limited coverage, dental care in Dr.

Ernesto Quiroga, who For Bhutanese Refugees, Tucson Is Both a H paycheck

the United States is simply too Continued on Page 10 ees delay
ues to put
By ELVIA MALAGON ments to
Dilli Sharma, his parents, his ties, the

Home From War, More GIs two brothers, a sister and a sis-
ter-in-law began their odyssey
Regents
Jan. 7.
Arizona
Are Headed Back to College
out of exile last June at a United
Decembe
Nations refugee camp deep in a versities
forest in the mountainous nation Arizona,
S Nepal.
of t u d e n t J o u r n a l i S m i n S t i t u t e 2 0 1 0 Universit
By JAMIE KLEIN
Traveling to Katmandu, the Universit
VOL. IV....No. 1Nepalese capital, they boarded aTUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010 nytimes-institute.com
help offse
© 2010 The New York Times Printed in Arizona

A large cardboard bunker, the time in Kabul, Afghanistan, plane for the first leg of a 24-hour June 30,
covered in camouflage netting and Baghdad.
with green sandbags hanging off This is the office of Veterans
journey across the globe. MORE CHINESE
year.
The Sharmas, ethnic At the
the side, is the first thing you see Education and Transition Nepalese expelled from Bhutan, SEEK TO ENTER
president
when you walk into an office on Services, an increasingly impor- were part of a group of 30
the fourth floor of the student tant resource for veterans who refugees on the flight, many of U.S. VIA MEXICO
reports do
the withh
union at the University of are now students: a place to whom had never been on a on each
Arizona. The office is unlike any relax and chat between classes plane. “Some of them vomited,” A BOON TO SMUGGLERS
DANIELGrentz,
WOOLFOLK a
other on the vast campus. with people who have shared Sharma, 22, said. The Sharmas, including Laxyman, left, andCustoms his son Board Dilli, of R
Officials Say
A map of the world dotted experiences. It is also a place to Their final destination was to Nepal in the 1990s and resettled in Tucson Arrests inin 2009. No dea
Arizona
with multicolored pins repre- study, receive tutoring or play Tucson, where they were wel- reports, b
Are Up Tenfold
senting places soldiers have video games. In addition, it comed by scorching heat. His discuss t
STEPHENMarch,
served hangs on one wall. serves as a place to start navi- first taste of desert weather, said refugees arrived in this refugees in By neighboring CEASAR
Nw
Several teddy bears wearing gating the bureaucracy of higher Sharma, who was accustomed to Southwestern city to carve out a for nearlygrants tuition
The number of Chinese immi-
twoarrested decades
while illegally ber
sweaters with the insignias of education. much milder temperatures, was new life. They join a growing coming to through
crossing the border
the United school
into Arizona
the busiest States.
smuggling
yea
the different military branches It is now busier than ever. “unbearable.” enclave of ethnic Nepalese who Pima MORALES/NYTI
County is home Though
in the lastto fis-m
corridor in the United States
LUCIANA increased tenfold
sitLacroix,
atop a bookcase. situation
Glen a former Clocks show
Army intelligence officer, is a junior
Continued on Page at 6the University After of Arizona
their long and leads trek, the thecampus’ fled chapter Bhutan ofand the Student lived Veterans as thanof730 America.BhutanesePatrol in Tucson.refug
cal year, according
Border
to the U.S.

In fiscal 2009,the only o

332 Chinese
immigrants were caught in the
“Mostsector, i

Home From War, More Veterans Are Headed Back to College

Border Patrol’s Tucson
up from 30 the ferent previous year, sta
Border Patrol figures show.
ONLINE AT NYTIMES-INSTITUTE.COM statedollarsa
The reason is simple:
and cents.
As a record number Christine of drug
loads are being intercepted in
Community Colleges, which rep- ans cannot fall asleep without Arizona, those involved in
VIDEOS From Page 1
resents more than 1,000 commu- taking a gun to bed.
human and drug smuggling are
steering some of their efforts to
the more lucrative smuggling of
nity, junior and technical col- “We come back hypervigi-
Riding Lowlast(Again) Me, My Mom and Meth Sweet and Saintly Chinese immigrants, said David
When
handful
it opened
of veterans
spring, a leges, said many
would drop
In 2000, gang violence led to aleges ban on
community col-
reported similar increases, A Breach Talena Brown A profile of Maria Diaz, whose rosca,
lant,” said Lacroix, the Student
Veterans of America
spokesman.
president,
DIEGO JAMES ROBLES/NYTI Trying
Jimarez, a U.S. Border Patrol

