Last week, the University of Hawaii (UH) football ended the regular season with an undefeated record!
This has been an amazing turnaround for Hawaii football.
Back in 1998, the UH football team was 0-12! It was the boiling point of 6 straight years of loosing seasons. The coach, Fred von Appen, was fired after 3 loosing seasons
This was how bleak the situation was during the von Appen years
!1) many of the top local high school football players chose to play for mainland colleges instead of being humilated as a UH player. Those local high school players who wanted to play for UH were even embarrassed to admit to others, knowing they'll be asked "why would you want to play for a sh----y team?"
2) when one of the college counselors came to my 11th grade English class (1997-1998 school year), and talk about the standards required to attend UH, one girl said out loud "why would I want to attend UH? They have such a junk football team!" This girl didn't play any sports, yet didn't want to attend UH "because UH had a junk football team"
3) Rumors went around that at a local high school reunion, when one of the prizes announced was free UH football tickets, people booed!
4) People joked about top high school football teams beating UH football.
That was how embarrassing it was to be associated with UH football.
However, in 1999, UH had a new football coach June Jones. (Coincidentally, it was my 1st year as a UH student). The situation changed.
After the 2nd game of the 1999 season, people asked "did you see the football game", the common reply was "WE FINALLY WON!" UH also won it's 1st road game in years, had a 1st winning season since 1992, won a WAC championship, and even won a bowl game.
PRIDE WAS RESTORED!
Because of the great 1999 season, most of the all-state high school players graduating in 2000 chose to play college football for UH!
---
Fast-forward to this year -- 2007. Sales of UH athletic merchandise went up. The Aloha Stadium had more fans at the games. Even attendance at sports bars went up this year!
It's common to see people wearing UH football jerseys, and UH WAC champions T-shirts! People who usually don't care about football are talking about the UH Warriors!
Now, as the UH football team is going to play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, tickets sold out fast! Demand exceeded supply BIG TIME!
----
And that girl in my high school class who said she didn't want to attend UH because of it's "junk football team"?
I wouldn't be surprised if she gathers with friends to watch UH games while wearing a black UH football jersey with Colt Brennan's #15.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Fugitive Slaves and Illegal Aliens
African-American right wingers like Thomas Sowell and Jesse Lee Peterson (as well as some left-wing black supremacists) complain about illegal Mexican immigrants coming to the US to take jobs away from low-income African-Americans.
What irony! When many African-Americans were moving from the South to the North and West in the late 1800's/early 1900's , many European-Americans in the North & West were complaining about African-American migrants coming to take jobs away from low-income European-Americans!
Also, Thomas Sowell was born in North Carolina. His parents moved him to New York when he was a teenager. (taking jobs away from New Yorkers). And he has been working at California colleges for decades. (taking jobs away from Californians)
The same irony is true about Iris-Americans like Pat Buchanan, Jewish Americans like Mike Savage, Italian Americans like Tom Tancredo. Their ancestors were seen as taking jobs away from Anglo-Americans. Yet, those individuals are whining about Mexican immigrants taking jobs away from European-Americans!
Here is what I read from a great email from Stuart Hayashi
Lately I've been reading Thomas J. DiLorenzo. I have many strong disagreements with him, but he pointed out something interesting.From the early 1800s to 1860, white Northern labor unions were strong advocates of the Fugitive Slave Act because they were horrified by the prospect that some rich white Northern businessman might hire fugitive slaves to work for him for very low wages. Dr. DiLorenzo writes that Northern states decided to pass laws to fine or criminally prosecute Northern businesses that hired fugitive slaves.
Furthermore, it was argued that the fugitive slaves fleeing to the North were becoming a huge burden, and who's going to take care of them?
So . . . what do we have here? We have a bunch of dark-skinned people who are located South of some border on the Americas. Then these people located in the South choose to migrate Northward. This very migration is a form of lawbreaking. And then the law of the Northern region forces these people to return to that Southern place they came from. This is allegedly to stop those illegal migrators from becoming a burden up North -- to stop them from depressing the wages of the lighter-skinned Northern people, and to stop them from stealing jobs from those born in the Northern region.
Sound familiar?
-----
Former Arkansas governor and current Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been getting crap for once proposing that children of illegal aliens living in Arkansas get to attend Arkansas colleges at in-state tuition rates.
These children (about to become college-aged adults) DID NOT CHOOSE TO MIGRATE ILLEGALLY!
When a parent and children move, IT'S THE PARENTS WHO MAKE THE DECISION, NOT THE CHILDREN! DUH!
So why not let those teens/young adults attend college at in-state tuition rates?
The anti-immigration fascists say "we can't reward lawbreakers!"
"Cant reward lawbreakers?" So I guess that means we can't give in-state tuition to those whose parents are killers, rapists, drug dealers, drunk drivers, thieves, and all those who have too many parking tickets.
Anti-immigration fascists want to punish people for what their parents did. Why stop there? What about punishing people for having the wrong ancestors? Why not deny in-state tuition rates to the descendants of European conquerors and slave-owners?
What irony! When many African-Americans were moving from the South to the North and West in the late 1800's/early 1900's , many European-Americans in the North & West were complaining about African-American migrants coming to take jobs away from low-income European-Americans!
Also, Thomas Sowell was born in North Carolina. His parents moved him to New York when he was a teenager. (taking jobs away from New Yorkers). And he has been working at California colleges for decades. (taking jobs away from Californians)
The same irony is true about Iris-Americans like Pat Buchanan, Jewish Americans like Mike Savage, Italian Americans like Tom Tancredo. Their ancestors were seen as taking jobs away from Anglo-Americans. Yet, those individuals are whining about Mexican immigrants taking jobs away from European-Americans!
Here is what I read from a great email from Stuart Hayashi
Lately I've been reading Thomas J. DiLorenzo. I have many strong disagreements with him, but he pointed out something interesting.From the early 1800s to 1860, white Northern labor unions were strong advocates of the Fugitive Slave Act because they were horrified by the prospect that some rich white Northern businessman might hire fugitive slaves to work for him for very low wages. Dr. DiLorenzo writes that Northern states decided to pass laws to fine or criminally prosecute Northern businesses that hired fugitive slaves.
Furthermore, it was argued that the fugitive slaves fleeing to the North were becoming a huge burden, and who's going to take care of them?
