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APA
& MEDIA NEWS
R.I.P. - KAM FONG
KAM FONG passed away on October 18. From
1968 to 1978 Fong played Detective Chin Ho Kelly on "Hawaii
Five-O" the second longest-running police series in television
history (the series ended in 1980).
SHINSEKI’S FIGHT VS. TERROISM
Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army's chief of staff, is helping
to direct a low-intensity war in Afghanistan and preparing
for a possible invasion of Iraq. His
most formidable adversary these days is on the third floor
of the Pentagon: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
JOHN WOO’S “THE HOSTAGE
BMW films and RSA USA, Inc. announced today the line-up
of renowned Hollywood directors who will take the helm of
the next three installments of The Hire Internet film series.
The films are underwritten by BMW and includes a production
by John Woo.
BEAU SIA AND STACYANN CHIN ON BROADWAY
A revolution is being undertaken at the Longacre Theatre,
and it's being led by Russell Simmons and Stan Lathan.
The
two men behind Def Poetry Jam on Broadway are dedicated to
proving that poetry needn't be ancient or stodgy, but that
it can still prove driving and inspiring to the current generation
with multi-ethnic performers such as Beau Sia and Stacyann
Chin.
REVIEW - “A DRAGON’S ROAR”
Review of the September
1, 2002 music event that featured groups from Japan, Hong
Kong, Florida, San Francisco, Houston and Southern California.
ANNIE GUO
Asian Pacific American organizations in demanding that
Ventura County Police admit to gross negligence in the shooting
of 14-year-old Anna Guo, end its malicious prosecution and
release her immediately.
CHINA’S RICHEST BUSINESS PEOPLE
Larry Rong Zhijian (CITIC Pacific Group Hong Kong), Xu
Rongmao (Group Shanghai) and Sun Guangxin (Guanghui Group)
are among China’s richest business people.
RACISM DURING WWII
Racism was rampant following the Japanese attack on that
infamous Sunday morning. Wartime hysteria led to the imprisonment
of about 120,000 Japanese-Americans in concentration camps
that peppered the western part of the nation.
Ted Ohira’s (recipient of three Bronze Stars) memory of that
white face, that voice so saturated with hate that stated
"Hey you dirty Jap."
"After
all that combat. I went through five major battles in Europe,
and I received lots of awards and medals. … And then one day,
in downtown Los Angeles, I hear this: `Hey you dirty Jap.'
"I
don't cry. I didn't then. I got mad and I wanted to beat that
guy up, but I said `this guy is ignorant.' I had enough of
fighting and I just walked away."
REVIEW OF YOYO MA’S “SILK ROAD PROJECT
The message of cultural understanding works well, but
host Yo-Yo Ma's overwrought playing raises some interesting
questions at UCLA’s Royce Hall performance.
SHI ANN HUANG
Shi Ann Huang gets kicked off "Survivor." She mentioned
in her final words that she was "really honored" to be the
first Asian American to be on the show and said a few words
in Chinese to her family.
NAVY DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD
The Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award were given
in acknowledgment of the work of many Japanese Americans during
World War II as Japanese language teachers at the U.S. Navy
Language School in Boulder, Colo.
“THE ROCK” WINS DIVERSITY AWARD
"The Rock," whose real name is Dwayne Johnson, received
the 2002 Nova Award as the voters' choice for the best rising
star of the year.
Johnson's movie credits include "The Scorpion King" and "The
Mummy Returns."
BLT’S RELEASE DATES
Sources tell us that Justin's film BETTER LUCK TOMORROW
will be released in three (3) cities that weekend - LA, NY,
and SF by MTV in early 2003.
APA’S ON TV
APA FIRST WEEKEND FILM CLUB
Support the films listed in David Magdael’s “APA First
Weekend Film Club” e-zine.
APAIT OBSERVES WORLD AIDS DAY
The Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team (APAIT), Southern
California's largest provider of HIV/AIDS services to Asians
and Pacific Islanders, observes World AIDS Day on December
1, 2002 by presenting "A Journey to Hope" in Little Tokyo.
HEROES OF COLOR
With the “Browning of America” - that's meant new marketing
strategies for studios.
"What
we're seeing is the browning of America," says Santiago Pozo,
who has served as marketing consultant for Universal films
such as "The Mummy Returns" and "Scorpion King."
"So
young moviegoers want black and brown heroes. When they see
the Rock or Vin Diesel, they recognize themselves."
EDITING OF ASIAN FILMS
Tired of watching films "butchered" by American distributors,
U.S.-based Asian movie buffs are demanding that Disney stop
altering Hong Kong films they distribute.
SHINQ-CHERN (SEAN) LIOU
The Honorable Claude A. Allen, Deputy Secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services, formally installed
Sean Liou as the newest member of the President's Advisory
Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Honolulu,
Hawaii on October 11, 2002.