Chinese immigrants common-

in the Barrier
in each week.bySince
cruising
beenlow-rider
seeing about
cars then,
60from
it has shifting
in Tucson, especially
a day.the streets
the at schools near mili- U.S. officials andhave herincreased
mother or sweet
security at the U.S.-Mexico bread,
border, is aAriz.,
but Nogales, stapleabove on oftheThree
right side, remains awho crossingdescribed
point for illegalfour instances
immigrants. $40,000 per $1.4 bi
ly pay smugglers upward of
inperson to lead them
from their homeland into the
scene tarytobases. have an unusual Kings Day. Produced by Amanda Afghanistan and Iraq when chil-
the sta
United States. In comparison,
The story is much the same at
showrooms. After a decade-long hia- The new GI Bill, which applies trait in common: Martinez and dren made to wear suicidecommonly vestspay $1,500 to $3,000 a
illegal immigrants from Mexico

many community colleges and to veterans who were on active Mexican Dentistry Thrives A Margaret
Tucson Evangelical’s Teich. North blewKorean up in front Mission of him.person, “We
paying
Jimarez said.
tus, one local low-rider champion They were both “The price far exceeds other
universities across the country. duty after Sept. 10, 2001, and As U.S. Patients Head South can’t concentrate. We’re too
was told to Associated Press the border, free prisoners and nationalities mainly due to the
works to upgrade both cars and the once addicted to reporters by Park’s guides, step down.
The number of veterans went into effect in August 2009,
low-rider culture’s image. Fruit, Vegetables By LAURI VALERIO
and Gridlock North Korean defectors busy turned watchingHe does not wanteverything
elaborate
his release China that’s
nature of the trip from

ris-Produced by methamphetamines. Talena, who to Mexico,” said Vincent

Robert Park took off his jacket activists, who announced the negotiated, he said in the inter- Picard, an Immigration and
enrolling in schools has been is expected to pave the way to By MARISSA LANG as he crossed the frozen Tumen arrest andgoing on
dis- view. around
Until us.
North Korean We
con- had to
ing Amanda
steadily, Martinez and Margaret Teich. started using meth at age 13 and has Drivers andRiver produce
into North distributors mustappearance of centration camps are closed, he Customs Enforcement spokes-
but higher-educa- college for many more veterans. After a visit to their dentist’s expensive. Many go without. Korea from
be aware alltotheleave time.”
man.

tion officials are anticipating a Benefits, which been sober since office
2008,in speaks candidly
Nogales, Mexico, get fresh
The U.S. Centers
include tuition Tucson residents Sonia and John Control and Prevention
for Diseasefood He from Mexico
China this past Christmas Day.
onto gro- ary Park, a mission- will refuse the country. Peter Chan, a Tucson busi-
reports
walked toward armed who had
In an effort to help veterans
About seven weeks before nessman who works as an inter-
research
major surge as more veterans and fees, areabout paid her experiences and the emo-that about 53cery million shelves
partinof athe United States
guards, playing every bit the lived in Tucson. crossing the North Korea-China preter at the federal courthouse
children
directly to Knodt often stop for enchiladas
and margaritas, sitting by an and adults have untreated tooth in one hand and a letter for Kim
martyr, holding a Bible The cope day withborder, the
Park stress
called Johnthat A. hasin Tucsonfol-wherethe Asso
immigration
take advantage of a new GI Bill, schools. tional toll. Produced open by
window Sierra
and taking Jiminez.
in the decay in their permanent teeth. quickly, before per- before his cross- Benson, the pastor who hearings are held,
ing, Park,lowed them home, the
said some
scenery from one of their More than 100 million
Jong-il, North Korea’s supreme
ishable items go bad. MULTIMEDIA
28, sat ordained him as a missionary at immigrants had Land-Gra
told him that
which provides benefits more Veterans who use the bill are favorite restaurants. Americans lack dental coverage leader, in the other.
Then he vanished. LUCIANA MORALES/NYTI
with a Reuters Life in Christ Community they pay a deposit of $5,000 to
reporter University
for a Church, an of Arizona
evangelical church in offers
$10,000 toaChinese profit smugglersre
“I like to count the number of — nearly three times the num-
generous than its predecessor’s. also given a stipend for housing Anglos Butlater, those stuck Robertin thev i d e o t a p e d Tucson. In the course of a 15- or before leaving China.

