The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 6, 1994 - 3 Panel debates whether Asian students are 'over-represented' By JAMES R. CHO DAILY STAFF REPORTER Government-supported minority fellowships discriminate against Asian Americans in certain Rackham gradu- ate programs because they are not identified as "historically under-rep- resented," speakers said at a panel discussion last night. "In some graduate programs, Asian Americans don't qualify for merit schol- arships because they are not classified by the government as a 'historically underrepresented minority group,"'" said Aiko Nakatani, director of admis- sions of the Rackham graduate school. Undergraduate and graduate admis- sion officers along with student repre- sentatives of the Medical and Law schools participated in the discussion yesterday to debate the issue of "over- representation" of Asian Americans on campus and the ramifications on admissions policy, financial aid and minority status. In addition to Nakatani, the panel- ists included: Holly Oh, a first-year student in the Medical school; James Van Hecke, assistant director of under- graduate admissions; and Colin Owyang, a first-year Law student.' The Merit fellowship scholarships, which are awarded to historically under-represented minorities, were formerly awarded only to Asian Americans in Division 4 programs, a classification Rackham uses to divide its more than 160 programs. Division 4 programs include the humanities and the arts, Nakatani said. The graduate school revised its cri- teria a few years ago to encompass more graduate programs including so- cial sciences, natural resources and ki- nesiology. Minorities, however, do not qualify for minority scholarships in such pro- grams as biomedical sciences, engi- neering and physics because they are not considered "under-represented." At the University, Asian Amen- cans make up about 20 percent of all student enrolled in the Medical school. "At the Medical school, Asian Americans are lumped together. There is not much diversity in terms of ethnicity, geography and socioeco- nomic status," Oh said. Van Hecke said, "The University does not have a quota system." Of the 1994 entering class, 15.7 percent of the total applicant pool is Asian American. Hecke predicts 9.5 percent of those will enroll. The United Asian American Orga- nizations, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association and Minority Stu- dent Services sponsored the panel dis- cussion. Colin Owyang (center) explains the Law school's efforts to recognize the diversity of its applicants as panelists James Van Hecke (left), Aiko Nakatani and Holly Oh listen on. Serbs bomb Gorazde Muslims SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP)-- Hundreds of civilians fled burning villages yesterday ahead of Bosnian Serb troops who breached defense lines around the Muslim en- clave of Gorazde. An officer in the Muslim-domi- nated Bosnian government said the enclave's defenders had been forced back by the breakthroughs. Govern- ment officials called the situation criti- cal for the besieged eastern area, which was declared a U.N. "safe zone" last May but has been unprotected by U.N. troops.' Serb leaders and international aid workers also reported Serb advances after aweekof heavy fighting. U.N. aid workers said52civilians had been killed 4 and 249 wounded since last week. There was no sign Western nations would intervene as NATO did with threats of air strikes to force the with- drawal of Serb artillery around Sarajevo. The United States said it had no plans to help Gorazde's 65,000 resi- dents. Gen. John Shalikashvili, chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington that air power would be ineffective against the small- arms fighting around Gorazde. He said that should not be seen as a "green light" for Serb attacks, and he did notflatly rule out intervention. "To- morrow, the circumstances in Gorazde could very well change and the use of air power could be very appropriate," he said. Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Rose, the U.N. commander in Bosnia, planned to go to Gorazde to assess the situation tomor- row. About 200 refugees from the area blocked the entrance to his Sarajevo headquarters yesterday, demanding immediate action to save Gorazde, which is about 30 miles southeast of the capital. "Please inform Gen. Rose now ... tomorrow is too late," said Ibro Marsala, one of the protesters. The enclave has been under siege during much of the two-year war that began when Bosnia's government de- clared independence from Serb-domi- nated Yugoslavia. "Our units have defeated the gov- ernment forces inside Gorazde pocket and have reached the right bank of the Drina River," Gen. Manojlo Milovanovic, the Bosnian Serb's