Asian Woman Seeking Water and Wit (Feature) First Indian American, APA Woman Astronaut Mourned Globally (in National News) Taking a Stand (in Bay Area News) Going Out with Style (in Sports) Capturing the Stuff of Dreams (in A&E) Emil Amok: Space Immigrant (in Opinion)

A Hero Lost

Hearing about the Columbia explosion early Saturday morning was a jarring shock to most of the world, especially since modern media has pushed space exploration to second page news. Finding out that Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian American and Asian Pacific American woman in space, was one of the seven astronauts — brought the story home in a painful way. Chawla was mentioned right here last March, as one of the women we thought you should celebrate for Women’s History Month. Her groundbreaking accomplishments and surprisingly down-to-earth demeanor made her one of our heroes long ago. When you read Chawla’s last words about seeing the beauty of earth from space, it really makes you wonder about all the rumblings of war.

Speaking of war, a planning faux pas on the part of a group of Bay Area anti-war organizers recently stirred up some controversy. It turns out that organizers had planned the next large-scale protest for the same day as San Francisco’s Chinese New Year parade, Feb. 15. Oops. The Chinese New Year parade regularly draws some 500,000 people and the last protest drew upwards of 200,000. At first, protest organizers did not want to move their rally and march, since it was planned in conjunction with other cities around the country. But then organizers met with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 24 and announced a compromise schedule that moves the protest to Feb. 16.

While it is commendable that the protestors were willing to cooperate, the disconnection of anti-war organizers from the Chinese American community is disturbing. The New Year parade is a huge community event that involves APAs from all around the Bay Area, planned nearly a year in advance.

Instead of this being a sign that turns APAs off from anti-war organizing, it should be a push for us to get more involved. The volunteer coalitions who run these events are open to more voices and it seems like they could use some help with organizing issues. After seeing APA contingents in the last rally, it seems obvious that it will be a long weekend for some of us, as we cheer into the night for the lion dancers winding down Kearny Street on Saturday, then scream our lungs out for peace on Sunday. But let us also make a concerted effort to take real leadership positions in the anti-war organizing that is going on.