Asian American Professor suing students?

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Moye

For as long as I could remember, the last job I would ever want to take on was to be a teacher–even if the position was for pre-school and I just had to teach children how to color within the lines.

I think it takes a lot of charisma and self-confidence to be a good teacher. Not only are you in charge of a group of adolescents (well, that all depends on what level you teach at, but you get the idea), but you must also put yourself (personal life included) out in the open for a bunch of students to ridicule.

Okay, I’m taking the negative perspective on teaching but I have many fond memories of teasing, interrogating and attempting to fool my teachers. I remember scoffing at their ideas and methods, or just making fun of their daily outfits. Yes, this was in college and yes, I’m lame like that–but who hasn’t? It’s part of the job, right?

Or not?

Former Dartmouth professor Priya Venkatesan has publicly announced her plans to sue her students for “intellectual distress,” which ultimately led her to cancel classes for a week AND switch jobs to Northwestern. Say what?

The agenda of Ms. Venkatesan’s seminar, then, was to “problematize” technology and the life sciences. Students told me that most of the “problems” owed to her impenetrable lectures and various eruptions when students indicated skepticism of literary theory. She counters that such skepticism was “intolerant of ideas” and “questioned my knowledge in very inappropriate ways.”

Alright. It’s been about five years since I wrote a term paper with words like “problematize,” “bifurcated” and (my personal favorite) “diaspora,” so I have no idea what Venkatesan’s course was about…but I can’t be the only one to be shocked that she would take her student’s behavior so personally?

I thought teaching was also a two-way interaction: teachers provide knowledge but also expect the students to give back. Learning is an exchange between two parties, and what better kind of class is there where you don’t just fall asleep to a professor droning on in a lecture, but can openly discuss the topic at hand with the teacher? I don’t get it.

Venkatesan also blames the “hostile environment” to racism against South Asians, which she claims she wouldn’t have faced as a white, male professor. I do agree that discrimination does exist in the academic world–but to blame the students for making you feel uncomfortable? I would think that it was also her responsibility as a professor to take charge of the situation; she IS the teacher, after all. But is a lawsuit necessary to right her hurt feelings?

Oh yeah. Venkatesan also blames one female student (who she plans to name in the lawsuit) for “incessantly disrupt[ing] class with her nose-blowing.”

WOW.

Posted in Current Events, Discrimination | 7 Comments

AsiaSF goes Hollywood!

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Efren

One of San Francisco’s best known restaurants, AsiaSF, is establishing a new restaurant in Hollywood, called AsiaSF Hollywood (which kinda sounds like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but I digress). Aside from the lethal drinks and pretty good small plates and entrees, AsiaSF is best known for their hostesses, who happen to be primarily transgendered male-to-female women and “gender illusionists”, who do fabulous choreographed song-and-dance numbers. It’s also one of the few places in San Francisco where transgendered women can find legitimate work, since many avenues for work are often shut out to them, particularly if they are working class. Many transgendered people, even if they have advanced degrees, are often forced to find other jobs because of the extreme transphobia in many fields, or must turn to sex work and other illicit occupations in order to survive. I’ve known many of the girls who’ve worked at AsiaSF as either former staff of mine when I was working as executive director of a nonprofit, or colleagues when I was doing my grad school research, and many of them look at AsiaSF as one of the first places that respected them for who they are, as people with goals and dreams, and not as something to mock.

One of the most famous hostesses there is Nikki Calma, otherwise known as Tita Aida, who’s been a tireless advocate for the queer and transgendered Asian community in San Francisco for years (and a very dear friend of mine), and who also happens to work full time at the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center as coordinator for a number of outreach programs. Nikki’s also known for hosting charity events showcasing transgendered performers, as well as being a member of the SF Pride Committee for many years.

The San Francisco Chronicle recently wrote an article about the auditions for hostesses at AsiaSF Hollywood, and are also reporting a reality show featuring the restaurant and their hostesses is in the works. Given all the drama and cattiness that they have, but also their sincerity and drive, I’ll probably check it out.

Posted in Entertainment, Food & Drink, LGBT | 2 Comments

APA Heritage Month: Clinton vs. Obama, winner: Clinton

Posted on May 6, 2008 by John

Well, another split decision between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential nomination as Clinton wins Indiana last night and Obama wins North Carolina. But more importantly for the 8Asians audience, who wins when it comes to each candidate’s statements on the month of May – Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month ? I say Hillary Clinton.

