Double Stuff/ Page 9
An independent newspaper
http://www.dailyemerald.com
Thursday, April 10,2003
Since 1900
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 104, Issue 129
Hussein’s statue falls on Arab nationalism
Joyce M. Davis
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — The toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue
in Baghdad on Wednesday was a pivotal moment in the history
of the Arab peoples, symbolizing not only the collapse of a bru
tal dictatorship, but also the last death rattle of the defiant Arab
nationalism he embodied.
In Washington, the television pictures of Iraqi men drag
ging the head of a Hussein statue through Baghdad’s streets
may appear to be a vindication of President Bush’s policy,
and of the notion that the Arab world is yearning for West
ern-style democracy.
But to many Arab intellectuals and historians, and to many
ordinary people throughout the Muslim world who still revel in
their history as one of the world’s most glorious and most pow
erful civilizations, this is another profoundly sad moment. It
may be even more humiliating than Israel’s defeat of the Arabs
in 1967, when the Israelis seized the West Bank and Gaza.
Although Hussein was not beloved in the Arab world, his
regime’s demise is being seen in the Middle East and beyond as
another sign of Arab weakness, and as a powerful testament to
the Western domination of the region since the defeat of the Ot
toman Empire in World War I and the collapse of the last
Caliphate, the spiritual leadership of Islam, in 1924.
The fallen statue and the footage of cheering Iraqis dancing
through Baghdad are forcing the Arab world to reassess both its
past and its future.
The rampaging Iraqi men did not rid themselves of Hussein’s
evil; they needed American Marines to do that for them. Other
Arab leaders did not send armies to liberate the Iraqi people;
President George Bush did. And even the feared Islamic
Turn to War, page 3
David Leeson Dallas Morning News
Iraqi civilians cheer as American soldiers rolled into central Baghdad
on Wednesday, chanting, "Yes, yes, Bush."
Between borders
Salem native Jake
Johnston returns
to Oregon after being
detained at the
U.S.-Mexico border
Caron Alarab
Safety/Crime/Transportation
Reporter
After spending more
than two weeks in San
Diego Correctional Facili
ty, 19-year-old Salem na
tive Jake Johnston has
been released and has re
turned to his Oregon fami
ly after being stopped and
detained at the Califomia
Mexico border. Although
he had been living in the
United States since the sec
ond day of his life, John
ston was arrested for hav
ing an American
citizenship with “no sta
tus” due to improper pa
perwork and his parents’
failure to request their
son’s green card.
In 1984, Robert John
ston and his pregnant wife,
Margrethe, were living in
northern Washington
when they had to rush to
the nearest hospital in
British Columbia, Canada,
to deliver their baby. After
two days, the couple re
turned to the United States
with their newborn, Jake,
but failed to file the correct
paperwork when they
crossed the border.
More than 19 years later,
Jake Johnston paid the
price.
On March 24, Johnston
was heading back north af
ter spending a few hours in
Tijuana, Mexico, during his
Southern California spring
break. He was asked by bor
der patrol to provide identi
fication and state his place
of birth. Johnston gave
them his Social Security
card and his driver’s license
and informed them he was
bom in Canada. When the
officers checked the infor
mation, their database re
vealed Johnston’s citizen
ship as “no status,” and he
was detained until he could
be moved to SDCF.
“He wasn’t committing
any crime except trying to
get home,” said Johnston’s
friend, University fresh
man Jay Rowan.
Since they first heard of
Johnston’s detainment,
Rowan and University
Courtesy
University freshmen Jay Rowan (left) and Thomas Maffai (middle) worked to gain support for the
release of friend Jake Johnston (right), who was detained upon re-entry into the U.S. from Mexico.
freshman Thomas Maffai
have spearheaded local ef
forts to encourage officials
to support his case and
help get him released.
“I basically called or e
mailed every representa
tive I could think of,”
Rowan said.
After his initial lobby
ing, Rowan, who’s known
Johnston for four years,
obtained more than 800
signatures from students
on the University campus.
“(They came from) ba
sically, just every person
who stopped to hear me
out,” he added.
Luckily for the cause,
the Salem office of U.S.
Representative Darlene
Hooley, D-Ore., received
one of Rowan’s letters.
“What those students
did was important,” said
Willy Smith, Hooley’s dis
trict director. “Our office
Turn to Johnston, page 4
Faculty
Senate
talks war,
diversity
The Faculty Senate discussed
minority representation among
faculty and classified staff
Lindsay Sauve
Family/Health/Education Reporter
Diversity was the hot topic on Wednes
day at the University Faculty Senate
meeting as a panel of five faculty mem
bers discussed how the University is ful
filling its diversity commitments among
faculty and classified staff.
Provost John Moseley said programs
such as minority recruitment and efforts
by the Center for Diversity and Commu
nity have helped increase the percentage
of minorities hired by the University.
In 1992, only 6.5 percent of faculty
members identified themselves as one of
four federally recognized ethnic groups;
10 years later, the number had jumped to
10 percent. The total, including faculty
who identified as multiracial, is 14.2 per
cent, Moseley said.
Affirmative Action and Equal Opportu
nity Director Penny Daugherty stressed
the importance of involving faculty to
search out potential candidates for hire.
Turn to Faculty, page 8
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Sophomore Rihito Okonogi, a native
of Osaka, Japan, visited California on
his first trip to the U.S.
University boasts Japanese connection
Japanese students, who make
up a fifth of the University’s
international community, face
an adjustment to U.S. culture
Asian experience
Roman Gokhman
Campus/City Culture Reporter
One ocean and 4,400 miles sepa
rate Oregon from Japan. Their cul
tures are even farther apart and as
different as apple pie and rice.
What would convince someone
from Osaka, a city in the Saitama
Prefecture, to move to Eugene and
attend the University?
Twenty-year-old Rihito Okonogi,
A 3-part series
Wednesday: JiaJia
Today: Rihito Okonogi
Friday: Phong Chan
a sophomore pre-journalism major,
chose Eugene and the University for
several reasons.
“I was bored (in Japan),” he said.
“Every day was the same. I want to
see other countries and cultures.”
Okonogi first visited the States
when he traveled to Los Angeles
with a student exchange group dur
ing his second year of high school in
the summer of 1999.
“Everything is so huge there,” he
said. “Especially the roads.”
During his stay, he visited Ameri
can cultural icons such as Disney
land, which he thought was “pretty
small,” and Hollywood, where he
said everything was too expensive.
However, something about the
country appealed to Okonogi and
enticed him back when he was
choosing a school.
By the time Okonogi was in his
third and final year of high school,
he could not decide on a college ma
jor, as is customary in Japan. He
also did not want to make a choice
he might regret later.
“In Japan, it’s very difficult to
change majors while you are in col
lege,” he said.
Once he had decided to attend
school in the United States, Okono
gi had to find the one that fit him
best. He did not want to buy a car,
which he said would be necessary if
he lived in a big city.
“I might kill someone” driving, he
said.
He settled on the University be
cause of its strong journalism pro
gram, because he would not be
come distracted by the many
attractions of a large city and be
cause the University is “a lot easier
to get into.”
According to the registrar’s Web
site, 289 students at the University
are from Japan. That represents
nearly 21 percent of all internation
al students on campus, and the rela
tive ease of admission could be
Turn to Asian, page 3
Weather: Today: H 60, L 45, light wind, rain / Friday: H 60, L 43, cloudy, chance of rain I On Friday: Student evicted from residence halls for marijuana finds out whether he can return