Last night was the affirmative action debate. BAMN, By any means necessary, brought their national spokesperson Shanta Driver while the Berkeley College Republicans brought Star Parker.

I think almost everyone walked into the room with a solid position on affirmative action. Most people went to cheer on their own side. During the evening, the talk moved away from the policy of affirmative action and its merits.

When Ms. Parker said, capitalism leads to wealth and redistribution leads to poverty, Ms. Driver laughed. Then I remembered the connections between BAMN and the communist group the Revolutionary Workers’ League. Check out this and its many links.

Ms. Driver put words into Ms. Parker’s mouth, claiming she thought black people were biologically inferior. Ms. Parker was called a “self-hating minority,” which later prompted a question from the audience (toward Ms. Driver) “How can I be a self-loving minority?”

During the question period, BAMN’s hearings on hostile climate toward minority students were brought up as evidence that racism still exists in a large way on the Berkeley campus. To me this was laughable. I went to one of their hearings on hostile climate. Two people I knew gave testimony about the discrimination they received. They were called “the puppet of the white man” and an “Aunt Jemima.” However, BAMN turned their cameras off, struck their testimony from the record, and laughed at them when they learned they were politically conservative.

Some of the people for affirmative action are willing to use children to advance their cause. During the question and answer period, a little kid got up to ask a question. The question he asked was not one he came up with himself, it had been written down for him to ask. The kid even had to ask the person next to him what one of the words was.

Does anyone have a favorite quote or point to share?

By now most of you have seen the chalk and flyers around campus advertising tonights debate. It’s hosted by BCR and BAMN, who have brought respectively Starr Parker and Shanta Driver. (Ms Driver debated Mason Weaver at the last such event.)

The event is happening at 6pm in 155 Dwinelle.

I’ll open it up to commentary on this/past/future debates on this topic. Is affirmative action right/necessary/ethical etc? Why is diversity important? IS this issue systemic, and why should we care about it? Go for it.

The Bay Area is considering another wining idea. The San Francisco Chronicle answers the burning questions we all have about wood fires and the solution of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

It would be illegal to use residential fireplaces on nights with poor air quality under a rule being considered by Bay Area air regulators.

Over the next three weeks, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District will hold workshops to gauge public opinion on the proposal, which would follow similar bans in Sacramento County, the San Joaquin Valley, and such Bay Area cities as Mill Valley, where people who disobey the city’s wood-burning law are already subject to stiff fines.

It is good the government is stepping up to combat the problem of wood fires. For thousands of years wood fires have plagued humanity. They have been used to light the darkness, cook meat, and even kept people warm. This winter as you gather round the central heating with your family, be thankful for the government and their boundless wisdom.