UC Affirmative Action: What Does It Mean to Those It Affects? : PLATFORM

The UC Board of Regents has scheduled a highly controversial vote next Thursday on a plan backed by Gov. Wilson to end race- and gender-based preferences in hiring, contracting and admissions in the University of California system. ROBIN GREENE and LORENZA MUNOZ asked community college students who transferred or plan to transfer to a UC school what they think of the plan and whether they have benefited from affirmative action .

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JAMES STIEBEL

28, graduated from El Camino Junior College, plans to attend UCLA or University of Virginia in the fall

Affirmative action in college admissions does more harm than good. When the pace is moving so fast that [affirmative action admissions] can’t catch up, they end up failing. If you see that black students who don’t have the skills are dropping out, then that just reinforces the stereotypes that we [African Americans] are not intelligent and can’t achieve, and that is not true.

The main concern should be in [improving] graduation rates. The effort should be made once people are in the system to get them their diplomas--otherwise it’s a waste of everyone’s time.

What is necessary is more work within the high school and junior high structure. Once you raise expectations, you raise the ability level and don’t need any other type of help [such as affirmative action].

I came back to school after a seven-year absence. I did poorly in high school. I Now I have over a 3.6 grade point average and graduated with honors from El Camino. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve done it.

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TERESA FLORES

32, graduate of Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa; plans to attend UC Irvine

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I’m a re-entry student, divorced, with three children; I went back to school at 30. Affirmative action has helped me. I can go anywhere I want to go and not be discriminated against or at least have legal recourse in case I am. It gives me the confidence to know I have the right [to be in school] and nobody can keep me out because I’m going to the top. My children are Native American and Hispanic and I fear for their education.

I feel Gov. Wilson is just a white male who doesn’t see what we women and minorities go through. Without affirmative action, things will go back to the way they were before, with discrimination against women and minorities.

I have a good academic record. I want to believe I would have been accepted into UC Irvine anyway. But it’s really hard to say. I am a good student and I work hard, but if someone is discriminating against you, it doesn’t matter. *

CANDY MARTINEZ

19, attends Golden West College, Huntington Beach

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I’m in my last year at Golden West and am ready to transfer to a university.

In a lot of ways, I think [Gov. Wilson’s idea] is a good concept. Everyone should be treated equally. But realistically, that’s not the way things are. People don’t get treated equally.

I’ve gone to different colleges and have worked as a recruiter with high school students. I can see it from both sides. I can defend myself if I’m not being treated right. But if there’s a student who doesn’t know how defend themselves, it’s harder for them.

I think [the proposed changes] will affect students who are just getting by with their English. It concerns me because there are some of my family members who are at that level, who don’t have the English ability that I do.

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SILVIA CASASOLA

38, 1993 graduate of Orange Coast College and UC Irvine

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I’m now in graduate school at UC Irvine. I’m planning to graduate in five years, become a professor and do research at universities. I have four children, ages 20, 17, 15 and 11; I’m a single mother.

I think [what Gov. Wilson wants to do] is unfair. Just because I was an honor student at Orange Coast College and graduated with honors doesn’t mean we don’t need a little push. I know my grades were good enough to get into UCI, but I went in as an affirmative action student. I had to overcome the problems of being a student again. If I didn’t get the opportunity through affirmative action, I wouldn’t be here.

They’re taking it for granted that everyone is using affirmative action as an excuse to get into school, to get grants. I paid for my full education, working 60 hours a week, going to school and supporting a family. Affirmative action doesn’t mean you get everything for free. That’s the way [Gov. Wilson] is putting it, that every Latino is taking advantage of all the benefits.

My son is in college and the [younger children] are preparing to go. They have to be good to prove that they got in not only because of affirmative action. You have to be better than others.

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GRISELDA SIMENTAL

23, graduate of Oxnard Community College, will attend UC Irvine

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I’m majoring in biology and pre-med. I wanted to get into medicine because there are not enough minorities in this field. This summer, I’m in a six-week minority medical education program at the University of Washington in Seattle. It’s a group of 90 and we’re all minorities. We’re all diverse. It’s a great feeling.

Why is Gov. Wilson focusing on us? You get into school because of your academics. He’s making it sound like you can get in because you’re a minority. I was positively going into the UC system. I don’t think I got in because I’m Hispanic. I got in because of my academics. I have really good grades. As governor, he should address the students, support us, no matter what race you are.

A lot of white students are fortunate to have families who are educated. My parents didn’t get a lot of education. There are five of us in my family. I’m the first to go to college. It’s very comforting for me to know that there are all these minority support groups at UC Irvine. Why do away with that? It will set a lot of students back.

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KENNETH ADAMS JR.

24, sophomore at Santa Monica College, hopes to attend UC Berkeley

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We still need affirmative action. I’m worried about my own admission possibilities, but also about the general picture of affirmative action. I come from a family where I will be the first person to go to graduate [from college]. I went back to school because I saw an opportunity and affirmative action was part of that opportunity.

I need affirmative action because it says, “We are going to give you a chance.” Emotionally, I need it because it makes me feel safe that nobody will say no to me because I’m African American.

I can’t fathom why people are saying we don’t need affirmative action.

Essentially what they are saying is that everything is fair now and we can wipe the slate clean. It’s so sad that we are even discussing it, because it tells me that people still don’t know what it is like [out in the world].