Jon Miller '15 argues that diversity initiatives and affirmative action unfairly benefit minority students based on history and not present circumstances.

Two Cornell alumni at NPR are enmeshed in a national scandal following the release of a controversial YouTube video Tuesday.

When I made my debut in the Opinion section, I advocated a different type of diversity: diversity of thoughts and ideas. Since then, I have avoided that topic, as I consider it too much of a cliché, but a few years later, the time is now ripe to revive this concept with a new twist.

No matter who they side with, those who fail to consider the diverse array of perspectives in composing their arguments are destined to produce poor sketches of their own arguments.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about how Asians only hang out with each other. There was a warm and fuzzy message in the end about why we develop friendships in the first place. Plus it was a relatively light-hearted article with sprinkles of humor, mostly making fun of myself and how ridiculously stupid I can be from time to time. I thought it would be relatively easy to swallow. But then I forgot Cornell doesn’t encourage its students to have a sense of humor. I mean, laughter? What’s that? Is it defined in this textbook?

White America has it out for Michael Vick. Many whites in this country have a professed and profound hatred for the man.

Michael Vick’s notoriety comes from being an NFL quarterback. He played for the Atlanta Falcons his first six seasons in the league up until his legal troubles interrupted his career. This season, Vick has signed to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he will not be able to play until Week Three, when the league lifts his suspension.

Each day millions of people experience some form of discrimination solely because of their skin color. Last week, the U.S. took direct action against racism by announcing its decision to become part of the Durban Review. While negotiations are still underway, the U.S. will likely assist with reducing racism in countries all over the world. This is a major step toward eliminating racial discrimination, but will simply showing support be enough to stop such a wide-spread practice of many cultures?

Students in Ithaca public schools have been historically divided along racial and socioeconomic lines, creating gaps in academic achievement and tension within the diverse demographic.

Last October, Amelia Kearney, a parent of a black female student at DeWitt Middle School, accused the Ithaca City School District of racism after her daughter complained of verbal and physical abuse by white peers on the school bus.

The incident incited a protest at Ithaca High School, and the district has since devoted significant effort to ensuring racial equity in the Ithaca school system.

When the New York State Electric Gas company decided two weeks ago not to fund the construction of a new basketball court in a downtown Ithaca park, it brought an apparent end to an ongoing struggle between neighbors of the park and city officials that had resulted in allegations of racism and stereotyping.

After an exhausting and masturbatory twenty month long election cycle, thank god the end is finally in sight. Obama and McCain are approaching the last mile of this marathon, and despite a flurry of new attacks and policy proposals, Obama has cleared the hurdles placed before him.

By Tia Hicks and Zachary Murray

The discussion has shifted and now we’re talking about “intellectual diversity.” We’re talking about providing “robust discussion” instead of preventing bigotry; we’re talking about the politics of diversity instead of outlining concrete efforts to achieve diversity and equality; we’re talking about how the University can protect itself from being criticized instead of responding to groups that alienate and denigrate.

The issues that minority students face at Cornell transcend the racism of articles by The Cornell Review, whether people have the right of free speech and expression, and the feelings of conservatives that they have no voice on this campus.