Bacon's Rebellion

The Wall Street Journal’s Naomi Schaefer Riley looks at college admissions, using the University of Chicago as an example, and comes away from it all with this:

As it is, colleges already discount so many of the concrete measures. In addition to ignoring test scores (when it’s convenient), admissions officers have a hard time keeping track of which high schools are rigorous and which are not. The U of C has freshmen matriculating from 900 different high schools this year. What does an “A” mean at any of them? “We don’t know,” Mr. O’Neill replies. What about the essays? More and more kids pay coaches to compose them. The U of C has picked some odd topics to get around this–“Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard” or “Use the power of string to explain the biggest or the smallest phenomenon”–but coaches can get creative, too.

I suspect that what bothers kids most about the process is not the cutthroat competition they face, but the arbitrary nature of the whole thing. You struggle to give schools what they want. But ultimately folks like Mr. O’Neill may simply ignore your grades or your test scores, focusing instead on whether you’ve had the right “experiences” or have the right skin color to be admitted to the sacred city.

This is an oft-repeated critique: Schools are moving away from hard measures of achievement and opting instead for increasingly fuzzy, and constantly moving, admissions standards. But what Riley and others miss is that admissions offices across the country are also marketing themselves more aggressively than ever — and many of them are using a Richmond-based agency, Royall & Company, to do it (disclosure: Mrs. Leahy once worked for Royall).

Never heard of Bill Royall’s firm? That’s not surprising, since he generally shuns publicity (and that the perpetually blinkered RTD hasn’t covered him isn’t surprising either…but that’s a rant for another time).

But Royall helps over 200 schools, including some of the biggest names in the biz, generate large, nationwide applicant pools. The process uses classic direct marketing techniques and a healthy dose of technology to give schools like the University of Chicago (a Royall client) the ability to reach beyond their traditional, regional bases, and target kids based upon any number of criteria including test scores — yes, they do matter, a lot — gender, interests, career aims and more. The whole process can begin as early as the ninth grade.

Kids provide the information themselves — more often than not on the testing forms they complete before they take exams like the PSAT. So when Admissions officers say they want to move away from crude measurements like the SAT, they are being truthful…to an extent. The reality is that their marketing efforts rely on test scores more than they want to admit.

And the schools have reaped enormous benefits. Not only are they attracting more applicants, which allows them to be more selective, it also helps make them into national, recognized brands.

The downside of this success is that it has given rise to bizarre essay questions like the ones Riley notes in her piece. It’s also made it harder for some bright kids to get into top schools. When the applicant pools were smaller, they stood out. But thanks to the wonders of national marketing, that’s no longer the case (unless you’re a legacy).

It’s fine and necessary to question college admissions policies, particularly when those policies seem to be ever-changing. But it’s also important to understand that the schools are working both sides of this game — marketing themselves like mad to get more people to apply, and then playing games with their admissions criteria.

Just remember that the next time your ninth grader gets a letter or an email from a college asking them if they’ve given any thought to life after high school.

Fewer Virginia middle schools met state benchmarks for full accreditation this year, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Standards of Learning test results released yesterday by the Virginia Department of Education showed that elementary schools and high schools are holding their own, but the percentage of middle schools meeting state benchmarks fell from 71 percent last year to 69 percent this year.

The lagging performance of Virginia middle-school students, especially in math and science, is reflected also in the National Assessment of Educational Progress numbers.

Why, then is Gov. Timothy M. Kaine so insistent upon expanding pre-K programs? Virginia’s problem isn’t at the pre-K level. Virginia pupils perform well when they go to elementary school. They start under-performing in middle-school. If the answer is pumping more money into an ossified public educational system — a premise that I dispute — then why don’t we at least apply funds and creative thinking to the part of the system that is most obviously broken?

Following up on Jim’s post from earlier, the AP is reporting that Omeish has resigned from the Immigration Commission in light of a number of videos and other information that has come to light regarding statements the Doctor made regarding U.S. foreign policy, Israel, and “the jihad way.”

The Governor’s volte face on this matter is rich indeed. In Garren Shipley’s article, Kaine spokesman Kevin Hall is quoted saying:

…Kaine had nothing for which to apologize.

“That these delegates would spread innuendo, moving dangerously close to slander, is disappointing,” he said. “If they have evidence of what they’re alleging, I would suggest that they bring it to us.”

Wonder of wonders, it looks as though the information got out. It seems as though the Governor’s staff failed him in this matter — both in properly vetting an appointee and in defending said appointee in the face of what is fairly damning evidence (which begs the question — is the Governor’s staff aware of Google? Perhaps they should check into that sometime). Worse still for the Governor is that he had to be publicly confronted with such information by a caller to his monthly radio show.

Sloppy. Very sloppy.

Update

Garren Shipley, who broke this story yesterday, has a follow-up here. Snips:

Due diligence in vetting a nominee should at least include an Internet search, [Del. Todd] Gilbert said. That’s how he found his initial information about Omeish.

“It took about 30 seconds,” Gilbert said.

That sounds about right. And this one is just precious:

Gilbert sent a letter to Kaine on Wednesday afternoon expressing his concerns about Omeish and his views, but the governor’s spokesman, Kevin Hall, dismissed Gilbert’s letter as nothing but repeated “whispers and smears.”

“That these delegates would spread innuendo, moving dangerously close to slander, is disappointing,” he said. “If they have evidence of what they’re alleging, I would suggest that they bring it to us.”

Hall didn’t return calls for comment following Kaine’s announcement.

I think that’s because there’s no phone behind the woodshed.

