Honorary degrees for Nisei students and a JACL budget gap

Vol. 149, No. 10, November 20, 2009. 16 pages. View this issue

Nisei students from the University of California, whose studies were cut short by the World War II incarceration (often called internment), were set to receive honorary degrees under Assembly Bill 37. Christine McFadden spoke with former students including Jim Yamasaki and Cedrick Shimo. JACL’s finances were the other main story: Lynda Lin reported a $43,356 third quarter deficit and a push for year-end fundraising, while Floyd Mori asked members to help recruit new or lapsed members.

Other pages followed supporters of the Minidoka Historic Site fighting a feedlot and a power line, Little Tokyo stakeholders pressing Metro on the Regional Connector, and a spending bill with funds for Manzanar, Heart Mountain and a Honouliuli study. JACL and Muslim American groups called for calm after Fort Hood. The paper also listed 2010 JACL scholarship deadlines and the Merced Day of Remembrance event.

What’s in this issue

Commentary

• Membership Needs Your Help, by Floyd Mori, page 2. JACL National Director Floyd Mori calls on members to help recruit new or lapsed members to meet the organization’s membership goals. He highlights the vacant vice president of membership position and notes ongoing civil rights issues that make JACL’s work still relevant today.
• Uruguay, Part Two, by Harry K. Honda, page 8. Harry Honda recounts the Pan-American Nikkei Association’s Sayonara dinner in Montevideo, Uruguay, featuring taiko performances and an impromptu karaoke contest among Nikkei leaders from across the Americas. He also reflects on PANA’s history dating back to its founding in 1980 at the JACL San Francisco convention.
• Ratings Boost, by Peter Shigeki Frandsen, page 8. Frandsen criticizes media pundits and news anchors for sensationalizing the Fort Hood tragedy by repeatedly raising questions linking the shooter’s Muslim faith to potential backlash against Muslim soldiers. He argues this ratings-driven journalism does a disservice to Muslim Americans and undermines the diversity of the U.S. Armed Forces.
• The AAPI Community Needs Immigration Reform Now, by Kristin Fukushima, page 13. Fukushima argues that comprehensive immigration reform is a critical AAPI civil rights issue, noting that Filipino Americans face some of the longest visa sponsorship backlogs. She urges the community to mobilize now that health care reform is nearing completion.

National

• Minidoka Supporters Take on Feedlot, Power Line, by Nalea J. Ko, page 3. A coalition including JACL, Friends of Minidoka and others is fighting a proposed animal feedlot and a power transmission line that threaten the Minidoka Historic Site. Legal battles and lobbying efforts continue as supporters seek to preserve the site for future generations.
• JACL Denounces Media Personality for ‘Oriental’ Comment, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Radio guest Bo Dietl made a racially insensitive remark about Katie Couric’s appearance on Don Imus’ show, prompting JACL’s Bill Yoshino to send a letter of objection to Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. Yoshino criticized Fox for continuing to invite Dietl despite his behavior.
• Hokubei Mainichi Closes, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The 61-year-old bilingual Japanese American newspaper Hokubei Mainichi printed its last edition Oct. 30 due to declining circulation and ad revenue. The company’s president said it would still seek investors.
• Judge Resigns After Flap Over Interracial Wedding, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Louisiana justice of the peace Keith Bardwell resigned after being criticized for refusing to marry an interracial couple, citing concerns about their children. The couple has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against him.
• House Recognizes Filipino American History Month, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution recognizing Filipino American History Month, introduced by Rep. Bob Filner. The Senate had passed its own version earlier in October.
• Same-sex Marriage Backers Vow to Keep Up Fight in Maine, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Supporters of Maine’s same-sex marriage law vowed to continue their civil rights struggle after voters rejected the law, though they received 47 percent support. The defeat follows a similar loss in California’s Proposition 8 campaign.
• Jury Convicts Illinois Man of Manslaughter, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A jury convicted a 33-year-old man of involuntary manslaughter in the 2007 drowning death of Vietnamese American fisherman Du Doan. Prosecutors had sought a murder conviction but the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge.
• JACL, Muslim American Groups Call for Calm After Fort Hood, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 11. Following the Fort Hood shooting, JACL and Muslim American groups called for tolerance and warned against backlash against Muslim Americans, drawing parallels to the WWII treatment of Japanese Americans. JACL leaders Larry Oda and Floyd Mori issued statements urging understanding amid rising anti-Muslim sentiment.
• 2010 Spending Bill Includes Funds For Honouliuli Study, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 12. The fiscal 2010 Department of Interior spending bill includes $3 million for camp preservation projects, including funds for Manzanar, Minidoka, Heart Mountain, and a feasibility study for Hawaii’s Honouliuli Gulch. JACL Hawaii President Shawn Benton praised the move as advancing the dream of making Honouliuli a national historic site.
• President Reestablishes White House AAPI Initiative, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 12. President Obama signed an executive order reestablishing the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders, aiming to improve health, education and economic outcomes for AAPI communities. JACL National Director Floyd Mori attended the ceremony, which also honored athlete Wat Misaka and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
• JACL Applauds Expansion of Hate Crimes Legislation, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 12. President Obama signed into law an expansion of federal hate crimes legislation to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, a decade-long goal for JACL and other civil rights groups. The bill was named after Matthew Shepard and James Byrd and passed attached to a defense spending measure.
• Bill is Introduced to Fight Hepatitis, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 14. Rep. Mike Honda introduced H.R. 3974, the Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Control and Prevention Act of 2009, aimed at boosting funding for Hepatitis education and research. APAs have disproportionately higher rates of Hepatitis B and liver cancer compared to other ethnic groups.

