Spring Book Discussion: I-Hotel by Karen Tei-Yamashita

Dinner afterwards at the Japanese restaurant Octopus. (375 W. Birch St. Brea) at 5:30. Meet us for the book discussion and/or dinner. Either one or both!

If you're planning on going to the dinner, please RSVP by contacting Karyn Nguyen at KNguyen1@fullcoll.edu (Ext. 27254) or Jane Ishibashi at jishibashi@fullcoll.edu (Ext. 27378).

Book Discussion

Date: Feb. 23rd, 2012
Time: 4:00-5:00 pm
Location: Library 2nd floor/Conference room 820-P


The Spring 2012 Book discussion will be on I-Hotel by Karen Tei-Yamashita. We will be discussing:

Chapters 1 and 2 from the section titled (1969: I Spy Hotel). The page numbers are 117-164


2010 National Book Award Finalist
2010-2011 Asian/Pacific American Library Association (APALA) Book Award Winner in Adult Fiction
2010 California Book Award Winner

"The International Hotel, or I Hotel, was an actual San Francisco landmark, the base for a wild array of pan-Asian artistic, political, and community endeavors. And now this “fortress” and “beacon” provides the impetus and structure for Yamashita's exuberant, irreverent, passionately researched, and many-voiced novel about the Yellow Power movement. Author of the indelible Tropic of Orange (1997), Yamashita nets the social and personal ferment of the years 1968 through 1977 in 10 interconnected, stylistically varied segments. As this jazzy, kaleidoscopic novel unfolds, we meet orphaned teenager Paul and his mentor Chen, a radical professor; Mo Akagi, a Yellow Panther; Gerald, an avant-garde saxophonist; Sandy Hu, an innovative choreographer; and all kinds of gutsy and inventive activists, some in wheelchairs, who comprise a broad spectrum of courageous Asian Americans asserting their rights." From Booklist by Donna Seaman

Dinner: Japanese restaurant Octopus. (375 W. Birch St. Brea) at 5:30.

Spring Rolls Hands-on and Eat Workshop

When: Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Time: 11-1 pm
Location: Staff Dining Hall

**Please RSVP to Karyn Nguyen by Oct. 25th** knguyen1@fullcoll.edu (714) 992-7254
Bring your own Tupperware

Come learn how to make traditional Vietnamese spring rolls (vegetarian options available). Stop by for the first or second hour (the workshop will be repeated the second hour) to watch a demonstration and then to make your own to take home.

First APIA Event with Valerie Soe in May 2010

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on May 3 2010, the Asian Pacific Islander Faculty/Staff Association screened the documentary, The Oak Park Story, by Valerie Soe and Russell Jeung.

The Oak Park Story recounts the journeys of three families--from Cambodia, Mexico, and California--who band together at a run-down slum in Oakland CA and win a landmark settlement against their landlord. For more info go to Oak Park Story.

Valerie Soe is a visual artist, filmmaker, and writer from San Francisco as well as a faculty member in San Francisco State University's Asian American Studies Department. Ms. Soe earned her BA in Art from UCLA and her Masters in Video and Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In response to the limited representations of Asians in the mass media, Ms. Soe’s work focuses on identity, culture, and activism, primarily in the Asian American community. Her productions include Mixed Blood, Picturing Oriental Girls: A (Re) Educational Videotape , "ALL ORIENTALS LOOK THE SAME" and the House of Ong. She has won a number of prizes such as Best Foreign Video at the Festival Internazionale Cinema Giovani in Torino, Italy and Best Bay Area Short from the Golden Gate Awards at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Her work has exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the American Film Institute’s National Video Festival, and the World Wide Video Festival in The Hague. The Oak Park Story was shown at the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Festival.

Valerie Soe answered questions after screening the film for two groups of attentive students.

2011 APIA Scholarship Award

The 2011 APIA Scholarship was awarded to Chiaki Kimura who has done volunteer work for most of her life, starting as a five year old when she participated in fund-raising for the victims of the Kobe earthquake. She continued her volunteer work at a nursing home and at a kindergarten school. At Fullerton College, Chiaki has been active in student organizations and did fund-raising for the 2011 earthquake victims in Japan. She has also been interested in environmental issues, helping to clean beaches in Japan as well as in California. Chiaki will be tranferring to California State University Long Beach as a dance major.

APIA's first award was presented at the Transfer Reception hosted by the Cadena Transfer Center. Lily Espinoza generously allowed APIA to participate in the event and has offered to let APIA continue to do so next year.

APIA Scholarship 2010-2011

Asian Pacific Islander Faculty Staff Association (APIA) seeks to recognize outstanding students who exemplify the spirit of APIA by achieving academic excellence and demonstrating personal commitment and dedicated service to the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community.

Specific eligibility criteria are:
• Be a currently enrolled student at Fullerton College
• Plan to be enrolled at least half-time at an accredited college or university in the Fall 2011 term
• Demonstrate community involvement or volunteer work with API population.

Members of the APIA scholarship committee read all applications and select the winner. The APIA Spring 2011 scholarship of $150 will be awarded to one currently enrolled student in any field at Fullerton College. The student must have a minimum grade point average of 3.00 and be continuing at Fullerton College or transferring to an accredited college or university in Fall 2011. The student must submit (1) a personal essay of 500 words describing his or her involvement with the API community and his or her long-term goals; (2) a transcript of grades (a printout of the unofficial transcript from MyGateway is acceptable); (3) a letter of recommendation; (4) and the application form.

Contact Jane Ishibashi at the Library Circulation Counter, 1st floor for application forms. jishibashi@fullcoll.edu OR go to the Cadena Cultural Center Asian & Pacific Islander web page.

Book Discussion March 14th

Larry Hashima (Ethnic Studies) will be leading the discussion about the book, I Love Yous are for White People by Lac Su.

As a young boy, Lac Su escaped from the Communists in Vietnam. Lac, with his family, was forced to immigrate in 1979 to Los Angeles where poverty, cultural barriers, and a harsh, unrelenting father led him to a dangerous gang experience that threatened to destroy his chances at the American Dream.

Date: March 14th, 2011
Time: 5:00-6:00 pm
Location: 820p Library 2nd floor

Come to the book discussion then dinner! Or discussion only or dinner only!

Dinner afterwards at 6:15 pm:
Pho Ha
Brea Plaza Shopping Ctr
1619 E Imperial Hwy
Brea, CA 92823
(714) 255-9899

RSVP Annie Liu at aliu@fullcoll.edu