ucsdapsa@gmail.com; facebook.com/ucsdapsa - March 13, 2012 - Winter 2012, Week 4 - Issue No. 2
Current API Events: Linderella By Desmond Leung On April 14th, 2011, I wrote on my incredibly influential blog for all of my two followers to read: “It’s hard to deny the fact that Jeremy Lin has a good shot at developing into a solid player in the NBA.” This was long before Linsanity linfected the airwaves. In a span of just a few days, Lin went from an unknown NBA bench player to an international superstar. Lin, the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, seized the starting point guard position on a struggling New York Knicks squad and never looked back. Immediately after moving into the starting lineup, he dropped a NBA record 136 points in his first five starts and sparked a six game-winning streak that included a Lincredible 38-point effort against Kobe Bryant’s
(“Jeremy Lin who?”) Lakers as well as a game-winning threepointer at the end of regulation to defeat the Toronto Raptors. Lin has rapidly developed into a household name and his highlights are perpetually featured on SportsCenter, in large part because of the ultimate underdog story he encompasses. Not a single college offered him an athletic scholarship and no NBA team drafted him out of Harvard. The Golden State Warriors added him to their roster, where he spent his rookie season collecting dust on the bench despite being a fan favorite. After getting released twice in the offseason, the Knicks picked up Lin only to fill a spot temporarily. In an interview with ESPN, Lin acknowledged the stereotypes that he faces as an Asian-American athlete: “You can’t prove yourself one time. You can’t have one good game and everyone be like, ‘He’s the real deal.’ It has to be over and over and over again. It’s funny, people are still saying ‘He’s quicker than he looks’ and I’m like what does that mean? Do I look slow? People are always saying, ‘He’s deceptively quick, deceptively athletic.’ I don’t know if that’s just because I’m Asian or what it is.” At times Lin’s race has been a controversial topic, raising discussions on racial stereotypes. ESPN fired an employee that wrote the headline “Chink in the Armor” for an article on Lin and Ben & Jerry’s issued an apology for using fortune cookies as an ingredient in their “Lin-sanity” flavored ice cream. Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. tweeted that the hype surrounding Lin was only “because he’s Asian.” On the flip side, Lin has inspired countless people around the world and provided them with a role model they never expected. Even APSA’s intramural basketball team was Linspired, making an improbable run to the consolation playoffs.
Editor’s Note We meet again, UCSD APSA. Welcome to the Winter Quarter Recap Edition of the APSAlute Source, your onestop newsletter for all your APSA newsletter needs! If you are not aware, May is API Heritage month. Our history has been folded within American history, hidden from the general history text books, barely touched upon. When asked about Asians in American history, I could only think of two subjects that I learned about in high school classrooms: Chinese railroad workers in the 1800s and the Japanese internment during World War II. Even then, being ethnically Vietnamese, I didn’t see myself represented in history texts. I highly encourage all of you to research a little bit into API American history—it’s out there if you look for it—so that you can learn more about what API Heritage has to offer. From the beginning of week 8 to the middle of week 9, Linda Chang, our SPACES intern, had put up a display case for recent Asian-American figures in the Media, and of course our winter quarter Talent Show last weekend celebrated the many talents of the API community. Thank you to Desmond Leung, Linda Chang, and Hieu Tran for their contributions this week, Lucy Troung for providing me with backed up alumni articles, and Hannah Bernabe, Hee-Jung Lim, and Dan Tran for taking the APSA pictures I stole off of Facebook. -Mindy Lam APSA Newsletter Editor
Talent Show: an MC’s Perspective by Hieu Tran
