Coalition wants admissions statistics on all minorities

Wednesday, October 28, 1998

Coalition wants admissions statistics on all minorities

APC: Group’s desire for retention rates calls for changes on
applications

By Andy Shah

Daily Bruin Contributor

Members of the Asian Pacific Coalition (APC) have launched
attacks against the undergraduate admissions office, claiming the
office does not keep statistical information for every Asian
Pacific Islander (API) group at UCLA.

Currently, the admissions office keeps statistics for groups
such as Chinese Americans and Korean Americans, but not always for
smaller groups, such as Thais and Laotians, because there are no
categories for these groups on the UC application.

"If one of these small groups wanted to start a retention
program, for example, they wouldn’t have statistics saying this
many people stay in school, and this many drop out," said Tram Linh
Ho, Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) financial
supports commissioner and APC member.

But admissions officials said the situation is out of their
control.

"I’m perfectly willing to show anyone any (statistical)
information we have," said Rae Lee Siporin, director of
Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools. "But the
University of California (UC) does not collect that information, so
it’s not a UCLA-specific issue."

Siporin explained that all racial or ethnic statistics UCLA
accumulates are derived from what students mark on the UC
application.

"I have no idea why some API groups aren’t marked as categories
on the application," she said. "But it’s not my application. If we
have the information, we’ll give it."

UC officials said there isn’t enough space on the application to
categorize all API groups.

"We’re very pressed for space on the application," said Miriam
Green, principal analyst for the UC Office of the President. "We
can’t possibly fit all of those categories on the application."

Green, whose office works on the production of the application,
said that there is room on the application for students to specify
their race and ethnicity.

"Students are more than welcome to write in their ethnicity,"
she said. "(The University of California) keeps the information
that they have written in."

But Ho said accessing such information is difficult, since going
through UC officials in Sacramento creates more hassle for
students.

"The university’s perceived lack of attention to
underrepresented API groups has historically made APC’s struggle to
represent all API groups more difficult," said coalition Director
Carol Lee.

"It’s unfair when smaller groups’ voices aren’t heard, like
Thais and Cambodians," she said.

The coalition is comprised of more than 20 groups, which
represent anyone from international students to third-generation
Asian Americans. Each group, regardless of size, has an equal vote
when deciding on matters.

APC Advisor Sefa Aina said the size of some groups is a factor
in their low representation.

"If you only have 10 people in your group, and they’re all
concentrating on Outreach, you’re not going to be represented at
all the meetings," he said.

Ho said that obtaining admission statistics and dropout rates of
Vietnamese students for a new Southeast Asian student retention
program was difficult.

"We were lucky because they started keeping track of Vietnamese
students only recently," she said. "But we still don’t have the
statistics for some of the smaller Southeast Asian groups."

Ho said that APC plans to "pressure the administration and
University of California" to separate all the groups that fall
under the API category.

"If the administration can’t do anything, we want to take it to
the state level," Lee said.

Aina said the most underrepresented groups within the API
community are Pacific Islanders, Southeast Asians (such as
Vietnamese and Cambodians) and South Asians (such as Indians and
Pakistanis).

Lee said that another reason some groups feel underrepresented
is because some people perceive the term Asian to mean only East
Asians (such as Chinese and Koreans).

"This leaves out many members of our community," she said.

Aina said that the coalition has always tried to represent
underrepresented groups.

"In the past, they’ve been pretty vigilant about looking out for
smaller groups," he said.

But he added that these groups have to speak up for
themselves.

"You can’t let other people fight your battles for you," he
said.

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