Students discuss affirmative action at forum

Over 30 students attended a panel discussion entitled "Affirmative action: What has it done for you or against you lately?" Among the panelists were English professor Houston Baker, College senior and Undergraduate Assembly member Dan Schorr, College senior Joanna Paul, and second-year Law student Pamela Urueta. And although the primary focus of the discussion was affirmative action, the panelists also discussed the issue of race in the United States. "Race should be a factor [in affirmative action], but not the sole factor," Urueta, a proponent of the policy, said. "In an ideal world, we wouldn't need policies such as affirmative action." Schorr disagreed, saying that "we need to base affirmative action on socioeconomic status, not race." After speeches by the panelists, the audience had an opportunity to ask questions and participate in the discussion. "As far as I'm concerned, I thought it was very lively," Program for the Awareness of Cultural Education member and College junior Brent Plummer said. "I didn't expect it to be so intense. More of this is definitely needed." United Minorities Council Chairperson and College senior Liz Melendez said that she wished the discussion could have lasted longer than the 90 minutes allotted. "I hope this is just the beginning of the conversations about affirmative action," she said. Baker agreed with Melendez's sentiments. "It was one of the most encouraging, interactive sessions with students that obviously represented a diverse portion of the student body," he said. "I would like to see this forum broadened to the entire University." And many people in the audience felt that the forum gave them a greater understanding of affirmative action. "I learned exactly what affirmative action was and how it is on Penn's campus," College senior and Six Directions President Desiree Martinez said. "It was an interesting dialogue that needed to be opened up?to get rid of the misconceptions of affirmative action." Urueta summed up the discussion by saying that,"instead of color-blind, I think we should strive for color-proud." The discussion was sponsored by the UMC, Greenfield Intercultural Center and PACE.