These pages were recently updated:

Agenda for America: 5/14/08

Presidential Election: 6/15/08
McCain on Asian American Issues  6/18/08
Obama on Asian American Issues: 6/29/08
APA Vote in Presidential Elections: 11/9/04

Asian-American Candidates: 6/23/08
Key Contests: 6/29/08

Hot Topics: 1/12/08


Affirmative Action Backfires: 10/16/07
Asian-Americans in California: 1/19/08
Colleges: 4/13/08
Colleges: 2007: 2/4/07
Colleges: 2008: 4/6/08
Colleges: 2009: 6/22/08
Free The North Koreans: 2/24/08
Hall of Shame: Asian American Associations Which Support 
Reverse Discrimination Against Asian Americans: 6/3/07
Hall of Shame: College Admission Officers: 4/11/08
Hall of Shame: Dime a Dozen: 7/4/07
Hall of Shame: Lafayette High School: 1/20/08
Hall of Shame: Roy Pearson Jr.: 10/31/07
Hall of Shame: TV Medical Shows (Bigots for the Left: 
Asian American men do not exist): 3/25/08
Hate Crimes: 3/23/08
Law Schools 2007: 10/2/07
Links: 6/20/08
Medical School: 7/14/07
News: 6/25/08
Statistics:  5/3/08
Statistics: Asian Americans in California: 2/13/08
Statistics on Reverse Discrimination: 4/30/08
Virgina Tech: Asian American perspectives on the tragedy: 9/12/07
Veterans: 5/3/08
Voting Records: 1/29/08

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    Since July 2005, 29 Asian Americans and 62 Asians have appeared on the front page of the conservative Wall Street Journal.
    Bigots for the Left at The New York Times: Asians don't exist.  We crucified Wen Ho Lee and we favor reverse discrimination against Asian American applicants to colleges and professional schools.  Meanwhile, islamic fascists murdered 3000+ unarmed civilians on September 11, 2001.

Evil corporations which feature Asian Americans in commercials: 
    Asian American men: Barclays Global Investors, Cisco, Comcast, Dodge, Domino's, Edward Jones (stock brokerage), FedEx, GlaxoSmithKline, HughesNet, Intel, Schick, Shell, Verizon Wireless
    Asian American women: Bank of America, Best Buy, Brittoni, Cisco, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, General Motors (Cadillac), Intel, Kellogg, Lowe's, Michelin, SAS (software), Target, U.S. Trust
    Both: Boeing, Disney, Lowe's, Samsung
Bigots for the Left who cast Asian American men as doctors in TV medical shows: none.  Hall of Shame: TV Medical Shows    

6/14/08 The Jerusalem Post: “Asian-Americans, the new Jews, “
By Mariyn Henry
    "They" are taking over - overrunning American college campuses. "They" are concentrated in selective universities. "They" are a homogenous group, uniform in educational and financial achievement and culture.
    Once upon a time in the not-so-distant past, these were the stereotypes, the myths, the canards about Jews, who were subjected to unofficial quotas that limited their access to some of the finest American universities and employment prospects.
    These days, the "they" against whom such charges are leveled are Asian Americans. They are smart, determined, committed to education and advancement. This hardly sounds like a bad thing. They sound like Jews.
    Asian Americans are a "model minority," except that they are not. There are an estimated 17 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the US . We tend to think of them as the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans, but in fact they represent 48 national and ethnic groups, with different cultures, religions, languages and histories. (And let's not forget geopolitics; I am sure my Pakistani neighbors in New Jersey have been pretty uneasy with varying US sentiments about President Pervez Musharraf.)
    The composition of the Asian American population - like that of the Jewish community - reflects conditions in their former homelands and immigration opportunities. Some came to the US as refugees and laborers. Others arrived under recent American immigration policies that wooed financial stars and the highly educated who could fill significant economic or professional roles. The so-called preference category accounts for nearly 18 percent of the immigrants from Asia who arrived in the 1990s; they were the elites.
    DESPITE THE vast differences among them, Asian Americans tend to be lumped together in the eyes of the majority population. "They are all seen as the same studious, self-sufficient high achievers," according to a report issued June 9 that argues that the stereotypes and myths obscure the educational realities and the needs of Asian Americans.
    The report by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute and the Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy at New York University and the College Board - "Facts, Not Fiction: Setting the Record Straight" - contends, in part, that the "model minority" stereotype is harmful. In assuming universal academic strength, the report says, teachers and counselors often do not extend help to their Asian and Pacific students in the same way they do to other students. The idea seems to be that these minorities are so talented and motivated, we can just ignore them - even if we cannot always tell them apart and consistently confuse the Japanese with Chinese and Koreans.
    Some of the claims and quips are mean-spirited and painful. "UCLA really stands for 'United Caucasians Lost Among Asians'," the report said. Ouch.
    Some are laughable - unless they are directed at your group. The report debunks the myth that these students only pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, also known as "STEM." What a surprise: as they are not monolithic in national origin, language and culture, they are not single-minded in their interests. A large proportion of Asian Americans seek degrees in the social sciences and the humanities.
    Imagine that.
    THIS ALL is reminiscent of what people (used to) think about Jews. Despite the myths, we don't all get degrees in law, medicine or something to do with finance. And we have had our share of cranks, cons, crooks - maybe one per extended family? I confess: my immigrant great-grandmother Bubbe Nessie made her money as a numbers runner. I suspect, however, that it serves our purposes for everyone to think we are clever, even if we sometimes cringe at the anti-Semitic stereotypes about how smart we are.
    That being the case, what's the down side? In the Asian American community, the "model minority" works against community interests, says John Kuo Wei Tchen, a historian at New York University who has studied linkages between Asians and Jews. Yes, there is a lot to be said for positive stereotypes. But the paradox, the price one pays for being a model, is that your community's issues and needs are generally ignored or misunderstood.
    Within the Jewish community, for instance, as America 's War on Poverty got under way in the 1960s, it took quite a while for folks to come to grips with the existence of "the Jewish poor." To too many people, including Jews, that sounded like an oxymoron.
    SO IT is for Asian-Americans. When 44 percent of Asian Americans obtain college degrees - which is almost doubt the American average - you have to be reminded that not everyone graduated from Harvard.
    Take language. A very high proportion of Asian American students - 79 percent - speak a language other than standard English at home. The rate of English proficiency for the group is high, but varies by ethnic group. Bilingual and bicultural students may be placed in inappropriate classes - perhaps special education classes - and often encounter ridicule and harassment from classmates and occasionally from teachers.
    Within the Asian communities, there are hierarchies based on wealth and historical advantages, Tchen says. The Cambodians, because of the killing fields, are at a distinctive disadvantage and therefore a lot of them, for historic reasons, have ended up in rural, underserved areas.
    But as a group, the Asians also suffer a racial stigma that Jews no longer face. "In this day and age, Asians are not seen as white, nor are they seen as Americans," Tchen says. "They are cast into this odd position of being perpetual foreigners in the US ."


