metropolitianAnshin

Parking Map: Downtown San Leandro

2010-06-01T19:08:00.001-07:00

View Parking Spaces in Downtown San Leandro, CA in a larger map

(Haiti quake: Survivors struggle while awaiting aid); an obvious, but much-needed Bay Area reminder on what to consider before an earthquake

2010-01-14T01:13:00.000-08:00

The Haitian presidential palace stands in ruins on Tuesday in Port-au-Prince after a huge earthquake measuring 7.0 rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti, toppling buildings and causing widespread damage and panic.

Photo: Lisandro Suero / AFP/Getty Images

Over the next few days (or weeks), and given that I am a life-long resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, I will be devoting a lot of my posts to earthquake / infrastructure related issues. Given the amount of earthquakes which have taken place recently (a 6.5 Earthquake recently hit near Eureka, California, causing some moderate damages, and a 4.0 Earthquake hit around the Milpitas, CA area), I feel it's important to research, as well as educate readers about issues related to earthquakes/infrastructure to inspire change, whether it be small or big scale changes.

With this article, Survivors struggle while awaiting aid, I want to analyze and compare what Bay Area residents need to be concerned about; while my analysis will be very obvious here, a lot of the factors of earthquake preparation are often ignored: earthquake preparation should be based on what will take place, such as damaged public utilities, lack of aid, etc., and I will highlight those problems.

Based on the article by the Associated Press, (source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/12/international/i141733S04.DTL ) Port Au Prince seems to be in a very apocalyptic and chaotic state.

What strikes me the most is the fact that one doctor notes that "there's no water", which makes me infer that the water pipe system has been damaged and obstructed by the earthquake. I don't know much about how strong the Bay Area water system is, but given an earthquake at this magnitude, it would be likely that water and electricity will not be functioning properly. This is something to consider for earthquake safety preparations (i.e. buying lots of water, batteries, etc.)

Another issue is making cell phone calls; victims are trying to call emergency services, but they cannot get through due to damaged phone networks. This really exemplifies the need to have non-local friends and relatives to be able to rely on to monitor your safety in case you cannot contact local authorities. Also, this brings up a very interesting point: given the difficulty to even approach emergency vehicles, one really has to be independently prepared or set up a community system in order to help each other out during an earthquake. In the Bay Area, this difficulty can be propagated by having an earthquake during commute hours, which makes it challenging for emergency vehicles to even travel from one place to another.

Looting seems to be becoming a common event now in Haiti. While I am not sure how to predict looting will take place in the Bay Area, one quote from this article will point out how stressed emergency services will be, given Haiti's situation:

"About 3,000 police and international peacekeepers cleared debris, directed traffic and maintained security in the capital. But law enforcement was stretched thin even before the quake and would be ill-equipped to deal with major unrest. The U.N.'s 9,000-member peacekeeping force sent patrols across the capital's streets while securing the airport, port and main buildings."

In other words, it's going to become important to learn how to take care of yourself (as well as others) during an earthquake. I think I stressed that enough.

Given the collapse of the Presidential Palace in Port Au Prince and many other buildings, one final thing to point out is to understand whether or not the building you currently occupy in or work in is safe during an earthquake, and to what extent (I really want to bring this point across). This YouTube video from PBS I watched in 2008 might bring the point across: (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jtAKPO4iHA )

Howard Cook, owner of Bay Area Retrofit, really surprised me about how only 25% of Bay Area homes have been retrofitted, but about 90% of them are done improperly. I'm not sure exactly how he got his numbers, but he does have a website (http://www.bayarearetrofit.com/) with lots of facts pertaining to proper retrofitting (which can be explained in another post?). The point I want to highlight from him is that there is no proper building retrofit design code in any city in the Bay Area. Therefore, it's important to start asking questions about your structure's stability.

Meanwhile, with all these warnings, I just want to conclude with this quote.

The leading senator of Haiti claims that the death toll could reach about 500,000, but nobody is for certain what the real numbers are. This quote gives a grim picture:

"Bodies lay everywhere in Port-au-Prince: tiny children next to schools, women in rubble-strewn streets with stunned expressions frozen on their faces, men hidden beneath plastic tarps and cotton sheets."

Any earthquake that will take place in the Bay Area will leave staggering philosophical impacts on people. The earthquake in Haiti should serve as a wakeup call to prepare for an earthquake.

More urban planning / transportation engineering articles/videos

2010-01-05T22:45:00.000-08:00

Some videos showing you urban planning / transportation engineering related facts.

This is a video of the Key System, a streetcar system which was spread throughout the East Bay during the first half of the 20th century. This was quickly dismantled as General Motors, Standard Oil, and Firestone Tire popularized the bus and quickly soon, the automobile. (I still need to finish this before school starts):

This is a movie called Taken for a Ride. It discusses the history of how General Motors, Standard Oil, and Firestone Tires was able to ruin American public transportation (aka the Great American Streetcar Scandal):

-------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Next, a book that I need to borrow out of UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design Library (if it has it!):

Great Streets, by Allan B. Jacobs, I believe describes the qualities of what makes a good street. According to Amazon.com reviews:

"With its thorough chronicling of building heights, tree spacing, relative widths of streets, sidewalks and cartways, this book will undoubtedly serve as a welcome reference tool for designers and urban planners. But for the lay reader, it is also an oddly poetic attempt to capture the undefinable quality that makes a street truly "great." To make his point, Jacobs, chair of the department of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley, uses text and 242 graceful line drawings to explore the magic of some 15 great streets, most of them European, including Barcelona's Ramblas, the Boulevard Saint-Michel in Paris, Via dei Giubbonari in Rome and even Venice's Grand Canal. Other well- and lesser-known examples appear in a second section comparing types of streets--boulevards, commercial strips, small-town main streets and residential roads. Finally, Jacobs analyzes those factors that make streets great: buildings of similar height, interesting facades, trees, windows that invite viewing, intersections, beginnings and endings, stopping places and, to be sure, space for leisurely walking. These are necessary qualities, but, as Jacobs warns, do not ensure a great street. "A final ingredient--perhaps the most important--is necessary . . . the magic of design."

Seems to be a book promoting urban contextualism...

--------------------------------------------------------------------

And finally....

This is like the most fastest lecture on the history of city planning in the Western World I've heard in my life, taught by famous city planner Sir Peter Hall, who is lecturing at Wurster Hall at Cal's College of Environmental Design's 50th Anniversary. I warn you, if you don't have a heavy city planning background (I don't), you'll feel lost in this lecture (I certainly did at times):

Why I study civil engineering: video

2010-01-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

Random, but goals!

2009-12-28T21:19:00.000-08:00

This music is putting me in the mood. Ayaka = great !

Goals:

- Get off of Facebook and appreciate the world around him much more!

- Befriend more engineers!

- Show off the sides of acting that follow this quote:

Art is not about giving people what they want. It's about giving them something they don't know they want. It's about submitting to someone else's vision.

-joshua fineberg

- Do more civil engineering / architecture / urban planning things through improving technical skills

- Be a better team worker

Finally: Understand and appreciate people around you.

SLOW DOWN TIME!

2009-12-17T23:15:00.000-08:00

Finally, the semester is ending. A chance to slow down and recollect my thoughts.

YouTube videos inspring me to major in urban studies

2009-12-04T23:51:00.000-08:00

While I get some much needed rest before finals studying comes along, I decided to post up a few YouTube videos which inspired me to do city planning / urban studies, based on its crazily interdisciplinary field:

Looking at New York City street culture is just exciting to me. I have a huge interest in maintaining urban street culture.

This heavily really brought me into studying urban agriculture! Despite the fact that globalized food economies seen impossible to turn around, as suggested by a few of my friends, heavily changing our zoning laws to promote mixed-used development and transit-oriented developments and creating local communities relying on local food (see City Slicker Farms or Viet Village Urban Farm) can create a jump-start in urban agriculture!

When I saw this video in the summer, it gave me a chance to really see the social issues (i.e. socio-economic mobility and the psychology/sociology of suburban/city-dwellers!) involved in urban studies. My initial background in urban planning is heavily on urban design and transportation, as well as land use. Inspires me to take City Planning 118AC at Cal: The Urban Community. In addition to the jazz music, which is heavily a part of street culture (and kick-ass arts!), this video made me really interested in the social aspects of urban planning (i.e. interacting with people).

More to come soon!

Being an [Asian-American] engineer while maintaining a OUT-of-THE ordinary image? A STORY TO CONSIDER!!

2009-12-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

Face it, this nation needs engineers.

Face it, Asian-Americans need a better image in the media other than the "nerdy, passive, desexualized, submissive, kung-fu fighting people," and need to step up to the plate in terms of the political identity and the entertainment world to tell people that we are regular people part of the American fabric with our own stories to tell.

Face it, engineers need a better image in the media so we can have more life-changing moments in our world.

What about the Asian-American engineer?

I hesitate to put race in the story, but I'm not talking about promoting a model-minority stereotype. I'm talking about promoting positive role-models in our communities through the use of the media.

My role models are engineers (especially civil engineers!), architects, urban planners. These are life-changing people that make a huge difference in our society!

However, it's a shame that engineers are stereotypically looked down upon as nerdy, unsocial, inflexible, and of course, have a "boring or difficult (well the difficult part is true) career" compared to business or any field relating to the liberal arts. These are the group of people our nation desperately needs, according to a Daily Review article I read about a few months ago.

My suggestion for the entertainment media (especially the heavily indie and growing Asian-American media) and directors is to really put emphasises on stories about engineers who make a difference in society. I grew up wanting to become an engineer through the crazy media I called the Internet, but that's because I spend a lot of my own time reading up stuff on architecture, civil engineering, and city planning; not everybody does that.

The focus of the Asian-American media is becoming extremely kick-ass and exciting. According to Hyphen Magazine's Summer 09's Action issue, back in the second half of the 20th century, Asian-American media as defined by Asian-Americans started out as saying: What the heck does it mean to be Asian American? The 21st Century Asian-American media is defined as just being: "Hey, I'm just being myself! Let me be myself and who I want, and I'm proud to be who I am."

Seriously, I can envision a kick-ass screenplay, movie, show, etc. coming out of this. An Asian-American engineer making a difference in the community. When's the last time an engineer has been glorified in the media?

I will be really happy if I see an Asian-American engineer being positvely portrayed in the media; I have respect for those Asian-Americans who choose to become artists, musicians, actors, politicians, business leaders, lawyers, teachers, leaders of non-profits -- the non-traditonal path astray from the pre-med, engineering, or science-like paths. This non-traditional path seems to be the direction the Asian-Am media portryal seems to want to take, as a way of avoiding the model-minority, nerdy, passive, unsocial stereotypes which plague Asian-Americans.

However, I challenge Asian-American media and Asian-American directors to really do something to give a positive portrayal of the As-Am engineer. Yes, engineers do tough, challenging stuff that nobody wants to do because the tough, challenging stuff makes things too hard and not fun. But, our world has very complex problems that have to be solved especially first through engineers.

This isn't just for Asian-Americans though; it's for everybody.

A bit of things to consider when approaching such a story:

- How realistic would be the portrayal of the engineer? It would look really unrealistic if an engineer came out 100% social and "Superman" like (not that any director will do that), but the director must show the challenges the engineers have to be accepted by society, and the huge challenges that engineers face. Those challenges must be conveyed in a heavily tangible manner so that people can relate to the engineers challenges and take the profession as more than a "nerdy profession".

- The human aspects of engineers; engineers are not just numbers. They have human stories; love, family problems, ethical questions about life, conflicts with different characters, etc. I often have very little time to read because the engineering cirriculum can be so challenging that I have to put my architecture // city planning reading in between my lunches and dineers.

- How willing are Generation Y Asian-Americans willing to accept engineers?

