it 00 if jt *ri One hundred four years of editorial freedom .' minority student enrollment reaches all-time record By RONNIE GLASSBERG Daily Staff Reporter Asian American enrollment at the University increased 1 percent this year, according to fall enrollment fig- ures released Wednesday - the larg- est increase for a minority group since the Michigan Mandate began in 1987. With this increased enrollment, and slight increases in Black, His- panic and Native American enroll- ment, more minority students now attend the University than ever before. "The continued growth in the num- ber of students of color is gratifying, since their presence enriches this cam- pus," University President Jamcs J. Duderstadt said in a statement. "But we have noted a trend toward slower growth in the numbers of African American students. I have asked the executive officers to concentrate on ways to improve our attraction and retention of African American stu- dents in the coming year." Since 1987, the University has Asian American enrollment rises by 1%; faster than any other group worked to increase minority enroll- ment through the Michigan Mandate. Minority students now account for 24.2 percent of all students - up from 15.4 percent in 1988. Last year, minority enrollment accounted for 21.4 percent of all students. But progress in minority enroll- ment slowed this year. Since 1988, minority enrollment has increased by at least 460 students. This year, mi- nority enrollment increased by only 349 students. University spokeswoman Lisa Baker attributed this to increased com- petition for minority students. "Michi- gan has had a very good track record. You get increased competition and that plays a factor," she said. Asian American students account for the largest increase in minority enrollment, now 3,421, or 10.4 per- cent of the student body, up from 3,126, or 9.4 percent, last year. "My hope would have been we could have equaled that number for African American students," said Lester Monts, vice provost for aca- demic and multicultural affairs. Edgar Ho, chairperson of the United Asian American Organiza- tions, attributed the increase to the kinds of people applying. "I think it's probably just a natural result of the increased number of Asian Americans applying," he said. "On the face of it, there's nothing neces- sarily good or bad about it." Other minority groups also had increases in enrollment, but not nearly as high. See ENROLLMENT, Page 2 SHOOT OUT GOP promises bold agenda From Daily Wire Services Republicans yesterday vowed to increase de- fense spending, rewrite the tax code, cut an array of federal programs and halt the current House inves- tigation of the tobacco industry. The Republican takeover of Congress next Janu- ary is expected to lead to a noticeable increase in defense spending and heightened pressure on the Clinton administration to cut back U.S. participa- tion in global peace operations. Although no major revamping of the military is likely, analysts say GOP lawmakers are likely to try to reverse defense cuts by adding up to $20 billion more to the Pentagon's coffers over the next five years. The Republicans also are ex-" pected to press the Defense De- M partment to speed up develop- ment of new weapons designed to defend U.S. troops against ballistic missiles on the battle- field - considered a point of vulnerability for American forces now. Defense has been a bone of contention for Republicans since Gingrich the Clinton administration took office. GOP lawmakers have bridled over the administration's plan to speed up the pace of the defense cutback. They also have criticized admin- istration decisions to deploy U.S. troops for peace operations, including those in Rwanda, Macedonia and Haiti. Republicans say those operations siphon off badly needed operating funds and eventually cut into military readiness. The "Contract With America" that House GOP leaders drafted before the election called for restor- ing money the administration cut from the defense See GOP, Page 2 Foreim nolicv News Analysis may impvb-rove Clinton img Newsday WASHINGTON - Battered and bruised by political developments at home, Bill Clinton Wednesday was able to do what many beleaguered presidents before him have done: turn to foreign policy.(-- Scheduled to leave the capi- tal this morning for a 10-day swing through Asia, Clinton said in a speech at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service - his alma mater - that the United States should re- sist calls for retrenchment from world affairs. "That's why, after visiting Clinton six countries in three days in the Middle East and coming home for eight days of this campaign ... I am going to Indonesia to say we remain engaged," he declared in what the White House billed as a major address. "We must say to the world we will maintain and strengthen our bilateral security relationships with Japan, with South Korea, with Australia, with the Philippines, with Thailand and others." The president's itinerary includes the Pacific equivalent of last spring's D-Day ceremonies in, Europe, with a somber visit to Corregidor Island to See CLINTON, Page 2 Move from rhetoric to action necessary By DAVID SHEPARDSON Daily News Editor Tuesday's midterm election produced a seis- mic shift in the national political structure, sending shock waves through reeling Democrats and left- leaning students. Now rankled Republicans will get to bang the gavel, make the rules and set the agenda. Long in the minority, the Republicans now embark on a two-month odyssey to move from a minority advo- cate to the governing legislative party. Major Clinton domestic proposals - like health care reform, mining fees and lobbying reform - surely will be severely cut back or dropped. Under the hot lights of an impending presidential elec- tion, any action by the new Congress will be extremely difficult. Yesterday, many GOP members declared that their sweeping gains in the election gave the new Congress a mandate to reshape society. The Repub- licans' bravado is not overly presumptuous. No one now in Congress has served when the GOP was last in charge, back in 1954. Indeed, six in 10 Americans have never lived under a Republican Congress. At the same time, GOP Speaker-to-be