VOL 31 NO 33 | AUGUST 11 - AUGUST 17, 2012

VOL 31 NO 33 AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2012 FREE 30 YEARS YOUR VOICE

PRSRT STDU.S. Postage PaidPermit No. 746Seattle, WA

■ 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 • f. 206.223.0626 • [email protected] • [email protected] • www.nwasianweekly.com

The InsIde sToryPUB’S BLOGUNITY conference goes downhill? » P. 10

NAMES IN THE NEWS Who’s doing what in the Asian community? » P. 2

NATIONAL NEWSNo certain motive for Wisconsin Sikh shooting » P. 5

SECRET ASIAN MANShenanigans of Sam and Charlie» P. 15

A-POP!All thinks Asian in popular culture» P. 7

JACL welcomes its first Chinese American presidentBy Assunta NgNorthwest AsiAN weekly

this year, elaine Akagi, seat-tle resident and vice president of the national Japanese American Citizens league (JACl), watched

as a group of non-Japanese mem-bers were sworn in as part of the national JACl. Among the group securing positions on the national JACl board, four were Chinese Americans, and only two were Japanese American.

JACl, one of the oldest nation-al Asian American civil rights organizations, has broken away from tradition to elect Chinese American immigrant David lin of New Jersey out of its 10,000 members to serve as the organi-zation’s president. lin won the election with 62 votes out of 88.

“JACl has become more of an APi (Asian Pacific American) organization, not just a Japanese American organization. that’s

{see JACL cont’d on page 13}

David Lin

Sahar Fathi Cyrus Habib Bob Hasegawa Cindy Ryu

Yoshie WongKshama SawantSharon Santos

By Samantha TestNorthwest AsiAN weekly

seattle’s latest opera, “turandot,” is a love story.however, the love story is not just in the plot, but in the

context, too. it is the story of fascination, imagined realities,

and historical influences that the east and west have had on each other for generations. the production of the story was also a labor of love for the seattle opera, which sought to incorporate Chinese culture in a balanced way.

“[turandot] is inspired by China, but is not a Chinese opera,” said renaud Doucet, turandot’s director and

choreographer. “what was important to us was to put on stage the fascination, and not the reality.”

set and costume designer Andrew Barbe and Doucet wanted to depict the actual historical influences that led to

{see TURANDOT cont’d on page 16}

By Will Livesley-O’NeillNorthwest AsiAN weekly

APi candidates around the Puget sound region faced their first test on tuesday in washington’s pri-mary and special election. some will move on to the general election in November, while the campaign trail ends for others who failed to finish as one of the top two candidates in their race.

the race to replace gubernatorial candidate Jay in-slee as the United states representative in washing-

ton’s 1st District featured two APi candidates, state sen. steve hobbs and businessman and Nepali immi-grant Darshun rauniyar. Both fell short of finishing in the top two, with hobbs receiving nearly 6.8 percent of the vote to rauniyar’s nearly 2.5 percent.

“we’re proud of the grassroots campaign that we ran to break through the hyperpartisan dialogue in our country,” said randy Bolerjack, communications director for the hobbs campaign. “senator hobbs is

{see API CANDIDATES cont’d on page 11}

Primary election holds different results for API candidates

Seattle Opera marries artistic visions of East and West

Part 1 of a 2 part series: Behind the scenes of TurandotFrom left to right: Joseph Hu (Pong), Patrick Carfizzi (Ping), and Julius Ahn (Pang)

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2 AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2012 asianweeklynorthwest

■ nAMes In The neWsNoted musician and composer Eyvind Kang joins Cornish Music Department

Musician and composer Eyvind Kang will join the Cornish College of the Arts’ music department as an adjunct professor. kang, a Cornish alumnus, has released many albums of his compositions as a violinist and violist, including “Grass” and “the Narrow Garden.” Clarinetist Peggy Dees is also joining the faculty as an adjunct professor. Dees

earned her hMA in Clarinet Performance from Florida state University. kang and Dees will start with the faculty in the fall.

Seattle Japanese Garden Advisory Council hosts third annual garden party

on July 20, Washington Park Arboretum’s Japanese Garden was converted to include a ramen cart, sushi bar, and dinner buffet for its third annual garden party, which

raised about $45,000. the Japanese Garden Advisory Council, which organized the event, is a group of community members who meet once a month to support the success of programs within the garden and its connection with the community, the Associated recreation Council, and the seattle Parks and recreation.

Steve Alley, Japanese Garden Advisory Council president, Christopher Williams, the Council’s acting superintendent, along with Consul General Kiyokazu Ota, and other dignitaries were present to welcome guests. Guests enjoyed a cello performance by Erika Fiebig and a taiko performance by okinawa Kenjinkai.

Seattle Chinese Chorus wins silver at World Choir Games

known as the olympics of choral music, the World Choir Games hosts participants from many countries who gather for the largest international choral competition in the world. the Seattle Chinese Chorus, a Bellevue-based choir with more than 50 members, was the only choir in the state of washington to compete in the Games. the choir, which has prepared for 10 months for the Games, performed four songs in a mixed chamber choirs open competition and won a silver medal for their performance.

Biking for Tohoku Relief cyclist arrives in Seattle

on July 31, the Japanese Cultural and Community Center welcomed Tetsuo Matsushita to seattle. Matsushita, a 21-year-old student from the international Christian University, made the journey from los Angeles, Calif., to seattle on a bicycle. Matsushita’s 24-day and 1,400-mile solo bike ride was a part of a charity to help raise funds towards Tohoku Relief, which aids victims still recovering from the tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Eyvind Kang

Seattle Japanese Garden

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30thAnniversary

Gala

30 yeArs. your voIce.

Northwest Asian Weekly turned 30 this year! (Can you believe that the newspaper was made with glue, paper, and scissors when we first started?) To celebrate this milestone, we’ve gathered some of our favorite local celebrities for a talent show (who doesn’t want to see Justice Steven González belt out “La Bamba”?) and are celebrating in style. Join us, will you?

Friday, October 5 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Seattle Sheraton Hotel Grand Ballroom1400 Sixth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101

$100/person, $115 after 9/28, $130 walk-ins, $150 preferred seating

www.brownpapertickets.com/event/263080

Semi-formal, black tie optional (but suggested, especially if you want to win the Dress-to-Impress contest)

During our dinner, we’re going to hold a short (SHORT!) auction that will benefit our friend, the International District Emergency Center. This organization works so hard each and every day to keep the streets of the ID safe for local residents.

Zip us off an email at [email protected] or call us at (206) 223-0623. We’re going to need your name, address, phone number, email address, and the names of your guests, so please have that info ready.

www.nwasianweekly.com/30

PLAnnInG coMMITTee: Ador Yano, Karen Tsuo, Amber Waisanen, Kiku Hayashi, Teri Wong, Buwon Brown, Elaine Kitamura, Debadutta Dash, Joan Yoshitomi, Adrienne Chu, and Bonnie Miller

PrIMe sPonsors

So, what’s going on?

When Where

CostTickets

Dress codeImportant!

