To:               arthurhu@halcyon.com
Copies to:        pjherz@siu.edu, matloff@heather.cs.ucdavis.edu, sdraoul@aol.com,
        dchiang@juno.com, dalewarner@aol.com, moira@megamed.com,
        preacher@earthlink.net, pravdanyet@aol.com,
        pnews-l@maelstrom.stjohns.edu, rhtao@ucdavis.edu, msk@cis.org
Date sent:        Thu, 11 May 1995 01:48:15 PST
Subject:          Re: Inside the College Admissions Lottery
From:             dchiang@juno.com




     Dave Chiang
     Asian American Political

Coalition 
     Tel: (908) 532-6126
     E-mail: dchiang@juno.com


U.S. News & World Report 
2400 N. Street N.W.
Washington, DC  20037-1196


Monday, April 14, 1997


Dear U.S. News & World Report Editor,


 Regarding the U.S. News & World News Report on the college
admissions process (  "Did they admit me?" Inside the admissions
lottery: The way a top university really decides; April 14, 1997, P48 ),
your article neglected to address the increasing abuse of "legacy quotas"
for the children of alumni. Many critics of affirmative action for
certain under represented minority groups aren't even honest about
special privilege programs for alumni. One of the biggest "affirmative
action" programs on campus is not for minorities but for "legacies"- the
privileged children of the mostly white male alumni. Legacy quotas for
the children of alumni are "de facto" racial quotas. A 1992 study by the
U.S. Department of Education looking into
complaints by Asian-Americans that they were being rejected for less
qualified whites uncovered some unexpected information. Children of
alumni as well as athletes consistently received "special preference"
over other applicants, at some of the nation's top schools, including
Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. 


 The average combined SAT score of Harvard legacies was 35% lower
than for all those admitted, and legacies were more than twice as likely
to get in. Thirty-six (36%) percent of Harvard legacy applicants were
admitted versus only 17 percent of all applicants. Clearly, under
qualified applicants in many cases received the privilege of "special
preference". In the Dept of Education Study, one admissions officer
evaluated a legacy admissions quota this way, "Without ethnic lineage,
there would be little case. With it, we will keep looking...".  Many
universities across America even have outright legacy quotas ("quotas"
being the bogey that rightwing conservatives decry the loudest). Notre
Dame University has a quota decreeing that 25 percent of each class be
children of Alumni. Yes folks, it's convenience amnesia. Could the
editors at U.S. News and World Report please explain what is wrong with
basing college admissions policy solely on objective academic criteria
including Grades and SAT scores?


Sincerely,


Dave Chiang
Asian American Political Coalition (AAPC)