Category Archives: Volume XII, Fall 2009
Foundations to Burn and Build: Compelling Stories That Give Shape to Asian Identity
By Cristina Balitaan In a globalizing world, Asians — Thai, Indonesian, Hmong, Indian, Pakistani, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean — are all over the world, looking for opportunities to build their lives upon. They are in every continent. So how does one define who is Asian? The term describes groups of people who are different in [...]
Sakura Hot
Increasing enrollment allows SU’s Japanese Language Program to expand while other language programs face cuts. By Amy Su Ten years ago, Syracuse University only had three sections for Japanese 101. Yet this semester, the Japanese Language Program not only expanded Japanese 101 to six sections in total, but also began to offer Japanese 300, a [...]
Bon Voyage
One A-Line writer shares her unique experience studying abroad in France. By Alice Feng “Welcome to British Airways. We will be boarding all passengers for flight number BA 327 in 10 minutes. Please have your tickets and passports ready.” On June 3, 2009, I found myself at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York with [...]
Education for the Mind & Spirit: Refuge for Refugees
The Boaz Ministry of the Korean Church of Syracuse is helping refugees, one computer class at a time. By Andrea Roxas Myanmar refugee Nightin Gale has lived in the U.S. for barely over a year. Despite adversity, the 16-year-old dreams of being a doctor. Thanks to the Boaz Ministry, Gale is learning the necessary computer [...]
Traffic Alert
By Natt Garunrangseewong “In China, my friend had sex with a prostitute and didn’t pay her,” says Winnie Kyi, a senior what studied abroad in Hong Kong last spring. “She got mad and left.” Her friend felt neither remorse nor regret. With the recession still looming, more and more women in Southeast Asia desperate for [...]
Veggie Tales
By Guramrit Khalsa “Aunt Voula, Ian is a vegetarian. He doesn’t eat meat,” Toula says. “He don’t eat no meat? What do you mean he don’t eat meat?” Aunt Voula exclaims. This classic scene from the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” portrays the common question asked of vegetarians accompanied by confused expressions followed by massive [...]
John Liu & NYC: A Battleground for Political Equality
By Fay Gan With correspondence from John Liu Associates Councilman John C. Liu, the Democratic candidate for New York City Comptroller, is known among New Yorkers as the first Asian American elected to City Council. As of Sept. 29, 2009, with 56 percent of the vote, Liu became known as the first Asian American to hold [...]
Watch Your Language!
By Alice Feng You may have heard that the use of the word “oriental” is now banned. But here’s the catch — it’s only in New York State documents. Governor David A. Paterson signed the bill on Sept. 9 of this year with state sponsors Senator Craig M. Johnson of Nassau County and Assemblywoman Grace Meng [...]
Casting Call!
One writer’s perspective on Asian progress on the Silver Screen. By Fay Gan Many Asian Americans have become frustrated with Hollywood’s method of casting typically Asian roles. There is a growing argument that non-Asian actors have no right to play Asian characters because it pushes the smaller segment of aspiring Asian actors to the wayside. [...]
White Washing the Big Screen
One writer’s perspective on non-Asian actors playing Asian and Asian American characters. By Judy Ho In the past two years, Hollywood film adaptations such as “21,” “Dragon Ball Evolution” and “Avatar: The Last Airbender” have received controversial outcries from angry moviegoers and fans. Letters of protests have been written to Hollywood producers, YouTube video rants have [...]
