My brother the scholar

My little brother plowed through high school as if it were anything else he'd ever attempted. He excelled in advanced placement courses to secure a 3.7 GPA, repeatedly earning 3.9 semester averages, straight A's, and an eighteenth percentile ranking. As the four-year class president, it came as little surprise that he was elected president of the student body in his senior year. A long list of activities complemented his impressive academic record, including the responsibilities of virtually running school activities, playing in the jazz band, mentoring younger students, and working a time-consuming after-school job. \nHis efforts and involvement did not go unrecognized. In being selected to attend the American Legion's Boys State, a merit afforded to a single male student, he would learn about democracy by forming a mock government to debate local, county, and state issues, and eventually attempt to pass a credible bill, all while learning critical leadership skills. \nI might be biased, but it sounds to me like the description of a model student, one any university would be proud to accept. So why then has his endeavor to choose a college been a struggle instead of a breeze?\nAs we would come to find out, reverse discrimination is still very much in practice in the form of affirmative action. In contacting a certain school for answers about his rejection, he got only confusion. The admissions officer assured him test scores were not crucial, as he had feared. She questioned his grades, courses, and activities, all of which had surpassed their minimum requirements. Though he inquired about friends with lower grades and minority status who had been accepted, she could not disclose confidential information about prospective students. Finding disappointment once again, he asked to be removed from the waitlist. Realizing they didn't appreciate his achievements, he knew someplace else certainly would. \nAs enraged as I was saddened by the circumstances, I questioned the legality of his situation. Reverse discrimination, he informed me, is not a crime. But isn't someone being robbed? I happen to think so. \nThe acknowledged standards of a school had obviously been bent. The ethnicity of several of his friends had been taken into account, though their qualifications had not. As a former advocate of affirmative action, my opinion has undergone definite reconsideration with this experience.\nPlacing students with lesser qualifications in arenas where they wouldn't normally be eligible seems to be a predicament for everyone. Not only is that student facing a valid disadvantage in what is expected of them, yet another student meeting all the criteria is deprived of what heor she deserves. \nSince abolishing the practice of race-based admissions in 1998, the University of California system has seen a significant increase in minority admissions. The figures alone are evidence that special treatment has no rightful place in the acceptance procedure. If the quality of the education is a substantial factor, as in underprivileged areas, that student should be compensated accordingly. Otherwise, discrimination, which is wrong in every form, is perpetuated. \nAs for my brother, his search is over. After careful consideration, he found a school that matched all his needs. I only hope he finds half the enjoyment here at IU that I have over these past four years.