Vol. 12 No. 2 Published by the Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, UC Santa Cruz Spring 2011

Hines Ward: MVP for the KidsHealth Series Workshop: Raising Awareness Heritage Month 2011Faculty Spotlight: Herbie Lee

Inside...Page

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Participation in Politics: Asian Americans on the RiseFood Review: Shun FengWord on the StreetSpring Quarter Interns Biographies

Voice, Passion, and the Power of TeamworkWritten by TAMMY YAN

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is one of the most unique school districts in America. With its

diverse students population, the city is re-luctant to have a group of strong youth ac-tivists that believe in making a difference in their community. SFUSD students, simi-lar to UCSC students, continue to struggle to bring changes to their communities. Adopt-An-Alleyway Youth Empower-ment Project (AAA) is a youth-led, non-profit organization that beautify the al-leyways in San Francisco Chinatown. In addition to their beautification projects, a few years ago AAA started a branch called the Campaign Academy.

Each year, the group researches and identifies an issue that is affecting their community, and thereafter organizes and develops a campaign tackling the issue. In

2010, the group chose to work on an Ethnic Stud-ies campaign with aims to implement an Ethnic Stud-ies program for all the high schools in the city. The group agreed that the es-tablishment of the program would be beneficial because they felt their schools were lacking history courses that could help them discover their racial identities.

According to SFUSD’s curriculums, students are required to learn about United States history in high school, but many students believe that their his-tory textbooks are not a true representa-tion of U.S. history. The textbooks fail to recognize contributions made by all eth-

nic groups. For example, Simon Li, one of the youth activists from AAA Campaign Academy and cur-rently a UC Santa Cruz student, felt that other races and ethnicities are absent in his high school history textbooks. He joined the campaign because he believed ethnic studies would certainly provide a better un-derstanding of everyone in America. As a result, it would eliminate racial discrimination at schools.

Wendy Chen, student activ-ist who worked on the campaign and currently attending UC Davis, believes Ethnic Studies is of great

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importance because it can be used to help end cultural misunderstanding between students. Also, she argues, “students should have the right to learn about their own ancestors and past early in their edu-cational career. That way their peers can become racially conscientious adults.”

After months of outreaching and collaborating with other youth organiza-tions in the city, such as POWER, Fili-pino Community Center, Pinoy Education Partnership, and HOMEY, they passed out postcards, collected surveys, spoke at rallies and at the Board of Education meetings together, AAA Campaign Acad-emy successfully convinced the Board of Education to implement an Ethnic Studies program at five high schools. This pro-gram also allows high school students to earn up to six college credits.

to be continued on pg. 2...

Wendy Chen & Edwin Chen at a hearing.

Right to Left: Edwin Chen, Wendy Chen, Jane Xiao, Linda Liu, Michelle Zhang, Harriet Hu

harp ew lternative erspective S N A P !

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 2 SNAP!

Hines Ward: MVP for the KidsWritten by CHAI GALANO

March 2 Quarry Plaza rally, 100 students demonstrated a sit-in at the campus Ethnic Resource Centers, and approximately 35 students stayed over-night before meet-ing with the administration the next day. Although the demand for a UCSC Ethnic Studies department still raises many ques-tions, the struggle will not come to a rest until one day the administration grant stu-dents the education they deserve.

the year, even with challenges and struggles standing between them and their goal, they never gave up. Instead, the hardship has helped strengthen their voices and united a number of community organizations.

Likewise, UCSC students have been battling for an Ethnic Studies program on campus since the 1969 movement that started the Ethnic Studies department at UC Berkeley and UCLA. Recently, after the

From this campaign, these youth not only accomplished their mission, they also became more aware of their voice, passion, and the power of teamwork. It was a valu-able experience for Li, Chen, and the rest of the youth involved. Li learned, “if youth are really passionate about something they believe to be for the better of the commu-nity, they should fight for it.” Throughout

Describe an NFL player. The typical image of a tall African American or Caucasian with bulging muscles

and lean legs? Sure, however that describes every other athlete in the MLB or NBA. American football is arguably the sport with the most contact among players. Con-cussions, sprained ligaments, fractures and contusions are just a few that football play-ers are at risk for every time they play. As a result, these athletes are more heavy-set and, for lack of a better word, huge. With this in mind, would it be a surprise to say that there are Asian American and Pacific Islanders who have made it in the NFL? And no, they aren’t simply the towel or wa-ter boys.

There are a handful who have been drafted and actually started in games. Alongside the big name Troy Polamalu who is of Samoan descent, the Pittsburgh

Steelers is also home to the Kore-an American player, Hines Ward. He was born in Seoul, South Ko-rea to an African American father and a Korean mother. Moving to the Atlanta area when Hines was just one year old, he was raised by his single mom, Young-He Ward, who eventually managed to provide for her son despite coming to the US with little re-sources and a lack of English flu-ency.

