I too am no expert, but isn't discrimination on the basis of skin colour a 'feature' of the selection process? The novel thing here is that non-white students are not being discriminated in favour of for a change. Anonymising would prevent universities from discriminating on grounds of skin colour and could as a result get them into trouble with the government.
I'd be surprised if it turned out they had any say in the matter. Imagine if the proud and venerable Brî'tíšh people had the power to block the usage of such words as "Windows" to describe a software product.
Matt Siegler is simply following the modern trend amongst Apple People in viewing Google negatively. Has Matt posted anything negative about Apple re iCloud? Because I've heard bad things about it from other Applists. In summary: if I want this kind of stuff I'll go to the master: Gruber.
Manufacturing output in the USA hasn't shrunk. Productivity gains mean there are fewer people employed in the sector. So I don't believe your scary statement is backed up by the facts.