Daily Dose: 02/25/08
February 25, 2008
> Honoring Japanese American LAPD Deputy Chief
> U.S. Authorities Work to Bring Japanese Businessman Back to Los Angeles
> Christine Oh Joins Campaign for Justice
> Health Community Leader Bien Passes Away
> IVF Experts Hatch Shared-Egg Program to Ease Shortages
> S.F. Colleges Join Hep B Free Campaign
> Pirates Sign Pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim to 1-year Contract
> Lunar New Year Mixer
> Free Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Workshop
> ORIENTED.com to Kickoff Apec International Career Fair
> ‘Quickly Changing River’ Book Launch
> Chan Wins San Jose Magician of the Year
> New York Conductor Sees Hope in China for Classical Music
BAY:
Honoring Japanese American LAPD Deputy Chief
EVENT: Reception for newly appointed Deputy Chief Terry Hara
DESCRIPTION: Hara will become the first Asian American officer in LAPD’s history to reach the rank of deputy chief. Hara has served on the LAPD since 1980 and was the first Japanese American to achieve the rank of commander in the LAPD.
DETAILS: Free, Feb. 27, 12 p.m.-2 p.m., Chinatown Public Safety Association, 823 N. Hill St., Los Angeles.
CONTACT: (213) 621-3043
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U.S. Authorities Work to Bring Japanese Businessman Back to Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES — A Japanese businessman’s surprise arrest in his wife’s killing in a Southern California parking lot a quarter-century ago dominated front pages in Tokyo over the weekend as authorities worked to bring him back to Los Angeles.
Kazuyoshi Miura was detained on Feb. 22 in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific, and was being held on suspicion of the murder of his wife. The crime caused an international uproar, in part because he blamed the 1981 attack on robbers, reinforcing Japanese perceptions of America as a violent country.
Miura, 60, had already been convicted in Japan in 1994 of the murder of his wife, Kazumi Miura, but that verdict was overturned by the country’s high courts 10 years ago.
Miura, a clothing importer, and his 28-year-old wife were visiting Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 1981, when they were shot in a downtown parking lot. She was shot in the head, went into a coma and died the following year in Japan.
— Associated Press
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Christine Oh Joins Campaign for Justice
EL CERRITO, Calif. — Campaign for Justice has hired Christine Oh as its new legislative campaign manager.
She has worked as a legislative aide to Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-31) on Capitol Hill for the last three years. As the lead staff member on the Japanese Latin American bill, Oh will be the point of contact for all congressional matters and outreach efforts.
Campaign for Justice seeks to educate the public and secure proper redress for Japanese Latin American internees. From 1941 to 1948, more than 2,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry were abducted from 13 Latin American countries by the U.S. government to use as war hostages in exchange for Americans held by Japan.
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Health Community Leader Bien Passes Away
Linda Maria Yu Bien, president and chief executive officer of North East Medical Services, unexpectedly passed away in her sleep on Feb. 17. She was 54.
Since 1979, Bien contributed to one of the largest nonprofit Asian health centers in the U.S. NEMS provides affordable, comprehensive health care services to over 36,000 patients a year, many of whom are low-income, uninsured, monolingual Chinese.
Among many other accomplishments, Bien also served as chair of the board of directors for the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium. She was a founder and board member of the Asian Business League of San Francisco.
Linda is survived by her husband of 25 years, Alan Bien; her sons, Paul and Christopher Bien; her brother, Dr. Peter Yu; and her beloved mother, Mary Ann Yu.
The NEMS Foundation and Mount Holyoke College, Bien’s alma mater, are working with the Bien family to establish two scholarship funds in honor of Bien’s life.
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IVF Experts Hatch Shared-Egg Program to Ease Shortages
SAN RAMON, Calif. — As more older women want to become mothers, infertility specialists at the Reproductive Science Center of the Bay Area have devised an innovative approach in helping more women get pregnant: sharing eggs from one female donor between two recipients. This is made possible by the IVF process, in which ovulation-inducing hormones given to a donor cause production of up to several dozen healthy eggs.
Doctors hope this program will narrow the gap between donation demand and supply among women of all ethnicities, but especially Asian Americans, for whom the shortage is most severe.
“We especially feel the urgency for Asian American patients,” said Dr. Susan Willman, director of the center’s donation program, where the waiting list for Asian American donations has grown from two to six months or more in the last two years.
The center’s online donor database of 61 donor profiles currently includes six of Filipino descent and one of Japanese descent; fewer than 10% are of Asian descent.
