UCLA group carries torch for less advantaged API classmates

June 4, 2007

Text by DIONESIO C. GRAVA

Balita Weekly

LOS ANGELES—Activists of the Asian Pacific Coalition met the press Thursday at the Ackerman Viewpoint Conference Room, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) to urge public support on an ongoing campaign to enable Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have own identities.

According to the Count Me In campaign it is addressing educational inequalities within the AAPI community. It said that hidden by the “model minority myth”, AAPI continue to suffer severely from access to resources for higher education, adding, “The myth homogenizes the diverse make-up of AAPIs despite the fact that each group has its own unique history, language, culture, and experience.” There is a need to disaggregate the racial category of AAPIs into their specific communities “to ensure that public policy reflects the needs of diverse communities.”

The coalition said that while some AAPIs are very successful, others are living in poverty and depressing conditions. They referred to a demographic profile compiled by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center that finds three Pacific Islanders in groups—Cambodian, Laotian, and Hmong—having educational levels far below average, some among the lowest in the state.

Nefara Riesch, a UCLA student and co-chair of the Pacific Islands Student Association, said that “it is incredibly important that Pacific Islanders are recognized as a separate racial group. There is a common belief that Asians are drastically over represented on campus and this serves as a major problem for the Pacific Islander population.”

AAPI is currently included in the Asian category and last year, it was said that out of over 11,000 admitted to UCLA, only 23 Pacific Islander students were included, mostly as athletes. Only 10 percent of Samoans, one of many Pacific Islander groups, have a bachelor’s degree or higher, it said.

The coalition endorsed State Assemblyman Ted Lieu’s Bill AB295 which seeks to provide a more accurate representation of the community. It requires that state agencies collect demographic data on the broader AAPI community.

APC claimed that while the US Census reports data from more than twenty different ethnicity within the AAPI group, the state of California and University of California does not address the group’s needs.

Additionally, the coalition advocates for the following goals:

1. Enhance the UC’s admission policy to include data collection on students of Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Hmong, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Laotian and Thai ethnic backgrounds.

2. Create a specific Pacific Islander racial category within admissions data and provide financial support for outreach projects that specifically target AAPI groups facing severe educational inequity.

Responding to a question, Alma Riego of Samahang Pilipino and Candice Shikai, Nikkei Student Union and Pacific Islands Student Association, told

BALITA that the reason Filipinos are not included in their campaign is because they belong to a separate category. The University California currently collects data on Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, East Indian, Pacific Islanders and Vietnamese ethnic groups. Others are grouped in the “Other Asian” category.

The CMI campaign intends to separate the “Other Asian” category into specific ethnicity of Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Hmong, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Laotian and Thai.

In addition to Riesch, Shikai and Riego, APC officers who attended the forum included Erik Yang representing Association of Hmong Students; Kevin Peanh, United Khmer Students; Alex Lowe and Jason Osajima, APC. Sam Lieu, right, represented the Office of Assembly Member Ted Lieu.

The Asian Pacific Coalition at UCLA claims to be a social, political, educational, and cultural network representing over 21 different organizations and the officially recognized voice of AAPI students on campus. It can be accessed at www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/sgweb/details.asp