Earlier this year, Ross Walker Jr. received a letter from Germany with incredible news.

He called a reporter. “This poor old guy is probably the victim of another scam,” she thought.

It turns out that Mr. Walker had a story better than she could have imagined - a story with history, love and family…

Listen to the audio story on our website: http://wfae.org/post/german-daughter-finds-meets-her-world-war-ii-american-gi-father

Second piece for WATC: Immigration, The Gold Mountain And A Wedding Photo 

Deep inside the National Archives in Washington, D.C., old case files tell the stories of hundreds of thousands of hopeful immigrants to the U.S. between 1880 and the end of World War II.

These stories are in the form of original documents and photographs that were often attached to immigrant case files. Many of them are part of a new exhibit at the Archives, called "Attachments."

For University of Minnesota history professor Erika Lee, one of these attachments turned out to be very special.

When she was in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, in the mid-1990s, she was researching the Exclusion Era, a period in which Chinese immigration to the U.S. was severely restricted.

Lee called library after library looking for primary source material but came up empty. Then she called the National Archives in San Bruno, Calif.

"I was expecting the usual 'No, I'm sorry,' and to my surprise, the archivist there said, 'Yeah! We have about 70,000 individual immigrant case files that have just been released to the public'," Lee said.

There were boxes and boxes of files. Too many to count. The first file she asked to see was her own family's. When she opened it, her grandmother's wedding photograph fell out.

"As a historian, this was like a breakthrough discovery of a lifetime, and then, just as a granddaughter, it was extremely emotional," Lee said.


The Wedding Photograph

The black and white photo from 1926, which is now featured in the National Archives exhibit, shows Lee's grandparents looking straight into the camera.

Her grandfather, Yee Shew Ning, is smiling in his tuxedo at the entrance of a Chinese Methodist Church in Guangzhou, China. Her grandmother, Wong Lan Fong, is wearing a collared-silk dress and wedding veil. She looks like she's trying to smile. She has one arm wrapped around her husband's and is carrying a bouquet of flowers.

Bruce Bustard, senior curator for the exhibit, says the photo looks like a typical wedding photograph — until you look a little closer. A five-digit number on a corner of the photo is Fong's immigration case file number and also the number of the steamship that Lee's grandparents arrived on 85 years ago.

"Chinese immigrants really looked to the United States. They called it Gum Saan, or Gold Mountain," Lee said. "The United States was seen as the place where you could make your dreams come true."

Immigration From China

It was far from a golden arrival. Following U.S. legislation cracking down on immigration from China beginning in 1882, most Chinese arrivals were held in detention for long periods. Women often were suspected of being low-class laborers or even prostitutes.

Lee's grandfather knew his wife would have to overcome these stereotypes before immigration officials would authorize her entry into the U.S. So he saved his wages from his laundry business for an entire year to purchase a first-class ticket for his wife. And he documented everything.

"He was really put through the wringer," Lee said. "And I became angry as I learned more about this injustice of how Chinese immigrants were treated during this time period."

Lee is now Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, the largest archive on immigrant and refugee life in the country. 

David Ferriero, who is archivist of the United States, says immigration has always been a topic of conversation and debate in this country.

"Some of the stories that are being told [in the National Archives exhibit] in terms of treatment of individuals are still very much the same stories that are being told today," Ferriero says.

Lee says that too often, the conversation focuses on the conflicts between people on either side of the immigration debate, and she hopes the new exhibit will remind people both of the "conflicts and promise" of immigration.

The exhibit is scheduled to run through Sept. 4.

First piece for WESUN: Planes, Patience and Slightly Kid-Friendlier Security

It's 7 a.m. at the Kimball's Washington, D.C., home. Peter and Leslie Kimball are running up and down the stairs, changing diapers and trying to feed their kids breakfast.

They're packing for a work conference in Orlando, Fla., but they've also planned a surprise for their daughter Lane's birthday: a visit to Disney World.

This summer, more than 200 million people are expected to fly out of U.S. airports. The Kimballs are one of many families flying with their kids.  

In the car, the Kimballs go over Mom's rules for the airplane. No. 1: Don't kick the seat in front of you. No. 2: Don't hop in your seat (or the seat in front of you). No. 3: Speak quietly. And the last rule: Have fun.

They made their flight with time to spare and Leslie says they enjoyed the flight. But for many families, flying is anything but fun.

