the asian and pacific islander wellness center. pplause] founded in 1987 as a grass-roots response to the hiv/aids crisis in the asian and pacific islander community, whose center is a health services and education, research and policy organization, his mission is to educate, support, and power and advocate for asian and pacific islander communities, and particularly, for those living with or at risk for hiv/aids, as the oldest american not as profit that focuses on api communities are and how and a teddy services, the organization has been effective in putting innovative and holistic and effective programs and services in place and programs that benefit all communities. in addition to help and counseling services, the organization has lost numerous innovative initiatives to fight stigma as well as from a generational understanding of issues facing the asian-pacific american families and communities. congratulations. [applause] >> the good evening. thank you so much. of i and the executive director of asian and pacific islander well

the asian and pacific islander wellness center. pplause] founded in 1987 as a grass-roots response to the hiv/aids crisis in the asian and pacific islander community, whose center is >> weren't they great? i think they deserve another round of your thanks. they are thurgood marshall high school like school crew. -- light show crew. they were formed to demonstrate asian culture through the art of glow sticks. glow sticks are synonymous with the buyer dancing from hawaii. they did a great job with those close sticks. -- with those glow stick. i am going to serve as your mc. >> i like to welcome you to the multipurpose room. we did a ribbon cutting with the -- on friday. it houses the health center and child development center. this is a gorgeous green building and we are happy to be in this building to make a special announcement. many of you

it incorporates both group treatment and individual treatment for asian and pacific islanders who are struggling with chemical dependency. we use incentives to keep people motivated in treatment and we use both sort of informal and formal interventions. i like the diversity of the clientele that we get here at team 360. regardless of ethnicity, each of their stories is so different from the next. but for some reason, when they come into group, they support each other and they know how to- there's just this warmth and this support, even though they are so different. it's just a very comfortable place to be at and i think there's a lot of open-minded individuals. so like if i come in, they are not going to be like look at that drug addict. just like the opposite, they are like out here willing to help you out. the challenge and the rewards of what i do in recovery is that i get to see individuals really improve their lives, not only in their recovery, but focus on their everyday stressors, and they are able to cope with it in a much better improved way. our program is based on the matri

we also celebrate what we call the asian-pacific islanders as well, in terms of culture, experience, and multidisciplinary arts. >> the festival is actually very wide-ranging. you have 16 venues, and how many different performing arts centers? >> we have over 85 artists participating, 16 venues, 21 events. there are over 15 groups that are performing. >> there recently kicked off at the beginning of may and will continue through june 13? correct? >> that is correct. unlike in the past years, we have had to expand the festival because there has been so much activity and so many people want to be part of the celebration. we're very honored and pleased to have the festival going all the way into june. >> we're kind of coming in on one of the groups. >> francis is one of the pioneers of the asian american jazz movement and is also one of san francisco's very own. we're very honored at the cultural center that we can be part of the program. >> an addition to him, what are some of the other highlights of the festival? >> we have three gallery openings in the festival. one is called reclaim

to know, here in san francisco, the city and county, one-third of the population is asian american and pacific islanderat is why if you look at all of us who were able to be here tonight to celebrate this particular month in this particular fashion -- clearly, one-third of us living in the city of san francisco are asian- americans and pacific islanders. that is why it is so important to know that our voices count, and our boys in a celebration like this counts as we lead the nation in a great celebration. right now, i would like to call upon the san francisco assessor, bill ping, who is here to present the city's proclamation from our mayor of sentences go. i would like you all to say come on up bill. thank you for being here with us. give him a warm welcome. he is our san francisco assessor, bill ping. [applause] >> thank you, jan. can i ask some other commissioners to join me on stage? i know that commissioners mar and chu are here. if there are other elected officials, if you could join me. our community in san francisco is something we are extremely proud of. frankly, if it was not for all of you

the last census showed, we were 53% asian-pacific islander. the community has continued to grow and change. everyone has really embraced that. we liked that sort of diversity here. >> now, let's meet the president of the dogpatch neighborhood association. she will tell us about life in dogpatch, a clean neighborhood on the eastern edge of potrero hill, and we will learn how the residents convinced the city to a vigil -- to designate the area a historic district. >> dogpatch and the health and cottages are the historic houses in the area. those were built for the union ironwork. this really is one of the most original live-work neighborhoods in san francisco. because of this mix of housing and industrial, they need to sit in terms of scale and mass and height for the neighborhood. during the whole dot-com boom, we saw many move into the neighborhood. we found ourselves in combat before the planning commission for one project after another, and that was actually an impetus for the community to try to become a historic district. >> the process to

