I. LOCAL/S TATE The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 21, 2003 - 5 I THE SCIENCE OF DIVERSITY 'U' defense cites studies lbzkinhg diversiy to intellectual excellence By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter To defend its use of race in admissions, University lawyers must convince the U.S. Supreme Court that diversity is a compelling state interest, and evidence claiming that diversity benefits both minorities and whites is vital to their argument. The University's legal brief responding to the lawsuit chal- lenging LSA's admissions policy cites numerous studies and professional testimony, attempting to link diversity to educa- tional benefits for the entire student body. "Abundant empirical evidence confirms educators' long-held beliefs and experience that students who expe- rienced the most racial and ethnic diversity in classroom settings and in informal interaction with peers showed the greatest ... growth in intellectual engagement and moti- vation,' the brief states, citing a study by Education Prof. Sylvia Hurtado. Students learn to consider multiple perspectives, question minority stereotypes and react to unfamiliar social settings through contact with diverse peers, the brief states. The two most significant studies cited in the brief include a study con- ducted by emeritus Prof. Patricia Gurin and "The Shape of the River," a book by William Bowen and Derek Bok, former presidents of Princeton and Harvard universities. Gurin's study indicates minority and white students who experienced diversity at the University and 184 other schools across the nation learned to think critically and were encour- aged to participate in civic activities, Gurin said. "It's probably the most well-developed record on the bene- fits (of diversity) ever presented," University General Counsel Dis "-g .. , 5, n f part fouir in a Marvin Krislov said. The study is important for the University's argument because schools defending the use of race in past lawsuits, such as Hop- wood v. Texas, had to rely prima- rily on anecdotal instead of empirical evidence, Krislov said. The brief also refers to "The Shape of the River," which claims minorities accepted dence because the issue of whether diversity is a compelling state interest is a legal question, and not necessarily based on evidence. "We don't disagree that diversity is valuable," Levey said. "We simply feel there is a huge difference between something being valuable and it being a compelling interest that can justify racial discrimination." Legal experts said justices with predispositions against the use of race in admissions will likely give little weight to the evidence, but Duke University law Prof. Trina Jones said it may convince Justice Sandra Day O'Connor - predicted by many legal experts to be the deciding vote in the case. "O'Connor might be persuaded that the ends are suffi- ciently important such that diversity is a compelling state interest," she said. Michigan State University law Prof Brian Kalt said the justices must decide on a legal standard, which may be deter- mined by evidence. "Any requirement comes down to a legal standard that has to be based on facts," he said. "If there is empirical support for (diversity), it makes it more likely that it serves a compelling state interest." But even if the court rules that colleges can consider race in admissions, the University still must prove its undergradu- ate schools do not award too many points for race. Although Levey said CIR will argue that the 20 points given for race are an unconstitutional amount, Krislov said the University uses the LSA Selection Index to evaluate which applicants are qualified based on a wide variety of backgrounds, talents and abilities. "We've found this a good balance between academic and non-academic factors," Krislov said. 20 points out of the index's maximum 150 points are granted on race, while a possible 110 points are based on academic factors. Levey said the index's scale is misleading because applicants with a 2.0 grade point average receive 40 points."No one applies to the University of Michigan with a C average," he said. But according to the brief, the University could not enroll enough minorities to achieve meaningful diversity without using a 20-point plus factor. The brief added that Justice Lewis Powell's opinion in the 1978 case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ruling - which banned racial quotas but permitted race to be used as an admissions factor - stipulates that individualtuniversities should have discretion over fine-tuning their admissions policies. "The role of the court is not to question every sin- gle factor," Krislov said. "The role of the court is to determine whether the use of race as an admissions factor is constitutional." Levey said CIR is challenging the amount of points award- ed for race because they are "relevant only in so far as it shows (the University is) not using race as one of many fac- tors. They're using it as a superfactor." through race-conscious policies succeeded at the same rate as white students. "Bowen and Bok found that the overwhelm- ing majority of African-American graduates of selective col- leges and universities with race-sensitive admissions programs preformed well and were very satisfied with their undergraduate educational experience," the brief states. Curt Levey, spokesman for the Center for Individual Rights, the law firm representing the plaintiffs in both law- suits, said CIR's briefs do not, challenge the University's evi- Prof's research backs validity ofarguments By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter Before two lawsuits challenged the University's use of race in admissions, before University lawyers wrote legal briefs defending the Law School and LSA poli- cies, before the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear both cases April 1, emeritus Prof. Patricia Gurin conducted a