Getting to the Root Of Things
October 29, 2004
Much fuss has been made over the difference between yams and sweet potatoes. This week I’ll attempt to settle the confusion between the two: They couldn’t be any more different. Read more
Judge Imposes 100 Hours, Probation for Anti-Asian Gang Assault
October 29, 2004
A juvenile who participated in a gang attack on five Asian American youths — Ken Zeng, Paul Wong, Sung Noh, Tim Wen and Jeff Woo — in San Francisco last June received a year’s probation for his crime plus 100 hours of community service. Read more
Monster Park Named for Largest Chinese-Owned Company
October 29, 2004
Noel Lee’s credo for being a Monster is: “Being a Monster is being the best at what you do with a Monster attitude. Whether you’re an engineer, doctor, musician, street sweeper, garbage collector, hi-fi salesman or a fantastic love, there is a special skill or talent that you have that makes you a Monster at what you do.” Read more
Trade Group Celebrates 27 Years, Values Social Responsibility
October 29, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO — With a thunderous taiko drum roar as a powerful backdrop, the Asian American Engineers and Architects (AAAE) held its 27th annual celebration dinner last Friday at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Over 350 of the Bay Area’s top professionals and some of this nation’s largest architecture and engineering firms came to pay their respects to one of the country’s pioneer Asian American trade organizations. Read more
Horror for Halloween: In the Mood for Twisted Kicks? See ‘Saw’
October 29, 2004
So how does a nice Chinese bloke from Australia go from directing student shorts and some cooking programs for TV to helming one of the most highly anticipated horror flicks of the Halloween season? Read more
Arts Briefs
October 29, 2004
Godzilla Scholars Invade Kansas
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The University of Kansas plans to pay homage to Godzilla later this month, organizing a three-day scholarly conference for the 50th anniversary of his first film. Read more
Bay Briefs
October 29, 2004
Vietnamese-owned Bank Debut in ‘Little Saigon’
WESTMINSTER, Calif. — A plan to create the only U.S. bank owned and operated by Vietnamese Americans has cleared a regulatory hurdle and is expected to begin operating early next year. Read more
Global Briefs
October 29, 2004
Chinese Tourism Surges in Europe
FONTAINEBLEAU, France — Europe is bracing for a Chinese surge following a tourism pact that simplifies visa procedures for Chinese tour groups and allows Chinese travel agents to advertise European destinations. Read more
Nov. 2 is Judgment Day for Judge Sing
October 29, 2004
San Francisco’s District 1 includes the heavily Asian Richmond District. The incumbent, Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, has been criticized for not being in touch with the neighborhood yet has garnered many citywide endorsements. Retired Judge Lillian Sing is the leading challenger, but some fear the APA vote will be split, with Chinatown radio commentator Rose Tsai also in the race. Read more
Nation Briefs
October 29, 2004
English-only INS Instructions
DES MOINES, Iowa — Advocates say new procedures requiring immigrants to make appointments with federal officers by computer make it difficult, if not impossible, for many to schedule the appointments.
“Many of us don’t speak English; we don’t have a computer,” said Chinese immigrant Wu-Chiang Chi through an interpreter after he arrived at Des Moines’ Citizenship and Immigration Services office. “I’m used to just coming here and taking a number. Even if I had to wait a long time, I felt like I was in control; I knew someone would eventually see me.”
The nationwide Internet system, called InfoPass, is available in 12 languages. However written signs and brochures explaining the new system are printed only in English. The system requires immigrants to make an appointment online if they wish to meet with a CIS officer.
Sandra Sanchez of the American Friends Service Committee in Iowa said the InfoPass system is helpful for some, but access to the online program should not be required for making an appointment.
ACLU Rips Lingle Over ‘Abusive’ Youth Facility
HONOLULU — Vanessa Chong, executive director of the ACLU of Hawai‘i, charged that Republican Gov. Linda Lingle has failed to live up to promises to correct allegedly abusive conditions at the Hawai‘i Youth Correctional Facility.
In a report to the governor in August 2003, the ACLU alleged that inmates at the HYCF were abused, assaulted and harassed by guards and kept in severely overcrowded conditions. Later Lingle removed the facility’s top two administrators, and the attorney general’s office launched an investigation resulting in two criminal cases.
The state is currently in the process of relocating inmates in order to renovate some buildings at the Kailua lockup and provide additional training for staff members there.
ACLU staff members monitoring the situation say the governor’s actions have all been window dressing and cover up major problems. But Lingle countercharged that what the ACLU had done “up to this point has not been in the interest of the young people.”
“It is unfortunate that this administration has resorted to making misguided personal attacks rather than fixing conditions at the youth facility,” Chong said.
Hmong Charter School Operates in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE — A charter school has opened this fall with a special focus on Hmong culture and language.
The Hmong American Peace Academy has about 240 students in kindergarten through the fifth grade, about 30 of them part of a wave of refugees coming to Milwaukee this fall from camps in Thailand.
