Severely handicapped class arrives - The Lowell

7*i- Lmrll. January !>. WSJ. fast 15
.IN DEPTH
-Equality or reverse discrimination?
Student affirmative action programs
Court rulings
change policy
By Irene Kuo
Affirmance action ha.*, been a contnrvental
contr-aponiry iwie, (uv-
, ins been come»ieil in the count on a
.number or e.vastom.
During He 1970's. affirmamc action
polk* a resulted in complaints
that law. medical, and other professional
school* wci -, denying admission
to while applicant* in
preference to minorities.
Seven) major court cave* cnuicd.
the most notable one King ihc
Bakke case.
In Rfffcnts of Uni\tnin ii
California v. BaUr. Allan Paul
r Bakkc. an American of Norwegian
background, won the right M attend
the School or Medicine at Univcnity
of California at Davis.
Bakke was admitted a'mwt »ix
yean after he firrt applied- He had
been rejected mice, dctpitc a grade
point average of 3.M in engineering.
In his urn against the univentty.
he challenged its policy of reserving
16sr^s in its freshman cla\* of
100 for "minority" student* whom
Bakke claimed were less qualified
than he was.
In stale court. Bakke charged that
his civil right* were violated unJer
the 14 Amendment tod Title VI of
UK 1964 Civil Rights Act (the 14 th
Amendment guarantees equal protection
of lawi to all citizens; Title
VI state that no penon can be
discriminated sgainM became of hi*
or her "race, color, or national
origin," under any federally funded
program or institution.)
O.i June 28. 1978. the U. S.
Suprrmc Coun decided Bakke
ibould Le admitted, bu\ upheld the
right of • uoivenity to use raw as a
factor in Mlm i sifoos •
Janice Lewis F. Pmll Jr. iaicd
* ... preferring members o* any one
group for no reason otlicr than race
or ethnic origin is discrimination for
iu own take."
Justice Powell alsn stated that
though attaining i diverse student
body was a "oxs&utionaliy permissible
goal for ui Institution or
higher learning." this goal w*s improper
if achieved through racial or
ethnic quotas: an applicant's origin
was "...but a tingle, though important,
dement.
Other simitar cases followed the
BaUce case. Two of them were dub*
bed "the Russian BV' case" and
the Italian Baike case." However,
t&e two cases resulted in different
rulings.
In the Russian Bakke caw, a
Rauiao-born Jew named Rita Clancy
sued ths medical school at U.C.
Davii, cUiming "..a would have
tees Bdmhtei had not the minorities
program blocked me ind that I was
fflcMfrf became I was white."
Clancy, now married to an
American lawyer, cited her family'*
poverty, ihc fact lha; ihe had received
public avtiuancc. and her deficiency
in Engli\h a* ju\l cautc* Tor
her to be admitted tn one of ilie 16
\pot\ allocated for minoriticv
By tSc ruling of the BaVke ca*e.
Clancy w*\ admitted to the schrtil.
In the Italon BaUc cave, ihc
Supreme Court up-held a lower court
ruing that denied Italian Amc ic»n
Philip F. Di Leo the tight to we the
University of Colorado School of
Law for rejecting hi* application to
its special admtuiom program.
Di Leo wa. twice rejected for one
of the 29 ilut* in the program
ticcautc he didn't belong to one of
the deprted "klcniifiablc group*"
for which the program «at «ct up.
namely. blacV*. Httpamc\, and
American Indian*. The Colorado
Supreme Coun ruled that he
wouldn't hj/c qualified for the taw
school's regular admmiont program
and. tVrcforc. lactrd the
legal funding o we the school.
In itv relatively short hitltry. afftrnumc
action hat urnct not only
non-minorities, b»« member* of cer*
tain minority group* a* well. In
April I9S2. John H. Sunfkld.
assistant professor of Sociology and
Afro-American Studies at Yale,
wrote:
"In pan. it has been the liberal
rhetor ir i'( atliftnamc action
policies in t-i;her CJOCJIHKI and
cmplojmcni tru: hj^ jnctmra^cd a
Up%e of mcmor> thai the deC:[tration
of public wboi>U — like paC
white efforts of •pro-rcMive"
mawive Mack srhoolirg — ha* been
a nutter of white-conli'illed btacachiocment,
not the ctrs, all of 'hc*e
pcrccntagci arc low. cumr/^ircd to
the general population, thus warranting
their "under-represented"
statu*.
While SAA applicants must
generally meet the same re*
quiremenis as Jon-minority
students. Title VI of the Civil Right*
Act permits college* to "modify ad*
missions criteria" if tiwy determine
ihu it is necessary for a fair appnisal
of the academic promise of
mir.oriiy applicants." At a rewjl:.
UC Berkeley offers a limtteO
number of SAA applicants, who
show academic potential, tdmisstcii
by Special Action. c\en though ii>ey
do not meet the regular UC admit
sion t equtrcments* Punhcrttwc.
SAA applicants do not face redirection
by the University of Californi::
instead, if they meet UC eligibility.
SAA Mudcnts will be admitted to the
campus of their choice.
While SAA h*s long been a contrmersial
issue, there are a number
of arguments in its favor. As
previously stated, rninority enrollment
figures are disproportionately
low compared to their percentage of
the general population. Of Jiesc
students, many are unable to complete
their undergraduate education.
and few attain postgraduate degree*-
A major reason a that many inner
city schools with predominantly
minority constituencies lack the
funds and resources necessary to
adequately prepare their students for
i college education. In addition, as
WillUm Brito. SAA Special Project*
AuiiUnt at San Francisco
Sate University (SFSU). pointed
out. encouragement for a higher
education mutt begin at home, "but
many parents are not well-informed
about college."
According to counselor loan
Catetli, there arc a number of
Early Outreach pn^ramv offered at
Lowell, including the Professional
Development Program. UC Partnership.
Upward Bound, and
MESA (Math. Engineering, and
Science Achievement]. "These
group* uv to inform candidates
what cWlcyc requirements arc and
^tnidc tutorial services." Catetli
explained.
Thr Early Outreach prog: arcs
und*rsiur«, the overriding
{j&Uosophy of affirmative action,
tSu given tnc opportunity for selfadvant«meni.
minorities will come
to orcupy a more prominent and
more co«m>c*ive role in society.
THEfHAVY.
ITCNOTpSTAJOB,
rrSANnVENTUR
In the Nivy, a job means more than just a eood ptvehedt.
It means the adventure of ttdnz ?i-i» S" Omccr.
Spain. Hawaii and I long Kong. U roeans becoming an expert
on exciting teehclcal equipment in our submarinn, on
our jets, and in our shi'x. It means doing a job that nally
counts, with people whe eountni you to do iu
The Navy can give you training ti more than 64 career
fields, lalk it over with yiur Navy recruiter. He'J b« able
to tell you what you can qualify fcr in the Navy:
Call collect.415-452-2900 or visit
your recruiter at 127G Market St.