Manhattan Valley in Danger of Being Split Into Three

On November 25, 2012September 11, 2013 By Tenzin ShakyaIn Uncategorized1 Comment

New proposed lines split Manhattan Valley among three districts – 7, 8 and 9 – and many residents are unhappy, saying it divides their longstanding community and threatens minority representation.

“Our little piece of Manhattan, Manhattan Valley, succeeded in curtailing high-rise development,” Blanca Vasquez, a resident of Manhattan Valley for more than 30 years, said. “And now we get lines that destroy us.”

Residents of the Douglass Houses may end up split into two districts, 7 and 9. Photo by Tenzin Shakya.

Despite the grievances, the commission will submit the proposed map to

the City Council for final voting.

“There was a challenge trying to keep Manhattan Valley together into one,” said Carl Hum, the executive director of the districting commission, at the last public meeting on Nov. 15. “While we tried to put it into two districts, it really became difficult. Unfortunately, the way that the geography works, and the population concentration, won’t allow us to have Manhattan Valley in a single district.”

Representatives of other affected communities argued that the process of redistricting is actually fracturing communities and causing vote dilution, the division of racial or ethnic minorities, which reduces their chances of influencing legislation at large.

“Redistricting, and the district lines that come out of redistricting is what sets a stage for our local democracy,” James Hong, from the Asian American Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy, said. “Whether democracy works for communities that are local, especially ethnic communities, and whether the democratic system works for them and can represent them, is determined by district lines.”

At a public hearing last month, some community representatives raised concerns over Manhattan Valley’s being split up into three districts. Locals reminded officials of the past challenges they’ve faced in an attempt to keep the community together.

“Manhattan Valley has struggled for many years as a primarily minority immigrant neighborhood from the time that my grandmother came in 1911 from Ireland,” Gloria Kerstein, president of the Duke Ellington Boulevard Neighborhood Association in Manhattan Valley, said. “To break the spine of Manhattan Valley does not address the struggle that we had to bring our neighborhood out of crack, make it a safe and good neighborhood.”

The new Manhattan Valley district lines

Some critics proposed an alternative map, the Unity Map, which they said, “reflects New York City’s changing demographics and protects the voting rights of Blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans.”

Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, representing District 8, advocated for the Unity Map. She said, “I urge the Commission to use the Unity Map as a basis for reconfiguring Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, as a way of preserving communities of interest, and minimizing the splitting up of our city’s neighborhoods.”

East Harlem resident Elsie Encarnacion said, “Looking at the map I see broken-up community after broken-up community with High Bridge being cut into three council districts, East Harlem divided by two, Manhattan Valley split into three and no one kept whole.” She said, “As commission members, you all have a responsibility to provide voters with fair and effective representation.”

The commission did adopt some of the proposed district lines from the Unity Map in what they said was an attempt to keep communities together. Inwood, for example, is now in a single district.

“The whole is better than the sum of its parts” – Reflecting on Bell Hook’s feminist theory

On September 7, 2011October 5, 2017 By Tenzin ShakyaIn 11 Comment

In Bell Hook’s article titled “Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory,” she discloses some insight on why some feminists are not being recognized in the feminist movement at large. Being a refugee and an American citizen is conflicting sometimes, its a conflict most in exile face. At heart, we’re refugees, but we have the privilege of carrying a passport that welcomes our existence. Having lived in four different countries, I’ve been able to gain some knowledge in viewing the differences between different cultures and its traditions, but recognizing that at heart people just want to belong and be respected. In hook’s statements, all feminists unite in categorical ways, but the risk is that the common good of the “majority” will take over the distinctive good of the minor differences that shape how one identifies their self. The very essence of what makes the individual experience is unique. Hook makes the example of Betty Friedan and the second wave’s movement shaping and defining the feminist movement as a whole – without acknowledging the different social and class distinctions that played a great disadvantage to many silent feminists in the movement – those who did not have the means to speak up.