“At this school, we want to instill some values, some character into our community,” said Tuolee Vue, who has two sons attending the school and teaches a class devoted to Hmong language and traditions. “It’s like when you are planting a tree, you want a good base. We feel this school will give our children strong roots.”
Lo Neng Kiatoukaysy, the director of the Hmong American Friendship Association, praised William Andrekopoulos, superintendent of the Milkwaukee Public Schools, for reaching out to the Hmong community. “I think it opens a door for them,” he said.
Fewer APA Wolverine Freshmen
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The number of black students in the freshman class at the University of Michigan fell 14.6% compared to last year because of a decrease in the number of black applicants. This trend followed the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the school’s undergraduate affirmative action policy.
Asian American freshman enrollment also decreased slightly from 4,489 to 4,472 students, with APAs still making up 13.2% of the student body.
There was a decline of more than 25% in applications from African American students, who make up only 7.8% of the student body, down from 8.1% last year.
Latinos make up 5% and American Indians 0.9% of all students. The number of white students increased from 22,236 to 22,490, or 66.3% of total enrollment.
Blue Devils Open APA Institute
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University launched an outreach workshop in connection with its Asian Pacific Studies Institute; the workshop is spearheaded by its Chinese-language faculty and funded by a Freeman grant and the U.S. Department of Education.
One focus is on first- and second-generation Chinese Americans and adopted Chinese children — those whom the Duke faculty has termed “Chinese-heritage-language students.”
“As one of the major universities in the area, we felt the need to reach out to the community and bring them to us,” said Carolyn Lee, associate professor of the practice of Chinese. “The workshop is … a medium to bridge the [cultural] gap. It raises awareness [and] causes people to respect differences and acknowledge similarities.”
Wang Shuhan, of the Delaware State Department of Education and a specialist in world languages and international education, was the workshop’s main speaker. “Culture and groups are not necessarily tied to a geographical location. Language and cultural education creates a community of purpose [and] helps build bridges between cultures,” Wang said.
Chiao to Vote in Space
On Nov. 2, Leroy Chiao, America’s newest astronaut aboard the International Space Station, will cast a cyberballot in the presidential election from 225 miles above the earth.
NASA is helping to ensure that Chiao gets a secure e-mail connection in order to cast his ballot for President Bush, Sen. John Kerry or Ralph Nader.
When Bush was governor of Texas, he signed a bill into law that gives U.S. astronauts, most of whom live around Houston, the right to vote from space.
“Definitely, I’ll be exercising my civic right and my civic duty,” Chiao said.
Chiao, who is fluent in Mandarin and Russian, arrived at the space station over the weekend via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft that also carried two cosmonauts.
Pastor Ministers to Kansas Immigrants
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Rev. Joseph Tung Dang, pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Apostolic Church, plans to expand his small and primarily Vietnamese congregation in northeast Kansas to include the Douglas County area.
Dang, 29, emigrated from his native Vietnam in 1988, joining his mother’s family who had resettled in California’s Orange County.
Dang, an ordained priest in the U.S.-based Catholic Apostolic Church International (a denomination independent from the Roman Catholic Church), has worked with Asian and APA students at Kansas University for the past two years. He has launched a ministry that features a once-monthly, hour-long Vietnamese-language Mass.
With Victoria Li, president of the university’s Asian American Student Union, he also started Our Lady of Perpetual Help Asian Community Center. “I think he’s a great guy,” Li said. “He’s very motivated and determined to get this done, and I think that helps.”
Fil-Am Backs U.S. Law Denouncing North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said it would work with Washington to ensure that a new U.S. law about human rights in North Korea will not disrupt six-nation talks aimed at ending the communist country’s nuclear weapons program.
This week, President Bush signed the North Korean Human Rights Act. North Korea has condemned the law as reflecting what it calls Washington’s intention to topple its regime.
One of the big backers of the law is Filipino American Edward Logan, a human rights advocate for the Jubilee Campaign USA and a founding member of the North Korea Freedom Coalition.
“This law sends a hopeful message to the North Korean people that we deeply care about their suffering under the Kim Jong-Il totalitarian regime,” Logan said.
The law calls for up to $24 million in aid to North Korean refugees and for other humanitarian purposes.
POTUS Welcomes Cambodia’s New King
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — President Bush congratulated and pledged support for Cambodia’s new king, Norodom Sihamoni. Read more
22 Candidates Seeking Japantown Support
October 29, 2004
San Francisco’s District 5 includes the Japantown area and the Western Addition, which is predominantly African American. Incumbent Supervisor Matt Gonzalez has voluntarily chosen not to run, and there are no Asian Americans running to fill the seat. Here are some of the issues facing that district and proposed ways to deal with them. Read more
District Waiting for the First Fil-Am Supervisor
October 29, 2004
San Francisco’s District 11 is one of the heavily APA districts, with more than 2 out of 5 residents identifying as Asian American — many are Filipino and Chinese living southern neighborhoods like the Visitacion Valley. In the race, incumbent Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval is considered vulnerable and is being challenged by five major candidates, including three APAs. Read more