6/11/08 Inside Higher Education: “Inquiry Into Alleged Anti-Asian Bias Expands,”
by Scott Jaschik
    A complaint by an Asian American student that racial bias blocked his admission to Princeton University has been expanded by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights into a broader “compliance review” of the issues involved beyond his case.
    The complaint, filed in 2006, has been viewed as significant by critics of affirmative action who argue — as does the rejected applicant — that highly competitive colleges’ commitment to diversity results in differential standards for members of different groups, with Asian American applicants held to tougher standards. Many college officials — most of whom strongly support affirmative action — have dismissed the applicant’s complaint as sour grapes, noting that Princeton each year rejects thousands of well qualified applicants of every racial and ethnic group.
    The Education Department, responding to an inquiry, acknowledged the shift of the investigation from focusing on one complaint to Princeton ’s entire admissions system and its treatment of Asian-American applicants. A department spokesman stressed that converting the investigation did not mean that officials had come to any conclusions about the original complaint. But at the very least, the shift suggests that the government does not view the complaint as frivolous. OCR regularly shuts down complaint investigations, concluding that no violation of the law took place, and the agency has limited resources for compliance reviews. Compliance reviews cover much more ground than any single complaint, tend to take place on issues that the department believes are important, and are sometimes used to nudge other colleges to change policies when they see how one college fared in a review.
    Official OCR guidelines give three reasons for converting a single complaint into a compliance review: “(a) the complaint, because of its scope, involves systemic issues; (b) a compliance review would be the most effective means of addressing multiple individual complaints against the same recipient; or (c) the complainant decides to withdraw a complaint that includes class allegations.”
    Cass Cliatt, a spokeswoman for Princeton , said that the university was pleased by the broadening of the investigation.
    “We actually welcome the opportunity to talk about this,” Cliatt said. “There are a lot of misconceptions about how colleges and universities use the process. We’re happy to explain to OCR how we do this.” She stressed that the university in no way discriminates against any applicant on the basis of race or ethnicity.
    Princeton received a then-record 17,564 applications to Princeton ’s class of 2010, the class to which the student who filed the complaint wanted to be admitted. The eventual class that enrolled had only 1,231 students, of whom 37 percent were American ethnic minorities and 14 percent were Asian Americans. Cliatt declined to release information on the SAT averages or grades of applicants of different racial or ethnic groups, saying that Princeton doesn’t analyze data in this way and that to do so would be confusing since Princeton does not evaluate individual applicants based on race or ethnicity. “We don’t want to have the mistaken belief that we are making categories when we are not,” she said.
    The student who filed the original complaint against Princeton, Jian Li, arguably landed well after his rejection: He enrolled at Yale University . Li’s complaint stated that he received 800s on the mathematics, critical reading and writing parts of the SAT, that he graduated in the top 1 percent of his high school class, that he completed nine Advanced Placement classes by the time he finished high school, and that he had been active in extracurricular activities as well — serving as a delegate at Boys State, working in Costa Rica, etc. While Li left the ethnicity question blank on his application (as Princeton allows), he said that other questions that he was required to answer — his name, his mother’s and father’s names, his first language (Chinese), and the language spoken in his home (Chinese) — all made his ethnicity clear.
    In letters sent by OCR to members of New Jersey ’s Congressional delegation, the investigation of Princeton is described as focusing on the allegation that the university discriminates against Asian American applicants. But Li’s complaint and the analysis behind it attempt to shift the debate more broadly to one about affirmative action.
    Li is pointing to research by two Princeton scholars, published in Social Science Quarterly, that looked at admissions decisions at elite colleges. The scholars found that without affirmative action, the acceptance rate for African American candidates would be likely to fall by nearly two-thirds, from 33.7 percent to 12.2 percent, while the acceptance rate for Hispanic applicants probably would be cut in half, from 26.8 percent to 12.9 percent. While white admit rates would stay steady, Asian students would be big winners under such a system. Their admission rate in a race-neutral system would go to 23.4 percent, from 17.6 percent. And their share of a class of admitted students would rise to 31.5 percent, from 23.7 percent.
    The complaint and the allegations of anti-Asian bias have been sensitive at Princeton and elsewhere. Princeton, like other elite colleges, changed admissions policies in the 1920s as the number of Jewish applicants appeared poised to rise, and adopted an emphasis on “character” that scholars say was used to minimize non-Protestant enrollments. While Princeton has long abandoned such policies, some Asian American students see similarities between the treatment of Jewish applicants then and Asian applicants today. Many guidance counselors at high schools with many top Asian American students report that their Asian American applicants appear to need significantly higher SAT scores or grades to win admission to highly competitive colleges than do members of other ethnic or racial groups.
    When Li first filed his complaint, many Asian-American students at Princeton criticized him for not accepting a college denial. But when The Daily Princetonian’s joke issue last year featured a parody of Li, in mock Asian dialect, the satire infuriated many Asian American leaders on the campus and elsewhere and prompted broad debates over the status of Asian Americans at elite colleges.
    Just this week, a report issued by the College Board and a panel of experts on Asian Americans made the case that despite the successes of some Asian American students, more attention needs to be paid to the many who don’t get 800 SAT’s or take nine AP courses. The report argued that affirmative action does not hold back Asian Americans and cited studies showing that Asian Americans benefit from affirmative action in some cases, such as law school admissions.
    The section in the report on affirmative action briefly alluded to the study cited by Li that found that the elimination of affirmative action would get more Asian American applicants admitted to highly competitive colleges. The report argues that there are “no winners” in college systems losing black and Latino students, and warns that a focus on Asian American students and the impact of affirmative action on their admission bids are “excuses not to deal with the failure our education system and the complex and interwoven nature of how race and racism operate in the United States.”

5/24/08 Washington Times Editorial: “Jindal for vice president?”
    There are many things John McCain needs in a vice presidential candidate. The most obvious is a running mate who must be prepared to lead should the president be unable to. Other characteristics? Conservative. Youthful. Diverse. There is one name among those Mr. McCain is interviewing this weekend that fits the bill: Bobby Jindal.
    The newly elected Louisiana governor is an exciting breath of fresh air to the national ranks of the Republican Party. At age 36, Mr. Jindal is our youngest governor and the first person of color to serve as Louisiana governor since Reconstruction. A first-generation American (his parents are Indian immigrants), Mr. Jindal successfully won over Louisiana on a platform of change and ethics reform in the midst of Louisiana's notorious reputation of corruption.
    Among his first acts as governor, Mr. Jindal issued an executive order on Transparency and Ethical Standards, and in less than three months he was able to pass a sweeping comprehensive ethics reform package in a special session. Mr. Jindal calls it "the first bold step toward a new Louisiana ." Impressive. And among the many reasons that make this young conservative an attractive (and necessary) addition to the McCain ticket.
    A staunchly pro-life Roman Catholic, Mr. Jindal has the voting record to match his socially and fiscally conservative rhetoric.
    During his tenure as a congressman for Louisiana's 1st Congressional District (2004-07), Mr. Jindal voted in favor of energy reforms to address increasing gas prices, including a measure to crack down on oil company cartels engaged in price-fixing and making allowances for offshore drilling.
    Mr. Jindal has been an outspoken advocate (sometimes in contrast to the Bush administration) for more recovery and rebuilding funding for the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina. He has voted for legislation that would restrict independent PACs, require lobbyist disclosures of bundled donations and protect whistle blowers. His goals to reign in government spending mimic those of Mr. McCain, and Mr. Jindal supported making the Bush tax cuts permanent. Mr. Jindal also favors tough immigration reform — having voted for building a fence along the Mexican border (a position that helps to solidify Mr. McCain's flip-flop on the issue).
    Critics suggest Mr. Jindal is too young. We query, too young for what? Mr. Jindal meets the Constitution's age requirement in addition to boasting an impressive, experienced and accomplished record as a public servant at the state and federal levels (since 1995.) In fact, Mr. Jindal has more executive and legislative experience than both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama combined. The question is whether he has the ability to step in as commander-in-chief at a moment's notice. We have no doubt that he could.
    For Mr. Jindal's part, he recently spoke with Jay Leno of the vice presidential consideration: "It's flattering, but I like the job I've got now ... [I]'ve got the job I want."
    Maybe so, but we hope Mr. McCain will ask and that Mr. Jindal will accept. The great people of Louisiana will understand.

5/1/08 press release: Pelosi Celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month,
   Washinton, PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which begins today:
    "As May begins, we again celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, recognizing the contributions, reflecting upon the history, and embracing the diverse cultures of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) across the nation.
    "The theme for this year's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, 'Building Today for Tomorrow,' is fitting because what we do today will affect our nation tomorrow. I am proud to represent the 8th district of California , home to a diverse AAPI constituency that knows what it takes to build a better tomorrow.
    "Building a foundation for tomorrow requires a vibrant and strong economy. And with our economy in the midst of a slowdown, the AAPI community and their small business leaders have a crucial role to play in our efforts to create new jobs and strengthen the middle class. AAPI small businesses are growing rapidly, representing a wide range of industries across our country. Democrats recognize that more needs to be done to improve services to minority-owned businesses and are committed to ensuring that the American dream is accessible to all.
    "As this Congress continues to honor our veterans who have sacrificed their lives and families for the freedoms our nation is built upon, we are reminded of the Filipino World War II veterans who proudly wore our nation's uniform on the battle field. For many years have been fighting bravely for the recognition they deserve, and this month, as we should every day, we honor their sacrifice.
    "While the month of May is dedicated to celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islanders, we must extend the recognition of their accomplishments to the entire year and beyond. And as we build today for a brighter tomorrow, the relentless spirit and resolve of the AAPI community will be at the forefront of these efforts."
    To visit Speaker Pelosi's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Web site, visit: http://speaker.gov/communities?id=0037.

