AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ON THE SLY AT UCLA

Spurred partly by campus and community concern over dwindling numbers of African American students, UCLA is moving toward a major shift in its admissions process, perhaps as early as this fall. The changes in admissions, pushed by acting Chancellor Norman Abrams and several faculty leaders, would be the most dramatic at UCLA in at least five years. They would move the Westwood campus toward a more "holistic" admissions model - much like UC Berkeley's - in which students' achievements are viewed in the context of their personal experiences.

UCLA officials emphasized, however, that the campus would continue to abide by the restrictions imposed by Proposition 209, the 1996 voter initiative that barred California's public colleges and universities from considering race in admissions or employment.

A key UCLA faculty committee approved the broad framework for the admissions changes last week, with two more faculty panels expected to vote on it this month. Many details remain to be worked out, but officials said the new process, if approved, would take effect for students applying to UCLA in November for 2007. Abrams, a veteran UCLA law professor who became acting chancellor July 1, said the faculty had been studying admissions reforms for some time. Under the University of California's system of shared governance, faculty members set admissions and eligibility standards.

But Abrams said the admissions figures released in June, which showed that only 96 African Americans - or 2% of the freshman class - were likely to enroll at UCLA this fall, spurred many to action, inside and outside the university. Those numbers, the lowest at the campus since at least 1973, prompted calls from black alumni, community leaders and some legislators for an overhaul of UCLA's admissions practices.

The UCLA figures stood in contrast to a trend toward slightly higher numbers of black, Latino and Native American students across the UC system. Those groups, though still considered underrepresented at UC, will make up just under 20% of the anticipated 2006 freshman class, compared with just below 19% for the current class, but they vary by campus.

The enrollment numbers "have been a catalyst for us within the university to look at our processes, and also for many in the community who want to see change," Abrams said in an interview this week.

Abrams and faculty leaders said they believe the shift, if approved, will lead to fairer admissions for all applicants. They said the new process would make UCLA's admissions similar to that used not only by UC Berkeley, but by the Ivy League and other elite private colleges. They also emphasized that although UCLA's low numbers this year for both African American and Latino freshmen helped spark the changes, it was not clear what effect they would have on those figures. And they said the reforms were not geared specifically at raising those levels. "In my view, this should not be done - and under California law, cannot be done - to improve our African American admissions numbers, but because it's desirable to improve our processes overall," Abrams said.

In response, Ward Connerly, the conservative former UC regent who was an architect of Proposition 209, said Wednesday that UCLA had the right to change its procedures, within the boundaries of law and UC guidelines. Yet he scoffed at the idea that UCLA was not making the shift in direct response to the racial numbers, saying it "doesn't pass the giggle test." "It's obvious why they're doing it and what their objective is," Connerly said.

Others praised the steps toward change. "It's hard for big institutions to make 90-degree turns while driving 70 mph, and I'm proud of my alma mater for doing that," said Peter Taylor, a Los Angeles businessman and prominent UCLA alumnus.

Taylor, who is African American, heads a UCLA task force of alumni, community leaders and donors formed in response to the enrollment numbers. That group has endorsed the holistic approach. Darnell Hunt, a UCLA sociologist who heads its Bunche Center for African American Studies, said the new process would be "a good first step," but he also said it could not address all the factors involved, including the socioeconomic and educational inequities that affect many minority students. "Any change that moves UCLA toward a more inclusive, more holistic review, I'm certainly in favor of," said Hunt, who along with several colleagues has been studying admissions as part of a research project on the challenges facing black students in California universities.

The center's most recent report, posted on its website last week, said UCLA's current process "relied too heavily on minute differences in numbers and gross rankings."

Under admissions changes that took effect for the 2002 entering class, all UC campuses accept students under a system called "comprehensive review," in which personal factors, not just grades and test scores, are considered for all applicants. Previously, nonacademic factors, such as unusual talents and overcoming adversity, could be taken into account in admitting no more than half the freshman class at each campus.

But each UC campus, though required to stay within the broad guidelines, also was free to interpret the policy in its own way. UC Berkeley allows individual readers to review all parts of an applicant's file. At that campus, 140 black students, 10 more than in 2005, have said they will enroll this fall, making up 3.3% of the class of about 4,200. The number of Latino students also rose.

