UC Affirmative Action Needed to Balance Ledger

To the editors:

I would like to commend the Crimson staff for their editorial "Balance the Board" (Opinion, Feb. 17) and respond to the corresponding dissent.

The non-affirmative action policy currently in place in California is indeed unfair. Our society is still dominated by racism and classism, thus tilting the ledger in favor of those at the top--often towards white males. During the affirmative action era in California, it was far from "absurd" that race played a significant role in admissions. Instead, the Board of Regents was trying to create campuses which represented the diversity of California while recognizing the educational disadvantages inherent in a poor socio-economic background.

I agree that one solution is to fix California's system of public secondary school education, but the state should also fix its system of higher education by re-implementing affirmative action. In our uneven society, an admissions policy based solely "on merit" is not possible. An admissions policy which seeks to create a level playing field for all is a reasonable goal. Affirmative action is a means towards this end.

Edward B. Colby '02

Feb. 18, 1999

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Applying Equal Standards

To the editors: