George Will argues that by its own logic, the University of Michigan should be giving conservative applicants preferential treatment. Noting that conservatives are grossly underpresented at UM, Will suggests that admissions officers should work to correct the lack of intellectual diversity on campus by subjecting applicants to a handy political litmus test:

The university should ask all applicants the following 15 questions, awarding each applicant 10 points for each diversity-enhancing answer (150 points being a perfect Diversity Quotient):

The Supreme Court's principal function is (a) to wield the Constitution as a living document to right all wrongs (b) to protect the Second Amendment.

Do you wish to enroll in UM's ROTC program?

U.S. policy toward Iraq should be: (a) give peace a chance (b) pave it.

The UM Wolverines athletic budget ($54 million) (a) is too small (b) should be contributed to Greenpeace.

True or False: Ohio State is part of the axis of evil.

Were you home-schooled?

Do you watch Fox News Channel?

America's coolest anchorman is (a) Tom Brokaw (b) Dan Rather (c) Peter Jennings (d) Brit Hume.

Do you read National Review while listening to Rush Limbaugh?

Can you tell the difference between The New York Times front page and its editorial page?

The most socially beneficial development in America in the past three decades was (a) Roe v. Wade (b) the University of Michigan speech code (c) ESPN.

The nation's worst failing is (a) racism (b) sexism (c) inequality (d) imperialism (e) respect for the United Nations.

Given a choice, would you own (a) an environmentally friendly hybrid car? (b) a Ford F-150 pickup truck?

Who is the more plausible president: (a) Martin Sheen of "The West Wing"? (b) John Edwards of North Carolina? (c) Any of the Dixie Chicks?

The Miller Lite ad in which the "tastes great" woman and the "less filling" woman duke it out in a bodice-ripping cat fight is (a) fascistic phallocentrism (b) a hoot.

Dear applicant, if your answers optimize your Diversity Quotient (b, yes, b, a, true, yes, yes, who are those first three guys?, yes, you're kidding -- right?, c, e, b, c, b), well, then: Welcome to Ann Arbor, you wonderful addition to Wolverine diversity.

Humor has been slow to come to the debate about racial preferences because all sides have been so concerned to show both that they take oppression seriously and that they are not themselves racist or sexist oppressors (this has not, however, stopped either side from levelling accusations of racism at the other). But it's a mistake to imagine that the only way to handle serious issues is with deadly seriousness, or that making fun of something always automatically shows a lack of respect for the principles that something stands for. The crippling humorlessness that characterizes PC campus culture today is a sign not of its intellectual seriousness or even of its moral integrity, but of its shallow preference for conformity over debate and its callow reliance on emotional and intellectual blackmail to achieve its ends. It deserves to be laughed at, and it deserves to be challenged to learn to laugh. In public as in private life, laughter may indeed be the best medicine.