To RSVP

More info

honorAry coMMITTee: Ellen & Eddie Abellera, Sue Anderson, Herb Bridge, Ken Colling, Debadutta Dash, Mimi & Bill Gates Sr., King County Assessor Lloyd Hara, Rep. Bob Hasegawa, Joseph Hong, Vera & Joey Ing, Carolyn Kelly, Hyeok Kim, Ruthann Kurose, Jerry & Charlene Lee, Yoshi Minegishi, Rep. Cindy Ryu, Bob & Rep. Sharon Santos, Albert Shen, Rep. Paull Shin, Dennis & Millie Su, Dr. Bobby Virk, Patrick Yalung, and Sung Yang

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Northwest Asian Weekly is always looking for Asian American community news. If you are the host or an attendee of an API fundraiser, e-mail us a big photo, event highlights, and the amount of money raised. We are also looking for news about APIs in new jobs and APIs getting public recognition and awards.

Please send materials to [email protected] with “names in the news” as the subject line.

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30 YEARS your voIce AUGUST 11 – AUGUST 17, 2012 3


■ nATIonAL neWs

By Suzanne Gamboa the AssoCiAteD Press

lAs VeGAs (AP) — National Public radio, criticized in re-cent years for their lack of diversity of its staff and coverage, is using a $1.5 million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to put together a six-person team to report sto-ries on race, ethnicity, and culture.

the national radio program producer and digital news pro-vider was accepting the two-year grant thursday at UNity 2012 Convention in las Vegas, where hundreds of minority and gay and lesbian journalists gathered for the quadrennial convention assembled by UNity Journalists inc.

NPr said in a news release that it is using the money to “launch a major storytelling initiative focused on the racial,

ethnic, ideological, and generational issues that define an in-creasingly diverse America.” the team will include two digi-tal journalists, a correspondent, two reporters, and an editor. the team will have a website and blog within NPr.org.

Gary knell, NPr Ceo and president, said the team’s ap-proach on race, ethnicity, and culture would help “turbo-charge” coverage with deeper stories that can make a differ-ence. the grant allows NPr to invest in people who will come to work with race and ethnicity coverage as their first order of business every day, he said.

“there’s still too many people who are not really aware of public radio in this country and my hunch is many of them might be minorities who haven’t discovered public radio and who we think would be more amenable to tuning in and be-coming supporters if they knew the content was more acces-

sible and really aimed to a demographic, that speaks the issues that are of critical importance to hispanic, African American, Asian American, and Native American audiences,” knell said.

scrutiny of NPr’s record on diversity has heightened since the october 2010 firing of commentator Juan williams, who said on a Fox News Channel that he gets nervous on a plane when he sees Muslims. A recent investigation by NPr’s om-budsman found that 87 percent of NPr’s audience is white and 23 percent of its newsroom staff — reporters, editors, pro-ducers, and managers — are racial or ethnic minorities.

knell, Ceo of sesame workshop before joining NPr last year, said since he was hired, he has been trying to promote

{see NPR cont’d on page 15}

NPR receives $1.5 million for race, ethnicity coverage

the Filipino Community of seat-tle presents a dinner and cabaret show featuring cabaret artist Arnaldo! on sept. 7 titled, “An evening with Ar-naldo! and Friends.” Arnaldo! is based in the seattle area and has won many awards, including the 2008 New york Bistro Award and top 10 cabarets selected by the san Francisco Bay times’ “Jazz and Cocktails.” Proceeds from the evening will benefit a show held in october — which is Filipino American month — called “Floradora reimagined,” an adaptation of a Broadway musical set in the Philippines in the 1890s. tickets for the show costs $25 per person.

For more information, visit www.fcseattle.org.

Filipino Community Center hosts “An Evening with Arnaldo! and Friends”

■ coMMunITy

Arnaldo!


■ nATIonAL neWs

The only weekly English-language newspaper serving Washington’s Asian community. The NW Asian Weekly has one simple goal:

“To empower the Asian community.”

The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject any advertisement, letter or article. Subscriptions cost $30 for 52 weeks of the NW Asian Weekly and $25 for 52 weeks of the

Seattle Chinese Post. The NW Asian Weekly owns the copyright for all its content. All rights reserved. No part of this paper may be reprinted without permission.

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By Todd Richmond and Dinesh Ramde the AssoCiAteD Press

MilwAUkee (AP) — there’s no trial to prepare, no jury to persuade, no judge to hand down a sentence.

wade Michael Page is dead, killed by po-lice after fatally shooting six people at a sikh temple outside Milwaukee. Although detec-tives are pursuing leads in several states, their findings might never be presented in court.

so will the full story behind the attack ever be known? And how long will inves-tigators keep looking for an elusive motive that might provide answers to devastated sikh families, as well as valuable informa-tion about white supremacists?

At the moment, detectives are sifting through the gunman’s life, assembling the biography of a man who apparently had few relatives, a spotty work history, and a thin criminal record. they have warned they might never learn for certain what drove him to attack total strangers in a holy place. the sikh community holds out hope.

“we just want to get to the bottom of what motivated him to do it,” said Ama-rdeep singh, an executive with the New york-based sikh Coalition. “it’s important to acknowledge why they lost their lives.”

the 40-year-old Army veteran strode into

the sikh temple of wisconsin shortly before sunday servic-es and opened fire with a 9 mm pistol. the dead included temple President satwant singh kaleka, who was shot as he tried

to fend off the shooter with a butter knife.Page wounded a responding police offi-

cer in the parking lot before another officer killed Page in a shootout.

the FBi has taken over the case and re-leased little official information. the frag-ments of Page’s past that have emerged sug-gest he lived a somewhat troubled life.

A native of littleton, Colo., he had a record of minor alcohol-related crimes in texas, Colorado, and North Carolina. he was demoted during a stint in the Army for getting drunk on duty and going Awol be-fore he was discharged in 1998. Page even-tually moved to wisconsin, living in south Milwaukee with a girlfriend and working the third-shift at a brazing factory in Cu-dahy, another Milwaukee suburb.

Neighbors said the couple broke up this

past spring. Page moved into a Cudahy du-plex in mid-July and quit showing up for work around the same time. A few days after he moved into the duplex, he visited a west Allis gun shop and, after clearing background checks, bought the gun he used in the shooting.

the southern Poverty law Center has described Page as a “frustrated neo-Nazi” who participated in the white-power mu-sic scene, playing in bands called Definite hate and end Apathy.

rajwant singh, chairman of the sikh Council on religion and education, said even though Page is dead, other white-su-premacy and neo-Nazi groups could harbor similar intentions.

“our concern is, how do we tackle these hate groups operating underground or in darkness?” he said.

the FBi has classified the incident as domestic terrorism, a violent act for social or political gain. But the bureau hasn’t said anything about Page’s possible motives.

Now investigators face two tasks: deter-mining what drove Page over the edge and whether anyone nudged him along the way.

the bureau’s special agent in charge in Milwaukee, teresa Carlson, said investiga-tors have no information to suggest that any-one else was involved, but they continue to

search to make sure.investigators probably will collect all the

bullets and fragments from the temple and the victims’ bodies to confirm that they came from Page’s gun. Detectives also will pore over witness statements to make ab-solutely certain he was the only shooter, said Joe leFevre, chairman of the forensic science department at Fox Valley technical College in Appleton.

Authorities will interview Page’s family, friends, and associates. Agents spent Mon-day morning doing a door-to-door sweep on his street, chatting with neighbors on their front porches and in their backyards.

if agents seized a computer from his apartment, they likely will review the web-sites he visited and any writings he posted. if they recovered a cellphone, they will use it to follow his recent movements as the de-vice shifted from one cell tower to the next.

