PCC Courier, October 18, 2001

How PCC Responds to Crisis see page 4 Ч1Р Tenacious D Jokes Around see page 5 mm sec v: . LU Men’s Soccer Defeats Mt. Sac see page 6 1 P A S A CITY COLLEG E COURIER Since 1 £)15 VOL. 87 N0.8 www.pcc-courieronline.com OCTOBER 18, 2001 On Campus . Terrorist Threats • Spur the Economic * Downturn PCC Economics , Professor Talks About the State of the Economy By Britt McCormick Staff Writer Before the terrorist attacks on • the United States, the world’s econ¬ omy was already heading down¬ ward. The pace of global growth has been slowing down in the past year, and now many economists are predicting a worldwide recession. They warn that this could become one of the sharpest slowdowns in' the post-war era. - According to Sharokh Bastani, an economics professor at PCC, the economy could remain in this recession for the time being. “Prior to Sept. 11, the rate of growth was anemic. The consensus now is that we are either in a recession or head¬ ing towards one.” The attacks on Sept. 11, which * caused airlines to be temporarily shut down and the flow of supplies to factories to be disrupted because of tightened security, dealt a new • blow to the economy. It especially affected industrial activity, which is in a record 12- month decline. The last time there was a decline of this length in the industrial sector was 1944, at the height of World War II, This fallout from the attacks has dashed any and all hopes economists had that * manufacturing would rebound. “Clearly, the immediate impact of the eyents of September 11 was negative — from disrupted sales, air t travel, and production, not to men¬ tion the effect on the attitudes and expectations of consumers and businesses,” said Roger Ferguson, federal reserve vice chairman, in a ф speech on Tuesday. “If the extent of the economic damage inflicted by the attacks is unknown at this point, so too is the length of time ♦ before aggregate economic growth picks up.” These events that so shocked the nation depressed consumer demand t as well, severely sending sales fig¬ ures down. People stayed glued to their television sets, awaiting every new development, and this kept them away from stores. Since then, * the Federal Reserve has not only cut interest rates, but has put in an extra $100 billion to try to boost the economy. President Bush and Congress are working to aid and increase government spending. With the nation’s low confidence and fear of more attacks, econo- t mists agree that the actions of the Federal Reserve are key to stabiliz¬ ing of the economy. The United States economy is starting to return to normal with all this help, but it may be a while before things are the way they used to be, if ever. “In the short run the economy is , near recession. In the longer run, however, a combination of interest rate cuts and tax cuts will help the economy come out of the reces¬ sion,” said Bastani. “But no one 4 can predict what will happen. We can only guess.” Michelle Falerne/Courier The anthrax scare has people across the nation examining mail and packages for signs of the deadly spores. PCC’s mailroom employees are being extra careful about examining campus mail. Employees Watch for Suspicious Mail By Kevin Awakuni Staff Writer Nation-wide alarm over cases of anthrax exposure transmitted through infected mail has made PCC mailroom employees anx¬ ious about handling the thou¬ sands of letters that pass through their hands every day. Staff mem¬ bers have been conducting busi¬ ness as usual so far, but they are beginning to take more precau¬ tions as the number of incidents increases, “We have discussed long¬ standing precautions that we use with mail,” said mailroom super¬ visor Judy Gilbert. “Handling mail is something that is always done with care because of such things as letter bombs, threaten¬ ing letters and other items of sus¬ picious nature that go through the mail. The only new thing would be to be aware of a package that has a powdery substance on the outside. Most of the others are things that we would already be looking for.” Schools, hospitals and offices throughout Southern California have now made gloves available to workers. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has issued gloves to its mailroom employees, and the Los Angeles Unified School District has intro¬ duced new mail handling proce¬ dures. California State University Northridge has put its mailroom employees on alert, while the University of California Los Angeles has given mail workers gloves and masks. “We have rubber gloves avail¬ able if an employee chooses to wear them. We are not the mail- openers, but . we do handle the mail,” added Gilbert. PCC mail handler Kent Callam said that he has been on the lookout for any strange incoming mail. He said that while some basic guidelines have been given, there have been no specif¬ ic instructions. So far nobody has been required to wear gloves while handling mail, but Callam has chosen to. Any time he sees an odd letter or package he wears gloves just to be safe. “I have a kid to think about, and I’m just trying to look out for mine,” he said. Callam has said that nobody has talked to them yet about what procedures to take. “Everybody is just taking extra precautions right now,” he said. There have been no reported incidents of anthrax exposure in California yet, but local police authorities in the United States have reported approximately 23,000 “Anthrax threats” to the FBI. The mailroom has no plans to implement any new guidelines for handling mail. The only reg¬ ulations that the mail staff has been told to follow are not to touch any mail that they suspect might be tainted and to notify the authorities. “I think it’s sufficient that the mail carriers, whether FedEx or USPS, are doing that. They’re the ones that need to be more aware of those types of things. They will recognize threats better than we will. It’s the person that’s receiving the mail and opening the mail that needs to be more careful,” said Gilbert. Nobel Laureate Speaks at PCX! By Marcela Toledo-Villegas Staff Writer . “I am against war. I extremely condemn terrorism. Don ’ t talk to me about terrorism because I am a survivor of the genocide where there were more than 200,000 vic¬ tims in Guatemala and more than 50,000 remain missing. I under¬ stand the effects of terrorism and the effects of war, and I condemn them. ” — 