vol 32 no 9 | february 23 - march 1, 2013

VOL 32 NO 9 FEBRUARY 23 – MARCH 1, 2013 FREE 31 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 sToryBLOG31 years in the newspaper business » P. 10

NAMES IN THE NEWSWho’s doing what in the Asian community. » P. 2

DIVERSITYThe 2013 Diversity Makes a Difference applicants » P. 7

THE LAYUP DRILLLinsanity revisited and the NHL. » P. 8

PICTORIALScenes from the 2013 Miss Chinatown USA Pageant » P. 9

By Elizabeth WangNorthwest AsiAN weekly

the world shrunk just a tiny bit last thursday and Friday, Feb. 14 and Feb. 15, as students at the University of washington (Uw) hosted their third

ever cultural festival.international University of washington students

from over 30 countries gathered for the third an-nual CulturalFest, a small-scale world expo held on

{see CULTURALFEST cont’d on page 15}

CulturalFest makes the world smaller

CulturalFest featured demonstrations from all regions, including Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

By StaffNorthwest AsiAN weekly

For the second year in a row, washington’s most racially Asian American city will be welcoming the year of the snake in its own way, with a festival hosted at the Center Court of Bellevue square.

the Bellevue Collection, taiwan Benevolent Association of Amer-ica, and overseas Chinese Affairs Council of taiwan will present the lunar New year Celebration on sat-urday, Feb. 23 with programming from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

the celebration will feature cul-tural demonstrations, including martial arts demonstrations, opera and dance performances, and visual arts, and more. Groups performing include members of the washington Chinese youth orchestra, huayin Performing Arts Group, seattle Beijing opera Art school, the south

Puget sound Chinese language school, seattle Folk Dance Club, and hengda Dance Academy.

{see BELLEVUE SQUARE cont’d on page 13}

Bellevue Square welcomes the Year of the Snake

Bellevue Square dressed in red for the Lunar New Year event.

Education reformer Michelle Rhee is currently on tour promoting her new book.

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By Charles LamNorthwest AsiAN weekly

seattle is a title town again as hometown sweetheart leah li has won the 2013 Miss Chinatown UsA pageant, as well as the pageant’s Miss talent title.

li won the title saturday, Feb. 16 in san Francisco, beating out a field of 11 other contestants from across the country in front of a crowd of over 900 people to represent the Chinese community in the states.

her win marks the third time in the new millennium that a representative from the Greater seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce has won. seattle winners were also crowned in 2001 and 2008.

“we are very proud to have leah represent the Chamber,” said former Greater seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce President May wan. “she not only has a beautiful fact, she also has a pleasant personality, good manners, respects the elderly, and is very poised. her dance was beautiful.”

however, li’s win is notable in that she did not qualify

{see LI cont’d on page 13}

Seattle native Leah Li crowned 2013 Miss Chinatown USA

By Zachariah BryanNorthwest AsiAN weekly

there is no middle ground when it comes to national education re-form figure Michelle rhee. People either love her or they hate her.

At a talk she gave on tuesday, Feb. 19, at seattle town hall, to pro-mote her new book, “radical: Fight-ing to Put students First,” both sides

were prevalent. Audience members ranged from those eager to soak in every word of the cold, hard truth rhee had to deliver, to those who scoffed and laughed mockingly after every big point rhee tried to make.

in her new book, rhee tells her personal story of her life

{see RHEE cont’d on page 6}

Michelle Rhee on charter schools, standardized testing, and being Korean American

2 FEBRUARY 23 – MARCH 1, 2013 asianweeklynorthwest

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Hong Kong Association raises funds for the Bruce Lee Action Museum

the Hong Kong Associa-tion of Washington Founda-tion raised over $250,000 for the Bruce Lee Action Museum during their annual Chinese New year Black tie Gala on Feb. 9 at the sheraton seattle hotel.

the event kicks off the fund-raising campaign for the mu-seum, which will be built in seattle.

the event featured cultural performances, from dragon and lion dances to musical

and dance performances. over 900 people attended, including Shannon Lee, the daughter of Bruce lee.

Donations are still being accepted for the museum. Donations over $50 may receive a copy of the book, “Bruce lee: An evolu-tion of a Martial Artist,” a limited-edition, numbered book signed by Bruce lee’s wife linda, daughter shannon, and book author

tommy Gong. those interested in a book may contact Jerry lee at jerry.lee[at]mulvannyg2.com.

Seattle middle schooler named top volunteer of 2013

Jessica Chin, 12, of seattle was named one of washington’s top two youth volunteers of 2013 on Feb. 5 by the Prudential spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honor-ing young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism.

Jessica, a seventh-grader at seattle Country Day school, has worked for several years with her family at a facil-ity that provides free children’s cloth-ing and supplies to homeless families. she also raises money and takes care

of dogs and cats for the local humane society. to support her local humane society chapter, Jessica has do-

nated over $600 by participating in two fundraising walks and persuading family members to walk with her.

As a state honoree, Jessica will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all expense paid trip in early May to washington, D.C.

New York Representative Grace Meng to visit Seattle

Grace Meng, representative of New york’s 6th Congressional District and first ever Asian American congressper-son from the east coast, will be in the seattle area on saturday, Feb. 23 on an invitation from the seattle international leadership Foundation. Meng will be the keynote speaker at ilF’s 2013 seattle Ad-visory Board inauguration.

that morning, she will also be par-ticipating in the Chinese information and

service Center’s 4th annual lunar New year walkathon. the

event will take place at Bailey Gatzert elementary school run-ning from 9 a.m. until noon. the three-mile walk will raise funds to help CisC accomplish its mission of helping Asian immigrants successfully make the transition to a new life, while keeping old-er generations in touch with their heritage.

registration for the walk is $15, and donations are currently being accepted through the CisC website.

Catherine Giudici advances to the final three of The Bachelor

Catherine Giudici, half Filipino se-attle native, is now one of the final three contestants on the 17th season of ABC’s The Bachelor. she is the first Asian American to make it to the final three. the last episode brought her back to se-attle for a date with Bachelor sean lowe. the two toured Pike Place Market and met with Giudici’s family, speaking with her sisters, mother, and grandmother.

As one of the final three contestants, Giudici will head on loca-tion to thailand as the show begins to wrap up. the Northwest Asian weekly has spoken with the Giudici family, who is cur-rently under contract and cannot to reveal any details.

John Chen signs books at February Chinese Chamber of Commerce luncheon

Geoteaming Ceo John Chen signed copies of his book, “50 Digital Team-Building Games,” at a February lun-cheon hosted by the Greater seattle Chi-nese Chamber of Commerce at the lA Cafe. the book contains meeting open-ers, team activities, and group adventures to better unite business teams, develop trust, and foster increased collaboration

and communication.

Daughter Shannon Lee at the gala

Bruce Lee: The Evolution of a Martial Artist

Jessica Chin

Grace Meng

Catherine GiudiciPhot

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31 YEARS yoUr VoICe FEBRUARY 23 – MARCH 1, 2013 3


■ nATIonAl neWs

By Mark KennedyAP DrAMA writer

New york City, N.y. (AP) — the percentage of minority actors working on Broadway and at the top 16 not-for-profit theater companies in New york City rose to 23 percent dur-ing the 2011-2012 season, but whites continue to be overrepre-sented, according to a new report.

the Asian American Performers Action Coalition released its second annual look at ethnic representation on New york

stages and found that minority actors overall saw a 2 percent increase from the previous season.

it found that African American actors were cast in 16 per-cent of all roles, hispanics in 3 percent, and Asian American actors in 3 percent. Caucasians filled 77 percent of all roles, far outweighing their respective population size in the metro and tri-state areas.

According to 2010 U.s. Census numbers, Blacks make up 23 percent of the city’s population and 17 percent of the tri-state area. hispanics made up 28.6 percent of the city and 22

percent of the tri-state area. Asian Americans comprised 13 percent of the city and 9 percent of the tri-state area. whites are 33 percent of the city and almost 62 percent of the tri-state’s population.

Black actors increased their representation by 2 percent compared to last season, while hispanics stayed the same as last season, and Asian Americans saw their numbers tick up by 1 percent.

