8A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 21, 1996
NATION/WORLD
House passes controversial umigiation bill
.
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - The House of
Rpresentatives voted yesterday to give
sttes the option of denying free public
education to the children of illegal im-
migrants.
The vote,on the second day ofdebate
ot a controversial immigration bill,
came after House Speaker Newt
Gingrich (R-Ga.) made a rare floor
speech urging members to support the
measure, an amendment sponsored by
Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.). The
amendment passed 257 to 163. A vote
on the overall bill is expected this week.
The provision, which opponents de-
nounced as unconstitutional, appears
certain to revive a controversy over the
legal and moral basis for refusing edu-
Technique
detects
Alzheimer's
'bad spots'
BOSTON (AP) - For the first time,
brain images have captured the insidious
destruction of approaching Alzheimer's
disease in people whose thinking and
memory are still rich and vigorous.
Combining brain scans with careful
genetic screening, doctors can actually
see bad spots inside the brain that are
the all-but-certain early stages of the
devastating illness.
This latest innovation means doctors
may be able to diagnose Alzheimer's
more than a decade before it actually
starts to steal its victims' mental powers.
"Accurate and early detection of
Alzheimer's disease has been a goal for
many years. This study shows it is pos-
sible to do that," said Zaven
Khachaturian, director of the
Alzheimer's Association's Ronald and
Nancy Reagan Research Institute,
named for the disease's most famous
recent victim.
Many experts, however, caution
against screening for impending
Alzheimer's disease in completely
healthy people because no one can pre-
dict precisely when the disease will
start - or do anything to stop it.
The new technique is part of a whirl-
wind of research that over the last three
years has brought doctors much closer to
understanding and perhaps even treating
Alzheimer's disease. All of it stems from
the surprise discovery that a gene impli-
cated in heart disease also appears to be
involved in most Alzheimer's cases.
Dr. Eric Reiman and colleagues from
Good Samaritan Regional Medical Cen-
ter in Phoenix began with a blood test for
the suspect gene and coupled its results
with a form of brain imaging called
positron-emission tomography - PET
for short. They published their results in
today's issue ofthe New England Journal
of Medicine.
The gene is known as apolipoprotein
E, or apo E. It comes in three varieties
-apo E-2, E-3 and E-4. It turns out that
the E-2 version of the gene protects
people from getting Alzheimer's, while
-4 makes it start at a younger age. The
risk from E-3, the most common apo E
gene, falls in between.
Bill says states may deny immigrants free education
cation, health and social welfare ser-
vices to illegal immigrants.
In 1994, Californians overwhelm-
ingly approved a ballot initiative, Propo-
sition 187, to do just that, but it was
immediately tied up in court. Last No-
vember, a federal judge in California
declared key parts of the measure un-
constitutional on grounds that the au-
thority to regulate immigration belongs
exclusively to the federal government.
Moreover, a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court
decision struck down a Texas law that
would have stopped illegal alien chil-
dren from attending public schools.
While the likelihood of new legal
challenges may limit the immediate
practical effect of yesterday's vote, the
amendment's approval marked the first
time a key component of Proposition
187 has been accepted at the congres-
sional level.
The amendment says that the right to
a free public education "promotes vio-
lations of the immigration laws" and
"creates a significant burden on states'
economies." Therefore, it adds, "states
should not be obligated" to provide
education to illegal aliens and can check
immigration and other documents to
determine whether a child is in the
country legally.
Gallegly said the measure would not
apply to the U.S.-born children of ille-
gal aliens.
In promoting the amendment,
Gallegly argued that allowing illegal
immigrant children to attend public
schools has encouraged illegal immi-
gration, with "devastating" effects for
the U.S. education system.
"Just because someone has busted
through the door, that does not entitle
them to the contents of the home," he
said. "Illegal immigrants belong back
in their country of origin, and we should
do everything we can to encourage them
to embrace that simple idea."
Backing those arguments in his floor
speech, Gingrich said, "Offering free,
tax-paid goods to illegals has increased
the numberofillegals." He added, "This
used to be the land of opportunity -
now it's the land of welfare."
Gingrich said the nation should be
sending the message: "Come to America
for opportunity. Do not come to America
to live off the law-abiding, American
taxpayer."
Rep. John Bryant (D-Tex.), a co-
sponsor of the immigration bill who is
running for his party's Senate nomina-
tion, argued that emergency medical
treatment and childrens' education tra-
ditionally have been exempted from
sanctions. Calling the Gallegly amend
ment "extreme" and "absolutely ille-
gal," he said its adoption "would b
tragedy." He asked, "Why would we
want a population of children in this
country to not be in school?"
In a subsequent floor speech, Bryant
sharply criticized Gingrich for helping
to pass what he described as a "deal-
breaker" amendment that would cause
President Clinton to veto a bill contain-
ing it. He called Gingrich's interven-
tion "very partisan" and "not befitting
the office of Speaker of the House."
Court: '90 census
to stand despite
racial undercounts
A Chinese surface-to-air missile being launched during joint air and naval exercises held by China's People's Liberation Army
in mid-March in the East China and South China Seas.
*d r
China ties to iate voters
with footage of weaponry
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - By a unanimous
vote, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday
that the federal government need not
statistically adjust census figures to com-
pensate for the undercounting of blacks,
Hispanics and other minority groups in
the nation's cities and along the border.
The decennial census figures are of
great consequence because they are
used, among other purposes, to draw
congressional districts and to calculate
federal funding to states.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors im-
mediately criticized the decision as
undermining "the fair and just distribu-
tion of political representation ... espe-
cially now, in a period when demo-
graphics are rapidly changing and fed-
eral aid is rapidly shrinking."
