JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 5.07

03/29/99 - 04/11/99

CONTENTS

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

Where Have All the Churches Gone?
By Dave Cullen

The brutal murder of a gay man in Colorado last October brought denunciation from almost all elements of the community, including organized religion. However, since that time churches have been, for the most part, silent on the issue -- a silence which has been the rule for too long, according to PNS commentator Dave Cullen. Cullen is a Colorado-based novelist, currently writing "In A Boy's Dream," a memoir.

Bombing the Seeds of Democracy Out of the Soil of Yugoslavia
By Veran Matic

From Belgrade, underneath the bombs, the effects of NATO bombing seem to be diametrically opposed to its stated objectives. The one weapon that can help resolve the conflict is information -- on every side, according to PNS commentator Veran Matic. Matic is editor-in-chief of Belgrade's banned Radio B92 and a leading peace activist. He has won many international awards, most recently MTV Europe "Free Your Mind" award. Radio B92 is continuing is working as much as the circumstances of war permit, continuing to broadcast news on the Internet at http://www.b92.net through a large number of radio stations around the world.

Springtime in Europe
By Richard Rodriguez

The myth has long been that the calamities threatening global peace spring from the Third World, the "undeveloped" world. Yet at century's end it is Europe, once again, that poses the most ominous threat -- as is has posed twice before since the century began. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez is author of "Days of Obligation" and the forthcoming "The Color Brown." He is a regular essayist for the News Hour with Jim Lehrer and the Los Angeles Sunday Times.

Letter to a Young Refugee From Another
By Andrew Lam

The picture of a child in a sea of refugee faces spurs memories of exile for a writer forced to flee his homeland 24 years ago. PNS editor Andrew Lam is a journalist and short-story writer based in San Francisco.

VECTORS: A Regular Column on the Ideas and Directions Behind Today's News

Why Milosevic Could Drag the World Towards World War III
By Franz Schurmann

While the media concentrate on the storms of Kosovo even more menacing clouds are gathering behind them. One dimly visible cloud is the unraveling of arms control agreements between the world's two nuclear superpowers, the U.S. and Russia. If this continues the world could find itself back on the road leading towards World War III. PNS associate editor Franz Schurmann writes extensively on international affairs. He is Professor Emeritus from UC Berkeley and author of "The Logic of World Power" and "The Foreign Politics of Richard Nixon."

Is China Playing a Hidden Role in the Kosovo Crisis?
By Franz Schurmann

With China now officially representing Yugoslavia on the Washington diplomatic scene it's certain that Clinton and Zhu discussed Kosovo. But there is a distinct possibility that Clinton also asked China to act as a broker between the U.S. and Yugoslavia. PNS associate editor Franz Schurmann writes extensively on international affairs. He is Professor Emeritus from UC Berkeley and author of "The Logic of World Power" and "The Foreign Politics of Richard Nixon."

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

Rigoberta Menchu's Truth
By Mary Jo McConahay

Facts in the autobiography of Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu have been challenged by anthropologist David Stoll. PNS Latin America editor, Mary Jo McConahay, offers a view from Guatemala, where the story began.

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

Gleanings From the Ethnic Media #15
By Emil Guillermo

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.

Gleanings from the Ethnic Media #16
By Emil Guillermo

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

Government Report Charging That Advertisers Short-Change Ethnic Media Only Touches Tip of the Iceberg
By Lee Hubbard

A recent FCC report found that advertisers often ignore or underpay ethnic radio and television stations. The same holds true, according to PNS commentator Lee Hubbard, even of the U.S. government as an advertiser and of print media as well. Hubbard is a writer on the staff of the San Francisco Bay View.

Gypsies in Belgrade-- The Underclass of a City Under the Guns Somehow Manages to Keep Its Head
By Terence Sheridan

In the oldest part of Belgrade, in the rubble of an abandoned factory close to a bridge and a power plant, some 150 Gypsies have managed to hold on. They find the bombing frightening -- and disappointing. PNS correspondent Terence Sheridan, a former reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has been living and writing in the former Yugoslavia for the last eight years.

Rich Folks Reach Across the Gap
By Miriam Davidson

With complaints about the inequities of our tax system filling the air, it's instructive to learn of an effort to level the playing field. The move comes from an unlikely quarter: a group of citizens whose wealth puts them in the top five percent of Americans. PNS correspondent Miriam Davidson is a Tucson-based writer working on a series of profiles of the members of Responsible Wealth.

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

The View From Next Door-- NATO Attacks Draw Critical Eyes in Italy
By Jeff Israely

In Italy, criticism of the NATO bombing of Serbian targets has come from every side. Some of this reflects judgments of the situation, but much of the criticism reflects the history of relations between the U.S. and Italy over the last 60 years -- and this suggests that it's time for the U.S. to reconsider its role in Europe. PNS correspondent Jeff Israely, a former staff reporter at the Oakland Tribune, is a freelance writer based in Rome.

On Edge -- In Belgrade, Even the Lucky Old Hands Keep Looking Over Their Shoulders
By Terence Sheridan

For journalists, life in Belgrade has become a chancy business at best, squeezed between government expulsions and NATO explosions. Even the old hands are genuinely nervous, though as PNS commentator Terence Sheridan reports, a little humor sometimes helps things along. Sheridan, a former reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has been living and writing in the former Yugoslavia for the last eight years.

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