Too obsessed with Sen. Craig's misbehavin' and the sordid details of airport bathroom sting operations, I entirely missed the news on the release of the Virginia Tech Report. Apparently the University and the state mental health system were roundly criticized. The Roanoke Times generously provides pdfs of the entire report.
As someone who works in university administration, I sort of, well, sympathize. As much as we can prepare for an emergency, when they really hit is a different story--especially the worse case scenario-type emergencies, the ones you've never experienced in your lifetime. Universities are sort of like a continual, bureaucratically-slow birthing of a several thousands-headed beer-guzzling monster. How do you wrangle it when hell breaks loose?
I haven't read the report fully yet, and I'm sure human errors abounded that day. My roommate the conspiracy theorist, of course, thinks they weren't errors at all. I think that must be because he hasn't worked at a university, and doesn't know how much it takes to plan anything.
And though I despise the labyrinthine mental health system we have in place (having dealt with it via my mother), I also know that social workers and other public mental health professionals have a fricking hard job in a seriously underfunded and legally complicated sector. I hope that as a result of all this we see MORE FUNDING.
Posted by rebecca at 7:21 PM | Comments (0)
Jacksonville, Florida's Black Kids aren't all black -- there's really only one whole black person in the group (siblings Reggie and Ali Youngblood are half black, half Filipino). Not many people seem to mind, but one commenter on The Yellow Stereo suggested they change their name since it was "misleading."
What's in a name though? In the end it's all about the music, and Black Kids four-song EP has been praised on several popular music blogs. Apparently they stole the show at Athens Popfest earlier this month, and since then have been appearing on music blogs left and right. Each song off their EP has catchy and semi-familiar moments, some of Pulp-like wryness and others of the Cure-ish desperation. richsrantroom.com describes frontman Reggie Youngblood as having "an almost Morrissey-esque androgynously coy sex appeal." Indeed, there is a 80s Euro-pop feel to Black Kids.
"Hit the Heartbreaks" is my current favorite, with "I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)" a close second. Other blogs recommend "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You," which is the EP's catchiest track. Black Kids have some upcoming shows in Jacksonville, so if you're in Florida, definitely check them out if you can. Until they make their way to the West Coast, I'm putting their EP on repeat.
Visit their myspace page for more info and to download all four songs off their EP.
Posted by christine at 8:06 PM | Comments (9)
Apparently, renowned filmmaker Quentin Tarantino hasn't got anything better to do with his time than harass unassuming Philippine Airlines' flight attendants. The New York Post reports that the director, who has a reputation for public brawls, caused a scene on a flight from the Philippines to LAX last week. Supposedly, Quentin had an injured back, was sitting in a wheelchair, and was downright cranky. According to the Post, he didn't want to sit in his first class seat but wanted to sit on the floor or in a flight attendant's seat instead. When his demands were rebuffed, he made a poor stewardess cry. A Philippine politician flying business class had to actually get up and tell Quentin to calm himself down. So far the Philippine government hasn't taken any steps to ban Tarantino from ever entering the Philippines like they did to Claire Danes,… but don't expect to any Tarantino flicks to be shown on any Philippine Airlines flights in the near future.
Posted by carmina at 1:13 PM | Comments (3)
Gavin Newsom, Mayor of the City and the County San Francisco has proclaimed the weekend of August 31 - September 3, 2007 to be the "INSPIRE WEEKEND" (you can see this cool document for yourself on APA | FIVE's official website).
How can Hyphen not jump on that bandwagon? We are so there.
Our friends over at APA | FIVE are hosting INSPIRE '07, a 3 day leadership conference that brings together more than 1,000 Asian Pacific American professionals and leaders.
You can meet, network, and learn from many different APA leaders, innovators, and peers from different industries. Meet celebrities: Yul Kwon, James Kyson Lee, Justin Lin, Tamlyn Tomita; government officials: Norman Mineta; venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations (including Hyphen), women leaders & more!
The rumor out there is that there are already over 500+ registered attendees and ONLY 35 full packages left, so register soon for your very own spot!
