The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 18, 1989 - Page 5 Speaker laments Ethiopian Jewry by Ross Tanzer Nobel - physics 10 The president of the Michigan Association for Ethiopian Jews spoke of the plight of those Jews' not allowed to leave Ethiopia last night before a small but interested gathering at Hillel. Jack Edelstein, who travelled to Ethiopia three years ago, used slides from his trip as part of his presenta- tjon. Edelstein first developed his in- terest in Ethiopian Jews while visit- ing Israel in 1985. While there, he befriended Jewish refugees who had recently escaped from Ethiopia and learned of the problems they had faced there. "Attaining visas for departure from the Ethiopian government is virtually impossible, and emigration has slowed to a mere trickle over the past few years," Edelstein said. He explained that most of the Jews who arrived in Israel had sur- vived a difficult escape, which began with a two-week voyage over the ar- duous Sudan Desert bordering Ethiopia. "Close to 2,000 refugees, of all religious descent, perished during that voyage because of their weak conditions caused by the Ethiopian famine of the 1980s," Edelstein said. He said most of the refugees who attempted leaving Ethiopia were men between the ages of 20 and 40 be- cause they had the best chance for a successful escape. After visiting an Ethiopian village, Edelstein said, "There is a marked lack of men in the (Ethiopian Jewish) population within this age group." The purpose of the Michigan As- sociation for Ethiopian Jews is to help support these separated fami- lies, he said. "All we do is continue sending money and giving encour- agement to families in whatever way we can." The program works in accordance with the American Association for Ethiopian Jews, based in Washing- ton. This group works mainly to help Ethiopian Jews attain exit visas from Ethiopia, so they can live in Israel. Edelstein said neither group sup- ports sending food to the impover- ished country because political re- pression often prohibits Ethiopians from receiving such aid. winner on atonf by Heather Fee Norman Ramsey, who last week won the Nobel prize for Physics, discussed methods of time measure- ment throughout history yesterday in a packed Dennison Auditorium. Precise measurement of time be- gan with the invention of the pendu- lum midway through the 17th cen- tury, Ramsey said in his speech, ti- tled "Time and the Physical Uni- verse." After Galileo identified the pendulum as a potential time mea- surer when he observed a swinging lantern in a church in 1583, it took roughly three quarters of a century before the pendulum was put into use. Ramsey, a Higgins Professor of Physics at Harvard University, is in town as part of the Samuel A. Goudsmit Lecture Series and will be leading colloquia, informal discus- sions, and seminars the rest of the week. Ramsey was awarded the Nobel prize for his discoveries of oscilla- tory frequencies inside atoms, which led to the creation of atomic clocks, the most precise time measure ever found. Born in Washington D.C. in 1915, Ramsey held many influential jobs including scientific consultant to the Secretary of War during World War II and a group leader for the Manhattan Project, which was charged with developing the atomic bomb. Ramsey has won many honors and awards for his work, in- cluding the National Medal of Science. The content of the speech focused speaks 1clocks on the recently-invented atomic clocks. The two types of atomic clocks developed in the last 50 years are the Atomic Cesium Beam and the Atomic Hydrogen Maser. "The Cesium Beam is extremely stable," said Ramsey. "If two (Cesium Beam) clocks ran for one million years, one clock would only be one second off from the other one." But, Ramsey said, "The Hydro- gen Maser is even more stable. It has 1,000 times greater stability," but only for periods of a few hours. These clocks can be used to im- prove the efficiency of radio tele- scopes and to measure distances. Ramsey concluded by relating clocks to the theory of relativity. He said that theoretically the most effi- cient clock would be one using light bouncing off mirrors. The problem with this type of clock, he said, is that "according to the Special Theory of Relativity, the speed of light is the same for all ob- servers independent of their veloci- ties." Because of this, he said, "observers moving at different veloc- ities will each think the other's clock runs slow."' According to the General Theory of Relativity a clock farther from the earth runs faster and a clock in a black hole slows down so much it appears to stop. Ramsey is currently investigating recent claims of "cold fusion." It's not cottage cheese Mary Beth Seefelt, an Art school junior, mixes dye for her weaving and textile class. Amnesty Int'l LONDON (AP) - The Soviet Soviet Union Union's attitude towards human March, and f rights has improved dramatically and perspective o most political prisoners have been shifted dramat freed, although abuses persist and the report said. picture is "deeply confusing," Amnesty International says. 