Dear FRONTLINE,

So, if I understood the message of your story correctly, people who are anything other than white should be allowed into the top schools just because they want to go, and their lives have ended if they don't make it on the first try.

They have no opportunities to, say go to another school and transfer in, or to get a degree somewhere else and go to the graduate school of their choice. And, of course, no one with a degree from a "lesser" college has ever done anything worthwhile or had a decent life, and no one with a degree from a "name" school has ever been a failure. This show was embarrassing to watch.

There was a time, you know, when journalists used to pride themselves on unbiased journalism that presented both sides of an issue. As one show after another sank into the mire of yellow journalism over the years, I took comfort that "at least there's still Frontline." After watching this same old, tired, pandering to the politically correct I could have watched on any of the "infotainment" shows, it seems the last bastion is gone. You've sunk to the level of "60 Minutes." I thought you had more pride than that.

Nigel Mends
Helena, Montana

Dear FRONTLINE,

Dear Frontline. As normal for your shows it is heavily biased to present a liberal point of view that Standards of any kind are discriminatory. There was one thing missing from your show - what happens to low SAT students if they are admitted to a school like Berkeley with students who have high scores. In fact approximately 80% of the affirmative action students drop out and never graduate. So all that has happened is that students who would have done better in a different college drop out and perpetuate the low self esteem problems of their race.

Two, you failed to mention that although these school say they want ethnic diversity, they do not want political or philosophically diversity. Basically, schools like Berkeley say, ěconservativesí need not apply. Approximately, 99% of all teachers are liberal Democrates. Where is the diversity or thought? If everyone is thinking the same, no one is thinking at all.

Robert Exton
San Francisco, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

As a graduate of UC Berkeley and a grad student in education at UCLA, parental income levels and education levels say a lot about how students will do in college, Berkeley or elsewhere. For instance. I went to Berkeley, a couple of years later, a few more students from my high school also started attending. We had the same classes, same teachers, but the ones who are doing the best at college have the most financial and emotional support from their parents. Doesn't take a Berkeley grad to make the connection. The problem for some of the students on the show was not having enough guidance. SO much pressure is put on going to the name school and here in California, at least, we have 8 fine undergraduate UC campuses and even more CSU campuses. Students can find a campus that is right for them and get a great education. Berkeley is not for everyone. A person would be better off excelling somewhere else than getting lost in the crowd and not doing well at Berkeley. I was really sad that the students that did not get in chose junior college when they could have had a great 4year college experience instead of feeling like failures, as they obviously did. all you junior college people, don't get defensive now. Junior colleges serve their communities in great ways, but we all know, when you are qualified for a 4 year program, you'd be better off going there from the beginning. As any college counselor should tell you. I should know. I am one

Anne Schonauer
Los Angeles, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

When I applied to college 40 years ago, no points were gained for being the first in the family to go to college, or for being of modest means. Both characteristics applied to me. I scored 770V/760M and was admitted to a first-rate college. I became a lawyer when few women did and married a man with a Ph.D.
While we are not rich, we have been able to provide our children with excellent opportunities. It seems to me that such a background now militates against applicants like them in the college admission process. Colleges are bending over backwards to privilege those whose parents were not successful!
It almost seems that one does one's children a disservice by enriching them educationally!
Thank goodness our kids scored high on the SAT and National Merit tests. Whatever the merits and demerits of standardized tests, they at least provide a way to "control" for the many variables that influence a student's competence. And the tests do predict college grades fairly well.
In closing, I think the applicant with a "combined" SAT of 450 is going to have a hard way to go at Berkeley.

Eleanor Simpson

Dear FRONTLINE,

Agree, the SATs have its setback. However, Frontline forgot to mention one benefit of these tests: comparing students. In the United States, there is no uniform educational standard. Many of us have experience teachers who give out A's more easily than some teachers. Some of us might have attended problematic high schools where "just showing up and not creating problems" will warrant an A. How do colleges determine if someone "deserved" an A or just someone who had a teacher who was delighted that he didn't start a fight. They can't. If a student is taking multivariable calculus gets a C, and another student taking Intro to Algebra gets a A, and they are both applying to an engineering school - which one will be better prepared for that school?
Colleges can use the SATs to determine who has the better math skills needed for an engineering skills.