Why I am pursuing simotaneous degrees in Civil Engineering and Urban Studies

2009-10-03T00:08:00.000-07:00

My decision to do a simultaneous degree in civil engineering and urban studies seems really odd, but I think its worth it. I'm still contemplating how this will work out, but given the few weeks I've spent on this life-changing campus, it's best to examine why I chose this path; I normally don't blog this long. The fact that I've gave such a long post shows: I am actually stopping and thinking about the consequences of my actions at Berkeley, and I've been so happy here that I don't do the latter (which can be a bad thing). If you can handle reading this long and want to know a bit more about me, you are kick-ass!

In short, I chose to do the simultaneous degree in those two fields because I want to establish an interdisciplinary curriculum, while creating an urban planning, public policy approach to designing, building and maintaining the built environment around me. I want humanity in my education, and to broaden my way of thinking.

My decision was first developed out learning from the efforts of others in this campus. I've met extra-ordinary people who work extremely hard to make a difference in their communities and lives, despite the challenges they face or the personal problems they have in their lives (i.e. heavy course-load, financial problems, health, etc.). The challenges in this world are exactly as complicated. I do want to take responsibility for problems in the world, but I just do not know how.
I feared working hard because I felt my social life, myself, would be taken away. However, given the amount of work I've seen, sometimes much more than I do, I realized that it takes effort to deal with the magnitude of problems in our society. I'm just inspired by people here; for people who know me personally, you KNOW I study hard. I've met people who study harder than me. I just want to be quicker critical thinker.

Secondly, I recognized my way of thinking is just WAYY too limited. By being around many different people, I realized I just couldn't just be a technical thinker who loves to think about how buildings are built or why the architectural design of a structure is picked as such. Either way, I regret not listening to my English teachers when they use literary techniques because whenever I am trying to think of something non-engineering related, nothing pops up in my mind. I want something creative to pop up in my mind! Alll that pops up are buildings and banana buildings (well, not 100% literally, but 50% of the time!). I want the stories of humanity, the average person who wants to make a difference in the world just to come up! I want to understand people, to be kind, to understand public policy and give technical expertise at the same time.

Thirdly, it's a really kick-ass combination to do civil engineering and urban studies. Just in short, buildings, transit-oriented developments, architecture, transportation engineering. It feels like the harder-version of SimCity all over again.

Fourthly, I love learning about the urban society. Maybe this does (OR DOESN'T relate directly to urban studies, but in someways IT IS), but every-time I pick up my copy of Hyphen Magazine, I get really consumed and interested in dealing with the urban issues that the writers put out (i.e. green nail salons due to the health problems from chemicals which previously caused cancer in "non-green nail salons", a concept brought up by Asian-Americans which have to face challenges such as the costs of being environmentally friendly or the cheap cost of the harmful nail care products). I love trying to imagine how can we take advantage of dense urban areas and trying to make them more vibrant, walkable, and community-like. Urban studies has a very political like feel due to the issues involved (i.e. housing, urban communities, designing transit-friendly places and working with businesses to make that happen).

When I spend much of time in Wurster Hall's College of Environmental Design library, I just want to pick up a majority of the books and read them all.... there are lots of ideas to design sustainable communities and improve our lives just staring at everything in the library. For example, I recently picked up a book on Urban Gardening.. a concept which is rarely taught now due to our heavily industrialized society.. the pictures are amazing; I saw pictures mapped out on where the gardens should be, how to plant the plants, etc (despite the fact that I have friends who disagree with Michael Pollan's suggestion of bringing back urbanized gardening and a decentralized food economy, these books proved to me that these ideas are possible). I had a headache, so I couldn't look at it all. There was a new book the CED library had on Integrative Urban Planning, I believe, and the author really emphasized how urban planning should emphasize the needs of the individuals (ok, maybe it sounds corny and obvious); there were lots of diagrams and pictures related to the group needs and individual needs of a person in order to be happy in a city.. Maps, design, laying out walkable pedestrian zones (I saw a map of a urban planning plan of a part of Guangzhou in the CED hallways); I've never been so passionate about something like this in a LONG time.

I'm still amazed that I sound like this interdiciplinary urban-planner ish person, but I should emphasize the civil engineering part of my decision. It takes engineers to make all these things happen. Our generation, as one article pointed out I read a long time ago, is heavily a generation of liberal arts majors (not to diss liberal arts majors; they have great criticial thinking skills that I do not have and envy!).It is so cool that engineers are the ones which wield heaviest in changing the rules; I need a urban stuides background so that if I had an influence in public policy, it would be in terms of a technical background (for example, one of the reasons why it's really difficult to retrofit buildings is due to the amount of bureaucracy involved in enact it). It's so kick-ass to have a big-role in improving our infrastructure.

One of the biggest things in my mind is the high speed rail project taking place across California. EVERYBODY will be involved in this project (urban planners planning out the area; engineers planning the buildings, train stations, communities, trains, fuel power; business placing business in the area and housing; artists trying to beautify the area; public policy makers trying to create studies to understand the impact of the designs... etc.).

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but given the challenges of our generation (which are more greater than the stress I'll face in college; believe me, I enjoy a busy lifestyle), I just feel obliged to make a difference in society through these things I'm so heavily passionate about. Wish me luck!

- PS; If you actually read this whole thing, you are amazing. I usually can't come across people through talking about this since urban studies, despite its interdisiciplinary feeling, is a very esoteric field (only 50 people major in it in CED!).

Engineering is tough at Berkeley

2009-08-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

Engineering IS tough at Berkeley!

But, if it means changing the world, lets bring it on!

History of Art 24: Looking at Berkeley Buildings!

2009-08-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

YES! I'm number 9 out of 10 on the waitlist and can still get into a class of 20 people! I'm really excited for the class I really want to join!

Summer Thoughts and my philosophy in life. . .

2009-07-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, I'm amazed that it's been almost a whole month and I barely posted anything here. Almost a month left before college starts!!

Lately, I've been delving through, trying to discover what my philosophy in life should be. I might as well sort of be honest about myself here, as Midori was in Norwegian Wood (by Haruki Murakami) when she was vivaciously open about her love for sex. I'm not sure how far I'll ramble here, but at least my thoughts are out.

This summer has been a really wild and quiet summer of some sorts. Wild, because I've been meeting lots of new people, and trying lots of new things beyond my comfort zone that I hadn't done before in high school. Quiet, because I spend lots of the days in the house reading, drawing, thinking about how college (or wanting college to come closer!!) should be, listening to music, reviewing Calculus (!!) before Math 1b starts.

Part of me wants to change the world, but part of me realizes that I would be sacrificing part of my life to do so. I have to discover where that balance lies; so far, it's in terms of changing the world through changing the community while having fun with it. I want that wild side of life to remain!

Simultaneously, I can't wait for college. This is so embarrassing: I find myself humming "Hail to California!" everyday, because I want to just release my thoughts and interests out to the bigger world which will come out at Cal.

But, I can't release them right now. Since I'm at home a lot, I don't really get a chance to release my thoughts out. Sure, I can release them to my parents and my brother, but I'm the only one who's really passionate about my thoughts. I want to talk politics, Asian-American activism, history, Asian architecture, stories of the TWLF in the 1960s-1970s, architectural engineering, my philosophy in life.. etc.

This is where I feel alone sometimes in the midst of my quiet days. Even while I'm in the middle of reading, drawing, or reviewing Calculus, or whatever I'm doing, all these thoughts I just mentioned are all stuck in my mind. I'm actively thinking about them 24/7, even when I'm trying to sleep. I should mention that it takes me a whole hour after I fall in bed to go to deep sleep because I'm always thinking; this cycle has been going on all throughout my four years in high school.

Sure, you may be saying: why are you always thinking and having no action about action? I do want action; action takes teamwork, and you have to find a group of people to be willing to listen to your ideas. I haven't found that yet. If I don't have the opportunity to express those ideas out, what's the point of action?

Throughout my high school life, these ideas are what I always wanted to convey. However, the people I communicated with and environment around me did not facilitate the political thoughts that were always dancing in my mind, simply because they weren't interested. I had to be open minded to their ideas (and I did accept them). Now, it's my turn to release it out, because it hurts to keep them inside.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I do get positive emails/comments about my YouTube channel from fans of Asian culture or Asian architecture. I know I've been on a hiatus on my video series; it's so difficult to do everything by myself that I had to stop, because I had been really tired and needed some sleep (and more outside help!). Those emails and comments are really encouraging because they show me that there is an audience outside that is interested in preserving Asian Architecture and the wonderful culture of Asia itself. I barely had sort of that kind of audience in my high school and in my friends I'm around.

Without those emails/comments, I probably would not continue, and just give up on my dream; preserving Asian architecture is like my biggest dream in me right now, because I want to know about my culture. I want to tell future generations of Asian-Americans, that your roots are important, and you should not let the media-generated stereotype of an "Asian nerd engineer, or martial artist" (being an engineer rocks, btw. But, don't let that technical side limit you!) limit your horizons on what direction one should go in painting Asian/Asian-American culture in the American fabric.

I always had a few comments at my high school (just a few! I get more comments from outside my school, ironically) saying my videos are educational, interesting, and informative, but no willingness or question from others in my school saying: "May I help?" Yes, you may be interested in my videos, but there's a difference between being interested and being passionate. Passionate involves deep action. I wish I can find, meet, and inspire people to be passionate about what lurks in my mind as I am.

In conclusion, part of me has discovered my philosophy in life: to change the world while having fun through preserving the cultural architecture Asia has to offer. Part of me wants to meet people who are as passionate as I am about this so I can release my thoughts so painfully stuck in my heart.

I think I'm inspired to re-continue an Asian architecture video I haven't finished for over a month. For those who are interested (or should I say, passionate), will you join me in the most radical dream ever?

Changing Channels; Al Jazeera English

2009-07-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

A great video on explaining Al Jazeera English's form of journalism. I'll let the video speak for itself.

Political activism as defined by Haruki Murakami; You can't just talk the talk otherwise you'll become elitist, hypocritical, and uncaring.

2009-07-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Re-reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (a really complex book I recommend to everybody, btw), I started to think about political philosophy for a few minutes.

Before I begin, let me sort of describe how I am "politically active" (not as a bragging tool). I wrote for the school newspaper and was really persistent in bringing the current events that were taking place in our school district, and had debates within our debate club related to political events. I spent a lot of my time (sometimes late night) reading late night news articles trying to understand what was going on around the world while forming a political opinion on what needs to be done around the world.

But, Murakami really challenged my political activism; this is how I interpreted it: you can't just talk the talk otherwise you'll become elitist, hypocritical, and uncaring. Yes, it looks really damn fancy and cool that you are above everybody else if you know something about politics, but what's the point of "political activism" if you can't comprehend this quote: "Nobody cares how much you know, but how much you care."?

Given that Murakami's tale takes place in the crazy 60s during the Japanese student protests, he places a very sexually liberated college student, Midori, in a student organization promoting "revolution" while ironically isolating her due to her ignorance and "slow understanding" (as definied by the group) of politics.

Midori joins a political group which uses big words she barely comprehends; the group does not make any attempts in explaining what those words mean. The first time she joins, she is told to read Marx, but since she can't understand it, nobody wants to associate themselves with her; meanwhile, the group goes on and lectures about political revolution. She notes that these people in the group, "aka" the working class, are trying to actually go up in social status just by impressing others with their political knowledge so they eventually be accepted (and quote, work for companies like "Mitsubushi and Fuji Bank").

These actions aren't political activism; that is plain arrogance and no action; how are people supposed to accept political activism (or politics in general) if this sort of elitist attitude exists, that people below your political knowledge aren't capable of being politically active?

