catching up

For those of you who came across this website for the first time last week, we aren't normally fixated on mass school shootings. I try to talk about other things around here too. Here are a few links, news and happenings on various topics we missed last week in Asian America...

• Sanjaya was voted off American Idol. Yes, the contestant a nation grew to love to hate was finally given the boot last week: Sanjaya is voted off 'American Idol'. Fanjayas everywhere wept. Though it appears that Indians did not: Indians Say Good Riddance To Sanjaya. So what's next? He had dinner at the White House: Sanjaya to attend D.C. dinner
  
• James Sun, after making it to the final two on The Apprentice last night, was "fired." The guy kicked some serious ass in the competition, and made quite a name for himself. I was sad to see him lose to the defense attorney. But I'm sure he's got a bright future ahead of him.
  
• CBS, 'Survivor' go to China. According to Variety, the next edition of Survivor will take place in China. By the way, I've caught up on the current season. Up until last week, Survivor: Fiji was boring as hell, but things got pretty interesting last week. I am rooting for Yau-Man to go all the way!
  
• Italy police clash with Chinese merchants in Milan. In Italy, riot police clashed with hundreds of Chinese merchants in Milan, after scuffles broke out over traffic controls in the city's busy Chinatown.
  
• Soejima spoils Van Dyk's record-tying bid. Masazumi Soejima of Japan won his first Boston Marathon men's wheelchair race last week, denying six-time winner Ernst Van Dyk of a record-tying seventh straight title.
  
• Masi Oka rises as the unlikely star of "Heroes". Another profile on everybody's favorite Heroes star, Masi Oka. The show finally returns tonight after a few weeks off the air, and it looks pretty awesome.
  
• After 40 years, interracial marriage flourishing. On article on interracial marriages, forty years after the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down a Virginia statute barring whites from marrying nonwhites. There's an interesting quote in there from C.N. Le, talking about some of the gender stereotypes in Asian American communities.
  
• The new world of Nancy Kwan: A profile on the amazing and beautiful Nancy Kwan, with some details about her latest project, a small film called Ray of Sunshine.
  
• Sac Sheriff Promotes Vietnamese Captain: Lt. Trang To of the Sacremento Sheriff's Department was promoted to the rank of Captain, becoming the highest ranking Vietnamese-American law enforcement officer in the state of California.
  
• Among Catholic priests, Vietnamese are the new Irish: Though Asians are only 1% of the estimated 77 million U.S. Catholics, they account for 12% of Catholic seminary students. In places such as Orange County, of 181 diocesan priests, almost 28% are Asian—predominantly Vietnamese.
  
• Legacies of love and learning: A sad but inspiring story on the life and legacy of Johnathan Sim, a family man.
  
• Baker's future best as Korean: A profile on Lawson Baker, a Korean American heavyweight kickboxing fighter who's got a pretty interesting story.
  
• Kenyon S. Chan selected as chancellor of UW Bothell: Kenyon S. Chan has been selected as the next chancellor of the University of Washington Bothell. I'm told that only 1.2% of college presidents are APA, there are only 45 APA presidents in the nation, and prior to Chan, only 13 of them are at public institutions.

That's a lot of stuff to look over. I'm still playing catch-up from last week. But there's more to come, because it just doesn't stop.