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And the Korean war veteran to winner is ... receive Congressional Stripes staffers Medal of Honor go head-to-head Page 8 over Oscar picks Scene magazine Falcons boys, girls in AA hoops finals Back page Volume 66, No. 311 © SS 2008 K SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2008 $1.00 Yongsan puts realty company off-limits Officials won’t elaborate on case; Julie’s Realty claims no wrongdoing Page 3 Africa comes alive in South Korea Page 3 ERIK SLAVIN/Stars and Stripes Second Infantry Division soldiers examine a lion reproduction and a massive collection of artwork Friday at the African Cultural Center in Pocheon, South Korea. The 2nd ID sent 65 soldiers to the center as part of its Black History Month celebration. PAGE 2 K F3HIJKLM •S TARSAND S TRIPES• Sunday, February 24, 2008 DAY QUOTE Watch out, New York City, here comes Anchorage OF THE DAY ANCHORAGE, Alaska — In a city where across the state’s biggest city, fashion sense has always played a distant sec- which now has a population of “Japanese will judge all ond to staying warm, a cluster of boutiques in about 270,000. The city is the the budding “SoNo” district, south of Alaska’s economic capital of a state more Americans and its military only Nordstrom department store, does a sur- than twice the size of France. prisingly brisk business in $50 body lotions “Anchorage has kind of grown on the Americans that they and $180 designer jeans. up,” said longtime resident know — even if the only The homage to New York City’s trendy Charles Wohlforth. SoHo district is just one of the many signs that Racial and ethnic diversity one they know is the one this once-unruly oil-boom town at the edge of also have risen as Alaska natives they meet in the the American wilderness has been tamed. from poor rural villages and sub- In some re- stantial numbers of Hispanics, newspaper.” spects, Anchor- Pacific islanders and Asians – From a slide shown at Camp age could even come to find work or join family Zama, Japan, during a briefing of ALL GROWED UP be called so- members. In the city’s public The Associated Press U.S. servicemembers and DOD phisticated. schools, nonwhite students AL GRILLO/AP civilians on the effect of crime on “Anchorage reached an all-time high of 50 relations with Japan has really percent last fall, with the 48,000 Stores like this one are doing surprisingly well selling changed since I moved here 30 years ago,” students speaking 84 different leopard-print Prada ballet flats and Louis Vuitton handbags. See story on Page 4 said Ellen Arvold, owner of the Out of the Clos- languages. “Rural Alaskans have a love-hate relation- et luxury consignment shop, where leop- The city is also reshaping its modest skyline ard-print Prada ballet flats and Louis Vuitton with a $100 million museum expansion, a $93 ship with Anchorage,” said Stephen Haycox, a handbags are big sellers. “People don’t think million convention center and a parking ga- history professor at the University of Alas- there’s a market for us, but there really is.” rage with room for 830 vehicles. Development ka-Anchorage. “What they hate is that people LIST Strip malls have replaced strip clubs, has its critics. Many Alaskans see Anchorage in Anchorage don’t have a good understand- TABLOID TRASH TALK big-box stores draw more customers than as increasingly out of sync with the rest of the ing of rural Alaska, which is a truly different bars, and residential neighborhoods have sup- state, prone to sprawl, traffic, crime and the world. But they love that Anchorage has neat THE ONE GOOD THING THAT planted the RV parks that once sprawled other usual urban ills. things to buy and neat things to do.” CAME OUT OF THAT RELATION- SHIP: “Vince (Vaughn) quits cigs after Jen (Aniston)” (Star) WHAT’S UP WITH THAT SU/DO/KU — MCT Explaining customs from around the world © Puzzles by Pappocom Q: A couple of weeks ago, I saw COMING soybeans littering the ground ev- SOON erywhere I went — on the side- walks, and even the halls of my apartment building. Did every- one in Japan spill their grocer- ies? What’s up with that? Scene A: In the immortal words of on Sunday John Belushi: “Food fight!” Well, sort of. Your neighbors Playing at did throw soybeans — but not be- Muscle Park cause anyone was imitating “Ani- mal House.” Instead, they were celebrating Setsubun, a holiday that marks the end of winter and the beginning of TODAY spring. (Yes, it still feels like win- IN STRIPES ter in most of Japan, but on the Jap- ILLUSTRATION BY RONI BREZA anese lunar calendar, spring offi- Stars and Stripes Abby ................................. 