CIR targets college papers

The Center for Individual Rights, in a new strategy to disseminate their ideas to college students, are taking their message to print, running advertisements in college newspapers across the nation.

But while CIR has channeled a message against affirmative action through several college newspapers, CIR representatives said the firm will not be approaching the University.

CIR, which represents the plaintiffs in the two lawsuits against the University's College of Literature Science and Arts and Law School admissions policies, used ads titled "Guilty by Admission" to promote a handbook containing methods students can initiate to reform "unlawful" admission policies.

"The point of the handbook is to avoid litigation," said Terry Pell, senior legal counsel at CIR.

"It's too late for Michigan," he said.

Announced at a news conference Tuesday, the campaign "is a response to prevail higher education's current wait-and-see attitude regarding affirmative action," Pell said.

Pell said many universities "are waiting for a Supreme Court decision before doing anything to change their admission policies.

"The law is very clear. It is in everybody's interest to bring colleges in compliance with law," he said.

The ads have run in more than 10 university's newspapers including Duke University, Columbia University and the University of Pittsburgh.

While Pell contends that the placement of the ads do not indicate problems with the admission policies at those institutions, he said the ads are intended to motivate students and trustees to examine their schools.

"The only people who would know that there are problems there are the trustees and students," Pell said.

But Marques G. Harper, editor in chief at Rutgers University's The Daily Targum , said he doubts whether the ad that ran in the newspaper's Tuesday issue produced the desired result.

"People probably skipped it, it was on page eight," Harper said.

In addition to the location of the ad, Harper said the diverse atmosphere at Rutgers reduced the effectiveness of the ad.

"If they wanted to make an impact, they chose the wrong campus," he said. "We are pretty multicultural here."

Representatives from various college newspapers said they think the ads could make an impression on their campuses.

Sharif Durhams, editor of the University of North Carolina's The Daily Tarheel said affirmative action is a highly visible topic on the campus, but added he did not hesitate to run the ad in Tuesday's paper.

"The purpose of ad was... to get the handbook to people. I don't have a problem with that," Durhams said.

Affirmative action policies at the university were recently reviewed by UNC President Molly Broad, Durhams said.

"Some people think the state is vulnerable," Durhams said. "A large amount of affirmative action programs (in the state) have been cut back to comply with laws."

The ad produced complaints from some Tarheel readers. Durhams said the publication has received negative phone calls and complaints about the ad, including one complainant who requested a full page apology.

The paper will not publish an apology, Durhams said.

At the George Washington University G.W. Hatchet the ad will run today.

Hatchet editor in chief Becky Neilson said she has made preparations in anticipation of similar complaints. Neilson said a disclaimer will be put at the bottom of the full page ad stating that it is an advertisement.

"I've started telling people, 'if people call, direct them to me'," Neilson said.

Neilson said such preparations may prove unnecessary.

"Some ads never cause problems that we think will cause problems," Neilson said. "We go to a school (in an area) where politics is big but students are apathetic on issues.

"It isn't something that's vocal on campus," she said.

- Daily News Editor Marla Hackett contributed to this report.

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