Quotas

I applaud Ronald Brownstein's article on quotas ("Beyond Quotas," July 28). I have noticed an increase in racism during the past few years as a result of widespread affirmative-action policies. Many whites feel that they are being discriminated against when they are turned down for jobs because of their color. I agree that minorities have been treated poorly in the past, but now--when things are improving--is not the time to start punishing whites. Those who are feeling the brunt of such "punishments" are young people, such as myself, who had nothing to do with the discrimination of the past.

Chris Cullum normally gets his prescriptions filled at a CVS Caremark store in San Diego. But, while traveling, he placed orders at a CVS branch in Arizona this year and at a branch in Illinois last year. In both cases, Cullum said, he subsequently received calls from the stores in those states letting him know that refills were ready. Two things make this noteworthy. One: Cullum, like other CVS customers who have related similar experiences, never signed up for the pharmacy's automatic-refill program, ReadyFill.

Re "Union Alleged L.A. Police Quota for Tickets," Feb. 27. Minimum standards of performance are a commonplace thing in our work environment today. The stats generated assist supervisors in focusing on what may appear as less productive personnel, giving them assistance, guidance and training in areas of question. Those of us who drive streets and freeways have no question as to the need for enforcement of traffic regulations. A ticket per watch per officer during an eight-hour shift does not seem unreasonable; call load should naturally be considered.

The worst U.S. drought in more than half a century has rallied critics of the federal renewable fuel standard, which will reserve about 40% of the nation's corn crop for ethanol production this year. Critics have long questioned the commitment of a growing share of a food source for fuel use. But the calls for change have grown louder because the widespread drought has killed more than 50% of the corn crop, driving prices to record levels - and U.S. ethanol is made mostly from corn.

I am very happy that President Bush finally got his civil rights bill and that dreadful "quota" word has been put to rest. I am very reassured that only the best-qualified people will get the jobs--like Dan Quayle and Clarence Thomas. PAULA WHITE, Sun City

The Supreme Court, setting the stage for an important ruling on racial preferences in the workplace, today agreed to review a quota system for promoting blacks and Latinos among Cleveland's firefighters, and also decided to study court-ordered quotas for union membership. The court voted to hear a challenge to the Cleveland quota system by a predominantly white firefighters union. The challenge is supported by the Reagan Administration.

Police in a Madrid neighborhood have been given goals for arresting illegal immigrants and told to concentrate on Moroccans, media reported. "This isn't worthy of a country governed by the rule of law. The police can't issue quotas for arresting Moroccans," said Kamal Rahmouni, president of the Assn. of Moroccan Immigrant Workers. Spain's National Police confirmed the existence of arrest objectives. Spanish TV showed what it said was an internal police document instructing officers in the Vallecas district to detain at least 35 foreigners without visas every month.

Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita strongly indicated Saturday that Japan is ready to open up its market to imports of 12 farm products on which the United States has accused Japan of illegally maintaining restrictive quotas. It was the first time in discussion of the controversial issue that any Japanese official had publicly gone beyond an offer of expanding quotas on products ranging from peanuts to tomato juice.

House Republican leaders, battling a determined Democratic challenge to their majority, assigned fund-raising quotas to the rank and file Wednesday as part of a $16-million effort to capture hotly competitive races this fall. At a closed door caucus, the head of the Republican campaign effort, Rep. Thomas M. Davis of Virginia, mentioned four endangered GOP incumbents by name, including two in Southern California. Davis warned: "If we don't get it right this year, [they] won't be back."

Quotas: By nominating Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court, President George Bush is trying to fill two quotas: one for the blacks and the other for a minority conservative Republican. Very clever! RAJEN S. ANAND Chairman Indo-American Political Assn. Westminster

Ten Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle officers have sued the city, alleging that their supervisors retaliated against them for resisting traffic ticket quotas, according to a court filing reviewed Thursday. Attorneys for West Traffic Division Officers Philip Carr, Kevin Cotter, Timothy Dacus, Peter Landelius, Kevin Ree, Kevin Riley, Josh Sewell, Vincent Stroway, James Wallace and Jason Zapatka filed suit a week ago in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Among their allegations is that LAPD supervisors punished them for refusing to follow orders to implement traffic ticket quotas.

Oil and pump prices fell as the world's biggest petroleum exporter took steps Friday to boost its output. Saudi Arabia may increase its oil production by as much as 13% in coming days, a Saudi newspaper reported Friday. The word came just two days after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries snubbed a Saudi call to raise production quotas to reduce prices and help boost the global economic recovery. Analysts saw the production move as a bold step to reassert Saudi influence over OPEC.

Motorists could face higher costs at the gas pump, analysts said, as oil prices jumped after a meeting of OPEC ministers dissolved into bickering. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps 40% of the world's oil, unexpectedly failed to agree Wednesday on plans to increase production quotas to meet growing global demand. Ali Ibrahim Naimi, oil minister for Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest producer, called it "one of our worst meetings ever," marked by so much discord that the cartel couldn't even agree on when to meet again.

They were once hailed as a potent symbol of France's ethnic melting pot; the French soccer team, known as Les Bleus but nicknamed the "black-blanc-beur" (black-white-Arab) squad. Today, French soccer officials stand accused of hatching a secret plan to limit the number of nonwhite players in line to eventually make the national squad. A secret recording has members of the country's soccer federation discussing capping the number of 12- and 13-year-old black and Arab hopefuls at sports academies to 30%. Quotagate, as it is being called, emerged on the investigative website Mediapart last week, sparking controversy and official inquiries.

Bear hunting in California is not a popular sport. A fraction of 1% of Californians hunts bears in the state. But it is highly regulated by the state's Department of Fish and Game. The season runs roughly from October through December. Hunters must obtain an identification tag, make only one kill, and turn in the tag with information on where the bear was taken, along with the bear's skull so that state authorities can determine the gender and age to monitor the population. (The skulls are returned.)

A jury awarded a pair of Los Angeles police officers $2 million Monday after determining that LAPD supervisors had retaliated against the officers for complaining about alleged traffic ticket quotas. Howard Chan and David Benioff, both veteran motorcycle officers with the department's West Traffic Division, sued the department in 2009, alleging that they had been punished with bogus performance reviews, threats of reassignment and other forms of harassment after objecting to demands from commanding officers that they write a certain number of tickets each day, according to the suit.

Saudi Arabia produced 9.1 million barrels of oil a day in February, 1 million barrels more than its official output quota as an OPEC member, the Saudi Petroleum Ministry said, part of an effort to calm prices that rose sharply after oil exports from Libya plummeted. Oil prices were mixed Tuesday ? falling 64 cents to $104.38 a barrel in New York but rising $2.88 to $115.94 in London ? after the Energy Department reported that U.S. oil supplies had increased more than expected and energy officials sought to reassure markets in the face of continuing unrest in Libya and the Mideast.

China announced Tuesday that it will cut its export quotas for rare earth minerals by more than 11% in the first half of 2011, further shrinking supplies of metals needed to make a range of high-tech products after Beijing slashed quotas for 2010. China produces about 97% of rare earth elements, used worldwide in high technology, clean energy and other products that exploit their special properties for magnetism, luminescence and strength. The rare earth issue may further strain relations between China and the United States, which have been battered this year by arguments over everything from Tibet and Taiwan to the value of the Chinese currency.