So . . . what do we have here? We have a bunch of dark-skinned people who are located South of some border on the Americas. Then these people located in the South choose to migrate Northward. This very migration is a form of lawbreaking. And then the law of the Northern region forces these people to return to that Southern place they came from. This is allegedly to stop those illegal migrators from becoming a burden up North -- to stop them from depressing the wages of the lighter-skinned Northern people, and to stop them from stealing jobs from those born in the Northern region.
Sound familiar?
-----
Former Arkansas governor and current Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been getting crap for once proposing that children of illegal aliens living in Arkansas get to attend Arkansas colleges at in-state tuition rates.
These children (about to become college-aged adults) DID NOT CHOOSE TO MIGRATE ILLEGALLY!
When a parent and children move, IT'S THE PARENTS WHO MAKE THE DECISION, NOT THE CHILDREN! DUH!
So why not let those teens/young adults attend college at in-state tuition rates?
The anti-immigration fascists say "we can't reward lawbreakers!"
"Cant reward lawbreakers?" So I guess that means we can't give in-state tuition to those whose parents are killers, rapists, drug dealers, drunk drivers, thieves, and all those who have too many parking tickets.
Anti-immigration fascists want to punish people for what their parents did. Why stop there? What about punishing people for having the wrong ancestors? Why not deny in-state tuition rates to the descendants of European conquerors and slave-owners?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Dog Chapman & other race issues in Hawaii
Dog Chapman, the bounty hunter of European-American ancestry, had a problem with his son dating an African-American woman.
This is what he said
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/01/news/story01.html
Chapman: Don't care if she's a Mexican, a whore, whatever. It's not 'cause she's black. It's because we use the word "n_____" sometimes here. I'm not going to take a chance ever in life by losing everything I've worked for for 30 years for some f____ n_____ heard us say "n_____" and turned us in to the Enquirer magazine -- our career is over. I'm not taking that chance at all, never in life, never. Never. ... If Lyssa was dating a n_____, we would all say f___ you. And you know that. If Lyssa brought a black guy home ... It's not that they're black. It's none of that. It's that we use the word "n____." We don't mean "you f___ scum n_____ without a soul." We don't mean that s___, but America would think we're meaning that. And we're not taking a chance and losing everything we've got over a racial slur. Because our son goes with a girl like that, I can't do that, Tucker, you can't expect Garry, Bonnie, Cecily, all them young kids ... 'cause I'm in love for seven months, I ... f___ that. ... So I'll help you get another job, but you cannot work here unless you break up with her and she's out of your life. I can't handle that s___. I've got 'em in the parking lot trying to record us. I've got that girl saying she's going to wear a recorder. ...
Dog Chapman needs to be a mature adult already! He should've stop saying the word n----- a long time ago!
And anyone who is against any inter-racial dating is NOT a mature person!
People say "this is just a private conversation". I say "Anything you say CAN and WILL be used against you".
This incident is a reminder to all of us to be mature in everything we say AT ALL TIMES! If you still use racist words in private conversations, you better stop NOW because others will eventually find out! NOTHING is secret anymore!
---
This is what Charles Memminger said about Chapman's racist rants.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/04/features/memminger.html
"We use the word n---- here," Chapman says on the tape. The "we" part is rather alarming. Like it's just part of a day in the life with the Chapmans: "We do the laundry. We eat lunch. We use the word n----. We vacuum." He tells his son on the tape he doesn't want to see the fact that "we" use that word end up in the Enquirer and then see his career go down the toilet. The I-word -- irony -- doesn't quite capture the fact that that is exactly what is happening.
Cathy Wi said the following idiotic statements
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/11/editorial/letters.html (scroll to 3rd letter from the top)
I am so sick and tired of how thin-skinned this world has become! So "Dog" Chapman made those remarks. So what? He was in the privacy of his own home. How is this any different from using slurs for any other ethnic group? It seems that whenever the N-word is spoken, we are suppose to cringe and say, "Shame on you racist," yet it's OK to call everyone else names. No, I don't buy that. Why should Dog apologize? Apologize to whom? He's being treated too harshly. There are far worse things one could do.
Cathy Wi
Honolulu
Anytime I hear crap like that, I know that person is a hardcore racist! Cathy Wi is using coded words to express "how dare black people ask for respect".
I'm assuming from her last name that Wi is an Asian person. It's easy for Cathy Wi complain about others being "thin-skinned" because she's in a mostly Asian-American environment. She takes her majority status for granted!
If Cathy Wi is that insensitive towards African-Americans, then I wonder how she feels about Polynesians, Micronesians, Arabs, Mexicans, Russians, etc?
If Cathy Wi was growing up in communities in which Asians were less than 1% of the population, she would be mocked endlessly. People would tell her to "go back to China". They would go up to her face and yell at her in a fake Asian accent. They would call her "slant eyes", "chow fun" and other racist insults! This would happen EVERYDAY! I wonder how thick-skinned will she be then!
2) Even with all the controversies of Dog Chapman's statements, the brutal beating of a European-American couple in Waikele, and the murder of a European-American student in Nanakuli earlier this year, I still thought the most under-reported racial story in Hawaii was the persecution of immigrants.
When a European-American or African-American faces discrimination, they know how to contact the media or sympathetic organizations. However, when an immigrant from Micronesia or Asia faces discrimination, they are reluctant to speak to anyone due to a language barrier. So it gets under-reported!
However, recent articles in the Star Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser reported on this issue!
The following article report on the return of gang warfare in Hawaii.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/28/news/story01.html
State law enforcement, education and human service officials say they offer enough services to stop children from entering gangs, disband current groups and avoid chaos. Although public school fights are up, officials argue they are not as violent or as frequent as in the late 1980s and early '90s.
Deborah Spencer-Chun, who heads Adult Friends for Youth, said employees build relationships with gang leaders to learn about brewing fights. But, she said, they are increasingly unable to answer campus disturbances on time.
"Sometimes it takes a real crisis before anybody responds to it," she said. "People don't want to believe there are gangs in those neighborhoods just like people don't want to say there are gangs in Hawaii. This is paradise, this is where most of our economy comes from tourism."
The following day, the Star Bulletin had another article on the gang issue. This articles mentions more about the alienation some immigrant teens feel in Hawaii schools.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/29/news/story01.html
Neglected by parents who work multiple jobs, students from poor families often join gangs because they feel inferior and see no future in education, said Sid Rosen, who retired this year as head of Adult Friends for Youth, a nonprofit that works with gangs in Hawaii. Gangs are formed along ethnic lines but also by students who share housing projects or street blocks, he said.
