For more than 40 years, American universities have been allowed to factor in race when deciding which applicants to admit.

That could soon end. The Supreme Court is hearing two separate cases today that challenge race-based admissions policies, aka “affirmative action,” at the University of North Carolina and Harvard. Given the 6–3 stranglehold conservatives have on the court, legal experts say affirmative action could be the next decades-old precedent to be reversed by SCOTUS, following Roe v. Wade.

That precedent: In 1978, SCOTUS ruled that race could be one of several factors considered in admissions decisions, but banned the implementation of racial quotas. That decision was upheld in a different case in 2003.

What are the arguments?

The pro-affirmative action camp, which includes universities and business groups, argues that diversity in higher education would decline in a race-neutral admissions process due to ongoing discrimination against Black and Hispanic students. Plus, there are centuries of racial harm that still need to be rectified, they say. UNC didn’t admit Black students until 1955 and when those students arrived, they were forced to live in a separate dorm and walk through a campus that was full of memorials to segregationists.

The anti-affirmative action camp contends that UNC and Harvard are violating civil rights laws by treating people differently due to their race—specifically, by discriminating against white and Asian American applicants. The group bringing both challenges before SCOTUS is led by one man, Edward Blum, who calls himself a “one-trick pony” in his quest to end racial classifications in public policy.

And what does the public think? It’s a little murky, because so much depends on how you frame the question. In a 2021 Gallup poll, 62% of Americans supported affirmative action policies for racial minorities. In March of this year, however, a Pew survey found that 74% of Americans do not support factoring in race and ethnicity to college admissions, per the AP.

Looking ahead…the Supreme Court likely won’t issue a ruling until late spring 2023.

Halloween tragedy in South Korea. 153 people—mostly in their twenties—were killed in a crowd crush in Seoul’s nightlife district Saturday night. As the city’s first Halloween event with no Covid restrictions in years, it drew an estimated 100,000 revelers, and authorities are being questioned about the safety measures they had in place. It’s one of South Korea’s worst-ever disasters.

Russia pauses grain deal with Ukraine. Russia said it would stop participating in a UN-brokered deal that allows Ukrainian grain to be shipped to world markets, accusing Kyiv of a major drone attack in Crimea (Ukraine didn’t publicly claim responsibility for the attack). US officials bashed the move as weaponizing food supplies and said it would increase the risk of starvation around the world. The EU is urging Russia to change its mind.

Twitter braces for layoffs. New owner Elon Musk has reportedly asked some managers to identify employees who could be cut, putting into action layoffs that have been rumored for a long time. Musk also tweeted, and later deleted, a link to an unfounded conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi, written by a website that regularly publishes false news articles.

Three years ago, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was in prison, serving a 22-year sentence for corruption charges. Now, he’s set to become the next president of the largest Latin American country, marking his return to the post he held from 2003–2010.

Da Silva, known simply as Lula, narrowly defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s runoff election yesterday—considered to be the most significant election in Brazil in decades.

That’s because each of these politicians would have taken Brazil in completely opposite directions. A right-wing nationalist, Bolsonaro has promoted traditional social values and pulled back funding for protecting the Amazon rainforest, which experienced a surge in deforestation during his term, in the name of economic development.

Lula, a leftist, is a giant of Brazilian politics who’s credited with helping to lift 20 million Brazilians out of poverty during his presidency. But his star plummeted after an investigation revealed vast corruption within his political party, and Lula was one of nearly 300 arrested in the scandal. (His convictions were annulled in 2019.)

Big picture: For years, Boslonaro has raised concerns about election fraud and the integrity of electronic voting systems, but previous investigations have found no foul play. As of last night, he had not conceded the race.

A busy week for the economy. The Fed is pretty much a lock to hike interest rates by a ginormous 75 basis points on Wednesday for the fourth straight meeting. Evidence that its inflation-fighting campaign is working could come on Friday, with the October jobs report. Plus: lots more earnings.

It’s about to get dark really early. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2am ET Sunday, so while we’ll get an extra hour of sleep that night, it also means watching the sun set from your desk at work for the next few months.

The World Series heads to Philly. The Phillies and the Astros each took one game apiece in Houston, and the teams will play Game 3 tonight in front of a frenzied—and very wealthy—crowd in Philly. I looked up tickets and the minimum to get in the door was $900. Not happening .

Everything else:

• Here are all the freebies you can get today for Halloween.
• The New York City Marathon is on Sunday.
• Dolly Parton, Eminem, and others will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Stat: James Cameron’s sequel 13 years in the making, Avatar: The Way of Water, will have a runtime of three hours and 10 minutes, per The Hollywood Reporter. But if history is any indication, that won’t scare people off: The No. 2 and No. 3 highest-grossing movies in history, not adjusted for inflation, are Avengers: Endgame and Cameron’s Titantic, which both run longer than three hours. “It’s okay to get up and go pee.” Cameron has said.

Quote: “I will never go back to Foxconn. They don’t have humanity there.”

A worker at the world’s largest iPhone factory in China described to the FT how he and other employees fled the complex over the weekend to escape draconian Covid policies. Videos on Chinese social media platforms appeared to show Foxconn employees hopping fences and walking along the road, fed up with the restrictions intended to curb the spread of the virus.

Read: The real reason why people don’t watch baseball as much as they used to. (The Atlantic)

This was an extremely tough decision, but I’m giving the top prize to Tyler Smith’s two boys, Stetson and Barrett, for their Top Gun stroller fighter jet. Only minimal points deducted for the lack of mustache.

Honorable mention

Alyssa Lee and all the new hires at her company dressed up as “Google meets work from home, at the office.” Extra points for the attention to detail: dressy on top, PJs on the bottom.

BTW…if you want a second chance at glory or just missed the boat, our social media team is running a Halloween costume contest on Twitter today. They’re giving out an MB Shop gift card as a prize.

Dive back into the week:

• Shallow dive: Cate Blanchett on Hot Ones.
• Medium dive: Really scary true stories.
• Deep dive: What happened to all the dead bugs on windshields?
• Cannonball: Why the climate apocalypse isn’t likely to happen.

Geographic misconceptions: Venice is as far north as Minneapolis, and other geography facts that may surprise you.

Turntable: You’ll find more Halloween Easter eggs (Halloween eggs?) in today’s Turntable. Play it here.

Nutritional facts

In this special Halloween edition of Nutritional Facts, we’ll give you the ingredients for a popular candy, and you have to name it.

Sugar, corn syrup, palm oil, condensed skim milk, cocoa, whey, soy lecithin, artificial and natural flavors.

Can you achieve work–life balance while trying to advance in your career? Do US workers put too much emphasis on hustle? We asked these questions to strangers at Oktoberfest in New York. Watch here.

🖱 Whether you’re a Google Suite power user or an Excel wizard, we have the mouse pads for you. Shop now to level up your spreadsheet game.

There may be nothing scarier than being unprepared. Learning Brew’s newest course, Financial Forecasting, is built to help you survive budget season unscathed. Reserve your spot today.

The can’t-miss event for every modern marketer is The Brief, where you’ll hear from a powerhouse panel of speakers from the world’s most recognized brands. Claim your tickets now.