Word: ucla
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...every way that counts, Took Took Thongthiraj is the personification of American promise. Engaging, intelligent and an achiever, the 22-year-old UCLA senior radiates confidence. "I'm 100% American and 100% Asian," she declares. "A lot of Asian Americans feel forced to choose between the two, which is a message they get from their parents. But I've worked hard to create a cultural hybrid for myself...
...youngest of six daughters born to a Thai couple who immigrated to Southern California nearly 30 years ago, Thongthiraj has posted a perfect grade-point average of 4.0 at UCLA. She hopes to go on to win a master's degree and a Ph.D., with the eventual aim of teaching women's and Asian- American studies at the university level. Her story sounds like every parent's dream come true, but it is hardly unique. Around the country, young people of Asian descent seem to embody the tongue-in-cheek demographics of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon, where...
...violinist Midori; writers Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club) and Maxine Hong Kingston (China Men); Sonny Mehta, editor of the distinguished Knopf book- publishing house; and filmmaker Wayne Wang (Dim Sum). Consider also: Chang- Lin Tien, the chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley; Paul Terasaki, a UCLA professor of surgery who developed tissue typing for organ transplants; and Vinod Khosla, one of the founding partners of the computer- workstation manufacturer Sun Microsystems...
...UCLA, Thongthiraj is helping change that view. She is director of the Asian Pacific Coalition, an umbrella group of 19 ethnic organizations on campus. In promoting cultural awareness and aiding new immigrants, especially hard-luck cases from Indochina, the coalition encourages them to articulate a more assertive political voice and American identity...
...three years ago, California was home to 2.85 million Asian Americans, about 38% of the nation's total. Between the 1970 and 1990 censuses, their numbers in Los Angeles County alone increased fivefold. Paul Ong, a UCLA urban-planning professor and author, predicts that by the year 2020, Asians in California will number 8.5 million, accounting for about 20% of the state's population...