Copy Edit the World #2

The current JMC internship application incorrectly capitalizes not and uses you instead of your.

Blog #11 In My Humble Opinion 2 - A Just Death, Osama bin Laden

The world slept sounder last night, Sunday May 1, 2011 after President Barack Obama announced to the world that Osama bin Laden is finally dead. Never have I been joyous to hear the news of someone's death until now.

In my humble opinion this act of justice will help heal old wounds and return patriotism, along with confidence in our nation. Living in a country with such diverse people who hold such opposing beliefs both politically and socially, is a wonderful thing at times, but it also leads to thoughts of uncertainty in regards to our future.

The death of Osama bin Laden restored unity to our country, if just for one night. Last night, I witnessed people from all sides of political, social and religious spectrums rejoicing in the news of this man's death. People who lost loved ones nearly ten years ago on that September morning, will be able to continue their lives now, knowing that if anything, a little bit of justice has been served. For some of these people I would not be surprised to hear that their healing process did not start until last night. I would not be surprised to hear that they slept soundly for the first night since Sept. 11, 2001.

All though the life of one man could never make up for the nearly 3,000 who were killed under his control during the worst terror assault on American soil, it is a good start and a valid one. I would never praise the death of a human being just to prove something, but Osama bin Laden's death is much more than that. Osama bin Laden was a mass-murderer, a supressor of his own people and a symbol of terrorism. This goes beyond, "an eye for an eye..." as he rivaled Hitler in the amount of bloodshed on his hands. Hopefully, a little bit of hatred died in the world last night and a little bit of goodwill and peace was born.

It is scary to think that one man could cause such destruction and pain to the world, but throughout history we have come across a few of these evil masterminds who have managed to gain followers and rise to power. I'm happy to know we have put a stop to one of them last night and I am proud of my country for putting an end to the Taliban regime, defeating Osama bin Laden.

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Blog #10 Japanese Internment Memorial

Following the surprise military attack conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941, the United States government implemented a forced relocation of nearly 110,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps located along the west coast.

The United States to become scared of anyone with a Japanese ancestry. Impelled by the military, the Japanese were taken to various relocation camps for “security reasons.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized these relocation camps through Executive Order 9066 which allowed local military commanders to designate "military areas" as "exclusion zones," from which "any or all persons may be excluded." It was not until 1988 that President Ronald Regan apologized for the exclusion of Japanese Americans.

I became familiar with Japanese interment camps in my high school history classes. However, I was not aware of the impact the camps had on San Jose solely and that there is a memorial in downtown. So, I was surprised to find the 5 foot high, bronze sculpture at south 2nd and San Carlos Street, a location I frequently pass.

There is so much going on in this commemorative piece of art. I found trouble resting my eyes on one spot. There is a wide variety of people and activities being pictured among the landscape. I assume this depiction of created chaos is appropriate because the internment camps were that of many things, chaotic.

The artist, Ruth Asawa, did a wonderful job at displaying this chaos and the crowdedness of the camps. This is most likely because Asawa is a Japanese-American artist who was held at the Santa Anita racetrack internment camp in 1942 and was also imprisoned at the Rowher War Relocation Center in Arkansas. The experience of internment lead Ruth to create this Japanese American Interment Memorial.

Like Asawa, many citizens from San Jose’s Japan Town were sent to the internment camps. Among those residents that were sent was Norman Mineta, who would eventually go on to become the mayor of San Jose. San Jose State University also played a role in this part of history. In 1942, SJSU's Yoshihiro Uchida Hall, which was a gym at the time, was used to collect and register Japanese Americans in the San Jose area before they were sent to the camps.

The vignettes in the Japanese Memorial are all very beautiful, but give the viewer and underlying feeling of sadness. The vignette paper airplane flying peacefully above the crowds and the barb wire fence. The free flowing object is a symbol of freedom, in my eyes, something that at the time, innocent people had been stripped of, but looked up to. The other vignette that was particularly emotional was that of a family having to burn their possessions. Children are being forced to give up their toys, along with their lives.

I do not see the United States ever resorting to something like Internment Camps ever again. I remember noticing after the September 11, 2001 attacks, hostility towards Middle Eastern immigrants in our country. I like to think that people are more tolerant today than they were a few decades ago, but I think memorials like this one are important to remind people to be accepting of all citizens in the United States of America.

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Copy Edit the World

Happy Hour Menu at McCormick & Schmicks in downtown San Jose wrote "March 24nd" instead of March 24th.