Race, gender, and other such characteristics are not considered when making decisions on what students to admit to the University of Nebraska campuses, said Alan Cerveny, dean of admissions at Nebraska-Lincoln.
Most universities in the Midwest don't consider race and gender, he said.
Diversity is a goal, but it is met by reaching out to minorities and other students university officials would like to have more of on campus, Cerveny said.
"It's the same as other industries, it's target marketing ... like TV going after the 18-to-25 age group."
Nebraska state government tries to make its work force reflect the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of the state, said an affirmative action officer with the state. But it does not hire based on those characteristics and instead uses outreach methods similar to those described by Soto and Cerveny, said Charles Roberson, affirmative action specialist for state government.
The ballot petition on affirmative action is the third petition to be filed so far.
One was filed by residents of Elkhorn, which was annexed by the city of Omaha. They want to make it illegal to annex a city or village without getting approval first from residents of the city or village.
The other initiative seeks to allow public power companies in the state to provide broadband and other communications services.
On the Net:
Super Tuesday for Equal Rights: http://www.supertuesday2008.org/
American Association for Affirmative Action: http://www.affirmativeaction.org/
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