ACCENT DISCRIMINATION CASE DISMISSED
The agency found direct evidence of national origin (Korean)
discrimination where the selecting official said that complainant
would never be promoted because her accent made her too difficult
to understand.
The agency found no evidence that complainant's
accent would have interfered with her ability to perform a
Budget Analyst position.
On appeal, the Commission found that the agency failed to
meet its burden of showing, by clear and convincing evidence,
that it would not have promoted complainant during the period
at issue even absent discrimination.
MULTIETHNIC MARKETING
Even in 2002, there are countless examples of big businesses
offending minority communities and potential customers, by
creating ad campaigns, corporate policies or making statements
that are deeply offensive.
'Respect is very important to everyone, but especially for
Asian Americans,' stated InterTrend’s Rita Cheng.
ASIAN LANGUAGE MARKETING
Despite a lack of attention from mainstream advertisers,
Asian language marketing remains the staple of Asian-American
media consumption. The high volume of Asian-language media
is no surprise, considering more than 60 percent of Asians
living in the country are foreign-born.
Asian-language media garnered $400 million in advertising
for the fiscal year 2000, up from $300 million in 1997
INDIAN AMERICAN MARKETING
According to the Census Bureau, Asian Indians have the
highest per capita income and spending power of any Asian
ethnic group.
RACISM TOWARDS INDIAN AMERICAN POLITICIAN
Republican leaders withdrew their support of a state House
candidate who questioned whether her opponent can represent
Iowans since she is an immigrant from India.
Karen Balderston made her comments about
Democrat Swati Dandekar in a Sept. 29 e-mail to a conservative
political action committee.
STORIES FROM THE APIA COMMUNITIES
A yearlong investigation by The Sun and the Orlando Sentinel
has found that more than 2,000 Micronesians and Marshall islanders
have been brought to the United States on one-way tickets.
They were consigned to years of virtual
servitude by a handful of small-time entrepreneurs who exploit
a little-known 16-year-old Compact of Free Association that
allows the island residents to settle and work here without
visas.
CHARLES WANG STEPS DOWN
As Computer Associates International Inc. fights off
challenges on legal and financial fronts, Charles Wang stepped
down as its chairman yesterday - 26 years after co-founding
a company that became virtually synonymous with his hard-driving
persona.
LISA LEAVES “THE VIEW”
After three years, Lisa Ling leaving “The View” to take
a job as an international reporter for National Geographic
Television.
QBERT & YOYO LOVE APPLES
Watch qBert and YoYo Ma in their commercials for Apple
Computers.
UIC’S ASIAN AMERICAN CENTER
Approved on November 7, 2002 by the new UIC (University
of Illinois at Chicago) provost, Michael Tanner, the Asian
American Coalition Committee (AACC) will search for a director
of the university’s upcoming Asian American Center.
UIC’S 1ST HIRE - MARK CHIANG
The UIC Department of English has hired Mark Chiang from
the University of Pennsylvania and Helen Jun from the University
of California, San Diego as the first two Asian American faculty
member ever in UIC's history. Chiang and Jun will join the
department for the fall semester of 2002. Jun also is a joint
hire under the Department of African American Studies.
L.A.’S LACK OF DIVERSITY
Segregation is on the wane in neighborhoods across California,
giving way to racially diverse communities from Vallejo to
Moreno Valley, according to a study released today by the
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).Howeve diversity
varies widely across the state - Los Angeles neighborhoods
are still highly segregated, while those in Sacramento are
far more racially diverse.
CHINA’S RICHEST PEOPLE
Li Ka Shing, Kwok family and Lee Shau Kee are three of
China’s richest people.
1ST VIETNAMESE VOTED TO SCHOOL BOARD
Lan Nguyen won a seat on the Garden Grove Unified School
District board.The victory makes Nguyen the first Vietnamese
American to be elected to a school board, according to the Asian
Pacific American Municipal Officials, a division of the National
League of Cities.
TORAICHI KONO - CHAPLIN’S PERSONAL VALET
He was born 1888 and moved to the US at the age of 17
or 18 to become a lawyer. He saw an article in a newspaper
providing a job as a chauffeur with Charlie Chaplin.
APA POLITICIANS
The number of Asian Pacific American Democratic candidates
outnumbered Republican candidates by a 2 to 1 margin in last
week's mid-term general election, according to research findings
in “On the Ballot.” Some of the latest information regarding
Asian Pacific American politicians are as follows:
- 51%
Asian Pacific American candidates won their elections
- 91%
of the incumbents won
- 43%
of the APA candidates were in Hawaii
- 30%
of the APA candidates were in California and
- Japanese/Chinese
American communities had the most candidates,
NYC’S ETHNIC BREAKDOWN
The
Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program & Institute at New
York University today announced the release of a report that
examines the political, social, and demographic shifts in
New York City that contribute to the current discussions on
redistricting.The report is especially timely since district
lines must be drawn to reflect the results of the most recent
Census.