At UCLA, in what admissions officials have described as an attempt to increase objectivity, applicants' files have been divided by academic and personal areas, and read by separate reviewers. That is proposed to change. Adrienne Lavine, an engineering professor and the outgoing chairwoman of UCLA's faculty senate, said the new process would allow the campus to better define the kind of student it wants. She and others said that was increasingly important, given the numbers of applications the campus receives. More than 47,000 students applied for the incoming freshman class.

Thomas Lifka, who oversees admissions as UCLA's assistant vice chancellor for student academic services, described the change as one of philosophy and process but said it should not affect how students apply to the campus. "They shouldn't worry about presenting their credentials in a different light or manner," Lifka said. "It has to do with how we capture the concept of merit - and it means that for each applicant, we'll be looking at all the information about them at the same time."

He and others said that although specifics of the changes remain to be decided, admissions officials must start now to shift gears, and they will start with a comprehensive study of UC Berkeley's process.

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DO TELL!

The system of higher education in the United States, long seen as the best in the world, is starting to lag behind other countries, a new national report card says. Today's generation of students could end up less-educated than previous ones, the report card warns.

While Illinois compares favorably with other states in the report, the study points to troubling trends in participation rates here and the increasing percentage of income families have to pay toward rising tuition costs. "There is a large reason to be concerned about the young people in this country,'' said Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The center will release the report, "Measuring Up 2006,'' today.

At 39 percent, the United States ranks second among nations in the percentage of working-age adults with college degrees but seventh among just younger adults. "We are in a situation where for the first time in our history, the next generation will be less educated,'' Callan said. The United States also ranks near the top in college participation but at the bottom in college completion, the report found.

Illinois received an "A'' for participation, based on a relatively high number of 18- to 24-year olds -- 35 percent -- and of working-age adults -- 5 percent -- enrolled in college. But the report showed a 15 percent drop in the chance a 19-year-old will go to college: from 49 percent in 1992 to 42 percent today. Only a handful of states had a steeper drop.

Like 43 other states, Illinois flunked on affordability, with the report saying it has become harder for lower- and middle-income students to pay tuition. The bottom 40 percent now must pay more than half their median income for four-year public schools.

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Australia: More evidence of failing schools

Apprentices fall short in maths, science

A large workplace training provider has been forced to teach maths and physics to apprentice electricians. The move by Adelaide-based Peer Tec -- which trains hundreds of apprentices -- follows warnings that universities may need to lengthen courses or drop subjects unless the review of the South Australian Certificate of Education produces more maths and science students.

Peer Tec chief executive Michael Boyce said a shortfall in the maths and physics knowledge of students who had left in years 10 and 11 had forced the company to introduce classes for its first-year apprentices. He said the 40 hours of maths and physics classes were essential for apprentices training to be electricians, refrigerator mechanics and data communications technicians. "We have found that the maths taught at Year 10 and Year 11 level is not relevant to what we require in electrotechnology courses," Mr Boyce said. "The high school maths education does not provide them with the skills to work with formulas. Physics is required to be able to handle the concepts underpinning the trades." Peer Tec's parent, Group Training Australia (South Australia), has also hired senior maths teachers to review the "gaps" between senior school courses and the requirements of an electrical apprenticeship.

The Rann Government's review of SACE is in its early stages and includes input from state schools, universities, TAFE colleges, and Catholic and independent schools. Education Minister Jane Lomax Smith said yesterday the leaving age for students would soon be increased to 17 to ensure they had the academic background to enter apprenticeships. The review of SACE would also include recommendations to increase the flexibility for students who left school at Year 11 to enter the workforce but required extra tuition.

University of South Australia pro-vice-chancellor Peter Lee said last month degrees may have to be increased by a year if the SACE review failed to turn around the shortage of students.

Group Training Australia manager Mal Aubrey said the classes were introduced along with "aptitude tests" in maths and physics, made up of the sorts of problems first-year apprentices should be able to answer. Demand for places in apprenticeships was growing in the face of a national skills shortage in trades and heavy industry. Despite the strong demand for apprentices and a key role in finding jobs for school leavers, Mr Aubrey said Group Training Australia held a "peripheral" position in the review of SACE. But high-school education standards concerned the organisation enough to hire a senior maths teacher to conduct a review of the high school maths and physics curriculums. "There appears to be a couple of areas where there are gaps between what we require and what the school system is delivering," Mr Aubrey said. The maths and physics classes at Peer TEC started in January and the review will report to the Group Training Australia annual general meeting in November.

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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