Letters

Disparity remedy

Editor:

I’d just like to mention something that Michael Reardon,
("Three

thousand students don’t make a majority," Nov. 3) and many other
people

seem to overlook when criticizing affirmative action programs.
There is

life BEFORE ADMISSIONS.

When speaking of "fairness," you neglect to mention that the
target

population of affirmative action programs doesn’t have the
same

opportunities. You said it yourself, the majority of blacks
still live in

poor neighborhoods. Do you think that inner-city schools are up
to par with

middle-class suburban schools (let’s not forget that property
taxes pay for

your neighborhood school)? Is it fair that inner-city youth have
to compete

against students who had better teachers, better facilities,
even time to

study? What are the chances that a young black high school
student working

30 hours a week is going to pay $600 for the Princeton Review to
get that

higher SAT score? Do you see what I’m getting at? Admissions
isn’t the only

place where race is a factor.

You said it yourself, discrimination exists in the workplace,
and

disparity exists between neighborhoods. How can you say that a
program to

equalize these disparities is a bad idea unless you support
disparity and

discrimination? By taking out affirmative action programs you
increase the

gap and empower racists. As long as we feel the effects of
race-based

discrimination, we need race-based affirmative action.Joey
Gil

Third-year

Micro-Biology

American identity

Editor:

It was encouraging to read Creighton T. Harris’ article ("Open
mind

required for interracial dating," Nov. 2) and realize that
someone else

feels the same way about Aaron Howard’s article, ("Interracial
dating,

social responsibility collide," Oct. 27) on interracial dating
as I

did.

Like Harris, I am able to write this article because, other
things

aside, I am the product of an interracial marriage. I can
certainly echo

his thoughts: "I am not confused, I am not in denial, and I am
not in pain

because of my mixed heritage."

To the contrary, I am filled with pride when I reflect upon my
family

history. I am proud to be of Filipino descent, but I am equally
proud of my

British heritage. I am as proud of my Filipino grandfather who
fought in

the U.S. Army during World War II as I am of my white uncle who
flew a jet

in Vietnam. Both of these men were doing their duty for their
country,

America, and it is with America that I identify myself.

When people ask me what I am (and I get that question just about
every

time I meet someone new), I tell them I am Filipino Caucasian.
However,

deep down inside, I just see myself as American.

I dated a variety of girls in high school. Some were Filipino,
some were

white, and some were a little of either, but it wasn’t their
skin color

that made me want to go out with them. I did so because they
were fun to be

around. If I had restricted myself to dating only girls of "my
race," I

would have driven myself to the brink of insanity. I would have
thought,

"Should I go out with Filipino girls because they like my
green-brown eyes

or the white girls because they think I have nicelytanned skin?
Or should I

look for someone with the exact ethnic makeup as mine? And how
exact should

I get? I knew someone who was also half-Filipino, half-white,
but her white

heritage was German-based.

Fortunately, I did not get bogged down in petty concerns such as
these,

and I had a good time no matter who I was seeing. Like Harris,
my

girlfriend is Japanese American, and the funny thing is, there’s
never a

time when I’m with her and I think, "Hey, she’s Japanese and I’m
not." That

would be a pretty shallow thing to think, and my feelings for
her run a lot

deeper than that.

If I’ve learned anything from watching my parents interact, and
from my

own experiences, it’s that true love is blind to race. This
world would be

a much better place to live in if other people could see past
it, too.Jeffrey T. Thayer

Second-year

Chemical Engineering

True colors

Editor:

Congratulations on the establishment of the new European Studies
program

and major! How fortunate that protests, rallies, hunger strikes
or arrests

were not necessary for the implementation of this program. It is
also

wonderful that the U.S. Department of Education and the UC
system support

the program.

We commend the university’s expedient response to last year’s
proposal.

We are so happy that it did not take 25 years of struggle.
This

demonstrates that the university administration can and does act
quickly

when it wants to.

It’s too bad that this standard of efficacy is not applied to
other

programs (i.e. Chicana/o Studies, Women’s Studies, Gay and
Lesbian Studies,

Asian American Studies, African American Studies, American
Indian Studies)

which also have the support of students, faculty and the
community.

In response to the article ("New Major Focuses on
Post-Communist

Europe," Nov. 2), however, we feel some corrections are in
order.

This is not the "first major of its kind at a University of
California."

For example, the Chicana/o Studies program also "offers students
the chance

to abandon their surroundings and explore a new atmosphere."

In terms of the academic framework, we disagree with
Professor

Stefanovska that "no other program here uses this approach."
Chicana/o

Studies is an interdisciplinary program that has a language
requirement,

encourages study abroad (although it can not offer financial
support for

tuition, airfare and housing), and has an intensive seminar
requirement.

The program goes further by requiring a field studies component
which

enhances students’ research experience.

Please understand that our criticism is not directed toward the
European

Studies program and major. We merely want to expose the unjust
treatment by

the administration which legitimizes the study of certain
communities and

cultures while marginalizing "others."Estela Ballon

Graduate student

Sociology

This letter was accompanied by six additional names.