MINORITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL

A federal appeals court has concluded that a college can't reserve scholarships for African Americans -- a decision that could cause havoc with similar minority programs nationwide. The unanimous decision, specifically dealing with scholarships exclusively for blacks at the University of Maryland and handed down by a panel of the fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the university could not make up for societal wrongs by "supporting a race-conscious remedy." The university is being sued by a Hispanic after he was denied a scholarship in 1990. University officials said they would appeal and Time Law Reporter Andrea Sachs said if the Supreme Court upholds the decision "it would seriously undermine minority scholarship programs nationwide."