Newt Gingrich of Georgia took to the airwaves to bran- dish President Clinton "a counterculture McGovernik" - a reference to George McGovern, the liberal Democratic presidential candidate in 1972 - perhaps ending a period of cooperation. See ELECTION, Page 2 OUCULAS KA clear day by playing Students enjoy the last hours of sunlight on a basketball at Elbel Field yesterday. liSA adds 100 new seminar classes for first-year students By RONNIE GLASSBERG Daily Staff Reporter For many first-year students at the 0 niversity, large lecture courses ominate their classload. To give more first-year students the opportunity to take smaller classes, the College of LSA has added 100 new first-year seminars this year. The college offers 120 first-year seminars, which give students the opportunity to take classes taught by full professors with 25 or fewer stu- ents. 4 "We think it gives students a chance to participate more actively in class and a small class size allows for more opportunities for critical think- ing," said David Schoem, an LSA assistant dean. The college plans to continue ex- panding the number of first-year semi- nars to allow all students the opportu- nity to take these classes. "I think it's a great achievement at the college has been able to in- crease the courses by 100 in the last year," Schoem said. "It's a part of the Seminars provide small classes for first-year students college's initiative to improve under- graduate education." LSA first-year student Erin Schwartz is enrolled this term in "Theories of the Self," a philosophy first-year seminar. "You have a full professor and they know you're all first-year stu- dents. They're more sensitive to your needs and they understand what you're going through," she said. First-year seminars require no ad- vance preparation and are open with- out any prerequisites to all first- year students. Categories of courses include introductory composition, humanities, natural science, social science and quantitative reasoning to fulfill different college require- ments. LSA Associate Dean Michael Martin said the small courses help ease the transition from high school. "It has been found in other univer- sities where there are first-year semi- nars that it does improve undergradu- ate education," Martin said. "One complaint is that the first-year cur- riculum contains too many large lec- tures. These are courses where stu- dents become actively engaged." The courses are taught mostly by emeritus faculty and some regular faculty members. Geological Sciences Prof. James O'Neil is teaching "Seminar: Envi- ronmental Geology" next term. He taught the same course two years ago. "I normally teach graduate and upper-level courses. I thought it would be a very nice experience," O'Neil said. "I wanted to be with this type of student." In his department, all the instruc- tors teaching the first-year seminars are full professors conducting re- search. "(The students) see the re- search aspect first-hand and they can see the enthusiasm of the professor," O'Neil said. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev (right) sits with Iraqi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz yesterday during a session in which Iraq formally voted to recognize Kuwait as a sovereign state. Irq votes t reconze nevw Kuwat bordersL No. 4 State invades Yost in top 10 battle By BARRY SOLLENBERGER Daily Hockey Writer If you here what sounds like an atomic explosion tonight, don't panic. Saddam doesn't have the bomb - yet. It's just that a frenzied, sellout crowd might blow the roof of Yost Ice Arena into the stratosphere when Michigan and Michigan State face off at 7 p.m. That's because the game is more than just a battle of intrastate rivals. It's a fight between two teams picked by both the sportswriters and the league coaches to finish first and sec- ond in the CCHA preseason polls. The media gave the top nod to the Spartans, while the coaches favored the Wolverines at the CCHA lun- cheon Sept. 28. Tomorrow, Michigan travels to Bowling Green to meet the 10th- ranked Falcons, who dropped a 7-4 decision to Michigan State Wednes- day night. The fourth-ranked Spartans (6-0- 1 CCHA, 7-0-1 overall) and the sixth- ranked Wolverines (3-1, 5-2) have enough ammunition in their arsenals to make Yost's building contractors nervous. "Michigan State probably has more scorers than anybody we've played so far," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "They've got some high-powered players and it's going 0, News Analysis INSIDE FRIDAY FOCUS 3 lections arrive once again ext week, this time for the Michigan Student Assembly. ARTS 8 The "Hansel and Gretel" opera Despite national trend, local GOP loses influence in city NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - Iraq yesterday abandoned territorial claims to Kuwait that had origins in the Otto- man Empire, hoping to win an end to trade sanctions that have strangled its economy. The official Iraqi News Agency said the National Assembly voted for "Iraq's recognition of the sovereignty of the state of Kuwait, its territorial integrity and independence." The statement also said Iraq rec- ognized and respected the "inviola- bility" of new Kuwaiti borders, de- marcated by a U.N. committee after the 1991 Gulf War. Saddam Hussein's sanctions, imposed to punish Iraq for invading Kuwait. The emirate was part of Iraq under the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed at the end of World War I. The Brit- ish, who took over that region, gave Kuwait independence in 1961, and the border had been in dispute since. The Revolutionary Command Council said Iraq's move was de- signed "to stress its resolve to comply with all relevant U.N. Security Coun- cil resolutions, prove its peaceful in- tentions and dedication to regional stability and security." The statement, signed by Saddam, By JAMES M. NASH Daily Staff Reporter Ann Arbor Republicans, after fielding their strongest slate of City Council candidates since losing City Hall four years ago, saw their elec- generally popular among council Democrats, will find her job more difficult as she loses the mayor's No. 1 capability: the veto power. Voting as a block, Democrats now can over- ride the mayoral veto, a power they I I I