Education

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — As the first decade of the new century closed, the St. Cloud Times posed a question: Who has been most influential locally in the past 10 years?

Dr. Roy H. Saigo was selected by online public polling as one of those people, along with the mayor, two legislators, and other community leaders. The results were announced in the Times’ Feb. 14 issue.

The San Francisco Board of Education on Feb. 23 voted unanimously to adopt the name Ruth Asawa San Francisco High School for the Arts.

Board member Jill Wynns has been working on persuading the local artist, known for her sculptures throughout the city, to accept an honor from the San Francisco Unified School District for many years. Asawa is one of the school’s founders.

The deadline to apply for the 2010 Nikkei Youth Cultural Heritage (NYCH) Program is Friday, March 5.

Partial scholarships of $500 are available for students applying for the program through the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC).

WASHINGTON — The National JACL issued the following statement on Feb. 23:

The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the nation's oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization, and its youth component, the JACL National Youth/Student Council, are disgusted by a "Compton Cookout" party attended by students from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) last week.

(Compton, a city in Los Angeles County, has a large African American population and has been referenced in numerous rap songs.)

On Tuesday, Feb. 23, the San Francisco Board of Education will consider a resolution sponsored by Commissioner Jill Wynns to name the High School for the Arts in honor of world-renowned local artist Ruth Asawa, a driving force behind the founding of the school in 1982.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the San Francisco Unified School District building, 555 Franklin between McAllister and Fulton. The resolution is expected to be discussed around 7 p.m.

BERKELEY — UC Berkeley’s Center for Japanese Studies, in partnership with the Institute of East Asian Studies, announces its Japan-America Student Conference scholarships for UC undergraduates.

Awards are open to any undergraduate student with an interest in Japan who otherwise meets the criteria of the JASC program.

The JASC program, now in its 62nd year, is a student-led cultural and academic exchange program that brings together 40 Japanese and 40 American students together to discuss issues facing the two countries. No Japanese language training is necessary.

LOS ANGELES — UCLA is searching for Japanese American students from the early 1940s who were forced to interrupt their education at UCLA when federal orders sent Japanese Americans to internment camps during World War II.

This historic wrong will be righted on May 15, when UCLA bestows honorary degrees on these students.

Some of the former students, most now in their 80s and 90s, are expected to attend the ceremony, and family members will receive diplomas on behalf of others who are unable to attend. Still others will receive diplomas by mail. Many former students are deceased.

MARYSVILLE — The dedication of a memorial at the site of the Arboga Assembly Center will take place on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 11 a.m. at Broadway Road near Feather River off Highway 70.

The ceremony will be followed by lunch and a program at Marysville Buddhist Church, 125 B St.

The speaker will be John Tateishi (see profile below).

The event is sponsored by the Marysville JACL. RSVP to arbogaassemblycenterproject@yahoo.com. Donations to the project are welcome.

BERKELEY — A lecture titled "Lord It's the Samurai: Socially Engaged Art and the Cultural Production of Orientalist Hysteria" will be given on Tuesday, March 9, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the UC Berkeley Institute for East Asian Studies’ Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., sixth floor.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Japanese Studies.

SAN MATEO — The College of San Mateo’s Ethnic Studies Department will present a day of Asian American films on Saturday, March 20, in the Main Theater on campus.

The afternoon matinee will feature films were funded by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Fund (CCLPEP), which supports projects that educate the public about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and its relevance today.