Hines went on to play col-lege football at the University of Georgia where he excelled as a top-scholar athlete. He was

even drafted by the Florida Marlins to play baseball after his senior year, but turned it down to pursue his football career. Initially he played quarterback for his college team, the Bulldogs, but later shined as a receiver as he developed an uncanny sense for get-ting separation on his routes and used his agility and quick feet to make up for his lack in size and speed. Hines graduated with AII-ACC honors and Georgia’s second all-time receiver with 144 recep-tions. The Pittsburgh Steel-ers drafted him in the 3rd round, the 92nd overall pick.

As a wide receiver, he excelled at the game with many accomplishments: Four-time consecutive NFL Pro Bowl selection, two-time All-NFL team selec-tions, Super Bowl XL MVP,

two Super Bowl Rings (XL and XLIII), four consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, six 1,000 yard seasons overall, and the Steel-ers franchise record holder for receptions, touchdowns, and receiving yardage.

With his success, Hines Ward has re-mained humble and retained his South Ko-rean heritage. In 2006, he returned to South Korea for two months for the first time since he moved to America and used his ce-lebrity status to encourage social and politi-cal reform in the country, focusing on the discrimination that mixed-racial children endure. He donated $1 million to create the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation to further that cause and Ward frequently travels to South Korea to speak for social justice.

In September 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Ward to the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. With this honor, Ward wishes to shed more light on the treatment of biracial children and help mixed-race kids who are suffering from discrimination. With his professional success, Hines Ward serves as an inspiration to those wishing to pursue a talent and give back to the com-munity by paying homage to their heritage.

Voice continued...

Photo courtesy of http://www.koreanbeacon.com/

Photo courtesy of http://foxsports.com/

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 3 SNAP!

Health Workshop Series:

Written by WEI LEE

The Health Workshop Series started during Fall Quarter and introduced health issues relevant to the AA/

PI community. Winter quarter workshops continued with three more presentations. The health related goal of the series was to break the silence that often prevent AA/PIs to talk about these sensitive topics. There-fore, these workshops were a resourceful way to educate and encourage people to be more aware of how these is-sues personally affects our lives and our community.

We opened the quarter by talking about Diabetes in di-verse communities, presented by AA/PIRC former Program Coordinator Robert Imada. He is currently studying nurs-ing at Johns Hopkins Univer-sity and is a certified personal trainer by American Council on Exercise. Robert explained that Dia-betes is caused by high levels of glucose in the blood and the complications can cause several health problems such as heart at-tack. People who have Diabetes often have to maintain a very strict and balanced diet, which includes avoiding sugar and carbo-hydrates. This disease is not just prevalent among Asian Pacific Islanders (APIs), but also in various communities. According to Robert, the best way to prevent Diabe-tes it’s to be physically active and have a healthier food diet. During his college years, Robert was motivated to be more physically healthy and to raise awareness about this disease that affects a significant number of people regardless of their race or ethnicity.

Another challenging topic that is of-ten not talked about in our community is Hepatitis B. The workshop was presented by one of the co-founders of Team HBV at UCSC, Weilee Chen. He is a UCSC alum with a Bachelor degree in Molecular and Cellular Development. His inspiration to

co-found the HBV Chapter originated after a speech he heard by one of the doctors who founded the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University. In the speech, he learned that Hepatitis B is most prevalent in API com-munities and that one in ten of them will carry the disease. During Weilee’s presenta-tion we learned that HBV does not have any

symptoms. Therefore, it’s almost impossi-ble to diagnose or effectively treat before it is too late. The Team HBV mission is to raise awareness that there is a solution to prevent this disease to spread. The solution for Hepatitis B immunization can found by simply taking 3 vaccine shots that costs as much a gumball.

The last workshop that concluded the series was focused on mental health issues pertinent to APIs. The workshop was fa-cilitated by counselor Audrey Kim, UCSC Counseling and Psychological Services. The title of the presentation was Asian Ob-ligation: Managing Family Pressure. This topic fairly common among API families, especially after the controversial book and article written by “Tiger Mom” Amy Chua, who believes that Asian moms are superior in raising their children. The discussion on this article was the initial spark to discuss ift they thought they were “good enough”

for their parents. During the discussion, participants shared their stories and often times they were very similar to each other. The stories ranged from parental pressure to perform well in school to keeping up their traditional values.

The workshop was a good environ-ment and a safe space for people to chan-

nel their emotions and to listen what others had to say, which gave opportunity for them to recognize that no one is going through these families’ expec-tations alone. Audrey often pointed out the pressure given by our parents was the way they show how much they care about us. Also, the importance of having a good communica-tion with your parents is funda-mental to show them how we feel and think.

