(04-10-2013, 03:23 PM)terry link Wrote:Outsiderfan suggests that Ca.l, as a public university, has an obligation to give an opportunity to marginal students. That's not how I understand the design of the California educational system. The California master plan for higher education generally says that the top 12.5% of high school graduates in the state are eligible for the UC system, the top 33% are eligible for the Ca.l State University system, and everyone is eligible for the community college system. So the UC schools are not the part of the system that has the mission of providing an opportunity to marginal students. That's what the community colleges are supposed to do. The UC system is supposed to educate the top students in the state. UC Berkeley is at the top of the UC system, and is supposed to educate the very best students in the state. I don't think it's really part of UC Berkeley's mission to provide an opportunity to marginal students.
There is the way things are suppose to work, and the way they do work in practical reality. McKinley probably wouldn't be given any opportunity at a CC/JC. He needs a scholarship and most importantly, structure. Cal needs to have a football team that excites fans to pay for and support it and all its intendant costs. Absent great athletes like McKinley, Cal won't be able to generate the revenue it needs, and California tax payers will pay the price. So he takes the place of a "more deserving" kid (who was likely given more opportunities to succeed).
It's always a question of who gets what, who pays, how much, and who goes without, in virtually every life endeavor. There are always trade-offs to be made and everyone's situation, personal and institutional, is different.Â