» AsianWeek Market Report
» Indian American Appointed Obama’s National Spokesperson
» Jindal Recall, Veto Rally Cancelled
» DNA Leads to Charges in Appleton Rape Case
» Uwajimaya May Put Store in Portland’s Old Town/Chinatown
» Chow’s Offensive Genius Makes Bruin No. 1
» SF D.A. Harris Under Spotlight Over No Death Penalty Stance
» Los Angeles Chinatown Celebrated 70 Years with a Swingin’ Party
» Office Depot Back to School Collection Features Designer Backpacks from Surf Photographer Aaron Chang
» Lishan Chang’s Burnt Bread Art Inspires Conversation
» Curator Brings Love of Asian Art to Ringling Museum
» U.S. Secretary of Labor Hails U.S.-China Dialogue
» Traditional Chinese Medicine Could Be A Remedy for Failure at Olympics
» Yao Slept Here
Compiled by Michelle-Linh Thuy Nguyen and Leila Kang
| AsianWeek Market Report | ||||
| Asian Stock Indexes | ||||
| NIKKEL_225 | Tokyo | 13,463.20 | -18.18 | -0.13% |
| HANG SENG | Hong Kong | 22,102.01 | 59.66 | 0.27% |
| KRX | Busan | 3,450.02 | -3.79 | -0.11% |
| SSE IX | Shanghai | 9,096.97 | -273.81 | -2.92% |
| BSE | Bombay | 12,961.68 | -499.92 | -3.71% |
| HOSE | Ho Chi Minh | 409.61 | 10.21 | 2.56% |
| SET | Bangkok | 548.95 | -5.46 | -0.98% |
| Asian American Market Report | ||||
| Yahoo! | YHOO | 20.20 | -0.46 | (-2.23%) |
| Citigroup | C | 17.05 | -0.08 | (-0.47%) |
| Amkor Technology, Inc | AMKR | 10.66 | 0.26 | (2.40%) |
| Sybase | SY | 29.27 | -0.15 | (-0.51%) |
| UnionBancal Corp | UB | 41.41 | 0.99 | (2.45%) |
| East West Bank corp,Inc | EWBC | 7.60 | 0.54 | (7.65%) |
NATION
Indian American Appointed Obama’s National Spokesperson
WASHINGTON - Hari Sevugan, an Indian American attorney from Chicago has been appointed to the position of senior spokesperson for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s campaign.
Other prominent Indian American staffers include Madhuri Kommareddi, deputy policy director, and Shomik Dutta, regional finance director. Ann Kalayil serves as the national co-chair of Asian and Pacific Americans for Obama.
The Chennai-born Sevugan immigrated to Chicago with his parents in 1977, when he was three years old.
Asked whether Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s possibility of being the vice president on Republican nominee John McCain’s ticket would cut into South Asian support for Obama, Sevugan said: “I think there would certainly be a lot of excitement in the Indian community. But ultimately, the decision in the voting booth will be based on what’s best for their family and their country.”
Sevugan graduated from the University of Illinois, where he studied political science and finance. After two years in Teach for America, Sevugan studied law at Northwestern University and practiced securities law in Chicago for two years.
- South Asian Link
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Jindal Recall, Veto Rally Cancelled
BATON ROUGE, La. - Gov. Bobby Jindal’s veto of a proposed legislative pay raise didn’t just put that issue to rest - it ended an effort to recall him.
Ryan Fournier, organizer of the Recall Bobby effort, said since the governor vetoed the raise, “this puts a nail in the recall.”
Prior to the veto announcement, Fournier said he was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the paperwork from the secretary of state’s office so he could put the recall on the Internet. That way, people who supported his effort could download copies of the petition and round up signatures.
Some of the recall supporters, though, were hedging their bets, he said.
“They said, ‘If he doesn’t veto it by July 8, count me in.’ Now that he’s vetoed it, that’s not going to happen.”
The veto also brought to an end a planned rally Monday on the Louisiana State Capitol steps. Steven Sabludowsky, editor of the political blog BayouBuzz, canceled the rally.
- Shreveporttimes.com
DNA Leads to Charges in Appleton Rape Case
APPLETON, Wis. - Arrest warrants were issued for two men in connection with a 6-year-old Appleton rape case after a “hit” was registered in a national DNA database.