{see NYC cont’d on page 12}

By Don Thompsonthe AssoCiAteD Press

sACrAMeNto, Calif. (AP) — A santa Clara man was charged Friday, Feb. 15 with possessing assault weapons, explosives, and bomb-making materials after the California highway Patrol tracked an e-mailed death threat sent to Democratic state sen. leland yee of san Francisco.

santa Clara County prosecutors charged everett Basham with 10 felonies, including three counts of illegally possessing assault weapons, two counts of possessing a destructive device, two counts of possessing bomb-making materials, and one count each of making criminal threats, forging, and possessing a fake driver’s license.

he also faces misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed

and loaded 9mm handgun in a vehicle.the 45-year-old Basham did not enter a plea in his first court

appearance Friday. his attorney, Jenny Brandt, did not immedi-ately return a telephone message seeking comment.

he is being held without bail in the county jail until his next court appearance, set for thursday.

the complaint alleges that Basham sent an unnamed constitu-tional officer a threatening e-mail on Jan. 11. he was arrested by the highway Patrol on tuesday, and yee said the arrest resulted from an explicit death threat he received after introducing gun control legislation.

two of the charges allege that Basham possessed assault weapons with detachable magazines. yee said thursday that the e-mail threatened him with assassination unless he stopped push-ing legislation to ban so-called “bullet buttons,” devices that per-

mit swift reloading of military-style assault weapons by allowing for the rapid exchange of ammunition magazines.

he is also charged with possessing a shotgun that falls within California’s definition of an assault weapon.

yee spokesman Adam keigwin said Friday that the senator has turned over a second e-mail to the ChP, this one sent in August by someone with the last name of Basham. the e-mail is in all capital letters and lays out the writer’s arguments against gun control.

“he’s just making arguments on why the gun legislation is a bad idea, just giving his perspective on it, but there’s nothing in here that’s threatening,” keigwin said.

the threatening letter in January came from a different

{see CA cont’d on page 12}

Calif. man charged with threatening Sen. Leland Yee

Some gains for minority actors in NYC

By David GermainAP Movie writer

los ANGeles, Calif. (AP) — with 11 Academy Awards nominations —

second only to “lincoln” with 12 — and the sort of global box office receipts normally re-served for superheroes, “life of Pi” is one of the most unusual megahits ever to hit the big screen. Approaching $600 million at the box office worldwide, the film is by far the top-grosser among the nine best picture nominees — with $200 million more than “les Mis-erables” and “Django Unchained,” its closest rivals.

“life of Pi” has action, suspense, and spec-tacle, but it’s a thoughtful, contemplative, internalized film, a philosophical and even cryptic story that touched something in the worldwide psyche resulting in business in the realm of more traditional hollywood hits, such as “the hunger Games,” “Men in Black 3,” and “Brave.”

though backed by 20th Century Fox, the film has an international sensibility that “life of Pi” director Ang lee hopes will gradually become part of everyday business in holly-wood, which has a long history of telling tales — even overseas ones — with an American perspective.

“it’s a global movie culture. the mainstream cinematic language was largely set up by hol-

lywood, Americans, therefore it’s American. some european directors, but it was an Ameri-can spirit,” lee said. “i think the film language that’s established here, that’s the biggest ob-stacle when you try to do something different. you know, the world views things differently. they have different life experiences.”

lee grew up in taiwan, went to film school at New york University, and has become one of hollywood’s most-eclectic filmmakers, turning his martial-arts epic “Crouching tiger, hidden Dragon” into a critical and commercial smash and winning the best director oscar for “Brokeback Mountain.”

Along with lee, who’s up for best direc-tor and best picture as a producer on “life of Pi,” the film’s oscar-nominated collabo-rators include American screenwriter Da-vid Magee, Canadian composer Mychael Danna, Chilean cinematographer Claudio

Miranda, and indian lyricist Bombay Jayas-hri, who sings the theme song, which she co-wrote with Danna. the film’s largely indian cast is led by newcomer suraj sharma as teen-age Pi Patel and irrfan khan as adult Pi, with French superstar Gerard Depardieu and British actor rafe spall co-starring.

“every big movie doesn’t need to be Ameri-can. this movie had virtually nothing Ameri-can about it,” said Gitesh Pandya, who runs the

{see PI cont’d on page 15}

Overseas slice of ‘Pi’ flips Hollywood formula


■ World neWs

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

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By Teresa Cerojanothe AssoCiAteD Press

MANilA, Philippines (AP) — Angelica Nino, a 22-year-old manager of a Manila res-taurant, was preparing to assign shifts to her crew last week when she got a big surprise from her Filipino boyfriend who has been in italy for a year on business.

to mark their first anniversary as a couple and as an early valentine’s Day gift, he sent over a singer and a guitar player to serenade her and read out his love letter.

this scene played out in restaurants, of-fices, and homes across the Philippines on valentine’s Day.

with nearly 10 percent of the country’s

94 million people working abroad, clearly there was room for someone to play Cupid between long-distance lovers. And then was born a unique surprise serenade service, which includes love songs, a cuddly teddy, and a video recording of the romance-by-proxy event that is shipped to the client abroad. to immortalize their love, the video is also posted on youtube.

At the yoshinoya restaurant, a video cam-era recorded the teary-eyed Nino listening to the love songs by the rental Cupids, while hugging the teddy bear gift. smiling co-workers — who were in on the surprise —

{see PHILIPPINES cont’d on page 12}

By Eric Talmadgethe AssoCiAteD Press

tAMUNiNG, Guam (AP) — their well-equipped arsenals offer everything from tiny revolvers to Berettas, Glocks, semi-automatic pistols, and M16 military assault rifles. if kids can see over the counter, they are welcome, too.

Forget the white sandy beaches, coral reefs, and laid-back island culture. For many tourists from Japan, the biggest thrill is the chance to shoot a gun at one of Guam’s ubiquitous ranges, dozens of which are tucked between upscale shopping centers.

the U.s. territory of Guam — a tropical island often de-scribed as a cheaper version of hawaii — has long been the perfect place to put guns in the hands of tourists, especially from Japan, where gun ownership is tightly restricted and

handguns are banned.Despite a shared sense of shock over the recent rampage by a

gunman at America’s sandy hook elementary school, the gun tourism business here is as brisk as ever.

“it was such a feeling of power,” keigo takizawa, a 30-year-old Japanese actor, said after blasting holes in a paper target with a shotgun, a .44 magnum, and a smith & wesson revolver at the western Frontier village gun club, a cowboy-themed in-door shooting range and gift shop on Guam’s main shopping street.

“But,” he said, “i still don’t think anyone should be allowed to have one of their own.”

Many Japanese see America’s gun culture as both frighten-ing and fascinating. Back home, the only people with handguns are in the military, the police, or the mob.

Because guns are so hard to find, gun-related crime is ex-tremely rare. they were used in only seven murders in Japan — a nation of about 130 million people — in 2011, the most recent year for official statistics. in the United states, with 315 million people, there are more than 11,000 gun-related killings annually.

the Japanese are proud of their low crime rate and generally support tough gun-control policies.

But this Pacific island halfway between tokyo and hono-lulu is America. Guam’s gun ranges are to the Japanese what Amsterdam’s cannabis cafes are to backpackers from the world over.

“i think it’s human nature to be curious about something that

{see GUAM cont’d on page 12}

By Youkyung LeeAP BUsiNess writer

seoUl, south korea (AP) — A south ko-rean lawmaker known for criticism of the samsung conglomerate has forfeited his seat in parliament after the supreme Court ruled he violated communications laws by publish-ing incriminating wiretaps of conversations between samsung officials on the internet.

south korea’s top court upheld a lower court’s conviction of lawmaker roh hoe-chan and a suspended prison sentence. he published transcripts of conversations be-tween an aide to samsung electronics Co. chairman lee kun-hee and lee’s brother-in-law that were recorded by the national intel-

ligence agency. the conviction disqualifies roh from being a lawmaker.

A press release issued by roh in 2005 included a transcript of the conversations, which revealed the names of prosecutors who were showered with cash by samsung. he also posted the transcript to his website.

roh, who was a lawmaker for the oppo-sition Progressive Justice Party, has been a vocal critic of samsung, south korea’s most powerful conglomerate, which dominates the country’s economy. in testimony to the National Assembly in 2005, he used the wiretapped conversations to call for an inves-tigation into samsung’s relationships with

{see KOREA cont’d on page 13}

With no guns at home, Japanese shoot in Guam

SKorean lawmaker loses job over Samsung wiretaps

Filipinos abroad hired Cupids to serenade lovers


■ CoMMUnITy CAlendArSAT 2/23

WHAT: 4th Annual lunar New year walkathonWHERE: Bailey Gatzert elementary school, 1301 e. yesler way, seattleWHEN: 9 a.m.-12 p.m.REGISTER: $15 registration waived if you raised $100 or moreINFO: www.ciscwalkathon.kintera.org

WHAT: Japanese Noodle Cooking Demo with shirley karasawaWHERE: the wing, 719 s. king st., seattleWHEN: 3 p.m.COST: $25/members, $30/general admissionINFO: www.lovelylanvin.com

WHAT: the Bellevue Collection present an all day lunar New year 2013 eventWHERE: Bellevue square in Center CourtWHEN: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.INFO: bellevuecollection.com/lunarnewyear

SUN 2/24

WHAT: Growing our Community, one Pancake at a timeWHERE: kawabe house, 221 18th Ave. s., seattleWHEN: 8 a.m.-1 p.m.COST: $8/personINFO: www.kinon.org

MON 2/25

WHAT: 9th Annual seattle-kobe Female Jazz vocalist AuditionWHERE: Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, 2033 6th Ave., seattleWHEN: 6:30–9:30 p.m.SUGGESTED DONATION: $5/students, $10/adults