4/23/08 diverseeducation.com: “Asian Americans Largely Ignored by Presidential Candidates, Political Scientists Say,”
by Lydia Lum
    Despite feverish efforts by presidential candidates to grab voters’ attention, they, along with public opinion polls and mainstream news coverage, have largely ignored Asian Americans so far, several political scientists say.
    “It’s kind of annoying,” says Dr. Andrew Aoki, associate professor of political science at Augsburg College . “It gives Asian Americans a feeling of being overlooked.”
    It’s possible the candidates will improve their outreach as the November’s election nears, but Aoki and other scholars aren’t sure whether it would be noticed much.
    “You rarely see an acknowledgement of Asians in national campaigns,” says Dr. Natalie Masuoka, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University .
    Multiple, complex reasons have resulted in the near-invisibility of Asian Americans in the campaign, these scholars say.
    Nationally, Asian Americans compose about 4 percent of the population. While they are most numerous in states such as Hawaii and California , their ranks are rapidly growing in Nevada , Oregon , Minnesota , New Jersey and elsewhere. Yet this growth across many states, rather than just one or two, leads to perceptions that they don’t form enough of a voting bloc in each state to justify a candidate’s time.
    After all, a presidential election is based on winning the majority of votes in each state, not necessarily the popular vote nationally.
    Furthermore, it’s tough to convince candidates that Asians will even bother to cast ballots when considering their turnout during the 2004 election, says Dr. Karthick Ramakrishnan, assistant professor of political science at the University of California , Riverside . He cites the Current Population Survey, which shows that only 55 percent of Asian Americans voted in that election, versus 72 percent of Blacks and 74 percent of Whites. Among Hispanics, only 55 percent voted in 2004, but Hispanics outnumber Asians in the general population by more than 3-to-1, so politicians have a bigger pool of potential supporters in them. Ironically, surveys indicate that Asians generally earn higher incomes and reach higher levels of educational attainment than other racial demographics, Ramakrishnan says. These characteristics would typically make them high-propensity voters.
    Voter turnout among Asians is low partly because so little campaign outreach targets them, Ramakrishnan says, describing it as an example of the proverbial chicken-egg syndrome.
    Language diversity remains a challenge too. Unlike U.S. Hispanics who overwhelmingly share Spanish as a commonality, Asian Americans have languages and dialects as different and distinct as Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Mandarin, Gujarati and Urdu — to name only a few.
    “Add it together and candidates don’t believe it’s cost-effective to target Asians,” Ramakrishnan says.
    “Asians don’t have extensive voting histories, so a candidate has no information to start with. And candidates don’t want to risk mobilizing voters who will vote for their opponents.”
    Similarly, public opinion polls in election politics rarely include Asian Americans because organizers don’t believe it’s worth the cost of providing so many different language interpreters for so few people being polled, says Aoki. He adds that the methodology of polling also has inherent drawbacks that work against Asian inclusion. 
    For instance, if a national poll calls for 600 respondents, that would call for 10 to 25 Asians to reflect their share of the general population.
    However, a sample of less than 30 in such a poll is too little from which to draw reliable conclusions, Aoki says. So Asians would be excluded.
    “I understand the methodology problem, but this just adds to the invisibility problem for Asians,” Aoki says.
    Ramakrishnan adds: “While there are defensible reasons for these decisions, there’s a larger cost to American democracy. Considering the growth of Asian American communities, it’s problematic for political parties and organizations not to invest in them. Hope fully, community organizations and foundations can play a role in changing that.’
    Neither he, Aoki nor Masuoka were aware Norman Mineta, a cabinet secretary under President Bill Clinton, is endorsing Barack Obama rather than Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination until a reporter recently broached the subject. A Japanese American, Mineta also was a U.S. representative for 20 years. The airport in San Jose , Calif. , has been re-named for him.
    The three scholars criticized the mainstream news media for their relatively scant publicity of Mineta’s endorsement, especially when compared to the widespread coverage of Bill Richardson’s endorsement of Obama over Clinton . A Mexican American, Richardson was a cabinet secretary under Bill Clinton and currently is governor of New Mexico .
    The trickle of coverage involving Asian Americans this election season so far, Ramakrishnan says, has been reporters doing occasional man-on-the-street interviews in local Chinatowns about voter choices.
    “It reinforces false stereotypes that all Chinese, all Asians, live in Chinatown ,” he says.
    Masuoka has noticed more mentions of and references to Asian Americans in speeches by Obama as well as Clinton since the February “Super Tuesday” primaries in which Clinton not only defeated Obama in California, but also claimed Asian American votes in that state by a 3-to-1 margin.
    “That was a positive turn that did a lot for Asian American politics,” says Masuoka, who’s currently a visiting assistant professor at Duke University ’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Social Sciences. “Based on how both candidates reacted, they clearly saw how Asians can make a difference.”
    Aoki finds impressive the microtargeting and other strategies of Asian American political activists to try boosting voter turnout this fall. “They’re sophisticated strategies that political campaigns and parties understand,” he says. “Now, the parties need to do their part to bring out Asians.”

4/19/08 Austin American Statesman: “Bigots for the Left Discriminate Against Asian American with Perfect College Entrance Exam Scores,”
by Laura Heinauer
    Things were going, well, perfectly for Navonil Ghosh up until several weeks ago.
    The college-bound LBJ High School Liberal Arts and Science Academy senior racked up more than 400 hours volunteering in local hospitals and libraries. He plays the piano, is a first-degree black belt in Kung Fu and got a perfect score on both the SAT and ACT college entrance exams. Ghosh had mailed out all of his college applications and was just waiting for the acceptance letters to come pouring in.
    But the letters that began filling his mailbox were of a different kind.
    The first rejection came from Stanford University in California , but the hits kept coming. From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From Ivy League institutions: University of Pennsylvania , Princeton and Yale, where he was wait-listed. But the biggest disappointment came from Harvard University , which Ghosh had chosen as his "dream school" based on the course offerings. Even the Plan II honors program at the University of Texas turned him down.
    "I know this news must be quite difficult," the letter from UT's Plan II director said. "This year, however, with our number of applicants higher than any year of the last decade, we have been compelled to make an extremely difficult decision." Ghosh did get accepted to the California Institute of Technology, UT, Duke and Rice.
    Rejection letters are arriving in record numbers across the country this year, due to the large number of high school graduates and an increase of those applying to college.
    Overall, the acceptance rate for applicants at all colleges in the United States is still about 70 percent — about the same as it was in the 1980s — but acceptance rates at the top 200 schools in the country have dropped, said David Hawkins, director of public policy and research at the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
    He said three factors have contributed to this year's historically low acceptance rates at the more selective schools. First, there are about 3.3 million students graduating from high school this spring, according to the Department of Education, which is the largest number of graduates seen in recent years.
    Second, though there have been graduating classes nearly this big in the 1970s, for example, the number of students applying to college — now estimated to be 60 percent to 65 percent — is higher than ever.
    Finally, he said, students are sending more applications than they ever have, particularly to the most highly selective schools, due largely to the ease of submitting applications over the Internet.
    The surge likely won't get any better, he said.
    "Actually, we're projected to have even more students graduating," he said. "Because we don't see the tendency to submit more applications tapering off any, it's probably going to be even more chaotic. However, it is important to keep in mind that the overall acceptance rate isn't dropping, and there is space out there."
    Caitlin Cash, an 18-year-old Bowie High School senior, said she thought of UT as a backup school and didn't apply to any honors programs there. UT ended up being the only school of six she applied to that accepted her.
    "I'm in the top 1½ (percent) to 2 percent of my class.  I'm a varsity soccer player. I mentor eighth-grade girls. I'm the Student Council vice president and French Club president," Cash said. "I was extremely surprised. I was like, somehow, somewhere, they've messed up."
    Cory Liu, a 17-year-old senior at the LBJ academy, said he also had a tough time getting into some of the elite colleges this year, despite scoring 2240 on the SAT and getting a 4.2 grade point average on a 4.8 scale.
    Of the 11 colleges he applied to, only two accepted him: the University of Chicago and UT, which admitted him into a summer program for students who didn't make it into the fall class.
    Liu, who was president of his high school's Youth and Government Club, said he'll likely go to Chicago , which also reported a drop in its acceptance rate this year, from 35 percent to 27 percent.
    "I knew it was increasingly competitive, so I tried not to get my hopes unreasonably high. But it was still disappointing," Liu said. "I am very happy that I got into the University of Chicago ."
    Harvard officials said they rejected a record 93 out of every 100 students who applied. Officials at Yale, Dartmouth and Brown universities said they also turned away a record number of applicants.
    "We had an increase that was close to 20 percent in the number of applicants this year," said Marilyn McGrath, Harvard's director of admissions. She said it was because Harvard, which expects a fall freshman class of 1,660, increased scholarship opportunities and cut its early admissions process for the first time this year. "It was a very difficult year, because we had not only a large number of applicants, but they were also exceptional."
    It is not clear how many students were able to score both a perfect 2400 on the SAT and 36 on the ACT, because the tests are scored by different companies.
    But McGrath said fewer than 1 percent of Harvard applicants, 254 of 27,462, got a perfect 2,400 on the SAT. She said 3,368 applicants were ranked first in their class.
    Shannon Duffy, a college counselor at Bowie , said she has noticed more college aspirants this year and had quite a few surprises over who did not get into their top picks. She said the trend has affected schools such as St. Edward's and Texas State universities.
    "They've been bombarded with late applications," Duffy said, after recently speaking with a college admissions counselors at both schools. "Next, I would say students need to broaden their safety schools and really make sure they do a good job applying to them."
    "It was disappointing to know I did my best on those two tests, got the best possible score and it still wasn't good enough," said Ghosh, who is fourth in his graduating class. Ghosh, who is interested in biomedical engineering and medical school, said he is seriously considering CalTech and Rice.
    Ghosh's father, Nirmalendu Ghosh, said he is also upset about the slew of rejections. He quit his job three years ago so he could help shuttle his son to extracurricular activities, including to work at a UT research lab that he knew would impress college admissions officers.
    "My son was devastated, and I was really sad," he said, recalling the day they got the letter from Harvard. "My son told me he could not study any more and went to bed. I could not sleep that whole night."
    Ghosh's high school teachers were surprised as well.  They said it has been a tough year for all of the students at the school. Most students in the academy, one of the Austin district's most highly regarded magnet programs, apply to college.
    This year, however, the white board where students traditionally hang their rejection letters is more full than usual. The words, "April is the cruelest month," scrawled in red between all the letters, sum up many students' feelings.
    "Navonil is a really great, hardworking, serious student," said Jason Flowers, who was Ghosh's history teacher last year. "He does kind of stand out. I think we were all surprised he didn't get into any of the Ivys ... But one thing we've learned is that the admissions game can be very unpredictable."