Pao Chang, 35, of Warren, Mich., is charged with second-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment as a repeat offender, and Dang Moua, 26, Appleton, is charged with attempted second-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment.
A condom left at the scene of the 2002 rape provided DNA for a then unknown individual.
A 17-year-old woman told police in August 2002 that she was sexually assaulted by an unknown man who dragged her into a shed outside an Appleton residence. She could not be sure if she was assaulted by more than one person.
DNA samples were obtained from a bite mark on the woman’s arm and from the condom found at the scene. The DNA from the bite mark matched that of Moua, but the DNA from the condom did not, leaving the case in limbo until the hit came back from the national database.
- The Post-Crescent
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Uwajimaya May Put Store in Portland’s Old Town/Chinatown
SEATTLE, Ore. - Uwajimaya Inc., a Seattle-based group of Asian superstores famous for crammed shelves of produce, seafood, delicacies and sundries, is considering a new apt outpost in Portland’s new Chinatown/Japantown Historic District.
Combined with office and educational developments in the neighborhood, a Uwajimaya store would add a retail destination of a scale not seen there since the multifloor, warehouse-style Import Plaza closed in 2000.
Fans of Uwajimaya typically carve out time to visit the supermarket; newcomers go out of their way to see it. The prospect of an anchor retailer with such a customer draw and Asian roots excites many of the district’s business leaders and retailers. They say it would be just the sort of boost the neighborhood needs.
- OregonLive.com
BAY
Chow’s Offensive Genius Makes Bruin No. 1
Chinese-Hawaiian Norm Chow is Benjamin James Olson’s fourth offensive coordinator in the quarterback’s four seasons at UCLA. That is usually not a good thing. Benjamin James Olson, though, is lucky beyond belief. No offense to his previous offensive coordinators, but the inconsistent, often-injured quarterback just inherited the best person to teach him consistency.
In college football’s 138-year history, a comparatively handful of quarterbacks have been able to kneel at the throne of the 62-year-old master. Three of those chosen few have won Heismans.
Chow has won national assistant coach awards in his three-decade career. In that time, he has been a part of three national championships and coached four of the top nine all-time pass efficiency leaders.
The next possible Bruins quarterback already is on final approach from high school. Richard Brehaut, from nearby Rancho Cucamonga, committed in the spring and will be a key piece of the 2009 recruiting class.
“I’ve always wanted to be a Bruin, but coach Chow really was the deciding factor in my decision,” Brehaut said. “I can’t wait to get out there and start learning from the best.”
- CBSSports.com
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SF D.A. Harris Under Spotlight Over No Death Penalty Stance
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris once again finds herself in the spotlight over her no-death-penalty stance, and this time, it could come back to haunt her.
Harris, who is considering a run for state attorney general in 2010, was asked very publicly by the woman whose husband and two sons were slain on the street last week to seek the death penalty for their alleged killer, a suspected gang member.
“It’s something she is very aware of,” said one source close to Harris. “Believe me, she sympathizes with the family, but she has her convictions as well.”
Harris’ camp is also keenly aware that while her opposition to capital punishment plays well in liberal San Francisco, it’s a whole other story in a state election.
“If there is any issue that has had consistent solid support among voters statewide, it’s the death penalty,” said Mark DiCamillo of the Field Poll.
- SFgate.com
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Los Angeles Chinatown Celebrated 70 Years with a Swingin’ Party
LOS ANGELES - On the night of June 28 Los Angeles’ Chinatown was abuzz as the iconic neighborhood celebrated its 70th anniversary with a Swing-style event.
A big band was on hand to provide tunes; people in 30s and 40s garb milled about; shops were open; and the Central Plaza was filled with young and old alike celebrating Chinatown’s history.
- LAist.com
COMMERCE
Office Depot Back to School Collection Features Designer Backpacks from Surf Photographer Aaron Chang
Office Depot, a leading global provider of office products and services, is “taking care of you for school” with the latest in technology and supplies that will get students ready to head back to the classroom. Featured among these supplies are new designer backpacks from surf photographer Aaron Chang.
Arriving this week at more than 1,200 Office Depot retail locations nationwide is a wide array of back to school products including backpacks and totes, technology gadgets, environmentally preferable supplies and interchangeable accessories.