“it’s like any crime,” said Jack ryan, a rhode island attorney who trains police around the country. “you focus on their recent tracks. you focus on friends, acquaintances. he had to get ready for this plot somewhere.”

the investigation could take weeks or longer. But Page’s motive is the key.

if detectives determine Page simply held

{see SIKH cont’d on page 15}

Sikh temple shooter’s motives might never be known

Michael Wade Page

iChs broke ground on Aug. 6 in shoreline for the a medical and dental clinic. the con-struction began with the demolition of the ex-isting building. the new clinic will be shore-line’s first community health center, providing multilingual and affordable health care. the

health center is slated to open in 2014. iChs currently provides medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy services, and health educa-tion at its international District and holly Park location. it is the largest APi nonprofit health center in washington.

ICHS builds first community health center in Shoreline

■ coMMunITy neWs


■ coMMunITy cALendArTHU 8/9

WHAT: exhibit opening reception, “Fashion: workroom to runway”WHERE: the wing, 719 s. king st., seattleWHEN: 6–8 p.m.INFO: www.wingluke.org

SAT 8/11

WHAT: Philippine sampaguita FestivalWHERE: Great wall shopping Mall, 18230 e. Valley highway, kentWHEN: 1:30–5 p.m.INFO: [email protected]

TUE 8/14

WHAT: Mock interviews for law students and junior attorneys conducted by practicing attorneys (preparing for oCi and the Northwest Minority Job Fair) WHERE: location in seattle, tBAWHEN: 6–8 p.m.

RSVP: [email protected] by 7/13

THU 8/16

WHAT: JamfestWHERE: the wing, 719 s. king st., seattleWHEN: 5:30–9:30 p.m.INFO: www.wingluke.org

WHAT: human trafficking Awareness Night, seattle storm vs. Phoenix MercuryWHERE: key Arena, 401 1st Ave. N., seattleWHEN: 7 p.m.INFO: www.warn-trafficking.org

FRI 8/17

WHAT: ilchi lee, New york times Bestseller “the Call of sedona: Journey of the heart,” holds a book signingWHERE: Barnes & Noble Northgate, Northgate Mall, 401 N.e. Northgate way #1100, seattle

WHEN: 7 p.m.INFO: 206-417-2967

WHAT: insurance plan information fairWHERE: the international District Clinic, 720 8th Ave. s., seattleWHEN: 3 p.m.INFO: 206-788-3700

SAT 8/18

WHAT: Family Fun Day sponsored by target, “handmade Books”WHERE: the wing, 719 s. king st., seattleWHEN: 1–3 p.m.INFO: www.wingluke.org

WHAT: the Japanese Queen scholarship organization of washington hosts car wash and bake saleWHERE: Montlake 76 Gas stationWHEN: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.COST: $10INFO: jqscholarship@gmail.

com, jqscholarship.org

WHAT: “re-energize the community” at the Polynesian FestivalWHERE: Uwajimaya, 501 s. Grady way, rentonWHEN: 11 a.m.–7 p.m.INFO: pse.com/re-energize

SUN 8/19

WHAT: Asian heritage Day, seattle Mariners vs. Minnesota twinsWHERE: safeco FieldWHEN: 1:10 p.m.COST: $18 view reserved (normally $20). $6 from each ticket sold will benefit Nikkei Concerns and kin on health Care CenterINFO: www.mariners.com/asian

2Nd & 4TH TUES OF MONTH

WHAT: international District special review Board meetingWHERE: Bush Asia Center, 409

Maynard Ave. s., seattleWHEN: 4:30 p.m.INFO: 206-684-0226, www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/historic_districts.htm

EVERY TUE

WHAT: Asian Counseling and referral services employment Program orientationWHERE: ACrs, 3639 Martin luther king Jr. way s., seattleWHEN: 3–4:30 p.m.INFO: 206-695-7527, [email protected], acrs.org/services/employmentandtraining

EVERY WEd

WHAT: seattle University school of law Citizenship ProjectWHERE: yesler Community Center Computer lab, 917 e. yesler way, seattleWHEN: 5–6:30 p.m.COST: FreeINFO: 206-386-1245

in honor of the centennial anniversary of its inaugural 1909 class, the seattle Japanese language school (Jls) is requesting that Jls alumni bring photos of past school events be-tween 1902 and 1960. original photographs will be photocopied and returned to their own-

ers. Copies of the photos will be saved in the Jls’s historical archive. in the early years of its establishment, Jls began as the kokugo Gak-ko (National language school) and changed its name to Nihongo Gakko (Japanese language school) after its reopening in 1956. to submit

photographs to be copied, please visit 1414 south weller street, Monday through satur-day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, e-mail [email protected] or call 206-568-7144.

■ coMMunITy neWs

Seattle Japanese Language School seeking photos of past events


By Vivian NguyenNorthwest AsiAN weekly

Do you hear that sizzle? No, it’s not the sound of an egg cooking on the sidewalk, as summer finally ramps up in seattle —

it’s the sound of scandal sizzling around the world for Asians and Asian Americans alike! July has been unkind to some Asians — read on to find out why.

Recently-crowned Korean beauty queen faces scandal

korea recently held their annual national beauty pageant, where the newly crowned Miss korea 2012, kim yu-mi, quickly found herself in a mire of controversy before

the dust even settled on her diamond tiara. shortly after winning the competition, an old yearbook photo of kim surfaced online revealing a girl with smaller and broader

{see A-POP cont’d on page 15}

■ ArTs & enTerTAInMenT

Kal PennMargaret ChoPatricia

Yeo

Young Lee

Yu-Mi Kim

Takashi Yagihashi

Kooan Kusuke

Ven Budhu

Controversy abound: plastic beauty queens and R-E-S-P-E-C-T for Pinkberry mogul

All things Asian in popular culture


■ WAyne’s coLuMn

By Wayne ChanNorthwest AsiAN weekly

And there you have it, i’ve got your attention. it’s as simple as that. if you want attention, just jot down a top five or top 10 list and the world is yours. of course, as with everything in life, there are rules.

Don’t believe me? here are three reasons why i know i’m right.

Rule #1 (and this is a real list this time): Good lists come in multiples of five (or maybe three).

you can have a top five list. you can also have a top 10 list. you can even have a top 20 list. what you can’t have is a top nine list or any other number that isn’t a multiple of five. And yes, i know, the number three is an exception.

if you come up with a “top Nine” list, you’ve lost all credibility. some people will think, “what? you couldn’t come up with one more for your list?” others will say that you’re redundant or superfluous for coming up with anything more than your five proper, honest to goodness, standard bullet points.

everyone knows that all good ideas come in multiples of five. Any deviation from that is completely unacceptable. i believe the supreme Court ruled on that a few years ago.

Rule #2: A good list is nothing if it isn’t written down.

it doesn’t matter what your list is about, so long as it is

in written form. it doesn’t matter how ridiculous the topic is — i can come up with a top 10 list of reasons why i think the rutabaga is the sexiest vegetable known to man. As long as it’s written down, i will garner the respect of fellow rutabaga aficionados and the community at large.

on the other hand, try standing at a busy street corner loudly proclaiming your love for the rutabaga and see how long it takes for a turnip truck to take you away. (see how i cleverly slipped in the turnip reference in that last line? i’m really getting to the root of the issue now. ok, ok, i’ll stop.)

