It's funny how making a few off-the-cuff comments about a controversial topic to a random reporter while eating a sandwich in the HUB can get you in so much trouble ("White-only scholarship given in Rhode Island," Feb. 19). Sadly, I fear my observations of the new, white-only scholarship have been grossly misinterpreted, with only myself to blame. Allow me to clarify.

I did not mean to imply (or absolutely state, as seems to be the case) that white people do not need or deserve scholarships. Clearly, this statement is false and sounds downright ignorant when taken out of context. However, I do believe that any scholarship that awards someone solely because of his or her race is, well, racist.

Additionally, this is not how affirmative action works, and those who think otherwise are indeed misguided. Academic merit and financial need are strong determinants, which is a far cry from showing a photograph to prove one's whiteness.

Finally, I think it is important to approach this issue realistically. As much as we hate to admit it, we live in a racist, sexist, ethnocentric society, and something must be done to counteract this inherent discrimination in institutions such as the university.

Right now, we have affirmative action and until we find a better option, I am all for it. A white-only scholarship makes a mockery of a program that is so obviously necessary in our present state of affairs and is thus completely inappropriate.