"They are living essentially in what is an urban ghetto. If you live in Kalihi, you see yourself as being different than someone who lives in Hawaii Kai," Rosen explained. "The rich haoles live in Hawaii Kai and Kahala, and us poor Filipinos live in Kalihi and us poor Samoans live in Kuhio Park Terrace. ... These boundaries get established."
In the past four years, the Susannah Wesley center has seen about 200 student dropouts, most of them immigrants from outlying islands of Micronesia, the Philippines, Samoa or Tonga, said Stanley Inkyo, the center's youth services administrator.
Families bring their children to Hawaii for a better education, but many parents get stuck with low-paying jobs or end up living in the street and unable to help their kids adjust to the new school setting, Inkyo said.
Aggravating the issue is an influx of Micronesian students in Hawaii's public schools which has nearly doubled in the past five years to 2,558, according to the state Department of Education. The department held a conference for 1,000 educators during the summer to help teachers understand and work better with those students.
"One of the things you'll notice here, and I don't think anybody wants to say it publicly, there's a lot of the racial differences, or the ethnic differences that tend to magnify" the gang issue, Inkyo said, saying Filipino students often clash with those from Micronesia. "There's that kind of uneasiness."
---
I once mentioned that the most under-reported issue in Hawaii was the conflict between Asian immigrants (many from China, Vietnam and Phillipines) and Polynesians. Since then, I've noticed that Micronesians were having conflicts with Polynesians and Asians.
The Honolulu Advertiser had an article about Micronesians facing discrimination when looking for a place to live
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Nov/12/ln/hawaii711120352.html
They say blatant as well as subtle housing discrimination against new Micronesian immigrants and longtime residents alike continues to go largely unchecked. They also say it goes largely unreported because of fears about coming forward, language barriers and a lack of services to address the need."
It seems to be getting worse," added Maria Narruhn, a founding member of Micronesians United, which has been trying to address housing discrimination, but whose resources are limited.
Narruhn said she knows 10 families who have been turned away from rentals on the market in the last year, and were likely discriminated against. Some of the cases involved the landlord actually saying Micronesians weren't welcome.
She believes two of her own family members were also victims of housing discrimination, including her son-in-law, who inquired about a one-bedroom for $995 and was told, when he looked at the unit, that the rent had jumped to $1,020.
(skipped paragraphs)
The first lawsuit Kokua Legal Services filed as part of the project involved a landlord, who was advertising a two-bedroom unit in 'Aiea. According to court documents, a Micronesian tester at Kokua Legal Services called the 'Aiea landlord to inquire about the apartment and was told it was not available. The landlord also told the caller that he had no other units available, the documents allege.
Fifteen minutes later, a Caucasian tester at Kokua Legal Service called the landlord to inquire about the apartment and was told it was available. The landlord also allegedly told the tester he had other rentals that were empty.
(skipped paragraphs)
Kokua Legal Services filed its second lawsuit as part of the project in September, alleging that two landlords who were renting a North King Street unit for $2,000 a month discriminated against a Micronesian tester, then offered the unit to a Caucasian caller.
-------
BUSTED! Those landlords need to be publicly humiliated! Those landlords need to grow up, start being more mature, learn to accept diversity, modernity & globalization!
This is what he said
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/01/news/story01.html
Chapman: Don't care if she's a Mexican, a whore, whatever. It's not 'cause she's black. It's because we use the word "n_____" sometimes here. I'm not going to take a chance ever in life by losing everything I've worked for for 30 years for some f____ n_____ heard us say "n_____" and turned us in to the Enquirer magazine -- our career is over. I'm not taking that chance at all, never in life, never. Never. ... If Lyssa was dating a n_____, we would all say f___ you. And you know that. If Lyssa brought a black guy home ... It's not that they're black. It's none of that. It's that we use the word "n____." We don't mean "you f___ scum n_____ without a soul." We don't mean that s___, but America would think we're meaning that. And we're not taking a chance and losing everything we've got over a racial slur. Because our son goes with a girl like that, I can't do that, Tucker, you can't expect Garry, Bonnie, Cecily, all them young kids ... 'cause I'm in love for seven months, I ... f___ that. ... So I'll help you get another job, but you cannot work here unless you break up with her and she's out of your life. I can't handle that s___. I've got 'em in the parking lot trying to record us. I've got that girl saying she's going to wear a recorder. ...
Dog Chapman needs to be a mature adult already! He should've stop saying the word n----- a long time ago!
And anyone who is against any inter-racial dating is NOT a mature person!
People say "this is just a private conversation". I say "Anything you say CAN and WILL be used against you".
This incident is a reminder to all of us to be mature in everything we say AT ALL TIMES! If you still use racist words in private conversations, you better stop NOW because others will eventually find out! NOTHING is secret anymore!
---
This is what Charles Memminger said about Chapman's racist rants.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/04/features/memminger.html
"We use the word n---- here," Chapman says on the tape. The "we" part is rather alarming. Like it's just part of a day in the life with the Chapmans: "We do the laundry. We eat lunch. We use the word n----. We vacuum." He tells his son on the tape he doesn't want to see the fact that "we" use that word end up in the Enquirer and then see his career go down the toilet. The I-word -- irony -- doesn't quite capture the fact that that is exactly what is happening.
Cathy Wi said the following idiotic statements
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/11/editorial/letters.html (scroll to 3rd letter from the top)
I am so sick and tired of how thin-skinned this world has become! So "Dog" Chapman made those remarks. So what? He was in the privacy of his own home. How is this any different from using slurs for any other ethnic group? It seems that whenever the N-word is spoken, we are suppose to cringe and say, "Shame on you racist," yet it's OK to call everyone else names. No, I don't buy that. Why should Dog apologize? Apologize to whom? He's being treated too harshly. There are far worse things one could do.
Cathy Wi
Honolulu
Anytime I hear crap like that, I know that person is a hardcore racist! Cathy Wi is using coded words to express "how dare black people ask for respect".
I'm assuming from her last name that Wi is an Asian person. It's easy for Cathy Wi complain about others being "thin-skinned" because she's in a mostly Asian-American environment. She takes her majority status for granted!
If Cathy Wi is that insensitive towards African-Americans, then I wonder how she feels about Polynesians, Micronesians, Arabs, Mexicans, Russians, etc?
If Cathy Wi was growing up in communities in which Asians were less than 1% of the population, she would be mocked endlessly. People would tell her to "go back to China". They would go up to her face and yell at her in a fake Asian accent. They would call her "slant eyes", "chow fun" and other racist insults! This would happen EVERYDAY! I wonder how thick-skinned will she be then!