Rule #3: If you’ve put together a list and it’s on paper, you must be a professional.

i’m sure anyone who spends any time online has experienced this phenomenon. you come across an interesting top 10 list and you read through it. it never occurs to you to question whether the person writing the top 10 list is actually qualified enough to write the list in the first place.

For some reason, we all read these lists and take for granted that whoever is writing it must be qualified to write it, or it wouldn’t have been published.

Case in point: i came across a list online today entitled, “top 10 reasons why we’re Dumped.” Now, truth be told, i haven’t read the list yet. But still, let’s just think about it for a minute.

if it turns out that the author of this list has been dumped so many times that they decided to catalog all the ways they’ve been dumped, the question begs to be asked, “if you’ve been dumped that many times, aren’t you the last person i should be getting advice from in order not to get dumped?” whatever you’re doing, it doesn’t seem to

be working. i’ve been married for nearly 21 years and, as far as i

can tell, i haven’t been dumped. By that standard, i could easily write a list called, “top 10 reasons why i haven’t Been Dumped yet.”

remember, the “instant credibility” factor only works in print, or if you happen to be David letterman. At cocktail parties, i’ve tried to explain to anyone who will listen about my “top 20 ways of keeping My Male Model looks intact into My 40s,” but everyone always leaves me before i get to number 12.

so those are my top three rules to writing top 10 lists. i have a really good fourth rule, but i’m no rule breaker.

Wayne Chan can be reached at [email protected].

Top 10 ways to get someone’s attention

Wayne Chan

BELLWETHER 2012: reGeneration

JULY 13 – OCTOBER 21

www.bellevuewa.gov/bellwether2012.htm

44 sculptures and installations at Bellevue City Hall, Downtown Park and between.


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■ coMMunITy neWs

By Tiffany RanNorthwest AsiAN weekly

A collection of sacred relics which drew a crowd of 2,000 visitors in tacoma made another stop in seattle from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 as part of its world tour.

the project, affiliated with the Dalai lama, features sacred relics, pearl-like crys-tals, found in the cremation ashes of Bud-dhist masters. organizers say that the relics include crystals from the cremation ash of Buddha’s disciples, as many as 30 Buddhist masters. half of the collection was salvaged from tibet. tour organizers said they have seen audiences experience a wide range of reactions to seeing the relics, from fainting or cathartic weeping to feeling a sense of peace and love.

“Because these are holy objects, most of the visitors have the experience of [obtain-ing] peace of mind, great loving kindness in their hearts. it really opens their hearts. i remember when i was in Africa in Nairobi, one of the ladies said, ‘i had such a strong emotion, such peace of mind and loving kindness, and i have been looking for this emotion for my whole life.’ this was the first time that she really felt that emotion,’” said Dana lissy, Maitreya heart shrine relic tour manager.

At seattle’s Chua Van hoa temple, visi-tors peered into display cases encircling a

life-size golden statue of the Maitreya Bud-dha. some visitors asked to participate in a blessing ceremony using the relics of the Buddha. the ceremony is very powerful, lissy said.

“i personally witnessed one man in israel, he had suffered pain for years. he received

Sacred Buddhist relics makes Seattle stop during world tour

Relics of Maudgalyayana

blessings. what the blessings mean is that we take the relics and we put it delicately on the crown of his head and he told me personally that just a few minutes after he received the blessing that his pain was cured,” said lissy.

Visitors look to the Buddhist scriptures, which dictate that Maitreya will be the next

Buddha to bring teachings of kindness into the world. the relics, which for thousands of years were hidden in Buddhist temples and shrines in Asia, have made its way around the world to 65 countries for the last 11 years, drawing more than 1.6 million visitors.

tour organizers said that the purpose of the tour is to spread the inspiration gained from seeing these relics to different corners of the globe. the traveling relics have also helped publicize and fund a large Buddha construc-tion project, a 150-foot statue of Maitreya Buddha in northern india, where the relics will eventually be held.

Tiffany Ran can be reached at [email protected].

Relic Altar in Lavaur, France in 2009

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■ PuBLIsher’s BLoG

■ edITorIAL

Want to get the inside scoop on the latest happenings of Seattle’s Asian American community? Follow Publisher Assunta Ng’s blog at nwasianweekly.com under the Opinion section.

some journalists felt slighted that President obama didn’t come to speak at UNity. rep. luis Gutierrez came on behalf of obama. only 50 folks came to a hall of 500 seats. Gutierrez did a decent job.

President obama sent Vice President Joe Biden to speak at the Black Journalists Convention in New orleans last June. i don’t blame obama. UNity 2012 lacked its 2008 luster and clout.

what a close race for many candidates in the recent elec-tions! we know now that some APi candidates like steve hobbs, Darshan rauniyar, Bobby Virk, sahar Fathi, and others did not make the mark this time around, but we’d like to commend them for their good efforts. we are lucky to be living in a state where so many districts and fields are repre-sented with qualified members of our community.

it’s also encouraging to see that APis continue to partici-pate in the democratic process, not just as voters, but also as candidates. this level of participation is inspiring to younger generations who can see examples of minorities striving to enact social change. win or lose, a diverse group of candi-dates ensures that a similarly diverse group of voters are

participating in the political dialogue. For immigrant com-munities who’ve strived for years to have their voices heard, this kind of progress is priceless.

while it’s true that elections should not be about race, a candidate’s background can add to his or her perspective on important issues. it is still very important to the community to feel that there are leaders who can speak for them and ad-dress their concerns. Furthermore, working on a campaign is not only a vital education for the candidate, but also one for all those involved from policy researchers, media rela-tions, specialists, and volunteers. these are the types of ex-periences that empower communities.

in the news, there are often too many ways in which the

government or the system fails us. But after an exciting election like this one, we can look towards the future with anticipation. we can see the many ways which one can be involved. without the candidates who gave so much of them-selves to their campaign, many citizens would lose out on such a valuable opportunity.

to the candidates who will not make it past the primaries, don’t let your loss deter you from trying again. your cam-paign has been a great investment in the community, which will carry lasting effects. we hope you’ll continue staying in touch with voters and building your experience. we will remember you when the next elections come along.

API candidates should see victory in defeat

every four years, the UNity Con-vention, a national conference for jour-nalists of color, is highlighted on my calendar. i don’t go there looking for jobs, for career net-working, or even to find a date, as some of my other journalist colleagues do.

i show up to be inspired by getting to know thousands of journalists of color, in-cluding hispanics, Blacks, Native Ameri-cans, and Asian Americans from all over the country and overseas. on Aug. 2, i was at UNity in las Vegas, fully aware of the crisis it was facing. i was hoping to see a miracle.

the attendance didn’t just drop, it

plummeted from 6,000 in 2008 to 2,300 this year. the National Association of Black Journalists voted to pull out of UNity in 2011 because it didn’t make sense to the organization financially. President obama wasn’t there. the career fair was almost half the size compared to past conventions.

then one more bit of bad news hit UNi-ty at the end of the convention. UNity’s

director quit. the energy of the past con-ventions no longer existed. what a differ-ence from the 2008 event!

however, when people or organizations are successful, they don’t need your support. when they are not, they need you more than ever. the least i could do is show up. Also, sin City is fascinating. it’s a chance to indulge in a mini vacation.

