Georgia's points are unconsitutional

The University of Georgia's admissions policy, which gives bonus points to non-white applicants, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court panel in late August.\nIU's policy does not award bias points to racial minorities, and is not affected by the circuit court ruling.\nAccording to The New York Times, the judges on the panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit Court wrote, "Racial diversity alone is not necessarily the hallmark of a diverse student body, and race is not necessarily the only, or best, criterion for determining the contribution that an applicant might make to the broad mix of experiences and perspectives" that create diversity.\nSimilar admission policies were banned from universities in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi in 1996. This most-recent decision also affects schools in Alabama and Florida.\nRacial bias in the University of Michigan's law school admission policy was rejected by a federal judge earlier this year.\nThe race-conscious point system used at many colleges especially in the South, awards minority students, particularly African-American students, added bonus points. \nAlthough IU's application asks prospective students to provide their ethnicity, applicants are not required to complete the latter section of the application. Ethnicity is requested by the U.S. Department of Education -- ethnicity serves no purpose in the admissions process.\n"IU really looks at Indiana students who have completed CORE-40," said Mary Anderson, IU's director of admissions. "Typically students from out-of-state are above average."\nCORE-40 is a set of basic requirements needed for Indiana residents to attend a state school. \nAnyone applying to IU is accepted by meeting the following requirements:\n• have taken 4-to-5 academic classes each year of high school;\n• ranked in the top half of their high school;\n• scored at or above the Indiana state average on the SAT or ACT.\nNonresident applicants usually have higher SAT or ACT scores.\n"Lots of schools have set policies and give 'points' for living in rural areas, being a minority and having special talents," Anderson said. "None of that is in IU's admissions process."\nThe argument for a minority-biased point system is argued in Tom Weisskopf's statement on Affirmative Action, November 25, 1997. Weisskopf, director of the residential college at the University of Michigan in 1997, said, "I believe that affirmative action -- in the form of preferences in admission policies for groups of students whose common group identity exposes them to disadvantageous treatment -- is both morally right and in the best interest of educational institutions."\nDon Hossler, vice chancellor for enrollment services at IU, said some schools need a point based system -- state schools, like IU, do not. \n"A school such as Yale, that has more applicants than Indiana University for a smaller student body, is pressed to rationalize a process that would create diversity in their school," Hossler said. "Generally, low income areas have less students that test well on the standardized tests. Many of these low income areas have a large minority population." \nWith this logic, Hossler said schools have developed point-based admission policies to give the students from these areas an opportunity.\nAccording to the Office of Admissions, "At IU, we continuously seek to create a community of learners who value each other's individuality and diversity."\nIn the fall of 2000, 9.7 percent of IU students were African American, Asian, Latino, or Native American. Students from countries outside the United States made up 7.9 percent of the student body.\n"Indiana has simple admissions standards -- we don't use formulas," IU spokeswoman Susan Dillman said. "We do recruit and encourage students of ethnic backgrounds to attend."\nThe University of Georgia is likely to appeal the circuit court decision to the Supreme Court, according to The Times. The University, which has made extra efforts to increase the chances of non-white students' admittance, is showing no indication in changing their policy.