study based solely on her scholarly interests. Now the study - which y Gurin said provides empiri- cal evidence linking diversi- ty to numerous educational ' benefits - plays a key role in the University's argument that diversity is a com- pelling state interest, and that race should be consid- ered as one of many admis- sions factors. "The students who have the most experience with diversity were more likely, in a very reliable manner, to think a little differently, to take consideration of multi- ple perspectives, to be more engaged in citizen activi- ties," Gurin said during an interview with The Michigan Daily. The study also concluded that merely enrolling a cer- tain number of minorities is not enough to achieve the educational benefits of diversity, Gurin said. "It's the actual experience that students have, and not just whether or not diverse students are out there," she said. "(Diversity) is just a resource that universities need to make use of and that students need to avail themselves of, or it doesn't make any difference." Three years before the lawsuits were filed in 1997, Gurin, then a tenured psychology professor, compiled data from the Michigan Student Survey of University Students and from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, conducted at the University of Cali- fornia at Los Angeles, which surveyed thousands of students from 184 colleges across the nation. Both studies asked white, black and Hispanic stu- dents about their experiences interacting with diverse peers in the classroom and informal settings. Students were surveyed during their freshman terms and again four years later. Various factors were controlled, includ- ing students' backgrounds, grades, test scores and their institution's emphasis on diversity. The study shows that the diversity of the University's campus challenges students to think in new ways, Gurin said, because almost all whites and more than half of the blacks surveyed attended predominantly seg- regated high schools. "What happens when students hit Michigan with the level of diversity we have? It's different, it's discrepant, it's novel," she said. "We did find (that) the more students have actually interacted with diverse peers, the more by the senior year they were doing active thinking." Such active thinking encourages students to take into account multiple perspectives when analyzing social situations, Gurin said. The results from the University survey are remark- ably consistent with the results from the national study, Gurin said, and results were similar for all racial groups surveyed. Responses to various survey questions - which included how often students talked about person- al or racial issues with diverse peers outside of class, and how often they experienced hostile relationships with minorities - also were consistent with the amount of educational benefits students experienced, she said. "There is a lot of belief that somehow this is good for minority students and not for whites, or maybe some people think it's good for whites but it's not good minority groups, (but) we just find very little evidence of that," she said. The study also shows that students who attend diverse schools are more likely to engage in civic par- ticipation. The ability to work well with people of mul- tiple backgrounds is vital because many University students will go on to become corporate and political leaders by mid-century, when more than half of the U.S. population will be non-white, Gurin said. "They can be motivated to understand others who are different from them, they can understand that difference isn't necessarily a bad thing for democracy," she said. Gurin said her study was the first "overall effort to try and look at the benefits of diversity." Gurin's study claims interaction with minorities is necessary to reap the benefits of diversity. But the Uni- versity refers to Gurin's evidence in its briefs to justify using race as an admissions factor to enroll a critical mass of minorities. Gurin said the University is trying to prove "the probability of interacting goes down to so infinitesimal in the important small settings under the race-blind admissions that we know that we have negatively affected the educational benefits of diversity." "We're never saying it's got to be that big, we're say- ing it can never be this small," she said. REBECCA SAHN/Ualy Emeritus Prof. Patricia Gurin conducted a study of diversity in education that is key to the arguments the University has presented to the Supreme Court. Braking for news Huffington offers political commentary on Iraq conflict By Elizabeth Anderson Daily Staff Reporter NICOLE TERWILLIGER/Daily Student Bike Shop owner Bill Loy watches the latest news on the war against Iraq during his lunch break yesterday afternoon, shaking his head at the television in disappointment. oeman a eSSeS civil liberties The Michigan Daily sat down with Arianna Huffington, author syndicated columnist and political commentator to discuss her new book, "Pigs at the Trough," which details corporate greed in America. Huffington also offered her thoughts on the current situation in Iraq, Bush's presidency and her challenges as a working mother The Michigan Daily: What is your new book about? Arianna Huffington: We've all heard about ... Enron and WorldCom and what I wanted to make clear in the book was that there's not just a few bad apples. ... I wanted to make sure that people get the message of the last half of the book, too, which is that the ... special interest is to speak out and organize and that's why I have this multimedia presenta- tion that includes ... a few moral segments and parodies. TMD: Why are all these problems with corporate Ameri- ca surfacing right now? Huffington: Well the first question is, why it has taken so long? Because it's been going on for so many years. Why has it taken so long for them to come out? Because of the fact that our politicians and