UNITY struggled with disunity

Current Seattle AAJA President Sona Patel and former Seattle AAJA president Lori Matsukawa

Rep. Luis Gutierrez

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Mei-Mei Chan, president of The News Press Media Group, and Frank Blethen, publisher of the Seattle Times

there were two workshops with Jeremy lin’s name in it, “From tiger Mom to Jer-emy lin” and “lessons from Jeremy lin.” the packed workshop room of “lessons” was discussing the scope of our “linsanity.”

the lively panel aimed to create aware-ness and mindfulness behind racist remarks made by mainstream journalists, and also stereotypes from journalists of color. i was amazed by how many people like the guy and care about his future. it appears that

lin has been a popular subject for jokes for both mainstream and smaller ethnic papers. Many of those quips cannot be made public.

For journalists who made fun of lin with racial overtones in their writing, the solution is to tell them to apologize.

Both Asian American and mainstream journalists are excited about lin’s success because he’s American, and yet, he is one of us.

what a pitiful sight when only five peo-ple sat in for a panel called “inspiration by innovation!” the place was set up for 200. Despite the lack of people, the three pre-senters gave one of the most enthusiastic and informative speeches and made the best out of a less than ideal situation.

What would you do if no one showed up?

it’s unusual for Asian Americans to share a lot about themselves when meeting with strangers. we met a television journalist from san Francisco outside the elevator of the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the conven-tion was held.

within minutes, he disclosed that he once had hepatitis. it’s carried in his family.

he said many Asian Americans, includ-ing his uncle, didn’t want to tell people that they had the disease. As a result, his uncle passed away.

“it is curable,” he said. “you just have to let people know.”

After being on medication for a month, he was cured.

i remember the same story when i read eric liu’s book, “the Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native speaker” about his father’s refusal to let people know that he was on di-alysis. A lesson to Asian Americans, there is no shame in being sick or having an illness. Don’t just keep the burden all to yourself. the sooner you get treatment, the better.

The unconventional Asian American journalist

the National lesbian and Gay Journal-ists Association was recruited to join the Unity Convention after the National Asso-ciation of Black Journalists left. the Nl-GJA should be invited to join regardless of UNity’s turmoil. the timing seemed odd and the move seemed desperate.

Who filled in for the Black journalists?

Is the Obama no-show a slight?

Linsanity, is it still inspiring?

the black convention had an attendance of 2,500 in its event, one of the highest of its attendance. one African American who worked for the ABC affiliate, told me that the black convention was well done and successful with many corporate sponsors.

Black journalists were able to pull off a great conference without Unity. this proves that they don't really need to stick with Unity. howevehe reality is, Unity could not afford the absence of support of black journalists. is there any way that Unity could work something out with the black journalists? we know it's about money. Perhaps, Unity can be more flexible to accommodate them, and vice versa. i miss connecting with these journalists at Unity, and some black journalists have shared with me that they miss interacting with us too.

the voices of our black colleagues are powerful and essential. lets not have the next UNity without them.

What Unity is missing


{API CANDIDATES cont’d from page 1}

proud to represent the people of the 44th district and will continue to raise sensible, independent solutions in the state senate.”

rauniyar also struck an optimistic tone. “i feel really great. i’m a first-time candi-

date and we really built a grassroots effort. we had thousands of donors and volunteers, and they are behind me and want me to con-tinue to build my message,” he said.

Democrat Cyrus habib, an iranian Amer-ican lawyer who lost his eyesight as a child, finished with more than 55 percent of the vote in the race for the 48th District’s state house position 2.

“Clearly, Cyrus has done a great job get-ting folks out to vote, and created a lot of ex-citement among voters of the 48th District. the result illustrates what we’ve been saying all along, Cyrus is an independent voice who will effectively represent the district,” said Mallory Gitt, habib’s campaign manager, in a prepared statement for the press.

habib will face his primary opponent, re-publican hank Myers, again in the general election.

south korean immigrant Cindy ryu, the former mayor of shoreline, was also vic-torious in her race to be re-elected for the 32nd District’s state house position 1. ryu, a Democrat, received more than 71 percent of the vote against her republican challeng-er randy J. hayden. “it’s more than the 51 percent i got two years ago,” ryu said. “i’m happy with the results, but of course this is the primary. For the general election, there will be a much higher turnout, so we’re go-ing to campaign in a more focused way from now until November 6th.”

in the closely contested race to fill the open state house seat in the 36th District’s position 2, iranian American sahar Fathi fell short of a top two finish. Fathi, a Democrat and legislative aide to seattle City Council-member Mike o’Brien, had received more than 12 percent of the votes counted as of press time, falling behind second-place fin-isher Noel Frame, Brett Phillips, and ryan Gabriel. “we’re still really optimistic, these are really early results,” said Fathi’s cam-paign manager Monisha harrell. “every-body feels really good about the race we’ve run and the issues sahar has been able to raise on the trail.”

in an unusual situation in the 43rd Dis-trict, socialist Alternative candidate ksha-ma sawant appeared close to qualifying for the general election in both the race for state house position 1, as a candidate on the ballot, and for position 2, as a write-in candidate.

“it’s a wake-up call for Frank Chopp and Jamie Pedersen,” said sawant’s political director Philip locker, referencing the two positions’ incumbent Democratic represen-tatives. As of press time, sawant had more than 8 percent of the vote for position 1 and write-in candidates had to have more than 10 percent for position 2. locker was not able to comment on the campaign’s strategy if sawant was to qualify for two races.

“i think this result represents a real shot across the bow to the out-of-touch, arrogant Democrats here in the 43rd District that a shoestring socialist candidate with no re-sources was able to get this percentage. the basic message is that it’s not acciden-tal. working people are sick and tired of the relentless corporate agenda that olympia is carrying through,” locker said.

“i am so grateful for everyone who has

voted for me,” said Democrat yoshie wong, a marriage and family counselor challeng-ing state senator Mike Carrell in the 28th District. wong finished almost 20 percent-age points behind Carrell, but will face him again in the general election. “the response from when i’ve been knocking on doors has been great, and i’ve talked to people and i’m so humbled by what people have told me. i’m very grateful, and i’m looking forward to November,” she said.

Bobby Virk, an indian American Demo-crat, finished with the fourth-highest vote total in a contentious race for the 11th Dis-trict’s state house position 2. steve Bergquist won the south seattle district’s primary with more than 28 percent of the vote.

“we feel very positive about it. we gave it our best. we knocked on more than 14,000 doors and made 13,000 phone calls,” said Virk’s campaign manager Bailey stober. “At least 13 percent of voters thought Bobby would be the kind of leader that we need. we’re hap-

py a Democrat came out on top, and we’ll sup-port steve Bergquist moving forward.”

At of press time, Filipino immigrant sarah sanoy-wright ranked in second to Bergquist with over 24 percent of the votes, inching out stephanie Bowman by about one percent.

longtime state senator Bob hasegawa, of the 11th District, and state representative sharon tomiko santos, of the 37th District, cruised toward the general election. hasega-wa won with more than 67 percent of the vote and santos was unopposed in the pri-mary. Neither was available for comment as of press time.

turnout for the primary and special elec-tion was low overall, with just over 22 per-cent of registered voters casting ballots statewide, and a slightly smaller percentage in king County. the general election is on tuesday, November 6.

William Livesley-O’Neill can be reached at [email protected].

oPInIon

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Architects, Consultants & ContractorsKCLS Library Contract Information Available Online!

