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Regents of the University of California v. Bakke was a landmark Supreme Court decision in 1978 upholding affirmative action. It found diversity in the classroom to be a compelling state interest and allowed race to be one of several factors in college admission policy, but rejected specific quotas, such as the 16 out of 100 seats set aside for minority students by the UC Davis School of Medicine. Although the court had outlawed segregation in schools, it had not resolved the legality of voluntary affirmative action programs initiated by universities. Proponents deemed such programs necessary to make up for past discrimination, while opponents believed they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case fractured the court: the nine justices issued a total of six opinions. The judgment of the court was written by Justice Lewis Powell, and two different blocs of four justices joined various parts of Powell's opinion. The decision had little practical effect on most affirmative action programs. In 2003 the court upheld Powell's position in a majority opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger. (Full article...)

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Excavations at Mes Aynak
Excavations at Mes Aynak

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Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin

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February 29: Leap day (Gregorian calendar)

Tokyo Skytree
Tokyo Skytree

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Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson

The 68th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1995 and took place on March 25, 1996, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Quincy Jones and directed by Jeff Margolis. Actress Whoopi Goldberg hosted the show for the second time, having previously presided over the 66th ceremony in 1994. Braveheart won five awards including Best Picture, the ninth film to do so without any acting nominations, and Best Director for Mel Gibson (pictured). Other winners included Apollo 13, Pocahontas, Restoration, and The Usual Suspects with two awards each. The telecast garnered almost 45 million viewers in the United States. (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Lagoon Nebula

The Lagoon Nebula is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as a H II region. Discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654, it is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. In the foreground is the open cluster NGC 6530.

Photograph: ESO/VPHAS+ team

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