Earlier this month, The White House, as well as Hillary Clinton and Barack Oabama put out their statements on APA Heritage month (interestingly, John McCain did not (or I couldn’t find it) – though he did put out a statement for Passover.) As someone who covers a lot of Asian American politics issues for 8Asians, this is my take on Clinton’s and Obama’s statements. (Note: I am currently a Clinton supporter, but will support Obama if he wins the nomination, though I definitely respect McCain’s service to our country. This is my own person opinion and does not reflect anybody else associated with 8Asians, which is committed to being non-partisan and endorses no one.)

In her statement, Clinton discusses many of the issues facing Asian Americans, including: restoring veterans’ benefits to Filipino veterans who were called into service and fought under the United States flag during World War II, universal health care amongst a broad diversity of groups represented under the monolithic category of “Asian Americans”, affordable higher education (noting that many have succeeded academically, many as well have not) and immigration reform addressing the backlog of family visas. Finally, Clinton states that 20% of her staff is Asian American. If you ask me, that’s pretty awesome and impressive – especially considering she’s not representing Hawaii or California, but New York).

As for Obama’s statement on APA Heritage month, it’s fairly generic. Obama discuses that he has family members (like his half-sister) who are of Asian decent and that he grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia. He then outlines the challenges we as a nation face, including the wars in Iran & Iraq, the environment, quality and accessible (reducing language & cultural barriers) health care, affordable higher education, renewable energy, programs for minority-owned small businesses, comprehensive immigration reform, restoring the rule of law and regional security in Asia. He goes on to thank his Asian American volunteers who’ve helped his campaign in so many ways. If you ask me, Obama’s list of challenges were addressable to all Americans, not necessarily to any specific needs of the Asian American community, which is too bad considering Obama is addressing the Asian American community!

Last year, I had met California State Controller John Chiang (D) prior to Chiang endorsing Clinton, and asked him who he was going to endorse. As the highest elected Asian American politician in state government in the United States (as well as a Californian politician), Chiang’s endorsement was highly sought after by all the major candidates. Chiang said he had met and spoken with Clinton, Edwards and Obama and they all knew the issues well – 2 or 3 levels deep, but Chiang said what impressed him the most was that Clinton knew all the issues 8 levels deep and was deeply impressed by her knowledge and smarts. I’ve known John Chiang before he was state controller, voted for him and value his opinion and endorsement. For whatever reason, Asian Americans have overwhelmingly been voting for Clinton in the Democratic primaries. At least from Clinton’s APA Heritage Month statement, Clinton has shown that she is aware of Asian Americans’ specific issues as well as has plenty of Asian American representation on her staff.

Me & John Chiang

At the end of the day though, I think that both Clinton and Obama will address the needs of both Asian Americans and all Americans a lot better than the Republicans and Senator John McCain. If you know me, you know I am counting down the days until George W. Bush is out of office at http://www.backwardsbush.com.

Posted in Current Events, Observations, Politics | Leave a comment

Mom-Related Storytelling in Pasadena This Weekend!

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Ernie

For those of you in the Los Angeles area on Mother’s Day, the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena will have a series of readings entitled Chinese American Stories: My Mother. While I’m sure there’ll be a fine case of Chinese Americans who will also share stories for and about their mother – God knows I have a couple – of special interest is our very own Joz, who will be reading this AWESOME story about walnuts.

With her Mom in attendance. Awesome.

Sunday, May 11, 2-4pm
Mother’s Day Performance
“Chinese American Stories: My Mother” A presentation of community, family and personal memories collected in a writing/oral history workshop by playwright Henry Ong.
Free with museum admission; call 626.449.2742 ext. 31 to RSVP.

Pacfic Asia Museum
46 North Los Robles Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101

Museum Admission
$7 for adults
$5 for students/seniors

Parking: Free parking is available in museum parking lot, located on corner of Los Robles and Union in Pasadena

Posted in Current Events, Meta | Leave a comment

End of the Bubble Tea Era: Asians Look Beyond Boba

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Sharon

Tapioca Milk TeaLike all hip and cool Asian kids, I grew up going to boba tea houses for social gatherings and late-night snack runs. Starbucks never stood a fighting chance against Lollicup’s chilled honeydew milk tea.

