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Commentary: Double zero (or, pick on someone your own size!)

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Double zero. What the heck is it? Well, I didn’t know about it until I became part of the elite club in my early 30s. Double zero has nothing to do with an IQ, a prescription, a drink, the mile high club, or the grade of your eye. My friend, double zero is a size of clothing, which means I’m smaller than a zero.

Commentary: 1999-2009: A retrospective on closing the achievement gap

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Like the two previous task forces formed in 1986 and 1992, the charge was to have a group of leaders in education and human services to make recommendations to the school district to close the achievement gap — in eight years.

Commentary: Diversifying ranks with immigration reform — What the huh?

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If it does, then I agree with diversifying the ranks to level a lopsided immigration debate. I agree that more non-Latino immigrants should pressure lawmakers to change laws that indisputably favor one group of people and discriminate against another. Diversifying the ranks could assist in exposing laws of racial and ethnical favoritisms.

Commentary: Be counted on April 1

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In about 100 days, on April 1, the 2010 Census — the nationwide head count required by the Constitution — begins. And it is critical for Asian Americans, a community likely to have some problems due to language barriers or fear of the government, to be counted.

Commentary: How small businesses can survive an economic downturn

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We all know that starting up or running a business in an unstable economy is not an easy task. Contrary to what we would expect, start-up and smaller companies are less affected by economic downturns than large companies with big, rigid infrastructures.

Commentary: When considering health care reform, do not exclude legal immigrants

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Though we are on the brink of historic change regarding our nation’s haphazard health care system, it is stunning that even these sweeping reforms continue those policies that exclude legal immigrants.

Commentary: Balloon boy mom doesn’t deserve racist remarks

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The press wondered if Mayumi was involved in the hoax or a battered victim. After telling everything to the sheriff, she may be both. I first heard the story on Dori Monson’s radio show in Seattle, and then saw the balloon land on a video posted on the Internet. Her looks, name, and accent are all Japanese. That makes her boys, Falcon, Bradford, and Ryo, Asian Americans or at least Hapa.

Commentary: A worry for the 21st century: the presence of racial bias within the jury room

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In each of these circumstances, pivotal cases eventually changed the face of the legal system and helped to remedy injustice. This, however, was only the beginning of the fight against discrimination.

Commentary: How I earned my Ph.D. running for office

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Even though two years have passed, I am still asked what it was like to run. I usually say, “It was a great experience. I may not have gotten the votes I needed, but I earned my Ph.D. trying!” A Ph.D. from the school of hard knocks, that is. Were it not for the lack of votes, I would have graduated magna cum laude.