Carolyn Classen

Carolyn Sugiyama Classen, a life long Democrat, was born & raised in the State of Hawaii, was a Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye on Capitol Hill, and practiced law for a while. In Tucson she worked as a tribal staff attorney for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and later was the Interim Executive Director of the now defunct Domestic Violence Commission. In 2008 she became a “My Tucson” guest columnist for the Tucson Citizen newspaper, then continued blogging for Tucsoncitizen.com for over four and a half years. Her blogsite was entitled “Carolyn’s Community” about community events and some political news, until Gannett Publishing shut down the site on January 31, 2014. She started with Blog for Arizona on Feb. 11, 2014. Part time she sat as a Hearing Officer in Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts Small Claims Division since April, 2005 for 15 years. She is married to University of Arizona Distinguished Professor Albrecht Classen, a native of Germany. They have one son, who lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and daughter. She is also the Editor of the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition website, www.southernazjapan.org (since Jan. 2013).

2016 Peace Fair & Music Festival in Tucson

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Musical Line-up for 2016 Peace Fair 34th Annual Peace Fair & Music Festival Saturday, February 27, 2016, 11am-4pm Reid Park Outdoor Stage MUSICAL LINE-UP 11:00 a.m. — One HeartBeat 11:50 a.m. — Songs of Compassion, Little Laura 12:05 p.m. — Tucson’s Raging Grannies 12:20 p.m. — Sacred Space Presents 1:00 p.m. — Gamelan Orchestra 2:00 … Read more

6th Annual Rodeo Days Arts Celebration at Plaza Palomino

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Whoopee! It’s that time again for Rodeo Days at Plaza Palomino, 2900 N. Swan Rd. (SE corner of Swan Rd. x Ft. Lowell Rd.) Here’s the exciting schedule for Saturday Feb. 27: 10AM – 5PM Free and open to the public 10:15-11:45 Mariachi Herradura 12:00-12:45 Quick Draw with Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Fmr. Mayor Bob … Read more

Mock the Vote at The Capitol Steps

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at the Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. on Saturday Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m. “Presented by the UA Hillel Foundation, The Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. The group was born in December, 1981 when some staffers for Senator Charles Percy … Read more

Sign up for an Urban Farm Tour in Tucson

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It’s less than two weeks until the Feeding Tucson Urban Farm Tour on March 5th.  “Time to sign up for this important exploration of the food Tucson currently grows and what we need to do, to have more. During this 5-hour tour, participants will visit different sets of large and small-scale aquaponics and hydroponics systems, … Read more

“Advancing the Movement” for Asian Pacific American Studies at UA

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Yesterday at the Cesar E. Chavez building at University of Arizona 100 students, faculty, administrators, and community leaders sat down together for the first Asian Pacific American Studies Conference, sponsored by UA Asian Pacific American Studies Affairs  (APASA).  The theme of the conference was “Advancing the Movement” and the primary question raised was “Why don’t we have an Asian Pacific American Studies program at the UA”? According to the keynote speaker Professor Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, there are 64 universities in the U.S. with such a program, but none at the University of Arizona (only at ASU in Arizona). Several of the speakers mentioned that Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic immigrant population group in the U.S. (more than Hispanics).

ST_12.06.16_AA_immigration

weblink source: Pew Research Center:  http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/asianamericans-graphics/ 

“Dr. Allyson” as she is called is a California born & educated Filipina American who got her Ph.D. from UCLA in Ethnic Studies. She is now a Professor in the College of Ethnic Studies & Education Leadership at San Francisco State U. She spoke enthusiastically about the past of their struggle to establish an APA studies program at SFS. She then outlined their clear purpose of ARC: access, relevance and community, in order to reach their power and core values. There are 17 current faculty members, 6-8 lecturers, 2500 students, 50 courses, 60-80 Majors/minors and 70 Masters’ degrees granted in their program, which had its start in 1969 with a 5 month student strike. She encouraged the student audience to be “agents of social change”, especially after seeing her students graduate and become teachers and professors.

SFS University Professor Dr. Allyson Tintianhco-Cubales
SFS University Professor Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, courtesy of APASA

Following the keynote speaker, the conference attendees could choose between 2 workshops at 10 a.m:
Session 1A: Asian Pacific Americans and the Media (Dr. Celeste Gonzales de Bustamante, UA College of Journalism

Session 1B: APA Studies Place in Ethnic Studies (Dan Xayaphanh, UA Director of APASA as moderator –with panelists Dr. Ted Tong, UA College of Pharmacy, Dr. Anna O’Leary, UA Mexican American Studies, Dr. Keith James, UA American Indian Studies)

At 11 a.m. the workshop choices were:
Session 2A: The Value of Ethnic Studies: A Student Perspective (Dr. Daisy Rodriguez-Pitel, PCC adminstrator)
Session 2B: APA Studies in AZ (an ASU Perspective) – Dr. Kathryn Nakagawa and Dr. Karen Leong, associate professors from ASU School of Social Transformation

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