2012 Michigan Community College Press Association Judging Form

Place of award: First Place Second Place Third Place Honorable Mention

Category: Inside Page Design Headline/title of entry: Opinion Contestants name: Justin Dawes College name: Grand Rapids CC Judges comments: I like the shout out at the bottom of the page. It's clean. Nicely formatting although the shout out headline is a little hard to read. Lot of type on this page. To help air things out, try going ragged right instead of justifying. Opposing Viewpoints is hard to read. 'Opposing' does not have enough leading. The by lines inside the black box need to be inset a little more.

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Opinion 8 Is GRCC justified in its plan to raise faculty and staff minority levels?
February 1, 2012
Racism still exists. According to a survey conducted by CNN, 43 percent of whites and 48 percent of blacks said they know somebody who they consider a racist. The concept of Affirmative Action began in Executive Order 10925 signed by President John F. Kennedy calling for government contractors to not discriminate against any employee or

YES: O P P O S I N G
Viewpoints

By Ross Pike
News Editor

applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin as well as take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin. In a study conducted by the University of Illinois, people with black sounding names such as Lakisha and Jamal are 50 percent more likely not to even get a call for an interview when applying for a job versus white sounding names like Emily and Brendan. According to a poll conducted by Gallup, 56 percent of American adults still feel there is widespread racism against black Americans. 39 percent of Americans also feel that discrimination against blacks is a major factor in black education levels. direction). According to GRCCs 2011-2014 Strategic Plan with Action Projects on the Strategic Teams website, Action Plan 5.2.1 is to strengthen the recruitment and hiring process so to attract highly qualified, highly diverse full-time and adjunct faculty. While I believe the colleges officials have good intentions, hiring members of minority groups simply because they are minorities does not send a good message to students. America was meant to be the land of equal opportunity. No, that has not been true through most of the countrys history, but there has been a lot of effort to change that over the last forty years, and this new practice, in a way, does the opposite. GRCCs intentions are to create more diversity and take part in making equal opportunities by showing minority students stories of success, but they are also being shown that minorities sometimes can, and maybe should, have an upper hand simply because they are minorities. One way the school is bringing in more minority applicants is by reaching out to trade association magazines because they are key to providing information about job opportunities

When you look at the current pay rates, it is evident that the glass ceiling still needs to break, says Womens Issues Now President Danielle Harrison. Why would any person wish to stand against not just cracking the glass ceiling but sending more and more cracks to ultimately break the ceiling to pieces and sweeping the pieces to the trash along with sexism. Affirmative Action does not create a favorable advantage with a result of reverse discrimination. It is merely forcing businesses and schools to do something they should be doing in the first place- not paying attention to race, gender, or anything else when considering somebody for a position but instead their qualifications. It allows for every person to be on a level playing field in giving everybody a to minority job seekers, according to the previous article. Making a diverse group of applicants aware of job openings is agreeable especially since applicants cannot lawfully be asked ethnicity on an application. But what goes on during the interview process is what concerns me. When asked if the strategic plan would be followed if there were two equally qualified applicants, one a minority and one not, Wilson responded: Yes, if that minority is a good fit and interested. And Im comfortable in saying that. GRCC student and part Mexican woman Selena Suarez disagrees with the schools stance. If theyre just hiring them because theyre minorities, thats not good. I like that theyre trying to be more diverse, but they should still hire fairly, Suarez said. Diversity is a great thing, but only when its natural. Why should all the potentially qualified white males of the world have a more difficult chance of being hired? Students definitely should be exposed to different cultures and outlooks than their own, but not by having minorities hand picked and placed into their lives. People are people: that is an important concept everyone needs to learn; authority

chance to get their foot in the door. Higher education is in place to formally educate people to achieve high results and excel in the workplace. Does it not then make sense for schools to actively outreach to minority students in hiring staff that not only they can relate to but also inspire them? Why would any person wish to stand against the inspiration of another student? Standing against Affirmative Action is standing against progress. Progress not in the form of a radical social agenda, but instead progress in the form of beginning ridding this country of poverty and high crime rates. I ask that you please join GRCC in their mission to permanently cast down a doctrine of Separate but Equal and instead progressing humanity to eradicate racism and sexism from even being a topic in modern debate. figures making an employment decision based on ethnicity does not teach students this important lesson. Equally qualified candidates should instead be chosen based on character and personality. Leslie Neal, a GRCC professor who also happens to be of African descent, is agreeable to the colleges plan. I think its a good idea in theory. It helps with peoples confidence when they see people in power who look like them, Neal said. It seems this could be seen as backwards discrimination, if you will. I am by no means calling the schools officials racistsI dont think thats the case. But what kind of message does it send when the color of someones skin plays a major roleor any role, for that matterin being hired? The human race will not truly be over discriminative-type ideas until employers can hire a person based solely on the qualifications and ability to perform. This is what will really show minority students stories of success: that someone from their race or heritage was able to attend school and get a job just like everyone else, not by special privileges, but by hard work.

In a previous article in the Collegiate, readers were informed of GRCCs desire to hire more minority faculty and staff members. GRCC President Steven Ender was quoted, saying, We are striving for the percentage of minority faculty members to be equal to or greater than the minority levels of our student body. Cathy Wilson, Executive Director of Human Resources, believes that purposefully increasing the number of minority staff members will be beneficial to the students because it will provide a diverse learning environment. Its always been GRCCs practice, said Wilson, but now its part of the Strategic Plan (a three-year plan outlining GRCCs values and

NO:

By Justin Dawes
Opinion Editor

Student Shoutout by Justin Dawes

How do you feel about the effort to raise the number of minority staff and faculty?

Selena Suarez Sophmore If theyre just hiring them because theyre a minority, thats not good. I like that theyre trying to be more diverse, but they should still hire fairly.

Caleb Curtiss Freshman As long as the teacher can be understood, its ok. More diversity could be a good thing--seeing other cultures and ideas, giving us multiple perspectives.

Breah Simpson Freshman I think its a good idea. It could be motivating to students and would give minorities a better chance to get work.

Anthony Abreu Junior Im for it. It gives minorities a better chance to succeed because it puts them on the same playing field.

Sabrina Ji Sophmore I dont think its necessary. It should be based on their ability to work and their attitude and their interest.