Bubble tea came to the U.S. from Taiwan in the 80’s and slowly emerged to become one of the biggest cultural and lifestyle sensations in the API community. The “Cult of Boba” has been invincible for the past decade, but as I look around Chinatown in Houston, I can’t help but think… could we be approaching the end of an era?

Like all trends, boba will inevitably be replaced someday by the next best thing. Already in Asian communities across the nation, I’m seeing evidence of just that. Instead of heading to the tea house, kids nowadays are opting for even cooler and tastier treat-serving hangouts.

Here are my top 3 picks for Boba’s Most Menacing Challengers:

1) Fro-Yo! (Frozen Yogurt, Asian style) – Once dominated by the likes of TCBY, frozen yogurt recently got a HUGE make-over… by Koreans. The new version is more fresh, tart, and healthy, and features truly delectable fruit toppings. And the Asian influence is undeniable. You can tell from its selection of lychee & pomegranate toppings and mango & green tea flavors.

While vendors including LA-based Pinkberry have paved the way for fro-yo (garnering celebrity-style press coverage from big-name media) other promising branches like OrangeCup are blazing the trail for this trend, bringing the yummy yogurt to big cities in Texas.

2) Crepes – The first time I had a crepe was not in Paris, but at Crepe In The Grip in Alhambra, California. Who would have thought that some of America’s best creperies were in LA’s Asian hood?

What gives this snack potential is that these new Asian creperies aren’t just grab-and-go-one-stop-shops. They’re actual Saturday-night hangouts that provide free wireless connection, playing cards, and even board games so that people can chill, eat crepes, and hang out into the wee hours of the night. I smell a new lifestyle trend here…

3) Shaved Ice – A much, much more AWESOME version of the familiar convenient store Icee. For years, shaved ice has hid in boba’s shadows, but more and more, people are now giving respect to shaved ice (topped with condensed milk, red bean, and chunks of fresh fruit). And because portions are usually humongous, shaved ice makes for a great social/date snack. Just ask for extra spoons and share the love.

BOBA – PUT ON YOUR BOXING GLOVES!

Posted in Food & Drink | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

In Memorium: Mildred Loving

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Bo

Mildred Loving, an unintentional heroine of the civil rights movement, passed away earlier this month at the age of 68.

Mildred, a Black/Native American native of Virginia, along with her white husband Richard, were arrested in July 1958, 5 weeks after getting married in Washington DC. Their crime? Violating Virgina’s miscegenation law barring marriage between people of different racial groups. They plead guilty and promised to leave the state and not return together for 25 years. They eventually settled in DC and visited family in VA separately over subsequent years.

After struggling to raise their three children away from their families and the life they knew in VA, Mildred contacted then US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 1963 for help. He directed Mildred and Richard to the ACLU. Loving vs. Virginia finally made its way to the Supreme Court in 1967 and the court struck down the last remaining segregation laws on the books. In a twist of fate, the same justice who wrote the court’s opinion in Brown vs. Board of Ed. also wrote the opinion in Loving vs. Virginia.

Mildred and Richard Loving were always adamant that they pursued their case not for other people but for themselves. They wanted to be able to love each other freely without government interference.

I’m always struck by the fact that in my parents lifetime (and only 8 years before I was born) it was illegal in some states to be an interracial couple. This hits particularly close to home for me b/c my partner is not Asian and we could have been illegal back in the day. Without the Lovings the world could have been deprived of Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, and the beautiful couple that is Heidi Klum & Seal. We’ve come a long way if you consider the fact that the current Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao would have been a felon b/c of her marriage to US Sentor Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky).

Of course, many things change but many things also stay the same. During last year’s 40th Anniversary of Loving vs. Virginia, Mildred made a statement in support of gay marriage.

Posted in Current Events | 37 Comments

Students say Kal Penn’s Asian American Studies Class A Hit

Posted on May 5, 2008 by John

If you may recall, last year, I reported that Penn was going to be teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. Not only is Kal Penn a successful actor, but he’s a pretty good college lecturer, according to the University of Pennlysvania’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, reporting in “Students say Kal Penn’s Asian American studies class was a hit:”

“Actor Kalpen Modi-more fondly known as Kal Penn – conquered Hollywood after his hit movie Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. But, with students raving about his Asian American Studies class as the semester ends, it seems Modi has conquered something perhaps more significant than teenage humor: the field of academia. “I was a little skeptical at first about what credentials gave him the right to teach a class at Penn,” said a College senior and Cinema Studies major …”By the end of the class, I realized it wasn’t his academic credentials that got him here, it was his experience in the field – which is equally valuable,” she said. Modi, who served as an adjunct professor in the Asian American Studies Department, taught ASAM 109: Images of Asian Americans in the Media this past semester. His interest in teaching at Penn stemmed from the lectures he had given about how race and gender identity play out in the media, in addition to Penn’s robust ASAM program which Modi discovered last November.”