Stress At Security Checkpoints

"It is stressful when you have three kids, you've got carry-ons, you're trying to comply with all the rules, you're being yelled at by a TSA agent, that all raises your blood pressure," says Christopher Elliott, a father of three young children and a consumer advocate based in Orlando. He writes about the TSA for publications like National Geographic Traveler and The Washington Post.

Elliott says he understands why kids have to go through security checkpoints — but still.

"When I see my daughter go through the checkpoint, I'm always thinking, 'What if she's singled out for a more thorough check, and how am I going to react?' " he says. "As a parent, that kind of freaks me out. I would not want anyone touching my kids like that."

TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says last fall, the agency began to reduce — though not eliminate — the number of pat-downs for kids.

If they set off an alarm, kids can now go through the metal detectors more than once. If they continue to set off alarms, instead of getting a pat-down, they'll be swabbed — usually on their hands. The swab then goes into a machine to check for explosive residue.

Pat-downs are among the top five complaints the TSA received last year.

"One of the things that is going to be met with much happiness, from the parents anyway, is that passengers who are 12 and under no longer need to take off their shoes," Farbstein says.

She says there's a reason agents screen kids and their belongings. Last month, in Providence, R.I., a parent had sown gun parts into a child's stuffed animal. Once on the plane, the parent could have reassembled the handgun if TSA officers did not screen the child's toy.

Keep The Shoes On, And Have Some Patience

Amy Selco is a mother of two boys in Silver Spring, Md. She says the new rule allowing her sons to keep their shoes on has been very popular with her family.

"The first time my son had to take off his shoes, he flipped out," Selco says. "I mean, that's kind of a violation. He was in this new environment anyway. And he screamed and he cried."

Monika Sakala, a mother of two young girls, writes about her experiences for her blog, Wired Momma. She says for her, the most difficult part of traveling with kids is often dealing with the adultpassengers.

"People see little kids coming on an airplane and they immediately recoil," Sakala says. "Parents do not want their kid crying or acting out at all. It's their nightmare."

She says she's surprised when people don't offer to help a parent traveling alone with their kids. Families have to think about a lot of things other passengers don't: packing strollers, car seats, baby formula, diapers, snacks and entertainment for their unpredictable kids.

William Clark, a relatively recent parent, says becoming a father has changed his perspective.

"I'm always just worried about other passengers. Sometimes they're in a bad mood," Clark says. "I remember when I didn't have kids, being disturbed by a kid kicking the back of my seat. Now I'm much more understanding."

As for other parents flying with their kids this summer, Selco has a word of advice: patience. Lots of it.

    Last  week, Florida International University assistant professor Christine McFarlin was going over a patient's chart with a third year medical student. She was discussing which HPV exams would be the most cost-effective for a patient the student had just seen. 

    McFarlin went over the paperwork and advised the student to order a regular test and a second, more expensive exam if the results from the first test came back positive for HPV. 

   The Health Council of South Florida estimates that there are about 100 free clinics in the state of Florida, with only a handful of free medical clinics in South Florida. A free clinic in Miami Gardens, the Universal Heritage Institute CommunityCare Medical Clinic, is the first to host medical students from Florida International University. 

    As a new medical school with only a couple of years under its belt, FIU's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine does not have its own hospital. 

   It has largely partnered with local hospitals and clinics to give students practical experience through rotations. Only two other free clinics in South Florida have had medical students rotate through it in the past, The Lotus Wellness Center and the Tuesday Night Clinic at St. John Bosco, both based in Miami, with medical students from the University of Miami rotating through it. 

    Every three weeks, three students and a professor from FlU's medical school work at the Universal Heritage Institute Medical Clinic as part of their family medicine rotation. They have access to a classroom with a whiteboard and laptops at the clinic where they can discuss and review cases.  

   "So they will go in, see a patient, talk with them, examine them, come report to me and then we go back in together and review with the patient what the student has told me and we together come up with a treatment plan," McFarlin said.    

    The clinic was founded in 2008 by Miami's Pakistani-American community. It took years of planning and fundraising at mosques and community centers before they were able to get it off the ground. 

"We are here to provide care for the people who need [it]," Sadrul Fasihi, the clinic's president said. "We don't care whether you are legal, illegal, white, black."

     Fasihi is a retired computer analyst who drives from his home in South Miami to the UHI clinic in Miami Gardens five times a week.  Like most of the clinic's staff, Fasihi is a volunteer. He also serves as the plumber, painter and general handyman. 

     At first, the clinic was open two days a week. And to this community, it was a new idea. He says when he was first telling residents in Miami Gardens about the free medical clinic, they laughed in his face. 

     "People were laughing because they were thinking, "Sir, there's no free thing in this country, what are you talking about?'," he said. 

