Category: Top Stories

The cover photo is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.

Abigail Fisher is a native of Sugar Land, Texas and was denied admissions as an undergrad applicant to the University of Texas at Austin. She accuses the University of Texas of illegally discriminating against her.  Fisher accuses them because she was a part of a pool of applicants who were evaluated using criteria that gave extra consideration to black and also Hispanic criteria.This case was brought before the Supreme Court and raised the question of whether and how race may be used in college- admissions decisions.

This case is similar to a case from 2003 about the University of Michigan law school and how the Supreme Court held that colleges were seeking to promote diversity must give “serious, good faith consideration” to race-neutral alternative to affirmative preferences. The difference between now and 2003 is that it has become more conservative and more hostile to racial preferences. This case affects the 2012 Presidential Campaign because candidates are likely to be faced with questions on affirmative action.

Full story: http://chronicle.com/article/What-You-Need-to-Know-About/134912/

October 5, 2012 marked the first Friday of the month meaning the release of another jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor. The report showed the economy added 114,000 jobs in the month of September and the unemployment rate falling to 7.8%.

Mitt Romney and his campaign have been critical of the unemployment rate sighting it being above 8% for 42 straight months. The new unemployment number comes at a time when President Obama is trying to regain his momentum after a poor debate performance earlier in the week. However, it must be noted that no incumbent president has won re-election with the unemployment rate above 7.2% since World War II. Ronald Reagan won re-election in 1984 with an unemployment rate of 7.2%.

Speaking to a crowd at George Mason University, President Obama referenced the encouraging numbers saying, “More Americans entered the workforce, more people are getting jobs. Today’s news is certainly not an excuse to try to talk down the economy to score a few political points.”

Even with the positive report Mitt Romney didn’t back down from criticizing the president’s handling of the economy. He has argued that the unemployment rate has gone down due to people leaving the workforce. While that has been part of the reason over the past few months the report for September showed participation in the labor force increased.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ijBilki-I[/youtube]

On Tuesday, September 25, 2012, President Obama addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the last time before the election in November.

He used this time as an opportunity to criticize the anti-Islamic video that had created violent anti-American protests throughout the Middle East, but declared that no words are an excuse for murder, as in the case of the four State Department officials in Libya two weeks ago.

While ensuring that the international community knew that the video was not the work of the US Government, he reiterated that free speech is an integral part of ensuring freedom for all, and that stifling even hate speech, can easily lead to oppression.

President Obama stated that even though the United States would like a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program, the time to find one is not “unlimited.”  He also reiterated that the U.S would continue to push for peace talks between Israel and Palestine and stand with rebel Syrian forces against President Assad.

Photo from: socialequality.com

On Thursday, September 27, Socialist Equality Presidential candidate Jerry White will be stopping by the NOVA Annandale campus to discuss the socialist perspective on the political and economic environment in America, and outline the socialist platform.

White believes that a job, housing, healthcare, and an education are social rights, and the only way to attain these rights for the American people is through a mobilization of the working class into a political party. Jerry White and the Socialist Equality Party have received little media attention out of the alternative third party candidates.

This Thursday will be a great opportunity for NOVA and Mason students to learn more about socialism and hear a different perspective on American politics and the future of capitalism.

Find out more about this event here: http://socialequality.com/node/2323