Bright lights. Audience yelling. Talent performers. Arden Cho. Being Master of Ceremonies for Talent Show has been on my college to-do list since my sophomore year. I loved seeing the crowd’s excitement and I have always secretly wanted to go on stage. I have moved on from being part of the Media committee and this year, I was fortunate enough to accomplish my goal and share the stage with Lilianne Tang and Becky Yang. Before the show started, we were all hyperventilating and stressing out. It was crazy to know that we would be on stage in front of 350 people. When the time came, we walked up the stairs, walked across the stage, and captivated the audience with our cheesy jokes. Well, I admit I was a bit nervous. I stumbled on some words and lines. I laughed at my own jokes. I cut off Becky a couple of times. Despite all these mistakes, I pushed forward as MC and had a lot of fun. Of course, knowing that I had a lot of support helped eased my nervousness. I loved seeing my friends in the crowd and seeing them give me a thumbs up. Some of them even sent me text messages saying, “You got this!” and “Funny joke, Hieu!” I also got some tips from close friends to improve my stage presence. Working with Lilianne and Becky was an amazing experience. It was difficult at times to get all of us to meet up to plan and rehearse but one thing was for sure: we were dedicated to being MCs. We rehearsed
for three hours straight before the show. Our goal of the night was to have fun, regardless of what happens. When the show was over, we recieved so many compliments. Seeing my mentees, friends, and alumni saying how great the show went made my night. Also, getting autographs and doing Charlie Angels poses with Arden Cho, Ryan Feng, and Andrew Chiang was pretty cool. I believe this year’s Talent Show is the best I have seen so far and it has gone beyond of what is expected. I gave it my all by contributing videos, being in APSA Medley, and help make flyers. I am blessed to have the opportunity to be part of Talent Show and I am glad to see so many people involved with it. My Super Senior Goal #172: Be APSA Talent Show MC is accomplished. I cannot wait for next year’s show. Thank you to Jereme Umali, Tina Patel, and Rina Konishi for all of their hard work putting together an amazing talent show! Shameless plug: Check out my videos at youtube. com/hieudtran89 and Like my Page at facebook. com/hieudtran89.
Winter Quarter Pictures: SDSU hangouts, Talent Shows, and Board Dinner, oh my!
Looking Forward to Spring Quarter? We arrive at last to the end of Winter Quarter, but never fear! There is so much to look forward to when we come back in the spring. For example: -Spring Quarter Camping retreat! (Don’t forget to get your camping gear ready over break!) -Grad Banquet! (Planning meetings every Thursday, 6p-9p.) -Joint GBMs with our siste-orgs! -&much much more! Have a brilliant Spring Break, and see you on the other side!
Learn About Your Heritage
Linda Chang is APSA’s Community Retention Intern at SPACES (Student Promoted Access Center for Education Services). Over the last year, Linda has worked hard to put on programs that cater taward retaining API stdents, hosting community events that emphasize history and social perspective. If you are interested in doing something similar, there are many intern positiins opening up at SPACES for the 2012-2013 school year. Ask around, and apply soon!
Fred Korematsu Day Jan 30, 2012 marked the 2nd Annual Fred Korematsu
Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution at SDSU. There was a total of 21 UCSD people that attended the event including APSA member Kristian Castro. In addition, 2 UCSD Ph.D scholars came along.
Film Screening:“Passing Down the Legacy” The Film Screening of “Passing Down the Legacy” with directors and guest panelist was held on Feb 24, 2012 at CCC Comunidad. The film was finished just a few weeks ago so it made its debut at UCSD. “Passing Down the Legacy” follows the Bridging Communities youth program in Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco. Bridging Communities was established in response to a number of hate incidents against the American Muslim community in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Recognizing the similarities that Japanese Americans faced in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor ultimately resulting in their incarceration, Bridging Communities was meant to build solidarity and partnership between Japanese American and Muslim American community. APSA, NSU, MSA, LGBT Resource Center, Women’s Center, Cross Cultural Center and the chair of JACL(Japanese American Citizens League)-SD were some of many people that attended. The Directors Marissa Kitazawa and Alexandra Margolin shared their experience as APIA womyn in filming and activism. The guest panelist included Affad Shaikh who was the co-founder of Bridging Communities, former CAIR (The Council on American-Islamic Relations) Civil Rights manager and UCSD Alumn. There were roughly 65 participants at the film screening.