FRI 3/1

WHAT: roots and reflections, south Asians in the Pacific NorthwestWHERE: Uw, suzzallo library, room 102

WHEN: 6–8 p.m.RSVP: by Feb. 25INFO: 206-616-8397, [email protected]

WHAT: Annual karaoke Night raises proceeds for a local Asian American organization, wAPiWHERE: seattle U. law Bldg.WHEN: 7–10 p.m.INFO: wapiseattle.org/blog/about

SAT 3/2

WHAT: China’s New Government line Up: likely Policies & implications for U.s. BusinessWHERE: seattle University, student Center 160 leroux room, 901 12th Ave., seattleWHEN: 8–11:30 a.m.REGISTER: wscrc.org/node/281INFO: 206-389-7227, [email protected]

SUN 3/3

WHAT: seattle lee Family Association lunar New year of the snakeWHERE: house of hong restaurant, 409 8th Ave. s., seattleWHEN: 6 p.m.INFO: 206-227-8587, [email protected]

THU 3/7

WHAT: 18th Annual Candlelight vigil, “Breaking the silence through Art”WHERE: king County Courthouse lawn and 9th FloorWHEN: 4-6 p.m.INFO: 206-467-9976, [email protected], www.apichaya.org

WHAT: Be a Print Artist for an eveningWHERE: University of washington, school of Art Building, room 104, 4000 15th Ave. N.e., seattle

WHEN: 6–9 p.m.RSVP: 206-616-1709, [email protected]

SAT 3/9

WHAT: 2013 taunang MeetingWHERE: 2100 Building, 2100-24 Ave. s., seattleWHEN: 1–3 p.m.INFO: 206-545-7055, 425-558-0993, www.facebook.com/llianceofpeoplewithdisabilities

WED 3/13 & THU 3/14

WHAT: Cracking the Codes: the system of racial inequity Film screening and workshopWHERE: seattle University, Campion BallroomCOST: $5–$18, film and workshop is $139INFO: 206-296-2678, [email protected], www.crackingthecodes.org/seattle

{RHEE cont’d from page 1}

commitment to education. it includes her time as a teacher in inner city Baltimore, her time as the first chancellor of wash-ington, D.C. public schools under Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, and her founding of the national education reform organization, studentsFirst, which she described as a “union” to lobby on behalf of kids, just as teachers have unions to lobby for them.

rhee’s policies and cures have not been without their con-troversy. As the chancellor in D.C., opponents said her harsh policies on punishing underperformance were responsible for schools closing down and 241 teachers being fired. she be-lieves that seniority status should not be a factor in teacher layoffs and parents should be able to send their children to whatever school they want. Moreover, she claims that Amer-ica has lost its competitive edge and that parents coddle their children too much, rewarding them even when talent is no-where to be seen.

rhee jokingly used her daughters as an example. they are terrible at soccer, she said, yet they still have all manner of ribbons and trophies to show off. rhee admitted that she was also bad at soccer and said her daughters unfortunately re-ceived the same genes.

For some, her points are lucid. others say she is a teacher hater.

the Northwest Asian weekly had a chance to catch up with rhee before her talk on wednesday.

NWAW: this recent election, we just passed an initiative to do a pilot program of charter schools, to create up to 40. so i guess first of all, i want to know, what is your opinion on charter schools, and secondly, how do you think we should proceed with them?

Rhee: so i am a huge fan of effective charter schools. i think the problem in the debate today is that some people think that charter schools are the answer to all of the problems in public education, and other people think they are the root of all evil. the fact of the matter is that they are neither, they’re somewhere in the middle.

there are incredibly effective charter schools across this country that really do absolutely heroic things for the kids, and those schools should be recognized, they should be grown

to scale. And there are some not so good charter schools, and those schools should be closed.

so i think as washington state moves forward in this, what it should be focused on is less, “is this a charter school ver-sus a traditional public school?” it should be more about, “is this an effective school?” Because i think that’s the dynamic, that’s the differentiation you want the public to make.

NWAW: i don’t know if you’ve heard about the MAP test-ing protest going on here. (rhee nods yes.) what i want to know is either your opinion on MAP testing, or assessment testing in general. is it effective? And how should we handle this situation?

Rhee: what the bottom line is is that assessing kids in a consistent standardized way is important. you can’t have ev-ery teacher, every school developing their own test — then you can’t do apples to apples comparisons, which is what you’re going to have to do in a district or a state. you have to know what kids are doing, who has grown the most, etc. so we have to have these.

that said, you know, are the vast majority of standardized tests in the country perfect? No. Are they good? some of them aren’t even good. And so we have to do a tremendous amount of work to improve them.

with the MAP test … (teachers should) go back to the table and say, “ok, here’s what worked and what didn’t work, and here’s what we want to see moving forward,” as opposed to a boycott, which quite frankly i don’t see the productivity in, number one. Number two, you see this sort of thing going on across the country where people are saying, “well, boycott this test,” and “solidarity with seattle,” when these teachers and these students don’t actually even know what the specific issues in seattle are, and they might not even have that issue in their state. it helps feed into the anti-testing frenzy, which i don’t think is a helpful one

NWAW: Can you speak to any personal experiences as an Asian American in the American education system?

Rhee: i write about this in my book. i grew up in a korean American household that was very focused on education. i spent a year in korea in the 6th grade and just learned how important education was in the culture. it was the thing every parent focused on. every kid knew they were going to be held accountable.

i think that what we have to understand in America is that’s who our kids are competing against. we have to know in the new global economy that this is not about the kids in seattle competing for jobs against the kids in sacramento or Mem-phis. they’re going to be competing for jobs against kids in india or China or korea, so we have to understand more about the good things those countries are doing.

NWAW: Do you think there can be more done for people of color in general in our education system?

Rhee: well, you know we have a significant achievement gap here in this country, where African American and latino kids are graduating at a much lower rate. their achievements are at a much lower level. And so we have to focus as a coun-try on making it a priority to ensure the color of a child’s skin does not dictate their educational achievement levels.

For more information, visit http://www.studentsfirst.org/pages/about-michelle-rhee.

As of press time, Michelle Rhee’s Town Hall talk has not been uploaded. When it is, you can view it at http://seattlechannel.org/TownSquare.

Zachariah Bryan can be reached at [email protected].


■ edUCATIon

Compiled by StaffNorthwest AsiAN weekly

the Northwest Asian weekly’s Diversity Makes a Difference scholarship program celebrates young people who are committed to reaching across cultural lines. stu-dents are nominated by their school for being champions of diversity. From those nominations, a judging panel will choose five winners who will receive $1,000 scholarships and a number of finalists who will receive $200 scholarships.

the Diversity Makes a Differ-ence awards dinner will take place on March 28 at the New hong kong restaurant. to buy tickets, visit di-versity.nwasianweeklyfoundation.org. each week leading up to the dinner, we will publish a selection of short profiles of the nominees, in no particular order.

Ankita SharmaSenior at Kamiak High SchoolNominated by Rachel Johnson

“Ankita is an incredible young woman,” rachel Johnson, an eng-lish teacher, wrote. “she works tire-lessly to improve her community as an integral part of knights in Action. she patiently helps students work out their differences as a Con-flict Mediator. she helps students struggling with their schoolwork as a gifted Academic Coach. she is the heart of the link mentoring pro-gram, and she brings a higher level of cultural and academic discourse to all of her classes.”

“she has a remarkable aptitude for seeing what any two people have in common in order to bridge any gaps between them,” Johnson continued. “if someone shares an uncomfortable story in class, she always jumps in to explain how she

can relate or to ask powerful ques-tions. this ability to see our simi-larities and our unique strengths makes her incredibly adept at deter-mining the needs of freshmen and transfer students. she sees where they are struggling and finds ways to help. her empathy and kindness know no bounds.”

in her essay on the importance of diversity, Ankita wrote, “there are wars in this world because people cannot accept other cultures. slav-ery existed because of racial differ-ences. religion often divides people even more than race. Diversity does not ask people to simply shut their eyes and pretend there are no dif-ferences in people. it asks the com-plete opposite. it asks that we all ac-cept racial and cultural differences among the people that we surround ourselves with, and to give them the respect we would give to someone of our own race and cultural back-

ground. Diversity does not lead to ignorance, it overcomes it.”

Maya Fraser-PhilbinSenior at Holy Names AcademyNominated by Megan Diefenbach

“Maya is that student who, in my opinion, flies under-the-radar,” col-lege counselor Megan Diefenback wrote. “… she is an independent young woman who doesn’t seem to have too many needs, in or out of the classroom.”