Democracy, standing in line with the majority in numbers often tend to undermine the minority. The system itself is set up in a way where you focus more on the quantity instead of the quality. By simply quantifying the majority’s personal beliefs and their opinions will not delete the the minorities of unsatisfied people; in this case, minority women leaders. The main reason why democracy isn’t always what it lives up to be is largely due to the unequal platform upon which it was started to begin with. The wealthy and the powerful, the ones who can afford the time and finances to voice their opinions get heard. All the while, many are simply living the 9-5, trying to step up in the status quo, and cannot afford the time nor resources to contribute. That should not go to say that their voices will not be heard, they are still very much present in the political debates that weight in on the outcome of this country.

I agree with Hook’s statement that Friedan had not thought about the different American women of that time, the ones that were not college educated because they were doing the domestic work while Friedan was attending school. White women of that time had a head start in entering the academic institutions and were eager to learn. The “other,” couldn’t fully participate because their focus was survival. They were not able to speak on the oppression in the sexism world of white men having power over white women’s lives, because they were the ones taking care of the white babies while the white mothers fought the ‘good fight’. The oppression felt by White and Black women were outrageously different.

“There is much evidence substantiating the reality that race and class identity creates differences in quality of life, social status, and lifestyle that take precedence over the common experience women share” (Bhavnani, pg 34). In the statement above, Hook points out that even though the shared common experiences of women are a good point; they are not necessarily in the order of precedence for all women and generally never experienced in the same way. The difference in placing importance on the above mentioned versus something such as culture and tradition is not taken into account, and it’s generalized towards all women without considering their different circumstances and opportunities.

At the same time, this issue of diversity not being acknowledged in the feminist movement is not only of race, class and socio economic back ground, but also one of location, and mainly, colonialism. It is the direct effect of the changing world heading towards being more educated and “civilized” in the western cultural perspective. Many people come to the United States for a better education but do not realize that while living in the west, they themselves are also losing parts of their national and cultural traditions due to assimilation in their new environment. Patricia Hill Collin’s article titled “The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought,” explains the need for Black women to also emphasize on trying to understand the differences between Black and Afro American because their origins are not the same, thus their experiences are not the same. She points out that it is not good enough to be knowledgable, but just as imperative to know the wisdom in order to make judgments and statements that define all black “African” feminists.

This shows that the problem is not of one simple defining category, but of multiple historical instances that have created a huge divide in the people on such issues of identity. Many women who are also feminists have not even been taken into account because they lack the resources to speak out on the matter. However, the few Black women who have gained some credibility in academia should look into highlighting the different types of inferiority experienced by Black and African American women all together.

In considering the feminist movement, it is important for the leading feminists who have access to reach the masses to re-consider their notion of what feminism truly is, and what characteristics constitute being a feminist. Most notably, it is important for them to not only know the difference but also understand it before they make statements on behalf of all feminists or even “Black feminists alone.” More writers and leaders in the movement are using terms such as “third world feminism” to distinguish other feminists with diverse cultural and traditional backgrounds. It’s imperative that we acknowledge the differences amongst feminists world-wide. That would be a step forward towards acknowledging women of all different backgrounds, facing similar struggles of power, yet working towards finding some common ground in the form of having the choice to have their voices heard.

A short reflection on Partha Chaterjee’s “Nation and its Fragments”

On August 5, 2011October 27, 2011 By Tenzin ShakyaIn 1, Serendipity, Thoughts for the soulLeave a comment

The purpose of Chatterjee’s book “The Nation and Its Fragments” seems to explore the idea of “community” nationalism Bengal, apart from political nationalism of India, especially in terms of India’s diverse history. This reflection just touches on a chapter of the women of Bengal and their struggle in the shift of a new era and new thinking of preserving the traditional Identity from colonialism and British takeover.

“The outer and the inner world – Women as keepers of Identity”

When dealing with cultures unknown to the self, an imaginary third eye would be useful to keep an open mind on the things we might not be able to see fully. It would raise the possibility of understanding the differences from another point of view instead of insisting on our terms of beliefs and its definitions. Pratha Chatterjee’s Nation and It’s Women touches upon the western systems of dichotomies of separating Bengal’s nationalism for preserving its identity as communities versus the political nationalism of India and how these definitions by both parties- fighting for and against colonialism- positioned women in the central party of preserving the house in her “spiritual” feminine self which carries the traditions of Bengals before Western modernization took place, all without her consent.

