And many students who come from our poorer neighborhoods, to put it simply, are not ready. Unfortunately, residents of impoverished communities tend to be members of minority groups in disproportionate numbers. By admitting students to the University of California who are not ready, we only help perpetuate the vicious socioeconomic cycle of poverty. This solution, then, doesn't seem to be much of a solution. The UCs have always been at the top level of the public education chain, and they should remain there.
Remedial work belongs elsewhere.
Those who work hard at their educations can transfer to the UCs, and then work even harder. For most students, our presence at UCLA is partly due to our parents' desires, society's expectations, and our own ambitions. We stay and succeed because of our self-discipline, not because UCLA coddles us. As a program director for Amigos de UCLA, one of the projects in the Undergraduate Students Association's Community Service Commission, I have seen a steady decline in the numbers of volunteers willing to tutor kids in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Instead of yelling at the university for not doing anything, get out and do something yourself.