This hypocrisy is apparent by the student protesters lack of full-sided commitment to the protests in the 60s. Toru Watanabe, the narrator, notes that in one semester, students went out of class just to protest the education system in Japan, and in another semesters, the protesters of the student movement aren't seen outside the classrooms as the leaders are all inside classes fearing that they won't graduate due to their involvement in protests.

That is true hypocrisy, letting fear or society's restraints (or society in general) lead one's lives in order to avoid changing the world.

But, how many of us who consider themselves "politically active" actually have been in these positions? Are you willing to go beyond the speech and debate part of politics that you see in high school, or the political junkies that claim they love politics to do something about the problems in the world? Are you afraid of changing the world (side note: how do you define changing the world; is it changing your community, changing your city, etc.?) because people claim you are too idealistic, don't realize the realities of government, and/or you fear you are hurting yourself?

After reading Norwegian Wood, I realized that I've been in this position and should not consider myself politically active, despite my knowledge about what's going on in politics.

It doesn't mean that much if I post Facebook links regarding political events going around the world, educating myself about issues in the Asian American community, or watching "political documentaries" or participating in all these ECs which enlighten your political thinking if the only thing you get out of it is a sense of pride for knowing a lot. It just doesn't, and that's what I have been doing these past few years.

How can I be politically active while going beyond being aware of the world around me?

How un-robotic can I become?

2009-07-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

What a weird topic to my blog post, but pretty dear to my mind; this is something I ponder almost every minute of my life.

I have no regrets (as of now) being a civil engineering major, given my love for architecture and wondering: how is this building or bridge built?

However, many challenges in life make it really difficult for me to study civil engineering.

For example, two years ago, I wanted to major in Asian Studies because I loved (and still do) Asian culture. I have a strong passion for doing something to contribute to the Asian-American activist movement and contemporary Asian-American culture. Given my involvement in my school's debate club, I'm also into politics and other social sciences (especially sociology!). I'm pretty much somebody who has a open-minded love of the liberal arts that cannot be restrained.

UC Berkeley's College of Engineering, unlike the College of L&S, does not have specific breadth requirements for the Humanities/Social Science requirements. For example, in L&S, there are 6th breadth requirements (i.e. you have to take 1 philosophy course, 1 international/area studies course, one biological course, one social behavior course, etc.), whereas in College of Engineering, there are six humantites courses - two of them have to be English courses, and the four others can be anything you want (well, one have to be related to American Culture and the other has to be American History, but that's just a university-wide requirement). While I can use the CoE requirements and take classes specific to the L&S requirements, I get a bad impression of how the CoE treats the liberal arts. College is where one can be an open minded and well-rounded individual, but the CoE's leninency on the Humanitities/Soc. Science requirements show that well-rounded-ness isn't a priority.

These challenges make me feel robotic because I want to learn more about myself, as an individual. Engineers have an impact on everything in society, positively or negatively, and the humantities explains why people do what they do, especially, but not limited to, engineers.

I chose civil engineering because I wanted to preserve Asian Architecture (as well as promote sustainable design and improve our aging infrastructure). This is the field which allows me to do something about a number problems in our world today, while trying to understand my culture, which I barely understand.

My only hope is that people respect the field of engineering (and, for some, maybe enter it?), while putting out the need for engineers to be well-rounded in other fields. Engineering is very technical-based, specific, stereotypically (and sometimes truthlly) unsocial, and especially difficult; these characteristics make it difficult for people to even accept engineering, espeically when America needs them a lot.

I have a difficult time explaining and defending why I chose civil engineering, given that I sound more like a liberal arts major than an engineering major; I appreciate my open-minded-ness, and my belief is that people will appreciate this rare quality. Engineers can be social scientists too, historians, public policy influences, artists, performers, polticians, teachers, etc! I want people to accept me if I am a citizen-journalist in my free time, an Asian-American activist trying to promote Hmong cultural arts, a sociologist analyzing 3rd generation Asian-American families, or whatever it may be, all while being an engineering major.

While college majors are really specific, I choose to go to college because I want to learn about life in general, not primarily because I want to study a career-specific field just to get a career specific job.

Food Inc. teaches future generations to question how they eat and demand real, quality food

2009-06-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

Food Inc. teaches future generations to question how they eat and demand real food

Have you ever wondered where your food comes from?

With a tone quite similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Food Inc., a documentary directed by Robert Kenner and narrated by Eric Scholsser (who wrote Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (who wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma), seeks to challenge the way we currently eat based on where your food comes from and how your food is produced. The movie is currently playing in released theaters, but as the weeks go by, more theaters will play this movie.

As my philosophy teacher said: Real news is what people do not want you to know. The agriculture industry and meat industry do not want you to know the details made in this movie. However, food is a health, national security, and energy issue that deserves recognition from the current Obama administration, as outlined by Michael Pollan in an article he wrote in the NY Times. (I advise you that you should definitely read this article a couple of times to set up the context of the article).

I think the San Francisco Chronicle does it best by showing these facts which "galavinzed the filmmakers":

-- In 1972, the Food and Drug Administration conducted 50,000 food safety inspections; in 2006, the FDA conducted 9,164.

-- During the George W. Bush administration, the head of the FDA was the former executive vice president of the National Food Processors Association, and the chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture was the former chief lobbyist for the beef industry in Washington.

-- Cattle are given feed that their bodies are not designed to digest, resulting in new strains of the E. coli virus that sicken tens of thousands of Americans annually.

-- One in 3 Americans born after 2000 will contract early-onset diabetes; among minorities, the rate will be 1 in 2.

Given these facts, one would have to wonder: what's up with our food?

The movie's theme is: we cannot be eating the food the way we are today.

The movie explains that our food industry (aka agri-businesses) is completely owned by a few gigantic corporations which promote efficiency and profits in a growing global food economy over the health of people. I'll give a few examples the movie shows without revealing too much.

Take corn and meat. American farms like in Iowa do not have a lot of crop diversity; Corn is heavily grown in US farms as a form of mono-culuture, or one-crop field. In terms of meat, Cattle is not grown like in the movies where cattle graze in wide grassy fields and can be made meat.

Instead, agri-businesses want to maximize profit by fattening up lots of animals with fields of corn in cramped feed lots with no room to exercise (fattening increases!). It would be a lot easier to grow cheap meat than to just leave the animal in the fields grazing and growing meat slowly, but there are health risks.

First, cattle are not used to eating corn; they eat grass, and the corn will not end up digested well. Second, given the cramped space, the cattle can unknowingly eat feces that other cattle deficate out; so in other words, you risk exposing yourself to dangerous bacteria such as eColi, and the corn helps propogate that. Chicken and pigs face similar processes as well.

(a side note not 100% directly mentioned in the movie: meat companies can put antibiotics on the cattle to survive the feedlots, which means that your body can be exposed to different hormones that may not be healthy for our bodies when you eat different meats)

When feedlots of corn are gone, the bacteria may still exist in the land, but if a farmer decides to plant on the farm, other plants (i.e. spinach and tomatoes) can be exposed to harmful pathogens.

With greater growth in cheap corn (i.e. with the advent of fertilizers and pesticides), fast food companies buy this meat that was once cattle fed by corn under unhealthy conditions. The federal government gives especially subsidizes corn farms, but we are basically subsidizing fast food. The movie gives a good point: it is cheaper to buy fast food (i.e. a dollar menu at McDonalds) than to purchase fruits and vegetables at a grocery store. Government subsidies help keep corn costs down for fast food, but not for these basic healthy foods. No wonder many working-class people and minorities can easily get fast food and face health-risks more than upper-class Americans. Yet, all giant food companies care about is profit.

Since we can grow corn extremely cheaply, we now have the advent of high frutose corn syrup, which is prevalent among sodas (i.e. go to Mickey D's and get a soda) and a lot of other sweets. Not healthy for us.

Energy is a part of this problem as well. Given we need fertilizer (relying on natural gas) to give nutrients to mono-cultured corn, and pesticides (from fossil fuels) to make sure bugs who love the fertilizer don't take over the corn, our current way of eating is not sustainable. Since we have giant food corporations, you are aware that most of your food from the grocery store is not local, and truckers rely on a dwindling supply of gasoline to transport that food, from lets say, out of state or out of the country.

Government policies help keep this process alive; these giant food companies lobby extensively to make sure they can continue doing what they want. Even our government officials (i.e. former FDA chief during Bush Adminstration, or Department of Agriculture chief of staff) were once part of the food industry. Why isn't the FDA doing anything to stop this? This movie addresses these problems.

I should stop from here and let you watch the movie for yourself. The way we eat is not sustainable for our world, and poses health risks (i.e. diabetes), especially for those who cannot afford healthy food (or do not have time to cook due to busy work schedules) and have to rely on fast food for their meals. For those who can afford healthy food, it's difficult to find the meat that would actually be likely not contaminated, since a few global food companies control most of the meat, according to the above described industrial processes. It definitely is a daunting task to challenge government policy when government officals seem to be defending the food industry (and subsides for corn which feed these animals improperly) more than the health of the people.

I recommend this movie to everybody, regardless of degree / field, because this movie teaches future generations to question the origin of how our food is made so that we can demand real, healthy food.

I'm speaking to a mostly college-aged group, but all fields (engineering, i.e. industrial engineering, bioengineering, chemical engineering), public policy related fields, health fields, business fields, environmental groups, etc. have to do something about this problem, because this is our generation, and we have to think about what we can do to solve the problem. As consumers, we can choose what foods to eat (i.e. local/non-local, organic, etc.) to help mitigate the issue, but with these diverse fields and education, we have to go beyond the "powerless consumer level".

Some more info:

Trailer:

Michael Pollan: The Food Issue - Chef In Chief

Ronald Takaki: an inspiration to my Asian-American identity

2009-05-31T00:50:00.001-07:00

UC Berkeley Professor Ronald Takaki; (April 12, 1939 - May 26, 2009)

I know I should be sleeping now (I'm pretty tired; long day), but given the news of his recent passing away (he had multiple schelrosis, and commited suicide because he could not endure the disease anymore, according to his family), I felt compelled to dedicate a post to him.

Ronald Takaki was a very, very FAMOUS, Ethnic Studies professor at UC Berkeley who helped started one of the first Ethnic Studies programs in the United States (at UC Berkeley) during the crazy 1960s at Cal, taught the first Black History course at UCLA, and wrote many different books on Ethnic Studies.

Takaki was a huge influence in my life, and despite that I don't know that much about him as much as I should, I definitely believed he helped me value my Asian-American identity.

I remember taking a Sociology class in Community College the summer before my sophomore year in high school (Summer 2006) which changed my life forever; one of the topics we focused on was Race in California history. A book we read (too lazy to type down its title), had a review written by a Asian-American author named Ronald Takaki, who wrote a book with a title to do with "Iron Cages". Curious about his name (given that my early exposure to Asian-Americans were only limited to math and science like people, as well as working class As-Am), I decided to look him up.

I found the website: modelminority.com (unfortunately, somebody seemed to have hacked the website), and noticed Ronald Takaki's chapter, on the book, Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian-Americans, dedicated to Asian-Americans and the model-minority stereotype, and wow, I learned thought-provoking stuff that challenged the way ordinary people viewed Asian-Americans. I began to learn that Asian-Americans were viewed incorrectly by the government, that while there are a good # of AAs in successful fields like science & engineering (Chinese, Korean, Japanese), medical field, etc. there were also a good # of AAs (i.e working class AAs, Pacific-Islanders or Southeast Asians) who were not, and the stereotype can definitely negatively affect how social services would be given to them (i.e lack of affirmative action toward SE Asians, lack of help for people like the Hmong ethnicity). Takaki was able to connect the amount of APAs in the professional fields (i.e. "the stable fields" )with the lack of APIAs in the managerial fields (i.e. "the somewhat risky fields"; he didn't say it like that quote, but you get what I mean). With the lack of APIAs in the managerial fields, think of the bad media image of Asian-American males (i.e. "femanized, nerdy, passive, non-social males") that makes it hard for Americans to associate with APIAs. The list goes on and on, but you can see the crazy connections.

