University of California Regent John Jay Moores is oddly fixated on SAT scores as a way to select students for college admission. His March 12 column in Forbes magazine asserts that admissions policies that look at factors other than SAT scores are "victimizing" high scorers by unfairly denying them admission and low scorers because, he says, they "can't compete."

His evidence? Of 10,905 students admitted to UC Berkeley in 2002, 359 had combined SAT scores of 1,000. At the same time, 1,421 Californians with SAT scores above 1,400 were not admitted.

Those numbers are not in dispute. But some context is useful. Berkeley gets far more applicants than it can admit. Even if those 359 students had not been admitted, most of the 1,421 students with scores above 1,400 who were rejected still would be.

The highest possible SAT score does not - and should not - guarantee admission. Under the admissions policy adopted by the regents in November 2001, campuses use a process called "comprehensive review." Eligibility to attend UC is determined by grades and SAT scores.

Beyond that threshold, the admissions committee looks at a student's opportunities and what he or she did with them. They look for students who have unusual intellectual achievements, who have overcome personal adversity and family hardship or who have exceptional records of community service.

And what about success? Of the 359 students Moores quibbles over, 233 enrolled. As of fall 2003, 89 percent were still enrolled. That's a pretty good retention rate, given that most are first-generation college students who come from lower-income families and struggling high schools.

Moores also believes UC discriminates "blatantly against Asians." The numbers don't bear this out. In 1997, Berkeley had an entering class of 3,844 Asian Americans, 3,490 whites, 1,399 Hispanics and 578 African Americans. In 2003, after Proposition 209 prohibited consideration of race or ethnicity in the admissions process, the entering class had 4,214 Asian Americans, 3,556 whites, 1,222 Hispanics and 355 African Americans. Moores is making much ado about nothing.

The University of California Board of Regents, on an 8-6 vote, was right to reaffirm its admissions policy of "using multiple measures of achievement and promise," rather than relying solely on high school grades and SAT scores. They were right, too, to make it clear that Moores' views on UC admissions policies in his Forbes magazine column "do not represent the views of the Board of Regents."

There is no unfailingly fair way to determine admissions to a highly competitive university. But no high quality public university should grant automatic acceptance or rejection based on any single variable, such as SAT scores. If there's a better system than what UC is using, Moores hasn't come up with it.