Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015 | Volume 210 | Number 107 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Prejudice still proves problematic: Filmmaker, panel remember Japanese-American heroism
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he post-Pearl Harbor Executive Order 9066 forced more than 120,000 Japanese immigrants and families from the West Coast into exclusionary internment camps. Approximately 33,000 patriotic Japanese Americans still volunteered to serve in the United States military. Seeing stereotypical mistakes of the past helps avoid repeating them, a professor says.
By Kelly.McGowan @iowastatedaily.com
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Japanese-American soldier dozed off in the passenger seat of a doorless medical jeep on an overnight transport during World War II. Fearing the soldier would lean too far and fall out, the sergeant driving tied rope around him to keep him in the vehicle. “Doc, we need you,” the sergeant said. “So we’re going to take really good care of you.” A few years earlier, Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. “Almost immediately, nobody liked Japanese people,” said Niel Nakadate, professor emeritus of English. Nakadate’s father was the soldier whose sergeant roped him in to save his life. The view that Asians were a danger to the western civilizations and the United States, “Yellow Peril,” had swept the West Coast. More than 120,000 Japanese immigrants and descendants were sent to desolate internment camps. Hostility toward Japanese Americans ran high in the U.S. Despite all of this, an outpouring of Ameri-
can patriotism emerged from the community and 33,000 Japanese Americans joined the U.S. military. A panel discussion followed a screening of “Honor and Sacrifice, the Roy Matsumoto Story,” in Iowa State’s Great Hall on Feb 17. Panelists included Nakadate, filmmaker Lucy Ostrander, Asian-American Studies Director Jane Dusselier and Grace Amemiya, Ames resident and former exclusion camp internee. The film told the story of Matsumoto, a Nisei, the term used to describe second generation descendants of Japanese immigrants. Similar to many other JapaneseAmerican soldiers, Matsumoto used his bilingualism to further the American cause in spite of a war that divided his family, eventually becoming an American hero. Nakadate’s father, Katsumi Nakadate, a “very patriotic” Nisei, an Eagle Scout and son of a traveling salesman, was inspired to work as a second generation immigrant in America. This led him to be a doctor in the reserves before the war started. After the start of the war, there was indecision from the Department of Defense, then called the
Courtesy of Grace Obata Amemiya
Grace Obata Amemiya smiles with Sgt. Min Amemiya the day she accepted his marriage proposal. He had recently returned from serving the U.S. Army in Japan during World War II, while she served as a cadet nurse in Iowa.
War Department, on whether to allow Japanese Americans to fight. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese regiment in the then-segregated military, was activated in 1943. Members of the 442nd and the 100th Infantry Battalion together earned 9,486 Purple Hearts and 5,200 Bronze Stars. The 442nd remains the most decorated unit in U.S. military history, according to the Center of Military History. Nakadate’s father trained with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and then was reassigned to the 17th Airborne, a non-JapaneseAmerican unit stationed in Europe, due to a lack of doctors.
Iowa legislature approves 10-cent gas tax increase By Alex.Hanson @iowastatedaily.com Iowa lawmakers gave the green light to a 10-cent increase in the state’s gasoline tax Tuesday, a move supporters say will clear up an almost $215 million shortfall in funding for state infrastructure. The Iowa Senate first approved the measure Tuesday morning, voting 28-21 to pass the measure. The bills passage came with support from both Democrats and Republicans in the upper chamber, but also faced some backlash from members of each party. In total, 16 Democrats and 12 Republicans voted in favor, while 10 Democrats and 11 Republicans voted against the bill. The 10-cent increase amounts to about a 45 percent increase in the current tax. It would raise about $200 million dollars in the first year. The increase comes after the Iowa Department of Transportation estimated a $215 million shortfall in funding to
Blake Lanser/Iowa State Daily
A 10-cent gas tax increase would make up for an almost $215 million deficit. The tax increase will allow the Iowa Department of Transportation to maintain Iowa roads and bridges. The Iowa Senate approved the measure Tuesday.
maintain Iowa roads and bridges. State Sen. Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa and chairman of the Iowa Senate Transportation Committee, spoke in favor of the bill before its passage, saying the bill would increase funding, which in return would make Iowa’s roads safer and improve Iowa’s economy. “Good roads and bridges are key to Iowa’s economic growth and prosperity,” Bowman said. “Business leaders say bad roads
are one of Iowa’s most serious economic development weaknesses.” “We can’t continue to kick this can down the road,” Bowman added. Opponents of the bill offered a series of amendments, including state Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, who offered an amendment that would divert state general funds to pay for roads. His proposal was ruled not relevant to the debate.