     Today, the clinic is open six days a week and is still funded entirely by donations from the community. It has one paid full-time doctor, two paid full-time medical assistants, 35 volunteer doctors -- about half a dozen of whom are specialists. 

    The clinic is open to people whose incomes fall below the federal poverty level guidelines and who don't have any other type of health insurance. It does not ask for a social security number. 

    "Our whole idea is that when poor people come, we don't want them to feel bad that they have got this run-down clinic because we are poor and we can't afford it."  

     The clinic is far from run-down. It has four exam rooms, which are clean and bright and there's an electronic medical record system -- something many doctor's offices and some hospitals still don't have. 

     Fasihi sits on the executive board of the Florida Association for Free Clinics and says he and another volunteer came up with the idea to partner with FIU's medical school. 

     When Dr. Pedro Jose Greer, assistant dean of academic affairs at FIU's medical school, visited the clinic, Fasihi said he was very impressed. 

    "It was mutually beneficial to both of us that now we have doctors and medical school has a place that they can bring the students here and rotate," he said. 

    Rebecca Arana is a third-year medical student doing her family medicine rotation. She spent three weeks at North-Dade Health Center, which is part of the Jackson Health System. 

    "It's different from the Jackson center, which is always full of people and they always seem to be disgruntled with the work and they have a lot of wait times," Arana said. "Where as opposed to over here, they come in and you know they don't have to wait too long and we can spend as much time as we can with [the patients]."

    Clinic president Fasihi says as word of the free clinic has spread over the last several years, the number of patients has increased. He said UHI hopes to build a larger clinic to accommodate even more students and patients. Nursing students from FIU will also be rotating through the clinic soon.   

More than a decade after 9/11, heightened security at U.S. airports has become routine, yet some religious and minority groups say they're unfairly singled out for even more screening. Well, now there's an app for that.

The mobile app is called FlyRights. Travelers who suspect they have been profiled take out their smartphone, tap a finger on the app and answer about a dozen questions. Then they hit "submit" and an official complaint is filed immediately with the Transportation Security Administration.

The app is the work of civil rights groups led by The Sikh Coalition. Amardeep Singh, co-founder of the Coalition, says the idea came from Sikh entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley who felt they were being stopped unfairly at airports, too often.

"They literally said to one of our staff members, 'There should be an app for that'," Amardeep said. "We thought, great idea, let's start working on it."

The app has already been tested with the TSA. Amardeep hopes the app will encourage more people to file complaints so that there is more accurate data on improper screening.

Stripped Of Dignity

Hardayal Singh has a long, black beard and wears a dark olive turban. He's the director of United Sikhs, a human rights advocacy group — but he isn't related to Amardeep by blood; most Sikh men share the name of Singh.

Many Sikh men — and some women — also wear turbans, called dastaars, to cover their kesh, or uncut hair. Hardayal says the turban is meant to serve as a symbol of equality and justice, but at airports, turbans lead to extra scrutiny.

"You go to the airport, you know that you're going to be pulled aside," he says. "You know that your turban is going to be asked to be touched upon and then the ways the x-rays are going to be flowing in to see if you're a safe traveler or not."

For turban-wearing Sikhs, there are at least three levels of screening at security checkpoints. There's the metal detector, the hand wand and the "explosive trace detection" pat-down. That's where an officer or the passenger touches the turban, then gets their hands swabbed for traces of explosives.

If the TSA has further questions, the passenger may be asked to remove his or her turban for further inspection — the greatest insult, says Hansdeep Singh of the International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination.

"There's literally no way, no policy or screening method for us to go through that doesn't literally strip us of our dignity, each time," Hansdeep says.

"Oftentimes, when you're not making that initial complaint at the airport, you lose the motivation to file that complaint after time goes by," he says.

TSA: It's Not About The Turbans

It's not only Sikhs who face extra scrutiny. Across cultures, there are travelers who wear headwraps or bulky clothing. They say they get similar treatment.

At Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., TSA spokesperson Kawika Riley says there's no profiling going on, just screening for safety.

"If a passenger is wearing any type of bulky headwear, then they should know they may be subject to additional screening," he says. "We do not profile based on race; we do not profile based on ethnicity; we do not profile based on religion."

Riley says the TSA must try to detect ever more sophisticated weapons — plastic explosives for instance — that can't be seen on x-rays. But he says the agency doesn't want to mistreat flyers.

"We're constantly working to improve our detection technology, our officer's training and TSA's capacity to make the travel experience not just more secure — although that's our focus — but also more convenient for passengers," Riley says.