DATE: August 31 - September 3, 2007
LOCATION: Westin St. Francis, Union Square, San Francisco, CA
For more APA | FIVE, INSPIRE'07 information galore, including the conference schedule and conference updates, check out the official website here!
A Sneak Peak:
The Bay Bridge might be closed but don't let that stop ya. We dare you to come and INSPIRE us!
Posted by lisalee at 10:12 AM | Comments (2)
The 'Got Milk?' campaign features Masi Oka, of Heroes, special effects, and 'Whiz Kid' fame.
via angry asian man.
Posted by melanie at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
Hyphen correspondent Jesse Zitrin had a chance to catch up with the A’s Hawai’ian-born rookie catcher, Kurt Suzuki, on the field before a game against the Chicago White Sox. Suzuki’s 2-run home run the previous day, with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums in attendance, had been the difference in the A’s victory. Hours later, Suzuki would finish the evening with a tenth-inning, three-run home run to win another game for the A’s.
A month earlier, iron man catcher Jason Kendall was traded to the Chicago Cubs, paving the way for Kurt to become the A’s new starting catcher. Kurt first spoke with Hyphen’s Julia Chang as a member of the Stockton Ports, for Hyphen’s Body issue (no. 7) in 2005.
First off, congratulations. Yesterday’s game was a lot of fun!
KS: Yeah, it was an awesome game – very exciting. Any time you can win the first two games of a series it’s nice. It’s just [about] winning games right now, just win as many as you can, and see where that puts us at the end of the year.
Do you always like to hit your home runs in front of the mayor?
[Laughs.] That was nice, any time you can do that – especially in a big situation. The team gets the win, and you get a good feeling.
Tell me about Sid Fernandez (a Hawaiian pitcher who spent 15 years in the Major Leagues.) Do people still talk about him back on the islands?
I really don’t know any information on that. I mean, I know he’s a great pitcher, but I didn’t really know him at all.
Is there anyone who’s seen as a hometown idol there, other than maybe your self?
Uh, no. I just like watching good baseball. There’s no really idol or anything – we just like watching good baseball.
Do you identify at all with the wave of players like Ichiro and Daisuke, or do you see yourself as very much separate from that?
Absolutely. I was born and raised in Hawaii, so, it’s totally two different things. I obviously was raised an American, so I’m not trying to be anything those guys are trying to be; they were born and raised in Japan and came from Japan. It’s a lot different.
Take me back to a month ago, when Jason Kendall was playing day in and day out, and what you had an opportunity to talk about with him while he was here.
Just kind of the overall game; I tried to pick his brain as much as I could about game calling and stuff like that, just seeing how he goes about his business and how he handles certain situations.
I’ve said to a lot of people, if I talked about what I learned from Jason, I’d be talking all day. The information I got from him was so helpful, to be constantly improving my skills.
When you heard that he would be leaving, and you got a vote of confidence from the organization that you’d be the starting catcher, what were your thoughts?
I was excited. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity my whole life. They obviously had confidence in me, to provide this opportunity I’ve just got to take it and run with it, do as best I can and keep trying to get better and improve my all-around game.
What’s been the most challenging about learning on the fly as a big-league catcher?
Well, you’ve got to learn the pitching staff, you’ve got to learn each pitcher, you’ve got to learn the hitters, you’ve got to learn pretty much the whole Major Leagues, and to go along with that, you’ve got to hit!
But the main thing for me now is my defense, working on my skills behind the plate, learning the pitching staff, and just learning the overall tempo of the game. I know offense will come, that’s not important to me right now. Really getting a good rapport with the pitchers is right now the most important thing.
When you and Shane Komine appeared together in a game (July 17), it was the first time there was a Hawaiian-born pitcher-catcher battery in the majors. Is that something you were aware of at the time?
Yeah, definitely, I was aware of it. It was exciting. We’d been talking about it for a couple of years now. So when it happened, it was cool.
Any goals for you specifically, for the rest of the season and beyond?
Just to play it out, try and stay healthy, and really improve every part of my game leading into next year, to get myself to where I know I’m ready to go.
It’s coming. The more I play, the more comfortable I get and the more I learn. The last month and a half (of the season) is really important to improve on my skills and get myself ready.