In-Depth

• Former UC Students Reflect on their Honorary Degrees, by Christine McFadden, page 4. Former Nisei students whose UC education was interrupted by WWII incarceration, including Jim Yamasaki and Cedrick Shimo, will receive honorary degrees under Assembly Bill 37 signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. UC Berkeley, UCSF, UC Davis and UCLA are scheduling ceremonies to honor about 400 former students or their families.

Community

• Metro Agrees to Explore Alternative Build Option in Little Tokyo, by Nalea J. Ko, page 5. Little Tokyo stakeholders pressed MTA officials to explore a fifth alternative for the Regional Connector Transit Corridor project, citing concerns over construction impacts on the Nishi Hongwanji Temple and local businesses. MTA agreed to explore new options while continuing environmental review expected to complete in summer 2010.
• JACLers Wanted More for the Next Generations, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 7. Florice Kuwahara, a longtime Cortez JACL member, left a $40,000 donation to JACL in her will for educational scholarships before she passed away in April at age 90. Her nephew Floyd Shimomura shared her story, including her wedding on Dec. 7, 1941, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.
• Oregon Garden Dedicated in Honor of JA Farmers, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 11. The Harada Japanese Garden was dedicated in Brogan, Oregon, to honor pioneering Japanese American farmers including Hideo Harada and his brother Dick. The garden features a plaque naming all the area’s pioneering JA families.
• Voice Your Opinion on NPS Confinement Sites Grant Program, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 14. The National Park Service is hosting a series of ‘listening sessions’ across the country to gather feedback on its grant program for preserving WWII Japanese confinement sites. In 2009, NPS awarded 19 grants totaling $970,000 for such preservation efforts.
• DOR Events Set at Merced Assembly Center, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 15. A Day of Remembrance dinner and dedication ceremony will be held Feb. 20, 2010 at the Merced Assembly Center to unveil a monument honoring former internees. The assembly center held more than 5,000 Japanese Americans before closing in September 1942.

JACL

• JACL’s Third Quarter Deficit Places Weight on Year-End Fundraisers, by Lynda Lin, page 6. JACL closed the third quarter with a $43,356 deficit due to declining membership revenue and the economic recession, according to national board members. Officials are hopeful year-end fundraisers and rising investments will help balance the 2009 budget.
• PSW to Host First JACL Annual Convention, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 7. The JACL national board selected the Pacific Southwest District’s bid to host the first-ever annual convention in 2011. The convention date and location have not yet been finalized, though locations like the Hyatt Century Plaza and Hyatt Regency Orange County are being considered.
• Paramount Agrees to Ongoing Dialogue, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 13. JACL leaders met with Paramount Pictures officials to discuss concerns over racially insensitive content in the film ‘The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.’ Paramount’s president committed to ongoing dialogue and further meetings to monitor the studio’s performance regarding stereotyping of ethnic minorities.
• JACL Chapters Celebrate their 75th, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 15. Both the Arizona and Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL chapters celebrated their 75th anniversaries with gala events featuring keynote speeches, awards, and recognition of longtime members. Arizona JACL awarded its first-ever Silver Pins to members with 10+ years of active service.
• Apply Now For 2010 JACL Scholarships, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 15. JACL is calling for applications for its 2010 scholarship program, which awards about 30 scholarships totaling over $50,000 annually. Freshman applications are due to local chapters by March 1, 2010, with other categories due by April 1, 2010.

Arts & Entertainment

• New Hapa Doctor in Hollywood, by Nalea J. Ko, page 9. Actor Daniel Henney discusses his rising American career, including his role as Dr. David Lee on CBS’s ‘Three Rivers,’ after years of success in South Korea. He reflects on his modeling background, awkward childhood, and fighting for roles regardless of how they were originally written.

Sports

• Seattle Mariners Manager Gears Up For 2010, by Nalea J. Ko, page 10. Don Wakamatsu, MLB’s only APA manager, discusses his first season leading the Seattle Mariners, his low-key managerial style, and his connection to his grandparents’ WWII incarceration at Tule Lake. He also talks about balancing family life in Texas with his baseball career.

Obituaries

• Sachi Wada Seko, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 15. Sachi Wada Seko, 82, passed away Nov. 10 in Salt Lake City, UT, and once wrote a regular column for the Pacific Citizen titled ‘From Happy Valley.’ She is survived by her son Alan Kent Seko, and per her wishes was cremated with ashes scattered.
• Kham Xiong, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 15. PFC Kham Xiong, 23, was one of 13 victims killed in the Fort Hood shooting on Nov. 5. He grew up in California, moved to St. Paul, MN, and is survived by his wife, three children, parents and 10 siblings.
• Masa Tsukamoto, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 15. Masa Tsukamoto, 86, died Oct. 8 in Boise, ID, and was a prominent potato farmer in Blackfoot, ID credited with inventing several popular farm implements. He was also involved in establishing the Minidoka Relocation Center monument in 1979.

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