Colleges report no hate crimes

Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2001 | 9:30 a.m.

A picture of tolerance is emerging at college campuses in Las Vegas, even as some Muslims and people of Middle-Eastern descent living in America struggle against prejudice and unprovoked assaults after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Community College of Southern Nevada has received no reports of "hate crimes" or biased-related harassment from students of Middle-Eastern descent, school officials said.

"We haven't heard any complaints," said Anneli Jauhiainen, CCSN's director of International Student Services. "As a matter of fact, it's been exceptionally calm."

The same is true at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where campus police say they have received no harassment complaints, despite the fact that more than 100 students of Middle-Eastern descent are enrolled at the school.

Off campus, however, the story is different. Several UNLV students who also belong to the Muslim Student Association say they have received death threats, crank phone calls and off-color remarks regarding their heritage.

About 21 complaints of harassment involving people of Middle-East descent have been filed with Metro Police since the Sept. 11, said Lt. John Alamshaw, who handles robberies and bias crimes.

So far, the harassment has been verbal, and has not involved physical violence, Alamshaw said.

That has not been the case in other parts of the country in the wake of the attacks.

In Mesa, Ariz., a Sikh man was shot and killed at a convenience store. In San Gabriel, Calif., an Egyptian Christian man was shot to death in a grocery store. In Seattle, a 53-year-old man was jailed after shooting at worshipers in a mosque before setting fire to the building.

UNLV student Seria, who gave her first name only, said she received a threatening phone call last weekend and has received death threats since the terrorist attacks.

"It's not getting better," Seria said. "Things seem to be getting worse."

Unlike many of her Muslim contemporaries, Seria wears a hijab every day. The head cover is worn to show respect to God, she said.

"Now, I walk very carefully and I watch who is looking at me," Seria said. "I want to see who is following me."

Seria is American-born. Even if she wanted to flee, she would have nowhere to go.

Seria said her family has received threatening phone calls during the past two weeks from people who said, "You're gonna pay," or "You're gonna die," she said.

Other Muslims said comments directed toward them haven't reached that level of severity.

Umar Ali, 16, says his older brother Mohammed, a UNLV student, received crank phone calls, but no death threats.

Pakistani student Mohammad Kashif said he has received comments such as, "Go back where you came from."

"For me, I didn't have any fear about going back to school," Kashif said.

Jamil Renno, a 21-year-old Palestinian student majoring in mechanical engineering at UNLV, said he has not had a difficult time in regard to off-color comments or other types of harassment. His parents, however, call him regularly from Lebanon.

"Don't go anywhere unless it's necessary," they say. "Don't gather with Arabs, and if anything wrong happens, come back."

If things get too bad, he said, he will return home. But for now, he said, he will remain in America, where he has a better chance at success than in Lebanon.

"I have no country really," he said. "Here, I can get an education. In Lebanon, I am only allowed to choose from 63 occupations."