Most veterans are enrolled in and supplies. INTERACTIVE

Kyle Hough,
I see walking
SoniaFEATURE
by,” saida University
ber without health of
Knodt, a white-haired, according to a 2006 analysis by
Arizona
insurance,
dominant junior,
Four days
news provider,
produce
left the
the country’s
the
caravan
Army on
Park
say
interviewAlong
varietyin 20-minutethe
of programsLine
conversation, Parkto If teach
the immigrants About make it oneto
a medical
blue-eyed discharge
retiree. She’s watched the Kaiserafter being injured in Afghanistan.
Family Foundation. Korean Central News Agency,
Although Mexican officials announced the detention of an Korea, and declared hisCapturing
Seoul, them
South how to adjust to their new tutions
repeatedly told Benson he was America, they begin paying the
of the t
two-year colleges, and a smaller The previous bill provided said, most noticeably in the past don’t track how many American citizen
the Nogales area transform, she
longassumed delays to be at the roles as the
students. mood on the street
inten- willing to die for North Koreans, smugglers the remainder
as
Old-Town lump Nostalgia
reported
tions. With emphatic gestures Benson said. cost. If they don’t make it into
and a volatile voice, heSonic
TheYouth
“Even forfans gather outside the
number are studying at four- students a monthly sum few years: As the economy went Americans receive dental care Park.
border
describedhave above made
listed
university’s
Robert, that’s the
programs
country, Chan said, some
south, so did hundreds of in border towns, Dr. Jose
The scene several requests for Kim: Open Continued on Page 3 Continued on more.
Page 5
year colleges, according to the for tuition that was sometimes
A former residentablerecalls
Americans Oster,
seekingliving
formerly
more in
afford- a master ser-to 900going tothe
Saturno, a dentist in Nogales,
feedprocess you now. much historic
I have are part of a broader effort byRialto Theatre in downtown
reported having close Accord
American Council on Education, lower than theTucson’s amount historic
allotted Barrio
For
dental care.
geant, said
Viejo
the millions that
without den- without
patients from the bill,States,homework,’”
the United
more arduous. Jansen said. “The Tucson, colleges where to make the campus
band played life asDaily Star
which represents 1,800 higher- by the new bill, and it did not
neighborhood. Written
tal insurance, and for those with including the Knodts.
“Icoverage,
limited never
anddental would care inhave been able to
produced Dr. Ernesto Quiroga, who For
homework Bhutanese always
Produced by Sara J. Refugees,
comes last.” Tucson
part
easier of Is
its
for Both
concert
veterans. a Haven
tour. and a Trial
lion in tuit
education institutions nation- provide a housing stipend. Jansen, accustomed to strict Photographs The American by Daniel Council Woolfolk. on universiti
by Amanda Portillo.have my degrees.” The bill will
the United States is simply too Continued on Page 10
Martinez. most of whom started arriving
wide. Under the new bill, some vet- pay all of Oster’s $12,720 tuition. military By ELVIA MALAGON
discipline, doesn’t Education, in a report last year,
in 2008, according to the Arizona
Of the 40,000 students erans have complained that the Dilli Sharma, his parents, his Refugee Resettlement general Program,fu
Home From War, More GIs
Kyle
enrolled at the University of processing of payments has on a medical discharge in 2003 treat
Hough, 27, left the Army understand
two brothers, a how
sister and a some
sis- students found that many more colleges
a state program that works with
refugees from various paycountries.
bills
professors
ter-in-law began their odyssey
in classes: sleep- were offering academic tutoring
Are
after Headed Back to College 5,200 Bhutanese forcingarrived in theth
out of exile last June at a United Across the country, more than
Arizona, 800 to 850 are veterans. taken too long. breaking two bones in his ing, Nationssurfing
refugee camp the deepWebin a or walking and counseling for post-traumat-
This is an increase from last The federal government says lower back when he fell 60 feet out
forest in the mountainous nation United States
their cash
between 2007 and
to go to the bathroom.
of Nepal. ic stress order, and were2008, teach-
the last year for which offi-