“she has a strong respect for di-versity and she believes very much in participating in the community and giving back to others,” Diefen-back continued. “she has been a member of the Multicultural stu-dent Union since she first entered our doors as a freshman, and has served that organization for the past two years as an Asian Pacific islander Focus Group leader. Maya

is incredibly inclusive, accepting, hard-working, and easy-going, and she is a subtle leader who believes very much in the value of commu-nity and diversity. i know she will add a distinctive energy to any col-lege campus.”

in her essay, Maya wrote, “Di-versity is important to me because it defines us as not just individuals, but it contributes to growth and de-velopment as a whole. Although it defines our differences, it also high-lights our similarities. As we ac-knowledge diversity, we honor our culture, traditions, and heritage. Di-versity is significant to me because it allows me to be an individual, while still being a part of something bigger.”

{see DIVERSITY cont’d on page 11}

Diversity Makes a Difference— Part 2 —

Ankita Sharma Maya Fraser-Philbin

Midheta Djuderija Telia Royal Bal Diyali Yesenia Mendoza Ramos


By Jason CruzNorthwest AsiAN weekly

welcome to another edition of the layup Drill. this month, we take a look back (and forward) at linsanity, revisit the Manti te’o saga, and catch up on the odds and ends in sports.

Remembering Linsanitylast February, Jeremy lin burst on the

scene and changed the landscape of Asian

American basketball forever. Jeremy lin got off the New york knicks bench and moved off his brother’s couch to become an over-night success.

since last February, lin became the NBA poster child for roughly 6 weeks, hurt his knee, and missed the playoffs, got a huge raise, drew criticism from knicks fans when he left for houston, and is now “lin-iocre” in houston. while he’s been a steady, yet aver-age point guard for the rockets, lin’s legacy still grew off the court when a new documen-

tary about his life screened at the prestigious sundance Film Festival. Jeremy lin made an appearance with the filmmakers at the pre-miere to support the documentary.

Although my prediction of lin playing in the NBA All-star game this year was off, he still participated in the NBA skills competi-tion saturday night. A year after lin’s dra-matic ascension, he’s seemed to fall back as just a starting point guard on an average team. his individual numbers are not as good as last season’s, and his team struggles to make the playoffs. But, despite the lack of hype, lin-sanity was a good ride while it lasted.

while we are still fans of lin, maybe we should look at a couple guys that could be next to unexpectedly dazzle the NBA.

Peyton siva — someone that has not been mentioned in this column is University of louisville’s senior point guard, Peyton siva. siva, a samoan American, was born and raised in seattle and attended Franklin high school. Growing up in the inner city had its ills as many can imagine. Drugs, gangs, and crime were all a part of his life. But instead of falling into that trap, siva put all of his effort and time into sports.

siva’s father was addicted to drugs and was in and out of his son’s life. siva went out one night to look for his father and found him in a drug den. his father contemplated suicide, but siva was able to successfully talk him out of it.

siva left seattle to play for a national pow-erhouse at the University of louisville. he has excelled starting for the Cardinals and will be a big part of their effort to make a run in the NCAA tournament this year. siva should get a good shot at trying to make an NBA team next year and if he does make it, he would be the only samoan American play-er in the league.

Chris tang — oak hill Academy is more of a basketball factory than it is a prep school. it is tucked away in Mouth of wilson, va., where all a student can do is play basketball and go to school.

originally from China, tang came to the United states under the care of a foster fam-ily. his family in China sent him to the Unit-ed states, so that he could follow his dream of playing basketball. Before attending prep school, tang went to school in Newport

News, va. where he dominated high school hoops in the area. the 6'3" guard is fielding offers from many east coast colleges, includ-ing harvard — lin’s alma mater.

tang’s game is not unlike linsanity’s. he attacks the rim with fearless abandon and throws down dunks with ease. of course, this is high school and lin has to deal with the pros, so a straight on comparison wouldn’t be fair to tang or lin. But, if we were to look for the next great Asian basketball player, it may be tang.

while tang understands the comparisons to linsanity, he favors Dwayne wade as his source of basketball inspiration. well, wade and yao Ming, of course, as Ming is the over-arching hero for many — perhaps all — bas-ketball players from China.

Wang looking to sell NHL’s Islanders

Charles wang is looking to sell his hockey team, the New york islanders, but let’s not get too excited about buying an Nhl team for seattle. it appears as though wang would like to sell his team and move it from long island to Brooklyn. he hopes to move to the new Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. so, while he’s not moving it across the country, he is displacing the team in order to move west.

we have talked about wang here before. he’s not the most likeable owner, and selling his team will be a task. the New york island-ers are second to last in Nhl attendance and a $75 million loan is due this year. with the Nhl locked out half of the season and poor attendance, he won’t be able to look to ticket sales as a method to pay off the loan. Good luck finding a buyer.

Na makes Australian Open FinalFor the second time in the past three years,

Chinese women’s tennis player li Na made the finals of the Australian open. Unfor-tunately for Na, she turned her ankle in the championship match against the No. 1 player in the world, victoria Azarenka. while Na won the first set, she dropped the next two sets. Na hurt her ankle in the second set and was granted a medical timeout to see if she could continue. in the third set, Na fell

{see SPORTS cont’d on page 12}

■ sporTs

The Layup DrillA Year of Linsanity, catfishing, a swim legend in the making, and the death of a Judo legend

Charles Wang Keiko Fukuda Chris Tang


■ pICTorIAl

Leah Li crowned 2013 Miss Chinatown USA

Phot

os b

y D

avid

Yu

Phot

ogra

phy

Li started dancing at an early age and has won several dance awards.

Li won Miss Talent and Miss Chinatown

From left: Joseph Li (brother), Leah Li, a family friend, Yifeng Li (mother),

and Hengda Li (father)Leah Li and 2012 Miss

Chinatown Steffi HuLi being crowned by 2012 Miss Chinatown USA

Steffi Hu

Leah Li shown with this year’s contestants and previous Miss Chinatown USAs

Li as Mu GuiyingLi performing a Fire

Phoenix dance Li during the question and answer portion


witnessing the digital attack on publication has been a nightmare for those of us in print media. it hasn’t mattered how big, rich, or strong publications have been before, or how many prestigious writing awards they’ve won. Advertising revenue continues to bleed out, and many die as a result. some publications, like Newsweek, have ended their print edi-tions, continuing their online versions only.

the inevitable question that has been chas-ing us is, “will we be next?”

Do we have a future?to my friends who think this way, don’t ask

us how long we can live! the fact is, we don’t know. what we know for sure though is that print media has a dim future.

our only consolation is that community newspapers are strong.

Big newspapers are facing their demise — like the P-i, which folded because no one wanted to take it over. however, Black Press just recently bought the seattle weekly, an alternative paper. if there were no future in weeklies, why would Black Press make that move?

As long as we exist, please appreciate our work. Give us credit for serving the commu-nity for 31 years, one week at a time without fail as both the Northwest Asian weekly and seattle Chinese Post. we are the only publish-ing company in the United states that prints both Chinese and english weeklies with sepa-rate content and separate readership. support us for our coverage and reporting, which has made a difference. recommend us to your friends to read and advertise. that will pro-long our life.

the digital revolution has brought our in-dustry both innovations and crisis. even though print media is on the edge of extinc-tion, it’s not as bad as the old days when we first started. we had to cut and paste our hands, processing films and making prints in a dark room and typing all the subscribers’ la-bels on a typewriter. writers mailed us typed and hand-written copies of their articles.

Now, one person can do all those chores through a computer. one person can write, edit, send photos, and do layout. you can imagine how much time and money we have saved in the publishing industry. we do things

quickly, efficiently, effectively, cleanly, and with much fewer resources and manpower.

technological progress has its pitfalls, too. when technology made everything afford-able and easy, as many as seven more Chinese media companies entered the market, even though the seattle Chinese Post was the first Chinese newspaper in the Pacific Northwest in 1982.

Understanding our missionwhen we first started, we knew we would

embark on a harsh journey because there were no successful role models in the community.

we were pioneers. we experimented and forged new ideas, taking risks rather than just copying our competitors. if you compare our papers and website with our competitors, you will find that we don’t do what our competi-tors do. Content-wise, we try to cover stories, which other minority papers shy away from.

even our events have become models. i’ve found that many organizations have followed our programs and picked up ideas from our formats.

i knew when i started the papers that i would never be rich.

the newspaper business is a very different kind of business. you cannot measure your success by your profits. the rewards of run-ning a paper lie in gaining influence, respect, and credibility from peers, the community, and the mainstream.

What saves us every issuein a turbulent economy, the first thing most

companies do is lay off employees. we did the opposite. we worked hard to keep our staff in-tact. we streamlined our operations to make sure we didn’t waste anything. we do every-thing in-house to keep our staff employed.

while we don’t expect miracles, miracles hit us every week. it’s amazing how stories and advertisements sail to our office without us looking for them.

each week, we begin with literally nothing. i am not joking. our pages are empty; we have few leads and no advertisements. (Just ask my staff, they will tell you the same thing.) But then, a string of events and tips flock into our inboxes, and people walk through our doors as if God was signaling to an army that it was time to help the Asian weekly.

suddenly, everything clicks and we end the week with strong stories, nice-looking adver-tisements, and an impressive front page. we’re working even right before the moment we go to print. everyone on our staff contributes to the completion of the paper. we have become so used to this cycle that we are not scared or shocked anymore. i don’t know if you would call this optimism or confidence, but i call this defiance.

we never worry if we’ll be here next week or next year. we just wish that the Asian weekly and Chinese Post’s teams will have

good health, so we can work hard. Give us leads for stories and advertise-

ments. your gift will last a long time.