You still get a chance to do any surfing?
No, not now! Maybe in the off-season.
Well, thanks again, and continued good luck to you.
Thank you.
Posted by melanie at 3:38 PM | Comments (1)
It’s been almost two years since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. While the major focus has been on the failure of the government to provide support to the majority African American community in the 9th Ward, the resilience of the Vietnamese American population in New Orleans East – a suburban community 15 miles northeast of downtown New Orleans – has been getting a great deal of attention. Both academic research and mainstream media seem to point to the idea of a hard-working community whose been through much worse than Katrina's destruction.
Dateline NBC’s Stone Phillips picked up as camera himself – with the shaky shots it’s very much Corporate Media meets Youtube – and spent Tet with this community earlier this year. His Postcard from New Orleans was produced by Vietnamese American Tommy Nguyen, who gives us a little insider knowledge here about the experience.
It’s a good (though slightly saccharine) piece that highlights the strength of the Vietnamese American community surrounding the Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church (MQVN). In fact, I learned that this community has a 90 percent return rate – way more than the rest of the city. My favorite part is when Phillips is interviewing Father Vien Nguyen about all the work they did to find the Katrina refugees, offer them services and bring them home and the father says: “We asked the government not to get in our way!” The Dateline piece talks extensively about how the Vietnamese community was used to upheaval and flooding due to their history – and how this made the destruction of Katrina old hat to them. I got this picture in my head of a Vietnamese family sitting down to dinner in a house filling up with floodwater after the levies broke and the old grandmother saying: "This is nothing, when I was your age on the Mekong Delta, we learned to breathe underwater!"
The Vietnamese American population of New Orleans East was also the subject of a working research paper published by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University. The paper, authored by Emily Chamlee-Wight and Virgil Henry Storr, hits on the same ideas as Dateline and talks about the concept of a “cultural toolkit” – or how “this community was able to make use of an array of cultural tools that aided their swift return.” I suggest reading the whole paper because it’s fascinating, but I can give a few highlights here – like the amazing reality of the return rate of this community:
On October 9th, 2005, just five weeks after the storm, Father Vien Nguyen of MQVN held Mass for 300 parishoners, most of whom were residents of the MQVN neighborhood. Given the ghost-town feel of most New Orleans neighborhoods at this stage, this was an outstanding turnout. The following Sunday, 500 residents had returned for services. On October 23rd more than 2,000 members of the Vietnamese community attended Mass at MQVN. By April of 2006, 1,200 or the 4,000 residents who lived within a one-mile radius of the church has returned. By the summer of 2007, approximately 90 percent of the residents were back and 70 of the 75 Vietnamese-owned businesses in the neighborhood were up and running.
But the main argument of this paper is that “the stories that are told and retold in this community have served as effective tools – for both individuals and the community as a whole – in the rebuilding process.” The paper also argues that for as fucked up the Model Minority Myth is, that’s what the community believes brought them back and made their rebuilding so successful. The authors of the paper argue that they did this research because the Vietnamese American community “is often left out of the discussion of race and ethnicity in relation to Katrina.”
I felt an underlying sense in both the Dateline piece and the paper that this success story was being compared to the African American communities in New Orleans and what they went through. I was left wondering how much cross-cultural work was being done over the past two years. There were a few examples in the Dateline piece of other minorities looking to th Vietnamese community as leaders, but not really of coalition-building. Any Katrina experts want to weigh in on this?
Posted by neela at 2:42 PM | Comments (1)
Hyphen is the subject of Jeff Yang's latest Asian Pop column at SFGate.
Check it out and you'll learn about Hyphen's history and where we hope to go in the future. You'll find out more about why we're an all-volunteer effort and why we need lots and lots of subscriptions. So after reading Jeff's piece, come back and (shameless plug) get Hyphen delivered.
Posted by harry at 9:30 AM | Comments (3)
We could summarize the Asian American presence in the NBA in one word: Yao. The 7'6" center from China established himself as a presence in American pro basketball after being selected 1st overall in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. That's not to say Yao's rise to stardom was immediate; his first two years , he struggled with his stamina and his lower body strength, the key to gaining position inside the basket. He continues to get injured frequently. But when he's healthy, he's a bona fide, physical center with good shooting touch.