2) Even with all the controversies of Dog Chapman's statements, the brutal beating of a European-American couple in Waikele, and the murder of a European-American student in Nanakuli earlier this year, I still thought the most under-reported racial story in Hawaii was the persecution of immigrants.
When a European-American or African-American faces discrimination, they know how to contact the media or sympathetic organizations. However, when an immigrant from Micronesia or Asia faces discrimination, they are reluctant to speak to anyone due to a language barrier. So it gets under-reported!
However, recent articles in the Star Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser reported on this issue!
The following article report on the return of gang warfare in Hawaii.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/28/news/story01.html
State law enforcement, education and human service officials say they offer enough services to stop children from entering gangs, disband current groups and avoid chaos. Although public school fights are up, officials argue they are not as violent or as frequent as in the late 1980s and early '90s.
Deborah Spencer-Chun, who heads Adult Friends for Youth, said employees build relationships with gang leaders to learn about brewing fights. But, she said, they are increasingly unable to answer campus disturbances on time.
"Sometimes it takes a real crisis before anybody responds to it," she said. "People don't want to believe there are gangs in those neighborhoods just like people don't want to say there are gangs in Hawaii. This is paradise, this is where most of our economy comes from tourism."
The following day, the Star Bulletin had another article on the gang issue. This articles mentions more about the alienation some immigrant teens feel in Hawaii schools.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/29/news/story01.html
Neglected by parents who work multiple jobs, students from poor families often join gangs because they feel inferior and see no future in education, said Sid Rosen, who retired this year as head of Adult Friends for Youth, a nonprofit that works with gangs in Hawaii. Gangs are formed along ethnic lines but also by students who share housing projects or street blocks, he said.
"They are living essentially in what is an urban ghetto. If you live in Kalihi, you see yourself as being different than someone who lives in Hawaii Kai," Rosen explained. "The rich haoles live in Hawaii Kai and Kahala, and us poor Filipinos live in Kalihi and us poor Samoans live in Kuhio Park Terrace. ... These boundaries get established."
In the past four years, the Susannah Wesley center has seen about 200 student dropouts, most of them immigrants from outlying islands of Micronesia, the Philippines, Samoa or Tonga, said Stanley Inkyo, the center's youth services administrator.
Families bring their children to Hawaii for a better education, but many parents get stuck with low-paying jobs or end up living in the street and unable to help their kids adjust to the new school setting, Inkyo said.
Aggravating the issue is an influx of Micronesian students in Hawaii's public schools which has nearly doubled in the past five years to 2,558, according to the state Department of Education. The department held a conference for 1,000 educators during the summer to help teachers understand and work better with those students.
"One of the things you'll notice here, and I don't think anybody wants to say it publicly, there's a lot of the racial differences, or the ethnic differences that tend to magnify" the gang issue, Inkyo said, saying Filipino students often clash with those from Micronesia. "There's that kind of uneasiness."
---
I once mentioned that the most under-reported issue in Hawaii was the conflict between Asian immigrants (many from China, Vietnam and Phillipines) and Polynesians. Since then, I've noticed that Micronesians were having conflicts with Polynesians and Asians.
The Honolulu Advertiser had an article about Micronesians facing discrimination when looking for a place to live
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Nov/12/ln/hawaii711120352.html
They say blatant as well as subtle housing discrimination against new Micronesian immigrants and longtime residents alike continues to go largely unchecked. They also say it goes largely unreported because of fears about coming forward, language barriers and a lack of services to address the need."
It seems to be getting worse," added Maria Narruhn, a founding member of Micronesians United, which has been trying to address housing discrimination, but whose resources are limited.
Narruhn said she knows 10 families who have been turned away from rentals on the market in the last year, and were likely discriminated against. Some of the cases involved the landlord actually saying Micronesians weren't welcome.
She believes two of her own family members were also victims of housing discrimination, including her son-in-law, who inquired about a one-bedroom for $995 and was told, when he looked at the unit, that the rent had jumped to $1,020.
(skipped paragraphs)
The first lawsuit Kokua Legal Services filed as part of the project involved a landlord, who was advertising a two-bedroom unit in 'Aiea. According to court documents, a Micronesian tester at Kokua Legal Services called the 'Aiea landlord to inquire about the apartment and was told it was not available. The landlord also told the caller that he had no other units available, the documents allege.
Fifteen minutes later, a Caucasian tester at Kokua Legal Service called the landlord to inquire about the apartment and was told it was available. The landlord also allegedly told the tester he had other rentals that were empty.
(skipped paragraphs)
Kokua Legal Services filed its second lawsuit as part of the project in September, alleging that two landlords who were renting a North King Street unit for $2,000 a month discriminated against a Micronesian tester, then offered the unit to a Caucasian caller.
-------
BUSTED! Those landlords need to be publicly humiliated! Those landlords need to grow up, start being more mature, learn to accept diversity, modernity & globalization!
I graduated from a "dropout factory"?
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University researched the graduation rates of various high schools in the U.S.
Those whose graduation rates were less than 60% were labeled "dropout factories".
My high school, McKinley High School was one of them.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/30/news/story01.html
--------
Going to a school labeled a "dropout factory" DOES NOT mean you're "dumb". It just means too many of your classmates aren't graduating.
1) My alma mater McKinley has a lot of high achievers. There are students who excel in math meets, science fairs, robotics, and other academic areas. Many go on to colleges with great reputations.
However, at the same time, there are other students at the school who are gang-affiliated, as well as wanabee thugs, and other non-achievers. What I mean by non-achievers is those students who don't even try to reach their potential in academics.
I remembered when I attended that school, there were students who were freshmen the same year I was, but by the start of my senior year, a lot of those students were gone! The overwhelming # of those students were non-achievers, so it was obvious that they dropped out of school.
Some of them were already falling behind in middle school. For some reason, they were academically promoted to high school, which tends to grade a lot harder than middle school. So some of them gave up!
2) some have questioned the formula used by the Johns Hopkins researchers to determine what school is a "dropout factory"
Here is a commentary from a teacher at Kaimuki High School (also labeled a "dropout factory")
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/31/editorial/letters.html (scroll down to the 2nd letter from top)
Kaimuki High has similar demographics to McKinley (Lot of immigrants, mostly Asians, also has many Polynesians and Micronesians), though Kaimuki High has more European-Americans than McKinley. McKinley has more Filipinos than Kaimuki High Other than that, both schools are almost alike.