How will we survive?Mohammed Ali put it best. “Don’t count the days. Make the days

count,” he said. that’s how we view our role at the news-

paper. we are meandering in an unsolvable maze. i have no answers to your questions. But do we really need to figure out the maze? Maybe it’s not too bad just to have fun inside of it.

in the journalism world, you can’t plan too far forward. we focus on the moment and do the best we can in everything we do.

we find strength not from our smarts, but from our drive, determination, and lots of hard work.

i am amazed at how we bring our two pa-pers to life every week. we are a flexible, ded-icated, and stubborn team. stubborn means that we will get the papers done no matter how challenging the environment can be. we keep two papers running for three decades with passion, conviction, and commitment.

why? Because we believe in giving our community a voice. it doesn’t matter how bad the future is for print media. As long as we are present, we will use every ounce of our en-ergy to bring you all the important news and issues in the community.

when sam Ung, owner of Phnom Phenh restaurant, was asked how he survived living through the dark killing Fields, his answer was simple.

“i have hope,” he said. “i have never given up hope.”

that’s the characteristic of a survivor. we will never give up on our community.

To read the Chinese version of the publisher's blog, visit www.seattlechinesepost.com.

opInIon

■ pUblIsher’s blog

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.

By Andrew HamlinNorthwest AsiAN weekly

“the mission of tasveer,” said Aaron D. williams, director of technology for the organization board, “is to primarily bring meaningful films, but also visual, literary, performance, and oth-er art forms from south Asia and Diaspora, to the Pacific North-west.”

Founded by rita Meher 10 years ago, tasveer has hosted the south Asian Film Festival for a decade, but the first south Asian Documentary Festival, running Feb. 23 and Feb. 24 at the seattle Center, marks a new event.

“tasveer includes the organization’s advisory board and a small group of trusted volunteers to select the films for the festi-val,” said williams. “After the submission deadline, we meet and view the films as a group. the individual screenings are followed by a discussion. votes on the films decide the festival schedule.”

“As you can imagine,” he continued, “this takes a great deal of time. however, it’s a valuable way to examine the merits of each film … ensuring that the film or program does not violate the group’s mission is paramount.”

williams mentions five favorite titles. “invoking Justice,” di-rected by Deepa Dhanraj, follows the development in south india of an all-female Jamaat — a group to resolve family disputes — in reaction to the ignorance and contempt that the traditional, all-male Jamaats displayed for women and women’s issues.

“still standing,” directed by Pankaj Johar, follows the incred-ible story of the filmmaker’s father, rajinder sokar, an activist and advocate for the handicapped in india, who accomplishes amazing social feats despite being paralyzed from the neck down for the last 24 years.

sharmeen obiad-Chinoy’s “transgenders: Pakistan’s open secret,” follows transgender men and women as they forge a street-level community of their own in the Pakistan metropolis of karachi, supporting themselves by dancing, singing, begging, and sometimes prostitution.

Anneta Papathanasiou’s “the Nymphs of hindu kush,” set in Northwest Pakistan, focuses on the women of the kalasha tribe, struggling to maintain their own culture in the face of encroach-ing globalization.

Finally, Miriam Chandy Menacherry’s “the rat race” crawls through the indian city of Mumbai, exploring the incorrigible

rats of the city’s underbelly, and the tireless, sometimes thankless men determined to wipe them out.

A reception, starting at 8:30 p.m., follows the screenings on saturday and will feature food, wine, and film talk. on sunday afternoon, a tasveer award ceremony will grant $500 to the mak-er of the best-judged short film in the festival and $1,000 for the best-judged feature.

“i’m quite proud of our selection for the first documentary fes-tival and i know it’ll be memorable,” williams said. “this has always been the focus and mission of the organization. A tiny shift in the focus on film to include more mediums would count for the only change to the mission over the years. the mission’s simplicity and importance has secured its intent.”

The first South Asian International Documentary Festival runs Feb. 23rd and Feb. 24th at the SIFF Film Center at Seattle Center, 305 Harrison Street at Seattle Center. For online film previews, prices, showtimes, and directions, visit www.tasveer.org .

Andrew Hamlin can be reached at [email protected].

Festival brings stories to Seattle ■ ArTs & enTerTAInMenT

The death of print, will we be next?Ph

oto

by C

harle

s La

m/N

WAW


opInIon

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{DIVERSITY cont’d from page 7}

Midheta DjuderijaSenior at Highline High SchoolNominated by Amanda Zuber

“Midheta is a remarkable young woman who, in just over three years, has positively impacted the highline community in numer-ous ways,” wrote school counselor Amanda Zuber. “she is a leader in every sense of the word.”

“Midheta’s Bosnian heritage is very impor-tant to her and she has enjoyed sharing this with others through this organization,” Zuber continued. “the tukwila school District, a neighboring school district, has recently seen a large increase in their Bosnian population. in an attempt to help their school board learn about the culture of a growing group in their district, Midheta attended a school board meeting, where she wore traditional Bosnian clothing and performed traditional Bosnian dances. this, paired with a presentation, al-lowed the policy makers in that school district to see important pieces of the people in their community’s worlds.”

in her essay, Midheta wrote, “Diversity is important because it gives everybody a chance to educate themselves on the numer-ous cultures, races, and religions that surround us. it’s a beautiful thing if someone speaks more than one language, eats a weird looking food not common in the states, or wears a trib-ally printed dress, different from your average jeans and t-shirt. All these details build up to make us different and by gaining a curiosity for this diversity, it pushes us to explore the world around us.”

Telia RoyalSenior at Franklin High SchoolNominated by Ellen Recupido

“telia describes herself as ‘passionate, car-ing, respectful, and focused’ with the ability to motivate others,” said counselor ellen recu-pido. “these are all true descriptors. From our initial interactions, telia entered high school with the determination to do well academi-cally, and to be involved in those activities that she is passionate about. her study skills and approach to learning were already well estab-lished by the time she entered ninth grade, and she has maintained that focus and dedication to learning throughout high school. telia gen-uinely loves learning, and wants to share this love of education with others. it is her goal to become a teacher.”

“what is difficult to put into words is how personable telia is,” recupido continued. “she has an amazing knack for communicat-

ing well with others, and can bring a smile to your face on any given day. she is a fun person to be around. she will make her mark on the world, and will be an asset to any stu-dent body.”

in her essay, telia wrote, “Diversity makes a difference because no one person is the same as another person. we all have our own stories, values, morals, cultures, and life-styles, and how we all portray these things will be different. we are living in a society where diversity thrives because there are so many different types of people in the world that come from different cultures and back-grounds. Diversity allows us to teach and learn to accept differences in others and look beyond those character tics like language, culture, and ethnicity. Diversity teaches us to be open-minded and accepting of things that are different than ourselves.”

Bal DiyaliSenior at Foster High SchoolNominated by Jenni Matheny

“Bal grew up in a refugee camp in his own country, Nepal, waiting for repatriation,” counselor Jenni Matheny wrote. “At the ten-der age of 8, he watched his father die due to lack of medical resources in the refugee camp. this would have been an excuse for

many young people to give up, but Bal per-severed.”

Matheny continued, “As a student at Fos-ter high school, located in the most diverse school district in the United states, Bal faces diversity every day. he is not a stranger to diversity due to his experience in the refugee camp surrounded by people with different religions and languages. Bal has embraced the diversity here at Foster high school and was an instrumental part of starting the Bhu-tanese students’ Club, a group that seeks to reach out and share its culture with others.”

in his essay, Bal wrote, “Diversity is very important because it brings sweetness of all kinds and creates an educational environ-ment. throughout my lifetime, i have been to so many diverse communities and groups where i found out that i carry a very unique and awesome background. i was born and raised in Nepal. My whole life, i spent time with people who had different religions and languages. even though we were Nepali, we spoke different languages. while i was living with very diverse community in lan-guages, i learned that even though we have different languages, we do have sweetness in our own languages.”

Yesenia Mendoza RamosSenior at Ballard High SchoolNominated by Michael Smith

yesenia Mendoza ramos exemplifies a student with goals and a focused work ethic,” teacher Michael smith wrote. “what sets students like yesenia apart is her unyielding determination to learn and improve, while she continues to grow as a student.”

he continued, “one quality i think es-sential for students today is how they handle adversity. For yesenia, she looks at such educational and career opportunities as both challenging and exciting. it’s the environ-ment she’s thrived in.”

in her essay, yesenia wrote, “it means a lot to me to have such a deep knowledge of diverse Mexican traditions. it makes me feel as though i have an insight to what people are like from state to state ... i feel that this inti-mate knowledge gives me a voice apart from other students who have immigrated to the United states from Mexico. Coming from a family with such a strong sense of tradition and discipline, although at times exhaust-ing, has given me the beautiful gift of truly knowing the country where i was born.”

