By Jason Cruz Northwest Asian Weekly “Nunatak.” Any guess as to what the word means? More importantly, how do you spell it? For 14-year-old Gokul Venkatachalam of Chesterfield, Missouri it meant either sharing the glory of being the champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee with 13-year -old Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas or the […]
JACL statement on Emilie Grace Olsen’s suicide
By Japanese American Citizens League The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is deeply troubled by the circumstances and investigation surrounding the tragic death of Emilie Grace Olsen, a Chinese American student at Fairfield Middle School in Fairfield Township, Ohio. In a letter to parents in December 2014, Fairfield superintendent, Paul Otten, stated that bullying was […]
A little bit of Seattle helps build a school library in Philippines
By Lara Underhill Northwest Asian Weekly After a 2010 trip to the Philippines to reconnect with her family roots, Kimrick Soltanzadeh knew she wanted to do more for the rural community where her family was from. “I hadn’t been to the Philippines for about 10 years before that trip and during that time I became very involved with the local community in Bainbridge and […]
BLOG: Why aren’t you smiling? — Insights for happiness
My friend got a new boyfriend, and she found a new job after sweating four years of college. Most people would feel on top of the world, celebrating success and feeling bliss. Yet, she seems to be cranky. In fact, I have interacted with a lot of grumpy people lately. They rarely smile. They enjoy […]
EDITORIAL: Something should have been done
Yes, there has been a lot of media attention to bullying, especially in our schools. But there is also a reason for that. And that is because bullying consistently exists. Emilie Grace Olsen was Chinese American, adopted by her U.S. parents, and she killed herself right before this new year, December 11, 2014. She shot […]