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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University will hold a public forum on Tuesday, May 13, that will explore the history and merits of Affirmative Action.

The forum, "Is Affirmative Action Reverse Discrimination?" will run from 7 to 9 p.m. in Memorial Union Room 208 (The La Raza Conference Room). It is free and open to the public.

A series of presentations will explore the history and definitions of Affirmative Action, why it was established, the beneficiaries of the program, and whether it is merited. Sponsoring the forum are The Association of Faculty for the Advancement of People of Color, the President's Commission on the Status of Women, and the Program for Ethics, Science and the Environment.

Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president, and Bruce Sorte, OSU Faculty Senate president, will provide introductory remarks. Other topics and speakers include:

• History of Affirmative Action: Anne Gillies, OSU Office of Affirmative Action associate;
• Merits of Affirmative Action: Angelo Gomez, OSU Affirmative Action director, and Alex Gitelman, OSU Department of Statistics;
• The Benefits of Diversity: Lani Roberts, Department of Philosophy;
• Panel Discussion: Larry Roper, vice president for Student Affairs; Jun Xing, director of OSU's Different, Power and Discrimination program; Gomez; Gitelman; Gillies; and Roberts will discuss Affirmative Action. Moderating the discussion will be Juan Trujillo, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Phyllis Lee, director of Multicultural Affairs.

Hal Salwasser, dean of the OSU College of Forestry, will offer a closing synthesis.