ber 4th! If you are interested in the candidates’ positions on Asian American issues, there are some great resources on the internet. Both candidates have Asian American coali- tions (www.asianamericans forobama.com/ and www.asianamericansformccain. org/). Obama's coalition has posted a policy document for AAPIs that explicitly states his position on several issues es- pecially concerning to Asian Americans and Pacific Island- ers, such as immigration and equal rights. For info on both candidates' views on Asian American issues go to www.asianam.org/. During the Asian American Film Festival, we will be distributing pledge forms to vote on Nov. 4th. Fill one out and be en- tered into a drawing for prizes. Happy October! Wow, I can't believe that a third of the semester is al- ready over! It's been a great start to the year. Thanks to all of you who came out to AAA events this month. There's a lot more to look forward to in the month of October. We start off with the Moon Festival on 10/4, AAA GBM on 10/8, followed with Laser Tag on 10/10 and end with the Asian-American Film Festival 10/29 -10/31. Be sure to check out one or all of these events! The Asian American Film Fes- tival will be featuring 3 films that portray the Asian Ameri- can experience. The Asian American experience is a unique one and I'm sure no two people share the same experience. For me it meant growing up in my grandpar- ents' Chinese restaurant, par- ticipating in cultural dancing, and as my Po Po taught me, enjoying food. While every- day events remind me of my uniqueness-- preferring my McNuggets in sweet & sour sauce, taking off my shoes when entering a house, or thinking twice before exposing my skin to the sun-- I realize that we're also all the same. The human experience is not unique. Certain things are important to all of us. I urge everyone to get their voice out and vote on Novem- In the week that I was in Bei- jing this past summer, I had the privilege of attending six separate Olympic events that included basketball, track and field, boxing, weightlifting, swimming, and gymnastics. From the Bird’s Nest to the Worker’s Gymnasium, each venue was unique and mag- nificent in its own right. Yet I found myself not so much amazed with the city’s effort in unparalleled architecture but more with its personality. In the two years since I last stepped foot in Beijing, the city and its people have made a complete 180-degree turn- around. I no longer had to fear asking for directions nor did I have to worry about stepping in something un- pleasant. See THOUGHTS pg. 2 Greetings From Your AAA Prez Sarah Wong Thoughts on China Charles Qiao Asian American Association Newsletter October 2008 Volume 2, Issue 2 AAA Executive Board 2008-2009 President Sarah Wong External VP Alex Lin Internal VP Jeff Lin Treasurer Charles Qiao Secretary Alice Gu PR Yena Kwon PR Marina Cheung Historian Andrew Shaw Fresh. Rep Amy Lam Fresh. Rep Brandon Lee Fresh. Rep Patrick Ng Upcoming Events: Oct. 4 Moon Festival The Swamp 7pm Oct. 8 AAA GBM Ursa’s Fireside 8pm Free Thai Tea! Oct. 10 Laser Tag Outing 6pm Oct. 29- Oct. 31 Asian American Film Festival On campus 6:30pm Free Food!
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Transcript
ber 4th! If you are interested
in the candidates’ positions on
Asian American issues, there
are some great resources on the internet. Both candidates
have Asian American coali-
tions (www.asianamericans
forobama.com/ and www.asianamericansformccain.
org/). Obama's coalition has
posted a policy document for
AAPIs that explicitly states his position on several issues es-
pecially concerning to Asian
Americans and Pacific Island-
ers, such as immigration and equal rights. For info on both
candidates' views on Asian
American issues go to
www.asianam.org/. During the Asian American Film Festival,
we will be distributing pledge
forms to vote on Nov.
4th. Fill one out and be en-tered into a drawing for
prizes.
Happy October!
Wow, I can't believe that a
third of the semester is al-
ready over! It's been a great
start to the year. Thanks to all of you who came out to
AAA events this
month. There's a lot more to
look forward to in the month of October. We start off with
the Moon Festival on 10/4,
AAA GBM on 10/8, followed
with Laser Tag on 10/10 and end with the Asian-American
Film Festival 10/29 -10/31. Be
sure to check out one or all of
these events!
The Asian American Film Fes-
tival will be featuring 3 films
that portray the Asian Ameri-can experience. The Asian
American experience is a
unique one and I'm sure no
two people share the same experience. For me it meant
growing up in my grandpar-
ents' Chinese restaurant, par-
ticipating in cultural dancing,
and as my Po Po taught me,
enjoying food. While every-
day events remind me of my
uniqueness-- preferring my
McNuggets in sweet & sour sauce, taking off my shoes
when entering a house, or
thinking twice before exposing
my skin to the sun-- I realize that we're also all the
same. The human experience
is not unique. Certain things
are important to all of us.