--
And here are commentaries from the principals of Waipahu & Farrington High Schools (also labeled "dropout factories"). Both schools are majority Filipino, with some Samoans and Micronesians. Many of them are immigrants, and many are from low-income households.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/04/editorial/commentary.html
(skipped paragraphs)
So, based on what the school officials from Kaimuki, Waipahu and Farrington said, Johns Hopkins researchers didn't take into account 1) the large # of students who move in & out of the school districts, 2) the large amount of students who take longer than 4 years to earn their diplomas, 3) the large amount of students who are recent immigrants who trying to learn high school material in a new language.
3) Even with the flaws of the Johns Hopkins research, the good thing about it is that it brings awareness of the problem of students who aren't living up to their academic potential, and awareness of which schools are facing more problems than others.
I work in the educational field to help students live up to their potential. I don't take the Johns Hopkins report personally, it shall motivate and remind me of what I need to do to help our students achieve.
Those whose graduation rates were less than 60% were labeled "dropout factories".
My high school, McKinley High School was one of them.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/30/news/story01.html
A national report is labeling seven Oahu public high schools as "dropout factories," meaning that no more than 60 percent of freshmen make it to their senior year.
Hawaii ranked 11th among the states reporting the most dropout factories in an analysis of Education Department data conducted by Johns Hopkins University for the Associated Press.
The state Education Department disputed the findings, noting that Hawaii ninth-graders tend to fall behind and inflate freshman enrollment. So comparing the number of freshman and seniors at any given year to determine dropout and graduation rates is misleading, said Education Department spokesman Greg Knudsen.
The percentage of isle freshmen who move on to their senior year at the schools highlighted in the report ranged from 45 percent at Nanakuli High and Intermediate to 60 percent at Kailua High. The other schools facing dropout problems include Farrington, Kaimuki, McKinley, Waianae and Waipahu, according to the study released yesterday. Those schools all have a large number of minority and low-income students.
--------
Going to a school labeled a "dropout factory" DOES NOT mean you're "dumb". It just means too many of your classmates aren't graduating.
1) My alma mater McKinley has a lot of high achievers. There are students who excel in math meets, science fairs, robotics, and other academic areas. Many go on to colleges with great reputations.
However, at the same time, there are other students at the school who are gang-affiliated, as well as wanabee thugs, and other non-achievers. What I mean by non-achievers is those students who don't even try to reach their potential in academics.
I remembered when I attended that school, there were students who were freshmen the same year I was, but by the start of my senior year, a lot of those students were gone! The overwhelming # of those students were non-achievers, so it was obvious that they dropped out of school.
Some of them were already falling behind in middle school. For some reason, they were academically promoted to high school, which tends to grade a lot harder than middle school. So some of them gave up!
2) some have questioned the formula used by the Johns Hopkins researchers to determine what school is a "dropout factory"
Here is a commentary from a teacher at Kaimuki High School (also labeled a "dropout factory")
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/31/editorial/letters.html (scroll down to the 2nd letter from top)
I am appalled that you published findings from a John Hopkins University report labeling seven Hawaii high schools as "dropout factories" (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 30). If you did your homework, you would have found out that the study assumes that any student who does not graduate from the same high school he or she enters into as a freshman is a dropout. This is so far from the truth. I am a teacher at Kaimuki High School, and we have an extremely transient population. Many students enter as freshmen but later move to the mainland or back to their home country and graduate there. They should not be labeled as dropouts.
Kaimuki High has similar demographics to McKinley (Lot of immigrants, mostly Asians, also has many Polynesians and Micronesians), though Kaimuki High has more European-Americans than McKinley. McKinley has more Filipinos than Kaimuki High Other than that, both schools are almost alike.
--
And here are commentaries from the principals of Waipahu & Farrington High Schools (also labeled "dropout factories"). Both schools are majority Filipino, with some Samoans and Micronesians. Many of them are immigrants, and many are from low-income households.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/04/editorial/commentary.html
Farrington and Waipahu each enrolls more than 2,500 young people. Our students come from diverse cultural and language backgrounds. Approximately 20 percent of our students are learning to speak English while simultaneously endeavoring to meet challenging graduation requirements. Both of our schools receive federal funds because 48 percent to 60 percent of our families have incomes low enough to qualify for government assistance. The Johns Hopkins researchers should be familiar with the multitude of studies that link family income to student achievement. Many of our students face overwhelming personal challenges, yet they persist in working toward a future that will be better than their present lives.
Because so many students enter our campuses with academic deficits, we have developed a number of different paths that support the goal of a high school diploma. We have alternative programs within our schools and off-campus partnerships with others in the community. Some students take more than four years to earn their diplomas, but we do not consider them dropouts. Other students who must spend most of their time with us learning English are not able to complete the traditional high school diploma requirements. However, we work with the Community Schools for Adults that are on our campuses to transition these students to the adult diploma programs. They are not dropouts -- they are overcoming great odds to persist in reaching their goal.
(skipped paragraphs)
As the standards for a diploma continue to move more toward requiring all students to be prepared for entry to a four-year college, we can expect to see an increasing need for alternatives for many of our students. Those who take alternative paths are not dropouts and the schools that support them are not "dropout factories." When we consider those who complete their requirements in more than four years, or who transition to the Community Schools and earn a diploma, our completion rates are higher.
So, based on what the school officials from Kaimuki, Waipahu and Farrington said, Johns Hopkins researchers didn't take into account 1) the large # of students who move in & out of the school districts, 2) the large amount of students who take longer than 4 years to earn their diplomas, 3) the large amount of students who are recent immigrants who trying to learn high school material in a new language.
3) Even with the flaws of the Johns Hopkins research, the good thing about it is that it brings awareness of the problem of students who aren't living up to their academic potential, and awareness of which schools are facing more problems than others.
I work in the educational field to help students live up to their potential. I don't take the Johns Hopkins report personally, it shall motivate and remind me of what I need to do to help our students achieve.
Friday, October 26, 2007
The Lameness of Anti-Immigration Fascists
At a bookstore, I was looking at Laura Ingraham's book, and it said the usual non-sense of "illegal aliens committing crimes, illegal aliens driving drunk, and if you don't hate illegal aliens, its because you lived in a luxury community with private security guards"
Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Debbie Schlussel, Neal Boortz, Thomas Sowell all say the same B.S. that David Duke says! The only difference between David Duke and those other pundits is their opinion on Israel. Duke thinks "Israel can do nothing right", the others think "Israel can do nothing wrong!"
But my topic of today isn't Israel, it's immigration.