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu Turn. Nobel laurete Rigoberta Menchu Turn challenged PCC stu¬ dents to reject war and “never obey the order to kill another person.” The winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize emphasized that war always has two faces. In an interview before her pres¬ entation last Tuesday night to PCC students in the Sexson auditorum, Menchu was questioned -by The Courier about the violence in Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks on the United States. She explained that war always has two faces. “One is of truth, worn in the faces of both groups involved in the war. But the other is precisely what hides behind the soul of the common people who live in vio¬ lence and suffer the consequences of that violence and war. Since the scattering of people and the anguish resulting from the death of many civilians, I find it impossible to side with war. What wars do is benefit military business and does not totally deal with human digni¬ ty,” said Menchu. Menchu, who spoke to the crowd through an interpreter, said the adequate response to the recent terrorist attacks is to believe in the system of justice. “If someone has committed a crime against human¬ ity, whomever it might be, they need to be captured, brought to trial, and they need to be sen¬ tenced. It must be ensured that these individuals who have com¬ mitted these acts of violence are given a fair trial. She added that there have been many times in his¬ tory that many injustices have been committed where individuals have been unjustly tried.” Menchu has been fighting for many years to establish an interna¬ tional criminal court, but many countries have not favored its cre¬ ation because they believe that war is the answer. “I don’t believe in war. Also, I do not believe that all Afghans are terrorists. Could it be that all Afghans are terrorists and all deserve these bombings? It is unjust to think that terrorism exists in all parts of the world. There are radical groups, hate groups, groups that use violence in all parts of the world, but to rid ourselves of these, we would have to bomb many countries around the world today. That is not the way life is,” Menchu said. Concerning the mistreatment of women in Afghanistan, Menchu explained that, “While the Taliban is a product of a war that they won with support from countries allied with the United States, no one knew they would be repressive and violent the moment they took power. The injustices that women Sheryl McQuilkin/Courier Nobel Laureate, Rigoberta Menchu Turn, spoke at PCC on Tuesday, Oct. 16. experience in Afghanistan were not really talked about until now. I don’t want to be part of those who look for fault in those countries when they try to justify war. As much as I believe that all women have dignity, they should be the ones that speak the truth during normal times and not be used. I am against the victimization of the people. That is what happened to # see Nobel, page 3 New Proposal to Track Students on Visas Concern about terrorists using student and tourist visas has inspired senators Christopher Bond, Kent Conrad, and Olympia Snowe to propose the ‘Visa Integrity and Security Act.’ The proposal allows for biometric tracking of visa-holders through retina scans, fingerprinting, and photographs. By Andrew Campa Staff Writer With concern that terrorists may have been able to sneak into this country using student visas, a new visa bill was proposed on Oct. 4 to impose a “biometric” student tracking system. The plan calls for the use of the latest technology to 'track and monitor foreign students. The new proposal came in the aftermath of California Sen. Diane Feinstein’s partial retraction of her visa renovation plan that included rejecting all student visas for six months. “I pulled back on the moratorium for now,” said Feinstein. “The schools have assured me that they will help reform this program.” However, Feinstein’s original proposal received a boost from this new plan. In a show of rare bi¬ partisanship, three United States senators designed the new plan to support Feinstein and revamp the student visa program. Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), who helped co-author Feinstein’s bill, teamed up with fellow sena¬ tors Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) and Democrat Kent Conrad (N.D.) to introduce the “Visa Integrity and Security Act.” “This bill will boost our ability to identify, locate or remove for¬ eigners who deliberately remain in this country long after their tourist or student visas expire,” stated Bond. “This nation has now seen the terrible dangers associated with failing to enforce visa dead¬ lines. We have a duty to make this country safer for Americans and legal foreign visitors who follow the rules.” Bond, who is im relation of 007, said that technology was the key to the new system. He pro¬ posed that eyes scans, fingerprints, and updated photos would stop corrupt applicants. Bond said that the main focus of the bill was on the “control of visa holders,” “improvement of visa screening” and “student visas.” The “Visa Integrity and Security Act” echoes Feinstein’s plan in that both call for an electronic student tracking system. Both plans now also call for “biometric data.” However, each senator has a different defini¬ tion of what information will be needed. Feinstein defined biometric data as “fingerprints and photo¬ graphs on all foreign students applying to enter the United States.” Conrad said that biometric data would greatly assist in the apprehension of rogue applicants. “Retina scans would provide bet¬ ter identity checks,” declared Conrad “[We’d] catch criminals and terrorists using false identities or stolen passports.” “These changes are unfair,” said Claudia Zendejas, a former visa recipient. “They are going to change the system because one or two of the hijackers came on stu¬ dent visas. That’s wrong. If they’re (INS) unorganized, why should we pay?” Zenedejas, a former PCC stu¬ dent, was disgusted with the idea of having to submit biometric data. “Now foreign students have to submit DNA,” questioned Zenedejas. “It may just be finger¬ prints or whatever, but that won’t last. I’m surprised they just don’t monitor with cameras 24-7. Where’s the trust? Where’s the responsibility? The' Senate should worry about cleaning up terrorism here before they implement this b.s.” # see Visa, page 3