Too bad Penn’s lectures aren’t online (or maybe they are?). It would be really interesting to hear Penn’s, as well as other Asian American actors and actresses about their experiences on Asian Americans in media and how they view Asian American history and studies from an academic standpoint.

Posted in Current Events, Entertainment, Movies, Observations | 2 Comments

Racism and the Asian Community at Cornell

Posted on May 5, 2008 by John

On April Fool’s day, Cornell blogger (Cornell Watch) D. Evan Mulvihill wrote a satirical posting titled, “Asian Community Center to be Built Adjacent to Uris Library,” with many steroetypes, including the Center to be “replete with a Pokémon Card Trading Arena, a Mi-So Slipi Lounge, and a Chinese restaurant selling cat for consumption.” Mulvihill quickly apologized with the following blog posting: “An Open Apology for a Bad Joke.” As a Cornell alum, I meant to get to posting about this, but just never got around to this.

This past Friday (5/2/08), on the Cornell Daily Sun’s blog site, Mulvihill delves a little deeper in the issue of “Racism and the Asian Community at Cornell:”

“…A major part of the problem, as identified by a 2004 task force (A3TF) investigating A3 [A3: Asian & Asian American] issues at Cornell, is “lack of recognition and awareness of the reality, experience, and impact of racism and stereotyping as they relate to Asians and Asian Americans.”..Most Cornellians conceive of Asians as the “model minority”…One of the severe issues facing A3 individuals at Cornell is the alarmingly disproportionate suicide rate among students of Asian descent, in comparison with other ethnicities…. In the A3TF report, researchers found that professors and classmates often held A3 students up to higher academic standards, sometimes causing A3 students to choke under the pressure… the majority of the Cornell community remains at odds with robotic, dehumanized Asians who are incapable of socialization. This stereotype blinds many people from seeing A3 students as anything other than soulless study hogs. Instead of bemoaning the supposed “curve-buster,” try to befriend him or her—you will find that, deep down inside, their hearts are not made of gears and chains…”

If you didn’t know, Cornell has an undeserved reputation for having a lot of suicides. I think mainly because when there are suicide at Cornell, they tend to be pretty dramatic – there are a few bridges that connect to main campus that students can easily jump off of… which the views are literally “breath-taking. In any case, I did not realize until recently that in a Cornell student between the periods of 2003 to 2005, 50% of all the suicides at Cornell were Asian or Asian-American, even though they represent only 17% of the entire Cornell population.

Personally, I don’t recall anything overtly racist against Asians or Asian Americans while attending Cornell in the early 90s. For a school in the Northeast (compared to Californian schools), there are quite a few Asian Americans, which make up 15% of the undergraduate class of 2011(.pdf).

However, there seems to be a growing anti-Asian American sentiment on college campuses today. This past April at Dartmouth, there was a racist Asian comic printed in the school paper, and relatively recent incidents at the University of Colorado and Princeton University, and I am sure other numerous examples. I don’t know if this because of the growing anti-immigrant mood in the United States, the rising concern about China’s (& India for that matter) rise or maybe some other reason, or that I am paying more attention now that I am blogging about Asian & Asian American topics and issues.

Posted in Discrimination, Observations | 2 Comments

Hello Kitty Cocaine

Posted on May 5, 2008 by John

Speaking of Hello Kitty, I heard while listening to NPR‘s radio show “Wait, wait, Don’t Tell Me” this past Sunday, that earlier this April, Guatemalan anti-narcotics police seized 1.2 tons of cocaine wrapped in “Hello Kitty” on its way to Mexico. Maybe the drug smugglers were big fans of Hello Kitty or thought that this would fool custom agents?