Staff can be reached at [email protected].

street parking in the international District has been an issue for a while. in tandem with the weak economy, restaurants in the international District have seen a drop in dinner-time business by up to 40 percent since the original increase in parking rates. But there’s good news. After much work by the CiDBiA, parking rates will finally be dropping in March.

though it’s not a return to pre-2012 levels, it’s a good start.the new rates will see the outer parts of the international

District drop to $2 an hour for parking from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Most importantly, parking is free after 6 p.m. Unfortunately, streets in the center of the international District (king and weller between 6th and 8th) won’t see a return to free dinner-time parking, which would have been the most helpful thing for the district. the central portion is, of course, where the bulk of the restaurants and businesses are located, but things like these are about compromise and once the rates drop, there will be no restaurants further than one block away from free street parking.

A bright spot is that the city has pledged to work actively with the iD for the next six months to look at data and make any additional decisions.

A commitment to continue working with us is almost as good as a return to full free dinner-time parking. with some hard work and cooperation, hopefully we’ll be able to return business in Chinatown to levels before the recession and, eventually, continue to grow.

New parking rates are a good step forward


{GUAM cont’d from page 5}

is forbidden,” said tetsuo yamamoto, a Japanese native who emigrat-ed to the United states 30 years ago and runs the western Frontier village range. “Most of our customers are from Japan and have never had the opportunity to shoot a gun. it’s very exotic for them, and it’s very exhilarating.”

so exhilarating that he sometimes asks his guests to stay around for a while to calm down after they’ve finished shooting.

Many other tourists — from south korea, taiwan, and increasingly russia — are less impressed. All south korean men, for example, learn how to shoot during mandatory military service.

“to them, learning how to use a gun was a chore,” said Patrick Chon, general manager of the hafa Adai indoor shooting range. “it brings back bad memories. they hardly ever come here.”

visitors to his range are greeted by movie posters for “the termi-nator” and “Die hard,” with their iconic, gun-toting action heroes. the hollywood shoot-’em-up image is a common motif at many rang-es, playing into an image of America that many Asians share.

“when most Japanese people think of American culture, one of the first things they think of is guns,” said Natsue Matsumoto, a 38-year-old osaka woman who said she enjoyed shooting so much she was

back at a range for the second time in three days. “American movies and video games are full of guns and that’s appealing, in a frightening sort of way.

“But i think Japan has it right,” she added. “if you don’t have a gun, you can’t kill someone with it.”

{PHILIPPINES cont’d from page 5}

and guests watched as thor, a professional singer, performed.the unique service was started in 2010 by Jason dela rosa,

a former recording studio producer who said it is the first and only professional surprise serenade service in the country. the bulk of his clients are homesick and love struck Filipinos overseas who want to send their love to spouses, girlfriends, and boyfriends from thousands of miles away.

“so even if you are overseas, and you send a serenade to your loved ones in the Philippines, you will get to experience what they experienced via the video,” said dela rosa.

it is not unlike having flowers delivered to your loved one, but with the added zing of a song.

he said he and his business partner wanted to give the “singing telegram” that was popular in the United states a more Filipino character, so they called their company harana, or serenade in the local tagalog language.

harana is a dying Philippine courtship tradition in which a boy courting a girl goes to her house in the evening with a gui-tar player and singer in tow. they would sing love songs until

the girl being wooed looks out the window or invites them in to meet her parents.

“harana’s effect is different because harana is such a cul-tural thing for us, but we try to make it modern, with modern songs,” dela rosa said.

instead of just sending a plain message, “there is romance, there is a lot effort put into the event organizing, and the most we wanted to do is to record everything on video,” he added.

when the company was started, dela rosa said, no one else in the world offered such a service, though similar services are available today in the United states, Bolivia, and Australia. But its popularity in the Philippines is more telling because no other countries have such a high percentage of people who work abroad, mostly in service, medical, and shipping indus-tries.

Gloria Guevara, a 57-year-old accountant whose seafarer husband eduardo is sailing in south America, said she was touched when she was serenaded on their wedding anniversa-ry in her office in December. her officemates were cheering, and some, like her, became misty-eyed.

“it really came as a surprise,” Guevara said. “often he

would send flowers or send money to my daughter for our lunch out, but for this anniversary, it was a little different.”

she said Filipino families with members abroad have “so many things we miss out on, but you can try to make up for it by such gestures.”

the modern take on the traditional serenade does not come cheap. the fee for a basic package — including two to three songs by a professional singer, a personal message read with background guitar music, a teddy bear, and a CD containing a video and photos of the event — is 7,000 pesos ($170), which is equivalent to a quarter of the monthly wages of a restaurant manager like Nino. Dela rosa said the price could go higher if the client requests a top-ranked singer or other extras.

the service is nationwide, tapping a network of some 140 singers and guitar players in different cities.

love transcends the distance, “and harana makes it pos-sible,” says the company’s website.

Nino couldn’t agree more.“i salute men who still practice harana, because it’s classic

and it’s very flattering for a woman,” she said.

{NYC cont’d from page 4}

For the second year in a row, the not-for-profit sector lagged behind the commercial sector when it came to hiring minorities. Minority employment for the non-profit compa-nies fell below 20 percent for the second year in a row.

while the numbers of Black and latino actors on non-profit stages increased, the number of Asian American ac-tors hasn’t budged from the 2 percent-mark for the past three years. By comparison, five years ago, Asian Americans rep-resented 7 percent of working actors.

{CA cont’d from page 4}

e-mail account and was signed by someone using a vietnamese name, keigwin said.

officer sean kennedy, spokesman for the ChP’s Protective services Division, said investigators hoped to complete their search of Basham’s home on Friday, four days after it began.

searchers were hampered by piles of belongings cluttering the house and mysterious substances that had to be tested to see if they were dangerous chemicals or bomb-making materials, he said.

“Anytime you find a substance or a weapon or anything that makes the hair on your neck stand up, we get out and the bomb squad comes in,” kennedy said.

No new explosive devices have been found since wednesday, he said. those were removed and detonated, while other chemi-cals were burned in the home’s front yard.

Basham’s computer was also being analyzed to see if it con-tained threats or other evidence, he said. there was no evidence that anyone other than yee was targeted, he said, though other state lawmakers have introduced or plan to introduce at least 20 pieces of gun control legislation.

{SPORTS cont’d from page 8}

on the court and hit her head. Fortunately, she was able to continue to finish the match.

Despite losing, Na showed heart and determination, continuing on after two significant injuries. it was a valiant effort, especially against the top player in the world.

Te’o recovers from catfishwhen we last left the drama from the former Notre Dame line-

backer, he was “catfished” by ronaiah tuiasosopo. the term “catfish” refers to someone creating a persona on social

media via Facebook or twitter in order to deceive someone. through this bizarre story, the world realized one of three things: 1) te’o was the victim of a hoax that spiraled out of control; 2) or, te’o realized something that many middle school boys have

found out. while dating an imaginary girlfriend sounds great for a while, there comes a time when people find out;

3) or, maybe a newborn baby is not as naive as Manti te’o.we are all still confused about why such a nice and popular guy

like te’o would not meet a girl in person for so long, yet call her his girlfriend.

For his part, ronaiah tuiasosopo has found his 15 minutes of fame. thank you daytime talk show host and oprah protege, Dr. Phil. the man that claimed he was lennay kekua even recreated the voice for Dr. Phil. Apparently, tuiasosopo could not quit te’o and revealed having feelings for te’o after initializing the relationship.

te’o tried to do some damage control as his focus should be prepar-ing for the NFl Draft in April. he wore a light-colored cardigan and appeared with his parents on katie Couric’s daytime talk show. te’o professed his innocence and eventually broke down and cried along with his parents. truly an embarrassing scene for all involved.

Certainly the jokes have been told and the pictures of people sitting with lennay kekua (the photos show them sitting next to an empty chair) have gone around social media. te’o has been put through the

fire of the media. As a rookie in the NFl, te’o will not hear the end of this odd off-season story. he will not only be picked on for having an imaginary girlfriend, but for the fact that the girlfriend actually turned out to be a guy.

Eastlake’s Kim sets recordCongratulations goes out to eastlake high school’s edward kim.

kim was named swimmer of the Meet this year at the 4A Boys state meet at the king County Aquatics Center in Federal way. As a fresh-man, kim won two state titles for individual swim events. As a soph-omore, he won four. this year as a junior, kim won two titles in ad-dition to the swimmer of the Meet award for the second straight year. there’s no ceiling for this high schooler. Move over Nathan Adrian, we may see kim in the olympics one day.