Another right-wing anti-immigration fascist wrote a silly editorial. His name is Mark W. Hendrickson.You can read his garbage here http://tinyurl.com/39mays
---
Here is Stuart Hayashi's response to Hendrickson's nonsense.
-------
Conservative Mark W. Hendrickson writes, "Illegal immigration is one of our country's most divisive, intractable issues."
http://tinyurl. com/39mays
I wish that were true. It isn't. It is one of the most uncontroversial issues, because the vast majority of people scoff at the right to migrate without a visa.Who supports open immigration? Prof. Schoolland, Pablo Wegesend,Sean Brunett, Jeff Olstad, and me. And Harry Binswanger of the AynRand Institute, and Robert W. Tracinski. That's the end of it.
Who opposes your right to migrate without a visa? Ron Paul, the Libertarian Party, and almost everybody else. Most of the demonstrators in favor of Bush's quasi-amnesty plan were concerned about their own families; they weren't overtly ideological. The left-wingers there who were ideological blathered about issues other than open immigration, such as "corporate imperialism. " And the Mexican government certainly doesn't favor open immigration. If a South American tries to sneak into Mexico, the Mexican government will shoot him.
Hendrickson writes sarcastically, "But we should at least stop rewarding illegals with the ultimate prize: automatic U.S. citizenship for their children born here. This is absurd: 'Congratulations, Ms.Gonzalez! You have broken our laws, entered our country illegally, evaded the immigration service, and now your son has all the rights ofU.S. citizenship. ' It is time to amend the Constitution so that the precious gift of citizenship is awarded only to babies born here of parents who are in the country legally."
Here is what's wrong with Hendrickson' s argument. By his logic, the British government should not have let Thomas Jefferson get away with committing treason. Jefferson and the U.S. Founding Fathers broke the law of their own country; they were all traitors. They were guilty of legal sedition. And the British government is to give them amnesty for that? For shame! What sort of example will that set?
Furthermore, what about all of the Northerners who violated the federal Fugitive Slave Law by participating in the underground railroad? What about all of the people who participated in forms of civil disobedience and, in defiance of the law, disobeyed state segregation laws? Charlton Heston himself committed civil disobedience against segregation laws. So shouldn't all of these people have been prosecuted even after the law was changed? The law is the law, and we have to follow the law!
And what about the re-legalization of alcohol? Alcohol was decriminalized precisely *because* of the abundance of Americans flouting that regulation. Do you want to reward those lawbreakers by changing the law for them? Do you want to reward their lawbreaking,which amounted to a huge TANTRUM? And wasn't it wrong that, following Prohibition' s repeal, so many drinkers and bootleggers received*de-facto* clemency, in the sense that officers didn't prosecute them anymore?
Conservatives keep assuming that the law is the word of God. They evade that the law is not an end in itself; it is a means to the higher end that is the protection of Lockean individual rights. When the law itself becomes destructive of Lockean rights, the law morally invalidates itself.
Finally, Hendrickson writes: "Fourth, let's make the US A monolingual by law. Certainly everyone may speak and write whatever language they prefer, but when it comes to things like official business, this should be an English-only country."
Here's what's wrong with what he said. "Monolingual" is a grammatically incorrect neologism. If you know two languages, you're "bilingual." If you know multiple languages, you're "multilingual. "
So if you know one language, then the correct term should be "unilingual, " not"monolingual. " "Monolingual" would be the correct word if the term for someone who knew two languages or multiple languages was,respectively, "duolingual" and "polylingual. "
People like Hendrickson, who use such a grammatically incorrect word as "monolingual, " do not seem to understand Latin-based English. Hendrickson does not know proper English, so, by his own standards, heis worthy of deportation.
-------
What's with all this hysteria about children born to illegal aliens born in the US having US citizenship.
The David Dukes, Thomas Sowells and Ann Coulters think those children should be punished for having the "wrong parents".
So what, should we deprive all descendants of British conquerors of having US citizenship? That might mean the David Dukes, Ann Coulters, Laura Ingrahams, etc might all get deported!
Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Debbie Schlussel, Neal Boortz, Thomas Sowell all say the same B.S. that David Duke says! The only difference between David Duke and those other pundits is their opinion on Israel. Duke thinks "Israel can do nothing right", the others think "Israel can do nothing wrong!"
But my topic of today isn't Israel, it's immigration.
Another right-wing anti-immigration fascist wrote a silly editorial. His name is Mark W. Hendrickson.You can read his garbage here http://tinyurl.com/39mays
---
Here is Stuart Hayashi's response to Hendrickson's nonsense.
-------
Conservative Mark W. Hendrickson writes, "Illegal immigration is one of our country's most divisive, intractable issues."
http://tinyurl. com/39mays
I wish that were true. It isn't. It is one of the most uncontroversial issues, because the vast majority of people scoff at the right to migrate without a visa.Who supports open immigration? Prof. Schoolland, Pablo Wegesend,Sean Brunett, Jeff Olstad, and me. And Harry Binswanger of the AynRand Institute, and Robert W. Tracinski. That's the end of it.
Who opposes your right to migrate without a visa? Ron Paul, the Libertarian Party, and almost everybody else. Most of the demonstrators in favor of Bush's quasi-amnesty plan were concerned about their own families; they weren't overtly ideological. The left-wingers there who were ideological blathered about issues other than open immigration, such as "corporate imperialism. " And the Mexican government certainly doesn't favor open immigration. If a South American tries to sneak into Mexico, the Mexican government will shoot him.
Hendrickson writes sarcastically, "But we should at least stop rewarding illegals with the ultimate prize: automatic U.S. citizenship for their children born here. This is absurd: 'Congratulations, Ms.Gonzalez! You have broken our laws, entered our country illegally, evaded the immigration service, and now your son has all the rights ofU.S. citizenship. ' It is time to amend the Constitution so that the precious gift of citizenship is awarded only to babies born here of parents who are in the country legally."
Here is what's wrong with Hendrickson' s argument. By his logic, the British government should not have let Thomas Jefferson get away with committing treason. Jefferson and the U.S. Founding Fathers broke the law of their own country; they were all traitors. They were guilty of legal sedition. And the British government is to give them amnesty for that? For shame! What sort of example will that set?
Furthermore, what about all of the Northerners who violated the federal Fugitive Slave Law by participating in the underground railroad? What about all of the people who participated in forms of civil disobedience and, in defiance of the law, disobeyed state segregation laws? Charlton Heston himself committed civil disobedience against segregation laws. So shouldn't all of these people have been prosecuted even after the law was changed? The law is the law, and we have to follow the law!