AA/PIRC Health Series gave more visibility to topics that are not usually spoken in the API community. The next step is to continue this move-ment to further raise aware-

ness about these issues, so one day we will not be silent or ashamed to talk about them. All the presenters inspired and en-couraged all of us to do our part, which is to continue to spread the message we learned in these workshops to our commu-nity, friends and family. By helping each other, we help ourselves.

Raising Awareness in the AA/PI Community

For More Information

American Diabetes Associationwww.diabetes.org

Team HBVwww.teamhbv.org

UCSC Counseling & Pyschological Services (CAPS)

www2.ucsc.edu/counsel(831)459-2628

Robert Imada at Johns Hopkins University

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 4 SNAP!

Heritage Month 2011: “Uncovering your roots and making your mark”Written by EVERETT AU & ELISA TORATE

May is nationally recognized as Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In 1978, Presi-

dent Jimmy Carter signed a resolution des-ignated the first tens days of May as Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month week. On May 1990, President George H. W. Bush designated the entire month of May as Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month to recognize the first Japa-nese that immigrated to the United States in 1843 and the completion of the trans-continental railroad, in which many work-ers were Chinese immigrants.

In the United States, most K-12 stu-dents receive a standard history of the U.S. and the world. Many textbooks fail to re-veal major events regarding AA/PI history, or recognize the contributions of AA/PIs in American history. The unfortunate truth is that most must do a little “digging” to uncover facts about AA/PI history. When AA/PI history is present, however, it is of-ten jaded. The downplaying of AA/PI in historical U.S. events such as the building of Transcontinental Railroad, the Japanese internment camps, and the Chinese Exclu-sion Act which attempted the bar AA/PI from entering U.S. The events affiliated with this year’s AA/PI Heritage Month aim to highlight the achievements of AA/PI in American History while recogniz-ing contemporary AA/PI who are making major contributions towards United States History.

Previously, it was not as common to see many AA/PIs represented in the media, sports and politics. However, this to is also changing. Many AA/PI’s are branching out, taking on leadership roles and are becom-ing more visible today, which gives roles models for younger generations to look up to. Many AA/PI’s have fought to get us to where we are today. In order to move for-ward, we must understand our history. We want to reclaim our history by uncovering our roots.

Here at the University of California, SantaCruz, we have an Asian American/

Pacific Islander Heritage (AA/PI) Planning Committee, which is a student-led commit-tee that focuses on the major events for the month of May. The AA/PI Heritage Month Planning Committee spends three quarters planning and preparing for this month. An-nual events such as the Cultural Celebra-tion Night is one of the events that are most looked forward to.

This year’s theme is “Uncovering Our Roots and Making Our Mark,” which fo-cuses on revealing the hidden histories of Asian American/Pacific Islanders and recognizing the individuals who are mak-ing history today. Knowing one’s past is an invaluable asset to moving forward in the future. Through API Heritage Month we will celebrate the achievements of our ancestors and recognize the history we are making today.

The Asian American/Pacific Islander Cultural Celebration Night (CCN) will be on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 from 6:30-9:00pm at the Stevenson Event Center. This is a large event where the UC Santa Cruz campus comes together to celebrate AA/PI Heritage Month. This event allows AA/PIs to learn about their own and other AA/PI cultures. It also allows AA/PIs to gain vis-ibility and share their culture with the large UCSC community. Many student organiza-tions are involved in the event via perfor-mances, volunteering, or simply encourag-ing their members to attend the event. This year, there will be student performances by the Filipino Student Association (FSA)’s choir, Isang Himig; the Pagakakaisa Dance Troupe (PDT), which is the traditional folk dance group of FSA; the Indian Student Organization’s (ISO) Bollywood team; ISO’s Bhangra team; No Access, which is the Chinese Student Association’s (CSA) hip-hop team; and a spoken word piece by Sambathany Chen. We will also have food provided local Santa Cruz vendors such as Shun Feng, Aloha Island Grille, and India Joze.

On Monday, May 23, 2011 at the Uni-versity Center - Alumni Room from 7:00-

9:00PM, Sefa Aina, the Vice Chair of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islanders will speaking on his experiences as a leader and an advocate for the AA/PI commu-nity. The event will include a presentation by Sefa Aina, followed by a short ques-tion and answer session with the attendees at the end.

The President’s Advisory Commis-sion on Asian American and Pacific Is-landers was re-established by President Obama in an effort to improve the lives of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities underserved by federal re-sources. Sefa is one of 17 commission members comprised of people represent-ing a wealth of AA/PI cultures. As an event affiliated with AA/PIRC’s Heritage Month, Sefa Aina embodies the theme of this year’s Heritage Month, “Uncovering Our Roots & Making Our Mark.” The focus of this year’s Heritage Month ad-dresses uncovering the hidden histories of Asian American/ Pacific Islanders and recognizing the AA/PIs who are making history today. Currently, Sefa Aina also serves as the Director of the Asian Ameri-can Resource Center (AARC) at Pomona College, an Associate Dean of Students at Pomona College, and is in the Masters program in Asian American Studies at UCLA. This year’s AA/PI Heritage Month presents the unique opportunity to learn more about AA/PI history and what is currently going on in the AA/PI commu-nity. It is encouraged that all participate/ engage themselves in learning about AA/PI issues. For more information on the Heritage Month events sponsored by the Asian American/Pacific Islander Re-source Center, please visit www2.ucsc.edu/aapirc/. If unable to participate in these events, educating oneself through individual or group research is a benefi-cial practice.

