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news
Fighting for the
Asian American community
By Ayako Ando
On-line Forty-Niner
One faculty and
one staff member at Cal State Long Beach are working with
other Asian Americans to establish the Little Tokyo Recreation
Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Alan Nishio, associate vice president for student services
at CSULB, graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in political
science. He worked in the public policy administration at
the University of Southern California, and at UCLA for two
and a half years as the director of the Asian American Studies
Center.
He had also taught Asian American studies at the University
of Massachusetts and did research in Japan for one year.
Nishio has been at CSULB for more than 29 years, working for
student services and working on Asian American community activities.
"I was involved in study of different ethnic groups in
the United States in the early days, and I found it very interesting,"
Nishio said. "I want to research and teach not only Asian
American people, but also other people in America about the
history and contribution of Asian American people in the United
States."
CSULB students should use the time as students to fully explore
all the wonderful opportunities we have on this campus and
in this community because there are different ethnic groups
and exciting cultures, Nishio said.
Another person who is also involved in the recreation center
project is Dean Toji, an assistant professor of Asian and
Asian American studies.
Toji came to CSULB after he graduated from UCLA, majoring
in geography, and has been teaching Asian American studies
for two years here.
"I think CSULB is the perfect place for Asian American
studies because Long Beach is right in the middle of one of
the biggest Asian American communities," Toji said. "There
are many different ethnic group, so I can learn a lot from
the students who are coming from communities I'm interested
in."
W
hen Nishio and Toji were working with the Japanese American
community, they said they realized that there are problems
in the community such as the lack of access to community services
and housing.
As a result, Nishio, Toji and nearly 40 other Asian American
community members decided to establish the Little Tokyo Recreation
Center to help support the community and increase recreational
facilities in the downtown Los Angeles area.
They are now working to get the city to agree that there is
a need for recreational facility in that area.
Nishio said not only Japanese American people, but also other
ethnic groups will be able to learn the history and the contribution
of Japanese Americans at the center. People may join in traditional
Japanese activities such as sports, martial arts - karate,
aikido and kendo, flower arrangement called ikebana, or a
nutrition program for senior citizens in this recreation center.
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Alan
Nishio
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