RACE-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS DENIED ON APPEAL

In a decision that could affect race-based scholarships in colleges across the country, the Supreme Court today refused without comment to reinstate a scholarship program limited to black students at the University of Maryland. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last October that Maryland's Banneker scholarship program was unconstitutional because it discriminated unfairly against students who were not black. The university, backed by the Clinton Administration, had argued that the program was needed in order tocorrect the effects of past discrimination. But the lower court said that the university's program "more resembles outright racial balancing" than a scholarship designed to remedy past discrimination.