Committee of 100 Newsletter

For Your Attention: Recommended by the Committee of 100

“2012 Statistical Portrait of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders” compiled by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center

In time for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May, UCLA's Asian American Studies Center has developed a handy website with the most current U.S. Census statistics about the nation’s fastest growing “major race group.” The 2010 Census showed 17.3 million U.S. residents of Asian descent, an increase in population of 46% since 2000.

PRESS RELEASE: APALC MOURNS PASSING OF COMMUNITY LEADER EDWIN KWOH

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE  DISTRIBUTION May 31, 2011

APALC MOURNS PASSING OF COMMUNITY LEADER EDWIN KWOH

 

LOS ANGELES - Edwin Kwoh, a self-made businessman with a long history of involvement and service to the community of Los Angeles, passed away on Monday, May 30. He was 95.   Edwin Kwoh was married to actress Beulah Kwoh (stage name Beulah Quo) who passed away in 2002. He is survived by son Stewart Kwoh, the executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center; daughter Mary Ellen Shu; daughter-in-law Pat Lee Kwoh; son-in-law Jack Shu; and five grandchildren, Steven and Nathan Kwoh, and Christina, Teddy and Julia Shu.   Edwin Kwoh was a long-time supporter of APALC, as a member of the Executive Advisory Council.

"China Today: Teaching about a Changing Cultural Landscape"

March 2010 | By Jane Leung Larson

The January/February issue of Social Education, the magazine of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), will be a valuable guide for teachers bringing China into their classrooms, with all its complexity and hot-button issues. Guest editors Kathleen Woods Masalski, director of Five College Center for East Asian Studies, and Todd Levy, former teacher and president of NCSS, have assembled contributions from such careful China observers as former NPR correspondent Rob Gifford (“Panda-Huggers and Dragon-Slayers: How to View Modern China Today”) and author Peter Hessler (“A Journey Between China’s Past and Present”) and scholars, including historian Kristin Stapleton (“What I Wish my College Students Already Knew about PRC History”) and Chinese philosophy professor Stephen C. Angle (“Confucianism on the Comeback”). The issue also includes classroom suggestions, personal stories, and a list of top films for teaching about China. Single copies are available here.

For Your Attention: Recommended by the Committee of 100

Boosting Asian American Voting Numbers through Bilingual Phone Calls

November 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

Two studies of Asian American voting patterns released by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles (APALC) this October show how bilingual phone calls can increase voter turnout, particularly among people who vote irregularly. APALC studied the effects of its get-out-the-vote campaigns in Los Angeles County and also polled respondents on whether or not they supported universal healthcare (90% said they did). The two reports, Asian Americans at the Ballot Box: The 2008 General Election in Los Angeles County and Getting Out the Asian American Vote: Achieving Double Digit Increases in Turnout During the 2006 and 2008 Elections, can be found online at www.apalc.org.

For Your Attention: Recommended by the Committee of 100

Free Online: National Directory of Scholarships, Internships, and Fellowships for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Students

July 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

Asian American students now have a new tool for uncovering hard-to-find educational opportunities and funding sources that are especially directed to them. The 2009-2011 National Directory of Scholarships, Internships, and Fellowships for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Students was published by the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Maryland, Organization of Chinese Americans, Japanese American Citizens League, and State Farm and is available free online (after you register). Download the directory here: http://www.aast.umd.edu/scholarshipdirectory.html

For Your Attention: Recommended by the Committee of 100

“Witness to 30 Years of China-U.S. Relations”

March 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

“Witness to 30 Years of China-U.S. Relations” is an interview with Jan Carol Berris, Vice President of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) published in the January 15 issue of Beijing Review. A good friend of the Committee of 100, Berris’ career in U.S.-China relations is actually closer to 40 years long. She came on board the National Committee in 1971 and played a large role in hosting the Chinese Ping Pong Team on its visit to the U.S. in 1972, the first of the hundreds of Chinese delegations for which the National Committee (and Berris) would be responsible. Berris first went to China in 1973, and about 100 trips later, she was a member of the 45-person American delegation to China in January to celebrate the 30th anniversary of normalization, a trip that the National Committee co-sponsored (and that C-100 Chairman John L. Fugh and Executive Director Alice Mong were invited to join). Berris is possibly the American with the longest continuous career in U.S.-China relations, and her prescription to both countries for a positive future is: “To be open, curious, and try to trust one another.” (Read the article)

For Your Attention: Recommended by the Committee of 100

January 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

Now Available in Print and Download: “A Portrait of Chinese Americans: A National Demographic and Social Profile of Chinese Americans”

This is a fascinating presentation of U.S. Census data and descriptive summaries about the small (1.2%) but increasingly important population of Chinese Americans. Prepared by the Organization of Chinese Americans and the Asian American Studies Program of the University of Maryland, the booklet in both print and downloaded forms will be of interest to general readers as well as those who will make use of its information for policy-making, marketing, and educational purposes. OCA Executive Director Michael Lin helped initiate this project.

A historical timeline of Chinese American immigration and profiles of the top eight Chinese American communities complement the presentation of U.S. Census data and analysis of topics like intermarriage and adoptions from China. Four conclusions are made:

Museum of Chinese in America: Calling All Chinese American Stories!

Chinese American stories and photographs from all over the U.S. are now being solicited by the Museum of Chinese in America as it gears up to open its new Maya Lin-designed home in New York City.