While the traditionalists were surrendering to the notion of modernization in the “outer” world, they were confident in preserving their identity through the “inner” world which embraced the home as being the true keepers of Bengal’s identity. Chatterjee argues that due to this resistance, women’s position in the modern world was compromised by prioritizing the national identity of their community which worked to enforce women to be keepers of the identity. This was soon defined through “the spiritual signs of her femininity”… “Clearly marked – in her dress, her eating habits, her social demeanor, her religiosity” pg 130. While all at the same time, men were able to camouflage into both the inner and the outer worlds and maintain their prideful identity in the modern world with their wives and daughters by their side. This is similar to the United State’s political structure upon which the private and public sphere is divided and the patriarchy system has allowed men to be privileged in walking amongst both the private and public sphere will full rights to their lives while women play catch up in history’s disparity. Though the comparison of the private and public sphere can be relative to this story, the underlining matter is not the similarity amongst the two, rather, the difference upon which the two systems were created and why their origins took place.

The anti-colonial nationalism that arose in an attempt to defy the western modernization taking place in Bengal at that time defended their traditional identity through social construction of two spheres defined as the “material” versus the “spiritual”. In the material outer world, they would adapt to the modernization colonialism has brought over through learning the structure upon which western society ran its “market place of ideas” type of theory which made the economy run, however in the spiritual inner world, they would maintain their traditional identity which was represented by women and family life composed of religion and the old caste systems.

“Fundamental elements of social conservatism such as the maintenance of caste distinctions and patriarchal forms of authority in the family, acceptance of sanctity of sastra (scriptures), preferences for symbolic rather than substantive changes in social practices- all these were conspicuous in the reform movement of the early and mid-nineteenth century” pg117.

The statement above clarifies our understanding of what type of system was created and the value for this particular system bent upon the prideful self identity wanting to prioritize the perception of the self rather than the actual self; community resistance. This becomes another example of how most patriarchy systems are built on the standard of pride in resisting and exterior force only to burden the women of their society to be inferior to themselves, by force or negligence, in either case, the result ends in the same way. Although women were presented to be safe keepers of the traditional identity at home, they were also chastised if they did not fit or meet the standards of the particular femininity which represented their whole community, thus leading to excluding women the chance to modernize with the rest of the world.

There will always be fights over power and beliefs around the world, history is apparent in repeating itself again and again, lets get “Herstory” along with it, shall we? However, it seems that women will always end up in the ladder because we are gifted with being the safe keepers of our traditional identity by baring, nurturing and preserving it, while fighting for our own identity and modernizing all with the national identity. It becomes a burden when we vigorously try to achieve all or are forced to choose one above the other.

Story of Ngawang Sangdrol la, Tibetan female political prisoner who spent 11 years in the Drapchi Prison

On March 21, 2011September 8, 2011 By Tenzin ShakyaIn China, Journalism, Thoughts for the soul, tibet, Tibet News4 Comments

Before the era of Twitter and Facebook, political prisoners such as Ngawang Sangdrol-la recorded songs on tape cassettes to document the inhumane treatment they experienced in the Drapchi prison of China.

Sangdrol-la (la is used after an elder’s name as a title of respect) shared her story at Amnesty International’s office in San Francisco during her first visit to the Bay Area last week on the eve of the National Tibetan Uprising Day.

: Sangdrol- la at age 13

She told the audience that she was only 13 in 1990 when she decided to join 20 other protesters in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, in a demonstration aimed at expressing opposition to the oppression she felt under the Chinese government. She and the other protesters had joined together to express their desire for a free Tibet.She remembers the day vividly still, walking through the streets of Lhasa shouting “Free Tibet” and “Long live His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.”The protesters knew they couldn’t be in a group together and decided to spread out individually, shouting and singing their message.

“We knew we would be caught. We had no desire to run or escape. Our plan was to shout until they (the Chinese police) caught us,” she said. And they did, she said, recalling how Chinese army officials pinned her to the ground and then dragged her away from the crowd.

“I remember people saying, ‘She’s so young, please let her go, she’s bleeding,’ ” said Sangdrol-la. She had violated an official Chinese governmental policy banning all pictures of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan flag.Sangdrol-la said she did not receive a fair trial and was sent to a detention center for nine months. Still, prison was better than the fate of her brother, she said. Chinese police shot him dead when he, too, was 13.When she was very little, she used to watch movies made in China, depicting the Chinese army as “kindhearted soldiers,” fighting against the Japanese Army to protect the mother country.

