What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?

First the story that started it all!

McLean's magazine had an article about Canadian Universities, and they referred to some of them as being "Too Asian!"

By this they meant that a lot of the "White" kids felt threatened because the "Asian" kids spent Saturday nights studying, instead of going out to party, and thereby raising the scholastic bar too high for them! They call them "study schools!"

(An “Asian” school has come to mean one that is so academically focused that some students feel they can no longer compete or have fun.)

As a result a lot of the "White" kids are now going to smaller, out of the way schools where the academic requirements are not as high!

(God forbid they should be denied their Saturday nights on the town!)

The article states plainly that Asian students tend to be "high achievers" and states that white students care more about "social interaction" and "alcohol."

Because of this McLean's magazine has received a lot of flack, accusing them of being racist, while the Chinese community has expressed fears that the article will promote an "us vs them" mentality!

The article points out that campus life is becoming too skewed in one direction -- the social or the academic.

It is true that these camps are often highly racialized. But, pointing out that white students spend as much time partying as they do studying, while Asian students tend not to party with white students is, again, not racist.

Research does support the argument that minority students in general are more academically studious. As sociologists have pointed out for years, this does create a facile multiculturalism in which student of different backgrounds attend the same university, but rarely talk to one another.

University administrators may be spending time, as the article suggests, worrying about how they can get everybody to "hang out" with each other, but that is their prerogative. Racism it is not.

Rabble.ca

NOW!

Here comes the "sneak n the back door" reason why your much maligned author brought this whole thing up!

Toronto City council just held their first public meeting after the election, and one of the rookie council members, Mike Layton, (who happens to be the son of NDP leader Jack Layton) jumped up and requested that Maclean’s magazine “apologize unreservedly” for an article published about the number of Asian-Canadian students at the University of Toronto.

The motion states that council should “disassociate itself from the views expressed by Maclean’s in its article entitled ‘Too Asian?’ and request that Maclean’s apologize unreservedly for the negative stereotyping of the Asian-Canadian community.”

Among those voting against the motion was Mayor Rob Ford, and for a very good reason!

What the hell has this got to do with running the city of Toronto? Or the price of tea in China for that matter!

If Jack Layton, as head of the NDP, wants to get up in front of Parliament and make this an issue I could understand it, because it's a Federal matter and something the socialist NDP loves to whine about.

But!

This has nothing to do with vehicle registration permits, property taxes, snow removal, or anything else in running Toronto.

No sir! Mike Layton jumped up and ranted about this because he saw it a a perfect opportunity to get media attention and nothing more.

If Mr.Layton Jr. is going to be so derelict and self-serving in his duty, then perhaps his first day on council should also have been his last!

Read more: http://www.canada.com/technology/Toronto+City+Council+votes+Maclean+apologize+over+Asian+article/3990273/story.html#ixzz18O1vlzBB