Death of Judo legendkeiko Fukuda, the highest-ranked woman in the sport of Judo,

passed away at the age of 99 on Feb. 9. her grandfather was a Japa-nese samurai and one of his students developed the martial art. Fu-kuda was invited to join a women’s Judo class in tokyo in the early 1930s — a rarity at the time. she loved the sport, and it came second to no man. in fact, when she learned that she would have to give it up for an arranged marriage, she refused.

Fukuda traveled to the United states in 1953 to teach the sport. she returned to tokyo and demonstrated the sport at the 1964 summer olympics. eventually, Fukuda returned to the United states and lived and taught in san Francisco. she eventually became a U.s. citizen.

through the years, she was promoted in rank in Judo and eventu-ally earned the highest rank ever for a woman — 10th dan.

A documentary was made on her life entitled, “Mrs. Judo.” let’s all find it and pay homage to a true pioneer of the sport.

Jason Cruz can be reached at [email protected].

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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, 2001, 2013Horse 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.

RATThe bond between friends will wax and wane. There are some who will stay for the duration and others who are only with you for a short time.

OXDo you consider surprises to be overrated? You might change your mind once you see what your partner has in store.

TIGERFor once, the destination is quite clear to you. However, getting there could pose more of a challenge than usual.

RABBITWhat is the point of completing something that you didn’t want in the first place? Don’t just go through the motions, seek to identify your end.

DRAGONDo you find yourself running into the same issue over and over again? Perhaps you need to step back and figure out a new approach.

SNAKEIs someone trying to talk you into something that doesn’t sound too promising? There is no harm in passing on the offer.

HORSEA gift from far away could mean more than you realize. There is value in the symbolism beyond the mere object itself.

GOATBefore you agree to a new assignment, listen to the whole description. While part of it sounds tempting, the rest might leave more to be desired.

MONKEYAre you living beyond your means at the moment? If you get your discretionary spending under control, then you could wind up with a surplus.

ROOSTERA long awaited trip could turn out to be quite an adventure. Bring along a friend or two to share in the experience.

DOGDo you leave too many loose ends hanging? Address those first before agreeing to take on anything new.

PIGAre you nervous about an upcoming appointment? There is much you can do to prepare to minimize your apprehension.

For the week of February 23–March 1, 2013■ AsTrology

Architects, Consultants & ContractorsKCLS Library Contract Information Available Online!

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

details on current and pending projects.Requests for Proposals•Requests for Qualifications•Current Project Bid Listing•Call for Art Proposals•Site Selection Policy•

Announcements of Finalists•Community Meetings•Contacts•New Releases•

The King County Library System recognizes strength and value within our communities, and we encourage all interested and qualified service providers to review

our public bid construction opportunities.

Contact Kelly Iverson, Facilities [email protected] or 425.369.3308

{KOREA cont’d from page 5}

prosecutors. the probe led to the res-ignation of a vice justice minister, but prosecutors only indicted roh and a journalist for releasing the wiretaps.

Usually, south korean lawmakers are protected by an immunity that allows them to speak freely in the National As-sembly without being sued for libel or prosecuted for other charges. At issue was whether such immunity applied to the lawmaker’s actions in cyberspace. south korea’s supreme Court ruled that it did not.

“Unlike distributing press releases to journalists, uploading messages on the internet allows an easy access to any-body at any time,” the court said in a statement explaining its decision. the

ruling also said the internet delivers “unfiltered” information to the public, while the media “select what to publish with responsibility.”

roh criticized the court’s ruling as “anachronistic,” saying that any citizen can easily distribute or publish informa-tion online. he also said his more im-portant role as a lawmaker was to fight against corruption at powerful groups in south korea including prosecutors, who are the only south korean officials who can charge suspected criminals and su-pervise police investigations.

roh said he did not regret his decision to publish the information.

“if i go back to eight years ago, i would still do the same thing,” he said in a statement after the ruling.

{BELLEVUE SQUARE cont’d from page 1}

in addition to the previous year’s popu-lar activities, 2013’s celebration brings with it several additions to the program.

Newcomers for 2013 include martial arts demonstrations from the wudang in-ternational Martial Arts Academy, Guan-jiang shou by taiwan traditional Folk Performing troupe, and traditional Chi-nese paper-cutting and knotting artists.

Din tai Fung Dumpling house will be in attendance and serving free dumplings.

the wing luke museum will also be in attendance, giving away gift certificates and museum tickets.

the festival is open to audiences of all ages and is completely free of charge.

though only its second year at the Bel-levue Center, the lunar New year Cel-ebration has a longer history.

event Planner and Coordinator taidi Fang started the event years ago as a way to educate people about Chinese culture.

“i wanted to promote Chinese culture and let Americans learn the beauty of Chi-nese culture,” Fang said. “this is really grassroots diplomacy for taiwan. i hope that events like these will help the U.s. see how important taiwan is as a partner.”

the festival started small, taking place at a smaller community center in Bellev-ue, but quickly found itself running out of space. though Fang wanted to grow the festival to a larger venue, getting there

wasn’t easy. she says it took a lot of calls and a lot of running around.

“i pushed and pushed and didn’t ask them for money,” Fang said. “i told them, ‘i’ll give you a show.’ i convinced them, and i didn’t give up. i provided them something without taking something.”

eventually, Bellevue square accepted the opportunity and provided a venue last year, drawing over 40,000 attendees.

this year’s event is expected to grow even larger and is being staffed by over 40 volunteers. Bellevue square is giving even more for the event, including provid-ing staging, sound support, and marketing support.

“Bellevue square and the Bellevue Collection has a unique opportunity to bring people together to share and learn about the many cultures that represent our vibrant region,” Jennifer leavitt, vice President of Marketing for the kemper Development Company, owners of Bel-levue square, said. “we are honored to be a location to celebrate the color, beauty, music, and joy that the lunar New year Celebration has to offer our guests. this would not be possible without the hard work of many volunteers from our Asian community who take time out of their busy lives to share a glimpse of this beau-tiful celebration.”

Staff can be reached at [email protected].

{LI cont’d from page 1}

through a local pageant, nor did she have any previous pageant experience. rather, she was ap-pointed by the chamber of commerce to represent the seattle community and went straight to Cali-fornia.

li nearly dropped out of the competition due to her class load, but persevered despite staying up until 2 a.m. to finish her homework during pag-eant rehearsals. she is currently a junior at New york University studying media, culture, and communication. she also holds leadership posi-tions in two NyU clubs.

the decision to go through with the pageant ultimately fell down to financial need — the win-ner of the pageant received a $10,000 scholarship, with the winner of the talent portion also taking home $1,000.

the pageant took place in four stages: a self-in-troduction, swimsuit round, talent competition, and an question and answer session.

As part of the self-introduction round, each contestant chose a hero or mentor to portray on stage. li chose to portray Mu Guiying, a legend-ary heroine from China’s song Dynasty and a prominent figure from the Generals of the yang Family folklore.

For the talent portion of the show, li chose a dance routine choreographed by her father, the re-nowned dancer hengda li, founder of the hengda Dance Academy in seattle. the routine incorporat-ed multiple types of dance, from modern and ballet to Chinese folk dance.

During the question and answer potion, li shared a romantic gesture: when a boy she intro-

duced to her parents learned Chinese to show re-spect.

her performance won her the $1,000 talent scholarship.

Despite her lack of traditional pageant train-ing, li was smooth and poised, made no mistakes, and performed strongly during each section of the competition.

though this was her first pageant, li grew up on the stage, learning to dance from an early age. she has also taken acting, music, and modeling classes, served as the emcee for many of her fa-ther’s dance performances, and won several dance awards.

Despite her strong performance, her father was nervous as the judges announced the winners.

“the first announcement was Miss talent, which she won, so we thought, ‘oh boy, she doesn’t have a chance,’ ” said her father.

But li went on to sweep the competition.on the day following her victory, li visited 10

of the Chinese family associations in san Fran-cisco. the national li family association will be awarding her a gold medal.

she will participate in san Francisco’s lunar New year Parade this saturday, Feb. 23, and is now qualified to participate in the Miss Chinese international pageant in hong kong.

Following this victory, the Greater seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a 2013 pageant after several years of not hosting. the 2013 seattle pageant will take place on sept. 7 in Bellevue.

Charles Lam can be reached at [email protected].


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

{CULTURALFEST cont’d from page 1}

campus to recognize and appreciate the cultures that make up the university’s unique student body.

hosted by Uw’s Foundation for international Understanding through students (FiUts), the annual CulturalFest brought in over 100 student volunteers and hundreds of visitors to learn, discover, and explore the spread of cultures and traditions out-side of their own.

“it’s a celebration of the diversity of the University of wash-ington campus,” said Alison kilkinny, FiUts education pro-grams manager. “it allows them to have the opportunity to showcase their culture not only to the campus community, but also to the greater seattle community.”

the two-day event featured 37 booths representing 33 coun-tries and four regions for students to share their native cultural experiences. the event culminated with a night of international traditional performances.

the booth exhibit was open and free to the public, hoping to draw more than solely Uw students to the attraction. Field trips from several seattle elementary schools brought grade school-aged children to come and interact with the volunteers.

