Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 5, 1998, edition 1 / Page 13
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Features November 5,1998 13 Minority enrollment drops at UCLA after Prop 209, numbers show V. Dion Haynes Chicago Tribune LOS ANGELES - Leaning against a wall on the Bruin Walk, the main pedestrian thoroughfare at UCLA, Rachel Manning re called the glory days in the not- too-distant past when African Americans were much more vis ible on campus. Every week she’d look for ward to “Black Wednesday” when Afncan-American students would congregate on the Bruin Walk be tween noon and 2 p.m. to social-' ize and watch the fraternities dazzle them with fancy footwork in their step shows. “People would skip class to come. Bruin Walk would be filled with a couple hundred” black stu dents, said Manning, 19, a sopho more. Now on Black Wednesday she said, “You only see spurts of black people - maybe five or six at a time. It’s really sad.” On Monday UCLA released figures indicating a noticeable de cline in the number of black stu dents who enrolled as freshmen this fall, the first class to be se lected after the implementation of the 1996 anti-affirmative ac tion law known as Proposition 209. This year, 160 black fresh men enrolled, compared with 230 in 1997. African Americans account for 4.2 percent of the 3,775-member freshman class, down from 6.5 per cent in 1997. TTic dropoff is similar for other un der-represented minor ity groups. The number of Chicano and Latino students fell to 485 from 590, a decline of 4 percentage points. The American Indian en rollment fell to 15 from 40. Ameri can Indians make up 0.4 percent of the freshman class, compared with 1.1 percent last year. The figures aren’t surpris ing to Manning and UCLA offi cials, who have seen the tangible results of the law, which prohib its public universities throughout California from using race and gender as admissions factors. “We are very disappointed that fewer under-represented mi norities have enrolled as fresh- m e n 2138 S. Church St. Burlington, N.C. 27215 336-226-8094 10 % OFF with Student ID Mon. to Sat. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sun. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 'HMflt V this year, and we are determined to do what we can within the law to boost the number of these stu dents attending the university,” said Albert Carnesale, UCLA’s chancellor. “Students learn not only from their professors but from each other, and they benefit most when their classmates reflect many different backgrounds, ex periences and cultures,” he added. The University of Califor nia has yet to release freshmen enrollment figures for its other campuses. The figures for Berke ley likely will mirror UCLA’s, given that admissions of African- Daily Drink & Food Specials Monday Night Footbal iight^ • Monday - $.25 wings $1.00 Draft $1.00 Chili & $1.95 Hotdogs •Tuesday - $2.50 Margaritas . $2.00 chips n' salsa •Wednesday - Karaoke 8:30 p.m. tol 2:30 a.m. $3.00 Kamikazees •Thursday - ALL YOU CAN EAT CRAB LEGS $10.95 6-10p.m. • Friday-Karaoke 9p.m.-1a.m. $2.50 Well Drinks Seafood Night • Saturday - Ladies Nights - $50 door prize $4.75 Long Island Iced Teas -shooters/specials- • Sunday-$1.00 Nachos, Chili, & $.1 .S5 Hotdogs f American, Latino and American- Indian students plummeted by 66 percent, 52.6 percent and 60.9 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the enrollment of blacks and Hispanics at Boalt Hall, Berkeley’s law school, has started to rebound. In August, eight black stu dents and 23 Hispanics enrolled in the first-year class. Last year, when the anti-affirmative action rules went into effect for Univer sity of California graduate schools, only one black and 14 Hispanics enrolled at Boalt Hall. Still, Boalt Hall has not yet recovered its pre-Proposition 209 levels of 1996 when 26 Hispanics and 20 blacks enrolled. Berkeley administrators, students and alumni associations made con certed efforts to persuade candi dates who had been accepted to attend Boalt Hall and not some other school. The candidates were even offered scholarships of $5,000 by minority bar associa tions. In addition, Boalt Hall offi cials amended the application pro cess, giving less weight to gradu ates of elite institutions and more weight to candidates who come from poor backgrounds. Next year, admissions officials at the school plan to establish new cri teria - an interview and another aptitude test - in an attempt to boost minority enrollment. “We think that the kind of diversity we had when we were able to use affirmative action cre ated a law school that maximized education because we had diverse points of view,” said Lujuana Treadwell, assistant dean of the school. “We’d like to see that again.” Sentiment against Proposi tion 209 as well as opposition to a Board of Regents anti-affirma tive action policy still runs high. Two weeks ago, hundreds of stu dents and instructors throughput the university system protested Proposition 209 by walking out of classrooms and staging teach-ins, UCLA officials are workiiig to help improve instruction at sey- oal Los Angeles public schools and community colleges with high cpft- centnuions of black and Hispanic students, a long-range plan to help students better prepare for the uni versity. “We are trying to raise in struction and raise expectations f0r students so that we can get more eligible (blacks and Hispanics) into our applicant pool,” said Jeff Coo per, assistant to the director of UCLA’s academic advancement program. In the meantime, older black students at UCLA have attempted to take the black freshmen under their wing, hoping to give them a sense of belonging while preparing them for being, in some cases, the only African-Americans in their classes. “Last week we had a sleepo ver for the freshmen students to get to know them,” said senior Michael Scates, 21, a psychology major. “We’re trying to develop a mentor-mentee relationship.” #538-0900 NOW HIRING •Cooks •Counter Help •Delivery Drivers •Full or Part-Time Positions Available •No late nights (we close @11:00) Apply in person any day (except Friday) at’ 3S16 S. ‘Church SFf (GoMc tTime -PldM) The NFL Ticket 2 Satellites 10 TV's
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