This year's draft saw the next highly touted player to come from China, Yi Jianlian, drafted sixth by the Milwaukee Bucks. Yi is tall (7'0") and lanky, somewhat similar to Yao's body type. But to hype Yi as the next Yao would be completely inaccurate. Yi plays a completely different game - he slashes to the basket, he dribbles with flair, he showcases a more complete athleticism.
It does not look like Yi will be showcasing his talent to the Bucks, however. Amidst complaints of Milwaukee lacking a suitable Asian American population and of the Bucks having too many similarly-sized players, Team Yi (comprised of Yi's agent Dan Fagan and Chen Haitao, owner of Yi's Chinese professional team, the Guangdong Tigers) have spurned the Milwaukee Bucks and any negotiations altogether.
I cannot explain the Yi situation better than Beijing-based journalist Jonathan Ansfield. Ansfield makes a key observation:
In a package on Yi previewing the June 28 draft, the Chinese edition of Sport Illustrated magazine observed:“In contrast to Chinese royalty like Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian looks more like a player from the streets of America.”
If so, then Yi is certainly acting like an American basketball player, holding out for more prestige and a team with a greater market for his talents (coincidentally, a "big city" market like Los Angeles or New York, where he can get paid). Ansfield notes that Yi wants to escape Yao's shadow; so far, Yi is doing a good job of undermining China's paragon of hard work and determination. Yi's outright refusal to even communicate with the Bucks is downright disheartening and a sobering wake-up call. The NBA is not exactly brimming with Asian players, and Yi has a chance to tie together China with America in a way that not even Yao could. Even at 7', Yi relates more to the average basketball player than "The Great Wall" because of his style and flair. Yet, he spurns the opportunity to play for an NBA team, creating clouds of doubt over future Asian-based basketball players ("Do we really want to draft him? Remember what happened with that Yi Jianlian kid?").
If Yi really wants to escape Yao's shadow, he'll make a name for himself...by taking advantage of the opportunity at hand and playing for the team that drafted him.
Posted by Kevin Lee at 11:39 PM | Comments (7)
I've noticed over the past seven months that The New York Times' stories on Koreans (whether in the U.S. or Korea) tend to fall into these three categories: drinking, Internet phenomenons, and fried chicken/frozen yogurt.
1) Drinking
As Women Rise, Corporate Korea Corks the Bottle (TimesSelect), June 10, 2007 :
As an increasing number of women have joined companies as professionals in the past half decade, corporate South Korea has struggled to change the country's thoroughly male-centered corporate culture, starting with alcohol.
New Cell Number for Drinkers: Dial-a-Designated Driver, (TimesSelect) July 10, 2007:
Mr. Hur is a ''replacement driver'' who makes his living by delivering inebriated people and their cars home. There are tens of thousands of them operating in this hard-drinking metropolis of 10 million people.
A South Korean Is Charged With Lying in Spy Inquiry, (TimesSelect) July 20, 2007:
Mr. Park [a South Korean businessman in Manhattan charged with lying to the F.B.I. during a four-year counterintelligence investigation into Korean spies operating in New York], 58, is a legal resident of the United States whose ostensible business, the affidavit said, is the importation of a Korean rice liquor known as soju.
2) Internet phenomenons
The Land of the Video Geek, October 8, 2006 (older than eight months, I know):
All in all it was a typical night in South Korea, a country of almost 50 million people and home to the world’s most advanced video game culture: Where more than 20,000 public PC gaming rooms, or “bangs,” attract more than a million people a day.
Tracking an Online Trend, and a Route to Suicide, May 23, 2007:
...a disturbing trend in South Korea: people using the Web to trade tips about suicide and, in some cases, to form suicide pacts.
Traditional Korean Marriage Meets Match on the Internet, June 6, 2007:
...merging the age-old Korean matchmaking tradition with the vibrant South Korean Internet culture.