“I remember feeling like the Chinese are our own people because the TV made me think I was no different. I disliked the Japanese because in the movies they were the bad soldiers who killed the kindhearted Chinese soldiers,” Sangdrol-la recalled. But “father yelled at me and told me the real story of my country, and what had happened to my brother.”

She said that she suffered terrible interrogations, was beaten and tortured in prison, kept hungry and in solitary confinement because she would not denounce the Dalai Lama. She told the audience about the terror of shock treatments she received.”One day the authorities brought a strange object that looked like a telephone. It was actually an electric prod,” she said. The officer asked her if she wanted to call home and when she said her home didn’t have a telephone, she said the officer said he would install one.”Then he put the object in my shirt and turned it on. My entire body shook in a way I couldn’t control. That was my first electric shock, but not the last.”She was arrested again in 1992 during a similar protest and sentenced to three years in prison, but her sentence was increased to 13 years because she would not renounce her beliefs.The prison did not allow family members to visit very often but through surreptitious means, Sangdrol-la and another inmate were able to get their hands on the cassettes and began recording songs to smuggle outside of the prison.

“We recorded freedom songs to tell our loved once that we were OK and even though the conditions were horrible in prison, we still had hope and we were not going to give up,” said Sangdrol-la. “We never thought it would actually reach the outside world like this.”

In 2002, she was released to the U.S. government. She was in critical health and, upon arrival in America, was taken to a hospital in Chicago.Yangchen Lhamo, a member of the Students for a Free Tibet, part of the S.F. Team Tibet coalition, which co-organized the event, said she has heard this story before but “it never gets any less disturbing.””I now live in freedom. But, everyday, I worry about those thousands of Tibetans who are still suffering today, right at this minute, for doing nothing more than a peaceful protest,” said Sangdrol-la.

Settle with the current for the future of the “movement”

On February 22, 2011March 25, 2012 By Tenzin ShakyaIn Gender issues, Thoughts for the soul1 Comment

Curiosity killed the cat – as the saying goes to caution our human minds on curiosity and carefully asset our beliefs at some point, or risk the damage of loosing our senses. After reading the short story by Alice Walker titled; Advancing Luna- and Ida B. Wells I couldn’t help but be curious and ask “What is the point”. Is the story about the black civil rights leader, an advocate for equality and justice who rapes Luna, a white female social worker or is the story about Luna’s friend, the black curious female friend who voices her thorughts through her writing?

For me, the title said it all, it is about the injustice Luna suffered by the hands of another, in a act that was a violation of the basic human rights of an individual. However, Walker’s story is not about the criminal act of rape, rather the events leading up to it and the odd ending without an answer just proves to show that perhaps its it just too complicated for us to fully grasp in one story telling incident or even a mass of a movement.

Does that mean that the human civilization has no fix to it and we should just do our best in living our own lives at the best of our ability? Is there truly no justice as Walker states in the beginning of her story for this civilization that so many brilliant minds gathered to shape? Absolutely not! In attending to our civilization, we as people of the society are responsible for presenting and sharing the truth as we know it so that others are aware of it and have the option to make better judgements.

Though Ida B. Wells had advised Walker not to write about the incident. fearing that it could harm the civil rights movement, it still does not justify the fact that it was a wrongful act on another human being. The concern over the black race took over the concern over the human race, and thus contradicted the central belief assured by the civil rights movement; all men are equal.

Intensified emotions took over me to the fullest in advocating for Luna who had to not only stay “hush hush” about the rape incident but also had to re-live it. When the rapist broke down crying in her bed, she had to empathize with his sadness, reinforcing the inferiority she felt when he raped her. Is logic that simple? If we take out the equation of black and white in this story, then it becomes the story of rape and injustice, by which everyone would support condemning the criminal- which in this case was Freddie Pye, the uneducated, filthy, sad, poor, black man speaking in front of some “elites” about being a victim of a nation. Addressing his concerns on being “politically correct” in defining words instead of understanding feelings sustained by those condensed in the definition of those politically corrected words. What is the use?

