Daily Dose: 05/08/08

> AsianWeek Market Report
> First Statue of Korean in U.S. Capital Unveiled
> Akaka Commends Service of Japanese American Troops in Iraq
> ABC Reaches Out To Fil-Ams But Slur Controversy Continues
> Boxer Appoints Jack W. Lee to Judicial Nominations Commission
> KTSF, America’s Largest Asian Broadcaster, Announces 2008 State Farm China Games Programming
> NBA Stages First Event in India
> Debt Woes Drive Thousands of Indian Farmers To Suicide
> UN: Myanmar A ‘Major Disaster’; Cyclone Death Toll Surpasses 22,000

AsianWeek Market Report

BAY:

Boxer Appoints Jack W. Lee to Judicial Nominations Commission

SAN FRANCISCO — The law firm Minami Tamaki LLP announced on May 8 that U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer has appointed firm partner Jack W. Lee to the Parsky Commission, an advisory group responsible for recommending nominations to fill vacancies in the four federal district courts in California.

The Parsky Commission was established in 2001 and is comprised of four six-member subcommittees.

“I’m honored by Sen. Boxer’s confidence in my judgment and experience, and applaud the senator for reaching out to diverse communities, specifically the Asian Pacific American community and small firm lawyers, to include us in the vitally important process of selecting our future judges,” Lee said.

Lee specializes in employment, consumer fraud, complex civil litigation, anti-trust and civil rights law.

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KTSF, America’s Largest Asian Broadcaster, Announces 2008 State Farm China Games Programming

SAN FRANCISCO — With anticipation and excitement building around the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, KTSF Television — the nation’s largest Asian-language broadcast station — unveiled its China Games program line-up. Until August 25, KTSF will be the go-to station for Olympics-related coverage in Chinese, featuring daily prime-time segments and interviews leading up to and during the Games.

The popular San Francisco station is proud to be the largest Asian American TV news team and crew covering the Games directly from Beijing. KTSF’s award-wining news department has covered China for over three decades and is well-positioned to present the best in bicultural TV to San Francisco Bay Area’s diverse community.

NATION:

First Statue of Korean in U.S. Capital Unveiled

WASHINGTON — A bronze statue of a Korean American scholar who fought for Korean independence in the early 20th century was unveiled in the U.S. capital as a symbol of the close alliance between the two countries, the South Korean Embassy said.

It is the first statue erected in Washington to pay tribute to a Korean.

Seo jae-pil, also known as Dr. Philip Jaisohn, studied in the United States and became the first Korean to gain U.S. citizenship. In Korea, he published the first Korean and English language newspaper The Independent to campaign for Korean independence from Japan’s colonial rule, which lasted from 1910 to 1945. He died in the U.S. in 1951.

The statue aims to increase the American people’s awareness of Korea and strengthen the identity of children of Koreans who immigrated to the U.S., embassy officials said.

— Yonhap News Agency

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Akaka Commends Service of Japanese American Troops in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two high-ranking Japanese American Air Force officers are making a difference in maintaining security and building the Iraqi forces.

Major General David E. Clary serves as the director of Air Component Coordination Element in the Multi-National Force-Iraq. Colonel Lisa Ann H. Onaga has been assigned to Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq, since June 2007 as the director of Collection Management and Dissemination for MNF-I.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka stated, “I want to thank Major General Clary and Colonel Lisa Onaga for their service to this nation and for their leadership. I am proud of the commitment and dedication to duty displayed by the members of the armed forces from Hawai‘i and across the nation. My warmest ‘Aloha’ to our troops and their families for the sacrifices they have made in defense of our country.”

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ABC Reaches Out to FilAms But Slur Controversy Continues

WASHINGTON — A top executive of TV conglomerate ABC described reaching out to the FilAm community after a perceived racial slur appeared in the ABC TV program Desperate Housewives.

Though Disney-ABC TV Group senior vice president for diversity Bob Mendez would not say it openly, the outreach was an offshoot of the indignation triggered by something Teri Hatcher’s character said in last year’s season opener of Desperate Housewives questioning the qualifications of doctors who graduated from Philippine medical schools.

“As part of an ongoing conversation between ABC and the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, we agreed to establish a partnership that would allow us to explore ways of addressing the problems of stereotyping and racial bias in mainstream media,” NaFFAA communications director Jon Melegrito explained.

COMMERCE:

NBA Stages First Event in India

NEW YORK — The NBA will stage an event in India for the first time this summer, conducting one of its Basketball Without Borders camps in New Delhi.

The league also announced it will return to Turkey and South Africa to run camps, which the league began in 2001. The programs bring together top young players for instruction and competition, along with discussions on HIV/AIDS prevention.

Turkish stars Hedo Turkoglu of Orlando and Mehmet Okur of Utah are expected to participate in the June 4-7 camp in Istanbul. The event in New Delhi is scheduled for July 3-6.

Washington All-Star Caron Butler and Detroit coach Flip Saunders will take part in the camp. A clinic is planned at an academy in Dakar, Senegal, founded by Dallas Mavericks director of scouting Amadou Gallo Fall.

— Associated Press

GLOBAL:

Debt Woes Drive Thousands of Indian Farmers to Suicide

KOCHI, India — Crushed by debts, at least 160,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1997, K. Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies said.

The epidemic dates to the 1990s, and is generally attributed to a blend of slashed subsidies, tougher global competition, drought, predatory moneylenders and expensive genetically modified seeds.

“It’s one of the largest public health disasters to hit India since independence,” professor Charles Nuckols of Brigham Young University said.

But it is India’s cotton belt, a land of searing temperatures and backbreaking work, that has been hit hardest by the suicides.

In rural Maharashtra state, farmers say things have never been harder. Owing more than they earn, they are betting their land and their lives on one more good crop.

The farmers say their plight is largely being ignored as the country rushes to embrace the global marketplace.

— Associated Press

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U.N.: Myanmar a ‘Major Disaster’; Cyclone Death Toll Surpasses 22,000

YANGON, Myanmar — A U.N. official declared Myanmar’s cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta a “major, major disaster” with corpses floating in flooded areas and enormous challenges in getting aid to the victims.

International aid began trickling into military-ruled Myanmar, but much of the Irrawaddy delta, where most of the 22,464 reported victims perished, has remained cut off since Cyclone Nargis hit.

Aid workers started distributing essential relief supplies in the region, including water purification tablets, mosquito nets, plastic sheeting and basic medical supplies. Heavily flooded areas were accessible only by boat, with helicopters unable to deliver relief supplies there.

The U.N. World Food Program says as many as 1 million people may have been left homeless, with some villages almost totally destroyed and vast rice-growing areas wiped out. The Irrawaddy delta is Myanmar’s rice bowl.

Eight hundred tons of food relief has arrived.

— Associated Press

Compiled by Bradford Low