chief of staff, told the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA. SEBINADACES Bosnian Serb troops pushed deep into the Muslim enclave of Gorazde. Serb forces broke through defense lines at three locations, forcing government forces to withdraw and civilians to flee toward the city's center. BOSNIA ( 10 miles HERZEGOVINA 7"10 km Srebrenic Sarajevo zepa. SPale SERBIA osnian residency Muslim) EJ Bosnian Serb Serb Drina Bosnian orces River Croat AP ' study shows Alzheimer drug works on 2nd try Palestinian exiles return to Israel's West Bank, Gaza CHICAGO (AP) - Alzheimer's patients who can't tolerate the only drug approved for treating the disease may benefit from trying it a second time, researchers say. Liver abnormalities developed in 29 percent of patients who took the drug, tacrine, in one study, but disap- peared a few weeks after they stopped, the researchers said in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). In seven of eight patients who tried it again, the abnormalities never re- turned, the study found. A second study in JAMA, led by University Prof. Paul Watkins, found that no permanent liver damage re- sulted from the short-term toxicity as- sociated with the drug. There is no way to predict who will develop the short-term problem, and patients must get weekly blood tests to watch for it, said Watkins, an associate professor of medicine. The Food and Drug Administration approved tacrine, marketed as Cognex, in September. Fifty thousand to 60,000 ofthe more than 4 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease now take it, the drug's maker says. The first study, of 663 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, found small but meaningful benefits in thinking skills among some tacrine-taking patients compared with patients getting a dummy drug. The best improvements were at the high- est doses. More than one-third of the study's patients dropped out because of side effects. Besides liver abnormalities, which had no symptoms, patients suf- fered nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, ab- dominal pain or other problems. Researchers say many of the pa- tients were able to resume tacrine later, some at lower doses. "The majority of patients can toler- ate it," said Margaret Knapp, a clinical scientist with the Parke-Davis division of Warner-Lambert Co., the drug's maker. JERICHO, Occupied West Bank (AP) - The first exiled leaders of the Palestinian uprising al- lowed to return home got a tumultuous hero's welcome yesterday in the occupied territories. The returning exiles will help build an au- tonomy government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and try to dispel perceptions among Pales- tinians that the historic Israel-PLO peace accord has failed to bring change. "People are seeing some changes with their own eyes now. This has had more impact on the people than months of negotiations," said Saeb Erekat, a senior PLO figure. At the crossing from Egypt to the Gaza Strip at Rafah, hundreds of youths waving the Pales- tinian flag carried 23 returnees on their shoul- ders to waiting cars. Armed members of the PLO's Fatah Hawks fired into the air. Crowds lined the road to Gaza, waving black and white checked kafiyyahs, the Palestinians' trademark headdress. Palestinian officials said 26 other exiles crossed the Allenby Bridge from Jordan to the West Bank. PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, in Jordan to hold talks with King Hussein, called Israel's decision to let the deportees return "another positive signal." In Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said the returnees were "pioneers in the implemen- tation of this new rapprochement between the Palestinians and ourselves." The returnees face a local PLO leadership frac- tured by infighting, and will-have to deal with attempts by the armed underground to continue attacks on Israel, demands for jobs, and general disillusionment with the peace accords. Most of the deportees were university students and professors expelled by Israel for organizing the Palestinian uprising, or intifadah, which started in December 1987. They are the first of those exiles allowed to return. Others were village elders de- ported by Israel in the 1970s. The deportees are famous inside the occupied territories, but also worked in Arafat's Tunis head- quarters, and are expected to help smooth accep- tance of a PLO leadership that has not lived under occupation. $4.5 M grant to fund hi-tech optics research One of 23 Palestinian refugees returns to the Gaza Strip Tuesday on the shoulders of well-wishers. Fighting continues in S. African province; 41 dead By SCOT WOODS DAILY STAFF REPORTER The University will receive part of a $4.5 million grant from the federal. government's