Hoping to show the validity to both sides of the affirmative action controversy, the Philosophy Club sponsored a debate on the issue last night.

The debate was held at the Modern Languages Building between philosophy Prof. Elizabeth Anderson, who supports affirmative action, and philosophy graduate student Justin Shubow, who argued against it.

Anderson has written a review of a study on the use of affirmative action in higher education that was published in the Journal of Legal Education and set up a website of affirmative action resources. She said the policy is important because the United States still suffers from racial problems and Michigan is one of the most racially segregated states.

"People come to campus not really familiar with inter-racial interaction. That causes a lot of tension as people learn to interact, and so racial issues are particularly salient on this campus," Anderson said.

Shubow said the debate is pertinent because the University has received national attention from the two lawsuits challenging the race-conscious admissions policies of the College of Literature, Science and Arts and the Law School. He said the money used to defend affirmative action could be used more efficiently to improve the quality of life in lower-class communities and public education.

Anderson opened the debate, saying racial segregation has increased in public schools since the landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, which eliminated segregation laws in public schools. She blamed this increase on housing discrimination which creates minority communities.

"In major metropolitan areas, a black person searching for housing faces well over a 90 percent chance of being turned down on account of race if he visits three or more units," she said.

Anderson added that racial segregation leads to minority isolation from social networks, racial ignorance, uncomfortable interaction and communities of minorities living in areas of little job growth.

Anderson said affirmative action, which promotes integration, is an obvious solution that has benefited the University.

"Society has an obligation to dismantle entrenched barriers to equal opportunity in the United States," she said. "The empirical evidence from U of M and other campuses suggests that universities that practice affirmative action have had a significant impact in reducing racial tension and segregation."

Shubow argued that proponents of affirmative action admit the policy is a necessary evil to promote a greater good but the rights of white students cannot be suspended. He said Brown v. Board of Education forced a high school to integrate but did not violate the students" rights, whereas university admissions policies favoring minorities are discriminatory to white students.

Anderson said a student"s academic merit includes the ability to promote a college"s mission, which includes diversity in the case of the University of Michigan. She said minority students help create an integrated environment that benefits all students.

Shubow said affirmative action is not effective because the preferences given to minorities often place them into colleges that they aren"t prepared for and the minority drop-out rate at schools practicing affirmative action is twice as high as the rate at other universities.

Shubow said affirmative action treats Native Americans, Hispanics and African-Americans equally, even though their levels of segregation are different. He said affirmative action helps middle-class minorities most.