0P Me]N4
The Gargoyle is the University's humor magazine,.
but no one was laughing when a printer refused
to publish the current issue. Thankfully, cooler
heads and First Amendment rights prevailed.
Most critics agree that director Rob Reiner's "A
Few Good Men" is fine film, but the Daily's
Aaron Hamburger speculates as to how much
Reirvr had to do with it.
Riding the crest of a nine-game winning streak,
the Michigan men's basketball team opens the Big
Ten season against Purdue tonight in the comfy
confines of Mackey Arena.
WEATHrA
---"
Today
Mostly cloudy;
High 33, Low 24
Tomorrow
Snow possible; High 31, Low 20
7
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irA
One hundred two years of editorial freedomn
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Vol. C I, o 4An ro, ihgnITusa, Jauay ,199' e1993The ichga Di
EPA ends
tobacco
* pollutant
reasearch
NEW YORK (AP) - The
Environmental Protection Agency
has quietly dropped tobacco from its
studies of indoor air pollutants, a
' move that critics said was made in
response to pressure from the to-
bacco industry.
EPA officials confirmed that to-
bacco research had been dropped,
but denied doing so because of in-
dustry pressure.
Peter Guerrero, associate director
of the Congressional General
Accounting Office, said his office
had launched two investigations of
the EPA's secondhand smoke
studies.
The termination of the tobacco
research prog~ram occurred two years
ago, just as the EPA was completing
the first draft of a report on second-
hand smoke and lung cancer that is
being released with great fanfare to-
day.
The decision to halt the progran
was not widely known. Critics said
the release of the lung cancer report
prompted them to speak out.
Until the end of 1990, the agency
conducted experiments on cigarette
smoke as part of its indoor air re-
search program, based in North
Carolina. The program was one of'
the largest federal research efforts on
the health effects of secondhand
smoke, said the EPA's Peter Pruss.
The program conducted basic re-
search. It was not directly connected
to the EPA division that prepares
risk assessments, such as the one be-
ing released today. That division was
not affected by the change in the in-
door air research program.
EPA officials denied they acted
in response to tobacco industry lob-
bying. "I can tell you categorically
that there was no industry pressure
that I knew of," said Erich
Bretthauer, assistant administrator
for research and development.
See TOBACCO, Page 2
Clinton greets
auto leaders
Big 3 summit siresses common goals
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -
President-elect Clinton listened to
U.S. automakers' concerns about
Japanese auto imports and tougher
gas mileage standards yesterday
and pledged a "fresh start" in co-
operation among government, in-
dustry and labor.
"The American automobile in-
dustry must play a critical role if
we are to create a high wage, high
growth economy," Clinton said af-
ter the two-hour meeting with the
Big Three automakers and United
Auto Workers President Owen
Bieber.
The meeting ended with broad
smiles but no commitments.
"What we had hoped for was a
constructive dialogue," Ford
Motor Co. chair Harold Poling
said. "We were not disappointed."
Poling said he did not know if
Clinton would take a tougher line
on trade with Japan than has the
Bush administration. "We'll have
to wait and see what the new ad-
ministration's policies are," he
said.
See CLINTON, Page 2
President-elect Bill Clinton meets with members of the Big Three and the president of the United Auto Workers.
Class of '96 profile shows little change from '95
by Johnny Su
Daily Staff Reporter
The general profile of the
University's class of 1996 - in
terms of gender representation,
Michigan residency and ethnicity -
is similar to previous classes, said
University Associate Director of
Admissions Donald Swain.
Class size increased 2.1 percent
from last year with 4,870 first-year
students enrolled. The gender repre-
sentation remained at 53.4 percent
male -- 2.601 students - to 46.6
percent fermle - 2.269 students.
Of the 4,870 students in this
year's class, 61.6 percent are in-state
students and 38.4 percent are from
out of state.
Academically, 50 percent of stu-
dents in the class of 1996 scored
between 1090 and 1270 on the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
Verbal scores ranged from 490 to
600, math from 580 to 700.
Fifty percent of students scored
between 25 and 29 on the American
College Test (ACT).
Fifty percent of the members of
the University class of 1996 gradu-
ated from high school with grade
point averages (GPAs) between 3.4
and 3.9 on a 4.0 scale.
These scores do not show any
significant differences from the
scores of previous years.
"Over the last five years. the
(academic records) of the freshman
class have been about the sine or
higher. Compared to last year's
class, this year's test scores, GPAs
and class ranks are about the same,
which is good," said Ted Spencer,
interim director of undergraduate
admissions.
Although graduating high school
students nationwide have shown de-
creasing test scores and increasing
GPAs, Spencer said this trend has
not been exhibited by students
admitted to the University.
However, several trends have
been exhibited in enteriing University
classes over the past five years.
