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Issue VIII, DECEMBER 2014 FREE Immigration: American as Apple Pie S.A.D. Learn simple ways to shake off the lack of sunlight this winter Health & Lifestyle, 12 life SAnS fAcebook One of our own goes under and tells us what life is without social media Health & Lifestyle, 11 finAlS Week iS HeRe Get ready to survive fnals week with our tips on how to ace your exams Campus Life, 4 Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/cannonjcc contentS Jeferson’s Voice 2 Campus Life 4 News 3 Health & Lifestyle 11 Entertainment 6 Creative Space 16 By Tomas Bauschke Collaborator I am a frst generation Ger- man-American. English is my sec- ond language. One of my biggest childhood memories is going to a courthouse with my parents where they took the oath and were sworn in as naturalized American citizens on October 3rd 1972. Afer work- ing for seven years with their green cards, my parents then continued to build their life here in the U.S. as citizens. Now they both live in the simple comfort of a modest retire- ment. Nowhere on earth are such opportunities available to common people - hard work and a dream is all you need. America has been called a melting pot since the 1780’s, to sym- bolize the assimilation of many peo- ples into a new more homogenous American culture. Since then, im- migration has repeatedly ebbed and fowed and has been at times wel- come and at other times unwanted. At the end of 2014, immigration once again looms as a topic of much heated debate. Increased border security is presented as a matter of national sovereignty and security. Coversely, amnesty for millions of “illegal immigrants” escaping pov- erty and violence is held as a hu- manitarian obligation. Both argu- ments have merit and relevance to the issue. With the midterm elec- tions behind us, the conundrum seems more hotly contested than ever. President Obama has threat- ened amnesty by executive order and, on November 21st, he signed that order. Te new Republican ma- jority in both Houses of Congress convening in January 2015 now threatens to defund and stop him at every turn. Amnesty itself is not the problem. Opponents have long demanded some agreement for frst enforcing comprehensive border security measures to prevent yet more uncontrolled waves of immi- grants from pouring into our na- tion. Maintaining control of borders is, afer all, a most basic right and function of every sovereign nation on earth. But what about those indi- viduals and families already within our borders? Te Center for American Progress states that “in 2012, 4.7 million undocumented adults were parents of minor children, includ- ing 3.8 million [81%] whose chil- dren were U.S. citizens”. All children born on American soil are indeed American citizens by right of birth. Are we prepared to create 3.8 mil- lion orphans by deporting nonciti- zen parents of citizen children? Or are we further prepared to deport 3.8 million American citizens be- cause of their race? Such an act would be illegal, immoral and ut- terly impossible. Meanwhile, multiple waves of immigrants from many other countries have come before this current Latin American migration. New peoples bring with them new traditions, foods, music, art and lit- erature that mingles and joins our culture to form the wonderfully diverse American nation we enjoy today. Some of these changes are obvious, such as the Italians that saved us from awful, bland British food. Apples were brought here by European colonists, New York City was frst actually a Dutch colony called New Amsterdam, Germans brought beer brewers and farmers, there came excellent Swedish furni- ture makers, French wine makers, and even the forced African Ameri- can immigration brought music and art with them that later gave us our quintessentially American blues and jazz, just to name a few. Perhaps a less known change brought by immigrants involves a simple question: Why don’t we drive on the lef like other former British colonies such as Australia or India? For thousands of years, ev- eryone travelled on the lef side of the road so horse riders could draw their swords and defend themselves if needed. Germans were one of the earliest and largest groups of peo- ples to fock to North America. Tey were used to riding on the right side of roads as Emperor Napoleon of France had commanded when he conquered most of continental Eu- rope in the early 1800’s. And so an independent new America slowly embraced such change and began riding on the right as well. Most immigrant groups cluster together when they frst ar- rive in the US. My family of new German immigrants at frst only socialized with other immigrant families like ours. We were active members in the German club and attended multiple German social events throughout the year, includ- ing, of course, Oktoberfest. We went to Lutheran Church with other Ger- man families, my babysitters were elderly German and Polish immi- grants who had come to America a few years before my parents, and I spoke German almost exclusively until I began kindergarten (a Ger- man word). We went to the movies to learn English. And as my parents found better work and made more American friends, we slowly be- came integrated into American so- ciety. Like all immigrants that came before them, Latin Americans bring their own traditions, foods and music that will once again complement and enhance our ever changing and developing American society. Continued on pg. 3 Young Tomas Bauschke and his newly immigrated parents, Olaf and Hildegard, in 1965.