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S.F. Colleges Join Hep B Free Campaign
SAN FRANCISCO — Two of the city’s biggest colleges have joined the San Francisco Hep B Free campaign to educate the general public about the impact of the hepatitis B virus on Asian Pacific Americans and to provide free screenings for their students.
SFSU will offer a free and confidential, on-campus HBV screening and vaccination to students from March 3 through March 7.
NATION:
Pirates Sign Pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim to 1-year Contract
BRADENTON, Fla. — Free-agent pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim signed a one-year, $850,000 deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, four days after agreeing to contract terms.
Kim, who is expected to join the team Monday, could earn up to $1 million in performance bonuses.
General manager Neal Huntington said the 29-year-old Kim will be used exclusively in relief. Last season, 22 of his 28 appearances with Colorado, Florida and Arizona were starts. He went 10-8 with a 6.08 ERA.
“He has been tough on right-handers when he pitched primarily as a reliever,” Huntington said. “Kim adds an experienced option for us in our bullpen competition.”
— Associated Press
COMMERCE:
EVENT: Presented by the Asian Business League of San Francisco
DESCRIPTION: Network, socialize and learn more about the Asian Business League of San Francisco. Be involved in one of the first and oldest Asian American organizations in the Bay Area. The special guest speaker will be Darian Heyman of Craigslist.
DETAILS: $10-20, Feb. 26, 6-8:30 p.m., The Public, 1489 Folsom St., San Francisco.
CONTACT: (415) 788-4664, ablsf@aol.com
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Free Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Workshop
EVENT: Presented by Assemblywoman Ellen Young and Asian Women in Business
DESCRIPTION: Workshop designed to walk enterprising women and minorities through the certification requirements and how to leverage it to grow your business. Followed by networking reception to facilitate business-to-business connections.
DETAILS: Feb. 29, 2 p.m., Flushing Library, 41-17 Main St., Flushing, New York.
CONTACT: (212) 868-1368, info@awib.org
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ORIENTED.com to Kickoff Apec International Career Fair
SAN FRANCISCO — As a media sponsor of this year’s Apec International Career Fair, ORIENTED.com announced that its February professional mixer will be held in partnership with Apec on Feb. 28 as an official pre-kickoff event.
Participants of the Apec International Career Fair are invited to network with members of ORIENTED.com, who themselves hail from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and other regions of the world.
The event will be held at Faz Restaurant, 155 Steuart St., in San Francisco.
For more information, visit ORIENTED.com. Complimentary admission for all ICF08 candidates.
ARTS:
‘Quickly Changing River’ Book Launch
EVENT: Author Meena Alexander reads from poem collection
DESCRIPTION: With a candid conversation with moderator Sukhdev Sandhu, associate professor of APA studies and English at NYU.
DETAILS: Free, Feb. 29, 7-9 p.m., New York University, Kimmel Center for University Life, 60 Washington Square South, 4th floor, New York.
CONTACT: (212) 992-9653, apa.rsvp@nyu.edu
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Chan Wins San Jose Magician of the Year
SAN FRANCISCO — Dan Chan the Magic Man was recently awarded the title of 2007 San Jose Magician of the Year. He performs with Kat the Acrobat and Johnny Ace Pawer the dog. Their variety show includes: magic, mind-reading, comedy, juggling, escapes, dog tricks, impossible feats of balance and acrobatics. Some shows include fire juggling and fire breathing as well.
His current performance schedule includes many free shows in Bay Area public libraries.
Chan is a graduate of the San Francisco Circus Center and the Chavez course in magic.
GLOBAL:
New York Conductor Sees Hope in China for Classical Music
BEIJING — Facing dwindling popularity in the West, classical music could find a renaissance in China’s large population and increasing interest in other cultures, the music director of the New York Philharmonic said recently.
Speaking ahead of two performances by the oldest U.S. orchestra in Beijing’s new, futuristic National Grand Theater, Lorin Maazel noted that China is embracing outside influences.
“We need defenders of our tradition of classical music if classical music is to survive,” he told reporters. “It could very well be that one of the most important defenders of classical music will be found in the country of China.”
The Philharmonic is on an Asia tour, highlighted by a performance set for Tuesday in North Korea in an unprecedented visit by a prominent American cultural group to the Communist nation.
The conductor and other Philharmonic officials refused Saturday to answer questions about the North Korea trip, preferring to keep the focus on the Beijing performances.
— Associated Press
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