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JINN MAGAZINE
PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE
Issue No. 4.16
08/03/98 - 08/16/98
VOICES: First-Person Essays Linking the Private to the Public
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Little White Lies
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 08-06-98
What's in a lie? Do lies matter? PNS editor Richard Rodriguez writes that even though lying is the first sin mentioned in the Bible, and that lies invariably self-destruct, Americans don't take lying very seriously. Rodriguez is author of "Days of Obligation" and "Hunger of Memory," and an essayist for the Los Angeles Times Sunday Perspective page and the PBS "News Hour with Jim Lehrer."
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Fairy Tales East and West-- Must the Global Fairy Tale Have a Happy Ending?
By Andrew Lam
Date: 08-13-98
The tales we tell our children pass along an understanding of the world, and that understanding is not always a cheerful one. But the entertainment industry, while it seems increasingly open to diversity, may be reluctant to include unhappy endings. PNS editor Andrew Lam is a journalist and short-story writer based in San Francisco. A longer version of this essay appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.
CALIFORNIA COLLAGE: California as Trendsetter for the Country and the World
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In Prosperous Mexico City and L.A. Races Fuse But Class Divisions Remain
By Ruben Martinez
Date: 08-03-98
Looking out your apartment window these days, it's hard to tell whether you're in Mexico or L.A. In both places, the affluent young of all races mix so easily the cultures are almost indistinguishable -- it is only when you venture into nearby neighborhoods of poor people that you become aware of a very real class divide. PNS commentator Ruben Martinez is at work on a book about life and death in the borderlands.
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Fong Versus Boxer -- Identity Politics Could Prove Decisive in California Senate Race
By William Wong
Date: 08-10-98
As more and more Asian Americans vote in California, often choosing candidates for their Asian surnames, identity politics could prove more decisive than gender or party affiliation in the upcoming Senatorial race between incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer and Republican challenger Matt Fong. PNS correspondent Bill Wong is a freelance journalist and former reporter for the Wall St. Journal and a columnist for the Oakland Tribune.
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Gleanings from the New California Media
Edited by Andrea Quong, Alfonso Serrano F. and Franz Schurmann
Date: 08-12-98
Is North Korea moving into the world of the dollar? How is the Taliban victory in Afghanistan seen in the Muslim world? What is the theme of this year's Mr. Asian contest? Answers to these questions are hard to find in mainstream media outlets. Every two weeks New California Media, a network of ethnic media organizations, digests news and commentary from this rapidly growing segment of the news media.
MOVEMENTS: Strategies For Survival, Identity and Direction by People on the Margins
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Churches Convert-- From Opponents to Collaborators In Welfare Reform
By Joan Walsh
Date: 08-04-98
A year after the new restrictions on welfare became law, California churches and other religions organizations -- once severe critics of the new rules -- are at the forefront of smoothing transitions from welfare to work. This "conversion" is stirring controversy within church circles. PNS associate editor Joan Walsh, a Bay Area based journalist, authored a recent report for the Rockefeller Foundation entitled "Stories of Renewal: Community Building and the Future of Urban America."
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It's Elementary -- City Judges Try an ABC Approach to Fighting Crime
By Yuriko Nagano
Date: 08-05-98
Amid a great deal of talk about the merits of spending on prisons rather than schools, judges in Oakland, California have put two and two together. They are offering some young people charged with nonviolent crimes the choice of facing a classroom rather than a courtroom. PNS correspondent Yuriko Nagano is a Japanese journalist studying at U.C. Berkeley.
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Bill Finds a Condo -- And an Advantage to Being Black in Today's Housing Market
By Joseph Simon
Date: 08-14-98
In San Francisco, as in many other cities, the boundaries of "desirable neighborhoods" are changing as real estate prices turn stratospheric. In the midst of that transition, members of the black middle class have found -- at last -- a slight advantage. PNS commentator Joseph Simon, who was born in San Francisco, lives and writes essays in that city.
CIVIL CONFLICTS: Interpretive Reports on Ethnic, Religious, and Inter-National Conflicts Worldwide
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The Two Kenyas
By Percy C. Hintzen
Date: 08-11-98
The bombing in Nairobi reveals that the dazzling, sky scraper capital of Kenya is vulnerable, like any city -- but tells us very little about Africa or Africans. The real Kenya can be found in rural areas, away from the reach of the capital, where the people have, on their own, embarked on a model development plan. PNS contributing editor Percy C. Hintzen is chair of African American Studies at University of California, Berkeley and recently returned from an extended visit to East Africa.
YOUTH OUTLOOK: The World Through Young People's Eyes
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The Path to College May Start in the Subway
By Lateef Mungin
Date: 08-06-98
The way we look at "higher education" is shifting -- rising tuition costs and the end of affirmative action means many young people can no longer take college for granted. Some argue that it inhibits creativity. PNS commentator Lateef Mungin, now in his mid-20s, dropped out of college to pursue his music, but has returned with a will. This is the first of several articles on the paths to college.
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