Harvard Targeted in U.S. Asian-American Discrimination Probe
Bloomberg
The U.S. Education Department is probing complaints that Harvard University and Princeton University discriminate against Asian-Americans in undergraduate admissions.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating a complaint it received in August that Harvard rejected an Asian- American candidate for the current freshman class based on race or national origin, a department spokesman said. The agency is looking into a similar August 2011 allegation against Princeton as part of a review begun in 2008 of that school’s handling of Asian-American candidates, said the spokesman, who declined to be identified, citing department policy.
Kyung Namgood, OC Homicide No. 5: Ruben Gurrola, Wrong-Way Driver, Held for Murder
OC Weekly
Kyung Namgood, 53, of Buena Park, was killed early Sunday after the Toyota sedan she was riding in on the 91 freeway in Anaheim was plowed into head on by a Honda sedan driven by Ruben Gurrola, 23, Pomona.
Gurrola is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on one felony count each of murder, driving under the influence causing bodily injury, and driving with a blood alcohol level .08 percent or more causing injury. He also faces sentencing enhancements and allegations for causing great bodily injury and causing bodily injury to more than one victim.
Bakers and Chaebol in South Korea, Let them Eat Cake
The Economist
The hot topic in South Korea is the trend for daughters and grand-daughters of chaebol families to open bakeries and other small food outlets. The chaebol are the conglomerates that dominate the Korean economy, so these plutocratic pâtissières have deeper pockets than any of the little bakers they compete against.
Their baking has provoked outrage. Lee Myung-bak, South Korea’s president, calls it a “hobby” business for rich girls that threatens the livelihood of poor shopkeepers. Lee Ju-young, a member of the national assembly, likens it to Park Ji-sung (Manchester United’s Korean midfielder) lording it over amateurs in a backstreet game of football. A restaurateur in Seoul puts it more plaintively: “These families already control everything else in Korea. Why can’t they leave something for the rest of us?”
Doblin: Politics may Derail Christie Judicial Nominees
Bergen County Record (N.J.)
On Wednesday, prominent Korean-Americans rallied in Hackensack in support of Phillip Kwon, one of Governor Christie’s two nominees to the state Supreme Court. Kwon is the first Korean-American and first immigrant nominated to the state’s high court. Christie’s announcement last week was greeted with cheers. The enthusiasm was short-lived.
Published reports that Kwon’s parents, who own a liquor store in New York, had allegedly made 222 cash deposits that were below the $10,000 threshold to skirt bank-reporting rules quickly sent a cloud over Kwon’s confirmation parade. No criminal charges were filed against Kwon’s parents and a civil lawsuit has been settled. This week, Christie said the investigation into the financial transfers did not involve Kwon.
Seven dazzling days in South Korea
CNNGo
This itinerary is for the helpless Korea virgins (and despite Korea’s burgeoning tourism, we know you’re out there), not been-there-done-that backpackers in search of the obscure. But the adjective “dazzling” here is no meaningless tag. It’s a nod to the process of aggressive elimination and selection that gave us the model itinerary for seven days of travel in South Korea.
Kim Jong Un Looking at Things
The Atlantic
Like father, like son. Since the recent death of Kim Jong Il, North Korean state-run media has been releasing a series of images of the “Great Successor,” Kim Jong Un, visiting schools, factories, and military facilities. These visits, which were frequently publicized by his father and his grandfather Kim Il Sung, are called “field guidance” trips — opportunities for the supreme leader to give on-the-spot advice. For decades, the North Korean myth-making machine endowed Kim Jong Il with amazing wisdom, prowess, and intelligence, and it continues that tradition now with his son, touting him as a marksman, poet, economic genius, and wise military strategist. Little is actually known about Kim Jong Un. Even his age remains in doubt — he may be 28, 29, or 30. Based on the state-released photos collected here, he is following closely in his father’s footsteps, albeit with a touch more visible affection.
Richard Chai Named Filson’s New Creative Director
Styleite.com
Chai has just been tapped as the 115-year-old heritage brand’s creative director. His first task was to design six jackets and three bags for the Filson Rugged Casual Apparel collection, which reinterprets Filson’s classic styles in Chai’s signature fabrics.
Girls’ Generation Create Buzz After U.S. Primetime Debut
Chosun Ilbo
The band’s performance of the English version of “The Boys” on “The Late Show” on Tuesday (local time) was met with a shower of praise on social networking sites including Twitter. The video clip from the show was uploaded immediately after the program aired and received over 710,000 hits in just two days.
Girls’ Generation also received much attention on online news sites. A blog created on the Wall Street Journal is conducting a vote on their performance. As of Thursday afternoon, 77.7 percent, or 1,313 people, gave their approval, saying they are fans. Some 230 people, or 13.6 percent, answered that they did not know the band before, but that they liked their performance. Less than 2 percent gave a negative response.
Popular music in Korea, a Jimi Hendrix Stymied
The Economist
MANUFACTURED Korean pop music, or K-Pop, is riding high on a wave of international hype. The greatest figure in the history of this country’s popular music, however, does not wear high heels, nor miniskirt. Indeed, he does not even dance.
Shin Joong-hyun first learned to play guitar in the 1950s, and soon found a following among the American soldiers stationed here. Jackie Shin, as they knew him, was a master of jazz, rock ’n roll, rhythm-and-blues, and country. He already knew the Americans’ favourite songs, having spent every waking hour listening to Armed Forces Korea Network (AFKN), for many years the sole conduit by which Western music flowed into Korea.
What Heals The World? Soup, Made By Moms
National Public Radio
Maybe that’s why the kimchi soup was so welcome; it happened to be made by a mom named Yesoon Lee. This week I went back to Mandu, her restaurant, to ask Lee if I had found the Korean mother’s cure-all. What does she feed her kids when they’re sick? “Chicken soup and jook,” she said.
Jook is the Korean version of gruel, a dish that’s on the short list of invalid menus worldwide. “It’s for when you have stomach problems,” says Lee, who was born in Korea but raised her two children in Vienna, Va. Her daughter Jean, who’s 36 and a partner in the restaurant (along with her brother Dan), says: “Still, when I’m sick, my mom makes me jook.” She tries to make it herself, but she says, “it’s not the same.”
Ward still planning to play for Steelers
ESPN
“I plan on playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and going from there,” Ward said at the Super Bowl media center Thursday.
Ward’s chances of returning increased with the departure of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who had been looking to reduce Ward’s role the past couple of seasons. If Pittsburgh is committed to getting back to a run-first offense, Ward’s value goes up because of his blocking.
Ward, who lost his starting job this season, is scheduled to make $4 million in the last two years of his contract but he has said that he is willing to take a pay cut. A decision has to be made by March 1 because of a clause in his contract.
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One of the the biggest Asian cinema events to hit Southern California opens on May 10. The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, presented by Visual Communications, features the latest works by established and emerging filmmakers, along with seminars, panel discussions and symposiums on topics relevant to Asian Pacific cinema.
Opening Night features “Shanghai Calling,” directed by Daniel Hsia and starring Korean American Daniel Henney, who plays a Chinese American expat lawyer navigating his way through the mean streets of Shanghai (the picture above also indicates he is a raisin smuggler). But does he take off his shirt? Go watch the movie to find out! read more
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