# U's woo Jews for elevation. Is this not discrimination? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 18, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738 "2002-05-18T21:01:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738/21 "2002-05-20T16:02:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SuaSponte \* > **…she told me was nicknamed the Tokyo Towers, 'cause it was populated by JAPs.** Yep. JAP = **Jewish-American Princess** – NOT a compliment. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738/22 "2002-05-20T16:09:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Critics of this situation, > Please withhold your indignation. > Toward a rhyming, quaint and curious OP to attract your views > Would you please, each Doper member, > Listen to the geek december, > No-one had their standards lowered in the seeking after Jews. Perhaps the most bizarre image I have ever gotten from reading this board – and there have been some doozies – is the vision of **December** as a rap artist doing the above to a funky beat! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738/23 "2002-05-20T16:13:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*Yep. JAP = **Jewish-American Princess** – NOT a compliment. \*\* In my ex-GF’s (and possibly my) defense, it was self-nicknamed by the residents thereof. Sua ---
**Author:** ![tradesilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tradesilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tradesilicon)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738/24 "2002-05-20T20:59:44Z")
“U’s woo Jews for elevation. Is this not discrimination?” DOn’t Asians get the best grades? Why not woo Asians? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738/25 "2002-05-20T21:08:35Z")
**Sua:** \*In my ex-GF’s (and possibly my) defense, it was self-nicknamed by the residents thereof. \* According to the “it’s more acceptable to make fun of stereotypes about yourself than about other people” rule, they get a pass on calling themselves “Jewish-American Princesses”, but **not** on the “Tokyo Towers” nickname, since it involves a pun (“JAP” = “Jap”) on a derogatory term for a different group. **december:** _No-one had their standards lowered in the seeking after Jews._ Presumably you mean that it would constitute discrimination if the university were trying to expand its applicant pool in a demographic group that was **less** academically qualified. I don’t agree. For one thing, demographic diversity is also an accepted “standard” in the admissions process for many institutions, as are good sports teams, good performing arts groups, multigenerational family traditions (i.e., alumni “legacies”), gender balance, and a host of other qualities besides good grades and test scores. No, there’s nothing wrong with a college working to improve its outreach specifically to one group of possible applicants that is likely to supply a quality it wants—whether it be Jews for test scores, Asians for musicianship, North Dakotans for geographical diversity, Native Americans or Latinos for ethnic/linguistic diversity, whatever. As **tomndebb** frequently points out, that’s the real point of affirmative action: you broaden your potential applicant pool to include more of the people who have a certain characteristic you want, so that then you have a better chance of selecting a total population that meets all your different criteria. There’s nothing special in the fact that these potential applicants are Jewish. Nor, IMHO, is there anything special in the fact that they’re being sought for their academic performance; it wouldn’t be any different if they were being sought for the sake of religious or ethnic diversity, or any other legitimate university “standard”. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738/26 "2002-05-20T21:53:16Z")
True enough, **Kim.** But it was a simpler time, then. Ronnie Raygun smiled at us from the White House, the Commies were still the bad guys, only gays could possibly get AIDS, and the Japanese were trying to take over our economy. [insert mid-80s stereotype here] ::birds twitter and butterflys land on **Sua’s** outstretched arms:: Sua ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738/27 "2002-05-21T00:47:51Z")
> [@](#): > > [insert mid-80s stereotype here] No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women, no fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it’s dark. . . . ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738/28 "2002-05-21T16:04:17Z")
Ah, yes, but it will never **be** an Ivy. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-woo-jews-for-elevation-is-this-not-discrimination/109738.md?page=1)