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By Will Tanaka The Assault on AAP: Who Will Defend UCLA's "Rainforest"? Green of the giant trees. Yellow of the wild frogs. Black of the panthers. Brown of the tree branch insects. Red of the poisonous flowers. Pink of the newborn birds. Blue of the sky. These are the colors that make up the realm of the tropical rainforest -- home to millions of species and one of the most beautiful and delicate places on earth. However, the bulldozers are crushing the nest and caves and making thousands of species vanish. The rainforest of UCLA is the Academic Advancement Program (AAP). The colors of the rainforest represent the historically underrepresented and low-income students that make up AAP where I work as a tutor. In the rainforest, tropical plants and animals thrive through its resources; similarly, in AAP, students come for tutoring and counseling to prosper academically. Today, the rainforest is in jeopardy and so may be AAP. Last November 5, the passage of Proposition 209 bulldozed into the hearts and spirits of the people of AAP. Although Proposition 209 only recently became a law on August 28, 1997 and most of its provisions will not take effect until next year, Proposition 209 has already affected the rainforest of AAP. On November 6, 1997, I remember going to Campbell Hall, home of AAP, and feeling a very gloomy spirit. It was a cloudy day and the lack of the sun added to the sullen atmosphere. The administrators, tutors, and students were very concerned because they did not know if the passage of Proposition 209 meant the end of AAP. Two of my students did not show up to my tutoring session that day because they thought that Proposition 209 meant the end to tutoring. Throughout the rest of the fall quarter of 1996, the number of sign-ups declined. Although sign-ups increased slightly during the winter and spring quarters, the number of students never approached the pre-209 period. In the fall of 1997, the number of students signing up for AAP drastically declined again. This is a great concern for all in AAP who are committed to helping low-income students prosper academically. This emphasis on academic excellence has always been the mission of AAP. The Academic Advancement Program (AAP) was established in 1971 as a result of UCLA's commitment to affirmative action The program was originally founded to experiment with curricular approaches that posed an alternative to standard campus practices and to help historically underrepresented students achieve higher academic goals. During the 1970s and early 1980s, AAP's, services were rooted in remediation, operating under the assumptions that AAP students were academically underprepared. In 1988, when AAP became part of the Honors and Undergraduate Programs (HUP), the program moved from a remediation model to a philosophy of excellence and high expectations . Today, AAP is grounded in the belief that all AAP students have earned their right to be at UCLA, are capable of excelling academically, and are intellectually capable of graduating and then pursuing graduate and professional study. Every quarter the program offers free tutoring in more than 450 courses in its Math/Science, Social Science, and Humanities Labs. AAP tutoring is designed to promote critical thinking and intellectual independence through questioning and dialogue. In addition, AAP counselors work with students to plan their academic programs, monitor students' progress toward their bachelor's degrees, discuss career options, and provide support and assistance for students' personal problems. AAP peer counselors, who are upper-division AAP students, work with entering students and assist them in making the transition to the university. Another program is PLUS, which is a special component of AAP which provides intensive personalized services, including counseling, tutoring, workshops, and social and cultural programs for first-generation college, low-income UCLA freshmen. The primary goal of the GMP is to increase the number AAP students who enroll in graduate or professional schools. Mentors encourage AAP students to prepare for graduate study and help them with the application process and GRE preparations. Proposition 209, the new California law, will not affect the diversity of enrollment at UCLA until the fall quarter of 1998. It will not end the services the Academic Advancement Program. But it has changed the atmosphere inside of AAP. Proposition 209 would be a sound law if racism did not exist, but reality tells us that racism still does exist at all levels -- corporate, institutional, educational, social, etc. At UCLA, minority enrollment is already low and under the law will decline. The AAP community's initial reactions to the passage of 209 ranged from anger to fear. Many students were hoping for the defeat of 209, but they also felt that it was going to pass. When 209 did actually pass, the students were in shock. They were angry. Siamack, a second year Biological Anthropology graduate student and an AAP English Composition tutor, told me that most of his students were not surprised, but they were upset when 209 actually passed. He said the students were upset because they did not know if they were going to get tutoring anymore. He concluded, "I was afraid for the students because AAP is a big part of their lives and I was also afraid for myself because I wasn't sure if I was going to have my tutoring job." Ray, a History-Sociology double major, initially felt concern not only for himself, but for his younger brother who applied to UCLA a few weeks ago. He said, "I'm concerned that because of 209, UCLA will regress into a period where only privileged students with resources will be attending quality universities." In contrast, the initial reaction of Ray's friend Jason, a third year Economics major, was of indifference. Jason felt that "if it was meant to be, then it was meant to be. Prop. 209 is legal and we're gonna just have to accept it." However, over the past year he has become more aware of the university's responsibilities towards helping the communities that are negatively affected because of 209. Another student, Dioana, a second year Political Science