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JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 4.21

10/12/98 - 10/25/98

CONTENTS


* VOICES: First-Person Essays Linking the Private to the Public

    The Gay Word -- Dare We Say It, Dare We Not
    By Richard Rodriguez
    Date: 10-13-98
    Words play an essential part in the dance between the individual and society, particularly when it comes to behavior that is not universally accepted. This meditation on the role of language by PNS associate editor Richard Rodriguez was written prior to the murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, and aired on "The News Hour With Jim Lehrer," where Mr. Rodriguez is a regular contributor.

    The Pounding of My Heart is Real, Not Imaginary
    By Mimi Nguyen
    Date: 10-14-98
    Sometimes the news carries a message more profound and disturbing than any recitation of facts. For PNS commentator Mimi Nguyen, accounts of the murder of a college student 1000 miles away stirred memory and determination. Nguyen is a 'zine publisher and a graduate student at UC Berkeley.

    My Heterosexual Dilemma
    By Richard Rodriguez
    Date: 10-16-98
    The brutal murder of Matthew Shepard reminds us that, for all our talk about sex, we know little about the mysteries of sexuality -- let alone why a gay wink in a bar unleashes a murderous rage. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez is author of "Days of Obligation" and an essayist for the Los Angeles Times, Harper's and "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer."

    This High School Teaches Indifference and Practices Neglect
    By Kevin Weston
    Date: 10-21-98
    Students at one troubled California high school have been locked out of the library. At a time when the state is far more eager to lock young people up than to provide the opportunity to learn, this gesture is far from symbolic. PNS commentator Kevin Weston is the AntiVerses Editor for the San Francisco BayView newspaper and a Bay Area journalist.

    From a Hero to a Zero -- When Injury Sidelines the Older Athlete
    By Eve Pell
    Date: 10-22-98
    What happens when an award winning over-60 athlete wears down a tendon and gets sidelined? Eve Pell, who runs for the Impala Racing Team of San Francisco, is currently the top-ranked road runner in the women's 60-64 division. She writes a regular column on veteran athletes for Pacific News Service.

    Denied Voting Rights -- Ex-Prisoners Like Ghosts Inhabiting a Citizen's Space
    By Joe Loya
    Date: 10-23-98
    While politicians urge Americans to do their civic duty and vote, three million former felons seeking a way to reconnect to civic life are barred from the ballot box. PNS associate editor Joe Loya, who spent seven years in federal prison on bank robbery charges, is writing an autobiography. A longer version of this essay appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.


* PACIFIC PULSE: The Pacific Century and Its Impact on the Americas

    Pat Robertson -- A Modern Day "Matteo Ricci" Fosters Ties Between Religious Right and China
    By George Koo
    Date: 10-12-98
    America's "religious right" has long been home to the harshest critics of China -- until Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, visited China late this summer and met with Premier Zhu Rongji in Beijing. The visit and the "summit" may do more to improve U.S.-China ties than President Clinton's earlier trip. PNS commentator George Koo recently interviewed Robertson about the trip. Koo is an independent business consultant, former Chairman of Silicon Valley based Asian American Manufacturers Association, a Human Relations Commissioner of Mountain View, Ca. and a member of Committee of 100, a national organization of prominent Chinese Americans.


* THE AMERICAS: The Growing Enmeshment of the U.S. and Latin Worlds

    This Time It's Pinochet the Prisoner -- But It's Still Outside Intervention
    By Alfonso Serrano F.
    Date: 10-21-98
    Once again outside forces have intervened in Chilean affairs. This time, the casualty is former dictator Augusto Pinochet, but to a significant extent, Pinochet is a victim of his own isolation, nurtured during his repressive 17-year rule. PNS Associate Editor Alfonso Serrano F., a native of Chile, is a San Francisco-based journalist. A version of this article appeared in New York Newsday.


* CALIFORNIA COLLAGE: California as Trendsetter for the Country and the World

    Gleanings from the New California Media
    Compiled by Franz Schurmann, Andrea Quong and Alfonso Serrano F.
    Date: 10-20-98
    A brief tour of recent issues of the ethnic media provides a taste of how Latin Americans see the debt crisis, an Arab American view of Pat Robertson, and a wry note from the Chinese language press on the U.S. position on human rights. Elsewhere, there is news of software friendly to non-English speakers and movie stars poaching endangered species. One of a series of reviews of the ethnic media in California and elsewhere published biweekly by Pacific News Service


* MOVEMENTS: Strategies For Survival, Identity and Direction by People on the Margins

    Growth is Out, Equity Is In -- IMF Types Push New Line on Poverty
    By Lucy Komisar
    Date: 10-19-98
    Growth may no longer be the magic word in the world of international development. The current financial crisis has revealed, even to those most committed to a "rising tide" approach, that without some mechanisms ensuring equality, growth can lead to certain trouble. PNS commentator Lucy Komisar, who writes about international affairs, covered the recent annual meeting of the World Bank.


* CIVIL CONFLICTS: Interpretive Reports on Ethnic, Religious, and Inter-National Conflicts Worldwide

    In Oil-Rich Azerbaijan, Old-Style Election Games Should Not Mask New Realities
    By Thomas Goltz
    Date: 10-14-98
    At first glance, the recent elections in Azerbaijan look like more of the same -- an autocrat voted in by a huge majority, of interest to outsiders only because this country will play a crucial role in exploiting vast quantities of oil and gas. But for those on the ground, it is clear that at least a determined breeze of change is sweeping over the former Soviet republic. PNS contributor Thomas Goltz is author of the acclaimed "Azerbaijan Diary" published by M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, NY.


* YOUTH OUTLOOK: The World Through Young People's Eyes

    Lessons From Laramie -- We Must Own Our Fear
    By Selim Algar
    Date: 10-15-98
    On the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, long known as a center of tolerance, there is a quiet unease over the killing of a gay college student in Wyoming. One young writer, searching for student attitudes, learns why Laramie is not so distant as we would like to think. PNS commentator Selim Algar is a recent college graduate now working as a freelance journalist.

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