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Admission to UC for Top Students

* As a teacher at Manual Arts High, I read with interest the various plans to recruit more UC students from poorer schools (May 12). I support the plan to offer automatic University of California admission to the top 4% (or even 6%) at each school. I’d like to remind readers that not all eligible students would choose to attend UC: Some have financial limitations, but an equal number receive very lucrative four-year, all-expense-paid scholarships from prestigious private colleges.

Manual Arts is a California Distinguished School, and we work hard to educate our students. However, we have the usual problems of a poor urban school. Too many of our students don’t really believe that it’s possible for them to go to college. Too many have had too many broken promises. But even more important, we have too many students well-qualified for UC who settle for Cal State. They just can’t quite believe that they could make it.

Each year many students do choose UC and do well. I’d like to see other equally qualified students dare to aspire to a higher standard.

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ANN AGUIRRE

Los Angeles

* The Times reported that there are attempts in the state Legislature to overcome Prop. 209 with other schemes designed to artificially boost Latino and African American UC enrollment. Do we run the risk of further institutionalizing the unfair assumption that black- and brown-skinned people cannot compete with Asians and whites for slots at UC schools without state-sponsored crutches?

It would be a shame if programs that are supposed to help disadvantaged individuals instead stigmatized all students from two racial groups for life.

WILLIAM C. MARTIN

Los Angeles

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