major with a Business emphasis, strongly remembers the night of November 5th because she was crying after California passed 209. She said, "Me and my mom were so upset that we started crying...a lot. I helped my mom solicit door-to-door for two weekends to tell people to vote no on 209. We worked so hard." Tanya Brauer, the AAP English Composition supervisor, observed two different kinds of reactions after last November's voting. On one hand, students and tutors were upset and disappointed because they worked so hard to build consciousness to go against Proposition 209. On the other hand, people knew that it was going to pass, and they worried about how 209 would affect the tutoring labs and the status of their younger brothers and sisters who are planning to attend universities. A more personal reaction came from Tanya's good friend Steven Lam, a fourth year Pre-Med Musicology major and a AAP English tutor. Last November, he felt "fear and tension about what's going to happen to AAP." When he came to work the day after the voting, he felt that an injustice was being done and there was no power to reverse it even though students had done so much campaigning against 209. He believed that 209 was going to jeopardize the AAP services and he felt "helpless" about what he or anyone else could do. After the passage of Proposition 209, Adolfo Bermeo, AAP's director, assured students that tutoring would continue. His goal was and is to keep AAP as UCLA's primary undergraduate retention program. In addition, Professor Judi Smith, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, said, "Although Proposition 209 will require changes in AAP's eligibility criteria, it will not curtail AAP's ability" to continue to provide the services for students who historically have had less access to higher education and lower graduation rates at UCLA. Words from administrators like Adolfo Bermeo and Judi Smith are encouraging, but they cannot affect the impact that the passage of Proposition 209 has had on tutoring sign-ups. Since the fall quarter of 1992, when AAP began to keep statistics for tutoring sign-ups, the total number of students signing up for AAP tutoring steadily increased until last year. The following is a sign-up record for the past six years: Total Number of Tutoring Sign-Ups for the Fall Quarter 1992-1997 1992: 2,297 1993: 2,313 +16 increase 1994: 2,942 +631 increase 1995: 3,018 +76 increase 1996: 3,219 +201 increase 1997: 2,377 -842 decrease The decline was evident during the first week of fall quarter. Traditionally, sign-ups during the first week of school are the highest for the school year. Campbell Hall would be so packed with students standing in line that there would be little room to move around. Moreover, throughout fall quarter, Steven Lam said the tutoring lab seemed empty. Even during midterms when tutors usually have to scramble for tutoring space, the tables were not filled. Many believe that the tremendous drop in tutoring sign-ups this year was the result of Proposition 209's exclusion of middle-class minorities from AAP. With the passage of Proposition 209, AAP has changed eligibility requirements for its programs to focus on students' parental income and social or environmental barriers that may impact academic experience and performance. According to Proposition 209, race and gender are not factors that affect students' academic performance. Tanya Brauer said, "209 ignores the reality that middle-class students of color face as much discrimination and racism as lower class minorities. It's sad that they will not be allowed into our program anymore." Nature created the rainforest to create a comfortable environment for the tropical plants and animals. Similarly, AAP was founded to create a community where historically underrepresented students, women and people of color could seek guidance to succeed at the university level. Despite the passage of Proposition 209, the AAP community is committed to maintaining a sense of community and remaining dedicated to academic excellence and the retention and graduation of every AAP student. One AAP staff member emphasizes that although the eligibility requirements for AAP have changed, the program and the services that it offers will not change. AAP will not modify its approach to academic excellence. Staff are willing to lend a hand to anyone who needs help. They will everyone as individuals. They hope to instill a colorblind mindset in themselves to make AAP a more comfortable community. Similarly, Tanya Brauer feels that for the future of AAP, we must focus on the positive effects that have arisen as a result of fighting against the implementation of 209. She said, "although this year has had a lot less tutoring sign-ups, the students and tutors who are currently in AAP seem to be more friendlier because we all understand that we need to stick together." Also important is linking the AAP community to other tutoring labs and campus organizations like African Student Union, MECHA, Samahang Pilipino, and off-campus outreach programs. Brauer feels that there is an urgency for unity. The paradox of 209 is that it has taken effect just as record numbers of AAP students were excelling academically and graduating from UCLA. In addition, the impact of 209 came just as AAP had been recognized as the single most outstanding retention program in the United States. UCLA is a huge jungle where students can get lost finding a comfortable place. Campbell Hall is the rainforest, the cozy niche in the jungle where AAP students can get guidance to succeed. The passage of 209 is the bulldozer in our rainforest. However, the sense of community among the AAP staff and students is the powerful defense in countering the destruction of the bulldozer. As AAP Director Adolfo Bermeo states: "209 will not derail us from doing what we have done over the last twelve years in moving AAP to a level of excellence; 209 will not deter us from continuing to increase the retention and graduation rates of AAP students; 209 will not dampen our belief in education as a vehicle for social justice; and 209 will not diminish our commitment to building a better world for all." (Will Tanaka is a senior majoring in English.)