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 5 SNAP!

ing to the West Coast, specifically Califor-nia. California was more diverse than other states and being in Santa Cruz, he was able to meet other people of different ethnicities he could connect with. Being fourth generation Chinese from Hawaii, life for Herbie did not center around one ethnic culture. Being half Euro-pean and living in Hawaii there were other cultures that influenced the overall Hawai-ian culture. Such influences in Herbie’s life as he grew up were the Japanese as well as the native Hawaiians. The atmosphere in Hawaii was not as it was on the mainland. They have their own life style, are more open to mixed cultures, and are like a melt-ing pot. Herbie’s ethnic identity continued to evolve as he moved from Hawaii to the East Coast then to California. In California, Herbie felt a bit more at ease. In Santa Cruz, we can see that the people are more diverse and the cultural vibe is not the same as other parts of the nation. Herbie began his undergraduate educa-

Herbie came to Santa Cruz as an Ap-plied Math and Statistics (AMS) professor. Recently he joined the

administration as the Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Campus Diversi-ty Officer for Faculty. His new role allows him to bring students, faculty and admin-strators together to support one another. Herbie identifies himself as European and Chinese. Growing up in Hawaii, he was able to see a life of mixed races and felt comfortable knowing there are other multi-ethnic and diverse people. Herbie describes upon arrival to the mainland, that it was hard to find his sense of belonging, and he did not feel fully connected with his Chi-nese side nor with his European side. He associates with the Asian American culture but he does not fully relate to it since his up-bringing was not fully part of it. Struggling with his identity, he states that he did not fully fit in with the Asian American com-munity. Coming to the mainland, Herbie started out in the East Coast before mov-

tion at Yale University where he studied mathematics with an emphasis on statis-tics. In 1998, he finished his PhD in statis-tics at Carnegie Mellon University, which is in Pittsburg Pennsylvania. Continuing on in academia, he did his Post-Doctoral work at Duke University. His emphasizes was statistics because he feels that it is hard for students to grasp the idea of prob-ability and numbers. Statistics helps peo-ple in all areas since they are able to ap-ply numbers to real world problems. For him, being able to apply statistics helps statisticians be a part of other aspects of the world—it is like playing in someone else’s back yard. Being a professor of sta-tistics Herbie tries to engage his students by using real world examples. Food is a good way to get the attention of students. Students love to eat and are willing to learn when they are interested in the sub-ject. He states, “Stats is as easy as count-ing chocolate chip cookies.” Throughout all of his undergraduate and professional studies he is able to continue to help stu-dents. Recalling his undergraduate studies, he enjoyed playing video games. Today he enjoys rock climbing and being out-doors. With his new position, he strives to bring students and faculty together to make things happen on our campus. He takes delight in being able to work with various communities across the UCSC campus. Herbie describes life being a bit difficult at first—it was not easy to fit in, but having to face all of the difficulties, he was able to find out how important it was to get support from friends and fam-ily. He was able to make friends along his journey, his friends are his support and he is able to continue striving to do bet-ter knowing that he will always have his friends.

Faculty Spotlight Herbie Lee: Multiethnic Identities, Multiple Campus Roles

Herbie Leeherbie@ams.ucsc.eduOffice: Kerr Hall 215

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 6 SNAP!

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www2.ucsc.edu/aapirc

Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month is brought to you by Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month Planning Committee, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, Community And Resource Em-powerment, UCSC Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Oakes College. For more information and/or disability related needs, contact the Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center at (831) 459 - 5349 or email aapirc@ucsc.edu. Calendar design by Ray Licardo.

