WHAT'S NEW - in MARCH 2002!

As we enter 2002, join us as we are eagerly anticipate the many great things will happen to the Asian Pacific American communities.

Our invitation is extended to discover various Asian American leaders listed below, information on our past victories and the many great things that are presently happening in our communities.

YOUR MUSICAL INPUT IS NEEDED to identify the best of the upcoming APA music artists.

Click HERE to vote on your opinion of artists such as Francis Kim, Second Wind, Gorillaz, String Cheese Incident, Junoon, e:trinity, Karmacy, Larissa Lam, the Wontons, Losing Daylight, Enda, Kevin So, Blake Chen, Liza Figueroa and Emm Gryner.

FEATURED ARTISTS & LEADERS

SENATOR DANIEL INOUYE

Senator Daniel K. Inouye was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1959 as Hawaii's first Congressman, and then to the U.S. Senate in 1962, where he has served ever since. Senator Inouye was a member of the celebrated Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. He lost his right arm during the war, and earned the Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and 12 other medals and citations.

The fellowship program is named after U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, who is a decorated combat veteran of World War II who has served our nation with distinction in the United States House of Representatives and Senate for nearly 40 years.

JAN TING

This professor of law, who is an advocate for "alien rights, joined the Temple law faculty in 1977 and served as Director of the Graduate Tax Program from 1994 to 2001.

He is a 1970 graduate of Oberlin College, received an M.A. degree in Asian Studies from the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii in 1972, and received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1975. He specialized in tax law as an attorney at the Philadelphia law firm of Pepper Hamilton & Scheetz from 1975 to 1977.

He was appointed Assistant Commissioner at the Immigration & Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Justice in 1990, and served there until 1993.

He has been quoted in news reports on legal developments, and has published commentary, in various media including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, CNN, National Public Radio, ABC Nightline, and the NBC Today Show and Evening News programs.

MARCH FONG EU
March Fong Eu, a third-generation California from Oakdale, was the first American of Asian heritage to serve on the Alameda County Board of Education, first Asian American woman to serve in the California State Assembly, California's first woman Secretary of State,

She taught and served as an educational consultant in the Oakland Public Schools, Alameda and Santa Clara County schools, at Mills College, and was a division chair at the University of California at San Francisco.

March Fong Eu Firsts

Woman to be elected Secretary of State.

Asian-American to be elected to any of California's statewide constitutional offices.

Person to be elected to state office with a margin of victory of more than 1,000,000 votes.

Secretary of State to serve as California's official Chief of Protocol.

Chair of the California World Trade Commission.

Woman and Asian-American to serve on the Alameda County Board of Education.

Woman and Asian-American to serve as President of the Alameda County Board of education.

Woman and Asian-American to serve as President of the Alameda County School Boards Association.

Asian-American President of the American Dental Hygienists?Association.

Woman to be admitted as a member of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance.

She has vigorously promoted the export of California products and services abroad, sponsoring the creation of the California State World Trade Commission and serving as its first Chair.

In 1994, Dr. Eu accepted President Clinton's appointment as the United States Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia where she worked to promote cultural understanding, a pursuit to which she has dedicated much of her public life. She returned to California in 1996.

In 2002, she is running for California's Secretary of State.

I.M. PEI

Ieoh Ming Pei is one of the preeminent architects of the twentieth century. Pei's modernist works illustrate his affinity for geometric shapes, silhouettes, and striking contrasts that has impacted people across the world.

I.M. Pei was born in Canton, China in 1917.

I.M. Pei has designed nearly 50 projects in the United States and abroad. Over half of these projects have won major awards. Pei has been awarded the highest honors from nations the world over.

In 1986, at the one hundredth anniversary of the Statute of Liberty President Ronald Reagan designated Pei as one of twelve naturalized American citizens to receive the Medal of Liberty, for his outstanding service as an architect.

MARK CHANG

As requested, the information has been deleted

EVENTS IN HISTORY

IN 1871
- Nineteen Chinese were massacred in Los Angeles. October 24 marked the worst incident of Anti-Chinese violence in America up to that time.

IN 1879
- the Arizona Weekly Star ran an editorial in 1879 portraying Chinese Americans as "an ignorant, filthy, leprous horde" and "the most pernicious and degraded race on the globe." Chinese workers were attacked in railroad camps and mining towns and driven out of Arizona's mines and railroads.

