problem with dbConnection, reading in context-params from web.xml

Question

i have some jsp code that reads in Servlet Context parameters from a web.xml file. these parameters hold database connection information so each time the SID or user/password or servername changesm, the programmer doesnt have to go re-code; the user can just change the web.xml file.

<context-param>
 <description>database user name</description>
<param-name>user</param-name>
<param-value>guest</param-value>
</context-param>

<context-param>
 <description>database password</description>
<param-name>password</param-name>
<param-value>1234</param-value>
</context-param>

i read in these using this section of bean class code:

    String user = servletContext.getInitParameter("user");
    String pass = servletContext.getInitParameter("password");

The Problem:

next i want to do the database connection to retrieve some data:

     Class.forName("oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver");
     dbConnection = DriverManager.getConnection(conn_url, user, pass);

where conn_url was a string made up of hostname(or ip address) and the port number.

At any rate the dbConnection fails:

java.sql.SQLException: ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied

even though i echo out what the String values are and they are what they should be.

if i go and say:

user = "guest";
pass = "1234";

assigning them directly then it works fine.

I don't get it. Ive rattled my brain all day. Clearly the getConnection looks for 3 Strings. I am at a loss. Any help would be appreciated.