Check www.kcls.org/buildings for information about KCLS construction and the latest available

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Contact Kelly Iverson, Facilities [email protected] or 425.369.3308

By Yuri VanetikFor Northwest AsiAN weekly

in a rare moment of genuinely bipartisan lawmaking, Presi-dent Barack obama recently signed the JoBs Act into law.

short for “Jumpstart our Business start-ups,” JoBs will roll back some of the regu-latory barriers that small and mid-sized en-trepreneurial ventures face in their efforts to grow and go public.

this is a great victory for the American startup community. Now, policymakers need to turn their attention to the hurdles in the way of talent acquisition.

No talent channel is more bogged down with needless and costly rules than the visa system for highly skilled immigrants. ev-ery year, thousands of foreign citizens with advanced degrees in science and engineer-ing apply to become permanent residents in the United states. they want to work and contribute and have valuable ideas for new businesses.

Despite these undeniable facts, many edu-cated and motivated foreigners are turned away or granted only temporary permission to live and work here.

this bureaucratic quagmire is robbing

American startups of talent, which is se-verely undercutting economic growth.

A December study from the National Foundation for American Policy found that almost half of the top 50 venture-funded firms in America were founded or co-founded by an immigrant. out of these firms, 37 had at least one immigrant in a high-level management position.

silicon Valley is filled with hot startups founded by foreigners. the textbook-rental service Chegg was created by indian Aay-ush Phumbhra and Briton osman rashid. etsy — the incredibly successful online craft marketplace — is the brainchild of swiss entrepreneur haim schoppik. the giant web publisher Glam Media was founded by indians samir Arora and raj Narayan.

the idea that these immigrants are “steal-ing” jobs from Americans is pure nonsense. in fact, the opposite is true. the same study found that the top 50 immigrant-started companies created an average of 150 new jobs per company.

likewise, researchers from the Ameri-can enterprise institute found that between 2000 and 2007, for every additional 100 foreign workers coming into this country with an advanced “steM” degree (science, technology, engineering, or math), an aver-age of 262 new jobs were created for native-born U.s. citizens.

it’s no surprise that talented immigrants play such a vital role in the creation and ex-pansion of American companies and the culture of entrepreneurialism that battens startups. they have a fresh perspective and are well positioned to find new ways to solve economic problems and create value.

But America is choking off the spigot of immigrant talent. the channel for them to enter this country legally is over-regulated, overly expensive, unpredictable, and deep-ly time-consuming.

h-1B visas, the type designated for highly skilled workers, expire after just three years. they’re only renewable once. the total num-ber of h-1Bs allowed every year is capped at 66,000, with very limited exemptions for for-eigners who received a degree from an Amer-ican graduate program. Moreover, the h-1B fee was recently raised by over 600 percent — from $320 to $2,000. Visa restrictions are leading to reverse brain drain. smart, ambi-tious foreigners come and study at America’s world-class institutions of higher education. After they graduate, they’re eager to work in this country, but they can’t get a permanent residence or a worker’s visa. eventually, they give up and go elsewhere, taking their talents, training, ideas, and education with them.

Cristobal Conde is a Chile-born entrepre-neur and former Ceo of sunGard, a Fortune 500 software company. he said, “if i were to try to come to America today, the likelihood

is i would be turned away.”we need visa reform for highly skilled

workers — and fast. republican represen-tative Jeff Flake just reintroduced the stA-Ple Act, (h.r. 399), which would exempt foreign students with an American Ph.D. degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics and a job offer in the United states from visa quotas. Passing this legis-lation would be smart.

Policymakers should also strengthen and expand the h-1B program. they should cre-ate a special “startup Visa” for immigrants looking to create new companies in the Unit-ed states and increase the number of green cards for workers with advanced degrees.

Policymakers should also extend the eB-5 Visa program (currently set to expire in september) which provides green cards to foreign nationals who invest significant money in the United states. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) has taken the lead on this important bipartisan initiative.

the JoBs Act will boost the American startup sector, but it’s just the first step. Now, lawmakers need to fix the country’s talent retention problem. that process starts by reforming the immigration system for highly skilled foreigners. yuri Vanetik is a private investor and philanthropist. he is the principal of Vanetik international, llC and a national board member of Gen Next (www.gen-next.org).

Immigrants are the lifeblood of U.S. Startups

Yuri Vanetik

Thank you for recycling this newspaper!



What’s your animal sign?Rat 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 Ox 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 Tiger 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 Rabbit 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 Dragon 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 Snake 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001Horse 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002 Goat 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003 Monkey 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004 Rooster 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005 Dog 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 Pig 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007

*The year ends on the first new moon of the following year. For those born in January and February, please take care when determining your sign.

RATA straight line is preferable to one with many detours. That being said, it may take a few wrong turns to figure out which way to go.

OXIf you know in advance that you are dealing with a short time frame, fit in only what you can. Save the more lengthy projects for later.

TIGERAre you sabotaging your own efforts? Perhaps a part of you is at odds with what you are currently working on.

RABBITSome conversations should remain private, especially when sensitive information is involved.

DRAGONA strong partner will enhance and complement your strengths, provided that you put your competitive streak on the back burner.

SNAKEWhy set yourself up for failure when you can be doing the opposite? Success can only be attained if you move forward instead of backwards.

HORSEDisagreements are normal even between the best of friends. However, you must keep the argument focused on the issues and avoid personal swipes.

GOATProvided there is not too much disruption, there is no harm in putting safeguards in place – especially if it gives you peace of mind.

MONKEYIs there someone that you have wanted to meet? Instead of waiting for a chance encounter to occur, try scheduling a meeting.

ROOSTERRunning interference can be a draining role to play. Ideally, you should let those who know better sort out their differences.

DOGAny misgivings should be dealt with as soon as possible. The faster you clear the air, the better the eventual outcome.

PIGYour powers of persuasion should be used discriminatively. Otherwise, you risk diluting what capital you have on trivial matters.

For the week of August 11–August 17, 2012■ AsTroLoGy

Attorney James C. Buckley

Attorney Paul B. Apple

Attorney Edward J. Hemingway

Attorney Efrem R. Krisher

Attorney Ronal Unger

Attorney Erica B. Buckley

Attorney Christine Kim

Seattle Office675 S. Lane St. Suite 300Seattle, WA 98104Office: (206) 622-1100Toll free: (800) 404-6200Fax: (206) 622-0688

Tacoma OfficeWells Fargo Plaza Suite 1400Tacoma, WA 98402(appointment only)

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Home & hospital visits availableParalegal: Mary Zhu206-622-1100 Toll Free: 1-800-404-6200Cell: 206-920-6721 Office Direct Line: 206-957-1203Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tai Shan speaking

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{JACL cont’d from page 1}

the way it should be going, JACl needs to represent everybody,” said Akagi, noting that many of the Japanese community’s third and fourth generations are marrying outside their race.

JACL, not just for Japanese

Few consider what JACl has done as making history, including lin himself. lin, who emigrated to the United states from taiwan at the age of 15, is the executive di-rector of external affairs at At&t.

“i don’t think in terms of history mak-ing,” said lin. “JACl is not just for Japa-nese Americans, it is an Asian American organization. it has a great reputation. it’s the leading civil rights organization for the Asian community.”

lin points to a landmark case as an ex-ample of how the JACl has advocated for the APi community.

“the Vincent Chin murder case showed that Asian Americans should and could work together,” said lin.