South Koreans Connect Through Search Engine, July 5, 2007:
Tapping a South Korean inclination to help one another on the Web has made Naver.com the undisputed leader of Internet search in the country. It handles more than 77 percent of all Web searches originating in South Korea, thanks largely to content generated by people ... free of charge.
Shamanism Enjoys Revival in Techno-Savvy South Korea, July 7, 2007:
When the Internet boom hit South Korea, shamans were among the first to set up commercial Web sites, offering online fortune-telling. Many younger shamans maintain Web logs.
3) Fried Chicken/Frozen Yogurt
Koreans Share Their Secret for Chicken With a Crunch (TimesSelect), Feb. 7, 2007:
With Korean-style chicken outlets opening recently in New York, New Jersey and California, fried chicken has begun to complete its round-trip flight from the States to Seoul.
Heated Competition. Steaming Neighbors. This Is Frozen Yogurt? (TimesSelect), Feb. 21, 2007:
The frozen yogurt that has taken Los Angeles by storm resembles the early, sour frozen yogurt more than its artificially flavored progeny. And the current craze seems to spring from Korea, where a company called Red Mango started selling sour-style yogurt in 2004.
Notice any other trends among the NY Times' coverage of Koreans or other Asians? Drop a hint below.
Posted by lisamac at 8:54 PM | Comments (3)
Last Saturday my culinarily-inclined friend Sherry and I attended the opening gala of Palencia, a new upscale Filipino restaurant in San Francisco's Castro district. Palencia is the first of its kind in the city. You can find Filipino restaurants here and there (Irma's Pampanga restaurant on Van Ness, the new Jollibee on 4th St.), but none are by any means upscale. Palencia is the opposite of what happens to many ethnic restaurants when they turn high end. Their food is not fusion, it's Filipino food straight up -- chicken bbq on skewers and lumpia just like Tita Baby used to make.
When we arrived the place was filled with people from the Castro and the Mission mingling with Filipino lolas. We were immediately served glistening, hot from the fryer lumpias with a ginger-soy dipping sauce. Waitresses came by with white wine and bottles of San Mig Lite. The pancit was flavorful, and served with what I first thought was Tang, but was actually the classic Filipino cantaloupe drink. Even Sherry who is not usually a fan of that melon really enjoyed it. Everyone's definitive favorite though was the grilled marinated chicken on skewers. We and three other friends ate about 25 of them, collectively.
Palencia's dining space is warm and intimate, with huge shell chandeliers and old-style fish traps turned into lampshades overhead. Owner Archie Palencia and head chef Danelle Lucero form a Pinoy powerhouse, and have created a mood that combines the warmth of a Filipino home with fine dining. We were impressed by her culinary expertise and his Gabby Concepcion charm, and will definitely be back after the official opening to find out if their full menu is as delectable as their appetizers.
Photos by Andria Lo
Posted by christine at 3:50 PM | Comments (13)
Elizabeth Cho at PopMatters thinks so. She describes "Hallyu", a wave of cultural cache for Korean culture sweeping first Asia and now the US.
Cho concludes that the source of this new allure most likely comes from Korean Americans' growing demographic and economic weight in the US.
"According to the 2000 Census data, made available by Center for Korean American and Korean Studies, there are 1.08 million Korean people living in the US, approximately 44 percent in California and 20 percent in the New York and New Jersey combined. Koreans are among the top three in educational attainment and household income among the immigrant populations. That pop cultural exchange works both ways."
Posted by melanie at 8:20 AM | Comments (9)
Last night, I saw "Avenue Q" at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. It was a great show: whimsical puppets, funny lines, a well-developed plot surrounding believable characters, and catchy music.
One of the best pieces of the show is "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist"-- a riotous song that hooks the audience with lines like, "Ethnic jokes might be uncouth, but you laugh because they're based on truth." There's no doubting it's a hilarious song and it tore the audience apart. But, of course, "Avenue Q" also uses the song to establish an environment where racial and other off-color jokes can be made.
Christmas Eve, the Oriental Asian American character, joins in too, when her fiance, Brian accuses her of being racist: "Yes, I know. The Jews have all the money. And the whites have all the power. And I'm always in taxi-cab with driver who no shower!"