4/14/2008 press release: "UCLA Violates Proposition 209; Holistic Review Reduces Percentage of Asian American Students Admitted,"
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-admissions-data-show-high-48543.aspx
By Claudia Luther
    UCLA, the most popular campus in the nation, with 55,397 freshman applicants, announced today that it had admitted 12,579 prospective freshmen for fall 2008. Of these students, 18.1 percent, or 2,164, were underrepresented minorities - a 1.5 percentage-point increase over last year.
    The number of African American freshmen admitted rose to 440 (3.7 percent), up from 407 (3.5 percent) last year, while the number of Latino/Chicano admitted freshmen increased to 1,682 (14.1 percent), from 1,474 (12.7 percent) in 2007. Native American freshmen numbered 42 (0.4 percent), compared with 45 (0.4 percent) last year.
    This is the second consecutive year that UCLA has used a "holistic" process for evaluating applications, in which each application is read and considered in its entirety by two trained readers; in previous years, two readers reviewed student academic records while a third reviewed life challenges and other personal achievements. The UCLA Academic Senate made the change because the faculty believed a more individualized and qualitative assessment of each applicant's entire application would better achieve the University of California Regents ' goal of comprehensive review.  The holistic approach emphasizes students' achievements in the context of opportunities available to them and how students have taken advantage of those opportunities.
    Reflecting an increase in the overall number of applications, the university was able to admit 22.7 percent of all those who applied, compared with 23.6 percent last year. The university expects a class of approximately 4,700 to begin their studies in September.
    Academically, UCLA's admitted freshmen were again very strong. The overall grade-point average was 4.34, compared with 4.29 last year. The average composite score for the SAT reasoning test remained steady at 2,000, out of a possible 2,400. The average math score was 683, the average reading score was 653 and the average writing score was 664 - all approximately what they were last year. Admitted freshmen took an average of 19.9 honors courses and completed nearly 50.9 college preparatory semester courses - far above the minimum of 30 that is required.
    Of the admitted students, 4,804, or 40.2 percent, were Asian American, a drop of 2.6 percent from last year.  Asian Americans made up 42.8 percent (4,975) of the admitted freshman class in 2007, 45.6 percent (5,390) in 2006, 42.5 percent (4,710) in 2005 and 42 percent (4,049) in 2004.
    The percentage of whites/Caucasians was approximately the same as last year: 33.1 percent (3,953), compared with 33.2 percent (3,860) in 2007. That compares with 32.1 percent (3,791) for 2006, 33.6 percent (3,723) for 2005 and 33.5 percent (3,230) for 2004.
    In other categories, admissions data show that 7.4 percent (885) of admitted applicants declined to state their race or ethnicity and that 1.2 percent (138) identified themselves as "other."
    Information about admitted California freshmen at University of California campuses is available at www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/fall2008adm.html. More than 60,000 high school seniors were offered admission at UC campuses.
    UCLA is California 's largest university, with an enrollment of nearly 37,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer more than 300 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Four alumni and five faculty members have been awarded the Nobel Prize.
    NOTE: Fall 2008 figures are extracted from March 31 files and do not reflect final figures. The data used reflect information about domestic students, except for the total numbers of applicants and admits, which include international students. This year's figures are compared with official data from 2007. Admissions numbers will change slightly, with final official data available in October 2008. Data provided by the University of California Office of the President are for California residents only.

4/9/08 Malden (MA) Observer: “The ‘race’ for president,”
By Rich Tenorio
    Malden - Race has become an oft-discussed topic of the 2008 presidential campaign. Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama has discussed the issue on many occasions, including a March 18 speech in Philadelphia . Obama has mentioned his diverse ethnic makeup — his father was Kenyan; his mother is a white American from Kansas — in campaign speeches.
    Yet, the national discussion on race this campaign season might not be wide-ranging enough, according to leaders of the Malden Asian-American community.
    In phone and e-mail interviews, several prominent voices of this community express a desire for more inclusion of Asian-Americans in the political process that will shape this nation for the next four years, and beyond.
    “I don't think any of the presidential candidates have done nearly enough in addressing the community,” Alice Leung, whose parents are from Guangzhou, China, and who has lived in Malden since she was five years old, wrote in an e-mail interview. “I’m not even sure if the candidates understand, or have made an effort to understand the issues that Asian American communities are concerned with.”
    Interviews with Leung and other voices within the Malden Asian-American community reveal a significant Asian-American presence within the city and this community’s concerns, which include issues that have drawn attention from both Democratic and Republican candidates.
     A community within a community
    Walking through Malden Square offers a glimpse into the city’s Asian-American population.
    Maldonians can buy Asian food at Super 88, and read the Asian newspaper Sampan at the Malden Public Library, where they can also check out Asian-language films. On the first and third Tuesdays of each month, viewers can watch Asian Spectrum, a program aired on Malden Access Television.
    “According to the census the last few years, I’d probably say that 18 to 20 percent of the Malden population is Asian-American,” said Mei Hung, the Taiwanese executive director of the Chinese Culture Connection on Highland Avenue , in a recent telephone interview. “Eighty percent of Asian-Americans in the city are Chinese.”
    However, Leung said that many other nations are represented within the city Asian-American population.
    “We have individuals and families from China , Vietnam , Cambodia , Laos , Thailand , India , Philippines , etc.,” she said.
    Hung and Leung each indicated that Asian-Americans in Malden can come from both working-class and professional backgrounds.
    “There is a growing population of Asian American professionals in Malden , but the majority is still working-class families,” Leung wrote.
    One of Hung's hopes is that “higher-educated people can look out to help and connect with less-educated people, who need help the most,” she said. “It’s good to have a diverse educational and economic and social background.”
    Addressing the issues — and candidates
    Whether working-class or professional, Asian-Americans in Malden seem to share candidate’' concerns over the economy and immigration.
    Leung, who worked as a community organizer in Boston’s Chinatown before entering an MBA program at Babson College, wrote that the majority of working-class Asian-American families in Malden “are struggling with issues such as affordable housing and healthcare, access to language and job skills training resources, and quality public education.”
    She added, “Most notably, the recent resurgence of conservatism in debates on immigrant rights in the national arena has brought about a lot of anti-immigrant sentiments that are negatively impacting many local communities.”
    “The economy stretches across all people,” said Diana Jeong, president of Asian Spectrum, in a phone interview. “It’s unfortunate right now — utility bills, mortgages, energies being so high. There’s also some concern about immigration, and how that might be used (in the campaign).”
    However, Jeong —a lifelong Malden resident whose mother is from China — suggested that the immigration debate might be trending toward a more flexible direction.
    “Even (Republican candidate Sen. John McCain) has a more open stance about that,” she said. “It’s always an issue for people from different countries who have families at home.”
    As for which candidates they would support, Jeong and Leung both mentioned Obama; Leung said she voted for him in the state primary in February.
    “Personally, I like Sen. Obama,” Jeong said. “That’s just me. I think, you know, there’s a lot of cynicism about politicians and government. I think he brings a lot of interest and excitement to the campaign.’
     However, Jeong added, “I’d be happy also if (Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton) got in.”
    What lies ahead?
    Those interviewed offered short-term and long-term suggestions for what could be done to increase Asian-Americans’ inclusion in the political process.
    In April or May, the Chinese Culture Connection seeks to create a forum on the acculturation process. Hung envisions many sessions, one of which will address the presidential campaign and how to get involved.
    “(The) growing number of Asian-American voters is much more noticeable in local and state elections,” Leung said, adding that the increasing voter numbers have received much more attention on these levels.
    “For example, the recent re-election of City Councilor Sam Yoon in Boston and the candidacy of two Chinese-Americans in the Quincy city council race have both energized Asian American voters and generated more news coverage on the city level.”
    Interviews indicated that one way to increase attention to the subject is by discussing it.
    “I don’t know if there’s really a consensus, if anyone’s favoring one person over another,” Jeong said about the city Asian-American community’s choice for president. However, she added, “Quite frankly, nobody’s ever asked.”

