The Omaha guide., 1947-01-04

Jon requested of the applicant
has no bearing upoa his qualifi-
cations as a physician and the fur
Their fact that the information re-
quested by one schools is almost
Identical with that Of the other.
lead to the unesca- able conclusion
that TIE various professional
/ schools we've extremely anxious to
elicit information which would
enable them to ascertain the 'ra-
cial origin or religion Of the
various applicants for q purpose
other than judging their qualifi-
cations for admission
Councilman Harris report casti-
gates Columbia and Cornell Med
ical Schools for destroying in re-
cent yea~s all records of rejected
applicants for admission. The re
port states:
For At least the past ten wears
charges have been leveled against
colleges and professional SCHOOLS
to the effect that they have been
practicing discrimination against
applicants for admission because
Of Their religion or racial origin. \
4"All of the colleges thus accused
vigorously denied the truth Of
these accusations and asserted
that they were without founda-
ton.
Under the circumstances, it is
fair to assume that the college
or institution claiming that the
accusations of determinations were
unjust would assiduously guard
the records which would result in
their exculpation..
ut is a well established princi-
pie of law that destruction Of or
failure to produce records concern
ing material matters raises a pre-
sumption that the contents of the
records. if produced would be I'M
favorable.
Councilman Hart quotes the
"Horner Report of the Council on
Dental Education which alleged
that the student body of New
York University School of Den
tistry lis made up overwhelming
ly of one racial strain" Shortly
after the receip of this report in
May 1914. Chancellor Chase Of
N. Y. U. asked DR.. Allen T. New
man. Dean of the Dental School
to initiate discriminatory practic-
es in the admission of students,
DR.. Newman told the Committee:
II refused to change the policy
of accepting students on any ba-
sis except their qualifications, and
when faco- with the necessity of
doing SO, | resigned"
In November 1916. after the
Hart Committee had begun its in
vestigation. the Council Of Dental
Education Of the American Den
tai Association tisavowed the Hor-
ner report and stated that appli-
cation o ia quota system in adj
missions would violate a funda-
; mental principle Of democracy.
would transgress the essence OF
human freedom and would deny
} the proper exercise Of a basic
human right
From May 1914 to November
1916 the basic human rights Of
many applicants for dental scho-
s OILS were no doubt fiolated by the
declaration Of the American Den
tai Association in its "Horner Re
port that: 1.-THE Council be-
| lieves that determined effort
I should be made on a national
scale to counterfeit the trend to-
ward marked racial and geogra-
! phic imbalance.n Councilman Hart
states:
why the Dental Council waited
two years, during which time the
basic human rights Of manv pro-
perly qualified students were be-
| ing violated is q matter for the
American Dental Association to
explain"
Dental schools paid heed to the
"A. ID. AS opinions on "racial
balance, because of the Councils
threat to take from them their
accredited status, the Committees
report explains.
This system Of accreditation BY
both the American Dental Assn.
and the American Medical Assn
"is actually usurping the reroga-
tives of the various State Depart
ments Of Education throughout
ZIG COA4lLA
The public. in general. suffers
from lack Of a sufficient number
Of medical practitioners through
ont the country" Councilman Hart
asserts. because vi thu refusal 0f
the ANA to accredft additional
medical schools. While the popu-
lation Of the country has increa-
sed since 1905 by rs percent. the
number Of medical schools has
declined by half and tile number
of graduating doctors has remain
ed static.
Pointing to the shortage Of doc
tors in many communities during
the war and after, the report
-tates:
The Committee believes that
iprOper action should be taken by
the various states to remedy the
situation which exists. lit does not
believe that the growth i'll the
number Of medical schools through
ont the country and the number
Of students graduating should del
pend upon arbitrary rulings OF
the American Medical Associa-
ton. which Is not all official body.
The Committees investigation
XII higher education throughout
the country. which led to it's re-
! commentator for a State Uni
versity. revealed that New York
ranks last in the money it eS-
ponds in relation to its income
and number of students.