UniversityofMaryland

2130SkinnerBuilding
CollegeParkMD,20740
3014051000
commadvising@umd.edu
www.umd.edu
FORIMMEDIATERELEASE
Nov.17,2014

TaylorGasdia
781.424.6657
tcgasdia@gmail.com

Univ.ofMd.increasesminorityenrollmentby8.7%
Incomingclassdisplaysracialdiversity
TheUniversityofMarylandreleasesminorityenrollmentfiguresforthisfall
todayanddeterminesa8.7percentincreasecomparedtolastyear.Theenrollmentof
AfricanAmericanstudentsreflectsthelargestincreaseofstudents,asnumbersraised
from34to678students.
Thisuniversityhastakenasignificantstepforward,saidPresidentWallace
Loh.Ourmanyeffortsofrecentyearsarebeginningtoproducethedesiredresults.

Minorityenrollmentresultsforfall2014
Ethnicity

Pastenrollment

Fall14enrollment

PercentIncrease

Black

34

678

95%

AmericanIndian

46

204

77%

Asian

44

565

92%

Hispanic

28

452

94%

(more)
Gasdia.NewsRelease.2

Thestatisticspresentatotalof1,899studentminorityenrollmentthisyear
comparedtolastyearstotalof1,747.PresidentWallaceLohhopesthatminority
enrollmentwillcontinuetoincreaseeveryyear.Westillhavemoretodo,Lohsaid.
Thisisonlythebeginning.
Formoreinformationonenrollmentstatisticsanddiversityattheuniversity,goto
www.diversity.umd.edu.

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UniversityofMaryland
2130SkinnerBuilding
CollegePark,MD20740
3014051000
commadvising@umd.edu
www.umd.edu
FORIMMEDIATERELEASE
TaylorGasdia
Nov.17,2014
781.424.6657

tcgasdia@gmail.com
Univ.ofMd.anthropologyprofessorcondemnsuseofcertaintests
F.AllanHansonrecommendseliminatingIQtests,aswellasmostdrugtests
Peopleofallagestaketestsonadailybasis.Studentssitdownattheirdesks,
quiveringinfearofhowtheywillperformonaptitudetests,whileathletestakedrugtests
tostayontheirteams.Testsofthesesortscanleadtounintendedandundesirable
consequences,however.
TheseundesirableconsequencesinspiredF.AllanHanson,ananthropology
professorattheUniversityofMaryland,towritehisnovel,TestingTesting:Social
ConsequencesoftheExaminedLife.Inhisnewbook,heopposestheuseofcertaintests
andrecommendseliminatingintelligencetests,integritytests,andmostdrugtests.
Hansoncondemnstheuseofthesetestsbypointingouttheirflawsandthe
negativeeffectstheyhaveonpeople.Whileteststhatmeasureperformanceinthe
classroomareuseful,teststhatpredictbehaviororaptitudearedestructive,Hansonsaid.
Hethinkstestscorescanactaslifesentencesforthosepeoplewhostrayfromthenorm.
Peoplecantakeontheirassignedtestscoreandactandcometothinkofthemselves
accordingtotheexpectationsassociatedwiththosecategories,Hansonsaid.
(more)

Gasdia.FeatureRelease.2
Peopleareexaminedandevaluatedlessforqualificationsorknowledgethey
alreadypossessthanforwhatthetestresultscanpredictaboutfutureactionsorpotential
behavior,Hansonsaid.Hesuggeststestsprovideanunnecessaryamountofpowertoan
agencythatdetermineswhomtoemploy,toadmittocollege,totakeonasariskorto
arrest.

Howtoeliminatetheissue
TheAmericanpeoplemuststoptheiraddictiontotestsbyeliminatingintelligence
tests,integritytests,andmerelyusingdrugtestswhenpeoplearesuspectedofusing
drugs.Hansonhopesinthefuturepeoplewillmeasurestudentsandathletesontheirskill
andcharacterratherthantheirtesttakingabilities.Formoreinformationontesting,read
HansonsnovelTestingTesting:SocialConsequencesoftheExaminedLifeorvisit
http://www.counseling.umd.edu/TRU/testing.php.

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