Fun_People Archive
18 Mar
The anti-affirmative action crowd and the cookiejar

Date: Mon, 18 Mar 96 18:12:44 -0800
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: The anti-affirmative action crowd and the cookiejar

Forwarded-by: Dan Tenenbaum <dante@halcyon.com>
Forwarded-by: Thomas Nissley <nissley@u.washington.edu>
Forwarded-by: Rich Cowan <rcowan@lesley.edu>
Forwarded-by: Steve Eppley <seppley@alumni.caltech.edu>
From: the Los Angeles Times 3/16/96

"Some Regents Seek UCLA Admissions Priority for Friends"

REGENTS USED INFLUENCE IN ADMISSIONS  3/16/96
Reuters

LOS ANGELES -- Several University of California regents who publicly oppose
affirmative action have acted behind the scenes to try to get relatives,
friends and children of business partners enrolled into UCLA, the Los Angeles
Times reported Saturday.

Citing a months-long investigation and confidential documents, the paper also
reported that many state officials have used their influence as a back door
into the university.

The newspaper said its investigation unearthed hundreds of requests made to
the University of California, Los Angeles by more than 80 former and current
public officials over the past 15 years. Many of the requests produced
dramatic results, added the paper.

The paper also reported that Gov. Pete Wilson made two unsuccessful ''casual
requests'' of the university.

Wilson has been a strident opponent of affirmative action in the University
of California system, and regents last July voted to end race and gender
considerations from undergraduate admissions.

Affirmative action has been an especially thorny issue at popular schools
like UCLA, where thousands of qualified applicants are rejected every year
because of space constraints.

According to the Los Angeles Times, one regent who voted to end affirmative
action has made some 32 requests to UCLA, including one for a nephew and
others for the children of his business partner.

The regent also leaned heavily on UCLA officials to admit the daughter of a
builder in his hometown, despite the student's mediocre academic record, the
daily said.

Another regent acted on behalf of her daughter, who had already been rejected
by the university despite a good grade- point average.

The newspaper reported that the regent made a phone call to UCLA to ask why
her daughter was turned away. Five days later, the university reversed its
position and admitted the regent's daughter.

Gov. Wilson, the Times said, made two casual requests on behalf of 1993
applicants. One was for a gubenatorial campaign worker who was denied
admission as an undergraduate and the other for a former staff member who
failed to get into graduate school for political science.

Wilson was not immediately available for comment.

(end of Reuters page)

© 1996 Peter Langston