1974_03 The Daily Collegian March 1974

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UHURU
MAR
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
California Slate University, Fresno
II 88 ' FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1974
Supreme Court to rule
$$ Affirmative Action
By Philip Hagoptan
Collegian Staff Writer
Arguments are being presented
" before the Supreme Court this
week In a case that may result
ln a "benchmark" decision concerning admissions policies of
universities showing some preference for blacks and other nil-
Depending on how broadly the''
high court construes the Issue.
Its   decision   could   affect the
federally-mandated 'affirmative
action" hiring programs instituted ln the past five years.
CSUF officials, however, while
aware .of the so-called "DeFunls
case," sav it win not likely affect
CSUF's two affirmative action
programs or the campus's admissions policy.
The case was taken to the Su-
Jr.. who charged that the University of Washington law school had
practiced "reverse discrimination" by admitting 37 minority
students whose grades and test
scores were lower than his.
The case - which Is expected
to he argued before Ihe court ln
late June — Has attracted nation
wide attention.
The case represents, accord*
lng to one Justice Department
lawyer quoted ln the Los Angelas
times, "the collision of two cherished liberal beliefs: do everything to make lt up to the blacks
for being kicked around, and judge
everyone   strictly  on  his   own
Regardless of the eventual outcome, campus officials claim the
case will not hinder CSUF's pot-
Icy of non-dlscrt'mlnatlon In employment and admissions. ■
•1 don't think It will affect the
employment picture at all,* said
Andrew Alvarado, coordinator of
CSUF's faculty affirmative action
program.
Although Alvarado .said be
thinks "DeFunls Is going to win,"
he added the case deals with admissions and not hiring policies.
It is in this second area that
"affirmative action," created by
presidential order five years ago.
Is concerned. .
•In terms of employment, tl*
courts have already ruled ln favor
of affirmative action," Alvarado
said.
Lionel Talbot, head of CSUF's
staff affirmative action plan,
agreed. It (the DeFunls decision)
would probably have very little
affect on our end of It,* he aald.
Bealdea,  Talbot aald, hiring
as of August, 1972."
Nevertheless,  CSUF's under-
policy does
for students coming from 'disadvantaged" backgrounds, according to Kent Da vies, Director
Disadvantaged, he explained,
includes not only students who experience financial hardship, but
also those who attended schools
with substandard educational
programs.
Davles aald thla policy la not
racially-oriented. "We do admit
majority students If they are
disadvantaged.*
The adrolsalons policy attempts
to determine the "motivation" of
prospective students falling under the category of "disadvantaged," said Dairies.
■We look at a student's academic work and recommendations. We don't look as much at .
test scores,* he said.
Black Studies:  under-financed and under-staffed
(Editor's note: This Is--Part
Two of a three-part series on
nlack Studies. Part three, which
deals with BlackStudies at CSUF,
will be presented ln the next
issue of the UHURU.)
The fermenf on campuses recapitulated upheavals In the national black community, aecord-
" i nir in historian Vincent Harding.
Institute of the Black World.
Both movements tended to emphasize Immediacy, confrontation and loud challenge. Neither
had built Into It a long-range
understanding of struggle. Some
blacks, perhaps Inspired by token victories, envisioned struggle as an Instant revolution
rather than as a gruelling, protracted process.
movements generated four types
of demands, according to Dr.
Allen B. Ballard, dean for academic development at the City
University of New York. Black
students demanded: 1) a black-
controlled, Black Studies enclave, 2) separate dormitory and
cultural space, 3) additional ad-
quotas, and 4) special
and  financial  aid  and
crusaders believed that a granting of these demands would help
them develop feelings of personal IdenUty, pride and worth,
would move them toward sympathetic Interest and dedicated
Involvement ln the Improvement
of the local, national and worldwide black community, would
radically reform American education by  attacking its basic
train black students In the philosophy and strategies of revolution as a prelude to black
liberation.
As might be expected of such'
heady ambitions, some academicians raised serious doubts thai
any such body of knowledge aa
Black Studies existed. Others
charged tbe programs would be
highly politicized and doc trlnal re
(Continued on Page 4, Col. 1)
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Miss Black California-' 'contest was good for my creativity1
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Off duty,
she's a sophomore at UCSD who
\\T£es wood, jade and turquoise
Jewelry, designing her own
clothes, riding a bicycle and
walking   In   the  park  on   windy
On duty, she's "Miss Black
California," a title Vanessa
Bounds, 19, won last summer in
Los Angeles.
"I got Into that contest purely
by accident and couldn't believe
I'd won,* Vanessa says. "My
mother was sure I would, though;
she always gives me more credit
than I give myself.''
Vanessa's mother, a legal secretary', has always encouraged
her children, the contest winner
Two younger sisters, 18 and 7,
an older brother, 21, and Vanessa's father, who works for an
airline- company, make up the
family, now living in Los Angeles.
At UCSD, Vanessa has her own
apartment, where one of the
"conversation pieces' is the huge
silver "Miss BUck California-
trophy she won, along with a
sparkling tiara, a trip to Europe
Vatrtsaa la S-foot-3, w
brown eyes and a winning
She "stands tall" •
posture and says she 'has always
been Interested ln athletlcs.'She,
weighs. In,' now, al lis pounds,
but lost 10 pounds during (he
hectic three weeks of the competition.
She sings, dances, acts, la a
cheerleader at school, playa the
clarinet, bowls, bicycles, and
often designs her own clothes,as
she dl'f tor. some of the contest
categories. Beauty, talent, fash
ion, personality and black history
were the categories used.
At school, Vanessa Is studying
drama as a major Interest, with
business education as a minor,
and she hopes to Involve both
acting and business ln a helping
profession after graduation.
*l learned a lot about creativity
during the pageant,* Vanesaa
says. "There were 26 contestants
e had to
k togeth
rlodo
a production songs
ber. It was fascinating to see how
the girls worked together.
'I think that entering such a
contest Is something every woman
should go through, mainly for her
self-discipline," Vanessa says.
'I learned a lot. and I think It
will   help   me   from   now   on."
Vanessa, along with three
classmates at UCSD, presented
a 35-mlnute performance of dance
and poetry at the University of
California's Los Angeles campus '
in December and rehearsals kept
the group busy.
She hopes to keep on dancing
and singing, as she has done for
the last 10 years, following grad-
Wlnnlng the contest hasn't
really changed her life much,
Vanessa says, except to complicate the time problem she has
In working out school-tttle-per-
aonal-recreatlonal goals.
There are so many things I'm
going to do aa soon as I get more
.time," Miss BUck California
' says, and she begins ticking off a
i list that seems endless. "Karate,.
I used to study that,-basketball
(I was on the girl's team at school
last year), designing, gymnaa-
. tics, writing poetry and prose,
singing, dancing, just going outside and walking ln the park on
windy days ..."
VANESSA BOUNDS