news from all around: 2007-04-11

In Michigan, if Asian Americans were seen as a swing group in the debate over affirmative action and Proposition 2, then poll results released this week will apparently put that notion to rest... According to results of a November 2006 Election Day exit poll conducted by University of Michigan students for AALDEF, Asian Americans in Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Hamtramck overwhelmingly voted against Proposal 2: Survey: Asians opposed Prop 2

Three years ago in Chicago, Asian Americans were excluded from a construction set-aside ordinance that granted "presumptively socially disadvantaged" groups special access to city contracts. Somehow Asian Americans were not considered disadvantaged enough to fall under this category. But now, thanks to a recent study that provides undeniable evidence of discrimination towards Asian American construction firms, the City Council's Economic Development Committee is expected to restore Asian Americans to favored status: City may restore Asians' favored status. More here: Set-aside program may add Asians

The Los Angeles Times has another story on the Chinese artifacts and skeletal remains discovered during MTA construction in Boyle Heights last year: Markers to an old mystery. The MTA is asking for help and has launched an effort to track down possible descendants of the 128 people found on the site.

A brief story on the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, which has made interesting changes to its programs in order to accomodate the changing, diverse populations of the community: As face of community changes, lessons beckon not just Chinese

Here's an article in the Orange Country Register on a generation of Asian American children growing up to take care of their parents' expenses when they get older: Adult Asian-American children give back to parents for raising them. What's the big deal? It's a pretty common practice.

The sad story of a Hmong American couple whose dreams of a buying an Arkansas chicken farm were dashed by an unexpected surprise and a perceived betrayal: Dreams end in despair