Minority student enrollment at
the University has increased signifi-
cantly. This year, minorities account
for 21.8 percent of the undergraduate
student population, compared to 13.6
percent in 1987. Asian Americans
represented the greatest increase,
rising from 6.0 percent to 9.5
percent.
Minority students make up 24.6
percent of the class of 1996 with
Asian Americans accounting for
10.8 percent. The class is 7.5 percent
African American, 5.3 percent
Hispanic and 0.9 percent Native
American.
"Each of the minority groups has
improved 2-to-3 percent from the
previous year. The one that is rising
the most is Asian Americans while
the numbers for A frican Americans
are leveling off a bit. We are con-
stantly looking at ways to improve
minority recruitinent by
personalizing it more," Spencer said.
Several schools within the
University are also experiencing
trends in terms of student enrollment
over the past five years.
Enrollment by first-year students
in the College of Engineering has
increased. In 1992, engineering stu-
dents constitute 23.8 percent of all
first-year students, an increase of 5.0
percent since 1987.
Engineering Assistant Dean (G i
Smith explained this trend.
"A conscious decision was made
by the college to increase the nuin-
ber of (enrolled students)," he said.
"We noticed 5 or 6 years ago that
there was a decrease in the number
of transfers from community col-
leges throughout the state. In order
to offset the decline, the number of
students admitted at the freshmen
level was raised."
On the opposite end of the spec-
trum, the School of Art and the
School of Nursing are experiencing
declines in first-year student
enlrollnent.
"It's been intentionally set that
way. There's been a high number of
transfer students so fewer spaces are
set aside for high school senior ap-
plicants," said Sandy Willis, a stu-
dent advisor within the School of
Nursing. "This year we received 250
applications for 30 transfer spots."
In the School of Art, the decrease
in numbers was attributed to the dif-
ficulties in determining the number
of students who will attend after
being admitted.
see STUDENTS,P age 2
"
Residency and ethnicity:
-Iq
in-State
(61.6%
73.3%'
5.3%
2.2%
0.9%
O - Whites
sEZIZ- Asian Americans
- African Americans
- Hispanics/Latinos
sa- Others
- Native Americans
'U' faces $3,750 fine
" for radioactive spill
in Med Sci
by Marc Olender
Daily Environment Reporter
University officials will meet.
with lawyers tomorrow to decide
whether or not to pay a fine for a
radioactive chemical spill that oc-
curred last September, News and
Information Director Joe Owsley
said.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has given the
University until Jan. 13 to pay or
contest the $3,750 penalty. A deci-
sion is expected by Monday.
The NRC proposed the fine after
investigating an incident in which a
graduate student accidentally spilled
a chemical in early September.
The small amount of radioactive
phosphorus (P-32) was not detected
until three days after the student re-
searcher spilled it on the floor next
to his lab bench in the Medical
Science Research Building I.
Investigators said the student
tracked the chemical throughout the
building on the soles of his shoes.
"When you do an experiment, ra-
I building
process was completed by the
Radiation Safety Service (RSS) and
staff from the NRC Sept. 24.
The chemical spread after the re-
searcher failed to perform standard
safety procedures. After doing ex-
periments, a researcher is required to
survey the area for spills with a
"wipe test" or a radiation counter.
"The principle involved here is
they're supposed to do it in a careful
way, and didn't," Owsley said.
Casey said the spill posed little
danger to students. "Inanimate ob-
jects got contuninated more than the
people themselves," she added.
NRC representatives said this
type of spill has occurred before at
research facilities.
"We usually hear of half-a-dozen
a year," said Frank Ingrain, a public
affairs officer for the NRC. "But
usually they're not tracked around.
The idea is to keep it in the autho-
rized area."
After the spill, the University
prohibited use of radioactive mate-
rials for 10 days. 'The researcher and
Prison guards
charged with
sexually abusing
female imates
PLYMOUTH, Mich. (AP) - A state Senate com-
mittee is investigating reports that corrections officers
have sexually abused inmates at Michigan's two wom-
en's prisons.
The state Senate committee investigation includes
complaints at Scott Correctional Facility in Plymouth
and the Florence Crane prison in Coldwater, the state's
two female prisons.
"My personal belief is that these are legitimate con-
cerns," said Sen. Jack Welborn (R-Kalamazoo) who is
leading the Senate investigation. "I don't believe the use
of male guards in female housing units is appropriate."
Since 1989, the state Department of Corrections has
dismissed 20 officers for "over-familiarity" from 1989
to 1992, said Warren Williams, a department
spokesperson. There are more than 9,000 officers
statewide, he said.
"Twenty people out of several thousand officers, we
don't consider that to be a major problem," he said,
adding that when accusations of abuse are substantiated;
the department takes swift action.
A legislative investigator's report obtained by The
Detroit News and published Wednesday said that since
last March, six guards have been disciplined and 12
were investigated at Scott.
In cases detailed in the Oct. 5 report. a guard quit af-
I I I I