The Murfreesboro Post from Murfreesboro, Tennessee • 12

murfreesboropostxom 12 Sunday Oct 2012 Community voices Mem Femaoiras no legal minds. However, I will venture out and recall my younger days in an attempt to establish what I feel is an obvious contradiction with so-called racial diversity. Back in die day, whether it was basketball or football, the best talent available were the ones who made the teams. Oh, sure, politics and favoritism came into play from time to time, but not all that often. And while on the subject of sports.

Heres a thought Id like to toss at administrative decision-makers at the University of Texas at Atfstin and the University of Michigan: African-Americans make up approximately 80 percent of the football and basketball rosters at both these prestigious universities. Caucasian students constitute nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population. From an angle of statistical racial diversity, the numbers are way off. I reckon what would happen if someone at either of these universities publicly stated, for the sake of racial diversity, both institutions needed to add more white students to the football and basketball rosters? A plausible rebuttal could be that black students tend to be better at football and basketball than do whites; therefore the rosters are justified.

My closing question is: If racial diversity is required in one area, then why not all aspects of education? What say you. Supreme Court justices? MP Mike Vinson can be contacted at mikevinSon56yahoojcom. If an issue at hand has anything to do with a political campaign job selection, political appointment, court decisions, police action, etc. the vast majority of candidates are prone to say whatever best serves their personal agenda. After all, speaking the truth about race has the potential to jeopardize jobs, careers, and even families.

One wrong word on public record, and quick as tomorrows headline, youre a beer-swilling, skinhead racist. These days, I suppose we could say that discussing race is so sensitive it is metaphorically akin to holding a hot potato: Youd better handle with care or youll get burned. So, realizing the potential heat. Im going to do my best to handle with care the subject of racial diversity, which not only is headline news but has managed to become cul turally voguish. Of current interest is a case involving affirmative action and admissions policies at the University of Texas at Austin.

On Wednesday, the case was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. The plaintiff -Abigail Noel Fisher, who is white, applied to the university and was denied admission. Fisher filed suit, alleging that the university had discriminated against her on the basis of her ethnicity, in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Lawyers for the University of Texas at Austin argue that, like many other institutions, it seeks to assemble a student body that is diverse in innumerable ways, including race.

Still, there is the 2003 landmark case of Grutter v. Bollinger. MEAT potatoes MIKE VINSON Post Columnist Barbara Grutter, who is white, applied for admission to the University of Michigan Law School, and she was denied. Grutter, a Michigan resident with a 3.8 grade point average, scored a 161 on the law school admission test. Later, she found out that black students with lower GPAs and scores had been admitted ahead of her.

Grutter filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan and Lee Bollinger, who served as president of the school at the time. The Supreme Court upheld the affirmative actions of the University of Michigan Law School, stating, that the institution had a compelling interest in promoting class diversity. The policy aspires to achieve that diversity, which has the potential to enrich everyones education, and thus make a law school (University of Michigan) class stronger than the sum of its parts, wrote Justice Sandra Day OConner, who authored the majority opinion in the 5-4 decision. I wont be foolish enough to attempt to argue the findings of the Supreme Court, a collection of our nations best Another silenft season Supfifspeedway Whoever said silence is golden didnt know anything about racetracks. For a racetrack, silence is fatal.

And the somber silence that hung over Nashville Superspeedway this year is apparently destined to continue next season. Some summer rumors about new life for the track were apparently just that rumors as the gleaming facility that opened with such promise 12 years ago continues to sit idle. The Superspeedway, nestled in sleepy Gladeville on the Rutherford-Wilson County border, is Dover Motorsports failed Field of Dreams. Dover built it, but they didnt come. They, being fans.

Attendance was a flop from Opening Day in 2001 until the final race in 201 1 when Dover finally surrendered and suspended operations. Why didn't the track draw? For some of the same reasons that other tracks are struggling all around the country: rotten economy and rotten racing. That, plus trying to sell minor-league racing in a big-league sports market where Titans and Predators prowl. The combination was too much to overcome. Dover has indicated that the track is for sale, but who wants to buy a racetrack in this economy? Especially one that folded because it couldnt draw flies.

Back in the summer there were whispers that the Indy Racing League might return an IndyCar Series race to the track. The 1RL raced at the Superspccdway for eight years All nnr LARRY WOODY I Post Columnist and drew respectable crowds. Respectable, at least, compared to the anemic turnouts for the second- and third-tier NASCAR races that comprised the rest of the tracks bland menu. But last week the IRL announced its 2013 schedule and Gladeville not on it. The second rumor was that NASCAR star Tony Stewart might buy the facility, build a dirt track on it, and bring back some lower-level NASCAR racing.

Stewart, who owns some other dirt tracks, has done a considerable amount of testing at the Superspeedway and reportedly likes the venue. However, next seasons NASCAR schedules have been posted and the Superspeedway is nowhere to be found. While it would be possible for Stewart or someone else to operate the track without any IRL or NASCAR races, that seems unlikely. Equally unlikely is the likelihood of drag racing coming in. A drag strip was included in Dover's initial blueprints, but no drag-racing organizations have expressed interest.

If racing ceases at Nashvilles Fairgrounds Speedway at the end of the season it is possible that the Superspeedway could host some of the Fairgrounds' former events next year. Possible, but again not likely. It would be too costly for local-division racing, says Terrell Davis, editor of Middle Tennessee Racing News. The Superspeedway is not suited for that type of racing, and nobodys going to build a short track out there anytime soon, given the current economy. Although there was no racing at the Superspeedway this year, Dover generated a smattering of revenue by leasing the track on a day-by-day basis to various NASCAR teams for testing.

That wont produce much of a return on an estimated $100 million investment, but right now no other options exist. And so the Superspeedways gloomy silence continues. Turnstiles rust, and weeds grow in vacant parking lots built to hold thousands of enthusiastic fans. Dovers Field of Dreams remains a nightmare. MP Larry Woody can be contacted at tarry-woody gmailjcom..