The Machines In Our Brains (Feature) East or West: Re-Igniting the Debate Ten Years Later (in National News) APA Representation Maintained on the Board (in Bay Area News) Ultimate Diversions: 2002 Gamer’s Gift Guide (in Business) Wushu Tries to Infiltrate the Olympics (in Sports) San Francisco Singer-Songwriter Brings Her Talents to a Boil (in A&E) Emil Amok: The Global Joe Public Speaks (in Opinion)

Who’s Out of Touch?

DEAR EDITOR: I received a mailer from AsianWeek endorsing Fiona Ma and Bevan Dufty in the runoff elections in Districts 4 and 8. Samson Wong’s article “Fiona Ma’s Importance, Challenges and Lessons” (Nov. 15), was most interesting. He opines that Eileen Hansen might prove to be out of touch with the moderate electorate in District 8 because, among other things, she opposes Proposition N (Care Not Cash), which passed citywide 60 to 40 percent and in District 8 with 58 percent of the vote. Moreover, Mr. Wong points out that in an exit poll of 642 Chinese American voters in the Sunset and Tenderloin — both of which are involved in runoffs — as well as in the Richmond and Chinatown, supported Proposition N by a huge margin: 74 to 26 percent.

In the earlier part of his article, Mr. Wong says that District 4 voters should elect Fiona Ma because she is APA and a woman and that the survival of district elections might hinge on whether or not she gets elected. So what? Would you have voted for someone like Tokyo Rose because she was APA and a woman? Mr. Wong insults voters’ intelligence by suggesting that we should vote for a particular candidate because of ethnicity or gender. I want a supervisor who best represents my interests and political views, regardless of color or gender.

Furthermore, Mr. Wong fails to mention two minor details about Fiona Ma: She also appears to be out of touch with San Francisco voters and voters in her adopted neighborhood. Ma supported Proposition L, the real estate transfer tax, which lost by a healthy margin. Ma also waffled on Proposition N before coming out against it, while voters in the Sunset and most other districts overwhelmingly supported it.

Rebecca Woo
San Francisco, CA

What About the Jews?

DEAR EDITOR: In Phil Tajitsu Nash’s column “10 Holiday Gifts for Asian Pacific America,” (Dec. 12), Nash says that Arab and Muslim Americans have gotten more than their fair share of hate violence since Sept. 11. I agree. What he did not mention is that the FBI statistics on hate crimes which came out two weeks ago revealed that while there were about 400 hate crimes against Arab and Muslim Americans, there were over 1,000 hate crimes against Jews. Of course, Nash looked the other way on this. I was not surprised. However, he should realize that there are 10 million Arab and Muslim Americans in this country and only 5 million Jews. Yet there are over twice the amount of hate crimes against Jews as there are against Arab and Muslim Americans. I am really not surprised that he did not write about this. Just don’t try to say that you, Mr. Nash, express support for Jews and Muslims who are victims of hate crimes, because it is just not true. On the 4th of July two Jews were murdered at the Los Angeles International Airport, neither Nash nor AsianWeek condemned this.

I do not mean to harass Mr. Nash but I feel I should speak out when he says something that I feel is grossly unfair. I have never felt that strong against any other position he has taken.

John P. Carlin
Via email

So Many Name Suggestions

DEAR EDITOR: Your recent survey of the “Best of Asian Pacific American Bay Area,” (Nov. 14) was highly disappointing. The decidedly “sino-centric” bias of your recommendations is also reflective of your editorial staff and publication in general. As a Japanese American I was highly offended that you did not include any Japanese restaurants, of which there are many in San Francisco. Only one sushi establishment, which is definitely in the minor league of sushi bars, was mentioned. You should consider a more ethnically balanced survey in the future, taking in the greater sphere of Asian Pacific America. A more diverse team (ethnically and in age) of researchers is definitely in order. Not everyone is interested in what 20-somethings consider “hip” ... obviously a narrow perspective.

If you fail to take this criticism to heart, then you should consider calling your publication ChineseWeek instead of AsianWeek, as you fail to cover the whole Asian Pacific community with the kind of balance and perspective that it deserves.

Roger Oyama
San Francisco, CA

A Historic Street for a Historic Man

DEAR EDITOR: In reference to “The Best of the Asian Pacific American Bay Area,” I would like to submit the name of Donald Chee as one of the most historic people. Unfortunately, he passed away in August at the age of 61 from cancer.

Mr. Chee was born in San Francisco and a graduate of the UC system in electrical engineering. After a stint with the Peace Corps in Liberia, he taught in New York and then returned home to San Francisco, where he worked for the city for 25 years. His work included numerous projects for Hetch Hetchy water and power and the Municipal district transit system. Chee’s principal monument is the streetcar “F-Line” that features vintage streetcars from around the world and runs down Market Street and the Embarcadero, connecting with Fisherman’s Wharf. This most successful project carries 20,000 riders a day, more than the entire ridership of some Bay Area transit systems.

In recognition of Chee’s achievement, the city has named a street in his honor, “Don Chee Way.” We in the Asian Pacific American community are especially proud.

Henry Y. Mar
Oakland