Wednesday, October 30, 2002

A Giant Passed Away

Chang-Lin Tien, the principal founder of 80-20, former Chancellor of UC, Berkeley, passed away last night. Our community lost a pillar of strength. I lost a dear friend.

Chang-Lin has achieved highly. Yet he was willing to take risks on behalf of our community. He didn't care about protecting his own feathers. He cared about doing the right things. Such persons are rare in our community. I hope his death will motivate us to emulate him and try to fit into his huge shoes.

In tears,
SB

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

Job Opportunity at 80-20/ Ongoing Election

1) Job opportunity at 80-20. For pay range and job description, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net/job.html . It's a very demanding job. Only the most dedicated need apply .

2) 80-20's ongoing election -- for dues-paying members only:

(a) Have you received a ballot to vote in 80-20's election through either e-mail or fax? If you have not, please e-mail yuj@chicago.edu to inquire. The most likely reason is that 80-20 doesn't have your VALID e-mail address or fax number.

(b) Has your family received TWO votes, if you are a family member ? If you've not, please e-mail yuj@chicago.edu to inquire.

Friday, October 11, 2002

80-20's Candidates/ How People Reacted

A) Want to find out who are 80-20's candidates?

Want to do a PRACTICE vote on 80-20's marvelous and fool-proof electronic voting page? Non-members are also welcome.

Click** on: http://www.80-20initiative.net/c/x

You'll see the proud product of Prof. Shangyou Zhang of the U. of Delaware, Prof. Chun Wa Wong of UCLA and Ying Yang, our volunteer Web Master. The REAL vote is for dues-paying members only, and will be held from 10/21 to 10/25/02.

** If clicking on the above address doesn't work, you'll need to copy the address and paste it to your browser. Then hit "go" or Enter.


B) Find out how people reacted to 80-20's e-mail on "Sen. Torricelli/ David Chang/Asia Gate." There was not a single negative reaction, although not all positive ones are shown here.

(1) You are so right!!!!
As Asians, we are so enamored with being in the inner political
circle. The way some Asians get there is through illegal campaign
donations. That hurts all of us. Joe Yew


(2) Thank you for the substantial message, hope every 80-20 member
keep the lessons it in their minds. Phoebe Andes


(3) Right! Right! We need to educate those Silicon Valley companies,
that gave huge money to the Republicans, naively believing that the
R would protect their business. What happened to their business after
the election? They were the first ones to be crashed. We need to
educate our people about American politics and American history.
Thanks for the good work you've done! Lin Jian


(4) "... While there are good and bad people on both sides of the
aisle, it bothers me that the list of David Chang, John Huang, Johnny
Chung, Maria Hsia, and Charlie Trie etc., all raised money for the
Democratic party. ...." George Lin


(5) Thanks for the message. It's timely, informative and appropriate.
Henry J Lee


(6) Very good message. This message should be repeated often.
Chinese are not uninterested in politics. Thousands of years of palace
Intrigue have taught us to be very astute at it. However, the lesson
learned is not suitable for the modern US scene. Chinese learned
politics as a self-centered and individual-oriented art. What can my
contribution do for me and which politician I should become buddy
with? We have not learned that there are certain things only a group
can do. Politicians and emperors come and go. Selfish interest and
ambition do not protect our public good. My two cents worth of
additional remarks. Larry (Larry Ho is 80-20's Treasurer)


(7) I like reading your messages all the time. Thanks for your effort.
I agree that politics must be learned. For new comers like me & many
of my friends this is an urgent thing. For example, the John Huang's
case was not known to me and your two lines were not enough for me
to comprehend. Can you or someone run a few stories (examples) on
what happened and what can we learn from past mistakes as a
community? I know many of my friends want to be more active than
passively following. Anything along this line would be good.
S. Joe Qin, Associate Professor and Quantum Chemical ....


