What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.

TWO BIRDS, ONE STONE: Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry -- a major booster of the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) as a sound military option -- is now apparently taking on a political role, according to an editorial in the World Journal (Taiwan). Perry was Clinton's special emissary charged with getting North Korea to abandon plans to launch another missile/satellite system. But his role has now expanded and he is holding talks with all the main players in the region.

The editorial notes that in a recent speech Perry suggested that Taiwan accept the "One China" concept, and formally ditch independence. The paper speculates that if Taiwan goes along with such a proposal, then the U.S. will persuade China to accept Taiwan's disputed entry into the TMD. Such a linkage might bring a breakthrough, but the editorial points out an operational TMD is still a long way off.

EXCUSE ME, THERE'S EGG IN YOUR EGG ROLL: Lumpia, the famous Filipino egg roll, has been the subject of a massive recall, reports the Philippine News (San Francisco). The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection service found numerous products by the two companies contained egg whites -- a known allergen -- but omitted them as an ingredient. Fil-Am Specialty foods recalled almost 4,000 pounds, the Family Loompya Corp. nearly 200,000 pounds. So far no illnesses have been reported.

YOU CAN FIGHT BACK: After police in the mainland China town of Guandong brutally murdered four peasants, people there did something unheard of. Normally they would have kept their mouths shut. But they were so furious they put pressure on authorities. With the help of intense media scrutiny, they used China's developing legal system to bring justice to the police. An editorial in the Taiwan-based World Journal used the story as an example of what's happening throughout China and said it augurs well for the village democratization process now going on.

GIVE US YOUR SMART: The 300,000 immigrants with less than a high school education who come to the United States each year are driving wages down and pushing unemployment up for unskilled American workers, particularly blacks and Hispanics, according to George J. Borjas, a professor at Harvard University.

According to Latino Link, a Washington DC-based weekly news service, Borjas told the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, "The slight gain in wealth that immigration provides the country as a whole is being paid for by unskilled, native-born workers."

Borjas estimated that while immigration benefits the country as a whole, American workers without a high school education lose an average of $1,915 a year because of competition from low-skill immigrant laborers.

"Basically, immigration, as it stands today, is great for educated, middle-class consumers and terrible for poor, working families," he said.

MIDDLE EAST TRIANGLE: Relations with Jordan are at the top of President Clinton's foreign policy agenda. In the two years that remain of his presidency, the president is determined to lay a foundation for an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian new order by the year 2000, writes Muhammad Ali Salih in Al-Majalla magazine (Saudi Arabia). Citing an unnamed source in the State Department, the article says Clinton wants to make the "Jordanian-Israeli-Palestinian human triangle the centerpiece of his foreign policy..." The report calls Queen Nor the continuing link between Jordan and America.

"WHO CARES" WINS DOWN THERE TOO: In the recent national vote in El Salvador, according to La Opinion (Los Angeles), 65 percent of the electorate chose to stay home rather than elect a president. "There wasn't a political message that mobilized the population," said Edgardo Quintanilla, member of the Salvadoran Chamber of Commerce. "No party presented a visionary program for government."

A deep suspicion of politicians after decades of war is no surprise. What was surprising was the low turnout from Salvadorans abroad, many of whom had asked to be more involved in their country especially considering the importance of the $1 billion in remittances they send into the country each year.

MISSING: The internationally renowned geologist Nguyen The Giang was arrested in Hanoi and has not been heard of since, reports Thoi Bao (San Jose). Giang is a very important political figure in Vietnam, though he does not belong to the Communist Party. Over the last three years, he has written a series of open letters and essays criticizing and challenging the Communist government of Vietnam.

His arrest came on the heels of the ousting of Communist party elder, General Tran Do, a member of the party for 58 years. Do, a friend of Giang, often spoke out against the government and demanded more rights for the Vietnamese people. The paper suggested that Giang's arrest is a signal to those pushing for a multiparty system and democracy: Cool it -- or share in Giang's fate.

FILIPINO NURSES WIN: A nursing home in Missouri has settled a class action employment discrimination lawsuit by agreeing to pay $2.1 million to 65 Filipino nurses, reports the Philippine News (San Francisco). The lawsuit alleged that Woodbine Healthcare Center in Gladstone, Mo. discriminated against the Filipino registered nurses in wages, assignments, and other terms and conditions of employment due to their national origin. The EEOC assisted in the case.

"This settlement stems from an instance of employees, who because of their country of origin, have been denied the dignity of working in a discrimination-free workplace that compensates them fairly," said EEOC chair Ida Castro." Foreign-born employees ought not be deprived of an equal opportunity to reach the American Dream."

DON'T CALL THEM DAGGERS: California State Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett re-introduced legislation establishing the rights of orthodox Sikh children to wear kirpans to school.

According to San Francisco based AsianWeek, State Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced the re-introduction of legislation at a victory party thrown by the Indo-American Political Foundation in Brea, Ca. As a State Senator, Lockyer introduced similar legislation which was vetoed by then Governor Pete Wilson. Lockyer is confident the new, re-introduced bill will make it to Governor Davis's desk. "I can't think of any reason why he wouldn't sign it," he said.

THEY LIKE SHOWS ABOUT NOTHING TOO: The sixth annual Report on Latino Viewing of Network TV charts a strong and continuing crossover trend -- English-speaking Latino's favorite prime time TV shows mirror those of all U.S. households, with Seinfeld the #1 favorite and ER #2 for both groups, reports La Prensa (San Diego).