Granted, SATs are bias towards WASP. However, it allows colleges to compare one student from high school A in city A with high school B in city B.

Frontline forgot to mentioned that highly selective schools, such as Penn [University of Pennsylvania, not Penn State : ] ignore the SATs above a certain level. The distinctions between a 1400 and a 1600 disappears when deciding admission. They do not say, "Well, this kid got a 1600, compare to this low 1400 so lets take the 1600 kid." These highly competitive colleges use the SAT to learn if you have already master the basics. If you haven't mastered the basics, you will have a difficult time in college.

Steven Kelberg

Dear FRONTLINE,

I believe a true meritocracy must totally disregard race and all other so-called "mitigating" factors. Whatever the agreed-upon standard is, it has to be applied equaly to all, regardless of background. The primary problem is this tendency towards "credentialism" that demands an Ivy League alma mater on the resume to enter the corporate bureaucracy. There are many ways to make a good living that shouldn't require an expensive four year college education.
The obsession with college these days is inane and really is a form of educational welfare for petty academics ensconces in "academia." I see no reason why a stockbroker or salesman should have to spend four years in college, other than this
runaway obsession with irrelevant credentialism.

Regarding this business of giving "breaks" to people from supposedly disadvantaged backgrounds, to me it is hooey. I was born in in a DP camp in Germany, raised in the housing projects in Brownsville, and subject to lots of problems, with no one to help whatsoever, and still managed to score a very respectable SAT score. The SAT's basically measure what you've read and learned, and is also representative in a rudimentary way the kind of intelligence required to do reading, research and the other things that academia finds worthwhile. But there are many ways of making a helluva lot more money than become an academic.
We have to agree on one standard and then put issues of race and diversity aside. The SAT's may be one part of the standard, and perhaps there might be other things that would indicate academic potential. But more important, what we should be doing is bringing back the Dewey comprehensive High School curriculum so that kids that are not college bound can go right into the work force with an acceptable level of skills. We've devalued High School and overvalued college and this is a waste. I fail to see how it has improved the economy as a whole.

Jack Garbuz
Far Rockaway, NY

Dear FRONTLINE,

I would like to respond to Mr. Bowen's commentary on affirmative action policies in university systems. I agree with the statement that we are not harming recipients of college admission that would otherwise have not been admitted due to the standard requirements of, say, SAT score minimums. However, the statement that "so much depends on personal qualities. On the ability to get up off the floor and start over." Start over from what? This argument is misleading. He talks about not wanting make these recipients out to be victims, but by expressing the second statement in the above quotation, he does just that and transforms these applicants into "victims" based on actions for which they are not responsible. Furthermore, how much can you tell about an individual's personal qualities from a 500 word essay? I say that's a load of baloney. In my opinion, we are preaching to the choir. The demographic we should target is the secondary school students who are not pursuing college degrees.

Kevin Gilmore
Cary, NC

Dear FRONTLINE,

race should be taken into account because my parents, in the 1950's, faced racism, discrimination and poverty which did not allow them to have the same advantages as the whites in taking private classes to better themselves for tests, jobs and even nicer housing in a safe neighborhood. With such little education it was not possible for my parents to help me with homework, take me to cultural events, travel, or get me a tutor that would habe helped to make a young person more worldly,well rounded and more ambitious. They gave me love, moral values, religion and they did the best they could but this alone did not get me into college. I needed financial support which they could not afford in the 1970's.

sonia valentin
brooklyn, new york

Dear FRONTLINE,

I believe the SAT and other standardized test are exactly that--only to standardize everyone. One test cannot prove or disprove a person's academic ability or their potential to succeed in the real world. Take most of those tests with a grain of salt.