11 Indian Student Organization - Bollywood Movie Night 8 - 11 pm - Thimann 1Join the Indian Student Organization for a Bollywood Movie Night.Free Snacks. Sponsored by: Indian Student Organization (ISO)

12 pm - Oakes Provost House Informal luncheon wih Professor of Applied Mathematics & Statis-tics and Interim Vice Provost of Acdemic Affairs, Herbie Lee. Lunch Provided. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center & Oakes College

13 Faculty - Student Luncheon: Herbie Lee

6:30 - 9:00 pm - Stevenson Event Center An evening celebrating diverse AA/PI communities through perfor-mances, art and food. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Is-lander Heritage Month Planning Committee, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, Community And Resource Empowerment

18 CULTURAL CELEBRATION NIGHT

7 - 9 pm - University Center, Alumni RoomSefa Aina is the Director of the Asian American Resource Center at Pomona College and will speak about his involvement working with Pacific Islander Youth and this year’s AA/PI Heritage Month Theme. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month Plan-ning Committee, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, UCSC Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Oakes College

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: SEFA AINA23

19 Lyrical Union Time & Location TBAAnnual event highlighting hip-hop culture within the AA/PI Commu-nity through the four elements of hip-hop: DJing, emceeing, break dancing and graffiti art. Sponsored by: Asian Pacific Islander Stu-dent Alliance (APISA)

12 pm - Oakes Provost House Informal luncheon wih Associate Professor of Film & Digital Media, L.S. Kim. Lunch Provided. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center & Oakes College

27 Faculty - Student Luncheon: L.S. Kim

2 - 5 pm - Music Recital Hall “Achievements of Today, Foundations for Tomorrow” Celebrate the Graduating Class of 2011, with student cultural per-formances, speakers and sash presentations. Reception to follow. Seniors nee to pre-register. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, Community And Resource Empower-ment, and Dean of Students Office

10 AA/PI YEAR END CEREMONY

26 ALAY’s Publication CelebrationTime & Location TBAVarious perspectives of Filipino Students expressed through their writing or visual art by sharing and discussing student artwork. Sponsored by: Filipino Student Association (FSA)

Time & Location TBA A banquet to celebrate the end of the school year. Sponsored by: Indian Student Organization (ISO)

27 Indian Student Organization - Year End Banquet

Time & Location TBA A Year End BBQ to celebrate with your CUSN Family. Sponsored by: Community Unified Student Network (CUSN)

28 CUSN Year End BBQ

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE

21 32nd Annual Multicultural Festival12 - 6 pm - Oakes Lower LawnA celebration of multiculturalism through food and performances. Sponsored by: SOAR and student organizations

6 pm - Humanities Lecture Hall Room 206 Jessica Hagedorn was nominated for the National Book Award in 1990 for Dogeater. Her newest book Toxicology, was recently pub-lished. Sponsored by: Oakes College, Literature Dept., and Porter Hitchcock Poetry Fund

Literary Reading with Jessica Hagedorn5

12 pm - Oakes Provost House Informal luncheon with Professor of Education Rodney Ogawa. Lunch Provided. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center & Oakes College

Faculty - Student Luncheon: Rodney Ogawa6

5 - 7Motivation Conference 17 (MC): Growing From our Roots

A non-yield 3 day conference for Asian American/Pacific Islander (AA/PI) high school students, educating and motivating them to pur-sue higher education. Sponsored by: Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APISA), engaging education (e2)

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 7 SNAP!

Univ

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z U n c o v e r i n g O u r Ro o t s & M a k i n g O u r M a r k

H e r i t a g e M o n t h 2 0 1 1

www2.ucsc.edu/aapirc

Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month is brought to you by Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month Planning Committee, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, Community And Resource Em-powerment, UCSC Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Oakes College. For more information and/or disability related needs, contact the Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center at (831) 459 - 5349 or email aapirc@ucsc.edu. Calendar design by Ray Licardo.

11 Indian Student Organization - Bollywood Movie Night 8 - 11 pm - Thimann 1Join the Indian Student Organization for a Bollywood Movie Night.Free Snacks. Sponsored by: Indian Student Organization (ISO)

12 pm - Oakes Provost House Informal luncheon wih Professor of Applied Mathematics & Statis-tics and Interim Vice Provost of Acdemic Affairs, Herbie Lee. Lunch Provided. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center & Oakes College

13 Faculty - Student Luncheon: Herbie Lee

6:30 - 9:00 pm - Stevenson Event Center An evening celebrating diverse AA/PI communities through perfor-mances, art and food. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Is-lander Heritage Month Planning Committee, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, Community And Resource Empowerment

18 CULTURAL CELEBRATION NIGHT

7 - 9 pm - University Center, Alumni RoomSefa Aina is the Director of the Asian American Resource Center at Pomona College and will speak about his involvement working with Pacific Islander Youth and this year’s AA/PI Heritage Month Theme. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month Plan-ning Committee, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, UCSC Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Oakes College

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: SEFA AINA23

19 Lyrical Union Time & Location TBAAnnual event highlighting hip-hop culture within the AA/PI Commu-nity through the four elements of hip-hop: DJing, emceeing, break dancing and graffiti art. Sponsored by: Asian Pacific Islander Stu-dent Alliance (APISA)

12 pm - Oakes Provost House Informal luncheon wih Associate Professor of Film & Digital Media, L.S. Kim. Lunch Provided. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center & Oakes College