4/8/08 New America Media: “Study Reveals Health Care Woes of Asian Americans,”
By Ketaki Gokhale
    High numbers of the working poor in this community don't qualify for public assistance, yet can't afford private insurance. 
    National health care studies often treat Asian Americans as a homogenous, and largely healthy group, but a new study analyzing three years of government-compiled data has revealed substantial pockets of poor health and low insurance levels within the population. Korean Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders clock in with lower levels of insurance than African Americans and whites.
    The analysis, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, found that the proportion of non-elderly Asians who are uninsured varies widely, ranging from 12 percent of Japanese and Asian Indians, 14 percent of Filipinos, to 21 percent of Vietnamese and 24 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
    Koreans have the highest rates of uninsured -- 31 percent. In comparison, 21 percent of African Americans, and 12 percent of non-elderly non-Hispanic whites are uninsured. Hispanics and American Indians and Alaska natives are two groups that have higher levels of uninsured than Koreans, with 34 and 32 percent uninsured respectively.
    "If you look at these groups in the aggregate, Asian Americans tend to do well," says Dr. Cara James, a senior policy analyst with the Race, Ethnicity and Health Care Team at the Kaiser Family Foundation.  "They are in good health and don't have as many problems with health coverage."
    Over 16 percent of the nation's 13 million Asian Americans and half-million Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are uninsured, giving the group a higher overall rate of insurance than African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians and Alaska natives. But look a little closer, James says, and "you have Koreans doing worse than African Americans, and equal to American Indians and Alaska natives."
    The low level of insurance in the Korean American community is not the result of poverty, as one might expect, but rather because most Korean Americans -- around 60 percent -- either own or are employed by small companies that can't afford to provide their workers with health insurance.
    Among those Koreans with insurance, only 49 percent have employer-sponsored health coverage. Asian Indians, on the other hand, had the highest rate of employer-sponsored coverage among all the Asian sub-groups, with 77 percent.
    The analysis was based on data from the 2004, 2005 and 2006 National Health Interview Survey and Current Population Survey (CPS).
    Much of the variation in health coverage among Asians may be due to how recently certain groups arrived in the United States , where they live geographically, income level, and the size of the firm where they work.
    "Because Asians are the 'model minority,' it's a surprise to most when they look at the specific groups and see lower rates of insurance and access to health care," says Deeana Jang, policy director of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum. "Within Asian American subgroups, there are groups with higher poverty rates, and lower education levels."
    Jang classes South East Asians, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders within that group, adding that there is a strong link between income and levels of insurance. Those whose income puts them below the poverty line often qualify for Medicaid, but it's the "working poor" -- people who don't qualify for public assistance but can't afford to pay for private insurance -- whose plight the study reveals.
    Jang hopes the study will drive the direction of the current presidential debate on health care. "The national debate is focused on health care reform, and if your goal is to achieve health care reform that truly reaches everybody, then you need to think of the Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Korean and Vietnamese American communities -- all of them individually," she explains. "We are hoping that this will show the diversity of our communities."
    "If you're going to have employer or employee mandates in your reform proposal, the affordability needs to be there. People in the Korean community would purchase insurance if it was affordable. And, for the Asian American populations that are just above the poverty level and don't qualify, maybe those public programs need to be expanded so they can cover more of the working class poor."


4/8/08 Austin American-Statesman:  “UT sued for considering race in admissions Rejected student, who is white, contends university discriminated,”
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz
    The University of Texas is violating the Constitution and civil rights laws by considering race and ethnicity in deciding whether to admit undergraduates, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Monday by a white student whose application was rejected.
    The plaintiff, Abigail Noel Fisher, 18, lives in Richmond , southwest of Houston , and attends Stephen F. Austin High School in nearby Sugar Land . Despite ranking in the top 12 percent of her class, scoring 1180 out of a possible 1600 on the SAT, and playing the cello, she was rejected last month by UT, says the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Austin .
    UT and other public universities in Texas are required by state law to accept any student from Texas who ranks in the top 10 percent of his or her high school.
    UT considers race and ethnicity, among other factors, in deciding whether to admit other students as part of its effort to boost enrollment of Hispanics and blacks.
    "But for her race and ethnicity, it is our belief she would have been admitted to the University of Texas ," said Edward Blum, director of the Project on Fair Representation, a legal-defense group that fights the use of race and ethnicity in public policy.
    The group, based in Washington , is underwriting part of the litigation costs, and Fisher's lawyer, Bert Rein, is contributing some of his services for free, Blum said.    
    The lawsuit contends that UT has run afoul of a 2003 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving the University of Michigan that said race and ethnicity could be considered under certain circumstances. Fisher's suit argues that affirmative action is allowed only after race-neutral approaches are found inadequate.
    Patti Ohlendorf, UT's vice president for legal affairs, said the school's admissions policies comply with Supreme Court precedent and applicable laws.
    "Each year, we are very fortunate to receive applications from thousands of very able high school seniors. But as with many universities around the country, we are limited in the number of applicants we can admit," she said.
    This isn't the first time UT's admissions policies have been challenged in court. A 1996 federal court ruling involving UT effectively banned affirmative action at public colleges and universities in Texas .  That prompted state lawmakers to enact the top 10 percent law in 1997.
    After the Supreme Court's Michigan ruling, UT resumed considering race and ethnicity in admissions. UT officials contend that the top 10 percent law hasn't done enough to boost minority enrollment and have asked lawmakers to scale it back, saying that would allow them to enroll more minority students.
    Fisher's lawsuit asks the court to end UT's consideration of race and to order that she be admitted if she qualifies under race-neutral factors.
    Blum, a 1973 graduate of UT and a part-time Austin resident, said hundreds of other students have been unfairly rejected, and he urged them to join the case.

 
4/1/08 diversityinc.com: “7 Things Never to Say to Asian-American Executives,”
by Yoji Cole
    Jae Requiro remembers her friend's story vividly:
    Following a meeting in which her friend was the only Asian-American woman, a male colleague said to her, "You're not at all like my Asian wife … you speak up."
    "It was a big slap in her face. She didn't even know what to say to him," says Requiro, who is Filipino American and a manager of diversity consulting and inclusion strategies at Toyota Motor North America. 
    Stereotypes are like a slap to the face because they shock and sting. They are usually uttered without much forethought and reveal the speaker's ignorance. And in corporate settings, they can reveal why someone is excluded from after-work networking events or passed over for promotion. 
    Asian-American executives too often find themselves fighting to disprove the "model minority" stereotype, a group that works hard, is rarely controversial, but ultimately is not "American" enough for leadership opportunities. 
    Here are seven questions and comments Asian-American executives have frequently fielded from coworkers and why you should not repeat them:
    "You must be the IT person." 
    Linda Akutegawa, who is Japanese American and vice president of resource and business development for Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP), says that too often it is assumed that Asian-American executives are not leaders but support staff. 
    "Implicit in that statement is that you're good at numbers and technology so you're good behind the scenes but not good at leadership," explains Allan Mark, who is Chinese American and the America 's director, diversity strategy and development for Ernst & Young, No. 43 on The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list.

 