“what i believe i should do is to attract as many Asian Americans, especially the younger generation, to join the organiza-tion to make the organization [a] better, stronger, and more inclusive organization. it is important to have members with strong and unique skills and experiences to help the organization.”

Who is David Lin?lin has a master’s degree in Computer sci-

ence, an MBA, and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, from rutgers University. he has been involved with the organization since 2006 and joined the national board two years ago. while serving on the national board, lin volunteered to take on the toughest board as-signment as vice president of membership. At the time, JACl had been losing members. No one wanted to take that job, he said.

lin said he worked hard to increase membership and noted that there are 58 new members so far.

in February, he announced his interest in serving as president to the board and nomi-nated himself for the position. instantly, seven members seconded his nomination.

“we support him,” said Bill tashima, former president of JACl’s seattle chapter. “i didn’t hear any complaints that he’s Chi-nese American. our organization is chang-ing. it’s indicative of the fact that JACl is expanding for a wider community.”

lin has served both Asian and mainstream communities before joining JACl. he was a school board member of hillsborough, N.J. he also served on many Asian organizations, including the organization of Chinese Amer-icans, Asian Pacific American institute for Congressional studies, leadership educa-tion for Asian Pacifics (leAP), Asian Pacific American legal Center, and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center.

“[lin] is impressive, professional, open, and friendly. he is showing lots of leader-ship and has lots of expertise and connec-tions,” said tahsima.

A looser race than expected

while many might assume that there would be a pretty tight race to be president of a nationally recognized organization, Akagi points out that this is not the case. “it’s hard to get people to run for office,” said Akagi.

“JACl’s presidency was never a hotly con-tested race for many years.”

Akagi noted that lin has long been in-volved with JACl and also has had two years of experience on the national board, while his opponent has never worked on the national level.

Before the voting process began, both lin and his opponent had a question-and-answer session with chapter presidents and members. each chapter got one vote.

Lin’s vision

Going forward, lin’s goal for JACl is to expand the organization with new chapters and new members. Besides membership, he aims to ensure that the group will remain financially stable while continuing its civil rights advocacy, preservation of Japanese American heritage and culture, and educating others about the relocation camp experiences.

Assunta Ng can be reached at [email protected].


phone 360-725-5667fax 360-586-9501

[email protected]

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EUROPEANPSYCHIC AVA

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In Issue 32, we incorrectly stated that retail stores must charge a minimum fee

of 5 cents for plastic bags. The correct statement should be that retail stores must

charge a minimum of 5 cents for paper bags.

We regret this mistake.

NWAW is seeking a well-rounded editor capable of balancing the demands of reporting, editing, and managing our freelance writers. A successful candidate will be able to maintain and expand upon the voice of the paper, quickly edit articles, and conduct last minute reporting when needed.

The editor of the NWAW is the center of the whole operation. The editor must be able to effectively communicate ideas to the layout editor, publisher, proofers, and freelance writers. Along with standard editing duties, the editor is also responsible for the general social media upkeep on Facebook and Twitter and management of requests for coverage. Proper time management, adaptability, and knowledge of journalism ethics are imperative.

Required Qualifications:— A bachelor’s degree in Journalism, English, or

Communications(Some journalism or writing experience is required)

— 1-2 years print publication experience (news clips will be required)

— Familiarity with AP style— Familiarity with social media marketing

(Twitter, Facebook)— Knowledge of the local API community and

culture is a plus

To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume, a list of three references, and 2-3 writing samples to [email protected].

KING COUNTY, WASHINGTONNOTICE TO BIDDERS

Sealed bids will be received by the King County Procurement Services Section, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, until 2:00 PM of bid opening date for the following listed bids.

To download a document, go to our web page at: http://www.kingcounty.gov/procurement. King County encourages minority business enterprise participation. King County does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its programs, services, and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.

JOB OPENING: EDITOR AT NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY


“Secret Asian Man” comic books are now available at the Kinokuniya bookstore in Seattle.

{A-POP cont’d from page 7}

facial features — features that were radically dissimilar to the pageant girl who had just won the Miss korea 2012 title.

in an interview with Channel News Asia, kim responded to the controversy by admitting that she had indeed gone under the knife. “i knew my old photos would turn up, but i was shocked the newspapers made it sound like i had claimed to be a natural beauty,” said kim. “i never said i was born beautiful.”

Allegations of plastic surgery among beauty pageant queens is nothing new, but i found kim’s statement interesting, particularly the part about never having been naturally beautiful. it suggests just how comfortable kim is with her “plastic” self.

it might also speak to how commonplace plastic surgery is among public celebrities in korea as well. sometimes, when American celebrities are called out about having work done, excuses are made for it in the name of health. or, for repentance in the public’s eyes, they might admit that surgery was a bad idea. other celebs won’t comment on the controversy at all.

while i don’t personally encourage plastic surgery, it’s actually — dare i say — refreshing that kim not only openly accepts criticism of her body, but still manages to be comfortable in her own skin as well.

one bone to pick with kim, however. she says she hopes that the public will focus on her “inner beauty” instead of her physical looks moving forward. But while a great personality is an important trait for any beauty queen to possess, let’s be real — you can’t win a beauty pageant without people focusing on your appearance as well. And no one should know this better than kim, who elected to have work done in order to become beautiful to begin with.

A Korean American yogurt mogul faces trial

the controversy now moves to America where young lee, co-founder of the frozen yogurt franchise Pinkberry, will stand trial for allegedly beating a homeless man last year in the koreatown neighborhood of los Angeles.

According to the lA times, the alleged victim testified in a preliminary hearing that lee struck him repeatedly with a tire iron, and the victim became “dizzy from the initial blows.”

But why this act of violence happened remains unclear. Donald Bolding, the victim in question, went on to explain that after panhandling in front of the frozen yogurt mogul, lee and an accomplice began to beat Bolding and demanded an apology for the “disrespect” shown to them.

Bolding, however, was unsure what lee meant by “disrespect,” but speculated that he may have offended lee when he unintentionally revealed an explicit tattoo on his stomach that depicts two stick figures engaged in intercourse. (yes, you read that correctly.) to add further confusion to the situation, Bolding claims he was only “85 to 95 percent” sure that his attacker was lee.

well, then. if you’re that sure about it.other witness accounts, however, placed lee at the scene

of the assault, and the superior court judge determined that there was enough evidence for lee to stand trial for the affair.

Although lee did help co-found Pinkberry in 2005, he has since severed his ties with the company.

New shows and successes for Asians on television

Now, it’s time to take a break from the controversy and highlight Asians who had a good month in July. korean American comedienne Margaret Cho was recently nominated

for an emmy for outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy series on the acclaimed NBC sitcom, “30 rock.” Cho played a recurring character that caricatured the late North korean leader, kim Jong-il. it was certainly a memorable guest spot, i will say that much. so congrats to Cho, and here’s to hoping you’ll win the award come september.

indian American actor kal Penn was cast to co-star in the upcoming CBs sitcom “ex-Men”. the comedy focuses on a 20-something who, after getting ditched at the altar, moves into a short-term housing complex and befriends a group of divorced men. Penn will play one of the fellow residents in the complex. it seems like a vague premise at the moment, but that’s about all the details i currently have. still, i hope the sitcom does well — it would be nice to see Penn in a stable and starring role for once.