IN 1923
- Justice Sutherland, speaking for the Supreme Court in 1923, said that Bhagat Singh Thind and other Asian Indians were aliens ineligible to citizenship because they were not white, as only whites and blacks could become citizens.

IN 1924
- In the Hanapepe Massacre, police attack union headquarters in Hanapepe, HI where 16 sugar plantation workers and 4 policemen are killed.

IN 1930
- Anti-Filipino riot occurred in Watsonville, California and in Kent Washington. The Japanese American Citizens League's first national convention was held in Seattle on August 29.

IN 1947
- Truman grants full pardon to the Japanese Americans who had been convicted for resisting the draft while they and their families were held in concentration camps.

IN 1949
- FBI arrests the Hawaii Seven for communist activity. Their fines and jail terms are overturned in January 1958.

IN 1971
- Japanese American Citizens League wins its fight to repeal the Emergency Detention Act of 1950, thereby eliminating the threat of ever reactivating concentration camps in America.

IN 2001
- Patrick Oliphant's racist cartoon was an offshoot of the recent stand off between the U.S. and China over the U.S. spy plane incident.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For additional and specific details on the information listed below, please CLICK on the “Titles” listed below.

R.I.P. - A MAGAZINE
As of February 2002 - aMedia, Inc. has ceased operations and aMagazine: Inside Asian America has discontinued publication. aMagazine was a vital and respected source of information for the Asian American community. They had recently merged with Click2Asia in January 16, 2002 - along with the now-defunct Classified Records.

AZN RAPPER ON BET'S 106 & PARK
On BET's 106 & Park "freestyle battle" section - an Azn rapper name Jin (from AznRaps.com) who went up against Hason, who had a 6-week winning streak on the show, and beat him!

SUSAN LEE - 1ST AP WOMEN IN MARYLAND LEGISLATURE
Susan C. Lee was appointed yesterday by Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening (D) to a vacant seat in the House of Delegates.

She is the first Asian Pacific American woman to serve in the state legislature and fills the seat vacated by Nancy K. Kopp (D), who was elected state treasurer in February 2002.

Lee, though having never held an elected office before, has extensive experience in state and local politics. Lee has been an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm Gebhardt & Associates and previously at Pena & Associates.

Lee is currently the Co-Chair of the Montgomery County NAACP Multicultural Community Partnership and a co-founder and board member of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS). She holds a law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a B.S. from the University of Maryland, College Park.

DANIEL INOUYE FELLOWSHIP RECEIVES $100K
George T. Aratani has endowed $100,000 to the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies' (APAICS) for the Daniel K. Inouye Fellowship Program. The nine-month program is designed to encourage a graduate student who has a commitment to the Asian Pacific American community to pursue a public policy career.

Mr. Aratani is currently Chair of the Aratani Foundation in Los Angeles, California. In 1994, the Aratani Foundation was created to help support non-profit organizations that serve the Asian Pacific American community.

The Foundation was named after George Aratani who founded three international corporations: Mikasa - a leading tableware company, Kenwood - a high fidelity electronics enterprise and AMCO a medical supply business.

The first Inouye Fellow for the 2001-02 Program year is Ms. Snehal Majithia of Chappaqua, New York. Ms. Majithia graduated in May of 1999 from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Gender Studies, and Asian American Studies. For the duration of her fellowship, Ms. Majithia is working with the Center for Policy Alternatives, a non-profit, nonpartisan public policy and leadership development center.

WILMA CHAN - 1ST CALIFORNIA MAJORITY LEADER
Just two years after getting elected to the California State Assembly, lawmaker Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, has been named the Assembly's next majority leader. The appointment makes Chan the first Asian Pacific American and the first female to take the role of majority leader. She currently serves as majority whip. She was the first APA elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and the Oakland school board in the 1990's. Chan won top ratings from senior and children's advocacy groups for her support on 35 bills dealing with seniors' and children's issues.

APA'S HEAD THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS TEAM
Southern California's Irvine University Boy's Tennis team members might be one of the best in the United States. In 2002, they have already won its second consecutive Division II title.

Coach John Kessler's team include the following tennis players:

Aaron Yovan
Jack Li (Southern California boys' 16 division sectional champion)
Henry Mak
Jeff Lawrence
Anson Hsu
Matt Chou and
Michael Haier.

