Community colleges not preparing California's future workforce, study says - latimes.com

Community colleges not preparing California's future workforce, study says - latimes.com

When you begin to compare the California Higher Education system with say Vietnam's or Cambodia's or even Thailand's, there are obvious differences.

At a lecture in Vietnam, it was noted that only about 30% of the high school graduates get into a college.  You have to score a certain score to get into college, period.  There is a form of pre-screening of students in Asia.  This is why their graduation rates are very high.  In the USA, you can crawl out of high school and enroll into a community college if you were a major pot head, screw up or even undocumented but also without an adequate education from the home country.  What the study doesn't account is that we have an open access system.  We may not be getting the best student, immediately.  The pass rate then isn't surprising.

You could improve the pass rate if you insert a Vietnamese style system.   In fact, their JCs are still closed in terms of access.  You have to score a certain percentage in order to be accepted.  This sort of violates the spirit of the grand educational plan that was the cornerstone of California public higher education system.  In many ways, our system is more open than many of the educational systems in Asia.

The graduation rate in our system is a challenge, that universities in Asia do not face.  In this sense, I think we have to be more innovative in terms of instruction than others. 

Clinton in Cambodia, Nov 2010

WORLD

In Cambodia, Clinton Advocates Khmer Rouge Trials

By SETH MYDANS

Published: November 1, 2010

On a visit to Phnom Penh, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that trials were necessary for Cambodia to “confront its past.”

Even today, there are still discussions about whether or not the trials should continue.  Prime Minister Hun Sen seems to want to stop it after getting the big fish.  The speculations on closing the UN Human Rights office in Cambodia is rather disturbing. 

PHOTOS: A family's differing views on Vietnam's past - latimes.com

PHOTOS: A family's differing views on Vietnam's past - latimes.com

Go to the link to see Brian's story.

Someone once asked me, "Why don't you move there?"

Interesting question.

Well, there are a few good reasons. The Thanh Nien News listed about 20 reasons to move there.  The LA Times says that Vietnam is the perfect place to ride out the Great Recession.  Vietnam has its attractions.  The NY Times had a number of fun things to do in 36 hours.   CNN has a page about exploring Hanoi.  The very fact that the celebrity chefs like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern love the country doesn't help much.

Earlier in my postings, I discussed the notion of "going bamboo,' which is a term more associated with Bali and Indonesia than with Vietnam.  Essentially, it means giving up life in the West and moving to a South East Asian country.  Most people move to Thailand, as it was the most developed, until the political troubles started to hurt the country.  (Ironically, life goes on in Bangkok.  You have to remind people that there is security situation there.)

Let's be clear.  Vietnam is a Communist country.  There are limits, and potentially moving to Vietnam is not as easy as you might think.  It does have its attractions.

1.  It's different.
2.  It's different.
3.  It's different.

Unlike Los Angeles, Vietnam is naturally green.  Like Thailand, it's not just green, but shades of green.  From the shimmering sea of Ha Long Bay to the mountains near Hue, you see translucent hues of color.  Interspersed in between the ever present rice paddies fields, old houses and shop houses with signs that beckon you to enter for a little Vietnamese coffee, women in the classic Vietnamese hats are selling bread, sweets and snacks. Scooter dodging becomes a skill that is now almost instinctual.

When you are in a city like Hanoi, you realize how young the good ole US of A really is.  Hanoi just celebrated their 1000 year anniversary.  In Hanoi, you can still live in a place that is a couple hundred years old, and you can basically get lost in the fabric of the city.  When I was there, I made it a point to wander the Old Quarter, in which the streets were organized into commercial zones.  One street sold food.  Another street sold fabrics.  Commerce is occurring, but there are no food police, no regulations, and random acts of capitalism.

For everything you gain, perhaps a sort of freedom in Vietnam that is not possible in Los Angeles, some things may be lost like trading down for a spotty power grid.  Things are not exactly convenient in the sense of just driving to a grocery store.  Although the traffic on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles can be maddening, driving through Hanoi is like being a tuna parting the quick moving school of mackerel and bonito swimming to Baja Mexico.

You could go, but for everything gained, there is always something lost.  Maybe being in traffic on the 405.

COLUMN ONE: A son's loyalties tested - latimes.com

COLUMN ONE: A son's loyalties tested - latimes.com

This article is a tough read.  It's because I know the man stuck in this sort of existential limbo.  

Brian Doan was one of my fellow Fulbright Hayes GPA participants from Long Beach City College. Without this project, I probably would never have met him.  I vaguely knew of the controversy connected to his photography show, as he mentioned it in passing. However, I did not fully understand the long standing echoes of the war still present in the Vietnamese community, as well as the compounded nature of assimilating into American culture.  In many ways, his story encapsulates the conflicts of being Asian Pacific American.  

