provides very cool and stylish item. The name of the online shop is www.modcloth.com One of the cool item is the Forget-me Knot Heels as the picture above. It is $159.99. And so yeah, for Indonesian like me, it must be expensive. The first time I browsed this site, I was kind of surprised and excited by seeing so many good stuff. Maybe I could say that all the things that they sell are great, especially the shoes (and its not a promotion). He he XD

And there is another cool fashion blog I recommend for you guys. www.leblogdebetty.com is a great one. And in October posting, I found another heels that I really want. Here is the picture




She said that the label is Sigerson Morrison shoes. Is anyone of you guys know?