year, although Maralynn it is striving to keep up with down a well in Afghanistan. Traveling to Katmandu, the cial data was available, Johnny
accord-
By JAMIE KLEIN
In the
Nepalese military,
capital, they boarded“you a sit down ing professors that veterans ing to the U.S. Department of
Bernstein, program coordinator increased demand. A large cardboard bunker, the time in Kabul, Afghanistan, plane for the first leg of a 24-hour
and shut
Health and Human the Services
Unive
covered Unhappy
in camouflage netting withand the Baghdad.jobs he journey acrossup,” she said. “Respect were a different kind of student.
the globe. Web site.
at the office of the registrar, But many veterans say the with green sandbags hanging off This is the office of Veterans Sharma and the theother schoo six
TransitionisNepaleseeverything in the military;
The Sharmas, ethnic
found
the side, is the firstafter
thing youleaving
see Education theandArmy, expelled from Bhutan, Miami Dade College, members forof his family spent
could not provide precise fig- new bill is helping students get when you work your entire career to example, hosts a veterans’
you walk into an office on Services, an increasingly impor- were part of a group of 30 their first week in
fair to their coverTucson get- ex
Hough,
the fourth floor ofathe former
student ranger,
tant resourcedecided
for veterans who refugees on the flight, many of ting adjusted new envi-
ures. “It’s definitely a rising the education they need to com- uniontoat attend the University of are now students: a place toearn whom it.” every year, where studentronment, veter- term.”
college toandbecome a had never been on a learning, for example,

trend,” she said. pete in a difficult economy. Arizona. The office is unlike
otherhigh
any relax chat between classes plane. “Some of them vomited,”
Hough, 22, said. the former Army ans canleft,meet and his with
DANIEL WOOLFOLK/NYTI

son Dilli,representa-
The Ar
how electricity worked in their
school
on the vast campus. science with teacher.
people who have shared Sharma, The Sharmas, including Laxyman, fled apartment, since their huts in
the refugee campsreported
Glen Lacroix, a student at the “In 10 to 15 years, instead of with A map of the world dotted experiences. It is also a place to
“I knew
multicolored pinsI repre-
wasn’t ready
study, receive for
tutoringcol-or playranger,
Their final destination was to Nepal in the 1990s and resettled in Tucson in 2009.
Tucson, where said theyhe wereoften
wel- didn’t tell tives from the local Veterans
had no power.
For much of the summer, the
University of Arizona and presi- having to take care of its veter- senting places soldiers have video games. In addition, it
place to start navi-other students he was a veteran.
comed by scorching heat. His Sharma family University
spent most of
servedlege hangsouton ofonehigh wall. school,
serves as amentally first taste of desert weather, said refugees arrived inAffairs this refugees hospital and
in neighboring Nepal thetheirVA’s
time inside their air-condi-
dent of the campus’ chapter of ans, we’ll see a country that is Several teddy bears wearing gating the bureaucracy of higherHe was tired of being asked if he to carve out a for nearly two decades before tioned apartment.its short-t
andwithfinancially,”
sweaters the insignias of education.said Hough, Sharma, who was accustomed to Southwestern city
regional
much milder temperatures, was new life. They join a growing coming to the United States.
office. “It’s very uncomfortable,”
the Student Veterans of excelling” because of its veter- the different referring to his decision
military branches It is now busier than ever.had
to join ever killed anyone,
“unbearable.” heofsaid.
enclave ethnic Nepalese who Rep.Pima Gabrielle
County is home Giffords,
to more Sharma D- said. “How can Arizona
we stay

