LV Life

‘Talkback’ airs live in La Verne

“Talkback” is the name of LVTV’s new talk show. Alumna Ann-Marie Sanchez, host of the show, asks questions to spark debate among guests Alan Favish (left) and Dennis Falcon (right). The show is in its fourth broadcast and is produced with the help of Bonita High School and ULV students. / photo by Veero Der-Karabetian
“Talkback” is the name of LVTV’s new talk show. Alumna Ann-Marie Sanchez, host of the show, asks questions to spark debate among guests Alan Favish (left) and Dennis Falcon (right). The show is in its fourth broadcast and is produced with the help of Bonita High School and ULV students. / photo by Veero Der-Karabetian

by Amy Borer
Editor in Chief

Debating the relationship of affirmative action to education and the private sector was the focus of Monday’s “Talkback,” a live call-in program on LVTV, La Verne’s community access channel.

The program, hosted by 1994 graduate Ann-Marie Sanchez, featured Attorney Alan Favish, who has extensive experience with racial admissions policies, and Dennis Falcon, research associate at the Tomas Rivera Center in Claremont.

Favish and Falcon debated the merits of affirmative action, mainly in college admissions processes, and answered a number of questions both called in and sent via e-mail to the studio.

The main focus of the debate was admissions policies at the University of California.

Favish, who is against affirmative action and is working on the California Civil Rights Initiative Campaign which will ban racial and sexual preferences in public universities, pointed out that in order to be accepted to a University of California law or medical program, a Caucasian or Asian applicant must be a solid “A” student. African-American or Hispanic applicants, on the other hand, can be “B” or even “C” students.

Falcon strongly disagreed with this viewpoint. “Every student who is admissible to a UC will be admitted, but maybe not to the campus of their first choice,” he said.

Falcon also believes that even though racial discrimination does not seem to be ending fast, it is changing, and therefore affirmative action is making progress.

“We’re dealing with decades and decades of discrimination that has been deeply embedded,” he said. “Let’s not destroy with our feet what we built with our hands.”

In contrast, Favish does not think affirmative action is necessary, because it is ability, not race or gender, that matters when choosing an applicant.

“I don’t care what people look like. I care what they can do,” he said. “That may be the difference between us.”

Falcon, who was a high school dropout and never took the Scholastic Aptitude Test, but is now a graduate student, thinks that society places too much emphasis on a person’s status.

“We live in a society where people focus on the finish line,” he said. “In reality, it’s not where you finished, it’s where you started from that counts.”

“Talkback” has been on LVTV since June 25 and Monday was the fourth show. Previously, the show has covered topics including gun control, involvement in local government, and the debated expansion of Bonelli Park.

Melissa Manfro, producer of the show, wanted it to be a fun way to explore issues. She has also brought technology into the show by inviting viewers to use e-mail to pose questions to the guests and by setting up a home page on the World Wide Web. Currently, Manfro is trying to persuade ULV to hook up cable in the Student Center so that students can watch and participate in the show.

Rebroadcasts of the affirmative action show will be shown on LVTV throughout this month.

The next show, which will feature local school board candidates, will air live in La Verne on Oct. 23 from 8-9 p.m.

Amy Borer
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Veero Der-Karabetian
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