Nation Briefs
January 9, 2008
Vietnamese Americans Moving To Houston
HOUSTON — Many Vietnamese Americans from California have flocked to Houston, lured by cheap real estate, a lower cost of living, bountiful business opportunities, and a thriving, growing Vietnamese community.
Houston’s Vietnamese community, now the third largest in the nation, numbered about 85,000 in 2006 — up a third in just six years, according to U.S. Census figures.
Community leaders and real estate agents in Houston say they started seeing an upswing in Vietnamese Americans from California five years ago, driven mostly by the city’s cheaper housing. Although Hurricane Katrina brought in displaced Vietnamese Americans from Louisiana, residents say the California migration is much larger.
Most are second-generation Vietnamese Americans from California, often younger families or empty nesters looking for affordable retirement. The flight of young families from places such as Orange County is worrisome to some — underscoring long-running concerns that young families someday will abandon Little Saigon.
— Los Angeles Times
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Rep. Mike Honda Secures Millions For Santa Clara
WASHINGTON — Education, crime fighting, the economy and the environment in Santa Clara County received a significant boost after Congress funded several vital projects and initiatives at the request of Rep. Mike Honda.
Agencies such as the Santa Clara Crime Lab, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County, among others, will receive over $43 million in federal funds, which Honda, a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, secured despite a roller coaster budget and appropriations year in Washington.
The funding is part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which was approved by both the House and Senate recently to finance government operations. Honda voted against the portion of the Omnibus that included money for the Iraq war.
More than 30 projects and initiatives throughout the county will receive federal dollars, ranging from health clinics and gang prevention programs to flood protection and environmental restoration.
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Filipino Youth Campaign For Immigrant Filipina
NEW YORK — On Dec. 14, Filipino youth organization Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Linking the Children of the Motherland) held a cultural event, “Magdiwang,” to celebrate the organization’s third anniversary and launched an unpaid wages campaign for Filipina youth worker Adriane Padilla.
Padilla, a 23-year-old Filipina immigrant, is seeking compensation from her former employers, owners of the restaurant and bar formerly known as Barrio Fiesta in Woodside, Queens. Her employers failed to pay her minimum wage, overtime compensation and additional spread of hours pay. They also engaged in tip stealing and withheld her wage for approximately eight months, threatening to terminate her when she complained.
Padilla’s speech was one of the highlights of the event, which was attended by about 100 youth, supporters and allies.
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APAICS Announces 2008-2009 Fellowships
With the successful placement of the class of 2007-08 Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies fellows, the nonprofit organization announced that the application for the next cycle is available on their Web site, apaics.org.
Joining the existing fellowship programs of The George Aratani Foundation/Senator Daniel K. Inouye fellow, the Anheuser-Busch/Congressman Frank Horton fellow and the Sodexho USA fellow are the Wal-Mart Stores Inc./Governor George R. Ariyoshi fellow, two fellowships from The Coca-Cola Foundation/Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta fellow and The National Association of Realtors fellow.
The six to nine month fellowship programs provide an opportunity for a graduate to be placed in either the executive branch, legislative branch, federal agencies or a nonprofit organization in the Washington area. All the fellows are assigned specific projects by their placement offices.
Fellows for the class of 2007-08 are: Wendy Ho Gene Kim, Seng Peng, Paulo Pontemayor, Jonathan To and Lynne Yasui.
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Maryland State’s Attorney Initiates Asian Am. Board
Maryland State’s Attorney John J. McCarthy has formed an Asian American Advisory Board in an effort to address the criminal justice issues that most affect the Asian American community. The mission of the board is to advise the state’s attorney’s office on a quarterly basis on Asian American issues. The first meeting and press conference of the newly appointed advisory board was held recently at the state’s attorney’s office in Rockville, Md.
During the introduction speech, John McCarthy committed the state’s attorney’s office to listening to and being sensitive to Asian American issues, such as racial profiling, equal opportunity and discrimination.
Local Indian American Shiva Kumar Rajasekhara, secretary of JSS Spiritual Mission located in Gaithersburg, Md., was invited to join the advisory board along with 12 other prominent Asian American community leaders.
Advisory board activities will be coordinated by Eric J. Nee and Patrick S. Kim of the state’s attorney’s office.
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Chu Named UMD Women’s Hockey Assistant Coach
DULUTH, Minn. — The Asian community of Minnesota can now say that it is home to the nation’s best female hockey player. Julie Chu, the best American-born collegiate woman hockey player in the country for 2006-07, is now an assistant coach in women’s hockey at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Chu works under UMD head coach Shannon Miller and fellow first assistant coach, two-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist Caroline Ouellette.
Chu, 25, graduated from Harvard this past June with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and women’s studies, and co-captained the women’s hockey team. She was named to the 2002 and 2006 U.S. Olympic team, and remains the first and only Asian American woman to reach that level of play.
Chu believes that the first Olympic team in 1998 was a pioneering model that opened the eyes of the girls who are now coming through high school and into the
college teams.
— Asian American Press
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Police Raid Wrong House
MINNEAPOLIS — Two police officers who raided the wrong house during a recent investigation were shot at and returned fire, but no one was injured, a police spokesman said.
Family members said the shooter, Vang Khang, was frightened by the intruders bursting through the back door and fired through a closed bedroom door after first firing a warning shot.
Police said they had received bad information before executing the search warrant as part of an ongoing investigation.
Family members said Khang grabbed his hunting gun to protect himself, his wife and his six children.
Vang is Hmong and does not speak English, according to Sang Vang, executive director of the Hmong American Mutual Assistance Association, a social services agency.
The bullets hit two officers, but they were not injured because of their bulletproof vests and helmets.
Several officers returned fire, but no one in the house was injured.
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Asians Gain Influence In Michigan
DETROIT — Look to Asians and Pacific Islanders to make a difference in future elections both nationally and in Michigan, says Doua Thor, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.
Thor, who immigrated to Hamtramck nearly 30 years ago, was the keynote speaker at the recent Asian Pacific American Leadership Summit held at the Westin Hotel in Detroit.
Representing groups such as Council of Asian Pacific Americans, the Asian Pacific Islander Vote-Michigan and the Detroit Asian Youth Project, the attendees offered their own observations and advice about some of the political dynamics about the Asian American community.
Are candidates speaking to “Asian” issues?
Sometimes, Thor says, but they’re not making enough connections with Asians who, like others, are most interested in jobs and the economy, health care, immigration and education.
But Asian communities need to engage the candidates too, she says. “Unless we ask them those questions, they won’t be able to give answers for us to hear,” she says.
— Metro Times Detroit
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Astronaut’s Mom Killed in Car-Train Wreck
The 90-year-old mother of astronaut Daniel Tani died recently in the Chicago suburb of Lombard when her vehicle was struck by a train.
While the Lombard community mourns the loss of Rose Tani, NASA is reassigning the duties of 46-year-old Daniel Tani, who is aboard the international space station, as he grieves for his mother.
Daniel Tani is believed to be the first American astronaut to lose a close family member while in space, a NASA spokeswoman said.
Daniel Tani learned of the tragedy while aboard the international space station. He was supposed to fly home aboard Atlantis in December, but the shuttle’s flight was postponed until January due to a fuel gauge problem. The earliest he could return to Earth at this point is late next month.
Rose Tani was the mother to five children and raised Daniel as a single parent. Funeral arrangements are pending.
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