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Enrollment issue of race, not minority The Daily Bruin should be careful in its use of the word “minority” when discussing the pressing issue of affirmative action and the declining enrollment of students of color (“UC’s minority enrollment issue needs attention,” Oct. 28). Using “minority” implies that the lack of students of color is due to the small number of these individuals in the state, and thus a smaller number enrolling. Nothing could be further from the truth. American Indian, black, Chicana/o and certain Asian Pacific Islander groups are underrepresented because they are particularly – but not exclusively – affected by social, political and economic issues. There is no simple solution because there is no single source of the problem. The only answer to such a complex problem is a solution addressing issues such as cultural relevancy in our high school curriculum, a dependable social safety net for individuals of low socioeconomic status regardless of citizenship or residency and reinvestment in public education. We need affirmative action until we achieve these goals, but it is not a final solution. Emmanuel Martinez Class of 2005

Student merit should stand alone The recent editorial detailing why Proposition 209 “needs to go” (“UC’s minority enrollment issue needs attention,” Oct. 28) is disturbing. Declining enrollment rates are not rational justification for affirmative action. It is overtly racist to associate a person’s value with skin color. It is not “blind” to judge a person’s worth for admission solely on his or her accomplishments. Race is not a kind of accomplishment. Race as such is not something to be celebrated. It is not a blanket idea to be universally accepted or appreciated. Individual ideas that come from a race are what is truly valuable. Affirmative action is a moral and logical travesty. It is irrational to enroll someone based on an unrelated qualification. Advocates of affirmative action fail to comprehend that the roots of minority enrollment problems do not lie in the University of California admissions process. They ignore reality and argue that giving this handout would actually help people, when such policies would only propagate racism and devalue academic merit. Students should be admitted to UC schools based on the judgment of their individual achievements and not skin colors. Gary Hagins Third-year biology student

Whites lacking in UC representation The views of professor Sylvia Hurtado reported in “Spotlighting affirmative action” (News, Oct. 28), that the proportions of minorities at UCLA better reflect those of the state as a whole, is not a new one. Though it’s previously been the rallying cry of minority activists with more lung capacity than sense, support for such a ridiculous idea from a professor – much less an education professor – is still a little shocking. If the racial proportions in the University of California were indeed made to “better represent” those of the state, there would be one massive change: the displacement of 37,591 more qualified students of other races with white students, because it turns out they are in fact the most underrepresented racial group, in their local and state contexts. Now, yes, at UCLA and several other campuses, there would be a strong increase in black and Chicana/o admissions. But if diversity proponents like Hurtado are truly serious about this idea of racial representation, they’re going to have to get used to a lot more white kids at the UC. Andrew Jones President, Bruin Alumni Association