Nation Briefs
September 22, 2006
Remembering Betty: Voice of Flight 11
Betty Ong, the 45-year-old Chinese American flight attendant on United Airlines flight 11, is considered an unsung hero for her 23-minute phone conversation relaying vital information that later allowed the FBI to identify the terrorists. But some, like her older sister Cathie Ong-Herrera, believe Ong deserves more recognition.
Ong was celebrated only in San Francisco Chinatown, where Ong was born, and Mayor Willie Brown proclaimed Sept. 21 as "Betty Ong Day."
The only memorial bearing Ong’s name is a Bakersfield, Calif., charitable foundation for preventing childhood obesity, which her older sister herself manages. Ong-Herrera has requested city officials rename Ong’s elementary school or a playground after Betty. But she has had no success.
"Flight attendants were first soldiers to fight this war on terror," said Ong-Herrera. "All the victims, survivors and rescue workers are heroes. I find it disheartening that Betty hasn’t received the recognition that she deserves."
Green Tea Lowers Stroke Risk, But Not Cancer
CHICAGO — A study funded by the Japanese government and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests green tea might lower your stroke risk but will not save you from cancer.
There were 40,530 Japanese adults who participated in the study, making it the largest ever on green tea.
Tea contains antioxidants that can help keep cells healthy. Green tea has more of them than black tea, and studies in animals have shown that tea antioxidants called catechins seem to shrink cancerous tumors. Some studies in humans have suggested tea can also help keep arteries and cholesterol healthy.
While the study is not the last word, at worst, tea is considered harmless and has no calories.
Man Sentenced in Hot Grease Attack
SAGINAW, Mich. — A man who threw hot grease on his Indian housemate has been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.
Aashish Pandey, a 31-year-old doctor practicing internal medicine, has said the Dec. 29 attack by Donovan A. Blunt, 21, left him with burns on his face, chest, neck and arms and inside his throat and lungs. His eyesight was damaged but has healed.
The dispute between the two men revolved around Blunt’s stereo. Pandey testified that he was studying in his room when Blunt knocked on his door and doused him with the hot fluid. He said he had asked Blunt to turn down his music in the past, but didn’t remember if he made that request the day of the attack.
Institute to Minimize Telescope Impact
HONOLULU — State and federal agencies are doing everything possible to reduce any impact of a proposed optical solar telescope on the 10,023-foot Maui summit of Haleakala.
The National Solar Observatory and a consortium of universities have proposed building an advanced $180 million and 143-foot-tall telescope.
Supporters say it will lead to major advances in understanding the sun and will benefit education and high-technology employment on Maui. Opponents argue the telescope will harm a sacred Native Hawaiian site culturally and physically.
Haleakala was selected for the solar telescope site last year after a three-year review of locations around the world.
The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope would be the world’s largest facility designed specifically to study the workings of the sun.
Filipina Accused Marines of Rape Walks Out of Court
MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino woman who has accused a U.S. Marine of raping her walked out of the trial, with her mother and at least five female companions, calling prosecutors "incompetent."
The 22-year-old woman has testified that Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, of St. Louis, raped her Nov. 1 in a moving van at the Subic Bay free port, a former U.S. Naval base, while three other Marines cheered him on. Smith has testified the woman was a willing partner and the sex was consensual.
The woman earlier told the court she resisted but was drunk and too weak to stop the assault. She said she was too drunk to walk and had to be carried on Smith’s back to the van.
KoreAm Vets Protest Command Transfer Plan
HONOLULU — About 65 aging veterans who fought for South Korea during the Korean War and later immigrated to the U.S., marched in front of the South Korean consulate to protest Seoul’s plans to take over complete command of the country’s military from the United States.
The veterans believe it is premature for South Korea to assume wartime command of its military and doing so would leave the South vulnerable to invasion from the North, protest organizer Janis Koh said.
"We are outraged and dismayed," Rev. Tae-Yong Cho, 74, a retired minister and veteran said in Korean as translated by Koh.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun says leaving the wartime command in U.S. hands is a slight to national sovereignty. South Korea and North Korea are technically still at war.
Demonstrations also were planned in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York, Koh said.
Hawai‘i Leads Nation in Longevity
WASHINGTON — Hawai‘i, with a big Asian American population, leads the nation in longevity — the only state with an average life expectancy topping 80, according to a recent report.
Where you live, combined with race and income, plays a huge role in the nation’s health disparities.
For example, which Hawaiian island you live on also makes a difference, with Oahu residents likely to live 3.2 years longer than residents of the Big Island. Mississippi had the lowest life expectancy of any state, at 73.6 years, with the District of Columbia even lower, at 72.
Asian Americans, average per capita income of $21,566, have a life expectancy of 84.9 years, compared to Middle America (mostly white), with average per capita income of $24,640 and a life expectancy of 77.9 years.
This study is the first to closely examine second-generation Asian Americans, and found their advantage persists.
Memorial Draws Criticism from Vets
WICHITA, Kansas — A proposal to open a Vietnam War monument here honoring both U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers has drawn protests from a group of American veterans who are worried this would set a precedence for other former allies’ wanting memorials in the veterans park.
Preliminary plans were approved last month by the Wichita Park Board at the request of the Vietnamese Community Association. Wichita has about 8,000 Vietnamese.
"In Vietnam, the communists have torn down all the memorials, so there’s nothing to symbolize what they’ve done," said Chinh Nguyen, the organization’s president. "They are heroes, they are freedom fighters, and we want to thank them."
The park includes memorials for Americans who fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, with potential plans to honor veterans of the wars in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
Husband in Mail-Order Bride Murder To Appeal
The husband of slain Filipina American Michelle Nyce, 34, was convicted of passion provocation manslaughter and sentenced to seven to eight years.
On Jan. 16, 2004, the body of Nyce was found in a New Jersey ravine in a staged car accident. Her husband, pharmaceutical executive Jonathan Nyce, had beat her face repeatedly on the concrete garage floor as she was coming home from an extramarital affair with the gardener.
The two met 14 years ago through a newspaper ad when then-Michelle Rivera was living in the Philippines. After more than a year of written correspondence, the two married and she moved to the United States. They have three children.
Lobbying for 1 New Route Into China
MINNEAPOLIS — The Transportation Department will soon choose from among four U.S. carriers to award a single new, non-stop route to China.
Non-stop routes anywhere in Asia are a rare and valuable commodity.
Continental officials held a news conference in New York’s Chinatown recently and lined up support from the Chinese American community. Continental has collected 15,000 letters and over 8,000 online petition responses.
Adding a domestic route is easy, but adding international routes into regulated markets such as China can be far trickier. Those governments limit the number of landing slots because of busy airports and a desire to protect domestic airlines from competition.
Killer Gill: Lived Fast, Died Young
WASHINGTON — Kimveer Gill, 25, of Sikh origin, went on a shooting spree at a Montreal college cafeteria, killing one and injuring 19 before he was shot dead by the police.
The incident brought chaos and fear to Canada’s second-largest city as major streets were closed, office towers were evacuated and the subway system was disrupted.
Gill, who liked to play Internet games about massacres like Super Columbine Massacre and Postal, hosted a blog with a web alias of Fatality666 at Vampirefreaks.com, a Gothic website.
In a blog, he had proposed his own epitaph: "Lived fast, died young. Left a mangled corpse."
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