2 -- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 10, 1996 Govt shutdown inconveniences students By Stephanie Jo Klein Daily Staff Reporter. All is quiet on the Midwestern front for now as students return from vaca- tion after a 21-day partial federal gov- ernment shutdown, which caused a nervous flutter in many of their hearts. ,Foreign students waiting to enroll in the University faced the harsh pros- pect of postponing their enrollment until next term if U.S. consulates did not open in time to approve their vi- sas:. When the government reopened Monday, the students said, it was none tdo soon. 'Charlene Schmult, a student services Associate at the International Center, said that the students and faculty stuck outside the country could not return without a valid visa. "."For new students, the visa docu- rmiint, called an 1-20, has a date of re- 06rting on it," Schmult said. "If that 'dte was last week and they went in this week (for the visa), it's up to the discre- tion of the consul whether they will grant the visa." Director of Undergraduate Admis- sions Ted Spencer said 30 students would have been affected. The reopen- ing of the government saved them just in time: "When (the consulates) opened up Monday, all of the students who needed visas got them. "We were pleased and surprised that students were able to get cleared through their embassies and our federal govern- ment so soon after the reopening. Rackham admissions counselor Su- san Weber said incoming graduate stu- dents were able to avoid most trouble with consulates. "Our university is probably less af- fected than Wayne and Michigan State, which have higher numbers of interna- tional students," she said. Only 90 of Michigan State's 160 new foreign stu- dents have received visas. The Office of Orientation will make special accommodations for late ar- riving students. Pam Horn, in the University's Orientation Office, said that the advisers will be available to help students plan their schedules. Help will be available on a one-to- one basis. It was also possible that students would encounter delays in receiving federal financial aid. For now, Univer- sity officials say, things are secure, but problems may lie ahead. Vivian Byrd, an editor in the Finan- cial Aid Office, said no funds would be delayed and that the University is cur- rently processing aid. However, next year's funding is still up in the air. Thomas Butts, University associ- ate vice president for government re- lations, said there have been delays in getting aid applications to students in high schools. "This slows down the financial aid delivery system," he said. Student loans were not delayed, Butts said, because the direct loan program is an entitlement program. The adminis- trative salaries were also included as entitlements. Some employees were able to work although others were laid off. However, students may have to wait for federal grant money. "Pell Grants, work-study, and supplemental educa- tion grants are all on hold for now," Butts said. "They are not part of appro- priations." Some federal research funding is also pending, which could interrupt the work of some University professors and stu- dents. The National Institutes of Health got a surprising 5.7-percent funding in- crease, which is only approved through September, 1996. However, Butts said, "the National Science Foundation, the National Aero- nautics and Space Association, and the Environmental Protection Agency are still hanging for the final resolution, with funding remaining through Jan. 26, at last year's levels." Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor) said yesterday that it wasn't clear whether program dollars will be avail- able for student aid in the future. "With last week's (federal) agree- ment, the offices will be open and pa- perwork can be processed," Rivers said, adding that there would be some back- up in processing time. Rivers said increased public discus- sion on the issue during the past year has raised awareness on student aid concerns. Rivers noted that President Clinton is especially pushing for edu- cation funding right now. "A lot of it is still wait and see. I know it's hard for people who want to get on with their lives and pay for graduate school," Rivers said. "Now is the time for people to tell their representatives and make sure their opinions are heard." NATIONAL REPORT Columnist gets Clinton fighting mad WASHINGTON - After the White House suggested he wanted to punch a columnist in the nose, President Clinton defended his wife yesterday against questions about her role and truthfulness in the Whitewater affair and travel office .T firings. Saying he takes criticism ofthe first lady personally, Clinton said, "Presidents have feelings, too." Hours earlier, his chief spokesman said the President wanted to punch New York Times columnist William Safire in the nose for calling Hillary Rodham Clinton "a congenital liar." The President, laughing at the suggeston, did not deny his aide's characterization. Safire "If I were an ordinary citizen, I might give that article the response it deserves," he said. Clinton dismissed new questions about Mrs. Clinton's legal work for a Little Rock savings and loan that is at the center of the Whitewater controversy and her role in the 1993 firings of seven White House travel office employees. "We've been through this for four years now and every time somebody has made a charge related to the Whitewater issue, it's turned up dry," Clinton said. 1 {=gr eat scc - t " The only MCAT course in Ann Arb test prep experience behind it! " Personal MCAT attention...a KAPL e The most effective test taking stra " Expertly trained instructors teachi MCAT tick! get ahi her sco KALAI gres... Kidnappers of European women threaten to destroy Arenal dam New multi-racial consciousness developing in U.S. BERKELEY, Calif.