Taking Care of the Home Front
By Sharon Ching, Staff Writer

As the international community prepares itself for the emergence of China as a global power, specific considerations should be made regarding what this emergence means for China, for Asia, for Chinese citizens and those living abroad, and the world. It is somewhat difficult and even frustrating to describe my relationship with China. This is because my relationship is constructed by two main understandings – one, as this almost mythical construction shrouded in ancestral mystery and unknown history, and second, as this “other” place that exists as media portrays it. The stories of China, of all of Asia for that matter, exist in this constantly changing and fluctuating mental construction. At one point, China is described as this booming, quickly rising global power that will compete against the United States for the role as the principle leader of the world stage; and at another moment, its human rights violations and government secrecies come under attack. It is this particular moment of discussion about China’s human rights violations and government cover-ups that I want to discuss. [more]

From Iraq
By Jaeah Lee, Staff Writer

Somewhere in Iraq, Jae “Moony” Moon, among thousands of other American soldiers, is fighting the “war against terror” in the U.S. army infantry. Moony, who has also been a friend of mine for six years, was shipped out to Iraq this past summer. In this interview, Moony tells us what life is like in his boots. [more]

Desi Political Power - Get Savvy
By Kiran Gore, Special Contributor

Growing up South Asian American, family dinner parties are frequent and predictable: aunties in the kitchen, exchanging recipes, discussing fashion and Bollywood films; uncles in the living room, discussing real estate and politics. Rarely do the conversations intersect.

And for every dinner party, there is an 18-year-old girl stuck stirring chicken tikka, who has tried to re-direct the kitchen conversation from recipes to racism. When that fails, she eavesdrops on the uncles and itches for the opportunity to stomp into the living room and school the men on how the War on Terror is a War on Desi’s. How does this girl go from closet activist to community organizer? [more]

Destination Post-Graduation
By Tiffany Lee, Staff Writer

It seems like the campus hot spot of fall semester for seniors is 719 Broadway, more commonly known as OCS, the Office of Career Services. Starting right when school starts in September, students, dressed sharply in suits, enter and exit the building on a daily basis. Not only are seniors juggling classes and a job or internship, we have the prospect of recruitment and finding a job post-graduation looming over us. It’s not just one interview either; it’s second and final rounds following. Add to that, the competition you find yourself dealing with when you’re up against your friends and classmates for the same position. Whether you’re a senior graduating in December or later in May, the level of stress is like none other. Senior year of college is nothing like that of high school’s. But once you get that coveted offer, it’s smooth sailing of senior year from there on out. [more]

Asians and Sex
By Jaeah Lee, Staff Writer

“Shh…ex.” Sex. It’s a heart-throbbing, blood-rushing, muscle-tensing word. It’s stimulating. It’s provocative. And yet, it’s too often unacknowledged. In America, sex is everywhere. From politicians’ sex scandals to Paris Hilton sex tapes, “sex” draws equal attention from the media as do war and poverty. It’s hard to name a film or a television show that doesn’t at least allude to it and just as hard to name a celebrity who hasn’t been floating around in some sex-alicious rumor. American culture is immersed in sex. [more]

Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk
By Kaity Tsui, Special Contributor

On Sunday, October 17, this day was one of the most invigorating experiences of my life. It was the “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” Walk in Central Park-East Meadow. After all, breast cancer touches everyone in one way or another. It is a 5-mile walk to promote awareness and raise money to find a cure for a disease that strikes over 200,000 times a year in the U.S. [more]

Moon Festival
By Regina Huang, Special Contributor

“What is that?” my friends asked, as I took a bite of a quarter piece of diagonally sliced mooncake. As I explained that it was a traditional Chinese sweet, almost like a pastry, one of my sisters chimed in with, “There are a lot of different fillings but this one’s filled with red bean paste and has an egg yolk in the middle that stands for the moon.” This only confused my friends more and before I knew it, I was telling my friends the stories of the Chinese Moon Festival and about mooncake, as told to me by my family. [more]

From Cannes to Beyond
By Maria Iida, Staff Writer

Forget scream queen Sarah Michelle Gellar in The Grudge. Forget dance aficionado Richard Gere and J-Lo’s scene-stealing (or scene-occupying) booty in Shall We Dance? This year, Eastern cinema conquered the world arena, and it’s not with remakes that they have accomplished such a feat. It’s time to ditch cheap, commercialized rip-offs and witness pure gold light up the silver screen. [more]

Senior Farewell
By Tiffany Lee, Staff Writer

“It seems like only yesterday we started, but soon we'll put away our books and pens…” Hard to believe, but by the time this issue of Generasian is launched, senior year will be half over. With one more semester to go in our college careers, it seems like it really was only yesterday that we were these bright-eyed, eager freshmen coming to NYU, ready to hit the ground running in the city like no other, that would become our campus. [more]

Utada Hikaru
By Ashley Morris, Special Contributor

A face familiar to the Asian community hopes to emerge on the US music scene. JPop superstar, Utada Hikaru, released her long-awaited US debut album, Exodus, on October 5, 2004. Having already sold over 17 million copies of her previous albums in Japan, her fans wonder how her music will fare here. [more]

Yu-gi-oh! Your Move!
By Kaity Tsui, Special Contributor

Everyone knows about those Saturday Morning Cartoons – the ones when you were a kid and you’d wake up about the crack of dawn just to stare at the TV for, oh, let’s say about five to six hours straight. Every Saturday morning comes one of those unique cartoons that you can’t keep your eyes off, and on the Kids’ WB! such a show is Yu-Gi-Oh! Catering to children ages 7 and older, this popular television series has made a huge phenomenal impact on older children everywhere. [more]