And what about the re-legalization of alcohol? Alcohol was decriminalized precisely *because* of the abundance of Americans flouting that regulation. Do you want to reward those lawbreakers by changing the law for them? Do you want to reward their lawbreaking,which amounted to a huge TANTRUM? And wasn't it wrong that, following Prohibition' s repeal, so many drinkers and bootleggers received*de-facto* clemency, in the sense that officers didn't prosecute them anymore?
Conservatives keep assuming that the law is the word of God. They evade that the law is not an end in itself; it is a means to the higher end that is the protection of Lockean individual rights. When the law itself becomes destructive of Lockean rights, the law morally invalidates itself.
Finally, Hendrickson writes: "Fourth, let's make the US A monolingual by law. Certainly everyone may speak and write whatever language they prefer, but when it comes to things like official business, this should be an English-only country."
Here's what's wrong with what he said. "Monolingual" is a grammatically incorrect neologism. If you know two languages, you're "bilingual." If you know multiple languages, you're "multilingual. "
So if you know one language, then the correct term should be "unilingual, " not"monolingual. " "Monolingual" would be the correct word if the term for someone who knew two languages or multiple languages was,respectively, "duolingual" and "polylingual. "
People like Hendrickson, who use such a grammatically incorrect word as "monolingual, " do not seem to understand Latin-based English. Hendrickson does not know proper English, so, by his own standards, heis worthy of deportation.
-------
What's with all this hysteria about children born to illegal aliens born in the US having US citizenship.
The David Dukes, Thomas Sowells and Ann Coulters think those children should be punished for having the "wrong parents".
So what, should we deprive all descendants of British conquerors of having US citizenship? That might mean the David Dukes, Ann Coulters, Laura Ingrahams, etc might all get deported!
Libertarianism Today
I remember back when I was a freshmen in college (1999-2000), I was introduced to Libertarianism. (actually, I heard of it before, but I didn't pay attention to it).
I was politically homeless because the I didn't side with the Republican Party (with it's ties to the Religious Right) or the Democratic Party (which made Hawaii an over-taxed state with regulations that made it hard on entrepreneurs).
I also felt both parties pursue a misguided drug policy which over-reacted to marijuana use (which has some side effects but has helped others deal with illness).
As for foreign policy, while I admire the heroics of the US troops who defeated Hitler & Tojo, I was also suspicious of US support of fascist dictators during the Cold War just because they claimed to be anti-communists.
So when I learned more about the Libertarian Party, more I felt allied with them.
After 9/11, I felt the US troops should be fighting Al Quaida in Afghanistan. However, too many Libertarians thought America should back down because "it was America's fault". While the US had some foreign policy blunders before, Al Quaida were NOT liberators, they were fascist terrorists who want to kill anyone who didn't submit to their Ultra-Conservative strain of Islam.
At the time, I wrote editorials arguing against the Radical Left and their Blame-America-First ideology. For that, I was called a "right-wing Republican" by radical left-wing lunatic Tobin Jones. Nevermind that I NEVER agreed with the right-wing Republicans on issues like abortion, sex ed, prostitution or other related issues.
Jones said my political views matches what was popular in Mississippi! Actually, my poltical views is a better match with Arizona or Nevada, and I want Hawaii be a tropical version of those 2 states.
so why am I bringing all this up.
There's an editorial by Stephen Green that I could relate to
http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/10/i_was_a_cardcarrying_libertari.php
Here's a few excerpts
Being a Libertarian was hard work, but I set right at it. I even went so far as to read the entire party platform. Pro-choice? Right on! Free trade? Hell, yes! Privatize all the schools? Start with mine! Abolish that Social Security Ponzi scheme? I was never going to see a dime, anyway! Bring all our troops home from Europe and Japan and South Korea and everywhere else and close half our embassies and cut defense spending at least in half and forget about enforcing freedom of the seas? Whoa, Nelly! “But,” I rationalized, “they don’t really mean all that stuff. A Libertarian president wouldn’t be that naive.”
But come election day, I held my nose, covered my eyes and pulled the lever for George HW Bush — no easy feat with only two hands. There was still a Cold War to be won. I could be a real Libertarian — we all would be! — once the Soviets caved in.
Almost exactly a year later, that’s exactly what happened. On November 9, 1989, the people of East Berlin took hammers and chisels and even their bare hands to that Wall. Soon, the governments of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, and even Romania had fallen — mostly peacefully. The peoples of Eastern Europe had liberated themselves from Communist oppression, and at long last I was free to throw off the last shackles of my Republican heritage.
I changed my party affiliation to Libertarian, smiling all the way back from the voter registrar’s office.
---- (paragraphs skipped)
Then we all woke up one morning to learn that airliners had crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and into the wooded hills of Pennsylvania. “Well, here’s a war even a good Libertarian like me can support.” We’d been attacked, directly, and we knew who the culprits were and where their protectors and sponsors were. We would go after them with such righteous fury that no one would dare strike New York City ever again.
Boy, was I wrong.
The angry folks at Liberty were mad at most everybody but Islamic terrorists. One even went so far as to denounce the Afghan War as “racist.” It was all imperialism this, and blowback that, and without a care in the world for protecting American lives, commerce, or, well, liberty.
---- (skipped paragraphs)
I stopped voting Libertarian for local candidates, leaving lots of blanks on my ballot. Next year, I’m not sure which party I’ll support for President, much less which candidate. From here, it looks as if the Republicans have become wrong and corrupt, the Democrats are stupid and corrupt, and the Libertarians have gone plain crazy.
It was easy tearing up my LP membership card. It’s quite a bit harder to find something to replace it. But I know this much: There’s no going back. Maybe there’s just too little room for principle in such a violent world.
---
Actually, there's room for principle in a violent world --- defeating the Islamic Fascists who want to kill everyone who doesn't want to submit to their ultra-conservative version of Islam!
I was politically homeless because the I didn't side with the Republican Party (with it's ties to the Religious Right) or the Democratic Party (which made Hawaii an over-taxed state with regulations that made it hard on entrepreneurs).
I also felt both parties pursue a misguided drug policy which over-reacted to marijuana use (which has some side effects but has helped others deal with illness).
As for foreign policy, while I admire the heroics of the US troops who defeated Hitler & Tojo, I was also suspicious of US support of fascist dictators during the Cold War just because they claimed to be anti-communists.
So when I learned more about the Libertarian Party, more I felt allied with them.
