Letters to the Editor

June 22, 2007

Stop the City College Misinformation

Your readers should know that reporter Richie Bondoc (”Attack Ad Zeroes in On Campus Foes,” June 15) never contacted Chinese for Affirmative Action, Chinese Progressive Association or the S.F. Labor Council before spreading misinformation about our partnership with City College and that he has publicly represented owners of the Hilton Hotel and their affiliates who have objected to the proposed campus.

Last year CAA, CPA, the Labor Council and City College participated in a collaborative to provide vocational English and job training to 100 workers who were dislocated from their jobs due to the closing of local garment factories.

This collaborative together applied for and received funding from the Private Industry Council of San Francisco and the California Employment Development Department. None of these funds originated from City College or were used for advocacy purposes.

Our organizations have a long and proud history of working with immigrant communities. We support a permanent City College campus in Chinatown because it will meet critical community educational and workforce development needs.

Gordon Mar, Executive Director, Chinese Progressive Association
Vincent Pan, Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action
Tim Paulson, Executive Director, San Francisco Labor Council

Frances Hsieh must be “math challenged.” The so-called two-building “compromise” for the much needed Chinatown campus would cost many millions of dollars more in public funds. Why spend upwards of $25 million more to build the new facility just to please the Hilton Hotel?

J.T. Ronin
Via e-mail

No Sweatshop

Manish Patel (”Dear Editor,” June 8) erroneously suggests Cemusa Inc. violates international labor sweatshop standards. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Cemusa enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide for producing quality street furniture. Likewise, we take great pride in our workforce. It is well documented that we pay our workers livable wages.

We were bidding for a transit shelter and street furniture contract with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

The timing of Mr. Patel’s unsubstantiated letter and his allegations certainly seem suspicious. Cemusa’s proposal to SFMTA satisfies all San Francisco’s minimum and livable wage law requirements.

Toulla Constantinou

CEO, Cemusa, Inc.

More Ed Jew Coverage

Can you write about this Ed Jew situation ASAP? I’d rather read about a story from a paper for our people, a paper I generally trust, and get your perspective.

Maria Leung
Via e-mail

Editor’s Note: AsianWeek ran a column and story about Jew in its June 15 edition. More coverage can be found in this issue.

Equal Opportunity Fetish

I am an African American woman and artist (”The Kimono Quandary: The Problems with Asian Fetishism,” Aug. 25) who has drawn and painted the Japanese female nude because I find her equally as beautiful as her white or other Western counterpart.

With all this obsession with the Asian fetish stereotype, I wonder if I have to fear criticism from angry and jealous critics from both sides.

Letters to the Editor

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