Yet, in the end, when I stepped back from the story and took a moment to gain perspective. I calmed down relentlessly in the need to breath – then i I understood why. Yes, i concur, the civil rights movement had not only brought equality in the eye of the law to black people but to all races and indigenous groups. However, not by fighting for truth and full justice, but by compromising a few injustices for the particular people in the movement in the promise of a better tomorrow. In the hopes that the future generations might be able to come up with something better; a just world in which human beings come first before any race, organization, country or nation. That is my belief and that is my understanding, not to be mistaken for my acceptance of this story. The platform at which i make my opinion today, was set for me by the people like Ida. B Wells, Alice Walker, Luna, and even Freddie Pye. Most settled with the current and accepted what they could not change in their time. Again I understand, but I still will not accept.

“hush hush”

Peninsula Humane Society found homes for all adoptable animals in 2010 despite 7 percent increase – San Jose Mercury News

On February 7, 2011 By Tenzin ShakyaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Peninsula Humane Society found homes for all adoptable animals in 2010 despite 7 percent increase – San Jose Mercury News.

By Tenzin Shakya
San Mateo County Times
Posted: 02/04/2011 09:41:09 PM PST

Despite a 7 percent increase in animals surrendered to the Peninsula Humane Society in 2010, officials said the shelter was able to place 100 percent of adoptable animals into new homes for the eighth consecutive year.

In 2009, an estimated 2,955 pets were surrendered by owners who were no longer willing or able to care for their animals. In 2010, that number grew to 3,162.

There were 3,749 animals adopted from the center in 2010, of which 3,077 were dogs and cats. The others were small domestic animals.

“The numbers really don’t tell the story. The story is in the relationships we form with them” said shelter president Ken White. “They are living, sentient beings who add so much to a family and really ask for very little back.”

Rachel Evans, 40, of Burlingame adopted her current hound-mix dog from the shelter in 2007.

“It’s been a great and wonderful experience,” she said. “I named him Lucky, but really I’m the lucky one.”

Evans said she was not surprised by the increase of homeless animals arriving at the shelter.

“We hear a lot of sad stories about people having to move to a new place where they couldn’t have a pet,” she said. “The upkeep can get challenging sometimes, especially in this economy.”

Stephanie Halliday, 30, of Foster City started volunteering at the shelter when she was a teenager.

“Every animal deserves to have a loving home, and since I can’t take them all home with me, I want to help them find their forever home,” she said.
The shelter has an open-door policy that allows animals with medical conditions to be placed in care. Currently, it has five veterinarians, 14 veterinary technicians and more than 1,400 volunteers who dedicated more than 135,000 hours in 2010.
Mark Borson, 52, of San Mateo adopted two dogs from the shelter while volunteering there.

Though Borson’s 8-year-old dog has medical insurance, his 15-year-old dog was declined. “It’s a good idea to plan ahead with health insurance for your pets before they become seniors,” said Borson.

Pet care costs for dogs range from $1,314-$1,843 annually for the first year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Medical bills could go even higher depending on the dog’s breed, heredity, pre-existing conditions and age.

“It’s best to prepare for things that are unplanned for,” said Borson. “A $300 bill could be astronomical for some, but for others it’s just another expense for the family.”
In addition to achieving the 100 percent adoption rate last year, the shelter investigated nearly 600 animal cruelty calls.

“No dog is ever ignored,” White said.

Society’s 2010 highlights

Getting fixed: 6,583 spay/neuter surgeries performed at the shelter’s low-cost clinic plus an additional 1,091 in the shelter’s mobile clinic, which provides free “fixes” in targeted communities. Total number of spay/neuter surgeries was 7,674.

Back to nature: 1,290 wild animals rehabilitated, then returned to their natural habitats. Training: Three classes of dogs graduated from the TAILS program, a partnership with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office which pairs shelter dogs with inmates in a minimum security facility for eight weeks.

Saving animals: Rescued more than 1,000 animals from harm’s way, including dogs stuck in traffic, down horses, ducks trapped in storm drains, and deer snared in fencing.