different watchdogs that they have set up to oversee corporate America have basically failed us. Politicians have been carrying the project of many of these large corporate leaders. ... Public policy is set up for their interests. TMD: Can you describe your writing process? Huffington: Well this is my ninth book and ... I do a col- umn every week ... I've been doing this for a long time. I start in different ways and right now I've discovered that the best way for me is to dictate to a person or to a tape recorder. I realized that I love speaking. (My books and columns are) a little bit like a legal brief. I argue a case and make a point. I use a lot of humor and satire and, to be honest, it's important to be entertained. ... Part of what I wanted to do with the sidebars ... is to make it entertaining. TMD: Why should people read "Pigs at the Trough?" Huffington: People need to recognize that our democracy has been hijacked and that we need to get it back. The way to do this is to be informed and to know what is happening and to recognize all the ways in which public policy is not there to serve the public but to serve the special interest and also to give people specific examples, like .. the fact that we all know about paying our taxes and over a million corporations and individuals are not going to pay taxes because they have opened PO. boxes in Bermuda ... and that they can confirm it. ... The book is full of information like that we can use ... while trying to bring about social change. TMD- What can students do to he less influenced by lare because you are always thinking about this one and it's what I'm most passionate about right now. ... I believe that this combination of entertaining and giving information and empowering is something which I really like to achieve and I think that that's in this book, by including all these different ways of presenting information that's not all linear, by including sidebars and some quizzes. TMD: What kinds of challenges do you face as a working mother? Huffington: That is the greatest challenge. I'm leaving again on Sunday. I'm coming to speak ! F (at the University), then I'm going on to speak at Dartmouth and then I'm going to Vassar ... and I love that. I love my work. I love communicating with peo- ple, especially college students because I really believe that's where the future is but at the same time I'm going to miss my daughters, I'm going to miss being here ... and I know that this is not nor- mal to do a college tour but it is a con- Huffington stant juggling act and I can't say that I've got it right. TMD: Do you think that men are intimidated by you? Huffington: I don't think men are intimidated by me because I think that having a sense of humor is important and I think not taking yourself too seriously is good ... I think you should take yourself lightly. TMD: What are your views on the war in Iraq? Huffington: I'm against the war. I believe that the president has not established a clear and present danger posed by Iraq. I believe the administration has tried to make a link between Iraq and September 11, but that link was never proven.... There's a lot of erosion of trust and what the White House is saying because again and again the president said Osama (bin Laden) and Saddam (Hussein) are one and the same or has talked about links between al-Qaida and September 11 when there's been no evidence about that at all and now the percep- tion is that we should start in order to use September 11 to jus- tify a pre-September 11 agenda, which was to invade Iraq. TMD: Do you think Bush has been a successful presi- dent? Huffington: No, I think that Bush has not been a success- ful president. I think that ... at a time when we needed to gain some friends, we've succeeded in uniting our enemies against us and turning our allies against us. On the domestic front this is a really disturbing time in this country. The pres- ident is not even responding to his own domestic priorities. TMD: Do you have any advice for college students, espe- ciallvin our time of political and economic crises? By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter In response to the commencement of war with Iraq, University President Mary Sue Coleman expressed her con- cern at yesterday's University Board of Regents meeting for everyone affected by the conflict, stressing the importance of maintaining campus civility, safety and freedom of speech. "We want to have a civil environment as well as have people express their views," Coleman said. "It's a very important time for us to reinforce our sense of community." Regent S. Martin Taylor (D-Grosse Pointe Farms) said both supporters and opponents of war are experiencing anguish and concern, but he said he " tnlla..r.+ril,," c.nnnrtc.t t, nrC. - campus safety. "Your right to freedom of expression is paramount at the University of Michi- gan, and I trust we will set an example for the nation of passionate debate con- ducted with respectful civility," she said in the written statement. At the regents' meeting, Coleman said administrators have created a website to aid students concerned about or person- ally affected by the war. Professors received e-mails instructing them to dis- cuss war-related issues in class and informing them of where to send stu- dents seeking guidance, she said. "We have staff and faculty who are here to answer questions or help in whatever way they can," Coleman said in the e-mail. She also attached links to several guidance offices, including the C'n,nze.inoa nd Pcoaingical Services "There should be debate on all great current issues. It's just important that it be done in a civil manner." - University Regent S. Martin Taylor (D-Grosse Pointe Farms) During the public speakers' forum, Law School alum David Boyle repri- manded lawyers representing the Uni- versity in two lawsuits challenging the use of race as an admissions factor in the L m Scholrand Colleneo f I itera-