In other words, the Model-minority stereotype makes it hard for Americans to understand who Asian-Americans are, and that made me feel compelled to discover my Asian-American identity and VALUE it, so future generations of Asian-Am know their ethnic background and don't become erased from the fabric of American history. I want my own government to be able to understand (fortunately, the Obama adminstration recognizes APAs are not model-minorities) that we aren't model minorities, and we need to be understood in a better way so that we can properly be respected in society for who we are, while we can express our identities in a happy manner. That's America.

Because of Ronald Takaki, I began to do a lot of things. I started reading Hardboiled Magazine at Summer 2006, a monthly APA newsmagazine at Cal; I began to read more Asian-am lit to understand my identity. I talked to my friends about the issues the APIA community faced (although nobody cared). I also read up on my Asian-Am history, and now, I know a lot about Asian-Am history (although I'm still learning). Now, I am inspired to preserve Asian Architecture, and he's one of the reasons why I plan to study at UC Berkeley (even though he doesn't teach there anymore).

Takaki inspired a sense of caring about our unique identities in America, political activism, and civic virue. Many APAs, Asian-American studies majors or Ethnic Studies, or not (he's a well-known figure in the AAS and Ethnic Studies department) have been inspired by him. Rest in Peace, and may our generation provide a benefical change in the world that benefits the common good.

Francis Chen

Al-Jazeera English to expand coverage in United States

2009-05-31T00:15:00.000-07:00

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Al Jazeera English will expand its coverage through showing its 30-minute news program through SF-based Link TV. The article states:

"The move not only gives Al-Jazeera English a foot in the door to the 31 million U.S. homes that Link TV reaches, but it is symbolic of a growing thaw in the post-9/11 feelings toward the Arab and Muslim worlds since President Obama's election, observers say."

For those who are interested, the Chronicle notes that these are channels where one can watch Al Jazeera English news:

"On satellite: Link TV is available on Channel 375 on DirecTV and on Channel 9410 on Dish Network, 7 pm PST daily.

On digital cable: Link TV is available on KRCB, Channel 22, in parts of the Bay Area from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Friday." (note; I doubt you all want to watch TV that late.)

This is great news, however I recommend the YouTube version of Al-Jazeera English, which I subscribe to (unfortunately, I should catch up with watching the videos) and updates pretty regularly; I don't watch American telvision that often (I only watch my local TV station, KTVU, which also provides great local coverage), and the scope of Al Jazeera's news coverage is amazing; the journalists are very investigative-like, and its documentaries (ranging from Morrocan street food, Blacks in Suburbia, and most recently, the Arab Street; Beruit (a random video that I just found now) etc.), to kick-ass videos on Israel's injust apartheid treatment on Gaza (see Unemployed Palestinians in Gaza, and AJ's recent coverage of the Israeli blockades on foriegn aid to help the damaged Gaza strip after the Israeli attacks).

In other words, Al-Jazeera covers news and topics American mainstream media barely covers, so it's best to have a different, more international scope of what is going on in the world around us.

Unfortunately, what disgusted me even worse is the comments which I somehow started reading in SFGATE, regarding Al Jazeera English; Most of the comments are ignorant, racist, xenophobic and non-sensical because a lot of people think Al Jazeera will promote radical Isalmofacism; I already mentoned previously that SFGATE commenters are pretty dumb.

UC Berkeley Class of 2009 Engineering Commencement Speech

2009-05-31T00:06:00.000-07:00

What a very inspiring, hilarious commencement speech by Yue Tu, IEOR major at Cal who is graduating this year (Class of 2009!).

He definitely makes a statement that given the economic crisis, we as engineers, with our innovation, are at the best times to make a difference in these tough times. I'll let him say the speech for himself, because he says his statements the best.

This could be all of us in the Class of 2013, regardless of our fields, making a "beneficial, common-good like difference" in this world through any means necessary in the Class of 2013!

What I did today;

2009-05-30T23:55:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't blogged much recently, a recap on my day (there are going to be a lot of blog posts tonight!):

This morning, did the interview for UC Berkeley Alumni Association Leadership Scholarship; I thought I did okay, but man, the interview was challenging!
Finished up a picture of a siheyuan (see here), although my drawing doesn't LOOK like represent the traditional "four housing" system the SIheyuan asks for (四合院, with 四 meaning four).
90% finished up with Part 1 of T'ang Chang'an. Realized I'm not forty-percent finished as I previously mentioned in a preview to my next Anshina's Architecture video.
Created a networking-list of civil engineering / architecture majors & people for future use in my email account.
Started adding people to my Arroyo Class of 2013 email list on my email account; won't be finished for a long time, since I'll have a big list.
Looked up minors in UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design; Minoring in Architecture, Sustainable Design, OR History of Built Environment seem to stand out the most.

Yikes, I don't think I can do the end of the year video for Class of 2009 like I thought I might~!

Siheyuan

2009-05-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

For more details on a siheyuan, this link explains it best.

UPDATE: Tang Chang'an: Urban Planning Successes?

2009-05-25T00:28:00.000-07:00

Mingde Gate; Southern Gate in T'ang Chang'an (Source unknown)

This project is definitely taking longer than I expected; I first focused on Traditional Chinese Urban Planning, then realized the gigantic amount of info I would have to cover. Finally, I had to narrow it down to T'ang Chang'an by tackling the following questions:

What made Chang'an a successful city, and what did the city lack? What can urban planners learn from Chang'an for future use?

Given the enormous amount of research I have dedicated to this (and the amount that is coming up, given the shift of topics), I fell in love with Chang'an and its cosmopolitian feel (Chang'an -- the end of the Silk Road and where many cultures, from the Middle East, all the way to Japan, Korea, Tibet, and India meet to sell wonderful goods; the Silk Road Foundation notes that:

"Exotic foods and beverages, such as spinach, garlic, mustard and peas, and sugars from cane, from Indian merchants, ]were some of the goods sold from foriegners]. In return, the Chinese sold silk textiles, tea, paper, and ceramics." Meanwhile, think of all the culutral activities going on in Chang'an, and of course, tea-drinking flourished among the working class in Chang'an!

Some of this stuff is what makes an Urban Planner drool! Hopefully, this will give you a glimpse of T'ang Chang'an.

The State of Asian American Studies in Higher Education

2009-05-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

2009 APA Heritage Month Celebration

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

City Council Chambers, City Hall, New York City

Jennifer Hayashida

I am here as an educator at Hunter College, where I have been the Program Coordinator and Acting Director of Asian American Studies for the past two years. So, here's the good news: about 30% of Hunter's student body self-identifies as Asian or Asian American. And, the entire CUNY system serves more than 40,000 Asian American students - taken together, that's as many students as there are enrolled at most large state schools, like one of the larger Penn State campuses, or UCLA.

But, it's not just about the numbers: Asian American Studies is about more than just serving percentages of Asian American students - it is about how Asian American history is American history, Asian American experience is American experience.

To list just a fraction of what we do in Asian American Studies classes at Hunter, we study the relationships between first generation parents and their second-generation daughters and sons - in other words, we study the lives of you many of you in this room. We look at novels and poetry by Asian American writers; we look at how what happens in Pakistan impacts Asian American communities right here in New York City.

To sum it up, we look at events and experiences from U.S. history that are frequently overlooked or given just one page in the high school history textbook. These big gaps in what students learn lead to gaps in how they experience themselves as Asian Americans - just that term, "Asian American," means that we insist that we can be both Asian AND American, that we do not have to choose between being foreign and being the invisible model minority. We began this struggle 40 years ago at San Francisco State College, and we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

Right now, I frequently have students who enter my classes with no idea about the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, WWII Internment of Japanese Americans, or hate crimes against Filipino men who wanted to marry white women in the 30s. Students don't know that Chinese Exclusion is a precedent for the Patriot Act, that Japanese Internment predates post-9/11 detention and deportation of South Asians. Students don't know that Depression-era anti-miscegenation legislation against Asian Americans is currently being examined as part of the legal debate around gay marriage.

Asian American history and experience - our "heritage" - is a cornerstone of American history and identity, but right now it is buried and inaccessible to most of the students, Asian American or not, of our city.

This knowledge is especially vital to our young people who are arriving as first- or 1.5- generation immigrants, who find themselves between cultures and identities, and who are struggling to find a place where they don't have to pick between being foreigners or being invisible. Learning about their ancestors' experiences gives them a foothold in America. And, just as importantly, learning about Asian American history can build bridges between Asian Americans and other communities of color.

It is our responsibility to advocate for the rights of our daughters, sons, nieces, nephews, cousins, and, for that matter, fathers and grandmothers, to be able to attend schools in this city and expect to learn about APA heritage, the heritage we are here today to celebrate. That way, we can celebrate the triumphs of people like Fred Korematsu, who ultimately received justice from the Supreme Court, fifty years after he was jailed for refusing to be interned. Or we can celebrate the 1965 Immigration Act, which eliminated the restrictions on immigration from Asia and made it possible for many of us to be here today. Most importantly, we can then truly celebrate the everyday accomplishments of the communities we live in today, because we will have a better understanding of where we come from, the obstacles we have triumphed over, and the work that is left before us."

From Heather Park.

Voters SAY NO to CA Special Election Propostions

2009-05-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

A voter has an entire row of booths to choose from in the basement of City Hall in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. (Paul Chinn / The Chronicle)

It's official; California voters say no to 5 out of 6 ballot measures in the special election ballot tonight, in one of the most lowest voter turnout elections in a while.

In terms of schools, this will mean more budget cuts in schools. Ironically, I'm glad people said no to these propositons: CA education is getting worse, and while I acknowledge that California's education DOES need money, having random propositions like these (i.e. Prop 1B - $9 billion to schools starting in 2011-2012; Prop 1C - the state borrows lottery money to pay for school) is are just temporary fixes, not permanent solutions.

暑いですね！

2009-05-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

今は暑いですね！

私は椅子に寝た、と日本語を習った。
明日、学校を行く。今、学校は楽しい。＝）

日本語を話しますか？

2009-05-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time, since I was able to type like this!

I self-taught myself about two weeks (which I learned last summer) worth of Japanese in about two days! Crazy, right?!?!

皆さん、私はアメリカ人です。今は音楽を聞きます。

Stress is mostly gone; now what?

2009-05-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Well, AP Exams are over - the stress has mostly disappeared. Now, what?

For sure things:

Anshina's Architecture - Tang Chang'an (almost 40% finished)
Utopia Project for Philosophy.
Begin planning self-taught Japanese lessons.
Prepare an architecture portfolio.

Maybe things:

End-of-the year Brickfilm celebrating end of school year; dedicated to the class of 2009?

Japan : A Story of Love and Hate

2009-05-02T01:19:00.000-07:00

I just watched a few minutes of this BBC documentary. It's pretty facinating; despite the fact that Japan is the second largest economy in the world, it still has a lot of social problems (i.e. Japan's current "lost generation"). Definitely going to watch this after AP exams.

Swine Flu Pandemic

2009-04-26T00:27:00.001-07:00

People, wearing surgical masks, make their way in Mexico City, Friday, April 24, 2009. Federal health authorities closed schools across this metropolis of 20 million after at least 16 people have died and more than 900 others fell ill from what health officials suspect is a strain of swine flu new to Mexico. (Miguel Tovar / AP)

It's somewhat exciting to be able to look up info on this very scary issue and post updates on Soompi. For those who don't know, the swine flu is a virus which one usually gets from contact with pigs; ironically, there's a new strain (the source is unknown) in which the flu travels from human to human, and since humans have not developed a resistance to this flu, we can really be hurt by this virus with a heavy, possible, global pandemic.

