Diversity at UC

* “Less Diversity Seen as UC Preferences End” (Oct. 2), which indicates that “underrepresented minorities” at UCLA and UC Berkeley would fall 50% to 70% if race-based admission criteria are eliminated, is proof positive of the dire need for voters to enact Prop. 209.

The very idea that 50% to 70% of black and Latino undergraduates at UCLA and UC Berkeley are not there because of their secondary school accomplishments (such as GPAs and SAT scores), but rather were admitted because of their ethnic background, is enough to make me sick.

The article quotes a UC administrator as saying that exposure to and interaction with students of varied ethnic backgrounds is necessary to achieve a fulfilling time at college. I disagree. I’d rather be surrounded by those who have academic excellence, whatever their race. This is typical of the hogwash sophistry that liberals keep attempting to foist on American society. Prop. 209’s impending overwhelming ratification will end our 30-year nightmare that has been known as affirmative action.

JERRY HERMES

San Diego