Quota System

The California fishing industry appears to be on the upswing. After overfishing and conservation efforts limited the catch for fishermen in recent years, those who ply the seas are now enjoying bigger hauls and raking in more profits, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some fishermen who were initially skeptical of tighter regulations say they now see the benefit of the curbs, and towns along the Pacific Coast that depend on fishing are enjoying a rebound, the Associated Press reported.

The California fishing industry appears to be on the upswing. After overfishing and conservation efforts limited the catch for fishermen in recent years, those who ply the seas are now enjoying bigger hauls and raking in more profits, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some fishermen who were initially skeptical of tighter regulations say they now see the benefit of the curbs, and towns along the Pacific Coast that depend on fishing are enjoying a rebound, the Associated Press reported.

University of California law students on Thursday fired back at reports that their school's admissions policies violate civil rights laws, in particular taking issue with characterizations of the procedures as a quota system. "Race has never been and never will be the sole or controlling factor in the admissions policy of Boalt (Berkeley's School of Law)," said George Washington, president of the Boalt Hall Students Assn.

Independent filmmakers are joining Hollywood's major studios in praising a new trade agreement that eases restrictions on distributing movies in China. "We do think it's a breakthrough," said Jean Prewitt, president and chief executive of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, a trade association representing independent production, distribution and sales companies. "For the first time we really have the building blocks to begin to work competitively in that marketplace. " The accord reached Friday increases the number of foreign movies allowed into China under its current quota system and gives foreign studios a larger slice of box-office revenue.

Three arguments are being offered against Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative. All are misleading. The first is that the advantage now being given to some people based on their race, sex, color or ethnicity does not amount to a quota, which is already (largely) illegal. It is merely one factor, not a decisive one. The only systematic data bearing on this issue comes from college and graduate-school admissions.

OPEC ministers abruptly recessed their midyear meeting Sunday, so badly split that they were apparently resigned to leaving their flawed oil-quota system in place rather than trying to fix it. But some ministers clung to the hope that the day-old conference could be salvaged by returning Iraq to the cartel's quota agreement, a step that needs the blessing of Iraq's war foe, Iran.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. rewarded its automotive repair personnel with prizes, trips and other awards for selling merchandise and services, part of an aggressive incentive program that led to alleged consumer rip-offs, Sears employees and the state Department of Consumer Affairs said Friday. While contests are common for sales of such goods as furniture or clothing, they do not appear to be widespread in the automotive repair business.

In a repudiation of the giant citrus cooperative Sunkist Growers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that it will abolish a scandal-ridden, Depression-era quota system that let growers keep oranges and lemons off the market to prop up prices.

Why would a San Diego police officer falsely report to his headquarters that he wrote traffic citations when he didn't? Is it solely, as the Jan. 4 article ("8 Officers Disciplined for Padding Ticket Reports") implies, that not meeting "imposed quotas" will cause a loss of promotions, raises and other favors? If fear of failure to meet a quota system drove at least eight officers to damage or destroy their careers, isn't that reason to question the system? Does a quota system serve the best interest of the public?

I was appalled to read that this most gifted editor of American Spectator is illiterate. How else can we account for his often mentioned smoke screen for racism--quotas--when discussing the Civil Rights Act. Had Bethell the ability to read the language of the 1990 Civil Rights Act, he would undoubtedly have noticed that nowhere in the bill is there the mention or implication of a quota system. MARTIN QUIROZ, Pasadena

Women have secured more places in parliaments and governments worldwide in the last three years, a new study showed Friday, but officials said progress was slow and only quota systems would speed it up. Nearly 18% of the world's lawmakers are women and 16.1% of ministerial posts are held by women, according to a "World Map of Women in Politics 2008," released at the United Nations. Both figures are 2 percentage points higher than a 2005 study. "Women continue to gain ground in politics," Anders Johnsson, secretary general of the Geneva-based Inter-parliamentary Union, told a news conference.

They have endured religious police, political repression and international isolation. But a quota imposed Wednesday on the purchase of subsidized gasoline sent Iranians to the streets, where they set fire to at least 12 gas stations, damaged government-owned banks and department stores and shouted slogans against the president, according to Iranian news agencies and witnesses.

The Bush administration reimposed limits on Chinese-made synthetic fabric, brassieres and other undergarments Thursday after U.S. and Chinese negotiators in Beijing failed to agree on how to rein in apparel and textile exports to the United States . The two countries had hoped to resolve the textile dispute in time for Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington next week. The steep rise in textile imports has been a major contributor to the soaring U.S.

Re "Asian Group Backs Gore for President," Aug. 28: I am very insulted by the 80-20 Initiative's explicitly stated goal of delivering 80% of Asian Americans' votes and financial contributions to the Democrats. This is another example of special-interest groups claiming to represent a segment of the population and thus reinforcing the stereotypes of that population. It is also a tool for the perpetuation of a selfish agenda that doesn't serve the best interests of the whole American citizenry.

Our literary heritage has been greatly enriched by the recovery and rediscovery in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s of previously marginalized voices from the past, and by the productivity of an increasingly diverse range of writers in the present. Many of these books and writers are earning a place for themselves on the high school literature syllabus. That's a development I applaud. But the proposed quota for nonwhite writers in San Francisco schools would be a step backward.

Three arguments are being offered against Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative. All are misleading. The first is that the advantage now being given to some people based on their race, sex, color or ethnicity does not amount to a quota, which is already (largely) illegal. It is merely one factor, not a decisive one. The only systematic data bearing on this issue comes from college and graduate-school admissions.

In an about-face, a U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday lifted a 12-day-old temporary restraining order that had kept in place a quota system for sales of California- and Arizona-grown navel oranges and lemons. The ruling by Judge Gerhard Gesell frees the U.S. Department of Agriculture to again suspend a marketing order system that has determined since the Depression how much citrus grown in the two states can be sold each week by distributors.

In a repudiation of the giant citrus cooperative Sunkist Growers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that it will abolish a scandal-ridden, Depression-era quota system that let growers keep oranges and lemons off the market to prop up prices.