Asians have also been featured on several reality shows this past month. on the current season of “Project runway,” kooan kosuke and Ven Budhu, Japanese and Guyanese designers respectively, have been competing to win the top title on the fashion design reality show.

similarly, Asian American cheftestants takashi yagihashi and Patricia yeo have been cooking up a storm on the competition reality show, “top Chef Masters.” the show allows world-renowned chefs to compete for cash to be donated to their charity of choice.

while those Asian reality contestants battle one another for the sake of competition, a new reality series features Asians who are verbally and physically fighting with one another … while partying it up at the clubs. the recent launch of the web reality series, “k-town,” follows a group of nightlife-loving korean and Chinese Americans, and captures all the alcoholic-fueled debauchery and drama that happens after sundown in k-town.

since the original announcement of the show last year, “k-town” has been a constant source of amusement and controversy among Asian Americans. while i recognize the potential negative impact the show could have on the Asian American identity in the media, i have to commend the series for its ability to portray a uniquely different and more complex perspective of the Asian American experience that has yet to be seen in American media. Plus, this is probably the only American show i’ve seen that features an all-Asian cast.

have you watched “k-town” yet? if not, be sure to check out the show on the youtube channel, “loUD,” and tweet me your reactions at @vivianmarie. i would love to hear your reactions to the show!

Vivian Nguyen can be reached at [email protected].

{NPR cont’d from page 4}

diversity in NPr and its audiences in four areas: geographically by doing more stories outside of washington; demographi-cally by making stories more relevant to different age groups; and around thought by bringing in more diverse political voices and around race and ethnicity.

Gregory lee, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, has met with knell on diversity. he said he recog-nizes that it takes time to change a culture. the grant will be a chance for NPr to hire journalists capable of working on the stories that will reach more diverse audiences. Although lee was attending the convention, NABJ ended its partnership with Unity Journalists following a revenue sharing dispute with UNity Journalists inc.

“i hope this project serves as an example that these issues should be discussed and covered,” lee said. he added that he hopes to see the journalists and content integrated within the organization’s overall coverage, not pushed to a corner.

NPr assured that the race, ethnicity, and culture team’s work will influence its daily coverage across beats and media platforms. the majority of NPr’s finances are from program fees, dues paid by member stations, and corporate sponsor-ships, according to a report on its website.

NPr does not receive direct federal funding, but it com-petes for grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcast-ing and from federal agencies, which annually total about $2 million to $3 million.

A Corporation for Public Broadcasting spokeswoman could not be reached by phone or e-mail for comment. Patri-cia harrison, president and Ceo of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said in a prepared news release that increasing service to diverse audiences “is a consideration in virtually every investment we make.”

{SIKH cont’d from page 5}

a personal grudge, the sikhs and the rest of the public will have an answer. if investigators conclude he was mo-tivated by racist ideology, that might lead police to ac-complices, help collect intelligence on white supremacist groups, and prevent future attacks.

Page’s girlfriend, 31-year-old nursing student Misty Cook, faces legal trouble herself. she was arrested on a tentative charge of being a felon in possession of a fire-arm, south Milwaukee police said tuesday. there was no immediate indication that her arrest was linked to sunday’s shooting, and police refused to release addi-tional information.

Details of Cook’s felony conviction weren’t immedi-ately clear.

the voicemail on Cook’s cellphone was full and wouldn’t accept a message. however, in regard to the shooting, she

told the Milwaukee Journal sentinel in an e-mail, “if i could say something to ease the pain of the victims and their families, i would gladly do so. Unfortunately, words do not begin to heal the pain they are going through.”

No matter how thorough the investigation, the final conclusions are bound to leave victims with many of the same anguish-filled questions.

“whatever the answer is, we can be reasonably sure it won’t be an answer many people would say makes sense to them,” said University of wisconsin-Madison law pro-fessor Michael scott, who is writing a guidebook for po-lice on hate crimes.

“we’d like to have some peek into that twisted mind. But in the end, it’s still a peek into a twisted mind that doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about human nature.”

Todd Richmond can be reached at [email protected]. Dinesh Ramde can be reached at [email protected].

Sikh Temple of Washington

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{TURANDOT cont’d from page 1}

the creation of the opera. they worked to create a balance between the perceived but inaccurate realities written into the play and the overall fancy of a fairy tale.

while many details of turandot are viewed as stereotypical or as a product of misled exoticism, the opera is celebrated for its representation of an era.

“we immersed ourselves into the Chinese culture and read about lots of things, looked at all the architecture we possibly could,” said Barbe. “since it’s a fairy tale and was written by a gentleman who never went to China, but was in love with the image of China, we wanted to keep that aspect of the fairy tale.”

Giacomo Puccini wrote turandot, a story set in 19th century China, without ever setting foot in China. he started the opera in 1924, in an era when western views of the east were dominated by exoticism. After Puccini’s death, it was finished in 1926 by Franco Alfano.

this story centers on the beautiful but icy Princess turandot and Prince Calaf, who falls in love with her. Before the prince can obtain permission to marry the princess, he, like all other suitors, must solve three riddles. A wrong answer to one riddle will result in death. Breaking the pattern of many executed princes, Prince Calaf becomes the first to pass the test.

Barbe also drew on the era when the opera was made to influence costume design.

“we wanted to speak a little bit about the fact that the opera was created in 1926. so the flavor of it, for example of Ping, Pong, and Pang, is very much a burlesque or vaudeville style. … we wanted to give them this flavor of the 1920s, so they’re drinking martinis and one is wearing a bowler hat, one is wearing a straw hat, and one is wearing a top hat. it was also to show the westernized influence [that it had on] China at the time,” said Barbe.

Ping, Pong, and Pang are three ministers in the opera that work for turandot in governmental roles. tired of an endless stream of suitors that inevitably end up failing turandot’s riddles and being put to death, they try unsuccessfully to

convince Prince Calaf not to become a suitor. “in many ways, they are the same character,”

said tenor Julius Ahn, a korean American who plays Pang.

“it’s three different people, but they move together, sometimes they finish each other’s sentences, or they start another’s thought.”

Joseph hu, a taiwanese American tenor, plays Pong in the trio with Ahn.

“i like Pong very much. in the opera, he says how he wants to go back home, to his province, and my parents are from that province,” hu says of his character and the tie he feels to his Chinese parents while playing him.

hu also points out details in what he calls a ‘quasi-Chinese story’ that are more accurate to the culture like the practice of riddles and the test or fight to win a bride. in their research, Doucet and Barbe also found more details that showed a deeper reverence for the Chinese culture than most would expect.

“Puccini, by his use of numbers, is really respecting Chinese numerology,” said Doucet. “it was very striking when we started looking at the score, and started looking at Chinese culture and the impact of numerology on this. the goal was to make sure we were respecting those [elements], because it is important. And who knows, if we are successful, maybe it’s because we placed people by eight.”

the culture, it seems, is in the details. But whether the opera finds success in seattle for respecting these details or through the overall themes, it will certainly be due to a balance of both.

“there are many, many references to the eastern world, the exoticism of the late 19th century that europeans were so fascinated by, but ironically, i think [the audience] will walk away not thinking about the exoticism,” said Ahn. “i think they will walk away with the bigger picture about love, about humanity, about sacrificing and giving, about how not everything is what it seems, and of course the music, the incredible music.”

Samantha Test can be reached at [email protected].

Lori Phillips as Turandot on opening night.

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VOL 31 NO 33 | AUGUST 11 - AUGUST 17, 2012

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