'The Sovi In a report published Wednesday, shifted d the worldwide human rights ipovement says its list of Soviet citizens imprisoned for non-violent Amnesty In exercise of their human rights shrank of the 600 I from 600 three years ago to about 90 released early in July, and would have been lower freed from r but for further arrests. where some h An Amnesty International more against t delegation was allowed into the "They mak : Soviets have improved for the first time last ound that "the Soviet )n human rights has ically since 1986," the of prisoners of conscience to be freed since the 1950's. Political arrests have also fallen noticeably since 1986," the report said. "The most promising prospect iet perspective on human rights has ramatically since 1986.' -Amnesty International report rights picture in the U.S.S.R is deeply confusing." A new centrally controlled police force with extensive powers was set up in July 1988 under a decree that gives the austerities "unrestrained powers to ban or break up peaceful assemb~lies," it said. There also had been new arrests, so that when the Amnesty International delegation visited Moscow it had a list of 100 detainees, including 25 conscientious objectors to military service, 25 people in psychiatric institutions, and about 30 imprisoned for non- violent nationalistic activity, the report said. nternational added that prisoners, 337 were , and another 79 were psychiatric hospitals had spent 15 years or heir will. .e up the largest group for long-term reform is a major review of law...apparently aimed at bringing Soviet law into line with international standards," the report said. ' But "despite this clear trend towards reform," it said, "the human Bush picks deputy health director to succeed Koop as surgeon general WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has ' picked Antonia Novello, deputy director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, to be surgeon general, administra- tion sources said yesterday. Novello was undergoing routine background checks before her formal nomination, said the sources, who spoke only on condition of not be- ing identified. Chase Untermeyer, President Bush's person- nel chief, said "there is a candidate in clearance," but he refused to confirm or deny that candidate was Novello. Novello's office said she had no comment and declined to provide any background. According to an industry newsletter, Medicine & Heath, she is 44 years old and studied at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. She would succeed C. Everett Koop, the out- spoken pediatrician who stepped down last month after serving in the post for most of the decade. Novello was recommended to the White House by Louis Sullivan, secretary of the De- partment of Health and Human Services, the sources said. Her nomination was pushed by Se- nator Orrin Hatch, a State Representative from Utah, the senator's office said. "Doesn't every Pre-med deserve a choice?" Tom Garcia, M.D. (UAG '75) Cardiologist Houston, Texas "The right choice was there when I needed it. I made that choice, and now I'm a physician. My alma mater may be just right for you. It's your choice." inese anti-porn campaign backfires BEIJING (AP) - Headlines in Such orders are not unusual: A reader who wrote to China handed them in. It was the t official newspapers yesterday pro- Chinese children are accustomed to Youth News agreed. Students at the the town for a while." claimed impressive results that after bringing in dead rats during anti-rat middle school in her hometown in two months the "sweep up pornog- campaigns and the masses have met eastern China's Jianoxi province Other problems develope raphy" campaign has netted 30 mil- quotas for killing mosquitoes and were ordered to bring in two yellow Dengzhou City in central Ch lion books and magazines. swallows. books apiece. Henan province, a reader repor alk of ed in hina's ted in 0sOi "f _g Universidad Aut6noma de Guadalajara School of Medicine Guadalajara, Mexico But on inside pages, several newspapers revealed the details of how the campaign backfired, in some cases increasing sales of pornographic books and spreading them among children. It seems that in many cities each work unit was given a quota for turning in pornographic material. Bosses gave their workers orders: bring in one dirty book apiece. _ Even elementary schools were given quotas, and they sent their ,pupils home to rummage through *,shelves and cupboards for "yellow literature," the Chinese phrase fort pornography. A Ann Arbor's iHalowem Headquarters: Make-up " Glitter Masks . Wigs " Hats Canes " Vampire Blood Ears e Tails - Noses & much more! NUDCE SEL ECTIINM. But this assignment caused unusual confusion. Economic Refer- ence News said some students took the order literally and came back with books printed on yellow paper. Others grabbed calendars with pic- tures of female movie stars, or any magazine that had a woman's picture on the cover. Some parents complained that they didn't have any pornography, but teachers told them to bring in anything for the count the paper said. The newspaper described the as- signment as "preposterous." "Parents didn't know whether to laugh or cry," wrote Long Ximiao. "Some parents asked their children to go to the street and buy porno- graphic books at high prices. There were so many people buying porno- graphic books that the supply fell short of demand and the prices went up several times each day." "The book sellers were very happy to earn so much money," Long wrote. "The chil- dren...exchanged the books and read them with curiosity before they a letter to tne Peasant~sDaily. tHe said so many people were drafted into "sweeping up pornography" teams that their "quality was not too high," and team members were found to reading the confiscated books for their own use. Some even resold them, the reader said, creating new outlets for yellow literature. No such discouraging details have made it into the front-page reports. The People's Daily praised regional party committees for taking a lead- ing role in the campaign. 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