3/31/08 New York Times: “Dith Pran, Photojournalist and Survivor of the Killing Fields, Dies at 65,”
By Douglas Martin
    Dith Pran, a photojournalist for The New York Times whose gruesome ordeal in the killing fields of Cambodia was re-created in a 1984 movie that gave him an eminence he tenaciously used to press for his people’s rights, died on Sunday at a hospital in New Brunswick , N.J. He was 65 and lived in Woodbridge , N.J.
    The cause was pancreatic cancer, which had spread, said his friend Sydney H. Schanberg. 
    Mr. Dith saw his country descend into a living hell as he scraped and scrambled to survive the barbarous revolutionary regime of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, when as many as two million Cambodians — a third of the population — were killed, experts estimate. Mr. Dith survived through nimbleness, guile and sheer desperation. His credo: Make no move unless there was a 50-50 chance of not being killed.
    He had been a journalistic partner of Mr. Schanberg, a Times correspondent assigned to Southeast Asia . He translated, took notes and pictures, and helped Mr. Schanberg maneuver in a fast-changing milieu. With the fall of Phnom Penh in 1975, Mr. Schanberg was forced from the country, and Mr. Dith became a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian Communists.
    Mr. Schanberg wrote about Mr. Dith in newspaper articles and in The New York Times Magazine, in a 1980 cover article titled “The Death and Life of Dith Pran.” (A book by the same title appeared in 1985.) The story became the basis of the movie “The Killing Fields.”  The film, directed by Roland Joffé, showed Mr. Schanberg, played by Sam Waterston, arranging for Mr. Dith’s wife and children to be evacuated from Phnom Penh as danger mounted. Mr. Dith, portrayed by Dr. Haing S. Ngor (who won an Academy Award as best supporting actor), insisted on staying in Cambodia with Mr. Schanberg to keep reporting the news. He believed that his country could be saved only if other countries grasped the gathering tragedy and responded.
    A dramatic moment, both in reality and cinematically, came when Mr. Dith saved Mr. Schanberg and other Western journalists from certain execution by talking fast and persuasively to the trigger-happy soldiers who had captured them.
    But despite his frantic effort, Mr. Schanberg could not keep Mr. Dith from being sent to the countryside to join millions working as virtual slaves. 
    Mr. Schanberg returned to the United States and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from Cambodia . He accepted it on behalf of Mr. Dith as well.
    For years there was no news of Mr. Dith, except for a false rumor that he had been fed to alligators. His brother had been. After more than four years of beatings, backbreaking labor and a diet of a tablespoon of rice a day, Mr. Dith escaped over the Thai border on Oct. 3, 1979. An overjoyed Mr. Schanberg flew to greet him.
    “To all of us who have worked as foreign reporters in frightening places,” Bill Keller, the executive editor of The Times, said on Sunday, “Pran reminds us of a special category of journalistic heroism — the local partner, the stringer, the interpreter, the driver, the fixer, who knows the ropes, who makes your work possible, who often becomes your friend, who may save your life, who shares little of the glory, and who risks so much more than you do.”
    Mr. Dith moved to New York and in 1980 became a photographer for The Times, where he was noted for his imaginative pictures of city scenes and news events.  In one, he turned the camera on mourners rather than the coffin to snatch an evocative moment at the funeral of Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger, who was murdered in 1990.
    In an e-mail message on Sunday, Mr. Schanberg recalled Mr. Dith’s theory of photojournalism: “You have to be a pineapple. You have to have a hundred eyes.”
    “I’m a very lucky man to have had Pran as my reporting partner and even luckier that we came to call each other brother,” Mr. Schanberg said. “His mission with me in Cambodia was to tell the world what suffering his people were going through in a war that was never necessary. It became my mission too. My reporting could not have been done without him.”
    Outside The Times, Mr. Dith spoke out about the Cambodian genocide, appearing before student groups and other organizations. “I’m a one-person crusade,” he said.
    Dith Pran was born on Sept. 23, 1942, in Siem Reap , Cambodia , a provincial town near the ancient temples at Angkor Wat. His father was a public-works official.
    Having learned French at school and taught himself English, Mr. Dith was hired as a translator for the United States Military Assistance Command. When Cambodia severed ties with the United States in 1965, he worked with a British film crew, then as a hotel receptionist.
    In the early 1970s, as unrest in neighboring Vietnam spread and Cambodia slipped into civil war, the Khmer Rouge grew more formidable. Tourism ended. Mr. Dith interpreted for foreign journalists. When working for Mr. Schanberg, he taught himself to take pictures.
    When the Khmer Rouge won control in 1975, Mr. Dith became part of a monstrous social experiment: the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of people from the cities and the suppression of the educated classes with the goal of re-creating Cambodia as an agricultural nation. 
    To avoid summary execution, Mr. Dith hid that he was educated or that he knew Americans. He passed himself off as a taxi driver. He even threw away his money and dressed as a peasant. 
    Over the next 4 ½ years, he worked in the fields and at menial jobs. For sustenance, people ate insects and rats and even the exhumed corpses of the recently executed, he said. 
    In November 1978, Vietnam , by then a unified Communist nation after the end of the Vietnam War, invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge. Mr. Dith went home to Siem Reap, where he learned that 50 members of his family had been killed; wells were filled with skulls and bones.
    The Vietnamese made him village chief. But he fled when he feared that they had learned of his American ties. His 60-mile trek to the Thai border was fraught with danger. Two companions were killed by a land mine.
    He had an emotional reunion with his wife, Ser Moeun Dith, and four children in San Francisco . Though he and his wife later divorced, she was by his bedside in his last weeks, bringing him rice noodles. 
    Mr. Dith was divorced from his second wife, Kim DePaul.
    Mr. Dith is survived by his companion, Bette Parslow; his daughter, Hemkarey; his sons, Titony, Titonath and Titonel; a sister, Samproeuth; six grandchildren; and two stepgrandchildren.
    Ms. DePaul now runs the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, which spreads word about the Cambodian genocide. At his death, Mr. Dith was working to establish another, still-unnamed organization to help Cambodia . In 1997, he published a book of essays by Cambodians who had witnessed the years of terror as children. 
    Dr. Ngor, the physician turned actor who had himself survived the killing fields, had joined with Mr. Dith in their fight for justice. He was shot to death in 1996 in Los Angeles by a teenage gang member.  “It seems like I lost one hand,” Mr. Dith said of Dr. Ngor’s death.  Mr. Dith nonetheless pushed ahead in his campaign against genocide everywhere. 
    “One time is too many,” he said in an interview in his last weeks, expressing hope that others would continue his work. “If they can do that for me,” he said, “my spirit will be happy.”


3/25/08 www.angryasianman.com: “racist casting and 21,”
    There's been a lot of chatter and gripes lately about the movie 21, which opens in theaters nationwide this Friday. Longtime readers know  that this movie has been on our radar for several years, ever since it was announced that Sony had the film in development, with Kevin Spacey attached to the project. Based on the bestselling book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, it tells the story of how a team of gifted blackjack players from MIT developed a highly successful card-counting system and took Las Vegas casinos for millions. Based on a true story, it's a great premise, and the perfect idea for a big budget Hollywood movie. Right? Not exactly.
    You see, in real life, the blackjack team was a group mostly made up of Asian American students. This was actually advantageous to their strategy, as it happens, because Asian dudes winning big money at the casinos apparently aren't quite as conspicuous as white dudes who win big at the casinos. That's just the way it is. Anyway. As we all know, Hollywood studios seem to have a great of resistance to creating interesting, fully-fleshed, three-dimensional roles for Asian American actors. They seem to think we can't carry a movie, and more often than not, will instead create roles and stories for pretty white people instead. I know this, you know this, we all know this. Hell, they know this. I'm going to put it out there-I'm not necessarily in favor of a boycott, nor am I against one either. I'm not sure where I stand on that. But I'm certainly in favor of anything that draws attention and educates people on the issues at hand. This is a good one, because it brings scrutiny to the nature of Hollywood 's racist casting processes, with a very obvious, high-profile example. People are interested in this movie, without a lot of background knowledge, but this is an opportunity to create dialogue on a general practice that has systematically shut out Asians in Hollywood for years. I hope it prompts folks understand what's going on here, learn the details for themselves, talk about it, and perhaps approach 21 (and future Hollywood product) with a more discerning eye.

3/20/08 Capitol Weekly: “Philanthropists’ donations come under scrutiny for diversity,”
by John Howard
    Advocates for the poor are targeting California 's largest charitable foundations that donate billions of dollars annually to an array of nonprofits. Next week, the top executives at several foundations are meeting with a San Jose Assemblyman over his bill to require the foundations to disclose the racial, ethnic and gender breakdowns of their staffs and governing boards, as well as a similar breakdown of those who get the money. 
    The unusual proposal has received limited attention in California but is high on the radar of the national philanthropic community. 
    "Minorities make up more than 50 percent of California 's population, but we believe we are missing from some of the important dialogues on education, the environment, water, transportation," said John Gamboa, president of the Berkeley-based Greenlining Institute. "We've never had the investment that many other, white organizations have had. It's really an innocuous bill. It doesn't require anything but a little transparency."
    The Greenlining Institute advocates on behalf of the poor for education improvements and against discriminatory business practices such as redlining by banks. 
    The legislation was written by Gamboa's group and authored by Joe Coto, the chairman of the Latino caucus. The bill, AB624, would require some 30 private foundations in California , those with more than $250 million in assets, to disclose their own ethnic makeup. It seeks similar information from those who get the grants, although that information already is supplied by some 90 percent of those who get the money, the grantees. The idea is to track the demographic components of the flow of philanthropic money. 
    A study cited by Greenlining says that less than 4 cents of every grant dollar goes to minority nonprofits - a figure that the foundations contend is flawed. 
    The stakes are huge, although just how huge is unclear. Nationally, some $40 billion to $80 billion is given away annually, according to an estimate by former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich. California accounts for about 12.7 percent of the nation's philanthropic foundations, which, if California 's donations are proportional to the national level, means that the foundations here dispense perhaps $5 billion to $10 billion annually. 
    The foundations, viewed as the traditional benefactors of worthy causes, were surprised by the legislation. They believe the Coto bill may be the harbinger of a regulatory scheme for the philanthropic community. 
    "The broadest level of concern is that this is a camel's nose-under-the-tent issue," said Robert Ross, president of the California Endowment, which donates about $150 million to $160 million annually. "Is this the opening salvo for legislators to dictate the philanthropic work of private foundations? The legislation may seem to be just about reporting data, but what about the next (legislative) session? Where do they go if they don't like the numbers?" 
    Ross also questioned whether the foundations' donations could ultimately be directed to holes in the $154 billion state budget, which faces a $16 billion shortage over two years and which has had a nagging, $5 billion deficit for the past few years. "Taken to its extreme, this bill goes through and then in two years there's another budget deficit at the state level and the Legislature says, ‘Let's regulate the foundations.'" He noted that California foundations have received numerous inquiries from their national counterparts about the legislation. 
    Coto's bill, over the opposition of Republicans, was approved Jan. 29 in the 80-member Assembly by a 45-29 vote and sent to the Senate. But it has been made into a two-year bill, which means its first Senate vote is not expected until June. In part, the delay was due to wrangling over whether the reporting requirements should be voluntary as opposed to mandatory. Language sought by the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender Caucus to include sexual orientation among the reporting rules was hastily dropped amid complaints that it forced workers to disclose personal sexual matters. 
    Converting bills to two-year status is a tactic frequently used in the Legislature to kill unwanted legislation, but that doesn't appear to be the case here. The bill emerged easily from the Assembly, and Coto and his allies appear confident that there will be support in the Senate for the bill. The governor has not discussed his position. 
    Others, however, have weighed in against Coto's bill. "Many charities help individuals and groups who have low incomes or are temporarily in unfortunate situations with a way to lift them up. How is a state mandate on diversity reporting going to further these philanthropic efforts? In my opinion, not one bit. Perhaps, some legislators just want to make sure charities are supporting the ‘correct' people and organizations. How silly is this?" wrote Sen. Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach , in a newsletter to his constituents. 
    On Wednesday, the leaders of several of California 's charitable foundations are scheduled to confer with Coto and his staff about the bill. The foundation presidents are expected to include Ross, James Canales of the Irvine Foundation and Paul Brest of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