27 Faculty - Student Luncheon: L.S. Kim

2 - 5 pm - Music Recital Hall “Achievements of Today, Foundations for Tomorrow” Celebrate the Graduating Class of 2011, with student cultural per-formances, speakers and sash presentations. Reception to follow. Seniors nee to pre-register. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, Community And Resource Empower-ment, and Dean of Students Office

10 AA/PI YEAR END CEREMONY

26 ALAY’s Publication CelebrationTime & Location TBAVarious perspectives of Filipino Students expressed through their writing or visual art by sharing and discussing student artwork. Sponsored by: Filipino Student Association (FSA)

Time & Location TBA A banquet to celebrate the end of the school year. Sponsored by: Indian Student Organization (ISO)

27 Indian Student Organization - Year End Banquet

Time & Location TBA A Year End BBQ to celebrate with your CUSN Family. Sponsored by: Community Unified Student Network (CUSN)

28 CUSN Year End BBQ

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE

21 32nd Annual Multicultural Festival12 - 6 pm - Oakes Lower LawnA celebration of multiculturalism through food and performances. Sponsored by: SOAR and student organizations

6 pm - Humanities Lecture Hall Room 206 Jessica Hagedorn was nominated for the National Book Award in 1990 for Dogeater. Her newest book Toxicology, was recently pub-lished. Sponsored by: Oakes College, Literature Dept., and Porter Hitchcock Poetry Fund

Literary Reading with Jessica Hagedorn5

12 pm - Oakes Provost House Informal luncheon with Professor of Education Rodney Ogawa. Lunch Provided. Sponsored by: Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center & Oakes College

Faculty - Student Luncheon: Rodney Ogawa6

5 - 7Motivation Conference 17 (MC): Growing From our Roots

A non-yield 3 day conference for Asian American/Pacific Islander (AA/PI) high school students, educating and motivating them to pur-sue higher education. Sponsored by: Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APISA), engaging education (e2)

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 8 SNAP!

Participation in Politics: Asian Americans on the RiseWritten by DADALEI BUTH

Historically, Asians and Pacific Is-landers have been in the United States for a long time. Their jour-

ney and transition in America have been filled with decades of discrimination and struggles. Over time, doors of new op-portunities have opened transcending the group from “facing the odds” to “overcom-ing adversities.” As the Asian-American population continues to grow, so does the amount of Asian Americans participating in politics. The latest newly-elected offi-cials to be creating such history are Edwin Lee, the first Asian American mayor in San Francisco history, and Jean Quan, the first Asian-American and female mayor in Oak-land.

Edwin Lee was born in 1952 in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine in 1974 and UC Berke-ley Law School in 1978. In 1989, Lee was appointed as Deputy Director of Human Relations by Mayor Art Agnos. In 1991, he was hired as Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commis-sion, where he served under Mayors Agnos, Frank Jordan, and Willie Brown. In 2000, he was appointed Director of Public Works for the City, and in 2005 was appointed by Mayor Newsom to a five-year term as

City Administrator, to which he was reap-pointed in 2010. Currently, Lee is the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco, California. He was appointed by the Board of Supervisors on January 11, 2011 to serve the remain-ing term of former mayor, Gavin Newsom, after Newsom resigned to take office as Lieutenant Governor of California. He is creating history by being the first Asian American mayor in San Francisco’s history.

Jean Quan was born in 1949 in Liver-more, California. She met her husband as student activists at UC Berkeley in the middle of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, where they helped found Asian American Studies and initiated programs like the Oakland Asian Students Educa-tional Services (OASES) and Asian Health Services that continue to serve Oakland communities today. Quan was on the Oak-land School Board for 12 years, starting in 1990 after organizing a citywide parent or-ganization called “Save Our Schools.” As a parent leader, she helped save the music program in Oakland schools. Oakland’s 2010 election was held under the city’s new ranked choice voting, which allows vot-ers to indicate their first, second, and third choices of candidate. The top three finish-ers were Quan, Don Perata, and Rebecca

Kaplan. The result, announced November 10, 2010, was that Quan defeated Perata by 51% to 49%. Now she is the mayor of Oakland, California, where she previously served as City Council member for Oak-land’s 4th District. Upon inauguration on January 3, 2011, she became Oakland’s first female mayor as well as Oakland’s first Asian American mayor and the first Asian American woman to head a major city in the United States.

Past and present Asian American history helps to inspire that the future is now, which paves the way for younger generations to follow. As Asian and Pa-cific Islander Heritage month quickly ap-proaches, Asian Americans continue to in-crease visibility in the American political scene. The role of the group in politics has been shifting and evolving as we witness more and more Asian Americans entering politics at the local level. Edwin Lee and Jean Quan are two examples of how Asian Americans have emerged as an increas-ingly important force in American politics.

http://oaklandnorth.net Jean Quan--Mayor of Oakland

Ed Lee

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 9 SNAP!