Stephanie Bruce
Fair Play, Missouri

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am a certified teacher in Texas. I have taught in a border-line inner city junior high, and in a small rural junior high. I am interested in the dynamics surrounding race and standardized test scores. I feel that so many "border-line" students could be brought to a higher level of performance with more a optimal classroom environment. For example, 1teachers willing to break out of their "ditto"-easy-to-grade assignments who will really teach to each student, 2teachers who will make their classroom "their" classroom. Take control, possess a "no tolerance attitude" for those who disrupt, and 3students who trust their teachers as someone who can lead and guide and actually teach them something worth a damn.

JoAnna Collida
Sherman, Texas

Dear FRONTLINE,

I found the program very interesting and enjoyed reading excerpts from the applications. While Berkeley is a prestigious school, I am suspicious of their admissions criteria. Please do not dismiss this comment about Berkeley, as I have visited the campus on business, worked with the faculty, and woprked with countless former students. Is there any data which might show how a group of applicants fare at several schools that are geographically diverse? If these are Berkeley applicants, surely they also applied at schools like Harvard and MIT. The study would hold a lot more weight with better information.
On the topic of race, it is ridiculous that such a factor would be used to promote one student over another. In fact I was surprised to see in the sample applications that an admissions officer would see information regarding family income and parental employment. How does a parent's income or job predict the success of a student at Berkeley? Upon examination of the applications I would conclude that I should leave my high paying job, not emphasize scholastic achievement as heavily, and make my kids work after school selling french fries.

Chris King

Dear FRONTLINE,

In regards to the SAT Score, I believe it can be utilized if you are looking at several students with similar credentials for selection if a University has limited positions available for the class. Also, I would look at how the test scores have faired in predicting academic accomplishment in each schools situation.

I feel that race should be an issue only with those groups offering scholarships related to the particular group. However I also feel that the greater the diversity of the instiution, the greater the scope of ideas and discovery.

Frank Del Medico

Dear FRONTLINE,

SAT's and other standardized tests measure just one thing for certain: how well you take the test. All of the concern about racial preferences is overblown. It is no coincidence that it isn't a problem with all of the other preferences for admission to the Ivy League schools: Kids who get in because it is a family tradition, even though they may not make the grade; they get in because someone makes a phone call or an endowment. And what about the policy of giving preference to students based on their family name? The attacks on affirmative action and the elimination of considerations of race for admission to university is not about fairness, it is about keeping people out. Corporations do the same thing. The give management assessment tests that are not used to identify potential management employees, but are used to eliminate people. When the "undesirables" pass these bogus tests, it is a non-event; when they fail them, it is used as an excuse not to promote--but only for some;they give waivers to the one's they want who fail the test. The most prevalent preference in this country has not been challenged with the same vehemence as affirmative action or admission policies. The good ole boy system is the only real affirmative action policy that exists in this country. Just take a look at the executive ranks in our major corporations. I know a lot of incompetent white males who are "successful" simply because of what they are. Now that is racial preference. It has always been and always will be. People are just afraid to give it a name and challenge it.

L.L. Stevens

Dear FRONTLINE,

Another great program...Frontline is the best program on television, hands down!
The program confirmed my suspicion that undue emphasis has been placed on a single test. I'm glad the program also addressed the "leadership development" aspect of higher education. Now, come on...will UC/Berkeley-trained white doctors and lawyers set up shop in the nation's 'hoods and barrios? Don't think so. Latinos and blacks, on the contrary, frequently "come home" so to speak to practice.

Leesa Albert
Chicago, Illinois

Dear FRONTLINE,

SAT scores are a valid part of a whole portfolio of student assessment data. My problem with your television program is that there was no discussion of the spectrum of educational opportunities for students not getting into Berkley. Students acted as if their four years of high school and few months of test prep were worthless if they were not accepted by this prestigious school. The same determination that got these students this far in their lives will be invaluable at any school and in the job market after that. Incredible people with lives of great impact come from all kinds of colleges and universities!!!

Anne McCrady
Henderson, TX