His story is sort of a common story about generational conflicts when they emigrate to the United States.  Children of 1st Generation immigrants often are in conflict with their parents.  With the Japanese Americans, there was a conflict between the 1st Generation (Issei) and the 2nd Generation (Nisei) to such a degree that many Nisei do not read or speak Japanese.  The desire to assimilate was very strong.  There was a study posted on NPR called how appropriately, Immigration Study: 'Second Generation has an Edge'.  For Asian families, loyalty to the family is placed very high, but this often conflicts with American social norms.  The Migration Information Source discusses this matter very closely.  Basically, it is an issue of assimilation as noted in Asian Nation.

Brian's basic problem is not unusual.  What is unusual is that Art now is in conflict with the conservative sensibilities of his community.  His story exposes the real rifts within Little Saigon.  It reminds me of the conservative nature of Cubans in Miami who hate Castro.  For many Asian Pacific Americans, it is always a matter of trying to find the balance.  The problem is that sometimes the balance is not exactly easy to get.

The Asian Pacific American experience is in some ways more complex if you are part of a second generation wave.  The complexities of dealing with expectations of parents versus expectations within American society do not always mesh together.

Well, I could say that Asians Rock anyways.  Rock on Brian.

Ultimately, everything is about finding that balance.  Balance between generational expectations.  Balance between Art and Life.  Balance between Asian sensibilities and American sensibilities.  As Miyagi would say, "Whole life have balance."  It's something we all do.  I still do it myself.
  

I firmly believe we all eventually find a balance.  We all find the way if we continue to pursue it.  What will come of this all is unknown.  But then, Brian's a smart dude.  The fact that it is being covered by a paper means that he is working on this project.  Keep the faith man.  Keep the faith.  Remember, Maya Lin was savaged for her Vietnam Memorial proposal.  Now, it's a destination point.    

Some artists want to confront. Some want to invoke thought. They're all necessary and they're all valid. 

Maya Lin 

Rei's Advice on Packing Light

Much of my stuff comes from REI.  It's a company that I has a lot of things that can help reduce the amount of luggage that you carry when running around the world.

They go into the issue of new baggage fees and the selection of bags.  Domestic flights also seem to have higher fees than the international flights.  If you do pick up little tourist treasures, you had better watch the weight.  Vietnam Airlines gets into a thing about check in luggage weight.  It's 20 kg for flights within Asia, and 30kg at the business level.  Not a whole lot of breathing room there.

I was a little heavy with photographic equipment.  Also in the case of my summer, I was effectively living out of various bags for 2 months effectively.

So if you are going to try to duplicate the itinerary that was followed, be light.  One thing is that I am going to compromise on my photographic equipment next time by going with the Micro Four Thirds system Olympus E-pl 1 Camera with an additional wide angle and telephoto lens.  Much of my weight was the traditional Nikon DSLR I had.  

 

iTunes U Resources on Vietnam

iTunes University resources are pretty handy.  If you have iTunes, you simply go to the iTunes search window and try to locate content.  Now, there are also podcasts, but I tend to rely on the iTunes U resources, as I believe they are more properly vetted for accuracy.  The links below are going to open up the iTunes program, and then go to the respective site.  You will get a warning that this link is opening up the program.  

I'm also compiling a list of links to South East Asian studies centers in the USA.  It seems like there are a lot of them.  

General Lectures and Vietnam War Centric materials

You can go to Columbia's University's lectures on the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese perspective.

American Public Media has a lecture series on the Vietnam War and the Presidents involved.

American Radio Works (American Public Media) The President Calling has a number of tapes now uploaded for you to listen to.  It is fascinating to hear LBJ debate with people.

iTunes U with single lectures as part of a series

UC Berkeley's History 7B class covers the Vietnam War in one lecture.

Stanford University Travel/Study page has something specific on Vietnam, as well as a lecture on Buddhism.

Literature Resources on iTunes U

The Things They Carried.  This was created by Montclair Public Schools.  It is targeted for Middle School, but it might be useful.

Role of Art 

There is a lecture on contemporary Vietnamese Art from the Center for South East Asian Studies at the University of Michigan.  

Websites focusing on South East Asian Studies

University of Michigan's Center for South East Asian Studies.  

This website has some links to some lectures.  The topics are wide ranging and focus on a variety of topics from a regional perspective.  They have a presence with iTunes University.  

UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies

This website has some links to events in the LA basin, and announcements about lectures, and projects by professors and graduate students. 

UC Berkeley Center for Southeast Asia Studies

This is the host of the Journal of Vietnamese Studies.  There are occasional webcasts posted on the front page. 

Yale Council on South East Asia Studies

Yale publishes a series of texts on Vietnam.  The website isn't as immediately useful as the University of Michigan's but it can be a starting point. 

Cornell University's Southeast Asia Program

This university received a huge grant from the Dept of Ed in regards to language studies and cultural studies of South East Asia. 

Ohio University Southeast Asian Studies

Offers a general overview of their program.