Source: http://www.peninsulahumanesociety.org/about/news.html

3,749
Total number of animals  adopted during 2010
1,878
Total number of cats placed  in new homes during 2010
1,999
Number of dogs adopted,  a 7 percent increase
672
Number of rabbits, birds  and other animals adopted

Peninsula Humane Society found homes for all adoptable animals in 2010 despite 7 percent increase

On February 4, 2011September 8, 2011 By Tenzin ShakyaIn pet adoptionLeave a comment

BYLINE: By Tenzin Shakya San Mateo County Times

In 2009, an estimated 2,955 pets were surrendered by owners who were no longer willing or able to care for their animals. In 2010, that number grew to 3,162.

There were 3,749 animals adopted from the center in 2010, of which 3,077 were dogs and cats. The others were small domestic animals.

Rachel Evans, 40, of Burlingame adopted her current hound-mix dog from the shelter in 2007.
“It’s been a great and wonderful experience,” she said. “I named him Lucky, but really I’m the lucky one.”

Evans said she was not surprised by the increase of homeless animals arriving at the shelter.
“We hear a lot of sad stories about people having to move to a new place where they couldn’t have a pet,” she said. “The upkeep can get challenging sometimes, especially in this economy.”

Stephanie Halliday, 30, of Foster City started volunteering at the shelter when she was a teenager.
“Every animal deserves to have a loving home, and since I can’t take them all home with me, I want to help them find their forever home,” she said.

The shelter has an open-door policy that allows animals with medical conditions to be placed in care. Currently, it has five veterinarians, 14 veterinary technicians and more than 1,400 volunteers who dedicated more than 135,000 hours in 2010.

Mark Borson, 52, of San Mateo adopted two dogs from the shelter while volunteering there.
Though Borson’s 8-year-old dog has medical insurance, his 15-year-old dog was declined. “It’s a good idea to plan ahead with health insurance for your pets before they become seniors,” said Borson.

Pet care costs for dogs range from $1,314-$1,843 annually for the first year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Medical bills could go even higher depending on the dog’s breed, heredity, pre-existing conditions and age.

“It’s best to prepare for things that are unplanned for,” said Borson. “A $300 bill could be astronomical for some, but for others it’s just another expense for the family.”

In addition to achieving the 100 percent adoption rate last year, the shelter investigated nearly 600 animal cruelty calls. “No dog is ever ignored,” White said. Society’s 2010 highlights
Getting fixed: 6,583 spay/neuter surgeries performed at the shelter’s low-cost clinic plus an additional 1,091 in the shelter’s mobile clinic, which provides free “fixes” in targeted communities.

Total number of spay/neuter surgeries was 7,674. Back to nature: 1,290 wild animals rehabilitated, then returned to their natural habitats. Training: Three classes of dogs graduated from the TAILS program, a partnership with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office which pairs shelter dogs with inmates in a minimum security facility for eight weeks.

Saving animals: Rescued more than 1,000 animals from harm’s way, including dogs stuck in traffic, down horses, ducks trapped in storm drains, and deer snared in fencing.

Source: http://www.peninsulahumanesociety.org/about/news.html
3,749
Total number of animals adopted during 2010
1,878
Total number of cats placed in new homes during 2010
1,999
Number of dogs adopted, a 7 percent increase
672
Number of rabbits, birds and other animals adopted

It is possible! Work life

I believe in maniacs. I believe in type As. I believe that you’ve got to love your work so much that it is all you want to do. I believe you must betray your mistress for your work, you betray your wife for your work; I believe that she must betray you for her work. I believe that work is the one thing in the world that never betrays you, that lasts. If I were going to be a politician, if I were going to be a scientist, I would do it every day. I wouldn’t wait for Monday. I don’t believe in weekends.

If you’re headed for a life that’s only involved with making money and that you hope for satisfaction somewhere else, you’re headed for a lot of trouble. And whatever replaces vodka when you’re 45 is what you’re going to be doing.
…
— Richard Avedon, 1988

On January 12, 2011April 26, 2011 By Tenzin ShakyaIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Prop 8 backers call for reversal of court ruling

On December 20, 2010December 21, 2010 By Tenzin ShakyaIn california, Gender issues, homosexuality, prop 8, san franciscoLeave a comment

by Tenzin Shakya and Audrey Arthur

4872722674_5679bf9dfb_b — Photo Credit: Steve Rhodes (Flickr)

Proponents of Proposition 8 presented their case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Monday, citing procreation and children’s well being as a rational basis to appeal an Aug. 4 ruling deciding that the proposition is unconstitutional.