Update (by Jim Bacon): This may be construed as piling on, given the fact that Omeish has resigned, but it’s worth learning more about the radical Islamists in our midst. Del. Gilbert provides details in a follow-up press release.

Kudos to Global Web Solutions, a Roanoke Internet service provider, for cutting off service to William A. White, a Roanoke Nazi and white supremacist, who spews racist vitriol on his website. If the weak-chinned, pasty-faced White thinks he’s an exemplar of a superior race, he’s the only one. (See his photo in this Roanoke Times article.) Short of restricting his right to free speech, we Virginians collectively should do anything we can do to marginalize loathesome creatures like this.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t wind up getting appointed to the Virginia Commission on Immigration.

Dr. Esam Omeish is the leader of the Muslim American Society, a front group for the radical Muslim Brotherhood. Timothy M. Kaine has appointed him to the Virginia Commission on Immigration.

Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, has asked Kaine to reconsider the appointment, reports Garren Shipley with the Northern Virginia Daily.

“It is unfortunate that the Governor would choose the leader of an organization such as this to represent many the freedom-loving Muslim citizens of Virginia on this important commission,” Gilbert wrote. “While the Muslim American Society claims to be the innocent face of peaceful Islam in America, their history and teachings tell a much different story. Unfortunately, it is a story about which all Americans have become much too familiar — that of the promotion of a global Islamic state.”

Don’t believe Gilbert. Click on the Youtube video, listen to what Omeish has to say about Israel and Palestine. Is this really a guy Kaine wishes to legitimize? He couldn’t have found someone else to represent the perspective of tens of thousands of Muslims living in Virginia?

Update: The Gates of Vienna blog has more detail about Omeish and the internal wranglings of the Virginia Commission on Immigration. (Referring to this blog post, Dymphna wisecracked, “I guess when the Ummah arrives he [Bacon] will have to change his name real quick.”)

Chris Saxman’s latest email update contains a few recommendations for how the state can actually save money through — of all things — managing its printing and paper use more efficiently:

Printers, copiers, and paper are essential to government operations and while we all recognize that, sometimes we don’t consider the cost. Consider that the state has a printer and copier inventory of more than 34,000. In FY06, the cost of these and related devices was $29,607,712. In FY06, the cost of paper was $7,499,837 and the cost of outside printing services was $37,702,417. The team offered the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Promote a printer, copier, and paper savings awareness campaign—promoting print efficiencies, cost-savings, and best practices.

Recommendation 2: Implement print management best practices

Recommendation 3: Move toward phasing out fax machines. Personal computers and multifunction machines now have the capability to fax documents. Significant cost reduction could be realized by eliminating fax machines and performing these functions on personal computers or multifunction machines.

Recommendation 4: Move toward or transition to the implementation of managed print services–as appropriate for meeting agency and department mission and goals. Managed print services (MPS) are services offered by an external provider to optimize or manage an organization’s document output. A MPS contract can include assessment services, asset management, output management services, and support services. The external service provider either owns or leases the hardware, with the customer paying a monthly or quarterly fee—based on a cost per page or cost per seat. Gartner suggests that candidates for MPS are midsize or large organizations with 100 or more employees. Agencies and departments should document their print needs and determine if the use of managed print services would reduce their print cost.

Recommendation 5: Encourage agencies use of high-volume print shops for large print jobs. Virginia Correctional Enterprises (VCE), a printing service within the state, continues to demonstrate its ability to produce quality and timely print for state agencies and departments—at a cost savings. In addition, state procurement regulation mandates that goods and services produced or manufactured by state correctional facilities be purchased by all departments, institutions, and agencies of the Commonwealth (there are some waivers to this regulation).

Saxman has a lot more in his note, but this list gives a fairly good look at some of the ways government can shave its operating costs and still provide the services people demand.

And with the threat of state budget cuts looming, any amount of economizing will be welcome.

Now if only Chris and his colleagues could find a way to rebate those savings to taxpayers…

The latest idea for combating illegal immigration in Virginia: Build a detention center capable of holding 1,000 illegals arrested for certain categories of crimes. That comes from the State Crime Commission, reports the Washington Post. The usual nervous nellies are worried that someone’s rights will be violated — as if the same risk weren’t true of illegals held in local jails.

Meanwhile, Fairfax County estimates that it holds about 4,500 illegal immigrants in its jail, about 16 percent of the county’s inmate population, reports Examiner.com. Previous statewide estimates by the state crime commission had run around 8 to 10 percent.

Meanwhile, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is talking tough on illegal immigration, castigating the federal government for the “bankruptcy” of its policies, even as he argues that it’s not the states’ job to police immigration, reports the Associated Press.

From the New York Times comes a story about Riverside, New Jersey, one of a small number of localities that passed tough anti-illegal immigrant laws but are now rethinking them. Snip:

With the departure of so many people, the local economy suffered. Hair salons, restaurants and corner shops that catered to the immigrants saw business plummet; several closed. Once-boarded-up storefronts downtown were boarded up again.

Meanwhile, the town was hit with two lawsuits challenging the law. Legal bills began to pile up, straining the town’s already tight budget. Suddenly, many people — including some who originally favored the law — started having second thoughts.

So last week, the town rescinded the ordinance, joining a small but growing list of municipalities nationwide that have begun rethinking such laws as their legal and economic consequences have become clearer.

Virginia counties that have jumped on the populist, anti-illegal bandwagon most likely won’t face the same fall-out. They have far stronger economies, for one, and most likely could fight any future challenges without inflicting harm on other parts of their budgets.

Nevertheless, the consequences, both in economics and perception, are real.