» AsianWeek Market Report
» D.C. Schools Chief Michelle Rhee on ‘Time’ cover
» Congresswoman Hirono Announces Federal Funding for Hawai‘i Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
» Asian American Donor Program Looks to Expand To Other Communities
» Under-representation in Asian American Literary Criticism
» Filipino American Jazz Series at Savanna Jazz
» Yao Ming and Rockets down the Clippers
» With Kim in the Gallery, It’s Han’s Turn to Feel Like a Golf Star
» AAJA Announces New Executive Director
» Dalai Lama in Address to Euro MPs
» Hong Kong Says More Chinese Eggs Tainted
Compiled by Ellis Song and Adrienne Aguirre
AsianWeek Market Report
| AsianWeek Market Report | ||||
| Asian Stock Indexes | ||||
| NIKKEI 225 | Tokyo | 7,924.24 | -79.86 | -1.00% |
| HANG SENG | Hong Kong | 13,509.7 | -78.88 | -0.58% |
| KRX | Busan | 2,136.21 | -32.08 | -1.48% |
| SSE IX | Shanghai | 7,130.93 | 89.87 | 1.28% |
| BSE | Bombay | 9,229.75 | 482.32 | 5.51% |
| HOSE | Ho Chi Minh | 308.60 | 2.38 | 0.78% |
| SET | Bangkok | 392.87 | -0.05 | -0.01% |
| Asian American Market Report | ||||
| Yahoo! | YHOO | 11.20 | 0.30 | (2.61%) |
| Citigroup | C | 7.86 | 0.04 | ( 0.51%) |
| Amkor Technology, Inc | AMKR | 1.99 | 0.03 | (1.53%) |
| Sybase | SY | 23.36 | 0.27 | (1.14%) |
| East West Bank corp,Inc | EWBC | 14.07 | 0.72 | (5.15%) |
NATION
D.C. Schools Chief Michelle Rhee on ‘Time’ cover
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washington, D.C.’s public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee is on the cover of this week’s Time. Michelle Rhee is a young, extremely well-educated Korean American woman in a huge leadership role, working in a predominantly African American district.
Her basic tenet is that underperforming, underresourced schools need the best teachers and principals. She’s already fired many teachers and principals, cut a bunch more administrative staff and even closed schools. She also wants to pay teachers better.
Rhee is framed as the one who can possibly set a new model and standard for urban school reform; if she succeeds, then it means other failing urban school districts could improve. In other words, all eyes are on this young Korean American school leader.
—Hyphen Magazine
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Congresswoman Hirono Announces Federal Funding for Hawai‘i Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) announced the awarding of $398,470 to the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation to provide much-needed help to families and individuals facing the threat of foreclosure during these uncertain economic times.
Of that funding, $298,470 will be used to provide free assistance to Hawai‘i families at risk of losing their homes, help clients to understand the complex foreclosure process and identify possible courses of action so they can make informed decisions and then take that appropriate action. $100,000 will provide legal assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure.
Funding is being awarded by the NeighborWorks America National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program.
“The latest reports show that foreclosures in Hawai‘i have tripled over the past year. Federal assistance is now on the way for struggling island homeowners who are trying to avoid foreclosure,” said Hirono.
BAY/CALIFORNIA
Asian American Donor Program Looks to Expand To Other Communities
An Alameda-based nonprofit group that has spent nearly 20 years educating Asian communities about the need for bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell donors Wednesday launched a similar program geared toward Latino communities.
The Asian American Donor Program, a recruiter for the National Marrow Donor Program, began working 19 years ago when only 120 Asian donors were listed on the National Bone Marrow Registry, Executive Director Carol Gillespie said.
After registering thousands of donors and pushing the number of Asian donors on the national list to 533,000, Gillespie said program directors decided to begin outreach to another community while continuing to sign up thousands of Asian donors each year.
—The Californian
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
Under-representation in Asian American Literary Criticism
BOSTON —The Circle for Asian American Literary Studies (CAALS) is sponsoring a panel at the American Literature Association (ALA) conference in Boston on texts that remain understudied in Asian American literary criticism. This panel aims to draw attention to texts that were perhaps overlooked or ignored during their time of publication. This panel also seeks work on experiences that remain underrepresented in Asian American literary production.
