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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1998)
CONTACTING OS NEWSROOM: ADDRESS ‘541)346-5511 Oregon Daty Er^enM E-MAIL: P.0.80X3159 jCeemegor, uoregon edu Eugene Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: *vw# uoregor ed>jk-ode Perspectives EDITOR IN CHIEF Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITOR Mike Schmierbach NIGHT EDITOR Sarah Kickler Solve unequal education at its source CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to. any individual or group on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education. or public contracting." — Proposition 209 Proposition 209 in Novem ber 1996, it wasn’t just big ots who supported it. Many len Californians passed liberal intellectuals and academics felt it was a good idea. They argued that any sys tem based on racial preferences was the opposite of what a democratic meritocra cy should be. Advocates figured that. Chris Kenning .vhen based purely on icademic merit, minori :ies would enjoy equal jpportunity and a :hance to enter universi ies. Despite the egalitarian ntent of its authors, ^position 209 has had he unfortunate effect of •esegregating Cal i for lia’s top universities and law schools. Between 1996 and 1997. the number of African-Americans accepted at the UCLA School of Law fell from 104 to only 21— only eight of whom enrolled. At Berke ley's prestigious Boalt Hall Law School, the number fell from 74 to 15 — with only one enrolling. Those who advocated Proposition 209 failed to take into account the role the dis turbing gap in test scores between whites and minorities would play. For example, of about 70.000 national law school appli cants. only 103 blacks and 224 Hispanics, as compared with 7,715 w'hites, score above the 82nd percentile of the LSAT. While certainly few er minorities take the LSAT than whites, the number is still highly disproportionate. These figures are especially significant in light of Boalt Hall's average: the 97th percentile. "Because the gap in scores is so wide, it's simply not possible to admit many African-Americans without taking race into account,” Jeffrey Rosell wrote in The New Yorker. Many academic institutions are now faced with the prospect of either the reseg regation they've worked so hard against, or the large scale lowering of standards in an effort to redefine merit to include fac tors other than academic performance. Yet most policy-makers and academics have missed the point completely by sim ply calling fora return to affirmative ac tion or lowering admission standards and dropping the LSAT requirement for appli cants. In the rush to redefine merit, propo nents and critics alike have glossed over the essential question: the disparity in test scores. Solving this root problem would eliminate the need for measures that treat issues symptomatic in nature. In 1997. three University of Texas law professors filed a brief with the Supreme Court that said affirmative action needed to continue, "barring a miraculous im provement in elementary and secondary education for minority students.” This kind of thinking reinforces the idea that universal, high-quality education is a next-to-impossible dream. Yet it is lower echelon education that can most concrete ly address gaps in minority test scores. Clearly, attacking problematic education policies, such as school funding based on property taxes, are more beneficial than treating the symptoms of inequality in higher education. Additionally, the causes of the gap in scores go much deeper than education policy. A recent report by the Milton Eisenhower Foundation noted that as the division between the rich and poor widens, the poor are becoming dispropor tionally black and Hispanic. (The median family income for Hispanics and blacks is only 55 percent of their while counter parts.) The report concludes that the reme dy lies with educating disadvantaged kids, but is anyone listening? Many once opposed to affirmative ac tion now support it on practical grounds. But without serious efforts to close the socioeconomic gaps in minority educa tion, the alternatives involve only super ficial solutions. And lowering standards is the last thing our education system needs. Striving for a color-blind system in which individual merit is weighed objec tively is certainly admirable. But without taking into account assumptions of privi lege that underlie our society, abandon ment of affirmative action programs with out first solving racial inequalities of wealth and class will only lead to resegre gation — not equality. Chris Kenning is a student activities reporter for the Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. "We're going to be right there in the middle of all this hot higher ed action.” ASUO Vice Presi dent Ben Unger describing an up coming trip to a Washington, D.C., conference, in the > March 6 Emerald. “You always want to pick up a few more chicken legs.” Unger, compar ing student gov ernment to a buf fet line, in the Oct. 1,1997Emerald. ‘There isn’t an av erage student anymore. To try to say the hours meet the average student's needs is silly. No student that I know leads an average life.” Unger arguing for extended li brary hours, in the Jan. 8 Emerald. "Wejustsuper heroed student government." Unger after the Programs Finance Committee ap proved the ASUO Executive budget for next year, in the March 3 Emerald. “The ship’s not going down. We haven't hit an ice berg; we’re cruis ing on. This is more like a speed bump.” Unger, after a for mal grievance was filed against him and ASUO President Bill Miner in the Feb. 11 Emerald. LETTERS T8 THE EOITQR Eugene rejects bigotry Elitist, bigoted, prejudiced, igno rant, selfish, hateful and misin formed is Barry Williams. Exactly which two-thirds of the population agrees with his message? Two thirds of the Oregon Citizens Al liance, perhaps. How soon the members of the j OCA forget that Eugene does not . condone this kind of blind bigotrv. How many times must we remind i you that there are many ways to be j a person? Here in the United States ‘ m general, and Eugene, Ore., in par ticular, \Ae accept all kinds of peo I pie. We accept short people, tali ! people, black people, white people. skinny people, fat people, straight j people and. yes. we even accept ho ; mosexua! people. Remember Mea i sure 9? Get with the program Bam H,iliams and please bring she OCA with you. It is 1998, and the majori ty of the population does believe in this concept of freedom. Maybe you’ve heard of it? If it really both ers you that much what one does with their sexual life. I suggest that you take a long, hard look in the mirror and re-examine your priori ties. Perhaps dealing with vour own insecurities instead of attacking oth ers would be a more productive way for you to be spending vour time Jessica Klausmeier Biology Who created homosexuality? Finally. Barry Williams of Junc tion City has shown his true colors (ODE. Feb. 25). He belongs (proud ly) to the Oregon Citizens Alliance. According to him. two-thirds of the nation is homophobic and abhor this "deviant behavior" of homo sexuals Even the Bible turned rrri trrt against it. But did not God create homosexuality, too? Hilde Cherry Eugene OSPIRG works for change I am writing this letter to express mv support for OSPIRG. With so many problems in the world, it is nice to see an organization that works to make a real change on campus and in the community. OSPIRG acts as a voice for students at the University. Without this highly effective statewide organiza tion, students would not be repre sented on a wide scale of issues, such as the environment, con sumer protection and hunger and homelessness. 1 have worked in coalition with OSPIRG on many projects, includ ing their most recent pesticide ac tion campaign. Right now there are 9,000 pesticides registered for use in Oregon, and we are exposed to pesticides every day on campus and in the food we eat. The health effects related to pesticide exposure range from reproductive disorders to cancer. This is why we need a right to know about the pesticides that are used in our community. I his is why OSPIRCl’s pesticide action campaign is so important. It educates students about the issue a*ul teaches people the skills to light lor the right to know about pesticides. So far OSl’lRG has col lected over 7,000 postcards statewide to let the governor know ! that students in Oregon are con- ! cerned about this issue. For all ' these reasons and more. OSP1KG is 1 an asset to our Uuiversitv and com- j munitv. Grace Frances j Workshop coordinator, Women's Center j C0BRECTI08 In the article, “PFC grants money to three groups in spe cial session,” (ODE, March 13) the story should have said that the de cision to deny ; MUN an appeals | hearing was ; handed down by Dave Koch. MUN's total PFC i arant for 1998 | 99 was $575, ; i with another S4.000 coming | from a special j request. The Emerald * regrets the error, j