Advanced Research Project Agency to use toward research on optoelectronic materials and de- vices, which could be used in the coming information superhighway. Along with the University of Illi- nois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Texas, the University will establish a new Center for Opto- electronics Science and Technology (COST). Electrical Engineering Prof. Pallab Bhattacharya said COST could pro- duce high-speed materials and compo- nents to be used in the communications industry. "Our mission is to develop opto- electronic materials, devices, and com- ponents useful not only for long-dis- tance transmission, such as telephone calls, but also for very short-distance transmissions, such as between sta- tions or from one chip to another," Bhattacharya said. The goal of the center is to effec- tively combine fiber-optic technology with the switching and amplification capability of electronics, allowing faster transmission of information. "By increasing the speed of all stages of the system from laser trans- mitter to optical receiver, we can trans'- mit greater amounts of information," Bhattacharya said. The center will work closely with more than 25 industrial partners in its reasearch. This is the second multi-million dollar research grant the University has received in recent weeks. Last month, its Ultrafast Optical Science Center re- ceived a five-year, $13.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation for work in development of lasers. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - As the four-day death toll in Natal Province surpassed 40, an ANC official complained Monday that iso- lated areas had not received the peace- keepingtroopspromisedunder anemer- gency decree. The state of emergency was de- clared Thursday for Natal, scene of most of the fighting between the Afri- can National Congress and the Zulu- based Inkatha Freedom Party. There was no sign it was achieving the aim of quelling unrest before South Africa's first all-race election April26- 28. f That fueled speculation that a sum- mit this week - including President F.W. de Klerk, ANC leader Nelson Mandela, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and Inkatha leader Mango- suthu Buthelezi - may consider de- laying the vote in Natal for more time to resolve Zulu autonomy demands. In Washington on Monday, State Department spokesperson Mike McCurry called the four-way summit a very hopeful development, saying he hoped it would result in an agreement to carry out the balloting peacefully. International mediators were ex- pected to arrive this week to begin hearings on the dispute, ANC spokes- person Carl Niehaus said Monday. In a statement in New York, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger confirmed that he and former British Foreign Minister Lord Carrington had been asked to participate. Kissinger said he was waiting for particulars about the proposed mediation and the outcome of Friday's summit. Political violence has killed at least 41 people since Thursday in Natal. Reports from KwaZulu police, South African police and independent peace monitors indicate the total could exceed 60. The reports described iso- lated killings in far-flung regions that could not be immediately verified. Natal and KwaZulu have vast rural areas where factional fighting mainly erupts. Much of the fighting pits Zulu supporters of the ANC against rivals from the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Free- dom Party, led by Buthelezi. The worst Easter weekend incident occurred Saturday night, when attack- ers who identified themselves as police officers killed nine members of a fam- ily of ANC supporters outside Port Shepstone, south of Durban. 1 . Engaging 5-inch Bumper Plaque or 1-inch Lapel Pins, Just $6 Send Check To: Evolutionarles 315 N. Tejon Colorado Springs, CO 80903 Because you cant fit it all in your backpack... Group Meetings " Association for Campus Ma- chinery, 3166 Dow Building, 12:30 p.m. " Archery Club, Coliseum, 5:30 p.m. " East Quad support group for lesbians, gay men, & bisexual people, call 764-3678 for info. U Niniutsu Club. IM Building. fice hours, 4121 MichiganUnion, 12-4 p.m. Events Q Getting Published, sponsored by Career Planning and Placement, 3200 Student Activities Build- ing, 5:10 p.m. Q Hubble Space Telescope Le- Student services Q 76-GUIDE, peer counseling phone line, ,7 p.m.C-8 a.m. U Campus Information Center, 763-INFO; events info., 76- EVENT; film info., 763-FILM. Q FreeTaxAssistance,3909Michi- gan Union, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Q North Campus Information Center, 763-NCIC, 7:30 a.m.- 'dent Projects Thursday, April 7 1-4 p.m. Ehrlicher Room Fourth Floor West Engineering 15Projecsi including 'tS r i I OF:,;F/ ,w I -_