March 2008 East West Magazine: "Empowering Asian American Women,"
    The 4th Annual Asian American Women in Leadership (AAWIL) Conference 
will take place on April 26, 2008 at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a diverse line-up of speakers. Top names on the agenda include SuChin Pak, MTV News correspondent; Kyung Yoon, Vice Chairman of Heidrick & Struggles; Becky Lee, attorney, founder of Becky Lee Women's Support Fund and cast member of Survivor (Season 13); and Jennifer 8 Lee, New York Times reporter.
    The conference, which aims to set forth strategic dialogue on the importance of leadership for Asian American girls and women, will explore various aspects of leadership, energize and equip attendees to seek out future leadership opportunities and create cross-generational networks among attendees.
    This year's conference theme is "Balanced Leadership: Maintaining Perspective," and a confernece highlight will be the presentation of the 1st Annual ASPIRE Outstanding Woman of the Year Award, recognizing a female high school or college student of Asian American descent for leadership and determination. 
    For more information, visit http://www.girlsaspire.org/conference/ 



2008 API Policy Summit
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/apilegcaucus/policysummit.htm

Register Today!

Registration Packet & Summit Agenda Now Available.  Download the Registration Packet and Summit Agenda California Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit Convened by the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus

In partnership with:

Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE) Asian and Pacific Islanders California Action Network

(APIsCAN)

California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Institute Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs

Tuesday, April 15th - Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 Sacramento Convention Center - Sacramento , CA

Play a part in the annual California API Policy Summit!

• Demonstrate collective power and increase visibility of APIs in the state.

• Advocate for laws that advance fairness, justice, and access for our communities.

• Bolster our community’s political influence, expand your knowledge, and put your advocacy skills into action through Capitol legislative visits, legislative hearings, coalition building, and workshops.

• Integrate policy advocacy into your organization’s mission.

For more information, please contact:

Pam Chueh or Linda Tran
Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus
916-319-3686 or pam.chueh "at" asm.ca.gov or
916-319-3594 or linda.tran "at" asm.ca.gov

Vivian Huang
Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE)
916-321-9001 or vhuang "at" aacre.org
A Partnership of Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), and Asian Law Caucus (ALC)

Diane Ujiiye
Asian and Pacific Islanders California Action Network
(APIsCAN)
310-532-6111 or apiscandiane "at" sbcglobal.net

Capitol Office Consultant
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento , CA 94249-0049 Pam Chueh
Phone: 916-319-3686
Fax: 916-319-3628
Email: Pam.Chueh "at" asm.ca.gov 

3/10/08 Associated Press: “Study: Asians and black patients more likely to die after injury,”  
    Honolulu (AP) _ A study finds Asian- and African-American patients have a higher risk of dying than Caucasians after being admitted to hospitals for major injuries. 
    According to the study co-authored by the new dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, 2.1 percent of blacks and 2 percent of Asians died while the death rate for whites was 1.5 percent. 
    Dr. Jerris Hedges, the dean of the school, says the poorer survival outcome for the minority groups is concerning. 
    Hedges used data from Hawaii and 21 other states in his report called, ``Racial Disparities in Mortality Among Adults Hospitalized After Injury.''

3/3/08 AAA-Fund News: Who Are the APA Superdelegates?
by Gautam Dutta
    The race between Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama is tight — so tight that it might not be decided by the voters.
    If neither candidate garners a majority of delegates, the so-called superdelegates — party leaders who control 39.3 percent of the 2025 votes needed to win — will decide the winner.
    Over the past few weeks, a healthy debate has raged about how the superdelegates should vote: Should they vote for the candidate who has received greater popular support (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s view)?
    Or, should they base their vote on a combination of factors (Rep. James Clyburn’s view)? AAA-Fund will not take a position on this issue.
    According to Associated Press, Sen. Obama has won 1116 delegates from the caucuses and primaries, and has also secured the support of 164 superdelegates (for a total of 1280 delegates). Sen. Clinton has won 977 delegates from the caucuses and primaries, and has also secured the support of 241 superdelegates (for a total of 1218 delegates). However, since superdelegates are free to change their minds at any time, these numbers must be taken with more than a few grains of salt.
    For us, this raises two important questions. First, how many superdelegates are Asian American? The answer: 20 superdelegates, which amounts to 2.5 percent of the 796 superdelegates. To put that figure in perspective, just over 5 percent of the nation’s population is Asian American.
    Second, who are the Asian American superdelegates?
    Based on public sources, here is a list of these influential leaders (please let us know if anyone has been omitted):
    1. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    2. Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    3. Rep. Eni Faleomavaega (D-Samoa), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    4. Rep. Maizie Hirono (D-HI), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    5. Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), President, AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    6. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    7. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    8. Minnesota Rep. Mee Moua, AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    9. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    10. Rep. David Wu (D-OR), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    11. Kamil Hasan, DNC Asian Pacific Islander American Caucus 
    12. Bel Leong-Hong, Chair, DNC Asian Pacific Islander American Caucus; AAA-Fund Board 
    13. Mona Mohib, Vice-Chair, DNC Asian Pacific Islander American Caucus
    14. Mona Pasquil, DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee 
    15. Keith Umemoto, Co-Chair, DNC Credentials Committee & Treasurer, Western DNC States Caucus 
    16. Alicia Wang, 2nd Vice-Chair, California Democratic Party
    17. Former Rep. Robert Underwood (D-Guam), AAA-Fund Honorary Board 
    18. Antonio Charfauros (Guam)
    19. Cecilia Mafnas (Guam)
    20. Taling Taitano (Guam)

2/28/08 New York Times: “ Louisiana Governor Pierces Business as Usual,”
by Adam Nossiter
    Baton Rouge , La. - Downstairs, legislators gnashed their teeth, while upstairs at the Capitol here this week, the new governor claimed victory against the old customs down below.

2/22/08 The Electric New Paper (Singapore): "Contenders court the Asian vote;
Small in number, but they may swing a win in tight race,"
    Asians make up about 5 per cent of the US population, but they are emerging as the swing voters who may make a difference for presidential hopefuls.
    Every one of their votes may count when the race is tight - which well describes the one between Democratic White House contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, reported AFP.
    And the top five states where Asian-Americans live - California, New York, Texas, Hawaii and New Jersey - are, with the exception of Hawaii, 'very, very significant' in the presidential elections, according to Mr Don Nakanishi, director of the Asian-American studies centre at the University of California, Los Angeles.
    Those four states each carries a high number of electoral votes.
    'If this is a close election, then the ways in which the Asian-American vote swings could have a very decisive impact,' he said.
    The race is certainly close in the Democrat camp: Mr Obama, who won in Wisconsin and Hawaii yesterday, has 1,303 delegates, while Mrs Clinton has 1,233.
    Despite their significance, the voting power of Asian-Americans has been much less scrutinised than that of African-Americans and Hispanics, reported The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress. 
    Agreed Democratic lawmaker Mike Honda, chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus: 'It is time that due attention is paid to this rapidly growing and politically relevant community.'
    In Hawaii, nearly 60 per cent of the population is Asian-American.
    In California, Asian-Americans make up 8 per cent of the electorate population, reported Time this week.
    And their share of the population is set to grow, from 5per cent now to 9per cent in 2050. 
    WHO DO THEY VOTE FOR? 
    Asians tend to vote for the Democratic party. And so far, they have voted most consistently and overwhelmingly for Mrs Clinton
    In California, about 75 percent of Asian voters voted for her, compared to 23 percent for Mr Obama. 
    In New York, the Asian American Legal Defence Fund's exit poll concluded that 87 percent of Asian-American Democrats backed their state's Senator, reported Time.
    In New Jersey, it was 73 per cent. 
    The difference could be due to the attention paid to the community by the contenders.
    Some observers believe that Mr Obama is seen as neglecting the community, reported Time, pointing to some speeches on racial unity that mentioned only black and white.
    Mrs Clinton, in contrast, held a special event for the Asian-American newspapers in San Francisco.
    Pundits say, though, that Mr Obama is learning fast. 
    In a speech this month, he pointedly thanked more than just his black and white supporters.
    And some of his campaign employees and supporters have taken out advertisements in Asian newspapers and contacted Asian TV stations to cover his activities. 
    Mr Obama is expected to continue courting the Asian vote as the race intensifies. 