“i think the most special part of CultureFest is allowing peo-ple to have conversations with other people around the world,” kilkinny said. “FiUts thinks that the best way to learn about the world is from the people themselves and not necessarily from books or movies or the news, but having personal conversations with people from around the world and sharing experiences to-gether as really the most authentic way to learn about their cul-tures.”

Through pictures and words: A cultural showcasing

Aita Musazay emigrated with her family from Afghanistan when she was only 6 months old. though she grew up in Amer-ica, her cultural background still plays a major role in her life.

“People just don’t know a lot about Afghanistan,” she said. “there’s a war there. it’s very highly misunderstood. i really wanted to do this to show that we’re just normal people living our lives and we have a really ancient culture that dates back to antiquity. we have all these cultural things.”

hoping to create a more interactive environment for younger children, CulturalFest coordinators created a world map with spaces to write words in different languages when visiting a spe-cific booth. the idea behind the map was to spark curiosity and encourage conversation.

to further stimulate younger visitors, Musazay wrote their names in Farsi and showed them pictures of everyday Afghan fashion and poems written by the poet rumi.

“i just want little kids to see that there are other kids in Af-ghanistan just like them and it’s not like this crazy place that the media makes it out to be,” Musazay said.

Across the convention space, Astrid rivera and Julia lim cov-

ered their corner booth with a slew of ornaments from Central America.

rivera considers herself a native Nicaraguan, though her fam-ily has moved throughout the region and is currently scattered across Costa rica, honduras, and el salvador. lim is a korean-born, Panamanian-raised freshman at the Uw.

After hearing about the FiUts event, the two teamed up to build a booth that recognizes the entirety of Central America, agreeing that it is a region too easily molded into other latin American countries to the north and south.

“i wanted to honor the whole Central America, rather than just focus on Nicaragua and Panama, so people would recog-nize how similar we are,” rivera said. “But we are not Mexico. we are not south America. though we are similar, we are more united.”

Adorned with the seven different flags and tables full of wood-en statues, handcrafted rain instruments, and el salvadorian sil-verware, rivera and lim’s goal was to demonstrate the variety of culture that lies between the North and south Americas. like Musazay, they wanted to leave the children with some working knowledge of their countries that will stick with them into the future.

“i try to tell them where we are located and then emphasize that we are small, but there are seven countries in that small area,” lim said. “And i try to hopefully get some information in their head.”

Music and dance: Bringing people closervioleta Parra is a Chilean music group made up of 12 musi-

cians and dancers, most of which are Uw students and alumni. this was violeta Parra’s second year performing with FiUts.

Because of the size and wide range of audience attend-ees, CulturalFest has become one of the group’s most important performances of the year.

“this has become one of the most important presenta-tions for us,” said Aurelio Pino, eight-year violeta Parra member. “we perform every month in schools and fes-tivals, but this is the most important for us. this is a different group of people, so for us, we’re very excited.”

Draped in colorful traditional Chilean clothing, Pino and Felipe sandoval, recent Uw graduate, describe the significance behind their passion for folk dancing. though violeta Parra has existed for 35 years, they are constantly recruiting young members to maintain and preserve the folk-music tradition.

“we feel that music, dancing, and singing is a way to engage people in common conversation,” said sandoval. “i think that the opportunity to be here with such a large audience gives us the opportunity to start this conver-sation and let people know more about the 17 million people that live in Chile through us.”

“we live in a very small world,” Pino added. “every-body knows everybody right now because of the inter-net, Facebook, and stuff, but what we are trying to show is our traditions. some people might know Chile from different aspects — food, wine, and music. so our idea is to show them a different aspect. this is our tradition.”

with over hundreds of visitors and performance at-tendees, CulturalFest has become a conversation starter, passing on the wealth of cultural knowledge and inspir-ing a curiosity to its audience.

“there is an incredible potential of information of what we can get from students that are visiting here from all over the world. there’s just so much to learn about the world, but also just about the way people see the world,” said FiUts executive Director era schrep-fer. “there’s this huge expectation that they’re going to come here and learn about the United states, but at some point, everybody is really proud of where they come from and they get to share that.”

For more information, visit www.fiuts.org.

Elizabeth Wang can be reached at [email protected].

A demonstration by the University of Washington Wu Shu team.

Astrid Rivera and Julia Lim at their booth

{PI cont’d from page 4}

website Boxofficeguru.com. “the more we see examples of these unorthodox films with global settings that are actually making the cash registers ring, it’s a step in the direction of trying to find more of them.”

“life of Pi” follows the spiritual journey of an indian youth who creates his own multicultural, interdenominational world view by embracing hindu, islamic, and Christian beliefs and practices. Pi Patel’s faith is terribly tested after he’s shipwrecked on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger — the story offering an even more terrible narrative as Pi later relates an alternate version of his adventures.

sounds like the stuff of an intriguing lower-budgeted arthouse film. But shot in 3-D with expensive computer animation to cre-ate a lifelike tiger and other creatures, “Pi” cost a whopping $120 million with no guarantee it could ever pay for itself. 20th Centu-

ry Fox executives ultimately decided it had enough international appeal to justify the risk.

“i’d be kidding you to say that we knew it would reach these levels,” said Jim Gianopulos, Fox studio chairman. “But it’s a big, beautiful world out there, and when you deliver a film that has the strength of story, the emotionality, the spirituality, and the spectacle of a film like ‘Pi,’ people show up.”

hollywood studios once counted on domestic audiences for most of a movie’s revenue. But overseas markets have been hol-lywood’s growth area, with international audiences now account-ing for two-thirds or more of receipts on many films.

the ratio is even higher on “life of Pi,” which has taken in a respectable $108.5 million domestically, but a remarkable $460 million — four-fifths of its total — from overseas fans. that includes $90.8 million in China, $45.4 million in Great Britain, $29.9 million in russia, and $19.8 million in Mexico.

the film comes four years after “slumdog Millionaire,” an-other surprise smash about an indian youth facing grave chal-

lenges. “slumdog” took in $377 million worldwide and won the 2008 best picture oscar.

there have been small steps toward diversity in characters and a broader world view in themes, thanks partly to inroads by such overseas directors as lee, Peter Jackson, Alfonso Cuaron, Guill-ermo del toro, John woo, and Neill Blonkamp.

“i don’t see that as mainstream yet. someday. the establish-ment is the establishment. the film grammar was established that way. Patterns. i think for the majority of films they make, they will still follow that. that’s the formula. you have to respect that if you’re serious about money,” lee said.

“it’s just that i think they have to be more opened up to differ-ent types of filmmaking,” added lee. “it’s a gradual thing. it’s not going to dramatically change anything. But just look at the number. you have to pay attention to it. the number of what the world did on this movie. the market in America didn’t dwindle. it’s everybody else in the world. they stood up. they did their share.”


women of power: building bridgesReaching out beyond their own community bringing people together

New Hong Kong Restaurant Thursday, January 31, 2013

Sponsors Honorees

Planning Committee

Thank you for everything you’ve done!

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Want an opportunity to publicly recognize a woman of courage? The Women of Color Empowered lunch would like to honor courageous women who have met one or more of the following criteria:» Takes risks others are unwilling to attempt» Invests in people others are willing to dismiss» Empowers people while others wait for them to completely prove themselves» Faces conflicts other avoid» Challenges the status quo with which others have grown contented» Embraces changes others ignore» Remains steadfast when others are departing

Our next luncheon, “Women of Courage,” is on May 17, 2013.

Email your nomination today to [email protected] or you can send to us at 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104. Deadline to nominate is March 1, 2013.

Name of nominee ____________________________________Her email __________________________________________Name of nominator ____________________________________Give 3 reasons for nomination______________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________Your phone number ___________________________________Your email address ____________________________________

Want to know more about our event? Log on womenofcolorempowered.com to see our past honorees.

Friends of vivian lee

From left to right: Jane Nishita, Manuelita Ybarra, Nikki Gane, Yoshiko Harden, Michelle Nitz-Weiss, Natasha Burrows, Ellen Ferguson, Sharon Parker, Debbie Bird, Pearl Leung, and Vivian Lee.

Assunta Ng, Bonnie Miller, Charlene Grinolds, Chayuda Overby,Connie Sugahara, Elizabeth Younger, Elsie Taniguchi, Francine Griggs,Jacqueline Coe, Kathy Purcell, Kiku Hayashi, Leny Valerio-Buford,Lourdes Sampera-Tsukada and Yvonne Naum

UPCOMING EVENTS:May 17, 2013 — Women of Courage (See the ad above for how to nominate)September 20, 2013 — Women in Startups

vol 32 no 9 | february 23 - march 1, 2013

Documents

seattle winners

chinese community

asian community

seattle native leah

seattle folk dance club

culturalfest contd

bellevue square contd

lunar new year celebration