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Commission selection unjust
By MICHAEL CHANG
I am deeply concerned about the outcome and process of the city council's Cupertino Teen Commission selection meeting on Oct. 15.
I have to tell you that as I sat through that night thinking about what had happened, I felt sad and violated for the male Asian American applicants who were treated so unjustly. I felt that the city council that night was a poor role model for the youth in our multicultural community, and that I have to speak out about what happened.
Of the 34 student applicants, 70 percent were Asian American students. The city staff reviewed the applications and gave scores ranging from 88 to 100. Among the top 10 applicants who scored 99-100, there were eight Asian Americans and two white students. From this group, the council selected both white students and two of the eight Asian American students. The two Asian American students selected were both the only applicants in the seventh- and eighth-grade categories.
What I find problematic is that our council decided to ignore staff's application-based rankings, substituting with a subjective and arbitrary process that led to the exclusion of Asian American male applicants. The selection meeting's cassette recording showed clearly that I argued for the inclusion of Asian American males on numerous occasions. Why were four out of five male white students selected, but only one of the eight male Asian American applicants selected after lengthy negotiation?
Two of the rejected male Asian American applicants had been ranked first among grades 10 and 11 respectively, with perfect scores of 100. One student was elected class president for three years and the other was to earn the Eagle Scout award. I still can't understand why you insisted on excluding these fine young men.
The resulting 12-member Teen Commission, composed of mostly Asian American females and white males in grades 11 and 12, appears to have gender and racial balance. While I do not question the qualifications of its present members, I do question the exclusion of the large visible group of Asian American males who sought inclusion, as well as our seriously flawed selection process.
As elected officials our actions need to be accountable to the community. Hence, I am sharing this letter with both our council and community. I believe that our Teen Commission selection process should not be the way we conduct ourselves in our very multicultural community. However distasteful as it may be, can such exclusionary practice be more widespread than we usually care to admit? I hope that our city council will remedy and leave behind the kind of behaviors shown at the selection meeting to make our youth, community and city staff truly proud of us.
Michael Chang is a Cupertino councilman.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
