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.

OUT OF THE WOODWORK: The treatment of Wen Ho Lee, the Taiwan-born scientist fired from his job at Los Alamos -- though not charged -- as part of a crackdown on alleged security leaks, has inspired others to come forward with their own tales of U.S. strong-arm tactics, reports the Sing Tao Daily (San Francisco).

Chih-min Hu, born and educated in Taiwan came to the U.S., earned a Ph.D. and went to work in an aeronautics firm in 1982. Soon afterward, he was visited by an FBI agent who asked questions about a friend of Hu's who did business with Mainland China. Hu says he answered "I don't know" and considered getting a lawyer, but the FBI agent talked him out of it.

Hu, frightened, agreed to meet with the agent again. Hu claims the agent called him a liar, and said he had a witness who knew he was lying. No witness appeared, Hu says, but the agent continued to accuse him, finally threatening, "if you don't tell the truth I'll get the company to fire you." A week later he was fired. "When I saw what happened to Wen-ho Li I thought of my own experiences," Hu told the Sing Tao. "I decided I could not keep silent any longer. I wanted to fight back."

HOT WAR, COLD WAR: The war in Kosovo could bring China and Russia together once again into a new Cold War alliance, states an editorial in the World Journal (San Francisco/Taiwan).

The paper questions the legitimacy of the war since it was not declared by Congress, and did not go through the U.N. It also questions the justification of the war on humanitarian grounds in light of the bloodshed caused. Ultimately, the paper feels, the war cannot be won with air power alone -- and if troops are sent in, the sentiment is that they will be caught in a quagmire. But the specter of China and Russia realigned is the ultimate worry. The editorial concludes, "World peace doesn't look so bright."

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE: Urging that couples honor their marriage vows to the very end, Philippine President Joseph Estrada said he would veto a proposed law allowing divorce in the Philippines, where it is now unconstitutional. This principled stand comes from a man who has fathered several children out of wedlock and lived openly with a woman who was not his wife. The Philippines is considering a law modeled on California's "No Fault" divorce where couples may dissolve a marriage by mutual consent for "irreconcilable differences."

WHY STAND IF YOU CAN SIT?: Police officials in Ho Chi Minh City are suggesting the government use the electric chair for executions instead of shooting prisoners, says the Vietnam Daily (San Jose). Supporters say the chair is more humane. The officers also say family members should be allowed to bury executed prisoners, who are now interred in a special cemetery.

Last year 100 people faced the death penalty, including 57 for drug related offenses. Prime Minster Phan Van Khia recently declared he wanted to see fewer death penalties and executions by bullet. Vietnam's Congress takes up the issue next month.

THE SLOW DEATH OF PROP. 187: California Governor Gray Davis' decision to delay state efforts that would kill Prop. 187 has come as a surprise to many.

The measure, eliminating state benefits for illegal immigrants, was declared unconstitutional by federal courts. Ex-Governor Pete Wilson sued to overturn that decision, and Davis was expected to drop the suit -- instead, he has asked the court for a 30 day delay. But La Prensa (San Diego) wonders why "when he campaigned on the promise not to deal in wedge issues such as Proposition 187? Does his promise to the Hispanic community mean so little that he would even consider continuing down this road of Mexico bashing, scapegoating and alienation?"

LATINOS AT WORK: Latino national unemployment levels recently reached their lowest point in 26 years -- 5.8 percent -- despite the limited creation of new jobs, according to La Opinion (Los Angeles). The Labor Department says the low numbers appeared at all levels, from high school dropouts to college graduates. Unemployment levels for Anglos dropped in February, from 3.8 to 3.6 percent; and among blacks from 8.3 to 8.1 percent. Latino unemployment levels dropped from 6.7 to 5.8 percent.

Latino unemployment is still higher than national levels, and experts say that certain imbalances need special attention, like retirement benefits for Hispanics.

PINATUBO DUMP: The famous Mt. Pinatubo volcano last erupted in June, 1991. But since then, foreign tourists have defiled the area, angering Filipinos who consider this ancestral land. (Philippine News, San Francisco). Mounds of trash have been left -- empty bottles, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, film boxes and plastic bags.

IN PUBLIC -- PLEASE USE VIBRATOR FUNCTION: With 18.6 million people, nearly 40% of the population, hooked on cellular phones, the Korean government has a new concern according to the Korea Times (San Francisco). The beeping phones have become an urban irritant. "Please think of others when you use the cellular phone or pager in the public," says one public transit ad." Please turn them off, or for the sake of other passengers, put them in vibration mode."