More on the Pakistani roomate and a remarkable amount of information on Obama’s numerous pakistani and/or Muslim friends during the college years:
http://pakistaniat.com/2008/09/01/barak-obama-pakistan/
BTW, I was a student at Columbia during the same years Obama was there: 82-85 (approx.) I can tell you that it would be kind of odd for anyone to have particularly Pakistani friends since, for the most part, Pakistani guys were probably concentrated in the Engineering school and your circle of friends as someone at Columbia College (where 0 was) would normally be guys at the College. Also, this Saddiqui guy (the one in the picture) was not even a student and not here legally, making it even more weird, since that’s not the kind of guy hanging out at the local eateries, bars, clubs, etc.
One final bit of weirdness in the form of a question: why didn’t 0 live in campus housing, choosing to live with a paki illegal off campus? Now, some students took apartments, but it was a very small %, campus housing being so much more affordable and convenient.
And no, I did not know 0 at the time. I think the college had about 3000 students at the time and I was in another undergraduate division and ate in a different dining hall. Sometimes, when I see the contemporaneous photos, I think I have a vague recollection, but I’m not sure, and besides, it wouldn’t be anything to brag about, right?
I’ll check both your links you just gave me, JR. Thanks!!!