TODAI EXPANDING ITS CHAIN RESTAURANTS
Todai, which has 17 ethnic food buffets, has tapped into consumers' appetite for all-you-can-eat sushi - despite the business falloff after September 11, 2001.

In 2001, Los Angeles-based Todai Franchising has the annual sales of its company-owned and franchised outlets up to $70 million. It maintained a profit margin of 5% at year's end and exceeding the restaurant industry average of 3% to 4%. Todai operates in five Western states, with most of its 17 restaurants in California. About half are franchised, the remainder company-owned.

Todai's founders, Kaku and Toru Makino, opened the first Todai in Santa Monica in 1985. The restaurant, one of the first all-you-can-eat sushi places, was so popular that by the late 1990s, they had opened 10 buffets in California.

Hans Kim, Todai's chief executive, form an investment group name Meramia, that purchased a majority stake in the Todai chain in 1998 and upgraded the menu by adding such items as Canadian lobster and crab. It doesn't, however, make any pretensions of the dishes at swanky sushi spots.

Though Todai buys in bulk and gets discounts, the upgraded food costs consume 39% of the chain's sales, compared with about a third of sales at other buffets. Todai, a 17 years old company, is more expensive than most buffet restaurants with "Adult" lunches ranging from $12 to $14 for lunch and $22 to $26 for dinner - depending on the location.

Company's strategy is to operate in upscale areas with a sizable concentration of Asian Americans. The chain hopes to sell stock to the public within three years to fund future expansion to meet their goal of 30 new restaurants in the next five years.

APA'S AT THE OLYMPICS
Apolo Anton Ohno won two medals at the 2002 Olympics - a Gold and a Silver.

Michelle Kwan won the Bronze Medal at the 2002 Olympics, despite being expected to win the Gold. Presently, she is already tied for having the second-most American women's titles, three behind Maribel Vinson. Only two men have more national titles, Dick Button and Roger Turner, who have won seven each. If Kwan goes on to the world championships in Nagano next month she could equal the five world titles won by compatriot Carol Heiss, though she is a long ways away from the ten world titles of Norway's three-time Olympic champion Sonja Henie.

APA POLITICAN CHANGES VOTE
House of Representatives voted 240 to 189 to approve legislation that would limit campaign funds from special interests.

Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), a Filipino American and executive committee member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, voted against the bill. He, along with 11 other Democrats, broke away from his party to vote against what may be the most significant overhaul of campaign finance laws in over 25 years.

Rep. Scott defends his vote against the Shays - Meehan campaign finance reform bill because it "violated the First Amendment of the Constitution."

The bill (H.R. 2356) will now be sent over to the U.S. Senate for consideration and debate. After 16 hours of debate, the bill includes the following provisions:

Limit the amount of soft money contributions and restrict election-related advertisement by third party groups;
Restrict the use of soft money to pay off campaign debts;
Limit donations strictly to state parties, which could not be used to promote federal candidates; Bans corporations, unions and advocacy groups from targeting candidates by name in "issue ads" within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary; and
Raise the limit on individual contributions to candidates from $1,000 to $2,000.

APA Members Vote on H.R. 2356
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

Honda, Michael - Yea
Matsui, Robert - Yea
Mink, Patsy - Yea
Scott, Robert - Nay
Wu, David - Yea
Faleomavaega, Eni (does not have a vote)
Underwood, Robert (does not have a vote)

TERMINATOR, THE KID & BRIT AWARD SHOW
Dan "The Terminator" and Kid Koala are part of the "virtual hip-hop group Gorillaz that received six nominations in the 2002 Brit Awards. They, however, didn't win any awards. The group also includes the following musicians:

Blur's singer Damon Albarn
former Talking Heads' Tina Weymouth
Chris Frantz
artwork of Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett
Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori and
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien.

PROMINENT APA FIGHT PROMOTER'S EVENT
Mark Chang presents an evening of professional boxing on Saturday: March 9, 2002 at 7:00 P.M. at Annandale Sports Center. Event features the following:

Mitch "Blood" Green vs. Danny Wofford, 12 rounds for the W.B.S. Super Heavyweight Championship
Lisa Foster vs. TBD, 6 rounds for the W.B.S. Women's Bantamweight Championship
Former WBF-Intercontinental and VA State Champion Sugar Han Kim vs. Thomas Coleman in a 4 round non-title affair
Specific info can be found at House of Chang website.


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