[ti:Affirmative Action Case Returns to the Supreme Court]
[ar:Anne Ball]
[al:Education Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
[00:05.36]The United States Supreme Court said last week
[00:09.50]it will re-hear arguments on a controversial college admissions policy.
[00:15.65]The case involves affirmative action, the custom of helping groups
[00:22.22]that have been treated unfairly in the past.
[00:25.57]The Supreme Court plans to hear the case of Abigail Fisher for the second time.
[00:32.62]Ms. Fisher, a white female,
[00:35.77]was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin in 2008.
[00:43.40]She says the university's affirmative action policy
[00:48.33]discriminated against her and other white applicants.
[00:52.78]Ms. Fisher took legal action against the University of Texas.
[00:58.07]Her case went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.
[01:04.36]The court sent the case back to a lower court,
[01:09.87]which supported the university.
[01:12.37]In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled
[01:16.76]that schools can consider an applicant's race
[01:20.65]as part of their admissions decisions.
[01:24.27]The court's majority said that schools have a "compelling interest"
[01:30.52]in having a racially-mixed student population.
[01:34.61]Michael Yaki is a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
[01:40.50]He says affirmative action is a good thing.
[01:44.22]He says race should not prevent someone from getting into a university.
[01:50.76]But he thinks it should be a consideration
[01:55.18]when university officials want to create balance in a class.
[02:01.13]In his words, "Our nation is stronger
[02:05.32]when people from diverse cultures and diverse backgrounds can work,
[02:11.27]live and study together."
[02:13.65]He adds that affirmative action will "benefit the society and benefit our future."
[02:20.88]Supporters say affirmative action is needed to increase economic
[02:27.17]and other opportunities for some minority groups.
[02:31.72]Tom Fitton is president of Judicial Watch, a policy group in Washington D.C.
[02:39.06]He says colleges should make decisions based only on a student's ability or merit.
[02:46.77]He says race-based admissions programs are a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
[02:54.64]"People are harmed by these decisions," he says,
[02:58.80]"because for every person who gets in because they are a minority,
[03:04.75]there is someone who may be left out because they are not."
[03:09.40]Mr. Fitton says affirmative action hurts Asian-American students.
[03:16.52]The 2010 Census found that Asian Americans
[03:21.78]make up about six percent of the U.S. population.
[03:26.08]But they make up about 40 percent of the undergraduate students
[03:31.62]at the University of California at Berkeley.
[03:34.86]At Harvard University, 20 percent of the first-year students are Asian.
[03:42.07]Some people say the percentage of Asian students at top U.S. universities
[03:48.75]would be even higher without affirmative action.
[03:53.13]"The Asian American community gets harmed by this,
[03:57.86]because their educational achievements make them excellent candidates,
[04:03.41]if it was just based on merit," Mr. Fitton says.
[04:08.80]A group of Asian organizations complained to the Justice and Education Departments.
[04:16.68]They said Harvard University discriminates against Asian Americans in its admission process.
[04:24.34]Commissioner Yaki does not think Harvard "systematically" discriminates against them.
[04:31.24]He says the university does not set firm target numbers
[04:37.01]for the number of Asians it will accept.
[04:40.26]In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled that racial quotas
[04:46.52]are illegal in employment and college admissions.
[04:51.03]Abigail Fisher now works at a finance company
[04:55.74]after completing studies at Louisiana State University.
[05:00.83]The Supreme Court will hear her case against the University of Texas in October.
[05:07.73]The Court's decision could have a major effect
[05:12.37]on the diversity of U.S. college classrooms in the future.
[05:17.08]I'm Anne Ball.
[05:19.73]更多听力请访问51voa.com
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