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... or in our case, a new layout.

Some of you must wonder what David and I do during the break when we're not at school discussing conspiracies, academic work, and other geeky fare. Well, look no further! Though our recent dry writing patch implicates that we are catching up on home cooked meals (mom's noodles), TV marathons (Lost), and leisurely reading (Yellow by Frank Wu), the truth runs far from it. Break time is work time in our eyes, and we're churning our mental gears harder than ever for the upcoming semester.

Two days after Christmas, David and I met in a nearly-hidden area of Queens, watched a barber cut some throats, ducked into a B&N cafe, stole a table next to some loud elders, and compulsively grated out new ideas / re-hashed old ones.

A member of the AAA graphics team, Ashish, recently offered to revamp our website and "pimp it out". Though we weren't sure of what that would specifically entail, it seemed right to consent because a new look might boost accessibility and appeal. We also thought up some standardizing methods which will bring about drastic changes; but not even the writers have been briefed in full. In short, everything is up in the air in a good, scary, gasp-our-blog-has-only-existed-for-a-semester kind of way.

That's the beauty of working on a project, isn't it? Learning and improving as you go along. But if one day you visit our page and see psychedelic colors with insane Flash animations, don't say we didn't warn you.

These are all the rage now amongst AAA. (On our internal listserv, four board members just advertised internships that we feel our readers would probably like to know also.) Here's a brief list of Asian American interest internships compiled by Eddie, Laura, Christina, and Nhu-Y:

In the D.C. area,

• Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA)
• The Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)
• Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies
• National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)
• International Leadership Foundation (ILF)
• Korean American Coalition - Washington, DC Chapter (KACDC)
• Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL), Note: This is a scholarship for a DC internship

• Asian American Legal Defense Fund, "a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans"
• Asian American Writers Workshop, "the country's largest literary arts nonprofit devoted exclusively to Asian American literature."
• Asian CineVision, "a non-profit media arts organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Asian and Asian American media expressions"
• Asian American Journalists Association, "a non-profit membership organization with approximately 2,000 members in 20 chapters across the U.S. and Asia"

• Columbia Congressional Internships (contact Christina Chen if interested)

In this issue of Disillusionment Weekly, let's examine how the New York Times online edition has used its Times Topics: Asian-Americans tag (note the hyphen) to categorize articles both peripherally and totally unrelated to Asian Americana.

That's right - a first thought for anyone upon seeing this classifier might be one of pride or relief, a feeling that somehow your issues haven't been forgotten in purportedly the finest newspaper in the world. But take a closer look and you'll see how the tag is used on articles that only speak to an objectified bridging of East and West or simply feature an Asian American person without any note of racial identity. The articles below classified by this tag highlight the hilarity of this exercise in racial awareness for those who lack it.

Old-Growth Finds the New World: Never would I have thought Orientalism can occur with a kind of wood. This article writes about the teak wood fad in household flooring that not only has nothing to do with any sort of Asian peoples in the Americas, but is based only on the idea of resources changing hands, from old to new but more implicitly from East to West.

Las Vegas-related articles are frequently tagged "Asian-American". Maybe the Times just had to remark on how many Asian people they've seen there, but instead of examining gambling as an affliction to Asian American communities, they write about everything else. In Las Vegas Wins Big, the Asians are by no means Asian Americans, but rather the "very high-end foreigners" who casinos now earn revenue from. In Las Vegas Caters to Asia's High Rollers, the message is mostly the same, pictures illustrating the fetishist decor of these casinos. What little mention there is of Asian Americans refers to aggressive targeting of these communities.

Class Divide in Chinese-Americans' Charity: (Among more interesting things,) thanks for pointing out the obvious - that rich people donate more than the working class immigrants.

Wal-Mart Wants to Carry Its Christmas Ads Beyond Price: For a one-liner about how Wal-Mart made television commercials for Asian Americans, I'm not really seeing the true relevance.

So while this entire post is probably testament to my boredom and inactivity this winter break, it's obvious that our issues still have to be made crystal clear to those who don't understand them purely by means of journalistic, political, or institutional training. A plug for ethnic studies belongs here, but more importantly, mainstream media must see the necessary distinctions between race and nation and the obvious differences between "Asian" and "Asian American".

From the NAASCon listserv:

What is this study about?

This study involves Asian American and Pacific Islander women and their experiences with their sexuality and being Asian American and/or Pacific Islander. It will take 15-20 minutes to answer questions about your thoughts and feelings surrounding your ethnic experience and sexuality. We are looking for Asian American, South Asian American, and Pacific Islander women who are 18 years of age or older. Participants must currently live in the United States. The completely anonymous survey is to be completed entirely online, so it can be done anywhere and at any time you are able and feel most comfortable.

Interested in participating?

See survey here.

If you are interested in participating in the study, please click on the link here to proceed. Participation is completely voluntary and you may withdraw at any time, though the more completely and honestly your responses, the more helpful your information will be to our study. Again, the survey is completely anonymous.

Also, if you know other people who might be interested in participating in this study, please forward this email and survey to them. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Maria-Luisa Tungol at mtungol@sph.emory.edu

Thank you so much for your interest, time, and support!

From all of us Blaaag writers (in our wintry, well-wishing, languid/hung-over/restful contentment)... Happy 2008.

As forwarded by one of our OCMs, Eddie:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting these greetings, you are accepting the aforementioned terms as stated. This greeting is not subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself/others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Now that it's over, we can say so for sure -- Fall '07 was insane, funny, sad, and scary all at once. So which entries took the cake for mind-blowingness? Here's a Top 10 List:

1. NYPD officers arrest a student in what seems to be a racially charged incident.
   
   
2. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Baller or not?
   
   
3. Racist graffiti is found at SIPA.
   
   
4. And, at Teacher's College, a noose.
   
   
5. The hunger strike (and Al Jazeera).
   
   
6. The nail salon workers get a new victory!
   
   
7. E!Online's Kristin calls Masi "squinty".
   David thinks it's racist, but Angry Asian Man's Phil Yu disagrees. A 17-comment argument (and some private e-mailing) follows.
   
   
8. Roger Fan and Sung Kang's appear at Columbia, inspiring the entry, "Introducing the Roger Fan Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter Collection".
   
   
9. During Heroes Season 2, David becomes a recapper for Racialicious.
   
   
10. Susan Mayer sparks up a whole lot of trouble and, finally, an apology.
    

I know that we have had several postings from the blog "Postsecret".
I think that this one brings interracial relationships, fetishes, and stereotypes into question when it comes to the topic of reasons for attraction.

We at The Blaaag hope that you've been engaged and empowered by the commentary that we've offered here on this blog over the past semester. Have you been inspired by the issues we've discussed? Would you like to contribute next semester? This is your chance. Openings are available for contributing positions on this blog.

The only requirements are that 1. you write well, 2. you write often, and 3. you understand a little about the issues which we have discussed here on The Blaaag with respect to Asian Americana and its implications for the Barnard/Columbia community.

Just fill out the questions below and send it to theblaaag@gmail.com!

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The Blaaag: The Weblog of the Asian American Alliance
Application for Contributors

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What functions or roles do you think a blog of AAA serves? There is no correct response.

How many hours a day do you spend on the internet? We don't judge.

Not everyone is as glued to the internet as we might be. How would you increase readership of this blog?

What topics regarding APA issues, social and political concerns, and relevant current events most interest you? Please be specific. ( i.e. 'Saigon Grill', not 'fair wages'.)

Of one of the above topics, please write a short sample post. (No more than 150 words, please.)

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