So far, as of this evening, US cases (six in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas, and eight "supposed" cases in New York City, which are being sent to Atlanta for research) have been mild. About 1,300 cases have been reported in Mexico, and almost 70 people have died. For more info, click here.

Arroyo needs a real world curriculum, not a robotic curriculum

2009-04-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to keep this short (no guarantee, hah!), since I do write a lot of long things (although I've been told that there are more people outside my school who actually read my blog, which is quite interesting, from somebody from Los Angeles to another person up at UC Berkeley who reads this blog "a couple times"). This will be somewhat related to my school, Arroyo High School, but it has much to do with public education. You have the right to disagree with my statements; I was very hesitant about writing this and could not sleep because of this issue, so I have to put this down.

To students, staff, faculty, and administration of Arroyo High School and the San Lorenzo Unified School District:

I began to cringe after listening to the more technical details to last Friday's (4/24/2009) academic rally that took place in our gym. A few include: if students do not score proficient in English in the CST tests, they will be forced to take an extra block of English, and for the lower-performing students, all four blocks of English. Students will be forced to take yearlong of Algebra I next year at Arroyo. Students will be given prizes (i.e. a iPod nano, a waiver on an English assignment for the next school year) for performing well on the test.

Maybe, I don't have the exact details of these proposals stated clearly/accurately, but you get the idea. Sure, it's great to give a prize after doing so well in a test, but I question if giving a prize would be morally correct and right. And also, I question whether the consequences the lower-performing students face will actually help them. All these methods, as you all know, are designed to make sure we do well on the CST tests (we must be all proficicent in math and English by 2012, by the way), or we face losing funding and a takeover by the State of California.

My biggest question is: what has happened to the value of an education, to the point that we resort this far to get students to learn?

An Arroyo education must be geared toward the real-world, but I believe the methods Principal Larry Smith outlined doesn't encourage that for those who need it most: the lower-performing students.

In this case of giving four blocks of English toward a very, very low-performing student, I ask: What are you going to teach in those blocks? Sure, grammar, interpreting the text of a book correctly, or learning how to write an interpretive essay are important skills in the real world in order for our generation to be able to communicate orally or write articulately (I have to do this all the time with my Asian Architecture videos, and eventually, through engineering projects summing up our findings and solutions to problems), but what about other skills? What about the ability to be politicially active, to be able to summarize a lengthy news article or a long Newsweek magazine article (or extricate little details from the article? See this dense article as an example and tell me if you can grab the little details out of this baby: <http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583>), or to take a stand on a political issue and explain clearly why you stand for it (i.e. why did you vote for Obama?)? I call this applied English. Why? One of the biggest reasons why Obama won the election was through the Internet, and people were blogging heavily and discussing what Obama would do, especially young people (that's us!). Not all of us will be English teachers, English professors, or people within the social science fields, but all of us need to be prepared to handle these situations, especially in a time of increasing technology. If you can influence public policy very articulately, you are able to elect politicians that may be able to help you meet your needs.

I'll admit there are other real-world skills that I have not mentioned, because my spectrum on real-world decision making is based on how citizens of America can make an impact on public policy in government. But, let's move on to the math, which is much more appliable.

As for making Algebra I year-long, I question whether the classes will just only be about numbers, like how to do the quadratic equation, or whether you will emphasize over things such as how to do compound interest. The SF Chronicle notes <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/25/MNJU126FNT.DTL> that California's Algebra I ciriculum is just like that - very numerical and rule-like, but not real-world appliable. Did you know the iPod uses algebra to play music to shuffle your songs? Did you know your cell phone uses algebra to take in signals from other phones? That stop-light in the interesection uses algebra to change colors from green to red! Sure, it's complicated to explain how (it makes sense to me superficially, not technically), but you get the idea. If you want to give students a reason to do well in mathematics, what we learn in class needs to reflect applied math.

Now that I established the conclusion that the value of an education at Arroyo must be appliable to the real world (and gave a bit of solutions, suggestions. I'm not an education expert myself), I would like to introduce students to the San Lorenzo Unified School District's Director of Secondary Education, Melanie Spears. (http://www.sanlorenzousd.k12.ca.us/en/secondary.htm). She is in charge of "design, development, coordination and evaluation of curriculum and instruction in secondary grades". In other words, she helps organize and implement what you learn in high school.

Melanie Spears was an important figure of the block schedule crusade (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C5EEC07253D9EE3B) as many believed she wanted to really change the block schedule to the period schedule.

However, that's not my focus; my focus is what Melanie Spears should do to implement an appliable, real-world curriculum for the low-performing students in the CST tests. In the first video of the YouTube playlist, you see school district superintendent Dr. Byas stating that Melanie Spears was "gathering information". Spears had a lot of time "gathering information" (i.e. MONTHS!!!!) from teachers about possibly changing the schedule to improve test scores. However, wouldn't that time be better spent on gathering information on what kids want to really learn (i.e. interview students on what real-world skills they want to gain out of English/Math?)? Ms. Spears definitely had the time to do that if she was able to spend months on researching a possible schedule change. Because of her educational expertise, I do believe she can implement a real-world curriculum (she did go to Cal, after all, a school which demands a real-world impact to society from all its students).

Ms. Spears and the rest of the school district: please consider that you aren't going to make an impact to our education system if all you are worried about is trying to be proficient in math and English. We aren't robots; we are human beings that need to contribute to this society, regardless of the extent of our impact in society. Therefore, instead of being surrounded by teachers, you need to make plans and a schedule to go out and ask what students really want to learn, even if it takes months. Be the transcendentialist person and go beyond test scores. Hey, DECA and the Health and Medicine Academy are great examples of campus organizations where students are definitely learning real-world skills, so why not do the same with low-performing students.

Therefore, my message for students is: evaluate what you really want to learn at Arroyo, and how that applies to the real world. Teachers who don't have that packed into their curriculum need to do the same to the curriculum. Let the adults know what you need for the real-world, and don't let tests limit you (I felt like a seven-year old listening to "test-taking tips" during the academic rally).

I shall briefly mention that I do believe that I was able to gain a lot of real world skills at Arroyo, but if you want to know personally how, please email me and I can give you my response.

If you feel that I am misrepresenting the views of the lower-performing students on the CST (and that's you), speak out! My definition of real-world skills may not fit yours, but this is your generation you will be representing. Tell us, tell Mr. Smith, and tell Ms. Spears what you need for the real world.

Sincerely,

Francis Chen

fncis.chen@gmail.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/metropolitianAnshin

http://metropolitananshin.blogspot.com/

Dalai Lama in America

2009-04-24T23:12:00.001-07:00

Cal Day 2009

2009-04-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

International Night

2009-04-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

International Night 2009.

Spring Break 09

2009-04-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

I normally don't say much about life, but there's so much free time right now that I'm bored (well, except trying to get that 5 in AP Calc so I can likely take Multivariable Calc and Linear Algebra next year in college).

I can't wait to attend UC Berkeley now. The Chancellor's Reception thing was really intimidating though; I pieced together the caliber of people at Cal compared to at my school. At Cal, all the speakers who spoke gave me the impression that everybody has the inherent desire to make a impact, a HUGE one, in society. I wandered around and met random people, freshman applicants and students, and the expectations to be ambitious are huge (I met an aspiring poly sci major who wanted to make a difference in the Phillipines, which does not have a good government, and a current Asian-Am. studies major who really got a lot out of her courses). Nothing wrong with huge ambitions: my ambition and dream is to preserve Asian Architecture, and that's pretty daunting, especially since I know Cal has no Asian Architecture courses (the Asian-Am studies major suggested I should start a DeCal on it, lol). At my high school, that feeling of making a difference in society isn't as apparent, and is limited to like a few group of people.

As of now, I will be heading up to International Night and taking photos, and Cal Day this Saturday is bound to have great action shots.

Younha - 1 2 3

2009-04-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

This song is just plain catchy!

Plan to Change Student Lending Sets Up a Fight

2009-04-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

The New York Times reports that there is a fight taking place up at Congress over Obama's proposed plan to remove all federally-subsidized student loans, which have been going to banks to use for themselves to send out loans, and have the government directly have more money to give financial aid. The article also notes that this could mean increasing Pell Grants (YES!).

This is great news, given that the private loan industry is just ridiculous (i.e. variable interest rates!). Supporers of Obama's plan argue that the private loan industry has already been charging "hefty fees" to students, but opponents of the plan say that the private loan industry has already been providing reasonable service to its clients.

Unemployed [Palestinians] in Gaza

2009-04-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

This story is so horrific that a two-state solution, or one state solution, in Israel and Palestine doesn't seem important (or seems hopeless). Shame on Israel on being stubborn about this issue. Here are two facts this video stated:

70% of Gaza has become unemployed after the recent Gaza attacks from Israel's military.
1/4 of Palenstinians in Gaza depend on agriculture, but Israeli's government blockades on the Gaza Strip leaves the Gaza strip farmers profitless.

Having done a debate on this issue in the past, I feel that Israel's government has to be a bit practical and allow Palestinians into Israel (which will unleash economic mobility), because we are witnessing an apartheid-situation going on (the blockades are also taking place in the West Bank). Israel's governement says that this action would lead to the end of a Jewish state, but how many people in Israel actually care about that principle?

A Japanese-looking house in Piedmont, CA

2009-04-09T16:20:00.001-07:00

Click here for more photos.

This house is about $1.495 million, or about $528 per square foot, according to the SF Chronicle, and it's in Piedmont. Also, the article states that this was built in 1953.

Who are the 30 Most Influential Asian Americans under 30?

2009-04-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

AngryAsianMan will plan to be posting a list of the 30 most influential AAs under age 30. I'm excited to read it (once he finishes compling a list from others), because I definitely want some inspiration!

I want this lens!

2009-04-01T18:42:00.001-07:00

Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Why 2am?

2009-04-01T01:47:00.000-07:00

One thing that strikes me as odd is: how come do I have more energy at night, especially at 2am, than in the day? I seem to be able to do more as an owl than an early bird.

UC Berkeley Class of 2013

2009-03-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

It's official. I'm going to be a Cal BEAR!! Yipee!

UCLA goes Green

2009-03-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

La Kretz Hall, UCLA's first federally certified green building, built in 2005.

When I'm trying to pick the college I want to attend (hopefully Cal), I try to learn as much about the college as I can. One of the things that amazes me is the extent that UCLA is doing to promote environmental sustainability. As an aspiring civil engineer, I can't wait to learn about how to build buildings that are under clean, energy-efficent, environmentally friendly standards, and UCLA has done that.

Some of the facts about La Kretz Hall are astounding. The building was built out of 80% recycled steel and its carpets are made out of recycled water bottles. The eco-friendly paint in the building does not send out as much harmful chemcials as ordinary paint does. Wow!

Plus, UCLA students can expect to see in their cafeterias biodegradable plastic (usually corn/potato starch, if I remember right) forks and other organic utensils.

One major thing UCLA does is maintain energy efficiency. I'll just quote what it does from UCLA's Magazine. UCLA uses a co-generational plant which powers 70% of the campus. Here's what it does:

"We generate energy with a pair of gas turbines, which you would call a jet engine," Johnson explains. "We burn gas in the jet engines, producing a stream of hot gas that drives a turbine that spins an electric generator, producing electricity."

The blazing heat doesn't go to waste. A heat-recovery steam generator uses the 1,000-degree jet-engine exhaust to generate steam, some of which is used to generate electricity. It doesn't end there. Part of the steam is sent across campus for heating, cooking and sterilization; the rest powers high-capacity water chillers making cold water for air conditioning. On top of it all, the co-gen's electricity is cheaper and more efficiently produced than what UCLA could buy.

Now, that's energy efficient!

