Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday. A 40 day period of sacrifice and atonement for Catholics around the world. Some years I have given up a pleasure for the time. This year I am not. We are not a Catholic family but for my high school years I attended a Catholic girls school and learned of the ritual. Our son attended Episcopalian schools prior to high school and sometimes was encouraged to participate in the self-sacrifice. I understand it, I just don't do it much any more. I think the 40 day period is a good time for self-examination and try to encourage myself to be the best human being I can be. Most days I fall short, but I get up every morning and try again.

You want to know something that irritates me? People who steal yard signs showing support for a political candidate. Ours was stolen out of our front yard. Someone felt entitled to come onto our property and steal a sign. It's common but it's just a petty act.

Here's a head scratcher - how does an ex-Taliban ambassador-at-large with a fourth grade education and a high school equivalency degree get accepted into Yale University? He was admitted into a nondegree program for special students. He has a 3.33 grade point average. Who at the State Department approved his student visa?

Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi is studying at Yale University on a U.S. student visa. Sounds as though the politically correct doctrine of diversity has once again gone amuk. Yale University, had "another foreigner of Rahmatullah's caliber" apply for special student status. Richard Shaw, Yale's dean of undergraduate admissions, said "we lost him to Harvard, and I didn't want that to happen again."

Mr. Rahmatullah told the New York Times "in some ways I'm the luckiest person in the world. I could have ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Instead I ended up at Yale." Lucky indeed. He is taking a course called Terrorism - Past, Present and Future.

Why is Yale University of the impression that they really scored with this admission? Weren't there other bright students, American or foreign, who would have been grateful for the opportunity to attend Yale? Why did Mr. Rahmatullah's application trump those applications?

"Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it." - William Penn

2 comments:

Me said...

What an awesome post and quote today. I love reading your blog. :)

srp said...

Nyssa's roommate from MSMS is at Yale. It seems unfair that this guy took a place that an American student, probably with a hight GPA could have had. The college admission process was really an eye opener. Don't let any of them tell you that they look at "other things beside the SAT scores" it is completely not true. The junior PSAT and being a National Merit Finalist is VERY important. To be a finalist they almost have to have an SAT of 1400. Then they are almost guaranteed to gain admittance to the college of choice. Otherwise, one must be an instate student to have the advantage. It is rough. Much more difficult than when we were looking. So, any place they give to these non-residents is one place not available for US students.