On the UCSC campus, we often hear students complain about the lack of good Asian food (no, Pan-

da Express does not fall into the category of Asian cuisine). This is due to the fact that too often restaurants in Santa Cruz are overlooked; however there are plenty of hidden gems and hole-in-the-wall restau-rants. One of which is Shun Feng, which opened its doors to the city of Santa Cruz only a few years ago. Shun Feng is hidden in the corner of a shopping center on River Street, but don’t let the location deter you away from this place. There are plenty of parking spaces available. The restaurant is also welcoming of big groups, but be sure to make a reser-vation so your party does not have to wait too long. From the outside, it may not look like a Chinese restaurant, but once you en-ter, you notice the Chinese-inspired deco-rations. There is soft music playing in the background setting a nice ambiance. You also feel a home-like feeling, making your dining experience more comfortable. With such a large menu with many op-tions, it may be difficult at first to decide, which is why I recommend sharing dishes. If you aren’t too fond of white rice, brown rice is also an option here. Shun Feng also

offers dim sum, but keep note that it is more costly than the average dim sum res-taurant. This Chinese restaurant caters well to the Santa Cruz community with plenty of vegetarian options and meat-substitutes for some of traditional dishes. They also offer a vegetarian version of some of the popular meat dishes, such as the kung pao vegi-chicken and the vegi-chicken and eggplant with garlic sauce. Shun Feng serves a mixture of Manda-rin and Cantonese food. The restaurant pro-vides excellent customer service with its friendly staff. The restaurant first opened its doors in Felton, California in 2003, and later moved over the hill to Santa Cruz only three years ago. To top it off, Shun Feng was awarded “Santa Cruz’s Best Chinese Food.” Shun Feng also offers a 10% dis-count to UC Santa Cruz students when you show your student ID card, and be sure to remind them once the bill comes.

The owners have been in the restaurant business since they were young adults re-siding in China before they immigrated to the United States. With 28 years of cook-ing experience, you can only expect to be served delicious food. The chef came from a family of male cooks, making the holidays much more enjoyable for the women of the family. Karen, one of the owners of Shun Feng, shared how she met her husband at a restaurant. They were both working at the same restau-rant where he was a cook and she was a waitress. Ever since then, they’ve stayed together in the business. Shun Feng has made its presence here at the city of Santa Cruz, and if you have not been there yet, you are missing out on some good, affordable food! If you’re just looking for a delicious meal in town, head over to Shun Feng and you won’t be disappointed!

Food Review: Shun FengWritten by ELISA TORATE

Shun Feng Restaurant

420 River St # ASanta Cruz, CA 95060

(831) 423-9888

Business Hours:Monday to Thursday,Sunday

11am-10pm; Friday-Saturday 11am-10:30pm

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 10 SNAP!

Asian American/Pacific Islander’s Angry Asian Series:Written by CHAI GALANO

Asian American blogger Phil Yu visited in February and gave a riveting presentation about his experiences within the media and blogging community. Later in the month, Lela Lee gave a presentation about her role as a cartoonist, writer and actress within the media that under represents and racially scrutinizes Asians and women.

Phil Yu is the founder and editor of AngryAsianMan.com, a pop-ular Asian American news and pop culture opinion blog. Start-ed in 2001, his blog has been called a daily must read for any media-savvy, socially conscious Asian American. ‘Angry Asian Man Speaks: Blogging, Media and Activism’ was held at Merrill Cultural Center on February 9th. During Phil’s presentation, he spoke about web-site highlights and events that affect the Asian American community such as the looming TV premier of MTV’s ‘K-Town’ (the Asian version of Jersey Shore) and Rush Lim-baugh’s ‘ching chong’ incident. He stressed how media such as this can be used to communicate one’s point of view (in his case, anger) if that group is underrepresented in mainstream media.

Lela Lee, creator of ‘Angry Little Girls’, visited UC Santa Cruz and gave a presentation and Q&A on her cartoons and role as an Asian American activist. She created ‘Angry Little Asian Girl’ while she was a sophomore at UC Berkeley after she witnessed an overtly racist and sexist cartoon depicting Asians. Using this anger, she created Kim and later added more characters such as Deborah, Maria, and Wanda. Each character embodies an issue of anger that women deal with today. Her newest publication ‘Fairy-tales for Angry Little Girls’ was also sold at the venue and many had the chance for Lela to sign the book. This event was co-spon-sored by the Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center and the Women’s Center.

Both events are testaments to how successful it can be to channel anger born from societal racism or sexism into educational and en-lightening outlets. By using the allure of pop culture and the accessibility of cartoons and books, both Phil Yu and Lela Lee appealed to mass audiences with their own messages of the stereotypes seen among the Asian American community. With their inspiration, AA/PI’s have realized other forms of activism to make ourselves more visible in the community while addressing such issues of racism, no matter how subliminal they may be.

