Debaters to Examine Proposition 209

The pros and cons of Proposition 209, a ballot initiative that would prohibit preferential treatment of public students and employees based on race or gender, will be debated tonight. .

The debate, sponsored by the Thousand Oaks branch of the American Assn. of University Women, will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Rockwell Science Center auditorium, 1049 Camino Dos Rios, in Thousand Oaks.

The debate is open to the public and admission is free.

Richard D. Ferrier, a professor and accreditation officer at Thomas Aquinas College near Santa Paula, will speak for the initiative, which would abolish the use of race and gender as a determining factor for admission to state-funded colleges, hiring for government jobs and other matters. Ferrier, a spokesman for the Proposition 209 campaign, chaired the Ventura County Republican Central Committee in 1992.

Arguing against the initiative is Bruce J. Einhorn, a senior federal immigration judge based in Los Angeles.

Einhorn is an adjunct professor of international human rights law at Pepperdine University in Malibu and serves as vice president of the Pacific Southwest Regional Board of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. He is also chairman of the Anti-Defamation League’s Civil Rights Committee and the Latino-Jewish Round Table.

Beverly Kelley, chairwoman of Cal Lutheran University’s communication arts department, will serve as moderator. Kelley is host of the “Ventura Talk” public affairs program broadcast Monday evenings on KCLU-FM (88.3).

For more information, call (805) 496-6968.