'The View' co-host leads minority panel By Tiffany Maggard Daily Staff Reporter Lisa Ling, co-host of ABC's "The View," ran anxiously into Rackham Auditorium Friday night, just 50 minutes after her plane landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Although Ling was running behind schedule, a crowd of 350 University and high school students waited patiently for her arrival. The former Channel One news reporter was one of five minority celebrities to address issues of discrimination and affirmative action as a part of the University's Martin Luther King Jr. symposium. Ling said despite her busy schedule, she is pleased to take the time to work with minority students and their struggles to combat adversity. "For me, it's to see the kind of impact it makes on people," she said. "Any time you have someone around your age with similar experiences, it helps become more strong and to persevere." Ling directed the discussion in a talk show format by provoking ideas among the panel of young activists from across the country, including Yessica Diaz, a Public Health and Social Work graduate student. The panelists addressed questions concerning the roles and opportunities of minorities in society. "Of all the shows lined up for fall TV, none are very diverse," Ling said. "Should TV try to depict reality more than it does?" she asked. Ayinde Baptiste, a youth spokesman at the 1995 Million Man March, said he thinks injecting minority roles into mainstream popular culture gives society the idea that minorities have somehow become better people than stereotypes depict them to be. "I don't want people to wonder what's going on and think there is an explosion of intellect among minorities," Baptiste said. Ling said she is constantly expected to mobilize equality for Asians in the entertainment industry. She said she often questions herself and her responsibility to be a role model in the Asian community because of her high profile career. "A Taiwanese man once said to me 'Lisa Ling, Lisa Ling, you're the only Taiwanese person on TV, you need to save Taiwan.' Then I thought to myself 'But I'm an American.' But I still feel different, because people are relying on me," she said, adding that she is "not only expected to satisfy those (minority) groups, but the demographics of the entire American community." The panelists agreed that supporting affirmative action - whether in the media, in the workplace or in universities - is beneficial because the policy creates diverse0 populations, but they also identified some of its potential downfalls. Diaz said that although affirmative action has brought many Hispanic student together with the rest of the community, she still often finds "that she is the only Latino student in the classroom." Ling said she doesn't want television executives to feel more compelled to hire her because she is a minority. "I don't want people to think that I got my job because I am an Asian," she said. "Affirmative Action categorizes people. It emphasizes the fact that the people on this panel are minorities and not just students," Ling said. When the panelists opened the discussion up to the audience, a high school student stunned them with the question, "What do you think of Martin Luther King, and what do you think of America?" The rest of the audience applauded. Initially speechless, the panelists took a few minutes each to ponder what they called "a very good question." Baptiste broke the silence, saying, "There are a lot of things Dr. King was, but he is still an important role model. His message is still pertinent to the world today. The war he fought for is still not over," he said. Originally on page 3A in the 1-31-2000 issue of the Daily.