JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 6.08

04/17/00 - 04/28/00

CONTENTS

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

Only The Survivors Can Grasp The Meaning Of Columbine
By Kathy Dobie

Distance in time and space may help us reach some understanding of events that cannot be explained in any usual way. Looking at Columbine from New York City after a year of trying to know what it was all about, PNS commentator Kathy Dobie has come to realize that the meaning of the incident will be decided only by how the survivors -- mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers, teachers, cops -- lead their own lives in the wake of the tragedy.

Staying In Place, Staying In Motion -- A Refugee Returns To Hue
By Andrew Lam

On the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, a returning Vietnamese refugee sees the citadel city of Hue not as the site of the great battle, but the place he realizes one true outcome of the century's conflicts: the creation of global villagers -- refugees -- who long to be rooted in place. PNS associate editor Andrew Lam is a journalist and short story writer.

Elian -- The First Cause That Could Unify Hispanics
By Richard Rodriguez

Alone among Hispanics, Cuban Americans never identified themselves as a "minority" in America -- their grievance was with Cuba. Today, their fierce resistance to America's national will over Elian could finally unify them with other Hispanic Americans. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez is author of "Hunger of Memory" and "Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father."

U.S. Customs Applies A Double Standard In Two Directions At Once
By Linn Washington Jr.

Black travelers who go abroad, especially women, are far more likely than other travelers to be stopped and searched by U.S. Customs according to a recent Government Accounting Office report. The bad news is that this practice can be seen as simply the extension of policies within the agency itself. PNS commentator Linn Washington Jr. is a journalism professor at Temple University and a graduate of the Yale Law Journalism Fellowship who writes extensively on inequities in the criminal justice system.

Feds Should Act On Proof That Drug Policy Is Racist, Wasteful -- And Totally Ineffective
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Federal prisons are packing in record numbers of inmates, most of them young and African American for crimes involving small amounts of crack cocaine. Since young African Americans play at best a minor role in cocaine trafficking, it is becoming clear that current drug policy is racially biased as well as ineffective. PNS commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "The Disappearance of Black Leadership." E-mail him at ehutchi344@aol.com.

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

Mary Jo Mcconahay, Poster Protesters May Be White With Orange Hair -- But Movement's Base Broadens To Immigrants And Youth Of Color
By Mary Jo Mcconahay

Images of young people with outrageously colored dominate coverage of the weekend's protests against globalization. But a reporter on the ground finds a striking number of young people of color, immigrants, and others with first hand knowledge -- and strong personal feelings -- about what they are protesting. Mary Jo McConahay writes for New California Media, PNS' collaboration of ethnic news organizations. NCM can be found on the world wide web at www.NCMonline.com.

Globals 1, Locals ? -- Toughest Sell For Antiglobal Forces Is To D.C.'s Permanent Residents
By Koren L. Capozza

While the focus of this weekend's protest against globalism was the upper echelons of the world money and banking system, protesters found themselves faced with a much more gritty local reality. In the process, both the visitors and the residents gained some knowledge, and perhaps some motivation. Koren Capozza writes for New California Media, PNS' collaboration of ethnic news organizations. NCM can be found on the world wide web at www.NCMonline.com.

High School Students 1200 Miles Away Still Feel Tremors From The Columbine Shooting
By Donal Brown

They could be twins, almost -- Redwood High, north of San Francisco, is set in an affluent, white suburb, like Columbine High School -- and this may have made news of the shooting especially disturbing. But a talk with students at the school reveals some significant differences between the two schools, as well as some lingering fear. PNS reporter Donal Brown recently retired after 30 years of teaching at at Redwood High in Marin County, Ca.

Richardson As Running Mate Would Be Giant Step In The Wrong Direction For Gore
By George Koo

It's the season for running the names of possible vice presidents up various flagpoles to see if anyone salutes. One name caught the eye of PNS commentator George Koo. Koo is a member of Committee of 100, a national organization of prominent Chinese Americans.

Legacy Of European Disunity, America's Shifting Interest Batter The Euro
By Franz Schurmann

Europeans are aghast that their putative common currency, the euro, has come crashing through the floor. America's shifting attention from Europe to the Asian Pacific economies ultimately may be the reason for the euro's dire straits, writes PNS editor Franz Schurmann. Schurmann has repeatedly predicted the euro's decline ever since it was launched in 1999.

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

More-Than-Dollars-Trade With China Fuels The Engine Of Democratic Reform
By Sanford Gottlieb

The Clinton Administration push to normalize trade with China has drawn vigorous opposition from many usually seen as friends, including some leading Democrats concerned with human rights issues. But the best way to open China to democratic reform, says PNS commentator Sanford Gottlieb, is through the kind of exposure only trade can bring. Gottlieb is author of "Defense Addiction: Can America Kick the Habit?" published by Westview Press.

"Pho" Goes Global Thanks To Vietnamese Diaspora
By Andrew Lam

From tragic beginnings, the Vietnamese diaspora now finds itself spread across five continents, at the center of the Information Age, true global villagers. PNS editor Andrew Lam is a short story writer and journalist.

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

L.A. Janitors' Strike May Be The First Blow In Long-Planned Industry-Wide Action
By David Bacon

Janitors work in relatively small clusters and out of the public eye, so the major strike now going on in Los Angeles may come as something of a surprise. But it is part of a long-term plan which may bring similar actions to cities up and down the West Coast and moving East. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues.

At Ground Zero In The Aids Crisis, A Very Few Fight, With Little Support, Against Heavy Odds
By Kai Wright

Africa south of the Sahara has the highest rate of HIV infection per capita of any region in the world, and very few (if any) have the means needed to deal with it. The story of one woman's struggle to set up some sort of information system to work with AIDS patients is inspiring, but also makes it clear how much is yet to be done. Kai Wright is a reporter for the Washington Blade newspaper in Washington, D.C. who returned from a reporting trip in southern Africa as a Pew Fellow in International Journalism.

YOUTH OUTLOOK: The World Through Young People's Eyes

A Year After Columbine, Schools Are On Edge, But Students As Isolated As Ever
By Lyn Duff

Students interviewed at a suburban high school in Northern California say they feel the impact of the Columbine tragedy every day. The school's new zero-tolerance policy has done little to change the rigid hierarchy that makes many kids feel like outsiders. Lyn Duff is a reporter for YO! Youth Outlook, a monthly publication by and about young people published by PNS.

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