meg whitman has also touted her support for asian and pacific islanders. >>> the president is scheduled to attend a private fundraiser in san francisco on thursday for pamela harris. harris worked on the president campaigned in 2008 and is running for state attorney general and is in a tight race against republican steve fully. >>> a federal judge says she's inclined to deny a request by the white house to delay her order over the military's don't ask don't tell policy. the judge said she would make a ruling by late today or tomorrow but indicated she would deny the justice department request to keep in place the ban on openly gay service members while the federal government appeals for injunction. >>> city leaders in seeing carlos are at a meeting in this hour that could dictate the future of emergency services. they voted to eliminate its police force and as christien kafton reports seeing carlos is considering doing the same thing to its fire department. >> reporter: with sales and property taxes down, they are looking to outsource fire and emergency services as a way to cut more tha

wants to be governor again, jerry brown was in san francisco picking up the endorsement of asian pacific islander leaders and he again was criticizing his opponent for not releasing how much money she herself would save under her proposal to eliminate the capital gains tax, which he favors keeping. >> she can talk all she wants but the truth is she wants to enrich herself and her contributors and the very wealthiest people in our society. >> reporter: in a satellite interview a few minutes later i asked former ebay ceo and billionaire meg whitman to respond to her opponent's accusations. >> well, it's ridiculous that jerry brown is asserting that i'm running for governor to make money. okay, he said what i'm going to make 10 or $15 million in capital gains? i don't even know if that's the right number but lets say it is. anyone in their right mind would not spend $140 million to save $15 million. >> reporter: whitman says eliminating the tax would create jobs as for president obama and his wife coming here to stump for her opponent. >> you would not have all these democrat leaders including the p

the candidate for governor appeared with top asian and pacific islanders elected officials. there was support announced for brown at the conference. brown sees the job as one that brings people together. >> i'm confident that after these years of what i call break down that we're ready for a breakthrough and i say that with full knowledge of how difficult the political process is. >> first asian american -- >> reporter: he says he will spend a lot of time on the road over the next two weeks talking to voters in every part of the country. he plans to sue his schedule in a few days. >>> the register of voters will lead on online web nare to help understand ranked choice voting. for the first time ever it will be used in the upcoming e. coli election in three cities in al immediate damore county, burkery, oakland and more. it asks people to choose a first, second and third choice candidate for a single office. this eliminates the need for an expensive run off election. you can go to ktvu.com for more election information. there are details how to register. again, today is the l

contrary to what some think, all asian americans and pacific islanders excel academically and face noarriers. my parents cared about my educational success very much because growing up in laos during the war they never had an opportunity to go to school. and they tried the best they could to support me in any way possible but still in order for me to attend a university i've had to save up on my own working the past six years while going to school full time. and while i went to a public university, i will be graduating this june with over $30,000 in student loans. however, i do believe that no student should be denied a high quality education just because they can't afford one. i believe one nation working together can change this. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> good afternoon, brothers and sisters, my name is isaiah tony, a student from oakland, california studying here at the george washington university. i have the great honor and privilege of working with jobs with justice in the united states student association as the d.c. coordinator for the student labor action

pacific. >> china's growing presence in the southeast. >> our state of confrontation when southeast asian nations and china, which has laid claim to a number of small islands in the south chinese sea. china's military is strengthening its surveillance and military operations in the area under the pretext of protecting china's fishing fleets. the government of neighboring countries think china is proceeding with the intention of dominating the south china seas. china's presence presents a great threat to fishermen in the area. in the case of vietnam, many of their fishing boats have been captured by china. all of their fish, petrol and even boats have been confiscated. seven vietnamese fishing boats were captured by chinese authorities last year and this year at least three fishing boats were confiscated. >> translator: the chinese pointed guns at us and ordered us to go aboard their ship. then we were held on an island for 16 days. >> we were punched if we raised our heads. we were terrified. >> in response, vietnam's government is strengthening its ties with the united states, its former enemy. the philippines and indonesia are also deepening their milita

pacific. >> china's growing presence in the southeast. >> our state of confrontation when southeast asian nations and china, which has laid claim to a number of small islands in the south chinese sea. china's military is strengthening its surveillance and military operations in the area under the pretext of protecting china's fishing fleets. the government of neighboring countries think china is proceeding with the intention of dominating the south china seas. china's presence presents a great threat to fishermen in the area. in the case of vietnam, many of their fishing boats have been captured by china. all of their fish, petrol and even boats have been confiscated. seven vietnamese fishing boats were captured by chinese authorities last year and this year at least three fishing boats were confiscated. >> tnslator: t chinese ind guns at us and ordered us to go aboard their ship. then we were held on an island for 16 days. >> we were punched if we raised our heads. we were terrified. >> in response, vietnam's government is strengthening its ties with the united states, its former enemy. the philippines and indonesia are also deepening their military coope