Supreme Court to review affirmative action again
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take another look at affirmative action in college admissions in a case involving the University of Texas.
Justice Elena Kagan withdrew from consideration of the case. She was U.S. solicitor general in 2010 when her office filed a brief in the dispute.
More than three-fourths of freshmen enroll at the Austin school under a state law that gives automatic admission to students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. For the remainder, the school considers a number of factors, including race.
Two white students denied UT admission under the policy challenged it in federal court.
A three-judge appellate panel upheld the admissions policy, and the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative in the country, refused to rehear the case by a vote of 9-7. The majority said UT's admissions program was "narrowly tailored," as required by a 2003 Supreme Court precedent.
The Texas Parte law blog reported one of the circuit dissenters, Chief Judge Edith H. Jones, said the panel's decision "gives a green light to all public higher education institutions in this circuit, and perhaps beyond, to administer racially conscious admissions programs without following the narrow tailoring that (Supreme Court precedent) requires. Texas today is increasingly diverse in ways that transcend the crude white/black/Hispanic calculus that is the measure of the university's race conscious admissions program."
The case accepted by the high court was brought by one of the two white students, Abigail Fisher, who applied to the school in 2008. Fisher was not entitled to admission under the Top 10 Percent Law, but her academic credentials exceeded many of those non-Top 10 students who were accepted, her petition said.
Justice Elena Kagan withdrew from consideration of the case. She was U.S. solicitor general in 2010 when her office filed a brief in the dispute.
More than three-fourths of freshmen enroll at the Austin school under a state law that gives automatic admission to students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. For the remainder, the school considers a number of factors, including race.
Two white students denied UT admission under the policy challenged it in federal court.
A three-judge appellate panel upheld the admissions policy, and the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative in the country, refused to rehear the case by a vote of 9-7. The majority said UT's admissions program was "narrowly tailored," as required by a 2003 Supreme Court precedent.
The Texas Parte law blog reported one of the circuit dissenters, Chief Judge Edith H. Jones, said the panel's decision "gives a green light to all public higher education institutions in this circuit, and perhaps beyond, to administer racially conscious admissions programs without following the narrow tailoring that (Supreme Court precedent) requires. Texas today is increasingly diverse in ways that transcend the crude white/black/Hispanic calculus that is the measure of the university's race conscious admissions program."
The case accepted by the high court was brought by one of the two white students, Abigail Fisher, who applied to the school in 2008. Fisher was not entitled to admission under the Top 10 Percent Law, but her academic credentials exceeded many of those non-Top 10 students who were accepted, her petition said.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/02/21/Supreme-Court-to-review-affirmative-action-again/UPI-15231329842453/#ixzz1n2Lyypjg
Dow crosses 13,000 for first time since before 2008 financial crisis
The 13,000 level is a psychological milepost, but in a market built on perception, it could influence more cautious investors to pump more money back into the stock market, analysts said.
“You need notches along the way to measure things, and that’s as good as any,” said John Manley, chief equity strategist for Wells Fargo’s funds group. “Is 50 older than 49 and a half? Yes, by six months. Do those six months really make a difference? Probably not. But it does give us a fixed point, something we can look at.”
Stocks dropped back slightly after hitting the mark. Just after 11:45 a.m. EST, the Dow was up 37 points at 12,987. In other trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up five points at 1,366. The Nasdaq composite index was up nine points at 2,961.
European markets fell after the Greece deal was announced. Stocks were down almost 4 percent in Greece, a little more than 1 percent in Spain and less than 1 percent in France and Britain. But the euro rose slightly at $1.32, which could be seen as a sign of confidence in European markets.
Investors noted that Greece remains in deep recession. Its private-sector investors were also forced to take a 53.5 percent loss on the face value of their bonds, which could discourage future investment.
The U.S. stock market has climbed steadily this year, primarily because of optimism about the economy. High gasoline prices are emerging as a chief concern for the economic recovery for the rest of the year, though.
A gallon of regular costs $3.57 on average, 40 cents more than a year ago and the highest on record for this time of year. With tension building over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Iran has halted oil exports to Britain and France and threatened to stop shipping to other European countries.
On Tuesday, U.S. markets enjoyed strong earnings reports from several big-name companies, including Home Depot and Dollar Thrifty. The exception was Wal-Mart, which reported a 15 percent drop in quarterly profits.
Overall, though, investors seemed comfortable moving money into the higher-risk stock market and out of safer investments like government bonds. The yield on the government’s benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.05 percent from 2.01 percent Friday, a sign that fewer investors wanted the bonds.
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Competing currency being accepted across Mid-Michigan: "Supporters of competing currencies say their money is worth more and is inflation proof."
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