After 9/11, I felt the US troops should be fighting Al Quaida in Afghanistan. However, too many Libertarians thought America should back down because "it was America's fault". While the US had some foreign policy blunders before, Al Quaida were NOT liberators, they were fascist terrorists who want to kill anyone who didn't submit to their Ultra-Conservative strain of Islam.
At the time, I wrote editorials arguing against the Radical Left and their Blame-America-First ideology. For that, I was called a "right-wing Republican" by radical left-wing lunatic Tobin Jones. Nevermind that I NEVER agreed with the right-wing Republicans on issues like abortion, sex ed, prostitution or other related issues.
Jones said my political views matches what was popular in Mississippi! Actually, my poltical views is a better match with Arizona or Nevada, and I want Hawaii be a tropical version of those 2 states.
so why am I bringing all this up.
There's an editorial by Stephen Green that I could relate to
http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/10/i_was_a_cardcarrying_libertari.php
Here's a few excerpts
Being a Libertarian was hard work, but I set right at it. I even went so far as to read the entire party platform. Pro-choice? Right on! Free trade? Hell, yes! Privatize all the schools? Start with mine! Abolish that Social Security Ponzi scheme? I was never going to see a dime, anyway! Bring all our troops home from Europe and Japan and South Korea and everywhere else and close half our embassies and cut defense spending at least in half and forget about enforcing freedom of the seas? Whoa, Nelly! “But,” I rationalized, “they don’t really mean all that stuff. A Libertarian president wouldn’t be that naive.”
But come election day, I held my nose, covered my eyes and pulled the lever for George HW Bush — no easy feat with only two hands. There was still a Cold War to be won. I could be a real Libertarian — we all would be! — once the Soviets caved in.
Almost exactly a year later, that’s exactly what happened. On November 9, 1989, the people of East Berlin took hammers and chisels and even their bare hands to that Wall. Soon, the governments of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, and even Romania had fallen — mostly peacefully. The peoples of Eastern Europe had liberated themselves from Communist oppression, and at long last I was free to throw off the last shackles of my Republican heritage.
I changed my party affiliation to Libertarian, smiling all the way back from the voter registrar’s office.
---- (paragraphs skipped)
Then we all woke up one morning to learn that airliners had crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and into the wooded hills of Pennsylvania. “Well, here’s a war even a good Libertarian like me can support.” We’d been attacked, directly, and we knew who the culprits were and where their protectors and sponsors were. We would go after them with such righteous fury that no one would dare strike New York City ever again.
Boy, was I wrong.
The angry folks at Liberty were mad at most everybody but Islamic terrorists. One even went so far as to denounce the Afghan War as “racist.” It was all imperialism this, and blowback that, and without a care in the world for protecting American lives, commerce, or, well, liberty.
---- (skipped paragraphs)
I stopped voting Libertarian for local candidates, leaving lots of blanks on my ballot. Next year, I’m not sure which party I’ll support for President, much less which candidate. From here, it looks as if the Republicans have become wrong and corrupt, the Democrats are stupid and corrupt, and the Libertarians have gone plain crazy.
It was easy tearing up my LP membership card. It’s quite a bit harder to find something to replace it. But I know this much: There’s no going back. Maybe there’s just too little room for principle in such a violent world.
---
Actually, there's room for principle in a violent world --- defeating the Islamic Fascists who want to kill everyone who doesn't want to submit to their ultra-conservative version of Islam!
Monday, October 15, 2007
My 27th birthday
Today, I became 27 years old.
I kept thinking myself as 27 years old a few months earlier.
It's so odd, because during my early 20's, I always felt a few years younger than I really was.
Anyways, this is a milestone into adulthood. I feel more adult than I was a few years back. I've been out of school for almost 3 years (I graduated from UH in December 2004).
In the last 2.5 years, I've been working either as a substitute teacher or a summer group leader, which comes with a lot of responsibility. It also forced me to mature real fast. Being a role model means not doing certain things I could've gotten away with when I was younger.
I like being charge of younger people. Though at times, being around younger people makes me feel like I wish I was back in time, so I could take more advantage of opportunities reserved for younger people.
I like being a substitute, but I hate unpaid vacation time that subs have to put up with. Vacations are dangerous to a substitute's financial health. Which is the main reason why I am working to switch to a teaching assistant position.
Some ask why I don't become a full-time teacher. That would require going back to school (which cost $$$$ and time) to get a teaching certificate. Also, at this point, I don't feel ready to take on the added responsibilities.
---
The great thing about being an adult is being able to live by myself. I hope I will be able to do so for a long time.
The hard thing is just making sure all the bills are paid. We can't take anything for granted!
-----
I once thought of making music and having a talk show. That's been put on the side for a while, though I hope I can get back to it in the future.
----
My birthday tradition was to have breakfast with my parents and grandma at Kapiolani Coffee Shop inside Kam Bowl's. However, Kam Bowl has closed down. Luckily, the folks at Kapiolani Coffee Shop found another location, so I was able to have my fried rice & scrambled eggs :)
I kept thinking myself as 27 years old a few months earlier.
It's so odd, because during my early 20's, I always felt a few years younger than I really was.
Anyways, this is a milestone into adulthood. I feel more adult than I was a few years back. I've been out of school for almost 3 years (I graduated from UH in December 2004).
In the last 2.5 years, I've been working either as a substitute teacher or a summer group leader, which comes with a lot of responsibility. It also forced me to mature real fast. Being a role model means not doing certain things I could've gotten away with when I was younger.
I like being charge of younger people. Though at times, being around younger people makes me feel like I wish I was back in time, so I could take more advantage of opportunities reserved for younger people.
I like being a substitute, but I hate unpaid vacation time that subs have to put up with. Vacations are dangerous to a substitute's financial health. Which is the main reason why I am working to switch to a teaching assistant position.
Some ask why I don't become a full-time teacher. That would require going back to school (which cost $$$$ and time) to get a teaching certificate. Also, at this point, I don't feel ready to take on the added responsibilities.
---
The great thing about being an adult is being able to live by myself. I hope I will be able to do so for a long time.
The hard thing is just making sure all the bills are paid. We can't take anything for granted!
-----
I once thought of making music and having a talk show. That's been put on the side for a while, though I hope I can get back to it in the future.
----
My birthday tradition was to have breakfast with my parents and grandma at Kapiolani Coffee Shop inside Kam Bowl's. However, Kam Bowl has closed down. Luckily, the folks at Kapiolani Coffee Shop found another location, so I was able to have my fried rice & scrambled eggs :)
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