Posted on 05/29/2004 10:11:01 AM PDT by CounterCounterCulture
By Richard Clough
DAILY BRUIN REPORTER
rclough@media.ucla.edu
In a move likely to re-ignite a recurring debate, the state Assembly passed a bill Wednesday which would allow public universities in California to consider race in their admissions processes.
Assembly Bill 2387, which will be sent to the state Senate Education Committee by June 9, would allow the University of California and California State University to consider factors such as race and gender in undergraduate and graduate admissions as long as no preference is given based on those factors.
The bill passed the state Assembly by a vote of 45-30 without any debate.
Opponents of the bill say it violates Proposition 209, a constitutional amendment passed in 1996 that banned the consideration of race and gender for state-funded hiring, contracting and admissions practices. Beyond that, some argue that it is impossible to consider race without giving preference.
Tom Wood, one of the co-authors of Proposition 209, characterized the new bill as "ridiculous" and said the bill would be overturned in court if it is ever used by the UC or CSU. He also said he does not believe the UC would consider race even if the bill allowed it to.
"It's inconceivable that the University of California would comply with this," Wood said. "If the University of California complied with this, it would be sued and would lose."
But Leo Trujillo-Cox, the executive director of the Academic Outreach Resource Center in the UCLA law school, said the UC would welcome the options afforded by the bill.
"I would assume that most segments of the university would welcome any additional flexibility in terms of being able to establish its own goals in the admissions process," he said.
Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh, D-South Gate, was the primary author of the bill. Ricardo Lara, communications director for Firebaugh, said the bill stems from a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last June that upheld the right of the University of Michigan Law School to employ "a narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions."
That decision has been used by supporters of affirmative action as justification for its use in California.
On the basis of the Michigan decision, the California Teachers Association supports the bill.
"We support it, and we don't endorse bills lightly," said Mike Myslinski, a spokesman for the association. He declined to comment on the implications of Proposition 209 for the bill.
Lara said the bill does not violate Proposition 209 because it "does not allow for any preferential treatment," and merely advocates the consideration of more than academic factors.
The American Civil Rights Coalition opposes the bill because it violates the Michigan decision and Proposition 209, said Diane Schachterle, director of public affairs for the coalition.
The Michigan decision denied California the right to use race-based admissions policies if there are ample race-neutral alternatives available, which there are, she said.
Schachterle also said the bill's intention of considering race without giving preference was unrealistic.
"I would argue that it is impossible for a human being to consider race without it becoming a plus or minus factor," she said.
"Any consideration, if it's brought into the equation at all, is violating Proposition 209," she continued.
While immediate opposition to the bill has largely fallen on legal grounds, support has fallen on ideological grounds.
Much of the support for the bill has derived from the desire to make opportunities more equal for students of all races.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson supports the ideas in the bill because he said the consideration of race is necessary to achieve the ideals of equality American culture has traditionally resisted.
"Using race as a factor is a good and necessary idea to make crooked ways straight," Jackson said.
"Race inclusion leads to growth. Growth expands opportunity," he said.
This fall, being black at Berkeley is likely to become even more of an anomaly. As of late spring, 98 black students had registered for fall enrollment out of an expected class of 3,821.
(snip)
"This is supposed to be a public university and it's not really representing the public," says [stupid racist *****].
(snip)
Does it matter if the black presence at Berkeley is dwindling?
Yes, says Toff Peabody, a Berkeley molecular biology major, who was so struck by the new Berkeley numbers he joined a loosely organized group this spring that has been campaigning for a more diverse campus under the banner, "White Males for Diversity."
(snip)
"Don't go there thinking, 'I'm going to be looking around for other black kids,'" says Ward Connerly, a part-black UC regent who led the fight to drop race-based admissions. "Go there and recognize that it's going to be one of the greatest experiences of your life. You're there to meet new people. You're there to learn. You're not there to engage in this racial, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall' kind of thing."
(snip)
You may not realize it, but that was the proposal that finally led to Prop 209. Minorities were asking for quotas in graduation rates. That was "the straw that broke the camel's back" and led to 209. It is NOT far-fetched for that idea to be advanced again.
Double talk.
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