For more detailed information, check here. There's also a very, well scripted video summing up UCLA's actions to promote environemntal sustainabilty below:

Earth Hour AD

2009-03-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

The Problem With Flogging A.I.G.

2009-03-21T00:14:00.000-07:00

Protesters on Thursday outside the American International Group’s headquarters in Manhattan.

This opinion article from the New York Times address a great point I never thought off until now, given the mobs of people that are now against AIG's big bonuses: The Problem With Flogging A.I.G.

To summarize, if we criticize AIG too much (for example, there have been death threats to the executives who got the bonuses), we avoid actually helping the economy in a very suitable way while not looking through where the real problems lie.

For example, there are people actually working at AIG who actually were never part of the problem. How is AIG supposed to act if Congress is criticizing them so much? The House of Representatives has actually passed a resoluton yesterday saying people with annual incomes of $250,000 or more who work at a bank that recieves bailout money will be taxed a "90 percent rate bonus payments" (I actually don't know what the last two words have to do w/ the paragraph, but I can sense it's pretty bad). And we know executives make salaries in the millions, so how can this be an incentive for people at AIG or other bailed-out banks to fix the problem? The article mentions that many people work in "insurance divisions", which I wouldn't necessiarly know directly know what that means.

Congress wants to get this deal passed called: "Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility", or TALF. It basically gives out government-based securities, or loans, that requires Wall Street Bankers to participate. How will they participate if Congress creates this perpetual anger towards these bankers?

Yes, big banks can be bad, but banks are too big right now too fail. I've heard things such as restructuring banks to make them smaller, so that they don't hurt the economy as easily and cause a chain ripple of event. But, as of now, this is only making big banks look worse and they can't really do anything.

Now, honest by heart, I'm not an expert at this stuff. I don't watch TV very often now (or been having time to catch up on current events), so I'm not tracking this stuff down like I should be. But, it made me think: Should government be at the point of scaring big businesses away? The world isn't black and white, and all I want to do now is look for solutions.

Here's a quote I found interesting, as a soluton:

"What the country really needs right now from Congress is facts instead of rhetoric. Instead of these “raise your hand if you took a private jet to get here” exercises of outraged populism, we need hearings that educate and illuminate. Hearings like the old Watergate hearings. Hearings in which knowledge is accumulated over time, and a record is established. Hearings that might actually help us get out of this crisis. It’s happened before. In 1932, Congress established the Pecora committee, named for its chief counsel, Ferdinand Pecora. It was an intense, two-year inquiry, and its findings — executives shorting their own company’s stock, for instance — shocked the country. It also led to the establishment of the Securities and Exchange Commission and other investor protections. One person who has been calling for a new Pecora committee is Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, a Republican and key member of the Senate Banking Committee."

Supposedly, Bernake and Geithner will be speaking at a Congressional hearing next Tuesday, discussing about what they know about the bonuses.

I'm glad I did not spent my time reading up the anger people face in the media towards AIG, because it would be very repetitive. In fact, I have only read like 2-3 articles on AIG, and saw most of the criticism toward AIG (ironically, on a station I do not watch frequently) on FOX News. I'm glad this is the next article I actually read.

Language fees cut for summer at UCLA

2009-03-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

The Daily Bruin reports that people who take language classes in the summer will get discounts on the courses. For example, you can get a discount of $800 in 12-unit courses , and $1,000 for 15-unit courses.

What the article also mentions is that UCLA has laungage intensive programs, where students actually go around the LA area to practice their language skills!

Man, where can I go?

UCLA!

2009-03-18T18:52:00.001-07:00

"Congratulations! It is our great pleasure to offer you admission to UCLA for the Fall Quarter 2009. You have been admitted to the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science with Civil Engineering as your academic major.

You were selected from the largest pool of university candidates in the nation—more than 55,000 applicants. Your academic achievements and personal talents are exceptional, and your intellect and imagination will thrive at UCLA. We want you to join us in the Class of 2013."

YES!

UCSD accepted me!

2009-03-15T01:13:00.001-07:00

UCSD accepted me!

US bankers' face scrutiny over perks

2009-03-13T23:56:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious, yet so messed up at the same time. I'll let the video from Al Jazeera explain it all.

As Cities Go From Two Papers to One, Talk of Zero

2009-03-13T01:10:00.000-07:00

This is pretty depressing. A New York Times article today states that the trend of American newspapers seems to be going toward the Internet, due to decreasing ad revenue and increasing debt resulting from the buyout of many newspapers. Given the fact that less people are reading newspapers anyway and more people are reading online (Nielsen, according to the article, states that "Daily print circulation has dropped from a peak of 62 million two decades ago to around 49 million, and online readership has risen faster, to almost 75 million Americans and 3.7 billion page views in January, according to Nielsen Online."), the fate seemed imminent. Some newspapers have resorted to cut off certain sections or pages in the newspapers to save cost, but that also loses customers who like reading those sections.

One article from Time Magazine I remember reading said that newspapers should consider charging people a price to view online news content, so that people will value what they purchase, like music (think iTunes, although I don't personally know how effective it is given music piracy). The article also mentions that this could help boost profit because newspapers, which rely on three sources of funding, newsstand sales, subscriptions, ad revenue, are already losing the latter, as previously stated. If they lose the latter when newspapers are heavily ad-reliant (like these days given more people read on the internet), the paper becomes unstable. More people do read online, though. The article also suggests that people can pay a nickel, for lets say, a whole day's edition of the paper, or $2 per month. Not a bad idea.

Closing newspapers raises this this issue: Where are the varying, competitive, and differing sources of news? I am grateful that I subscribe to YouTube's AlJazerra English Channel (albeit, it's a internet source) because it gives me insight toward what goes on in Palenstine, for example, that an ordinary US newspaper might not be able to. Having different insights helps give one the bigger picture of the story. Think of 1984 - The goal of the Newspeak dictionary was to decrease the amount of words into one word under Big Brother. While the analogy might seem a bit radical, it does show you how limited expression can be if the different ways to say things (every synonym of a word, for example, has slightly different meanings) are all gone.

Here is a graphic on the NY Times article stating the current fate of specific newspapers in specific urban areas across the United States.

There are solutions that are out there to solve this problem, based on other news sources across the net. It would be sad if the newspapers the writers are writing from close down, which limits the solutions.

Accepted to UC Davis

2009-03-12T01:42:00.001-07:00

Just got accepted to UC Davis!

San Francisco Lobbies for Piece of Stimulus Package

2009-03-11T19:37:00.001-07:00

S.F. pushes hard for big slice of stimulus cash.

Can't really say much about this article, other then the fact that San Francisco and other major American cities will be lobbying in Congress (and possibly the Executive Branch, if I read right) for a piece of the stimulus package money for major public projects up. Some ways funding could be used include improving MUNI, attaining more funds for the high-speed rail plan, expansding broadband internet across San Francisco, and improving health care technology (i.e. making medical records computerized).

The Best Ways to Teach Young Newcomers

2009-03-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

The Best Ways to Teach Young Newcomers. The New York Times, coincidentally while I just stated about a growing English Learner population, has recieved input and responses from education experts and place them on the Times' website. The biggest debate question that caught my eye was: is billingual education (i.e. learning English half of the time and Spanish the other half rather than cram English quickly) successful? I really don't know how to answer that question, regardless of the responses I read, since I was born in the United States and education was encouraged by my 1.5 generation Asian-Am parents. However, one expert did note that there are also a lot of native-born students who have immigrant parents, but those parents don't necessiarly have the resources that, let's say, a well-to-do family might have.

The best statement made, IMO, was: personalize the education.

This section also had a very interactive map tracking immigration of the major ethnic groups in the United States from the late 19th century to 2009. This map is facinating to look at given that our American generation has become extremely diverse, as of the year of Obama.

This is a side note - our school district is considering changing schedules from a block schedule to a 6-period schedule. One of the biggest questions, if you go back to my YouTube channel and see the Block Schedule Crusade playlist, is: how does a schedule change actually benefit ELDs, given a growing ELD population?

Writing Skills Down for SJSU incoming students

2009-03-11T18:55:00.001-07:00

Just a few articles I found of interest today:

More than 50 percent of San José State's incoming students are not prepared to write at the college level. This is pretty sad, according to SJSU's Washington Square Magazine. According to the article, people lack that skill. Now, I can't really picture how they lack it, but the article cites a lack of emphasis toward grammar (i.e. more people go on YouTube than actually reading so that one can be exposed to correct grammar), growing class-sizes (which limits personalized grammar education) and a growing English Learner population, as main contributing factors of this sad statistic. Fortunately, San Jose State has like a Writing tutoring section where students can get help to improve their grammar.

The article does point out that communication and writing skills are very essential in getting and advancing in the job market. I can see why, because the work I do involves playing with words to give their intended effects - so the reader and listener can clearly understand what I mean. Unfortunately, I'm not a very concise person in terms of wording anyway.

Lena Park!

2009-03-08T11:28:00.001-07:00

Lena Park has been performing a lot in Korea promoting her new albun, 10 Ways to Say I Love You, lately. I noticed that she has a different hairstyle from her previous albums, as shown by the first few seconds of the video:

Next Anshina Arch. project: Traditional Chinese Urban Planning

2009-03-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

Hopefully, I can get this done by the end March. My next episode will explore traditional Asian urban planning, which the Zhou Dynasty established (a very daunting project). Read here if you want a quick preview.

SFgate commentors are quite cruel-hearted

2009-03-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

I read SFgate somewhat frequently, and it does have a reputation of really, weird commentors on the articles which are posted.

For example, let me sum up an article, titled: Calif. murder suspect killed after attacking judge.

Basically, a murder suspect accused of killing his girlfriend was in a witness stand during a break in the trial proceedings. His mom had recently testified, but left the courtroom upset. Although the trial was not over, the suspect immediately went up to the judge and attacked him, but a court baliff shot him and the suspect died.

Now, whether or not the suspect is guilty or not, I don't know. But, I was astounded by a lot of the odd, cold-hearted comments made supporting the balliff. Here are some of a few (interestingly enough, SFgate has a rating system of the most/least approved comments) comments :

"on the bright side, one less murder we have to support in prison. i hope the judge is okay."

"Right on. Case closed, trial over and bury the s.o.b. I love news like this."

"Excellent, especially for the taxpayers."

"Saves plenty on the incarceration costs, all for the price of a couple of 9mm slugs. California got a bargain."

"yes, this is what you definitely call "swift justice." kudos to the bailiffs for their quick actions. hope the judge fully recovers from any injuries sustained and good luck to the family of the defendant. very unfortunate incident."

Are there a lot of conservatives who post in those comments, or what? While those "Taxpayer" related comments were few, they were one of the most approved in the SFgate comment section by its readers. Crazy. The fact that commenters are calling this situation "swift justice" w/o any say from the suspect begs the question: What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

It's 1am; NYC mayor proposes Pedestrian Mall

2009-03-01T00:59:00.001-08:00

It's 1AM.

Gosh, can't wait to go to college. First day of March!

UC decisions coming out this month!

---------

Before I sleep, I don't want to end this thread w/o a current event!

The New York Times reports Mayor Bloomberg wants to make a long stretch of Broadway Avenue, which includes Times Square, a huge pedestrian mall in order to ease congestion while trying to make NYC more of a livlier area through having more people actually walk.

Now, not having been to NYC, I don't know how to picture this. It sounds pretty exciting to me; places in Europe use pedestiran malls, but Hong Kong definitely utilizes it. If I am right, it uses it like in specific parts of the day (i.e. in the evening?).

The question is: will this really work?

Fortunately, the NYT has posted a debate discussion about this issue. One person, Sam Stanley of the Reason Foundation, noted that the plan could work only through these factors:

"Only about 15 percent of the 200 pedestrian malls established by villages and cities across the nation have survived. Most of these malls failed because their designers didn’t understand the need for two fundamental elements: a large existing supply of pedestrians and a unique presence in the regional retail and urban landscape."

