Students wrote to the vice president, so did I.

The students moved into my apartment were talking how they sent email to the vice president. They were talking that “these foreign students get knowledge here and go back to their countries..” I had no idea why they wanted to use the statement we read in one of the essay in Anth 187's study aid. We purchased the packet separately at the Maple Press for the class. I remember neither the title nor the author, but it was about how anthropologists should stop negative impacts on foreigners. Anyway, I sent this letter to the vice president before I was sent to El Camino Hospital. Guess who was doing what? FBI tried to take care me as they figured out I was a potential student activist. I have been off from the surface after the 911 and knew some people disappeared. After I was discharged, I heard the students talking how they received better equipments after they wrote the letter to the authority. SJSU students love to work for the government. Do you think they are suitable for studying abroad? They might put wiretapping devices and fiber-scoop cameras to the residence of the people they study. They don't even have a sense of informed consent.

An: vice_president@whitehouse.gov ; comments@whitehouse.gov ; tinak@temple.edu ; daryl@temple.edu ; ntlshine@temple.edu ; oliviad@temple.edu ; Adriana.Duffy@sjsu.edu Adriana.Duffy@sjsu.edu

To Whom It May Concern:

Hello. I am writing this to prove my innocence in the situation. I am an international student majoring Anthropology at San Jose State University. I heard someone saying that he sent e-mail to the vice president of the United States for homeland security reason to supervise me. I am not sure what other anthropology students are doing. Before everything getting serious, I would like to explain the situation from my side so that the authorities of the United States could understand the problem in our university. Last Fall Semester (2005), I worked as a volunteer under the SHINE project, which is an organization established by Temple University. I received a certificated for my hard work at the site I worked. Actually, I was the only student received such award from the sites we worked in our class, “Culture in Mind” taught by the chair of the Anthropology department. This Spring Semester, Sarah Linn, the coordinator of project SHINE and the leader of a student club, started to harass me. Since we were taking the same class, and the members of the club started to join Sarah’s harassment. There was another matter was going on in that semester. Dr. Elizabeth Weiss, a physical anthropologist, was doing flirtation openly in her class, Anth153. Actually, she was doing it toward me. Somehow, she decided to marry with a professor who is a gay yet she kept her questionable gestures in the classroom. When I asked her about the matter when I visited her office in May, she told me something quite odd like she had rumor with Don Johansen. All I knew was that our university, SJSU, prohibits affairs between the facility members and students unlike Stanford. I brought it to the case to ombudsman.During summer break, I decided to bring the issue of Sarah Linn and other students since it was clear discrimination toward a minority person, an international student. At least, I felt it did not make sense that the coordinator of the volunteer organization harassing a volunteer who received a certificate for the site. On July 12th, I discussed the matter with the director of the Counseling Service, and then someone stole the license plate from my car on July 18th at the basement of my apartment.This semester, it seems there harassment getting serious. From March, they tried to harass me and called me “crazy.” I wrote to the ombudsman the facts that Dr. Weiss told me on July 20th (or the day close to it). She said that she wanted to get Canadian residential qualification and married with Canadian before, and she got divorced with him after she received what she wanted. She also talked about love affairs during her education. Somehow, some students started to evaluate me for some reason. It seems Sarah Linn is in the center of the group as well as other club members. They tried to prove me to be insane. It seemed they failed. And now they are trying to declare me to be “the enemy of your nation.”I would like to share some facts about our university. First, I heard that SJSU is going to have their own individual volunteer organization. I do not know if this relates with the coordinator who harassed the volunteer. Second, Sarah started harassment in the class, Anth 187, which was taught by Dr. Roberto Gonzalez, who engaged with Dr. Weiss, the professor who I had problem with. The class title is “Thought Control in Contemporary Society” and what I experienced from Sarah was just like something we have learned in the class; isolation, calling someone telling the truth “crazy,” etc. Third, Dr. Gonzalez is responsible for the Anthropology and Behavioral Science Club, which Sarah is the leader. Fourth, I heard some students saying that now they cannot marry because the school thinks I was telling the truth.I believe what I had done was right things for my school. The professor had a problem; she wanted to have lovers among her students. I strongly believe that the coordinator of a volunteer organization should not oppress volunteers. I am writing this because I believe that my effort would doing good for your country. I might be a foreigner, but living in the US and being a student at an American university, I would like to do right thing for your nation.On this Wednesday, September 27th, I asked Ms. Sivertesen, the director of the Counseling Service, the school has confidentiality or not. She told me that they must have confidentiality. However, what I learned from the other students does not quite fit her explanation since some students knew what I wrote to both ombudsman and her. During the meeting, she told me that I should be careful because I am an international student. In my opinion, I would like to stand up for the matter because I belong to the minority group at school.San Jose States has an award-winning library named after Martin Luther King Jr, the African American who was the leader of the Civil Rights movement. In front of Clark Building, we have huge statues of African American athletes of the Berlin Olympic shaking their fists toward the sky. It is a shame for the school that if they accept to have students who oppress a student who belongs in minority group. No body believed my story since the group of students kept complaining I was wrong from the beginning. What I am doing might be useless since no one at school preferred to have the spirits of these Black Americans the school proudly showing on campus.Being an anthropology major, some people may think that I have potential to become a spy or agent. Seriously, my interest is based on humanity. I care about moral and ethics, and that is the reason why I brought both issues, Dr. Weiss and Sarah Linn, to the authority. Seriously, I am not the type to become spies because their jobs are not ideal for someone who cares about ethics. All I wanted to do is trying to build a healthy environment for education. I do not mind if SJSU expel me because of what I have done, yet I will be proud of my effort trying to maintain their morals. If Spartans do not share the spirits of real equal opportunity, it does not matter how many sculptures and buildings school adds on campus to relate with it.I go to church Sunday since I believe in Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ. If there is something happens between Japan and the US, I would be on the side of fixing the relationship rather than making decisions only suited for my native country. As what I learned from “Frontiers of Anthropology” class, anthropologists “should no harm to the people they study.” In fact, if the students opposing me did not bring this case any further, I did not have to explain what was really going on to anyone including the ombudsman of my school. P.S. For more information, please contact with Adriana M. Duffy-Horling, JD, who is the Equal Opportunity Manager of SJSU. I am trying to bring up all evidences what I have for these problems I had to her for the investigation of discrimination on campus. I talked about the matter with a university police officer, Frits van der Hoek, but he said that it is a civil matter. I hope your country does not spend money or effort for these clumsy students who does not understand what mean by being “social scientists.” Social scientists are the people who help minority groups rather than oppressing them.

Thank you for your consideration,

Miyoko Goto