I urge everyone to get their
voice out and vote on Novem-
In the week that I was in Bei-
jing this past summer, I had
the privilege of attending six
separate Olympic events that
included basketball, track and
field, boxing, weightlifting,
swimming, and gymnastics.
From the Bird’s Nest to the
Worker’s Gymnasium, each
venue was unique and mag-
nificent in its own right. Yet I
found myself not so much
amazed with the city’s effort
in unparalleled architecture
but more with its personality.
In the two years since I last
stepped foot in Beijing, the
city and its people have made
a complete 180-degree turn-
around. I no longer had to
fear asking for directions nor
did I have to worry about
stepping in something un-
pleasant.
See THOUGHTS pg. 2
Greetings From Your AAA Prez
Sarah Wong
Thoughts on China Charles Qiao
Asian American Association
Newsletter October 2008 Volume 2, Issue 2
AAA Executive Board
2008-2009
President Sarah Wong
External VP Alex Lin
Internal VP Jeff Lin
Treasurer Charles Qiao
Secretary Alice Gu
PR Yena Kwon
PR Marina Cheung
Historian Andrew Shaw
Fresh. Rep Amy Lam
Fresh. Rep Brandon Lee
Fresh. Rep Patrick Ng
Upcoming
Events:
Oct. 4
Moon Festival The Swamp 7pm
Oct. 8
AAA GBM Ursa’s Fireside 8pm Free Thai Tea!
Oct. 10
Laser Tag Outing 6pm
Oct. 29- Oct. 31
Asian American
Film Festival On campus 6:30pm
Free Food!
P A G E 2
YouTube Pick of the Month
Channel: SDAFF2006
Playlist: Reel in the Vote 2008
Chinese Astronauts Return Home Patrick Ng
From THOUGHTS pg. 1
I even witnessed
some of the bluest
skies that I have ever
seen while touring
the Great Wall. In
fact, Beijing made
such a good impres-
sion that one of my
friends who also
made the trip vowed
to return to the
capital upon gradua-
tion.
Beijing used the
Olympic Games as
the unveiling of the
People’s Republic of
China to the world.
Its progress repre-
sents the coming-of-
age of the Chinese
people. As an individ-
ual of Chinese de-
scent, there is noth-
ing that boosts ethnic
self-assurance quite
like going to the 2008
Olympic Games. The
games proved to me
what it has proved
to everyone else.
China is no longer
to be a marginalized
member of the in-
ternational commu-
nity. It wants to be
known and re-
spected. I am truly
honored to be part
of the opening cere-
mony.
The three astronauts will
be quarantined for about a
month, but they will likely
meet great adoration upon
their release.
While China has made
headlines in recent years for its forays into space
exploration, Asian Ameri-cans have long played a
part in NASA manned mis-sions. Ellison Shoji Onizuka
was the first Asian Ameri-can astronaut in 1978;
sadly he perished in the Challenger explosion in
1986. Another Japanese-American astronaut,
Daniel Tani, performed the
100th spacewalk on the International Space Station
in 2007. Other Asian American astronauts in-
clude Eugene Trinh, first Vietnamese-American in
space, Leroy Chiao, Ed Lu, Taylor Wang, first Chinese
-American in space, Kal-
pana Chawla, and Sunita
Williams.
The distinction of the first
Southeast Asian to fly to
space, however, belongs to
Phạm Tuân, a Vietnamese
cosmonaut, who per-
formed plant experiments
in space from July 23 to
July 31 in 1980 for the
Soviet Union.
The nation of China is ec-
static as three Chinese
astronauts, Zhai Zhigang,
Liu Boming, and Jing Haipeng returned to earth.
On Saturday, September
27th, Zhai performed the first ever spacewalk by a
Chinese astronaut. The walk lasted twenty minutes
in which Zhai waved a Chi-nese flag and collected
debris from the area sur-rounding the Chinese
spacecraft, Shenzhou VII.
He performed the space-
walk in an approximately $4.4 million space suit,
manufactured by the Chi-
nese company Feitian. Fit-tingly, the elements to the
suit manufacturer's name, "fei" and "tian", can be in-
terpreted as fly and sky, respectively. Prior to the