“It’s interesting how necessity makes segregation less important,” Nakadate said. In the Belgian winter, Nakadate’s father suffered frostbite, lacked medical supplies and nearly bled to death after being hit by shrapnel through the bottom of a glider. After being sent to England to recuperate from his injury, “he went back to the war like John Wayne,” Nakadate said. He received a Purple Heart and three Oak Leaf Clusters for the first and subsequent three injuries he sustained. His father never felt
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Zaun said that the tax would do little and that the legislature would be back in 10 years to raise the tax again. State Sen. Jerry Behn, RBoone, blasted what he called “ridiculous” waste in spending related to roads and bridges. Behn offered examples of strings attached to federal money, including new rest stops along Interstate 35 just north of Ankeny, which were required to be built when Iowa received federal dollars. He also mentioned “decorative” lights put up on Highway 30 near Ames. Sen. Herman Quirmbach, DAmes, who is also an economics professor at Iowa State, voted in favor of the increase. The Iowa House passed the bill later Tuesday on a 53-46 vote. Debate in the House was similar, with several amendments offered to alter the bill, but the final passage was the same as the Senate passage. State Rep. Josh Byrnes, a Republican from Osage who chairs the House Transportation committee, spoke just before the final passage in support of an increase. “My constituents want this,” Byrnes said. “I honestly feel we’re doing the right thing today. State Rep. Chuck Soderberg, R-Plymouth, voted against the bill and spoke out against the
The Ames City Council discussed, at length, the transformation of owner-occupied homes into rental housing at Tuesday night’s meeting. Owner-occupied homes have become rental housing in some neighborhoods in Ames. With legislature on the move in the Iowa Congress, some Ames residents and council members are afraid rental housing could overtake even more neighborhoods in Ames. Kelly Diekmann, director of
planning and housing, proposed four possible options for what could happen to the owner-occupied housing areas. The council accepted the staff report with the possibility of pursuing one, or none, of the following options: density restriction to certain zones, a separation requirement, a quota of housing or neighborhood self-selection. Neighborhoods like the one on Hunt Street — which were originally built for owner-occupied living, meaning they were built with the idea individuals who come to Ames to build a family and settle down — have become rental housing. This
transformation, mostly taken over by students living four to a home, has changed parts of the community, leading to less families planting their roots. “Permanent residents are essential to healthy neighborhoods,” said councilmember Gloria Betcher. “We need to have a balance [of permanent residents and students], even near campus.” The legislation in the Iowa Congress could possibly no longer allow cities, like Ames, to create housing ordinances like the one that is currently in place. A current Ames ordinance allows three unrelated occupants
By Michaela.Ramm @iowastatedaily.com
per unit. The fear Matthew Goodman has is rental housing that was meant for owner-occupied housing will allow five or even more occupants to live in a house. “The limitation was created for diverse neighborhoods,” Goodman said. “Hunt Street being owner occupied is not realistic. There’s only one owner-occupied house left on Hunt Street.” However, councilmember Peter Orazem said he isn’t concerned with trying to control how many students are living in one rental home, but rather how many rental houses are in an area.
The Government of the Student Body vice-presidential debate was highlighted by a discussion of Veishea and overcrowding at the Memorial Union on Tuesday. Megan Sweere and Kathryn Leidahl discussed their individual campaign platforms and the issues they wish to resolve if they were elected. Sweere and her running mate, presidential hopeful Dan Breithbarth, are running under the “No B.S.” campaign slogan. To them, it means they will not have any self-serving intentions and care about what the students want on campus. Leidahl, who is running alongside presidential candidate Amanda Loomis, is campaigning with “Now More Than Ever,” which means the candidates are working for changes that will impact a large amount of the student body. The candidates discussed how they plan to address the overcrowding problems, which includes congestion on Osborn Drive, parking and crowded dining centers. Sweere said she and Breithbarth were looking into using space upstairs in the Memorial Union for students to eat, as well as looking into other options for students during the lunch hour. She said they were working with dining to have carts on central campus for 16 weeks where student organizations can sell food. “We do know dining has carts and there are ways to use dining dollars on outside venues,” Sweere
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City Council discusses increase in rental housing By Stephen.Koenigsfeld @iowastatedaily.com
GSB vicepresidential candidates talk issues
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