-When Cynthia Nakashima came herein 1988 as agradu- ate student in ethnic studies, eager to explore her experience as the daughter of a Japanese American father and a white mother, there was just one class on the subject of mixed-race descent, the first of its kind in the country. Pulling together a course reading list was a chore. The research in the Uni- versity of California, Berkeley library was piddling and there were no student organizations.for the growing number of multi-racial young people who wanted to band together and discuss their special concerns. But with impressive swiftness, the campus has become the epicenter of America's burgeoning bi-racial baby boom. It is command central for a na- tional movement dedicated to changing the way America measures its racial and ethnic complexity and also the way we think about who we are as a people. At the heart of this emerging con- sciousness is the demand that a new "multi-racial" category be added to the U.S. Census in the year 2000 and to all the other forms that classify America's swiftly changing population, which is thought to include1to 2 million people of mixed-race descent. Low-fat diet may reduce lead effects m children, study says CHICAGO - Children exposed to lead will absorb less of it if they eat less fat, a new study suggests. Certain nutrients have long been known to affect the rate at which the body takes up lead, a toxic metal that can retard youngsters' development, low their IQs and damage their hearing. Children can be exposed through dust, dirt and drinking water. Toys and houses painted before 1975 - the last year lead-based paint was used - can be sources. Water can be con- taminated if it flows through lead pipes. Children may eat paint flakes or inhale or lick lead dust, which tastes sweet. ior that has 56 years of AN Hallmark! ategies! ng you what makes the ore N SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) - A person claiming to represent the kid- nappers of two European women threat- ened yesterday to destroy a hydroelec- tric dam unless the government meets their demands. The women were seized Jan. 1 from a hotel in San Carlos, near the Nicara- guan border, by a group that identified itself as the Viviana Gallardo Com- mando. The kidnappers want more than $1 million in ransom as well as freedom for attackers who took over the Costa Rican Supreme Court in 1993. A person identifying himself as one of the kidnappers called Channel 7 TV in San Jose yesterday and made the threat against the Arenal dam. "We want the government to talk to us," said the speaker, who also threat- ened to blow up bridges and telephone and electric power lines. The kidnapped women are Regula Susana Siegfried, 50, a Swiss national who lives in Costa Rica, and Nicola Fleutchaus, 24, a German tourist. The government says negotiations have not advanced since the kidnappers talkedto apriesttomorrow anddemanded that the government meet the demands. Costa Rican police and Nicaraguan soldiers have been combing the moun- tainous area wherethe kidnappings took place but have reported no sign of the kidnappers or the victims. BUDGET Continued from Page 1A which both sides put down a series of final proposals and budget gimmicks but remained significantly at odds over the central issues in the debate: how large atax cut should be provided and to whom; how much in savings should be wrung from the giant Medicare and Medicaid programs; what kind of wel- fare overhaul should occur and dozens of smaller debates. Over the weekend, Republicans be- gan moving closer to White House de- .mands in offers to reduce the level of savings from Medicare, Medicaid, wel- fare and other domestic programs, and in tax-cut proposals. In an offer made Monday, Republi- cans proposed $328 billion overall in seven-year savings in the three big en- titlement programs, Medicare, Medic- aid and welfare, easing their proposed savings by $72 billion. They suggested Clinton choose how to divvy up the amount, but that still left them trim- ming $130 billion more than the Presi- dent had proposed. Although Clinton had put five sepa- rate budgets on the table over the past 10 months, moving closer and closer to GOP goals, the White House appeared to give little in the final days of the negotiation. The new seven-year budget proposal he put on the table over the weekend was in several categories further away from Republicans than prior offers. Officials said the leaders agreed among themselves to call the break- down a "recess" and to refrain from overtly criticizing one another because, in effect, each side is fearful of being blamed for breaking off the talks. But that was too much for one conservative House Republican, House Republican Whip Tom Delay (R-Texas). "They can cut these blackout orders but when I saw the president on televi- sion tonight I exploded. He is mislead- ing the American people. He did not make any new proposals. He has not moved an inch," Delay said. Gingrich and House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.) warned yesterday that the Republicans and con- servative Democrats may move ahead with a plan resembling the Republi- cans' final offer to the White House. o, ROUND T ~R e, a -. Streetcar in Sarajevo hit by grenade SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - A grenade blamed on Bosnian Serbs landed in Sarajevo's notorious Sniper Alley yesterday, tearing a hole in a streetcar andin Bosnia's tentative peace. One man was killed and at least 19 people were wounded. The attack was the worst cease-fire violation since an Oct. 12 trucebyBosnia's warring factions, which signed a U.S.- brokered peace agreement Dec. 14. The White House announced yester- day that President Clinton would travel to Bosnia this weekend to visit Ameri- can peacekeeping troops who are part of the 60,000-member NATO-led force enforcing the peace accord. The attack may have been designed to test the resolve of troops that re- placed U.N. forces in the Bosnian capital three weeks ago. It also marred modest celebrations marking the end of one of the few U.N. successes of the Bosnian war - the longest aid airlift in history. Maj. Peter Bulloch, a spokesman for the NATO-led Implementation Force, or IFOR, confirmed that the lethal gre- nade was fired from a Serb-held posi- tion above the central city. The Bosnian Serb news agency, SRNA, denied Serbs were to blame. It cited sources close to rebel leader Radovan Karadzic. Ex-Korea pres. had* $600M slush fund SEOUL, South Korea - Former President Chun Doo Hwan, already in police custody on insurrection charges stemming from a 1979 mutiny, amassed a political slush fund of at least $600 million while in office, authorities said yesterday. Chun's successor, former Presidc Roh Tae Woo, publicly confessed in October to having accumulated a $653 million slush fund during his term in office. Prosecutors have said, how- ever, only that Roh's slush fund to- taled about $600 million. Roh was arrested in November and is on trial for bribery. Prosecutors have said that Roh retained about $300 million of his slush fund after leaving office. The $53 million discre ancy has never been fully explained. - From Daily wire services "ne Mic'"gan Daiy (IS>N 0745967I) is published Muonay 1nruug ridyoy uuingt uetaill anuwine r msby students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $85. 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