The message of the song, like the theme of the show overall, says, "Hey, we're all a little bit racist. Let's just acknowledge that fault in ourselves and try to make the best of it." And the song is woven into a larger theme that becomes a lesson for the characters and a message of acceptance.
The production's brand of brutally honest comedy is also unerringly human (even for its furry characters). And the musical's assessment of this particular human error, racism (or monsterism, as it were), infuses a strain of realism into the technicolor puppeteering.
Overall, I think the show handled the idea of racism well. But I still cringed when Christmas Eve did, or tried to say, a few things ("sukka-sukka-sukka..."). It wasn't just because she was the Asian American character; it was because her character, while multi-dimensional, also carried the most developed stereotype-- she remained even more 'foreign' than the "monsters".
Have you seen the show or heard the song? What do you think?
Posted by melanie at 5:46 PM | Comments (6)
Harold and Kumar 2 is set to be released in 2008. I can't wait!
UPDATE: The YouTube video has been taken down. Here's the trailer at IMDB.
Posted by harry at 3:55 PM | Comments (3)
So, the most beautiful woman in the world, Aishwarya Rai is poised for the big crossover from Bollywood to Hollywood.
You can catch her right now in The Last Legion, but you probably won’t because it appears to be one of the worst movies of the summer.
Personally, I’m not a huge Ash fan. I think her stunningly beautiful face lacks real depth. But I do wonder if she will be able to pull it off. Will she ever move to Beverly Hills, when she can stay in India and be true royalty? And what about her Bollywood husband, heir to the throne of Bachchan? Can a traditional Indian man ever succumb to the success of his wife?
It sounds like she has a couple of Hollywood films coming up like Pink Panther 2, with Steve Martin and the Roland Joffe directed period-piece Singularity, where she will play opposite Brendan (Encino Man?) Fraser as an Indian spy named Taluja.
I wonder what these means for South Asian Americans in Hollywood. Does her exposure mean that the door will open for more brown girls, or will it be a step backwards for those actresses not “exotic” enough?
Posted by neela at 3:36 PM | Comments (16)
Our friends at the Red Eight Film Circle is doing something exciting this Thursday! Filmmakers, directors and producers seeking investment, marketing, and distribution support for your films, be sure to check out their events.
Red Eight Film Circle is a forum for filmmakers, directors, producers, entertainment industry executives, investors, and anyone interested in supporting independent filmmakers.
DATE: Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
TIME: 6:30 PM
LOCATION: The Williams Club located at 24 East 39th Street, in Manhattan, NY.
COST: Registration is $20 online and $30 at the door
Event will include catered food, refreshments, raffle prizes, and gift
bags. We expect this event to be sold out so we recommend online registration to guarantee admission.
Filmmakers presenting include:
- Risa Morimoto (Producer of Wings of Defeat)
- Pooja Kumar (Producer of 1001 Auditions)
- Francisco Aliwalas (Founder of FranFilms)
- Kimi Takesue (Director of Crawling at Night)
Clips and trailers of their works will be shown, followed by Q&A, and an informal networking session.
For more information, check out their homepage here.
Community partners include AAFilmLab & the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans (CAPA). Sponsors include Verizon, The Williams Club, Mixr Media, and Mei Image Consulting.
Posted by lisalee at 11:07 AM | Comments (1)
A report was released just today, entitled "Health Care Reform Proposals Hold Promise for Diverse Communities" and conducted by the Having Our Say Coalition, a group that aims to address needs of communities of color in California. The study, funded by the California Endowment, found that under the new health care proposals put forth by the Governor and legislative leaders, we would expect to see an increase of insured residents by 2.5 million people.
The study also touches upon issues of cultural competency and linguistic backgrounds, both of which are important components of access to care. Under the Nunez/Perata and Governor's plans, "7 in 10 of the newly insured will be from communities of color," an encouraging statistic to say the least.
But of course, greater difficulty comes about in deciding financing structures, payment systems, how to further reduce the uninsurance rate, and perhaps, why 7 in 10 is acceptable, when 6 in 10 of those not covered will still be from communities of color. Finally, the findings beg the question of whether having insurance means you will actually even get care in our already-over-burdened health care system.
