Frank Bruni
The New York Times
"An Admissions Surprise From the Ivy League"
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/opinion/sunday/an-admissions-surprise-from-the-ivy-league.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ffrank-bruni&action=click&contentCollection=opinion®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
This week, Frank Bruni discussed the new coalition of colleges that are trying to create an easier path for students from low-income families to apply to colleges. In order to accomplish this, they are planning to create an online platform for "one-stop shopping for information about financial aid, application requirements and more." Bruni then goes on to discuss how this online tool will actually benefit students of low-income families. He says that the coalition will have to really push and give the students information, because the online tool may be looked over.
Bruni appeals to ethos because he acknowledges how his views compare to others. As he says, "Unlike many of this new coalition’s harshest critics, I trust that the schools involved really do want to diversify their student bodies, which don’t reflect American society." He mentions how the coalition has critics, but then he states that he disagrees with them. However, he does write that "like those critics, I wonder how the new application process will accomplish this and whether it would be more effective to adopt less complicated, confusing strategies." Bruni is not completely opposed to the coalitions critics. He mentions how he agrees and disagrees with them. Bruni also appeals to logos by using statistics of the students who receive grants and aid at different top tier schools. He says "In the Ivy League, the percentage ranged from 12 (Yale) to 21 (Columbia), according to the National Center for Education Statistics. While 31 percent of students at the University of California, Berkeley, received Pell grants, just 13 percent at the University of Virginia did."
Mr. Bruni,
ReplyDeleteI feel like there is the same issue for all programs created to help people of low economic status. There is not much trouble creating them, but getting the information to the people to use them. It must be difficult to convince many people to use this program because a computer and Internet access is needed, which is not easy for many people. I think that this is a great idea overall, it just needs to be more accessible.
Chanler