Vol. 113, No. 9, September 27, 1991. 8 pages. View this issue
California’s response to hate crimes led this eight-page issue. A new state commission will develop recommendations on training and enforcement, alongside a bill to toughen misdemeanor and felony sentences. A second front-page story covered a bill, authored by David Roberti, to study the state’s contracting with minority and women-owned businesses. Bush and Peru’s President Fujimori meeting over a $96 million aid package also made the news, and the paper carried two stories on efforts to preserve the Heart Mountain camp site as a museum for the more than 11,000 people incarcerated there during World War II.
Bill Hosokawa’s column looked at English words written in katakana, and a second piece noted Frank Iritani’s guidebook to the ten wartime camp sites, including Gila River. JACL announced two more scholarship winners, John Marc Hilinski-Uchima and Jodi Anne Leilani, and chapter news covered Cleveland, Seattle and a Fresno fundraiser with Lawson Inada.
What’s in this issue
National
- California Creates Commission to Battle Hate Crimes, by P.C. Staff, page 1. California announced a commission that will develop recommendations for training and enforcement to combat hate crimes, including a bill to toughen misdemeanor and felony sentences for such crimes. Commission members include representatives from human rights commissions, law enforcement, and academic institutions across the state.
- California Bill Would Study State’s Contracting With Minorities, Women, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The California Legislature passed a bill authored by Senate President pro Tempore David Roberti to study the state’s past and present contracting practices with minority and women-owned businesses. A 1990 report found the state doing only about one percent of its contracting with these groups, far below required targets of 15 percent for minority firms and five percent for women’s businesses.
- Health Plan for Women, Children Is Announced, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A brief announcement regarding a new health plan initiative for women and children in Washington, D.C. Details of the program were introduced as part of federal health policy news.
- Bush, Fujimori Meet Over U.S. Aid, by P.C. Staff, page 3. President Bush met with Peru’s President Fujimori and released a $96 million U.S. aid package tied to a crop substitution plan encouraging coca farmers to grow legal crops instead. Bush emphasized that without the aid, cocaine trafficking and human rights abuses would continue unabated, while Fujimori described plans to help farmers transition to legal agriculture.
Incarceration & Redress
- Heart Mountain Camp Is Sought as Site of Museum, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Advocates are pushing for the former Heart Mountain incarceration camp site to be preserved as a museum honoring the more than 11,000 people interned there during World War II. The effort includes addressing differing views on how history should be presented, including perspectives from former internees like Sakatani.
- Heart Mountain Museum Effort Continues, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Continued coverage of the Heart Mountain museum preservation effort details Sakatani’s criticism that the existing 1963 American Legion monument fails to represent the internees’ perspective. Reetz acknowledged differences of opinion but expressed commitment to preserving the site’s full history with input from former internees.
JACL
- Two More Added to JACL List of Scholarships, by P.C. Staff, page 2. JACL announced two additional scholarship winners beyond the previously announced list of 35: John Marc Hilinski-Uchima and Jodi Anne Leilani, recipients of named scholarships. Hilinski-Uchima, a medical student from San Diego, has combined scholarship, research, and community involvement including karate instruction.
Community
- Short Takes, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A roundup of brief news items including a cool reception to a Pearl Harbor symposium in Honolulu and other short community and national news items. Various awardees for scholarships were also listed alongside other short community notices.
- Besides Potatoes, Pelicans Abound in Idaho, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. A lighthearted item about Frank Wada of Pingree, Idaho, and the abundance of pelicans preying on trout in the region, alongside notes about a guidebook by Frank Iritani documenting the ten WWII detention camp sites. The piece touches on how some camp sites are well-marked with monuments while others, like the Gila River site, are quietly returning to the desert.
- Agenda (Continued from Page 3) – Chapter News, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A roundup of JACL chapter activities across the country including Cleveland’s discussion of Asian American visibility in community leadership, a Seattle pre-retirement workshop series, and Fresno’s fundraising ‘Soiree’ event featuring poet Lawson Inada and clarinetist Miles Ishigaki. The Fresno event raised approximately $700 for the Central California Nikkei Foundation.
Commentary
- A Thing About English in Katakana, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Bill Hosokawa’s column ‘Moshi Moshi’ explores the Japanese fascination with English words rendered in katakana, noting the massive industry around English-language education and media in Japan. He discusses how this fixation on English creates both cultural richness and potential problems for the preservation of the Japanese language itself.
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