"Times Square and Herald Square are key destinations for tourists, day-trippers, workers and city residents. Given Manhattan’s extraordinarily high density and mix of land uses, a pedestrian mall along these blocks of Broadway could be viable. The key is to use the pedestrian mall to reinforce existing walking, shopping and travel patterns. Anyone around Times Square on a Friday or Saturday night probably already wonders why that area is not a pedestrian mall given the foot traffic and vibrant retail street life. The danger is to use the mall concept as a way to “re-engineer” the retail market or pedestrian travel in the city."

It's going to be a very interesting concept; in a time when urban planners need to create sustainable living (i.e. make TODs) to curb congestion in metropolitian areas and roads/freeways while trying to combat global warming, and at the same time, meet the needs of mass transporation, I don't know what is best.

In terms of improving mass transportation, I feel the goal is much more challenging because the United States is different from Europe and Asia. The latter two have much more denser cities, making mass transporation improvements necessary and realistic. The U.S. has a lot of suburbs, and improving where, lets say, buses go or subways stations go, seems impossible, given how a suburb is configured and how bus routes are organized. Improving mass transportation could work in existing cities. Therefore, in the suburbs, the US would probably be practical in improving energy efficiency if it wants to combat global warming by focusing on flex-fuel veichles rather than mass transporation.

However, pedestrian malls sounds like a really cool idea. Could make cities more exciting and attractive to people, and create potential TODs. Makes me want to read: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. The book had a lot of suggestions on how to improve American urban areas, like making skyscrapersbuildings different sizes (woa! Tokyo is a good example of that).

Wow, I went off topic.

Lena Park (Vol 7.) - 10 Ways To Say I Love You

2009-02-27T21:39:00.000-08:00

It's been about five years (ever since year 2004) that I have been listening to Lena Park. While she may have a declining fanbase, she still is able to produce great music; however, listening to her songs on YouTube, I still miss her Vol. 5 and Vol. 4 days (ironically, Vol. 4 CDs have been sold out on YesAsia). Her next album, 10 Ways to Say I Love You, is expected to come out next week (March 2nd, 2009). The YouTube video above is the key song of her album, called Secret.

Forclosure-related Articles

2009-02-23T15:42:00.001-08:00

Two articles I found of interest relating to the stimulus package, in terms of helping homeowners.

Few in Bay Area qualify in housing rescue plan - Supposedly, more than 90% of San Francisco Bay Area do not qualify for low-cost refinancing of home mortgages. In order to qualify, homeowners have to have taken a loan less than $415,000. The Bay Area has ridiculous home prices anyway.

Bailout should also help renters- A SF Chronicle opinion article notes that the stimulus plan should help the renters, which are mostly poor and vulnerable to losing their homes due to speculating landowners. 20% of homes facing forclosure are where renters live. However, only about 2% of the $75 billion helping homes from forclosure will be focused on relocating renters. That's not enough!

Great Expectations!

2009-02-22T21:49:00.001-08:00

So much reading left!

Anshina's Architecture (Episode 2): The Chinese Roof Figures (走兽, zǒu shòu)

2009-02-20T22:41:00.000-08:00

Due to the semi-complexity of this topic, I decided to post some photos and explainations about the subject to give you a better understanding of these Roof Figures. Watch the video for your basic facts, and refer to here for supplemental info. Again, if there are any facts I miscorrectly stated, let me know what the error is, and I will fix that. Take advantage of the photos by clicking on them to get enlarged versions so that you can look at the details placed.

Actual photos
Graphics of Roof Figures + Explainations
Symbolism

1) Actual photos (click to see enlarged version):

(Above; Forbidden City) Photo by avirus.

(Above; Summer Palace (Beijing, China) photos by Fang Chen)

Chen has the larger versions of those photos (and amazing photos of China) if you click on the photos.

Above; Forbidden City Photo by Saad.Akhtar.

(Will add more later, if possible)

2) Graphics of Roof Figures + Explainations

These are graphics I gathered from the ChinaHistoryForum website from a forum user who scanned these out of Chinese (I assume, textbooks). They were really difficult to find, and they helped utilized my research. For those who can read Chinese, this is useful for you. I don't have the specific textbook source, unfortunately. Click the photos for a better view.

The order of all of the roof figures goes like this, from left to right: Hen, Dragon, Phoenix, Lion, Celestial Horse, Seahorse, mythical lion (狻猊), wind-and storm-summoning fish (狎魚), courageous goat-bull (獬豸), 斗牛 evil-dispelling bull, and immortal guardian (行什, hangshi)

It's important to note that not every royal building in China has to have all these animals, but they must be in this specific order. The more roof figures, the higher the rank. The maximum amount, excluding the hen and the last guy on the right, must be nine.

According to what I read up, supposedly the last guy in the right is actually an immortal, due to its long ears. You can only find it in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in China.

3) Symbolism

I'll just mention the more prevalent animals and what they symbolize.

The dragon, which is a yang (feng shui), is in charge of water. It is supposed to bring rain and water to the lands, especially in a country like China which relies heavily on farming. It is closely related to heaven, so you could think of it as being the gatekeeper of rain. The dragon is also a symbol of royalty, since Chinese culture believed in divine right of emperors.
However, since this dragon is a qiwen, or the second son out of the nine descendants of the dragon, it is supposed to protect the structure against any fire hazards.
The Phoenix, or Fenghuang, represents high virtue and grace. It is actually a combination of two birds – a male bird, feng, and a female bird, huang, but it closely looks like a peacock. It unites yin, feminine values, with yang, male values, which combines beauty and power together. It does not tolerate those who break the rules, and is a very kind being.
The lion represents power, which is why it protects from evil spirits. You also see lions on imperial doorways, gates, temples, and tombs.

Forever - David Choi and Kina Grannis (orig. by Chris Brown)

2009-02-18T20:06:00.001-08:00

This song is too addicting!

Stimulus Stirs Debate Over Rural Broadband Access

2009-02-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

Source: 2007 Ag Census/Tim Murphy
The counties in darkest blue have the highest percentage of farms with broadband connections; those in light yellow have the smallest percentage of high speed Internet users.

I found this NPR article on a debate on the following topic: should the stimulus package include funding Broadband Internet across Rural America?

This picture was on DailyYonder (which was also used in the NPR article), which carries an abundant amount of information about American rural Internet use. Click the photo for a better view.

Gen Y's Jobless Aren't Crying in Their Martinis, They're Networking Online

2009-02-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

Supposedly, according to New American Media, layed-off workers representing Generation Y (from 1974-1994) are networking on the Internet in order to find a way to get used to the tough economy, while hopefully getting another job.

They use a FaceBook group, known as the LaidOffCamp. The group has spread over many cities throughout the United States, and its first event will be in March 3rd in San Francisco.

Some things they tackle include how to handle personal finances in our cash-strapped economy, and how to sell yourself while presenting your best image. What a great way to network!

A new dawn for liberalism

2009-02-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

US president Barack Obama is set to sign the bill on Tuesday. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty

Well, it finally happens. After much debate and revisions, both houses of Congress has passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

It's interesting that many newspapers have stated that this crisis has been one of the worst ever since the Great Depression. However, while reading the SF Chronicle this afternoon, I stumbled upon this interesting paragraph that I will quote:

The outcome amounted to the first significant fruits of November's Democratic victory, in which Obama handily won the presidency while his party expanded its congressional majorities. For the first time in 14 years, Democrats have the power to legislate without serious Republican interference, and Friday they reveled in what many described as a new dawn for liberalism.

This brought me back to a Time Magazine article that was written about a week after Obama's election victory titled: The New Liberal Order.

The article clearly defines this new era of liberalism as an end to the culture war between small-government conservatives, which was comprised of the silent majority (i.e. social conservatives or small-government conservatives) which came out during the 60s, and the very social-activist progressive group which seeked for change for the better. Unlike the disorderly, violent 60s with traditional liberalism, the new liberals want to see government regulate in a way which creates order in the economy while solving many problems in our society, whether it be social, economic, or technological issues.

I have turned progressive myself. Ironically, there are still Republicans in Congress who believe that this stimulus plan is too risky. I still wonder what solutions they can contribute (using the private sector as an excuse is pretty bad at this time).

The question is: how progressive can our generation get?

My US History teacher once said that American history's pivotal movements come out about every sixty years. She says: 1840 (about the time when the Democracy we have today comes out, i.e. Andrew Jackson. Although Jackson did stop being president before 1840) ,1900 (Progressive Era),1960 (Civil Rights Movement), and predicts 2020 will be the next famous year.

What will happen in 2020?

To end this post, here's the Time article's quote:

If he can do what F.D.R. did — make American capitalism stabler and less savage — he will establish a Democratic majority that dominates U.S. politics for a generation.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

A couple of Valentine's songs for today. Happy Valentine's Day:

^My favorite song!

Chinese Roof Figures (蹲兽, Dūn shòu)

2009-02-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

Photo by avirus.

My next project for this three-day weekend of the next episode of Anshina's Architecture - Chinese roof figures. This photo was supposedly taken at a "minor" building of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. These are known as 蹲兽 (Dūn shòu), according to Wikipedia.

New LOGO

2009-02-13T21:13:00.001-08:00

Got accepted to Cal Poly SLO!

2009-02-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, I got into Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as a Civil Engineering major!

Well, at least I have a back-up school.

New Changes to UC Admissions Eligiblity

2009-02-11T20:59:00.001-08:00

Wow, I never thought the day would come.

The UC Regents has actually changed the eligibility requirements starting with the next UC freshman class when it enters in 2012.

I don't want to highlight on many details, but the biggest one that stood out was:

Two SAT Subject Tests will no longer be required for admission. However, students can still choose to submit their scores for consideration as part of their application, just as they do now with AP scores. The Subject Tests also may be recommended for certain majors.

You know, I would be against this rule, but I realized that this might actually be somewhat good. People are still going to compete with the subject tests for the spots, and there are people with special talents who might not need subject tests to prove that they contribute to the unique characteristics of a UC campus.

Why the Muslim World Can’t Hear Obama

2009-02-08T18:18:00.001-08:00

A well written op-ed written by Alaa Al Aswany of the New York Times that answers the following question: Why the Muslim World Can't Hear Obama?

To sum up his answer, it is due to Obama's silence toward Palenstine as Israel attacks Gaza. Obama's stance on Israel and Palenstine is actually quite vague (I could assume he believes Jerusalem is the capitol of Israel), according to an ABC interview on a YouTube video I uploaded in August during Obama's world trip.

7th & Saeping [Blvd]

2009-02-07T17:32:00.000-08:00

Preservation impetus for designs of Chinatown

2009-02-06T23:18:00.001-08:00

The United Commercial Bank building at 743 Washington St. is adorned with showy Oriental features. Much of Chinatown's Asiatic architecture is a result of the rebuilding effort after the 1906 earthquake and fire, according to historian Philip Choy. (Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle)

Coicidentally, I stumbled upon an article by John King, from the SF Chroincle, about the self-preservation of San Francisco Chinatown's architecture. The Chinese wanted to keep their architecture alive after the 1906 Earthquake because it wanted to convince the SF Board of Supervisors that it can make Chinatown attractive, instead of giving it a presence of a "sinful, unclean" pleace.

The fact I didn't know was that European architects actually designed some of the buildings in Chinatown to convey its exotic feeling.

Phillip Choy wrote a book on this, titled: "The Architecture of San Francisco Chinatown", which seems interesting to look at. I haven't read it, and don't know if I'll have time to look at it. It could help me in my future goals, I guess.