Posted by Amber at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
A UC Davis psychology study explores the overlooked subject of marital violence among Asian American couples and identifies three new contributing factors.
Professor Nolan Zane and graduate student Manveen Dhindsa concluded that marital violence was more likely to occur when the family lacked closeness or if at least one spouse suffered from high anxiety-- resulting from either an anxiety disorder or stress related to American acculturation, reported a UC Davis press release.
"Until recently, the topic of marital violence has not received much attention among researchers who study Asian American socio-psychological issues. However, marital violence does indeed occur among Asian Americans," stated Dhindsa in the press release.
Zane will present the team's research findings this week in San Francisco, at meetings of the Asian American Psychological Association and American Psychological Association:
* Conceptions of 'Face' among Chinese: Clinical and Community Interventions," at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16, at the Asian American Psychological Association meeting, Alliant International University, One Beach Street, San Francisco
* "Beyond Ethnic Match: Effects of Client-Therapist Cognitive Match on Outcomes," in a symposium titled "Ethnic Matching in Psychotherapy-Research Foundations and Future Directions" at 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, in Moscone Center room 2011 at the American Psychological Association meeting.
* Therapist Ethnicity and Treatment Orientation Differences in Cultural Competencies," in the "Improving Practice-Focus on Ethnic Psychology" poster session at 11 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 20, in Moscone Halls ABC at the American Psychological Association meeting.
----
photo credit to: Marga Serrano
Posted by melanie at 2:58 PM | Comments (0)
As a bit of a cosmonaut (astronomy dilettante) and tree-hugger, I was interested to discover that the senior NASA scientist responsible for substantially contributing to substantiating the Climate Change hypothesis is a Filipino American, Dr. Josefino C. Comiso. Cosmiso and his team's findings were critical in helping to over-turn one of the primary arguments against to the Climate Change theory.
From Asia Journal.
"For years, scientists have reported a steady decrease in summertime Arctic ice, but they had never before found a similar reduction in the amount of ice being created during the frigid and dark Arctic winter. This lack of effect on the Arctic winter was one defect in the scientific models of global warming. Global warming skeptics have pointed to the lack of ice melt as a flaw in global warming theory.
"But Josefino Comiso, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, found precisely the proof that they needed. The study showed the amount of ice at the end of the summer 2005 was the smallest seen in 27 years of satellite imaging, and probably in 100 years. “It has never occurred before in the past,” said Comiso in an interview. “It is alarming. ... This winter ice provides the kind of evidence that it is indeed associated with the greenhouse effect. I hate to say we told you so, but we told you so,” he added."
Posted by melanie at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
A recent San Francisco outdoor public screening of the 1984 John Hughes film Sixteen Candles has the Asian American community up in arms. Again.
SF Chronicle columnist Leah Garcik reported (fifth item) on July 27, a week after the screening, that
Asian American advocate Christina Fa has written to the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation to demand an apology for last weekend's showing of "Sixteen Candles" in Dolores Park. Fa says the role played by Gedde Watanabe is "a horrifyingly racist portrayal" of an "oversexed, geeky, opposite-of-macho Asian man." Showing such a movie "without a clear intent to educate the public about its racist portrayal, smacks of racism itself," says her letter.Not all Asian Pacific Americans are in agreement about the movie. When it was first released, said Asian Week in 2005, "APAs cried racism, but 20 years later, it's easier to appreciate Watanabe's comic gem of a performance, which is on a par with other classic teen portrayals like John Belushi's slob in 'Animal House' and Sean Penn's stoned-out surfer in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High.' "
Foundation President Alfonso Felder said the 7,000-person audience was the biggest ever for an outdoor film here. As to Fa's complaints, he says "Sixteen Candles" is entertaining and has broad public appeal. "I think our audiences are smart enough to make their own decisions about when films cross the line in inappropriate ways."
When the movie's organizers apologized that anyone was offended (sidenote: apologizing that anyone was offended is the new black), the Asian American Outraged said, in effect, oh no you didn't.
So the question is: do Asian Americans give a crap? Do we really care about a 23-year-old film caricature? Don't we have larger things to devote our anger to??