Papers submitted for this panel should consider what paradigmatic challenges such texts pose for Asian American literary criticism. How do these texts engage with models of citizenship, assimilation and subjectivity? What idea of “America” do these texts imagine? How do these texts work in dialogue with notions of diaspora?
Please send 1-page abstracts & 2-page CVs by Friday, January 9, to Catherine Fung via email: cmfung@ucdavis.edu.
For information on the American Literature Association conference, please go to the following website: calstatela.edu/academic/english/ala2/american_literature_association_2009.htm
—CAALS.org
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Filipino American Jazz Series at Savanna Jazz
EVENT: Filipino American Jazz Series at Savanna Jazz
DESCRIPTION: Unwind to the sounds of vocalist Lily Alunan and her band, After Hours, featured at the First San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival, at the Mission District’s Savannah Jazz Nightclub.
DETAILS: $10, Friday, Dec. 12, 9p.m., Savanna Jazz Nightclub, 2937 Mission Street, San Francisco.
CONTACT: (415) 285-3369; for more info go to sfpinoyjazzfest.com
SPORTS
Yao Ming and Rockets down the Clippers
HOUSTON —Yao Ming had 24 points, Rafer Alston sank five 3-pointers and added 21, and Houston beat Los Angeles for the seventh straight time. Ron Artest scored 19 points and Yao grabbed 10 rebounds and went 12-for-13 from the free throw line for the Rockets, who played their fourth straight game without Tracy McGrady. The seven-time All-Star is out three weeks with a sore left knee.
—AP
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With Kim in the Gallery, It’s Han’s Turn to Feel Like a Golf Star
LA QUINTA, Calif. —Seung Su Han knew his friend could find other ways to spend a leisurely Wednesday afternoon.
So that’s what made having Anthony Kim in his gallery at the PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament mean so much to the 22-year-old from South Korea.
Kim showed up on the 10th hole Wednesday and walked the final nine with Han, who opened with a 1-over 73 on the Stadium Course. The breakout two-time PGA Tour champ also was there for 27 holes during his friend’s practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday.
“It means a lot,” said Han, the UNLV product who turned pro on Wednesday. “I actually felt comfortable when he showed up on 10. I was probably a little nervous going out. I was not comfortable over the ball. But it got better and better, and I trusted it more.”
—PGA Tour
COMMERCE
AAJA Announces New Executive Director
Former newspaper and television industry professional Ellen Endo has been appointed the new executive director of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), it was announced this week by the AAJA national board of directors. Endo replaces Rene Astudillo, who has led AAJA since 1999.
Endo spent 24 years in TV industry senior management positions, serving as executive vice president of Republic Pictures Productions, senior vice president of MGM/UA Television, vice president of Embassy Communications and program executive with the ABC network. She was instrumental in developing numerous television series, mini-series and movies, among them the Emmy-winning Separate but Equal, which dramatized the desegregation of schools by Brown vs. the Board of Education, and Golden Globe winner, One Against the Wind, a historic drama set in World War II.
— MarketWatch
GLOBAL
Dalai Lama in Address to Euro MPs
Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has addressed Europe’s lawmakers, restating that he was seeking autonomy within China—not independence.
Addressing the European Parliament in Brussels, the Dalai Lama said he was “seeking a genuine autonomy within China.”
The Tibetan exile leader said his movement was not “a separatist,” stressing his commitments to “strictly non-violent methods” to achieve his goals.
Beijing has reacted angrily to President Sarkozy’s planned meeting with the Dalai Lama in Poland, warning that it could affect trade between France and China.
“We attach great importance to our strategic partnership with France, as well as our business relations with France. These two points are closely related,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said on Thursday.
“Only under the condition of good bilateral relations can we create a sound atmosphere for our business relations,” he said.
The Tibetan exile leader insists his goal is meaningful autonomy for his homeland.
—BBC News
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Hong Kong Says More Chinese Eggs Tainted
HONG KONG —Hong Kong authorities have found the toxic chemical melamine in another Chinese brand of eggs, dampening hopes of any end to the tainting scandal.
The eggs came from a farm in Dehui City in China’s northeastern Jilin province.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety is checking bakeries which may have bought the tainted eggs.
More than a quarter of a million children in China have been made ill by food tainted with melamine, and six babies have died.
The tainting scandal, which began with the discoveries of melamine in dairy products, has spread to other foodstuffs.
The Chinese government has promised to overhaul the dairy industry and raise safety standards across food production.
—BBC News
