A New Affirmative Action Plan

The Law Review is once again tackling the thorny issue of affirmative action, after having struggled with the question most of last year without arriving at an acceptable plan for increasing the numbers of minorities on the Review staff.

A committee of Review members revived the issue last week, recommending a new affirmative action plan. The proposal calls for some editors to be elected on the basis of "economic, societal, or educational obstacles" they have overcome or in anticipation of the "special contributions" they can make to the journal's diversity.

The Review committee voted 6-4 to recommend the new plan, which goes before the full staff for a vote on Wednesday. Members of the Review committee met this week with a group of Law School faculty members responsible for affirmative action, who reportedly gave the plan "mixed reviews."

The Review staff voted last spring to delay a decision on an affirmative action plan after the Law School faculty raised objections to two previous plans favored by the Review staff.

Under the new proposal, the Review would also consider factors--such as grades and writing ability--now used in selecting editors. In addition, prospective members would be allowed to submit articles for the journal, known as "notes", on subjects the Review otherwise would have missed. Publication of a candidate's notes would lead to election.

Currently, editors are chosen on the basis of first-year grades or a writing competition held during the fall of their second year.