2/19/08 AmericanThinker.com: “Media angst over low Asian-American support for Obama (updated)”
By Thomas Lifson
    Barack Obama receives 90% of the black vote versus Hillary Clinton, but when another racial minority, Asian-Americans, shows signs of disproportionately voting for Hillary Clinton in primary elections, the media wrings its hands about possible racism. Lisa Takeuchi Cullen of TIME addresses these concerns:
    "Maybe it's just my cynicism speaking, but you look at those numbers and on some level there has to be some element of race," says Oliver Wang, a sociology professor at California State University at Long Beach . While not discounting the myriad cultural reasons that could explain the support for Clinton , "on a gut level my reaction is that at least some Asian-Americans are uncomfortable voting for a black candidate."
    Cullen notes that until very recently Obama has spoken of race almost exclusively in terms of blacks and whites. 
    ... some Asians were sensitive to being left out of Obama's rousing stump speeches on racial unity - speeches that mentioned only black and white, according to Don Nakanishi, director of the Asian American Studies Center at the University of California Los Angeles . But following his clean sweep of the Potomac primaries on February 12, Obama pointedly thanked a rainbow of ethnic groups, including Asian-Americans. "He can turn it around," says Nakanishi. "He has a story to tell, one that we would get."
    Cullen addresses a number of possible explanations for Asian-American support for Clinton over Obama, but strangely leaves out an obvious, if sensitive, issue: affirmative action preferences for blacks.
    Many Asian-American families value hard work, education and upward mobility. Before California voters outlawed state-sponsored racial preferences, the ability of black applicants to be admitted to the University of California system with combined grades and aptitude score tests that would get an Asian-heritage candidate automatically rejected was a very sore point. One of the very serious problems with affirmative action  programs is the resentment they sow against its ostensible beneficiaries. For competitive schools like UC Berkeley which have ten applicants for every slot, there are many, many rejected students (and their families) who resent the relatively small numbers benefitting from preferences. "But for preferences, I would occupy that slot..." goes the reasoning. Arithmetically incorrect, but all too human. 
    Of course, affirmative action is a taboo subject when it comes to Obama. Nobody is willing to even suggest that he ( Columbia , Harvard Law School ) or his wife (Princeton, Harvard Law School ) benefitted from preferences. I have never seen anyone even ask if either of them received scholarships. 
    Absent any evidence of race preferences enabling or financing either of the Obamas' educations, that would be mean-spirited and unfair, of course. But liberals are not so shy about claiming that Clarence Thomas was a preferences beneficiary, and he is regularly excoriated for alleged "hypocrisy" in opposing race preferences. Double standards applied to black conservatives are nothing new, of course.
    But just because a subject is taboo, it does not necessarily vanish from people's minds. Arguably, a taboo only enhances the amount of attention paid in the privacy of an individual's thoughts. Call it a sleeper issue. Of course, it will be used as evidence of racism against anyone or any group that fails to support the only man who can save America 's soul.

2/17/08 Huffinton Post blog: “Anderson Cooper Explains Little About Asian Americans,”
by Scott Kurashige
    (Summary: Ending the marginalization of Asian American voices and stopping the monolithic portrayal of Asian American political attitudes would be great strides toward eliminating the conditions that sustain the "bloc vote" mentality.)
    All this week, CNN has been hyping Anderson Cooper's special report on "Race, Gender and Politics." As expected, Cooper and his guests mostly rehashed the same arguments and opinions they've made four or five times a day for the past month. What has stood out for me, however, is that Cooper has been the national television news figure most interested in reporting on Asian Americans. (Sadly, that's not saying much.) A couple commentators made the obvious but still necessary point that we should not jump to quick conclusions or reproduce stereotypes about how Asian Americans think and act. No one pointed out that Asian Americans have switched dramatically from Republican to solidly Democratic over the past three to four presidential election cycles. Overall, Cooper's reporting has exposed how little the media understands the political dynamics within Asian American communities.
    Cooper's main goal has been to explain why exit polls from the California Democratic primary showed Asian Americans voting nearly three-to-one for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama. It began with his anchoring coverage on the night of Super Tuesday. As pundit David Gergen was discussing the significance of the Latino vote to Hillary's win in California , Cooper interjected that she also registered a sizable win among Asians. Gergen's tangential response was "well, they're in play here, too." Then, Gergen continued with his point about Latinos. This was, of course, a misstatement. "In play" for the political pundits analyzing the horse race means that the battle to win a state or a demographic segment of the electorate is highly competitive, not lopsided. What Gergen really meant by the Asians are "in play" comment was something more like, "We don't normally view Asian voters as significant, but here's one isolated case where they happened to make a difference."
    Next, Cooper did a very short feature on Asian American voters during his February 8 show. In its entirety, the segment consisted of brief comments by four random Asian Americans plus 38 words from a political science professor whose primary area of study is Latinos in politics.  The consensus: Hillary Clinton is better known because her husband was president; also, recent Asian immigrants might be uncomfortable with the idea of change and maybe a little wary of a black candidate. In response, an Asian American political action committee called the 80-20 Initiative launched a petition against CNN saying it was "outraged" by this "2 minute segment."
    CNN subsequently interviewed a representative of the 80-20 Initiative, S.B. Woo, for the "Race, Gender and Politics" special.  Woo delivered the night's big new thesis: the strong Asian American backing of Clinton in California was the result of none other than the 80-20 Initiative's campaign to organize Asians into an ethnic bloc vote for Clinton. The group has declared on its website, "Let the word go forth that we've learned how to reward political leaders who share our rightful concerns, and punish those who don't." While Woo is no doubt overstating his group's influence, the actions of the 80-20 Initiative help us to appreciate in the crudest manner how a particular type of ethnic identity politics functions. Since Anderson Cooper fell well short of "explaining it all," I'll try to demonstrate how this works.
    First, a group of self-identified leaders get together and declare themselves the representatives of their ethnic (or other form of interest) group.
    Second, the group identifies a narrow set of positions purporting to represent the self-interests of the entire group. In the case of the 80-20 Initiative, the group asked candidates to pledge to "break the glass ceiling" for Asian Americans in employment and "nominate more Asian American judges." All questions on these points singled out Asian Americans. The 80-20 platform is not couched broadly as a civil rights initiative; it's only a call for the government to give certain Asian Americans treatment already afforded "other minorities."
    Third, the group takes it platform to the candidates and chooses a horse in the race. (A variation on this theme is petitioning a media outlet to remedy its allegedly biased coverage by devoting airtime to your group and its cause.)
    Fourth, the group attempts to mobilize a bloc vote by arguing that the chosen candidate best represents "our" interests. Finally, if the candidate wins and the group is seen to have delivered the vote, the symbolic representatives of the ethnic group get in line to cash in their rewards (e.g. patronage, federal appointments, dinner at the White House).
    What must be emphasized regarding the relative success of the 80-20 "bloc vote" campaign is that minority interest group politics of this nature conform perfectly to the niche marketing and service-delivery model of politics practiced by head Clinton strategist Mark Penn. Winning the 80-20 endorsement was but one part of a broader Clinton strategy to win endorsements from minority politicians, court ethnic community leaders, and advertise in ethnic media. This largely top-down approach seems to have worked in this instance (though it might have fallen short if the Obama team had developed a better ground game among Asians and Latinos in California ).
    Yet, the primary results are also proving that so many Americans are tired of politics framed by narrow self-interests that ignore the intersecting relationship between race, gender, class, sexuality, ecology, education, health care, and a million other issues. 
    While there are some interests unique to ethnic groups, there are also ways to address these concerns within the context of struggling for a greater good and a higher purpose. Memo to Anderson Cooper: your next task, if you choose to accept it, is to find the tens of thousands of Asian Americans who see politics and activism in this light. Ending the marginalization of Asian American voices and stopping the monolithic portrayal of Asian American political attitudes would be great strides toward eliminating the conditions that sustain the "bloc vote