State of Asia America The display case for “State of Asia America” was located
on the first floor of PC between Panda and Rubio during week 9 and 10. 6 Asian American figures were displayed as well as quote bubbles that exemplify the racism each faced. These 6 figures appeared in media this past quarter included Girl’s Generation, Lisa Chan from Pete Hoekstra’s ad, Heejun from American Idol, Danny Chen, Harry Lew, and Jeremy Lin. The display case gained much attention has racism in the Asian American community was now physically visible. The dialogue that followed“State of Asia America” display was on March 9. It was a space to allow APIA students to share personal stories and how they faced similar racism as the 6 APIA figures in the display case. Professor Jim Lin and Ayako Sahara were both present at the event along with roughly 26 participants.
Winter GBMers of the Month
*~Miss February~* Rina Konishi
~Mister March~
has been coming out to APSA since the beginning of the school year, present at GBMS, GBM retreats, and especially during this Talent Show, which she was the Coordinator intern. Thank you for all your hard work!
Johnson Zhen
is an early riser, a proud vegetarian, and a great dancer! He helps out with all our events (except for lemon grass chicken, because he’s a vegetarian, but that›s ok) and is there for us always. Thank you Johnson!
Alumni Advice: 12 things I wish I knew as an Undergrad
1) Study; not cram. Cramming isn’t learning. Review after class and just a little bit each day. Read before class. Make study buddies in class (and you might become friends). Study groups are helpful when you study and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Share notes (even AS Lecture Notes) and Facebook less. Take breaks and naps and vary the places you study even in the same session so you don’t get bored. Go to sections, office hours, and take advantage of free tutoring. You don’t need all-nighters if you’ve been studying all along. 2) Take classes at the community college. Classes are smaller, and you can save money AND boost your GPA.
4) Get a job, intern, or volunteer. Remember, many employers consider experience over education. Take advantage of the Career Services Center since it’s available to you. 5) Get to know your professors. If you do well in your class, you may want to ask your professor for a letter of recommendation. It’s even better if you go to office hours and ask questions so that they can get to know you more personally. 6) Go to RIMAC. Use the gym because it’s healthy, relieves stress, and it is quite nice at UCSD, especially since you’re already paying for it. 7) Live without a car. Gas prices, insurance, maintenance, parking, traffic/parking tickets all suck. You’re better off taking a bus/train for the most part. 8) Use used textbooks. Share books among your friends or APSA folks. Try ASP. Buy books online and use books on reserve until it arrives. If you have time, list books instead of selling to the bookstore so that you can make an extra buck.
9) Learn to get along with others. Communication works pretty well. Don’t expect other people to read your mind. If you and your roommate aren’t getting along, try talking instead of piling dirty dishes on his/her bed. 10) Sleep. Sleep deprivation isn’t good for your memory, mood, or performance. As hard as this may sound to a UCSD student, you have to set a regular sleep schedule (in the same way you get over jet-lag). You shouldn’t do all-nighters, but if you have to, do power-naps (20 mins) to recharge. Naps are better than caffeine because you feel refreshed and rested for a longer period of time without having to take the psychoactive stimulant that wears (and you could develop a tolerance and dependence on caffeine; no good.) 11) Find out where the free food is. There’s lots of free stuff on campus. Clubs, organizations, and school services host free food events all the time. You’re paying for it after all, so take the time to find out where the free food is. Learn something new. Make new friends while you’re at it.
12) Get the most out of your college experience. You’ll realize from working full-time or attending grad school that there’s no experience like undergrad. You have classes to take, but you have plenty of time and energy to do lots of things. Do study-abroad. Go to parties. Join organizations. Go to events. Meet new people. – Brian Ilagan was at UCSD from 2001-2006. He majored in Pyschology and minored in Ethnic Studies.