JACL scholarship winners on keeping the organization relevant

Vol. 151, No. 6, September 17, 2010. 16 pages. View this issue

The 2010 National JACL Scholarships and Awards Program filled most of this issue. The program dates back to 1946, and this year it awarded more than $65,000 to 44 JACLers across the country. Pages 6 through 14 carry excerpts from the winning essays, grouped by freshman, undergraduate, graduate, law and special awards. Among the winners were Rachel Seeman, Alyssa Chow, Greg Toya and Shirley Tang. Their essays offered ideas on engaging younger Asian Americans, from youth chapters to new media.

On page 3, journalist Roxana Saberi, a former JACL national scholarship winner who was imprisoned in Iran for 100 days, answered questions from JACL youth members about her captivity and human rights. Nalea J. Ko reported on Vietnamese American fishing families on the Gulf Coast after the oil spill, and interviewed actress Keiko Agena about her career, from ‘Gilmore Girls’ to ‘Transformers 3’.

What’s in this issue

In-Depth

• Former JACL Scholarship Winner Talks Human Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Journalist Roxana Saberi, a former JACL national scholarship winner who was imprisoned in Iran for 100 days, discusses her experience and human rights with current JACL youth members via email interview. She reflects on her captivity, her identity as Iranian, Japanese and American, and her hopes for human rights progress in Iran.

National

• Gulf Coast Youth Help Rebuild After Oil Spill, by Nalea J. Ko, page 4. BP released a report on the Deepwater Horizon accident that shares blame with Halliburton and Transocean, while Vietnamese American fishing families in the Gulf Coast struggle to rebuild their lives and livelihoods after the spill. Community leaders say the disaster is affecting young people in the fisher community, from financial aid eligibility to family dynamics, as displaced fishermen await work rather than more claims money.

Arts & Entertainment

• Keiko Agena: From ‘Gilmore Girls’ to ‘Transformers 3’, by Nalea J. Ko, page 5. Actress Keiko Agena, known for playing Lane Kim on ‘Gilmore Girls,’ discusses her small role in ‘Transformers 3,’ working with Frances McDormand and director Michael Bay, and her new obsession with puppetry. She also reflects on breaking into the entertainment industry and finding success and challenges throughout her career.

JACL

• Celebrating Tomorrow’s Leaders, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The National JACL Scholarships and Awards Program, dating back to 1946, awarded more than $65,000 to 44 JACLers across the country this year. The issue features excerpts from winning essays about academic achievement and community involvement.
• Freshman Awards: Rachel Seeman, Natalie Rojas, Kaila Yoshitomi, Catherine Ishitani, Naomi Schurr, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Freshman scholarship winners including Rachel Seeman, Natalie Rojas, Kaila Yoshitomi, Catherine Ishitani and Naomi Schurr share essay excerpts on how JACL can better engage younger generations through youth chapters, cultural programs, and educational outreach. Winners discussed personal connections to JACL’s history and mission of civil rights advocacy.
• Freshman Awards Continued: Lindsay Oda, Gordon Wong, Jenna Kanegawa, Nicole Gaddie, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Additional freshman scholarship recipients Lindsay Oda, Gordon Wong, Jenna Kanegawa and Nicole Gaddie offer ideas for making JACL more relevant to younger Asian Americans, including partnering with popular youth communities online, school outreach programs, and creating age-specific youth groups. Their essays emphasize inclusion and connecting JACL’s mission with contemporary youth culture.
• Undergraduate Awards: Alyssa Chow and Taihei Fukumoto, by P.C. Staff, page 9. Undergraduate scholarship winners Alyssa Chow and Taihei Fukumoto discuss using mass media and college sub-chapters to keep JACL relevant amid globalization and increasing multiracial Asian American identities. Chow highlights documentation technology while Fukumoto proposes expanding JACL’s presence on college campuses like the University of Washington.
• Undergraduate Awards Continued: David Fukunaga, Christine Fukushima, by P.C. Staff, page 10. David Fukunaga and Christine Fukushima share essay excerpts about strengthening JACL relevance through local chapter engagement and continued vigilance against modern manifestations of racism. Fukunaga cites the Portland Jr. JACL’s convention trip as an example of effective youth engagement.
• Undergraduate Awards Continued: Marcus Heleker, Jeremy Lee, Monica Matsumoto, by P.C. Staff, page 10. Scholarship winners Marcus Heleker, Jeremy Lee, and Monica Matsumoto discuss inclusive membership policies, educational outreach about Asian American history, and creating meaningful community connections within JACL. Their essays emphasize expanding the organization’s identity without compromising its civil rights mission.
• Undergraduate and Graduate Awards: Tara Ohrtman, Gregory Bennett, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Tara Ohrtman and Gregory Bennett’s winning essays discuss JACL’s role in fostering understanding of internment history and providing community and solidarity for Asian American youth transitioning into adulthood. Both emphasize the organization’s value beyond activism, as a support network for identity and belonging.
• Graduate Awards: Paul Fisk, Emily Leach, Jacqueline Mac, Katherine Sanui, by P.C. Staff, page 12. Graduate scholarship winners including Paul Fisk, Emily Leach, Jacqueline Mac, and Katherine Sanui share ideas on emphasizing social justice, addressing generational and multiracial divides, and creating family-friendly cultural programming to engage young Asian Americans. Their essays touch on JACL’s civil rights legacy and the need for modern messaging strategies.
• Graduate Awards Continued: Greg Toya, by P.C. Staff, page 13. Greg Toya, a Japanese Okinawan American scholarship recipient, reflects on his experience as a first-generation university graduate and his work in higher education mentoring younger Asian Americans. He discusses lessons from the JET program about identity and cultural pride.
• Law Awards: Emily Iwasaki, Christopher Lapinig, by P.C. Staff, page 13. Law school scholarship winners Emily Iwasaki and Christopher Lapinig discuss fostering youth camaraderie through group activities and leveraging arts and new media to engage Asian American youth in civil rights activism. Lapinig cites examples of Asian American representation in entertainment as tools for connecting art with advocacy.
• Law Awards Continued: Shirley Tang, by P.C. Staff, page 14. Shirley Tang’s winning essay discusses how younger generations of Asian Americans still face subtler forms of discrimination, including the Model Minority Myth and post-9/11 treatment of Muslim Americans. She proposes professional networking events as a way for JACL to engage young professionals interested in social justice.
• Special Awards: Leigh Nishi-Strattner, Taylour Chang, by P.C. Staff, page 14. Special award winners Leigh Nishi-Strattner and Taylour Chang discuss confronting modern discrimination and using filmmaking to promote JACL’s mission of civil rights and social justice. Chang highlights her documentary work on WWII internment of German Americans in Hawaii as an example of applying JACL’s values to underrepresented histories.

Obituaries

• Kiyoshi Yoshii, page 15. Kiyoshi ‘Kiyo’ Yoshii, born May 7, 1918, passed away September 8, 2010, surrounded by family. He served in the famed 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team during WWII and later worked over 40 years at Naval Supply and the U.S. Postal Service.
• Alice Hamako Shinoda, page 15. Alice Hamako Shinoda died peacefully at age 96 on August 23, 2010, after a life that included defying WWII internment orders with her husband Paul and raising six children. She was active in her church, the Girl Scouts, and JACL, and is remembered for her warmth and generosity toward all who knew her.
• Edward H. Matsuoka, page 15. Edward H. Matsuoka passed away peacefully on August 17, 2010, after a lengthy illness, having lived in Brawley and Los Angeles before internment at Gila River, AZ. He spent a 43-year career with the East Bay Municipal Utility District and is survived by his wife Eiko and three children.

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