By Political Reporter Marshall Zelinger
m.zelinger@krdo.com

COLORADO SPRINGS - Despite the majority of you in southern Colorado voting in favor of Amendment 46, the initiative failed with 51% of statewide voters saying no.  A yes vote on 46 would have ended preferential treatment by the government based on race or gender.  A no vote means nothing changes and in certain cases, the government can continue to make decisions based on affirmative action.  Colorado is the first of five states to reject this initiative.  It's already passed in California, Michigan and Washington.  Nebraska passed this initiative on Tuesday.

Southern Colorado voters wanted to do away with preferential treatment, but the final decision is based on statewide results:

What would Amendment 46 have changed?  When does the color of your skin or your sex really give you an advantage?

"Neither race nor gender are used as an admissions criteria at UCCS.  Nor is race or gender used as a criteria for employment at UCCS," says UCCS spokesman Tom Hutton.  "What we're really looking at (for admission) is high school rank, test scores, high school GPA."

The online application for UCCS, CSU-Pueblo and CU-Boulder all ask for race or ethnicity.  The UCCS application states the following:

Under requirements of the US Department of Education, ethnic information must be collected and reported by collegiate institutions.  This information is not used in the admissions decision.

"We have a number of students who choose not to fill that out, not to complete that, their application would be completed and processed  (It) doesn't end up in the trash can or anything like that," says Hutton.

The CSU-Pueblo application states:

Ethnic Origin: Please select all that apply: (Disclosure is voluntary.)

The CU-Boulder application states:

Information reported on gender and ethnicity will be used for the purposes of statistical analysis only - it will not be used in the admission process. Providing this information is voluntary.

According to the CU-Boulder "Student Diversity in Recruitment, Admission and Support Programs":

...Race and ethnicity shall be considered in recruitment and admissions when, but only when, admissions criteria that are racially and ethnically neutral would fail to achieve student populations that include a critical mass of students from historically disadvantaged racial or ethnic groups."

A "critical mass" of students from a distinct racial or ethnic group means a sufficient number to represent a variety of points of view and to avoid such small numbers as might create a sense of isolation.  However, admissions procedures shall be flexible and in no event may be based on a racial or ethnic quota.

Essentially, if two people who virtually have the same qualifications try to get into CU-Boulder, race could be the deciding factor to make sure there are enough different points of view on the Boulder campus.

"I have been fighting for the principle that my skin color should not determine my success in American life," says Amendment 46 backer and African-American Ward Connerly.

Connerly, a California millionaire and founder of the American Civil Rights Initiative helped the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative Committee support Amendment 46.  He first got the initiative passed in California in 1996.  This is the first time it's failed.

"When you get a million votes out of two million, in the face of an Obama tsunami, in the state of Colorado, I don't see it as a rejection of our philosophy," says Connerly.  "I am absolutely convinced that if we had this initiative on the ballot tomorrow, and there was no Barack Obama on the ballot...it would pass at least 55-to-45."

Connerly says he may not try this Amendment again in Colorado, but left the decision up to the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative Committee.

"If we don't learn the lesson that it's important for people to be treated without regard to their race, by the election of Senator Obama, president-elect Obama, then I don't know what's going to teach us that," says Connerly.

Affirmative action is used in some cases by the Colorado Department of Transportation.

It's called the "Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program."  For CDOT to receive certain federal funding, federal law requires CDOT to hire women or minority-owned businesses.