28 cially started Feb. 4.) come in happiness). The beans are either Americans literally clean house when Difficulty: Very Easy Yesterday’s solution American Roundup ........ 22-23 thrown out the door or thrown at a family spring arrives, but the Japanese do a more member wearing an oni mask. Classified .................... 33-35 figurative cleaning, by purging their homes Then it’s customary for everyone to pick Comics ............ Sunday comics of evil spirits or ogres, known as oni. That’s up and eat the beans — one for each year of Crossword .................... Scene where the soybeans come in, as part of a ritu- their age — to bring good luck. Fill in the boxes so that al known as mamemaki. Someone in the Setsubun is an excuse for a big party at Shin- each row, column and Faces ............................... 20 to shrines, which often bring in celebrities or household — usually the man of the house or 3-by-3 square includes Horoscope ......................... 28 sumo wrestlers to throw the beans, along with the digits 1 through 9. Opinion ....................... 26-27 a male born in the animal sign of the current sweets and money, into the crowds. For solution, tips and lunar year — throws the beans while chant- Parade ............................. 21 Got questions about goings-on in the Pacific? E-mail computer program, see ing “oni wa soto; fuku wa uchi” (get out ogre; Karen Willenbrecht at: [email protected] www.sudoku.com. Religion ............................. 29 Sports .......................... 36-48 This newspaper is authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military services overseas. However, the con- The appearance of advertising in this publication does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense or Stars and tents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government. Stripes of the products or services advertised. Weather ........................... 32 As a DOD newspaper, Stars and Stripes may be distributed through official channels and use appropriated funds for distribution to Products or services advertised shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, Your Money ................. 30-31 remote locations where overseas DOD personnel are located. national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Sunday, February 24, 2008 • S TARSAND S TRIPES• F3HIJKLM KPAGE 3 Yongsan A collection of hand-crafted mum on why busts were among the thou- sands of pieces on display Friday at the African Realtor put Cultural Center in Pocheon, South Korea. The 2nd ID sent 65 soldiers to the off-limits center as part of BY ASHLEY ROWLAND its Black History Stars and Stripes Month Celebra- tion. SEOUL — U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan offi- PHOTOS BY cials will not say why a prominent realty compa- ERIK SLAVIN ny is being investigated and was put off-limits Stars and Stripes earlier this month. The president of Julie’s Realty said her compa- ny has done nothing wrong, and she believes the off-limits des- Africa comes alive in South Korean exhibit ignation will We are sure we’ve be over- BY ERIK SLAVIN He has since more than made up for it. Zimbabwe to the south. Many of the sol- turned soon His business ventures have made him a diers gazing at the artifacts were im- done our best for Stars and Stripes during the ap- multimillionaire. “The poverty of my pressed at the center’s scale. peals pro- servicemembers POCHEON, South Korea — Just off a childhood robbed me of having a chance “You expect to see this in Seoul, but not cess. and their families. back road in a small town outside of at education in school,” Tae said. “That here,” Sgt. Gary Wilder said. “There is a Uijeongbu, a group of buildings houses got me to dream about building up some Staff Sgt. Lamar Atkinson said he visit- misunder- kind of learning center.” Julie Back one of the most extensive collections of Af- ed an African cultural center while serv- standing,” rican art and craftwork in East Asia. The city rejected Tae’s first two plans ing in Europe but never expected one Julie Back president of Julie’s Realty for schools. Then he began traveling to Af- here. “I’m amazed to see they have the said Friday On Friday, about 65 soldiers with the rica and fell in love with the continent. He number of African artifacts that they do,” at her office, located near Samgakji subway sta- 2nd Infantry Division got a look at the Afri- began building his African Cultural Cen- Atkinson said. “As an African-American, tion and a short walk from Yongsan’s Gate One. can Cultural Center in Pocheon. ter in 1998. More than 20 billion won ($21 it warms my heart to know that someone About a dozen thank-you letters and certificates It is the brainchild of a South Korean million) later, the doors opened in 2006.