Asian Americans and YouTube

2009-02-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

After watching Wong Fu Productions's recent video series, "In the Club", I was reminded of an article written by Asian Pop columnist Jeff Yang back in June 2008, titled "On top of YouTube: Happy Slip, Choi, KevJumba". Basically, Yang tells us that many Asian-American internet celebrities representing my young generation (1980s-early1990s) are taking advantage of YouTube to showcase their talents. Over the past eighteen years that I have lived, I've begun to appreciate our generation. This is an amazing time for APAs to utilize a new form of medium to be a part of the American entertainment scene, while indirectly/directly examining the critical issues facing the APA community, for all future genrations of Americans to learn from.

YouTube's APA community tells America, especially future Asian-American generations (like those born in this decade) that: hey, we have a voice and want to be a part of the American fabric. Wong Fu Productions heightend its popularity four years ago with a entertaining satire on why White males go for Asian women, while pointing out the need for Asian-Am males to be confident, rather than passive, about how to approach life. The group has obviously a lot of APA actors, but its video stories are purely American and tell APA viewers that we do have a lot in common w/ other Americans. KevJumba does an excellent job just being an ordinary student, while noting here and there about his Asian-American identity (i.e. "I hate the SATs, or talking about his seemingly, traditional-Asian, conservative dad) without being a bitter Asian male; in other words, he delivers his message so that people can get him in a relaxed, non-Asian-American studies type metholodgy. R&B artists David Choi, sophomore Jennifer Chung of UC Irvine, Kina Grannis, and Olivia Thai, just to name a few (when did guitars become cool?), are the same way: instead of seeing Asian-American stereotypes, we see people who just perform, and we enjoy them for who they are. That is the way it always should be.

"We All Look The Same" - Olivia Thai (a great, relaxed song dealing with the stereotype: Asian-Americans appear the same to everybody).

Unlike the 1960s-1990s generation of Asian American civil rights movement, this is the time when we can finally approach Asian-Americans, in the media, in a more relaxed manner. My generation grew up with people, while breaking away from racism, still convinced in stereotypes about Asian-Americans (i.e. "They're too smart; they have an accent; they are only into math and sciences; they are passive, effeminate, and unathletic; Asian women are docile, etc.). With YouTube, those APAs born in this decade can see themselves in a more optimistic view; that yes, you don't have to be a bookworm in order to be cool. Be what you want to be, and you can be accepted. These stereotypes will always exist for young Asian-American schoolboys and schoolgirls, but the media can have a powerful influence on how APAs are (or should be percieved). Accepting our differences while learning how much in common everybody has should be everybody's goal, and YouTube can make a difference for APAs.

Photo: SFSU TWLF Strike Picketline (AAPA Newspaper 1969)

I conclude by answering these critical questions: why does this all matter? Aren't there more important issues to worry about?

These stereotypes about Asian-Americans still matter and affect government public policy, and how the government uses public policy toward ethnic groups can influence how people percieve those groups. For example, the Reagan Adminstration really placed the APA community in a weird position after it concluded Asian-Americans were a model-minority, which implies that ignoring other underrepresented Asian-American communities (i.e. social services for the Hmong, or poor Chinese-Americans in Chinatown?) is okay. The adminstration makes Asian-Americans sound book-smart and successful in the American Dream, but that's about it; nothing entertainment related will stand out. that can catch on very quickly for the average American and make us look very passive. Fortunately, the Obama administration actually acknowledges that the model-minority stereotype is false, and that means more emphasis on debunking the stereotype.

In conclusion, YouTube is a great way for Asian-Americans to utilize ther talents to tell non-APAs: we're just like everybody else. Past stereotypes, or doubts that APAs can't make it to the media due to their academic focus, are debunked through this form of media. By using YouTube to watch APA video-users, we reevaluate our past perceptions of Asian-Americans to understand each other better.

--------------------------------

On a side note, the recent Kollaboration event, taking place in Los Angeles on Februrary 29th, has had excellent YouTube viewership and has some very humurous, yet down-to-earth truthful messages on Kollaboration's commericals. One commercial poses the question: Do you care about Asian-Americans in the media? Don't show up if you don't, is the response from Kollaboration. What do you think?

Here's an excellent accoustic rendition, by the way, of Chris Brown's Forever by David Choi, Kina Grannis, Jane Lui, and JAZMIN, to promote the Kollaboration 9 event in LA:

If you think I left out some other APA artists (there are some I don't listen to due to personal, musical taste), post a comment and tell us what makes them great. It's just amazing that YouTube came out at my freshman year in high school, and now I'm a senior. YouTube has definitely affected my life (I use it all the time!), and will continue to use it throughout college.

UC regents OK admissions overhaul

2009-02-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi (from left), UC President Mark Yudof and Regent Russell Gould listen to public comments during the UC Regents meeting at the UCSF Mission Bay campus in San Francisco on Wednesday. (Paul Chinn / The Chronicle)

It will now be a lot easier to apply and get accepted into the UC system, now that the UC Regents has approved these actions, according to the San Francisco Chronicle:

-- SAT subject tests will no longer be necessary.

-- The pool of applicants who will be considered will widen, but the number guaranteed entry into one of the university's nine undergraduate campuses will shrink.

-- The top 9 percent of high school graduates statewide will be ensured entry, compared with 12.5 percent previously, as well as those in the top 9 percent of their graduating class - up from 4 percent in the past.

Apparently, UC President Mark Yudof is trying to make the UC system more diverse, which indirectly goes against Prop 209. Another form of affirmative action?

"The bottom line is that it will be more diverse and more fair," said UC President Mark Yudof.

Small Payroll, but Big Woes on Insurance

2009-02-04T01:25:00.000-08:00

Amberly Allen, right, at her Texas direct-mail business, is looking at whether to end health benefits to avoid layoffs.

I found this article on the New York Times talking about how the economy has negatively affected the very important factor which attracted jobs during World War II: employee-based health insurance. The recession is threatening its status, especially among small businesses, which have had to, lets say, require employees to contribute more toward their premiums, or lower the required amount of hours to work to pay for the premiums (there are some other examples I cannot think of my head).

Health insurance already costs a lot already; it's pretty difficult to decide where to save money these days. Looks like Nader's single-payer ain't the solution, at the moment.

Joyce Kwon: Amazing Jazz Vocalist

2009-01-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

Joyce Kwon (Facebook, Myspace) is a Senior at Cal who is one hell of a Jazz vocalist. I usually listen to quite a number of jazz, but she performs primarily Brazillian Jazz (this is why she sings a lot in Portuguese). She really knows how to bring the quick melodious rhythm of the language toward the audience, while vocalizing when there are no words to create a feeling like you were in a coffee-shop. Her music is somewhat upbeat and makes me want, like a friend points out, our school to have a jazz choir.

Some of my favorites from her include Society Red, a song about North Korea (very impromptu-like song, which helps demonstrate the improvized nature of jazz) and É Festa (according to this evening's Brazillian Jazz Live Webcast in Emeryvile, Kwon states the song is about the crazy stuff lovers do when they are in love). Hardboiled Magazine notes that if you like Miles Davis (sort-of ironic, since Miles Davis and Joyce Kwon don't sound that similar, but they're both good!), then Joyce Kwon could be right to you.

For aspring Cal students (I, being one of them. Pray that I get in!), she's supposedly performing at Cal Day. For more information on her, click her homepage.

Anshina's Architecture (Episode 1): Dougong (斗拱)

2009-01-31T17:40:00.000-08:00

Scholarships! (part 1)

2009-01-31T12:16:00.000-08:00

Two scholarships done (each worth $2,000)! And, I actually picked the ones which worked for me.

My goal is to get about $10,000 worth in scholarships, assuming that I will attend a UC (and given that the cost of college, including tuition, books, room, food, transportation, etc.) is about $24,000.

Speaking of college tuition, the Daily Cal reports that The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which has just passed in the House, will increase Pell Grants by $500 per individual, for a total maximum Pell Grant of $5,350.

The Block Crusade Continues

2009-01-29T18:46:00.000-08:00

See part two: (here)

Mon Cafe Musicians

2009-01-22T23:55:00.000-08:00

Keep the Block Schedule or Scrap It?

2009-01-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

http://slzusd.org/online_files/home/HighSchoolScheduleEn.pdf

Supposedly, there is a plan to possibly change the Block Schedule at San Lorenzo School District High Schools. There's going to be a community meeting at Arroyo High School at Wednesday, Janurary 28th from 6:30pm-7:30pm.

For those who are curious, I have a YouTube video of the public comments made by teachers and students at the SLZUSD Board Meeting on December 19th, 2008. The meeting minutes aren't going to tell you anything, since they only contain the names of who spoke.

My friend and current sophomore, Stanley Cheng, has started a FaceBook group on this issue to keep the block: (link)

At 22 members, I don't believe it has been effective enough. What does this mean? Are some students "FaceBook-ignorant" (or uninterested, as noted by one sophomore, who considered FB "preppy")? Or, are students excited for a schedule change?

To be honest, I really don't know. The petition people said they got about 100 signatures, and their goal is to get 3/4 of the freshman, sophomore, and juniors to sign it.

Me personally, I'm all for a period schedule. Arroyo Students can challenge themselves, and it will give us a chance to find ways to work harder. These block-schedule supporters are making the period a bigger problem than it really is: other high schools have been doing it for years, and I haven't heard many complaints from them. It's b/c they're used to it. It's definitely possible to go for period.

But the rationale seems to be slightly flawed for some who are interested: raising test scores to decrease the achievement gaps between underepresented and overrepresented minorities to secure funding under NCLB. This is hard to get around since the state has more power than the school board. Changing the block to period works for some people, but not everybody. Therefore, it shouldn't be a matter of a schedule change, but how the ciriculum is taught, and the incentives to do better on state tests.

My journalism teacher suggests this: place the test scores on your high school transcript.

Speaking of doing better, this school week, I should post up pictures of a silly poster campaign of study-tips that our school seems to be doing to make sure our test scores rise. It's almost comparable to the CampaignForBerkeley pictures.

Norwegian Wood: A Book Review

2009-01-15T23:11:00.000-08:00

I should start my blog with a book review on one of my favorite books: Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami.

This is a tale of acceptance and lonliness as characters and university students Toru and Naoko try to wonder: who are they? Naoko was Toru's best friend's girlfriend. Naoko and his friend did not have any other friends except Toru, who always goes with them when they go on dates. After his best friend commits suicide, nothing is the same for Naoko. Naoko turns weaker, and the real world becomes a frightening place for her.

Toru fell in love with Naoko, she had to go to a faraway wilderness-like place to seek medical treatment for an illness she mysteriously got after her boyfriend had committed suicide. As Toru waits endlessly for her letters, which Naoko gives him every once in a while, he meets a sexually liberated woman (sorry, it's so true) and classmate named Midori (means green, in Japanese), who wants everything in life. Midori brings excitement into his life as she always wishes to go to a place where relaxation is the key to happiness. He is unsure who to pick, since Naoko would be left lonely. Toru is Naoko's only connection to the real world. Toru is sort of a lonely sort himself.

This is a book that makes your head think, and I really mean it. I have to reread it over and over again because there's so many complex meanings this book has, that the book's cover does not make it easy as it looks. Have you ever wanted to go with somebody to just get away from all the stresses in life? Do you ever feel emotionally isolated in life, regardless if that's physically false, like the real world just doesn't make sense to you? Are you afraid of the real world sometimes?

Whether or not Murakami has solutions to these problems, I don't know (he's somewhat of an indirect person). After reading his book, you will look at life in a different way because we learn from these characters about how we can be better people again. Murakami is like a social critic, and in a modern country like Japan, a lot of questions I just stated are very universial. Once you grow up, you're going to be all on your own, and that's a difficult feeling. It's no surprise that many of Murakami's fans are teenagers and college students (well, in Japan, at least).