Editorial | January 24, 2007
The spring semester marks the return to schoolwork from the holiday break. While students may have been recuperating from the rigors of the last semester, world events did not stand still. Several leaders passed away. President Gerald Ford will be remembered as a man who restored American trust in the presidency in a time of national despair discussed in depth on page 22. The execution of Saddam Hussein, on the other hand, brings justice to innocent Iraqis whose lives were tragically cut short by chemical weapon attacks, intimidating state-ordered rapes, and brutal political persecution. The way forward in Iraq is still not entirely clear, but one writer in this issue tackles the possibility of partitioning the country on page 20. In the upcoming weeks, the nation will have to hope for the success of President Bush’s troop surge, if the Democrat-controlled Congress will fund it.
Back at Tufts, the fallout from the affirmative action Christmas carol satire lingers. THE PRIMARY SOURCE acknowledges after close examination that it had significant potential to be misconstrued. Sloppy, ineffective language obscured the carol’s original purpose of illustrating that affirmative action thrives on harmful, incorrect stereotypes and principles. Throughout the fall semester, the campus engaged in a discussion about the decline in Class of 2010 African American enrollment that seemed based on dehumanizing policies of meeting certain “targets” or quotas. We now realize that critiquing affirmative action and the campus discussion was out of the reach and scope of the carol. The primary goal of this publication is to effectively convey our conservative message. We failed with the carol, and we apologize for the failure.
The importance of discussing affirmative action, however, has not diminished. This issue sets aside several pieces to present a conservative case against a practice that has led to the admission—simply because of the color of their skin—of 25 percent of the minority applicant pool at the University of Michigan Law School. An article on page 10 debunks common misconceptions about affirmative action and makes the case for removing race from the admissions equation. The SOURCE has also acquired an exclusive interview with Ward Connerly, a former California Regents Board member and influential state ballot initiative leader to end race preferences for college admissions. The candid discussion with him on page 14 allows a rare glimpse inside closely guarded admissions policies and his thoughts about the involvement of race in college admissions.
The new year also brings a new post to THE PRIMARY SOURCE, Managing Editor of Arts and Leisure. This spot will be filled by Patrick Randall, who is a classical music aficionado with a music collection spanning hundreds of discs. Additionally Patrick is co-President of the Tufts Symphony Orchestra. The column on classical music will appear in every issue, and we hope that you enjoy this addition to the pages of the magazine.
THE PRIMARY SOURCE is resolved to bringing you the finest conservative opinion journalism available on campus. We hope that you enjoy it.
Douglas Kingman
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