Daily Dose & Announcements: 02/18/09

» National Day of Remembrance Thursday
» Hepatitis B Chinese Banquet & Karaoke Contest
» MBE Innovator Alfred Cho Inducted into US National Inventors Hall of Fame
» Lalawigan: A Contemporary Tagalog Song Cycle
» Politician in Malaysia Nudity Row

Compiled by Lian Qiu


Nation

National Day of Remembrance Thursday

The National Japanese American Memorial Foundation (NJAMF) and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program will host a panel discussion to mark the 67th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, which led to the imprisonment of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

The event, which is part of the annual Day of Remembrance, will be Thursday, February 19 at 6:30pm at the Rasmuson Theater (Fourth Street Independence Avenue, SW).

Speakers for the event include three writers who have written about the Japanese American experience during the war: Shirley Castelnuovo, David Mura and Kiyo Sato. NJAMF board chair, Craig D. Uchida will give opening remarks and renowned historian and APA Program Director, Dr. Franklin Odowill will moderate the discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. For information call NJAMF at 202-530-0015.

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Bay/ California

Hepatitis B Chinese Banquet & Karaoke Contest

Event: Hepatitis B Chinese Banquet & Karaoke Contest fundraiser for the Hep B Free Campaign
Description: It is citywide campaign to turn San Francisco into the first hepatitis B free city in the nation. Guests can enjoy a 9-course Chinese Banquet Dinner, including Cream Corn Soup w/Chicken, Minced Chicken & Shrimp in Lettuce Cups, Peking Duck & Buns, Walnut Prawns, Black Mushrooms & Greens, Mapo Tofu w/Pork, Beef & Greens, Salt Baked Chicken and Dessert.
Details: $25 if RSVP to Tamiko at twong@awfoundation.com; The event will be on Thursday, March 5, 2009, 6p.m. – 9p.m. at South Seafood Village Restaurant, 1420 Irving St. between 15th Avenue & 16th Avenue.
Contact: Tamiko at twong@awfoundation.com, 415-321-5865

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Commerce

MBE Innovator Alfred Cho Inducted into US National Inventors Hall of Fame

WASHINGTON- The National Inventors Hall of Fame has announced its 2009 class of inductees. This year’s class represents advances related to or enabled by integrated circuit technology. The 2009 group includes Alfred Cho, who achieved a process used in creating devices such as the lasers used in CD and DVD players and drives.

Alfred Cho is considered “the father of molecular beam epitaxy,” a process in which materials are layered atop one another – atom-by-atom within a vacuum — with great precision to form devices like transistors and light-emitting diodes, or lasers. Cho achieved many firsts with this technique, including producing the first of several types of diodes and the first field effect transistor that operates at microwave frequencies.

Cho was born in Beijing, China and earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois. He joined Bell Laboratories after completing his Ph.D. in 1968, where he ultimately became Vice President of Semiconductor Research for Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs. He is the recipient of many awards, including the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology.

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Arts/Entertainments

Lalawigan: A Contemporary Tagalog Song Cycle

Event: Lalawigan Performance
Description: Lalawigan (Tagalog for province) is a brand new work written by composer/guitarist Florante Aguilar. Set in 1898 in the province of Cavite, Lalawigan is a song cycle featuring uncelebrated characters in the history of Philippine uprising against Spain.
Details: Tickets ($20 – $60), Saturday, March 14, 2009, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 15, 2009, 3:00 p.m., Cowell Theater at Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94123
Contact: Call the Fort Mason Center Box Office at (415) 345-7575, or visit the web site http://www.florante.org/performances.htm

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Global

Politician in Malaysia Nudity Row

A prominent Malaysian opposition politician has offered her resignation after naked photos of her sleeping were circulated by mobile phone.

Elizabeth Wong, one of Malaysia’s top human rights activists, blamed government “gutter politics” for the release of the images. Newspapers have speculated that the images were taken by an ex-boyfriend.

As a single woman in a conservative society, she has been criticised by male politicians for her independence.”I wish to state that I am not ashamed of my sexuality as a woman and a single person,” Ms Wong, 37, said in an emotional news conference.

Ms Wong is a respected member of the opposition People’s Justice Party, led by Anwar Ibrahim, winning her seat in the state assembly of Selangor a year ago.

Opposition officials said a decision would be made later on whether to accept the resignation, which would trigger a by-election in Selangor.

-BBC

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