Personally, I love Sixteen Candles, but maybe older generations and particularly men are more sensitive to this.
AsianWeek columnist Phil Chung wrote in 2005:
But if you’re Asian, and especially if you’re Asian and male, Sixteen Candles may well be the movie that made your childhood a living hell.For those not familiar with the film, I give you the three words that traumatized a whole generation of Asian American men: Long Duk Dong.
I'm wondering if the Asian American young men and women of today feel the same way. Weigh in below.
Posted by lisamac at 12:16 PM | Comments (7)
Some hotels and motels along the nation's highways are posting signs that say "American owned" in an apparent backlash to rising competition from innkeepers who are South Asian.
About a third of the country's hotels are owned by members of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, according to a Time story out this week. As the story points out, "American" is code for "not owned by immigrants."
South Asians have found an economic niche in the hotel industry, and as is often the case with immigrant groups, making it in an area that others had abandoned.
Really, when you think about it, what's more of an American ideal: running a successful business or stooping to marketing that is xenophobic, offensive and racist? I hope it's not the latter.
Posted by harry at 9:38 AM | Comments (2)
The Transit Issue of Hyphen hit newsstands and mailboxes this week. This is the 12th issue of Hyphen and the last under co-founder and Editor in Chief Melissa Hung. I'm taking over as interim editor in chief with Issue 13.
All of us in the Hyphen community are indebted to Melissa for her tireless efforts during the past five years as Hyphen's editor and guiding force.
With an all-volunteer staff, it isn't always easy. Indie magazines are going down left and right, so there are challenges ahead. We'll meet them and continue to produce the best magazine possible. Our readership is growing. We plan to revamp our web site soon and add new online features. We have a dedicated and talented staff. Stay tuned and you won't be disappointed.
-- Harry Mok, interim editor in chief
Posted by harry at 4:20 PM | Comments (0)
Do you have an Asian American relative who has struggled with their mental health?
Have you yourself been confused or afraid in trying to find them help? Frustrated by the mental health system? Felt alone? Worried about what this means for your own future and that of your family?
My own mother has struggled with schizophrenia for a very long time, and I would love to talk with you and share stories. I am interested in hearing what challenges you faced, both emotionally and in finding care for your relative, and how you are dealing with them.
Please email me at rebecca[at]hyphenmagazine.com.
Best wishes,
Rebecca
Posted by rebecca at 1:59 PM | Comments (0)
Just a thought before the weekend: if I tell you that I — an Asian American woman who lives in San Francisco — have a boyfriend, what ethnicity would you assume he was?
A friend says that if he met an Asian American woman in the Bay Area, and she mentioned she had a boyfriend, he would assume her boyfriend was white. Do you agree? What does this say about dating in our community? Does it make a difference if the woman lives in another place, say Chicago or New York? What assumptions do you make about girlfriends of Asian American men? And what about gay Asian Americans?
Posted by lisamac at 4:53 PM | Comments (166)
Just a thought before the weekend: if I tell you that I — an Asian American woman who lives in San Francisco — have a boyfriend, what ethnicity would you assume he was?
A friend says that if he met an Asian American woman in the Bay Area, and she mentioned she had a boyfriend, he would assume her boyfriend was white. Do you agree? What does this say about dating in our community? Does it make a difference if the woman lives in another place, say Chicago or New York? What assumptions do you make about girlfriends of Asian American men? And what about gay Asian Americans?
Posted by lisamac at 4:53 PM | Comments (155)
Just a thought before the weekend: if I tell you that I — an Asian American woman who lives in San Francisco — have a boyfriend, what ethnicity would you assume he was?
A friend says that if he met an Asian American woman in the Bay Area, and she mentioned she had a boyfriend, he would assume her boyfriend was white. Do you agree? What does this say about dating in our community? Does it make a difference if the woman lives in another place, say Chicago or New York? What assumptions do you make about girlfriends of Asian American men? And what about gay Asian Americans?
Posted by lisamac at 4:53 PM | Comments (191)
Search
Categories
Recent Comments
Recent Entries
Archives
Resources