New to Office Depot this year is an assortment of licensed backpacks and totes by High School Musical, Hannah Montana, Speed Racer, Batman and famed surf photographer Aaron Chang. ($9.99 - $29.99)
- iStockAnalyst.com
ARTS
Lishan Chang’s Burnt Bread Art Inspires Conversation
A recent reception for New Yorker Lishan Chang’s “LC Bakery,” which features a 100-foot-long wall covered with symmetrically arranged loaves of burnt bread at the Washington Pavilion, prompted the age-old question “What is art?”
Some observers think of art only as paintings of a landscape, a barn, pheasants taking off or ducks landing, says artist and retired art teacher Carl Grupp of Sioux Falls.
Chang’s exhibit has challenged this narrow notion.
The process used to make the loaves, then burn them, is as much the “art” as the finished product, says David Merhib, the Pavilion’s director of the Visual Arts Center.
The Banquet and Breadsmith let Chang use their facilities to mix, shape and bake the bread. He used 10 electric ovens on the Pavilion loading dock to burn bread for nearly two weeks.
Viewers can use all of their senses to experience the total package: They listen to a recording of the crackling the loaves make as they cool; they smell the burned bread; they touch and even buy the extra loaves; and they inspect huge photographic blow-ups of the rugged patterns on the bread.
While the average viewer may be puzzled over the exhibit, many artists have expressed positive feelings towards it.
- ArgusLeader.com
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Curator Brings Love of Asian Art to Ringling Museum
SARASOTA, Fla. - After a lengthy search process, Ringling museum in Sarasota, Fl., has declared Dr. Qing Chang its new curator of Asian art.
The position, created in preparation for a new Asian art wing due sometime within the next five years, is supported through a $2 million endowment from local Asian art collector Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt.
Chang will assume the new role in July, drawing on an extensive research background to make the 10,000 square-foot wing a reality.
Currently a curatorial fellow at the Ackland Art Museum of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chang has authenticated numerous works of Asian art for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian’s Freer & Sackler Galleries in Washington, D.C.
- HeraldTribune.com
GLOBAL
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hails U.S.-China Dialogue
WASHINGTON - Elaine Chao, U.S. secretary of labor, recently hailed the just-concluded China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue as well as bilateral ties on Friday.
“The dialogue has brought progress on issues important to the United States, China and the global economy, faster than would have been possible otherwise,” Chao said.
The fourth meeting of the SED, initiated by U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao, took place on June 16-18 in Annapolis, Md., at the U.S. Naval Academy.
At the end of the meeting, the two sides signed a 10-year agreement to work cooperatively on energy and environment. Both countries also agreed to open negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty, identify important infrastructure needs across all modes of transportation and enable the free flow of trade in these areas.
Chao, who immigrated to the United States from Taiwan at the age of eight, was nominated by President Bush and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the secretary of labor in 2001.
- Chinaview.cn
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Traditional Chinese Medicine Could Be A Remedy for Failure at Olympics
Chinese Olympic officials have advised national athletes not to take traditional remedies because some contain banned substances such as herbal ephedrine, a stimulant.
But many still take them, including Yao Ming, the nation’s star basketball player, who announced in April that he would use traditional medicine to help his recovery from surgery on his ankle. Chinese scientists have studied the remedies - some based on recipes dating back hundreds of years - to find out exactly what they contain.
The Chinese Olympic Committee first published a list of remedies containing banned substances in 2005 and updated it in December. The State Food and Drug Administration ordered traditional medicine-makers in May to print a label that read “Athletes use with caution” on many products.
But many still believe in traditional medicine, which has now been endorsed by Mr. Yao. “There is no reason to dismiss it,” he said. “It’s been used in our country for thousands of years.”
- TimesOnline.co.uk
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Beijing Games organizers hope to recoup some of their costs by auctioning off more than 200 million items, including the bed where 7-foot-6-inch NBA All-star Yao Ming sleeps in.
China Daily reports that Beijing Game organizers hope to raise up to US$146 million by selling furniture, fixtures, clocks, light bulbs, “a variety of sports equipment” and even some of the land underneath Olympic Games venues.
The sale will be conducted by the China Beijing Equity Exchange, which describes itself as “the sole institution for the transfer of ownership of state-owned enterprises.”
- Los Angeles Times