Posted in Observations | 8 Comments

A Quick Note About Our New Banner Ad

Posted on May 5, 2008 by Ernie

As you guys might have noticed by now, there’s a banner ad at the top of 8Asians.com. While all advertising usually sucks, I installed an open advertising engine (OpenX) to the website which means that it’ll be easier for me to rotate non-Google ads on 8Asians.com and, hopefully, other sites affiliated with 8A such as Pop 88 and my.8asians.com.

This also means I can put in banners of stuff not about shameless capitalism. Why do I bring this up? Because if you know of any community non-profit groups, organizations, bands or events that would like to get the word out, I’ll be more than happy to rotate your banner in. Right now banner sizes are available in half-banner (234×60) format, but the full vertical banner rotation should be coming soon as well. If this is something your group or event would be interested in, just let me know at the contact page.

And a quick word of thanks to Asianmommy.com, which sparked the idea in the first place and is the first official member of this weird experiment trying to balance community and a need to offset my hosting costs. 🙂

Posted in Meta | Leave a comment

Christian Dior Names New Fashion Model for Japan: Hello Kitty

Posted on May 4, 2008 by Sharon

She’s one of the most recognizable Japanese faces in the world, and I think we’d all agree that she is super, super cute. Now, at age 32, she’s breaking into high-fashion modeling for luxury brands.

No, she’s not Utada. It’s not Ayumi either. I’m talking about the famous Miss Hello Kitty.

In the current issue of the Japanese edition of Vogue magazine, Hello Kitty gets decked out in Dior’s new fall and winter designs, strutting her stuff while posing in Paris.

Cute factor aside, it’s interesting to guess what this says about Dior’s marketing strategy in Asia – a market obsessed and fanatically loyal to big brands. Unlike the US or Europe where the luxury goods market is dominated by the middle-aged upper class, Asia’s high-fashion consumer market consists largely of young, 20-something, brand-obsessed women. I suppose these are the same women who would know and love Hello Kitty.

This is the first time in history that the Christian Dior brand has used a cartoon character to model an entire fashion line. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck – eat your heart out.

Posted in Fashion, Lifestyles | 5 Comments

The Imprisoned Stanford MBA – Stanford grads work to free pal held in China

Posted on May 2, 2008 by John

Earlier this week, I came across this disturbing article in The San Francisco Chronicle, “The Imprisoned Stanford MBA – Stanford grads work to free pal held in China.” The article profiles Jude Shao, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Shanghai who is a Stanford MBA graduate, who is currently serving a 15 year sentence in China and has been imprisoned for the past 10 years. As an American-born, Taiwanese-American professional with an MBA who has traveled to China and Hong Kong a few times and have considered working abroad, this story gripped me:

“[Jude] Shao, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Shanghai, started China Business Ventures after graduating from Stanford and exported medical equipment from the United States with offices in San Francisco and Shanghai. In July 1997, tax auditors in China arrived for a special audit and took his accounting books. Twice, his friends say, Shao was asked for a bribe to stop the investigation, but he refused because he had paid all his taxes… In April 1998, Chinese authorities arrested him and threw him into a crowded jail, where he was held incommunicado for two years. They charged him with falsely issuing value-added tax invoices and tax evasion. He was barred from meeting his attorney, who was hired 10 days before his trial started. He was convicted in March 2000, and the court sentenced him to 16 years in prison, later reducing it to 15 years. His appeal was rejected by the Shanghai People’s High Court a few months later.”

Assuming Shao is innocent (you can examine Shao’s case at www.freejudeshao.com ), this is truly an injustice. Shao’s fellow Stanford MBA classmates have been trying to get the attention of members of Congress, as well as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (a former Stanford professor and provost). If Shao isn’t innocent, 15 years is ridiculous for tax evasion. Recently, the actor Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in federal prison for willfully failing to file tax returns. Given how common bribes are supposed to be in China, I am doubtful that Shao was willfully non-compliant with paying the taxes owed which led to his 15 year sentence.

Apparently, the United States and China plan to some sort of official human rights dialogue in the next four to six weeks and that the subject of Jude Shao will probably come up. China certainly needs to improve its international image prior to the summer Olympics starting (in less than 100 days). I sometimes wonder if I will ever be denied a visa to visit China or be arrested within China if I ever visit, given my 8Asians posting (discussing my distaste for the Chinese Communist government and its policies and my thoughts on Taiwan)… Maybe I should register www.freejohnof8asians.com now..

Posted in Current Events, Observations | 6 Comments