(8) For the benefit of most of us, please print the federal
contribution rules and ways to account for and prevent the future
mistake. Jay Junekun Choi


(9) Hi, I like your message. Keep up with the good work.
HT Tien, Professor, Michigan State University


(10) ... More seriously, your reminder that Asian Americans should
be extra careful in making political donations is very well taken. ..
James C. Hsiung, Professor of Politics


(11) This is USA politic. We can gain political clout w/o BRIBING our
politicians for favors. DVD


(12) In 1999, Michael Hsing in NJ informed me that his company
donated money to Torricelli or his party at some big convention
(forgot the details). Then T. wrote a rousing letter, which I read, to
Hsing supporting the cause of the plight of victims of Japanese
tyranny. It was at the height of our trying to push the Feinstein
bill. So I organized a group to go to Washington to drum up support
from the aides of some sympathetic members of Congress, & Torricelli
was on my list. I was surprised that I was able to get an appoint-
ment to see his chief of staff (she) so easily. When we got there, she
asked for the purpose of the visit. (I thought she understood it.) I
showed T.'s letter and the group showered her with book, pamphlets,
letters, package on Comfort Women. She read the letter and then
ponderously replied: "I don't know how committed Sen. T. is to
this." So we left with hopes of an ally.

What happened next was a big black hole. Lesson learned -- Some
politicians say things that people like to hear to get their money or
votes. So what else is new? JJ


(13) Great to see you have the talent and patience to educate us, the
Chinese American, in participating in mainstream politics.

Those who got into trouble in your report were behaving in very
traditional Chinese way. "To buy influence". ... Dennis T. Su

Breaking News!
According to PoliticalCircus.com mail@politicalcircus.com: " Although the Congress ultimately approved the use of the nation's military forces against Iraq yesterday, all six voting Asian Pacific Americans Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate voted against the resolution."

http://www.politicalcircus.com/archive/article_980.shtml

Wednesday, October 02, 2002

Senator Torricelli/ David Chang/ Asia Gate

What can we learn from Senator Torricelli's downfall, David Chang's imprisonment, and the campaign finance scandal of 1997, that The New York Times christened "Asia Gate.?" Remember those days, when our entire community was tarnished for the misdeeds of a few?

80-20's conclusion is: Don't engage in illegal political activities. While that is obvious, there is also a subtler message: Gaining political clout is much more complicated than giving money to politicians, even when one were willing to do so illegally! David Chang of NJ, John Huang, Johnny Chung, Maria Hsia and Charlie Trie, ..., etc. all found that out the hard way.

Politics must be learned, like all other subjects. However, there is no book on how to gain political clout. Hence, those individuals in our community with political field experience (electoral politics, appointive politics, and political action committee experience) must be looked to for advice. Never again shall we follow those APAs with little political experience and little substance, but driven by blind ambition to seek political power and business profit.

If you believe that our community needs political clout, give your money to political organizations that have the experience and the track record of gaining political clout for you. Don't give money to politicians who don't share our rightful concerns.

Want to know how much money 80-20 has given to politicians in its 4.5 years? $500. $100 to each of 5 politicians in order to qualify as a multi-candidate political action committee, in accordance with Federal Election Commission requirements. But, look how much 80-20 had gotten done for our community, thanks to YOUR SUPPORT for a bloc vote and YOUR PAYMENT of membership dues.
http://www.80-20initiative.net/unity1.html shows these achievements.

John Huang raised $3,000,000 from our community for the Democratic Party. Result? Our community got trashed instead of gained political clout.

Others have raised a lot of money from you for presidential candidates. They chaired the fundraisers and got themselves appointed to public offices. However, when our community was in trouble, where were most of them?

80-20's leaders are answerable to YOU only, not to politicians. Ponder that point a moment. You will know which ones deserve your financial backing. Thank you.

PS (1) If you want to be a Life Member, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net/membership.html

Regular membership for 2002 will expire soon, on 12/31/02.

(2) Dues-paying members, please mark your calendar:
80-20's election will be from 10/21 (Monday) till 10/25 (Friday).