Yesterday's case arose after New
York, several other cities andcivil rights
groups challenged the Commerce
Department's decision not to revise
upward some cities' 1990 population
counts. The department, which is the
parent agency for the Census Bureau,
had questioned the value of adjusting
the figures although it acknowledged
that blacks had been undercounted by
4.8 percent, Hispanics by 5.2 percent,
Native Americans by 5 percent and
Asian Pacific Islanders by 3.1 percent.
By not statistically compensating for
omissions, New York asserted, the
Commerce Department violated minori-
ties' rights. ThestatesofWisconsin and
Oklahoma entered the lawsuit on the
side of the Commerce Department, try-
ing to preserve their federal dollars un-
der the 1990 count.
The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in
New York ruled for the cities, saying
Commerce failed to make a good-faith
effort to obtain an accurate population
count. The lower court said the
secretary's decision was subject to
heightened judicial scrutiny because it
affected the right to have one's vote
counted and had a disproportionate
impact on minorities.
Reversing that ruling, the Supreme
Court said the Constitution gives Con-
gress almost unlimited discretion for the
census and that Congress has delegated
authority to the Commerce Secretary
ChiefJustice William Rehnquistwr,
"the secretary's decision not to adjust
need bear only a reasonable relationship
to the accomplishment of an actual enu-
meration of the population." He said the
Census Bureau had "made an extraordi-
nary effort to conduct an accurate enu-
meration, and was successful in counting
98.4 percent of the population."
Rehnquist said, in 1 99J then-Com-
merce Secretary Robert Mosbach
fused to statistically adjust e
headcount based on its uncertain value
and whether it would make the censu
better and the distribution of the popu-
lation more accurate.
Attorney Robert Rifkind, who repre
sented New York, said Wednesday tha
although his side lost he was heartene
by a recent Commerce Department an
nouncement that it would use som
statistical surveys to supplement po g,
lations for the census in 2000.
The census became a political issu
in the 1992 presidential campaign
Democratic politicians, includin
Ronald Brown, then chairman of th
Democratic National Committee, ar
gued that the George Bush administra
tion deliberately refused to account fo
inner-city residents. But Brown is no
Commerce secretary, and in the cou
case, the Clinton administration,
fended broad commerce discretion
the census count.
Yesterday's opinion in Wisconsin v
City of New York specifically did no
address whether the Constitution migh
prohibit the government from undertak
ing a statistical adjustment in the future
The Washington Post
BEIJING - In a bristling display of
Military muscle and nationalistic ardor
before Saturday's presidential election
in Taiwan, China's state television yes-
terday aired extensive footage of its
military exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
Against abackground of roaring mis-
siles and soldiers chanting their will-
ingness to die for the motherland, China
displayed its latest weaponry in action
with a fleet of target ships in interna-
tional waters west of Taiwan. A squad-
ron of modern Su-27 fighters fired air-
to-ground missiles while bombers re-
leased their payloads and warships un-
leashed torpedoes.
"Imagine Mount Taishan falling on
your head," the China Central Televi-
sion announcer said as dozens of bombs
fell toward their targets in the roiling sea.
The rare public display of military
might, broadcast across China on the
main evening news program, was the
latest element in China'spropagandacam-
paign to intimidate voters in Taiwan.
Last week, the national television
network, which is regularly monitored
by TV stations in Taiwan, showed four
medium-range missiles being fired to
targets near the Taiwan coast. If the
campaign continues according to script,
a final broadcast can be expected later
this week, possibly showing an am-
phibious landing on the chain of islands
of China's eastern coast, where another
round of military exercises is under
way through March 25.
The latest exercises, around Haitan
Island offChina's Fujian Province, suf-
fered a setback yesterday as fog and
rain enveloped much of the coast. The
Beijing-financed New Evening Post in
Hong Kong reported that most soldiers
involved remained in their camps yes-
terday waiting for the weather to clear.
How much China's military postur-
ing will affect the vote in Taiwan's first
presidential election will not be known
until Saturday. China, which has vowed
to invade Taiwan if the island declares
independence from the mainland, is
hoping the margin of victory of the
expected winner, Taiwan President Lee
Teng-hui, will be less than 50 percent
of the total.
Speaking at a news conference in
Taipei, Lee said the Chinese military
exercises have had the opposite of the
intended result on Taiwan's population.
"Communist China's military and air
and sea exercises not only did not dis-
turb our people's minds," Lee said, "it
further put together the 21 million
people's feeling of strength and unity."
The two weeks of military propa-
ganda already have had a significant
impact on China itself, producing a
resurgent wave ofnationalism that could
have longer-term consequences than
the current flap over Taiwan.
After more than a decade of double-
digit economic growth that has changed
substantially the living standards ofmost
people, many Chinese feel their coun-
try and its army are worthy of respect
equal to China's new economic clout.
Some of the new nationalism has
taken the form of anti-foreign and anti-
American attitudes, particularly after
the Clinton administrationordered two
U.S. aircraft carrier groups to the area
to keep an eye on China's exercises and
monitor threats against Taiwan.
eidltah n~tuilg
THE UM SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRESENTS
The Michigan Pops Orchestra
Sunday, March 31 at 2pm
Michigan Theater
Showcasing music from Phantom of the Opera,
Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story, Jurassic Park,
and works by Copland, Elfman, Tchaikovsky
Come hear the University's newest orchestra!
i $6 general admission / $4 students, seniors, children
Tickets available at the Michigan Union Ticket Office
Charge by phone: 763-TKTS
Sponsored by: UAC, Programming Grants Council, MSA, LSA Student Government, RHA, Rackham Student Government, KKI/TB
Preparing Vessels of Honor
at the
Detroit Center of Theological Education
Wayne State University Campus
Accredited M.A., M. Div., D. Min.
CHIP DAVIS, CONDUCTOR
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