America, said the university was ans, said Lacroix, a former the military. He is now a junior “That’s one of the questions Ariz., a member of the House plans to u
sit atop a bookcase. Clocks show Continued on Page 6 After their long trek, the fled Bhutan and lived as than 730 Bhutanese refugees, Continued on Page 5

anticipating that about 2,850 vet- Army intelligence officer who at the University of Arizona. you don’t ask a veteran,” Hough Armed Services Committee, said its spend
ONLINE AT NYTIMES-INSTITUTE.COM
erans in community colleges in served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adjusting to college life is often said. the new GI Bill was an impor- reported.
southeastern Arizona would VIDEOS
difficult for veterans, especially He remembers becoming tant way to recognize STUDENT the contri- PROFILES The reg
transfer to the university in the Opportunity Riding Low (Again) Me, My Mom and angry in a science class when a bution of veterans who
Meth Sweet and Saintly Intensity
had and Gov. Jan
putInspiration
for those who have served in Talena
next two years. And Adjustment In 2000, gang violence led to a ban on
combat
cruising in either
by cars in Tucson, student
Brown
made a joke about
A profile of Maria Diaz, whose rosca,
Afghanistan or and her mother or sweet bread, is a staple of Three
shifting the a A group of 23 students from across the
their lives on the line. country convene in Tucson. PAGES 12-15 make a d
havelandmine exploding. Hough
At Miami Dade College in Two years before retiring showrooms.
low-rider scene from the streets to
Iraq.After a decade-long hia-
an unusual
trait in common:
Kings Day. Produced by Amanda
Martinez and Margaret Teich. “Our veterans were there for universiti
Florida, one of the nation’s from the Air Force, Kevin Oster tus, one local low-rider champion
college They could
were bothvividly recall an episode in
us,” she said in an e-mail mes- Accord
works to Older
upgrade both than
cars andtraditional
the once addicted to
largest community colleges, started thinking about college. low-rider students, veterans, Afghanistan when andaGridlock
Fruit, Vegetables mine sage. “We need to be there for ing paym
Teich. whose
started usingcon-
culture’s image. Produced by methamphetamines. Talena, who
Amanda Martinez and Margaret meth at age 13 and has Drivers and produce distributors must
with 160,000 students on eight Oster, 47, wanted to work for a cerns often center on been paying
sober since col- exploded
2008, speaks candidly and
get freshinjured
food from Mexico a 10-year-
onto gro- them.” lower bon
campuses, the number of stu- defense contractor but knew he lege bills or taking care ofProduced
tional toll. their by Sierra oldJiminez.
about her experiences and the emo-
boy. He told his classmates
cery shelves in the United States
quickly, before per- Some veterans compared the versities,
MULTIMEDIA
families, say it can be hard to that “if they’d actually
ishable items goseen
dent veterans increased by would need a degree. bad.
But those stuck in the new GI Bill to the one created schools w
Along the Line
The GI Bill has helped Oster, relate to students who focus more someone get hurt by a landmine, Waras II that helped interest
INTERACTIVE FEATURE
nearly 43 percent between 2008 produce caravan say
long delays at the during
Capturing World
the mood on the street
and 2009, to 964 students from who lives in Vail, Ariz., get asso- on parties and relationships. Old-Town Nostalgia they wouldn’t be laughing.” money fo
A former resident recalls living in
border have made
the process much
propel
historic millions
Sonic Youth fans gather outside the
Rialto Theatre of veterans
in downtown into and
Video biographies a blog
675, according to school figures. ciate’s and bachelor’s degrees. Jamie Jansen, 29, Tucson’s a sergeant historic Barrio Viejo more arduous. thewhere
Tucson, middlethe bandclass.
played as reported.
about the students’ experiences

At Pima Community College He is now pursuing a master’s in the Army Reservebyand

neighborhood. Written and A Different
produced Kind Produced by Sara J. part of its concert tour.
“People
by Danielthat could have
with the Student Journalism
never
Institute:
This is
Amanda a Portillo.
jun- Martinez. Photographs Woolfolk. nytimes-institute.com

in Tucson, 1,283 veterans were degree in aeronautical science ior at the University of Arizona, Of Student gone to college because of that ments to
enrolled in the fall, an increase through a distance-learning pro- said she juggled classes while Hough and other veterans opportunity became the greatest been with
of 171 from the spring, school gram offered by Embry-Riddle taking care of her 4-year-old described another sobering dif- generation,” Lacroix said. “I In May
officials said. Aeronautical University in daughter and 2-year-old son. ference between themselves and think we are going to see similar volunteer
The American Association of Florida. “You can’t say, ‘Sorry, I’m not most fellow students: the veter- results.” delayed a