Race issues in academics highlighted the first speech in the University of Wisconsin’s Distinguished Lecture Series Tuesday night.

Lani Guinier, the first black woman to be appointed to a tenured professorship at Harvard Law School, spoke to a crowd of students and community members in the Memorial Union Theatre last night.

Guinier shared anecdotes and statistics from her newest book, “The Miner’s Canary.”

The book’s name refers to the former practice of miners, who tested the toxicity of the air in the mines by bringing caged canaries into the tunnels. If the air contained harmful gases, the canaries would die and the miners would be alerted to the danger.

Guinier argued that African Americans and other minorities should be utilized as canaries in today’s society. Their input, she said, could be used to benefit everyone in society by encouraging them to move beyond race as a function of individual prejudice and instead work to solve unacknowledged racial problems.

Guinier pointed to many examples of how the problems of minorities could be used to benefit society as a whole.

In one example, a calculus professor created interactive study groups that benefited his entire class. He based this technique on research that suggested black students were getting lower test scores because they often studied alone.

Guinier heavily scrutinized standardized tests, saying they “do not measure the intelligence of an individual, but that individual’s ability for quick and strategic guessing based on unsatisfactory information.”

She claimed standardized-test scores indicate a correlation between high socioeconomic status of both the parents and grandparents of the students taking the exams.

Guinier said parents’ ability to send their children to ACT/SAT prep classes and to private schools constitute the reason for the correlation.

Instead of accepting students based on their standardized-test scores, they “might as well have asked them to submit their income tax returns.”

Guinier cited numerous studies conducted by Harvard Law School showing that students with lower test scores who came from blue-collar backgrounds had the highest percentage of success in their first year of college and beyond. The studies also showed that students with the highest LSAT scores were the most likely to have poor job satisfaction and a negative relationship with community service and outreach.

In contrast, students admitted under affirmative-action policies were more likely to do well financially, enjoy their jobs and give back to their communities.

This, Guinier argued, was due to the false pretense of “merit” that the enrolled students who were admitted based on high test scores or high economic status firmly believed they had since they had “earned” their way. As a result, they felt they had no reason to give back to the community.

Students from poorer communities, however, were more motivated and energized by their opportunities to work hard and give others the opportunities they received.

Guinier used evidence from her book and personal experiences to support her opinions.

UW senior Wendy Sievert said she found the lecture entertaining and Guinier’s theories convincing.

“Guinier’s speech was informative and gave lots of stories and facts,” Sievert said. “You’ve got to have facts to make people believe you.”