Colleen Morrison
Toward the end of George W. Bush's first administration in 2004, NASA completed a workforce study to examine the agency's needs for the future. The report concluded that the agency's efforts to increase diversity were notable; still, it would take a strong recruiting effort
to keep them abreast of
The space shuttle
program is one of the most visible of NASA's many programs dedicated to space
exploration. The shuttle has become one of the backbones of the International
Space Station (ISS), delivering parts and crew members on a regular basis. And
the job of astronaut for the program is highly prized. If a quick glance at the
space agency's astronaut biography list is any indication, it looks like every
talented kid in
Take the crew of
the shuttle Atlantis STS 128, for instance. Just a few short months after space
shuttle Discovery returns from its springtime visit to the ISS, space shuttle
Atlantis is scheduled to pay a visit, with a launch scheduled in early August
2009. STS 128 will deliver a sophisticated logistics module to the International
Space Station (ISS).
The crew of STS
128 will include two highly trained engineers of Hispanic descent: mission
specialists Jose M. Hernandez and John D. Olivas. Hernandez holds a masters
degree in electrical and computer engineering, while Olivas holds a Ph.D. in
mechanical engineering and materials science. Both men worked at other jobs,
including at research laboratories, before moving on to
NASA.
Both astronauts
have been recognized for their achievements as engineers and scientists. Trained
as an electrical engineer, Hernandez worked for several years at the Laurence
Livermore National Laboratories, where he earned an "Outstanding Engineer Award"
in 2001. In addition, he has been a winner of the Medalla de Oro for his
contributions to his community, and he served as president of Society of Mexican
American Engineers and Scientists (MAES).
With six patents,
five JPL Novelty Technology Recognition awards and four Class One Brief Awards
from NASA to his credit, Olivas has an equally distinguished career. In
addition, he is a winner of McDonalds Hispanos Triunfadores Lifetime Achievement
Award.
The crew of STS
128 was named a year before its scheduled launch. In addition to mission
specialists Hernandez and Olivas, the crew includes commander Frederick
Sturckow, pilot Kevin Ford, and mission specialists Patrick Forrester and
Christer Fugelsang (from the European Space Agency).
5:00 AM - March 26, 2009
Colleen Morrison
Reverend
Elias Camp Morris was a man of vision --foremost, he envisioned a nation where
all people were treated equally. Then, he envisioned a church from which he
could share his message, and he found an architect to design it. The end result,
completed in 1905, was the
Centennial
Today, the church is remarkable
because it is in danger of falling apart. Rev. Morris was the lifeblood of his
religious community, but he died in 1922 and his congregation has long since
moved on to other places of worship. And although the structure has been listed
in the National Register of Historic Places since 2003, it is slowly crumbling
into a memory.
A Strong Voice for His
Community
At a time when racial segregation
was the norm and violence was all too common, African American churches provided
a social setting where members could speak out without fear of repercussions.
The church assumed a central role in the daily lives of many worshippers and
community members.
Dr. Morris was a moving force in and
for the African American community in
The architect who designed
Centennial Baptist, Henry James Price, has become something of an enigma. Lauded
as a self-trained architect and one of the first professional African American
architects in the
5:00 AM - March 12, 2009
Dr. Steven Chu, US
Secretary of Energy, joined Vice President Joseph Biden and other Administration
officials in
Secretary Chu
has announced plans to restructure funds made available through his department
as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to move ahead as quickly
as possible with programs and research designed to end
The Secretary
expressed his optimism about the President's budget, saying it invests in the
nation's economic future "by supporting clean and renewable energy sources." The
proposed budget allocates $26.3 billion to the Department of Energy, part of
which will be used to provide incentives for clean energy
technologies.
Critics fear
that Dr. Chu's professional background in academia will limit his ability to
oversee the Department of Energy's $ 25 billion budget and 16,000 employees.
Supporters believe that advances in clean energy technology will come only as a
result of scientific breakthroughs pioneered by
A Nobel Prize
winning physicist, Dr. Chu was confirmed in January to head the US Department of
Energy under President Barack Obama. Before accepting the position as Secretary
of Energy, Dr. Chu ran the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where his
proclaimed goal was to make the laboratory the "world leader in alternative and
renewable energy research."
Dr. Chu's
parents immigrated to the
5:00 AM - March 12, 2009
In the small town
of
Latino--families in
the neighborhood, many that have argued for annexation believe that it will lead
to better resolution for the growing gang activity, along with better management and
code enforcement on its aging abandoned homes and makeshift plumbing in some
areas.
"It's like the Wild West here," said Ray
Ontiveros, 51, who is a third-generation La Colonia resident and owns several
homes in the small community. Ontiveros is a supporter of the annexation,
believing that by consolidating with the city, it will bring order and stability to his
town--something that is much needed, in his point of view, to take care of the arising problems in
the area.
On the other
hand, the many other families are strongly opposed to annexation, having
deep pride for their
small neighborhood and fear of losing their town's identity and sense of independence from
integrating with a large city.