A three-judge panel, consisting of Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt, Judge Randy Smith and Judge Michael Hawkins, reviewed the case brought forth by protectmarriage.com.

“We believe there is clearly a rational basis justifying the traditional definition of marriage,” said Charles Cooper defense attorney to the appellants. “The key reason that marriage has existed at all, in any society and at any time, is that sexual relationships between men and women naturally produce children.”

Proposition 8 was passed by California voters in 2008 defining marriage as an institution between one man and one woman. However, in an August ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the proposition is unconstitutional and infringes upon equal protection rights of gay and lesbian couples. Proposition 8 proponents then issued an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Although the court has no time limit, most cases heard by the Ninth Circuit are decided between 3-12 months. If the judges decide the proponents have legal standing, their case may continue to the California Supreme Court. Else, the federal appeals court may issue a decision without referring to the Supreme Court.

Cooper argued that the historical definition of marriage has existed now and “for all time immemorial.” Society has no interests in relationships such as platonic male-female relationships or same-sex relationships because of their inability to produce children, Cooper said.

Protestors outside of the San Francisco 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

“When a relationship between a man and a woman becomes a sexual one, society immediately has a vital interest in that,” Cooper said. “Society needs the creation of new life for the next generation.”

The interests of society are threatened by unwanted pregnancies and pregnancies out of wedlock, Cooper said, because such instances often leave the mother to raise the child alone. Cooper suggested that the traditional home of one father one mother is the most beneficial environment to raise a child.

“Society will have to step in and assist that single parent in all likelihood, that is what usually happens, in the raising of that child,” Cooper said. “But as well as the undeniable fact that children raised in that circumstance have poor outcomes.”

Judge Reinhart of Los Angeles responded, “That sounds like a good argument for prohibiting divorce.” The statement initiated a wave of laughter throughout the courtroom.

He also questioned how such an argument would invalidate a same-sex couple from raising children in California and creating a happy, healthy family unit.

Cooper stated he was attempting to give examples of procreation to exhibit the clear distinctions among same-sex couples and opposite sex couples.

Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart responded to Cooper’s statements.

“It doesn’t matter how the child comes into the world,” said Stewart. “Family law in California recognizes that same-sex couples do procreate.”

To portray opposite-sex couples as traditional or ideal is demeaning toward same-sex couples, Stewart said, in that it implies gay or lesbian couples are less desirable.

“California does not discourage that in any way or say one is more desirable than the other,” Stewart said.

Theodore Olsen, an attorney who has led the challenge against Proposition 8, reacted to comments made in the appellant’s brief referring to problems that may occur with children if Proposition 8 is overturned.

“Proposition 8 needs to be enacted because the existence of same-sex marriage will make children prematurely occupied with issues of sexuality,” the brief read.

“That is nonsense,” Olsen responded. “If that was the course of justification, it would equally warrant the banning of comic books, television, video games and conversations with other children.”

Olsen criticized campaign methods of Yes on 8 and their emphasis on protecting children from potential harm of same-sex marriages.

“That was the original rationalization–protect our children from thinking that gay marriage is okay,” Olsen said. “Well, what is the matter with that? It must be something with the gay people.”

Olsen said such campaign strategies promote the idea that children must be protected from “these people.”

Judge Norman Randy Smith of Pocatello questioned the validity of any argument due to the equal rights that all couples share.

“What is the rational basis then if homosexuals have all the rights that heterosexual couples have?” asked Smith. “We’re left with a word: marriage.”

Expensive dish causes controversy

On December 12, 2010April 27, 2011 By Tenzin ShakyaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

by Tenzin Shakya, Staff Writer

Fishermen capture millions of sharks each year, cutting off their fins and then throwing the used bodies back into the sea. Shark fins are a highly prized ingredient used in the traditional Asian delicacy, shark fin soup.

Bay Area animal rights activists and environmentalists recently petitioned for legislation to ban all shark fin products in California in an effort to raise the shark population and restore balance in the ecosystem.

