hispanics. >> blum has vowed to appeal that decision and many believe it will end with a national showdown at a supreme court dominated by conservatives, many of whom are long-time skeptics of affirmative action. >> one of the ironies of the harvard case is while it pretends to be about discrimination against asian-americans in admissions, it's really not. it's really an attack on affirmative action for blacks and hispanics. >> but many colleges feel that affirmative action is still badly needed in admissions. a recent analysis done by "the new york times" found that black and hispanic students were more underrepresented at elite colleges than 35 years earlier. at the center of all this is a complex question with no easy answer. if, as thomas jefferson once posited, we should have a meritocracy, what he called an aristocracy of talent, then