The residents of La Colonia have gone far to maintain their town
without the aid of outside sources, creating basketball courts, planting the
grass in parks, managing the water district and even attending other families' baptisms and marriages. There is no
question that the people of this small town harbor somewhat
of a personal connection amongst each other.
Like La
Colonia, many other Southern Californian towns have balked at the proposal for
annexation,
including, Hacienda Heights in
For some
Adding to the
residents' fears, many
feel that by becoming an expansion of
"You can give
me $800 million, but I'm never leaving," said Liz Sepeda,
66, resident of La
Colonia who disapproves the annexation.
Yet, even with
the debate amongst the neighbors, many feel that a certain
segregationwill follow,
leading to a withered sense of community in the town
In recent times LA's Little Tokyo has seen the number of Korean
residents grow and has also experienced rising tension between the Japanese and
the Koreans.
Hongsun Kim, a
Korean LA social worker, took notice of the prejudice that's been surfacing in
the wake of the increasing number of Koreans in the city and has recalled a few
instances where Japanese residents complained about the Koreans: "They smell of
garlic," "They don't follow the rules," "They're going to take over."
Even with the
multicultural melding being inharmonious, as proved in the past, there has been
a change in the tide in the 300-unit Little Tokyo Towers senior housing facility
where the feeling of prejudice is surprisingly non-existent.
Simon Yoon, who
is a resident and whose relatives were jailed for protesting
In just the
last couple of years, the residents of Little Tokyo Towers have gone to make
case studies out of their home in containing cultural conflict and working
towards cohesion--an issue faced by many other ethnic neighborhoods in LA, where
long-settled populations have to deal with the new ones. In the case of the
Japanese and Koreans, this challenge proves to be quite delicate, given the long
history of conflict arising from territorial disputes and historical grievances
associated with Japan's colonization of Korea in the early 20th
century.
Many, like Kim,
feel that Little Tokyo and its residents have demonstrated ethnic harmony and the possibility that it
could lead others into following.
"We want to
show that in Little Tokyo, there are people who want to be good neighbors to
each other regardless of the past and all of the conflicts we've experienced,"
Kim said. "If reconciliation can happen in Little Tokyo, then it could be a
model for the city and for
Yoon, 86, was
raised under Japan's colonial rule, recalling how he was forced to bow east to
the Japanese emperor every day and as punishment, would sit with his arms raised
for speaking Korean. His father-in-law spent roughly 8 years in prison for
supporting Korean independence. "I learned Japanese to fight the Japanese," Yoon
said.
However, Yoon
mentioned how his feelings toward the Japanese softened after a Japanese military doctor came to his
village and exerted himself to cure the locals of tuberculosis, even to the
point of using money from his own pocket on medicine. Afterwards, Yoon learned
the Christian teachings of forgiveness which helped in propelling him toward
reconciliation today.
Kim, 28, is a
Seoul-born social worker and a Christian minister yet raised in
Unfortunately,
having been raised in
But as of late,
since striving for harmony between Korean and Japanese residents, Kim has felt
that his own dissimilar emotions.
"I recently
found a connection between my inner state and the outside community," Kim said.
"One side was always asking me to get rid of the other. But one I began to feel
good about being as I am, I really wanted to prove objectively that the Japanese
and Korean communities can get along really well... in Little
Tokyo."
One of Yoon's
Korean class students, Kimie Takahashi, is an active member of a joint "better
relations" committee and a supporter for the "Bridges" newsletter. Takahashi is
good friends with Kim and Yoon, whom she has come to admire and be grateful for,
have had to deal with facing the prejudice issues that had surfaced since the
arrival of more Koreans into the towers about five years
ago.
Since its
establishment in 1975, the senior facility had its share of multicultural
residents that included Koreans, Chinese and African Americans even in an
overwhelmingly ethnic Japanese population. Today, Korean residents occupy about
one-third of the units in the towers, according to a Little Tokyo Service Center
survey. Kim said that because senior facilities in Koreatown are overcrowded,
more Koreans are moving to Little Tokyo, despite historical
tensions.
In a time when
Koreans were being accused of bribing facility managers to bump them up the
waiting lists while facing complaints and harassment from community members, Kim
and others at the service center sought ways of trying to extinguish the heated
prejudice, one of which involved sponsoring a series of four films--two Japanese
and two Korean--to shares cultures and bring the residents together. When the
series was over, 80 seniors wrote in surveys that the films opened their eyes to
new perspectives of each other’s cultures.
"Koreans are
increasing in Little Tokyo, and if we can't speak with each other, we can't
understand each other," said Takahashi, who has proven her quick mastery of
simple Korean phrases, like kamsamnida, or thank
you.
While tensions
haven't fully ceased and have continued through politics, erupting more tempers,
residents on both sides agree that the complaints about each other have dropped
significantly.
"We would like
people to know that there is not just conflict, but also harmony and hope," said
Kim.
National - Takeru V. Maeda
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