Unusual skills or merit should be the determining factors in admissions, because these skills, such as artistic or athletic talent, add significantly to the quality of the overall educational environment of a college. At no point, though, should race even need to enter the considerations. When it does, it raises the ugly specter of racial discrimination, which is unacceptable, regardless of who is being discriminated against.

As there is no "right" way of being black (while there is a "right" way to play sports or music), there can be no legitimate expectation of an individual's "blackness" adding an identifiable benefit to a university's educational environment. A student's high school record, test scores, curriculum vitae and letters of recommendation should be more than enough information to determine an applicant's qualifications.

On the one hand, woe unto the individual who makes a negative judgement about a minority individual on basis of race. On the other, affirmative action, a system which makes race an important factor in judging an individual, is lauded as a social palliative, correcting racist American society. These are irreconcilable positions; one cannot back both a race-blind society and support racial preferences.

The changes in racial percentages in enrollment at the University of California system, demonstrate just how badly affirmative action treated everyone, both minority and majority populations. The dramatic drop in black and Hispanic students accepted to UC Berkeley and UCLA shows the extent to which white and Asian-American students were discriminated against under affirmative action. Nevertheless, the staff finds it convenient to ignore that the number of black and Hispanics accepted at other campus in the UC system has substantially increased.

A similarly disturbing indictment of affirmative action was made when it was revealed that the University of Michigan maintains separate sets of admissions standards for whites and for various racial minorities. There is an inconsistency of logic in arguing against the principle of "separate, but equal," as in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, when this was detrimental to minorities, and now, when it ostensibly benefits minorities, fighting to uphold a system of "separate, but equal," standards in admissions to the nation's institutions of higher learning.

Ultimately, affirmative action is a harmful system which diverts attention from America's failure to deal with its problems of public education and poverty.