While a lot of the evidence of profiling is anecdotal, the problem is that the TSA does not make a lot of its data public, says Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer at BT Managed Security Solutions. His company has advised the TSA in the past.

"We get less security when we profile," Schneier says, because it sends a signal to the bad guys about how not to look. "If we are profiling, we shouldn't do it. It's just doing security smarter."

To repair its relationship with passengers, Schneier says the TSA needs to be more transparent.

Meanwhile, FlyRights will be available for download on the iPhone and Android phones starting Monday.

The South Florida Princeton Prize for Race Relations Committee has awarded a thousand dollars each year to high school students in the greater Miami area.  This year, a high school junior from Tamiami won the top prize. 

Walford Campbell is a junior at Miami's Belen Jesuit Preparatory School. 

On a school trip last year with his A.P. U.S. History class, Walford heard from Holocaust survivors during a "youth Day" event at the Miami Beach convention center. There he met Holocaust survivor Sol Lipson. 

"He told me about his plight during the Holocaust and how he watched people die because of their faith and how they looked and that inspired me because he saw all these cruel things and evil things happen yet he never really gave up hope in mankind," Campbell said. 

At the end of the event, a woman took the stage. She told the students that it was now their turn to make sure something like the Holocaust never happened again. Walford took her words to heart. 

Belen Jesuit is a mostly white, Cuban and Catholic high school. Walford sticks out here because he looks different. He is one of about a dozen African-American students at the high school. Some of his classmates have told him that he is their first black friend. 

So he decided to start the Culture club at his school, a place where minorities could speak openly about their beliefs. 

In one recent meeting, the Culture club invited a Hindu student to speak. 

"People never really understood his religion so we invited him to club and he talked about Hinduism, what he believes in and how many of the times people that call him muslim or call him a terrorist is completely wrong and false." 

Walford says speaking at the club helped curb the number of comments toward the student.  

Jonathan Colan, chair of the South Florida Princeton Prize for Race Relations Committee said judges were impressed with Walford because he took the lessons of the Holocaust and related it to the racial and ethnic mix of Miami. 
 
"I think that schools need it, universities need it and even adults need it, because we can all work to improve our racial understanding to promote racial harmony," Campbell said. 

He says Belen is a very open and welcoming school, but he feels that barriers between different ethnic groups, stereotypes and prejudices have broken down since the club started.  

Over 300 daily newspapers nationwide have launched paywalls on their website. Last week, the South Florida Sun Sentinel became the first daily in the region to do so. Other South Florida papers may soon follow suit.

If you read The Sun Sentinel online and don't subscribe to the paper -- by now, you may have already passed your limit of 15 free articles per month. On April 9, the paper began charging $2 a week to access content on its website. Mary Helen Olejnik is the community programs development manager for The Sun Sentinel.

"We're going to keep the number internal, but we're pleased with the response," Olejnik said.

Other South Florida papers -- including The Miami Herald -- are monitoring the paywall initiative carefully. Eric Weiss is an online editor at The Palm Beach Post. 

Clay Clifton is the digital manager at The Palm Beach Post.

"They're our competitor but they're also our partner in that we share content," Clifton said. "They're also a fellow newspaper so it'll be interesting to see how a newspaper in South Florida fares under a paywall."

The Palm Beach Post has a content-sharing agreement that allows them to publish full articles from the Sun Sentinel in their newspaper. But when it comes to website, since the paywall launched, The Palm Beach Post editors have published fewer articles from The Sun Sentinel on its website. Editors there say readers don't like to be teased with two paragraphs and then be redirected to another website to read the rest of an article.

The South Florida Business Journal, charges for online content, and says it has been doing well. Editor Kevin Gale, who used to work at The Sun Sentinel, says the newspaper industry is still exploring how to make money online.

"Journalism is like any other product," Gale said. "There are very few free lunches in the world and I think this is the first step but we're only in the initial phases so we'll have to see how it works out."

Matthew Krotzky of Hollywood used to work as a reporter for The Sun Sentinel. But he says even he won't be signing up for the subscription plan. He says the paper doesn't do a good enough job covering his neighborhood.

"I covered the city of Boynton Beach and I was competing against the reporter from the Palm Beach Post," Krotzky said. "And today, Fort Lauderdale, which is right in the Sun Sentinel's backyard has one reporter and that's it."

Krotzky says he doesn't think charging for access will solve the economic problems facing newspapers. But like everyone else, he has only one option: to wait and see.