VOICES

Affirmative action ‘is neither the angel nor the devil that its proponents or critics might paint it as.’

--Jonathan S. Leonard, UC Berkeley economics professor.

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‘Affirmative action has never been a popular program in this country, and I’m not sure it ever will be. But in spite of that, I think it’s absolutely essential to the progress we’ve achieved.’

--David R. Barclay, a former official with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, who became the first black vice president of Hughes Electronics Corp.

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‘When I was hired here, I didn’t know until I got in that for 10 days they were waiting to see if a minority candidate applied for the same job. They said to me, “Lucky they didn’t, or you wouldn’t be here.” ’

--A white manager at Hughes Electronics Corp., who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity.

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‘It’s hard, obviously, for anyone of any race to break into the [entertainment] industry, but this is an industry that puts out 90% of the TV and features starring or featuring people who aren’t anything else other than white, and they are geared toward hiring white writers.’

--Reggie Rock Bythewood, an African American, who credits a Disney writing program for helping him find employment.

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‘There’s no good faith effort or outreach [in the construction industry]. There’s no incentive to look for minorities.’

--Peruvian-born Hector Castillo, a Los Angeles engineer who heads the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

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Affirmative action ‘drives up the cost of construction when you’re trying to bid a contract and you are required to spend a lot of money running ads and documenting your efforts. It’s a huge bureaucracy.’

--Jim Burton, executive vice president of the 1,000-member Southern California Contractors Assn.

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Health care is ‘one of the fields that traditionally has been a real haven for women and minorities.’

--David Langness, a spokesman for the Health Care Assn. of Southern California.

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While women and minorities have risen to middle management positions in greater numbers in some hospitals, ‘the glass ceiling is very thick trying to move up from there. . . . I can name on the fingers on one hand the board-certified neurosurgeons who are women in this country. There are five of them.’

--Margaret Smith, president of Women in Health Administration.