Word on the Street: “What are you angry about?!”Written by CHIEU-AN TON NU

Lina Lin; 1st year; College 10: “I get at flakers because I feel like I’m not important—I

feel disposable. I get when people forget things that I tell them, because I feel like I’m not im-

portant. I get when people say mean, unnecessary things.” Hang Tran; 5th year; Cowell

College: “I am about the position/responsibilities that females are expected

to hold because of our gender. I am that we are expected to wash dishes, clean up after the males, and take out the trash while the males can get away with doing

absolutely nothing!” Lena Kim; 1st year; College 10: “I get when people judge because

it’s wrong. And people get hurt by it.” Jenna F.; 3rd year; Porter: “ : I’m not particularly enraged about anything, but I do enjoy complaining, so I’d like to gripe about the fact that there is not enough time to do everything I want to without being either kicked out of school or cut off

from financial aid (e.g. Study abroad, taking art classes, etc).” Kelsey Wong; 3rd year; College 8: “ I

get at take-home midterms with dumb, unclear directions! Phil Yu, founder and editor of AngryAsianMan.com, is about ignorance and discrimination.

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

Spring 2011 11 SNAP!

“Which movie defines your life and why?”

AA/PI Resource Center Spring Quarter Interns Biographies

Angela Tran is a third year from College Ten, majoring in Busi-

ness Management Economic and minoring in Information Management System. She was raised in San Jose and Moun-train View. This is Angela’s second quarter interning at AA/PIRC. She enjoys playing tennis and basketball. If An-gela were to define her life as a movie, she would choose “Mu-lan” because she is inspired by the song “Reflection” and loves watching Mulan kicks booties.

Tammy Yan is a fourth year from College Ten, double majoring in Business

Management Economics and Film Studies. She was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to San Francisco, California when she was 5 years old. If Tammy were to define her life as a movie, she would choose “De-spicable Me” because her life is full of comedy and she can see herself as a minion. She thinks she has the characteristics of a minion because (1) she is short and small in size, (2) she enjoys assisting others, (3) she likes to make her friends laugh with silly expression, action, and speech.

Jose Abad is a third year Por-ter college affiliate, double majoring in Environmental

Studies and Psychology. He was born in Olongapo City, Philippines but spent most of his life in Los Angeles, Califor-nia. This is his second quarter working with AA/PIRC. Dur-ing his free time he likes to hang out with friends, ride his bike, make good food, and talk/learn about the world. He is not sure what movie defines his life, but he really identifies with

“Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland” and “My Neigh-bor Totoro.”

Chai Galano is a third year from Oakes Col-lege and is a World Lit-

erature major. She is originally from sunny Southern California City of Calabasas. She loves the beach and the sun but does not like going into the water stateside because it’s too cold/dirty. She prefers the tropical waters of the Philippines. Chai would pick the movie “Love Actually” to define her life. She is a hopeless romantic and she loves ‘love’. Each character in the movie represents every pos-sible scenario for anybody in love, and Chai enjoys how real they are portrayed.

• 5 Unit Internship: 12-15 hours per week; quarter commitment; 8-10 pages critical reflection paper each quarter.• 2 Unit Internship: 5-7 hours per week; quarter commitment; 4-6 pages critical reflection paper

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Internship for 2011-12

Qualificationso Strong oral, written, and interpersonal skills sufficient to interact with a diverse staff and students.o Basic typing and computer skills.o Ability to work under pressure with multiple ongoing projects, varying deadlines, and numerous interruptions.o Ability to work collectively in a teamwork environment. o Must be responsible, reliable, resourceful, and have initiative.o Preferred Qualifications: Experience with, and knowledge of, Asian and Pacific Islander issues and student organizations; experience with, and knowledge of, campus support services and co-curricular activities.

Positions open until filled. Application review begins June 1, 2011.For more information and how to apply, visit the AA/PI Resource Center website at www2.ucsc.edu/aapirc

Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center Newsletter

SNAP! StaffAdvisors:

Layout Editor:

Contributors:

Nancy I. KimKa Yee Chiu

Chieu-An Ton Nu

Everett AuDadalei ButhChai GalanoTiffany LeWei Lee

Elisa TorateTammy Yan

Asian American /Pacific Islander Resource CenterUniversity of California, Santa Cruz

339 Bay Tree Building1156 High Street

Santa Cruz, CA 95064Phone (831) 459-5349

Fax (831) 459-2469www2.ucsc.edu/aapirc

The Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center

invite you to ...

Friday, June 10, 2010 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM UCSC Music Recital Hall

Asian American/Pacific Islander Year End Ceremony

Sponsored by Asian American/Pacific Islander Year End Ceremony Planning Committee, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, Community And Resource Empowerment (CARE) & Dean of Students Office. For more information

please contact AA/PIRC @ (831) 459-5349 or email aapirc@ucsc.edu.

“Achievements of Today, Foundations for Tomorrow”