Affirmative action takes Center stage. (Newswatch).

Having heard oral arguments on whether the social good of a racially diverse student body is worth giving preference to some students in admissions to the University of Michigan and its law school, the U.S. Supreme Court is mulling its options and expected to rule in July. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the debate are active.

* U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige told a group of Hispanic educators that affirmative action policies are "double standards" that do not fix the problems of bringing minority students into higher education. Some attending the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities annual meeting gasped in surprise and shook their heads disapprovingly, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education on-line on April 1, 2003.

* Community colleges received a warning at the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges that many of their policies might not be considered race-neutral if the Court rules against Michigan in the two cases. Most community colleges have open admission policies, but try to assure diversity in hiring administrators and faculty. Budget cuts also threaten to eliminate affirmative action programs that may not be legal, such as those reaching out to minority students.

* The University of Michigan feels so strongly about its affirmative action programs that it created an unprecedented public relations campaign. Financed by a $250,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, Michigan has created a special Web site on the case and staffed a press room in Washington DC.

* Thousands of students traveled to Washington DC to attend a rally supporting affirmative action held just outside the Supreme Court building, as the justices discussed the Michigan cases.

* Low income was a greater deterrent to attending college than race, according to a recent study ...