The San Francisco-based Aquarium of the Bay collected more than 3,600 individual letters that will be sent to the National Marine Fisheries Service in hopes of raising awareness for a ban on shark finning.

The tradition of the soup began centuries ago during the Ming dynasty in China as a delicacy fit for only emperors and noble members of society. The soup became a symbol of statues and families began serving it at banquets and weddings across Asia as a way of honoring special occasions.

In the Chinatown district alone, there are more than 20 restaurants serving the soup for an average of $32 per serving. The soups are priced as high as $100 per serving at some high-end restaurants.

“It’s a way of sharing expensive, rare items to tell others that they are special,” said SF State alumni Christopher Winn, an advocate for the protection of sharks from overfishing and a volunteer with Sea Steward, a non-profit shark conservation and documentary film organization.

Making shark fin soup is a tradition that SF State student Kim Nyugen and her mother practice.

“My mother makes it occasionally and a shark is just another fish for her,” she said. “It’s pretty tasty and we only serve it on rare occasions.”

The shark finning process results in more than 73 million shark deaths annually, according to Oceana, the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation.

“Shark fins are the most unsustainable seafood product being served,” said David McGuire, director of Sea Steward. “The problem is that fins are coming from other countries, almost entirely certainly from the finning fishery.”

However, some cooks have found creative ways to take the ‘shark’ out of shark fin soup.

Award-wining San Francisco chef Corey Lee, of Benu restaurant in San Francisco, has cooked up his own alternative for consumers who wish to enjoy the controversial dish.

Lee serves faux shark fin soup to his customers in the belief that the flavor and nutrients actually come from the other ingredients that are used to prepare the soup.

“The ‘shark fin’ that we have on our menu is not really shark fin,” said Carey Snowden, administrative manager at Benu. “Chef Lee, appreciating both the unsustainability of the dish and the culinary importance of it, used hydrocolloids to develop a faux shark fin for the soup.”

By definition, hydrocolloids are substances that mix gel and water together. Many hydrocolloids come from natural substances and have been used in various cultures around the world.

Congress banned the practice of shark finning in U.S. waters in 2000. However, transporting shark fins by sea is not illegal, which allows fishermen to practice shark finning elsewhere and export the fins to the Bay Area.

The Shark Conservation Act of 2009 planned to close these loopholes. The legislation passed the House of Representatives last year only to be blocked in the U.S Senate by Sen. John Rockefeller in a filibuster blocking all committee votes.

Over the summer, Hawaii became the first state to pass a law that banned not only shark finning but also made it illegal to possess, sell or distribute shark fins in the state.

If the SCA, also known as SB 850, had passed in the United States, the loophole that currently allowed the transporting of fins to the country would be illegal. However, many sharks are still protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

With the 111th Congress nearly out of session, activists are unsure of where SB 850 stands. However, that has not stopped them from localizing the issue by campaigning for local legislation in cities worldwide.

Though many other species impact life under water, sharks affect the nature of the sea the most, swimming high on top of the food chain. Within the last two decades, the shark population has decreased by nearly 90 percent, according to Sea Steward’s website.

Some consumers have no plans to quit consuming shark fin soup, however.

“I eat it because it is good and there are several different ways to make it,” said Luly Lui as she stepped out of Mayflower Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown. “Also, it’s good for you since it has a lot of nutrients in the soup. Unfortunately it is a bit pricey.”

Aside from the animal rights argument, some groups have also said that the dish may not, in fact, be safe for consumption.

Studies conducted by WildAid, an organization with a mission to reduce consumer demand for endangered wildlife products and to encourage responsible energy consumption behavior, show that sharks have the highest levels of toxic mercury among other fish and that shark fins are a health hazard, especially for pregnant women.

According to the U.S Food and Drug Administration, most sharks have more mercury intake than is considered safe for humans.

Using digital media to raise awareness, WildAid started producing campaigns online featuring some of China’s biggest celebrities, such as Jackie Chan and Yao Ming, in an attempt to change society’s attitudes toward the soup.

For some, these campaigns have swayed them away from the tradition.

“When I lived in Hong Kong, I had a lot of shark (fin) soup” said Kwan Lee, a resident of Chinatown. “Last year, I saw a movie about it and it was so sad that I stopped eating shark fin soup.”