Northridge : CSUN to Host Debate on Affirmative Action

Cal State Northridge will sponsor a debate Tuesday on the California Civil Rights Initiative between state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles)--an outspoken critic of dismantling state affirmative action policies--and Joe Gelman--campaign manager for the initiative.

The proposed statewide measure would be placed on the November, 1996, ballot if supporters gather by Feb. 21 the required 693,000 California voter signatures necessary to qualify the measure.

The initiative, supported by Gov. Pete Wilson, would ban the practice of ethnic or gender preferences in state hiring, contracting and college admissions.

The debate is the first in a series of events planned by CSUN’s presidential advisory board on non-discrimination and affirmative action, which is designed to give faculty, students and residents an opportunity to learn about the initiative and its possible effect on higher education.

Watson has decried proposals to eradicate affirmative action policies. In July, she spoke out against the University of California regents’ decision to terminate affirmative action policies in the nine-campus university system.

Gelman, a former appointee to Mayor Richard Riordan’s Civil Service Commission, resigned in September after a flap with Riordan over a statement Gelman made about another commissioner’s support for the initiative.

He said on Tuesday that the campaign has collected signatures supporting the measure “in the six-figure range.” The debate, which is open to the public, will be held from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m. in the Grand Salon of the University Student Union near the center of campus, situated at 18111 Nordhoff St.