January 3, 2025 | Vol. 54, Issue 1

The only bilingual Chinese-English Newspaper in New England

Education

Review: Haruki Murakami’s ‘The City and Its Uncertain Wall’ Lacks Magic Touch

Sometimes it’s difficult to witness the precipitous quality drop of a great writer. In the case of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, the drop in quality is less disastrous than it is tedious. Murakami’s new novel “The City and its Uncertain Walls” comes six years after “Killing Commendatore,” itself an excessive mixture of perversity and magic realism. Murakami’s new novel has its origins in a short story published in 1980 and his 1985 novel “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the […]

MIT ‘Bans’ Student Over Essay

Attorney Calls Action ‘Chilling’ Threat to Free Speech The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has banned a South Asian American grad student from campus and is threatening to boot him from the university for an article he published related to pro-Palestinian protesting, according to the student and his lawyer, who calls the punishment a threat to free speech. MIT banned Prahlad Iyengar, a second-year electrical engineering doctoral student, earlier this month for an academic essay he penned in “Written Revolution,” a […]

The Suppressed Speech of Wamsutta (Frank B.) James

Editor’s note: The following is being reprinted with permission for two reasons. One, in honor of Native American Heritage Month, and, two, as a celebration of free speech and the right to freedom of expression and thought. The speech was to have been delivered at Plymouth in 1970. Three hundred fifty years after the Pilgrims began their invasion of the land of the Wampanoag, their “American” descendants planned an anniversary celebration. Still clinging to the white schoolbook myth of friendly […]

Remembering the Life and Work of N. Scott Momaday, First Native American to Win Pulitzer

N. Scott Momaday, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning novelist and poet, was a leader and trailblazer for modern Native American literature, with his award-winning novel, “House Made of Dawn” — the first work written by a Native American author to win the Pulitzer Prize. The book inspired a generation of Native American writers. As the U.S. celebrates the contributions of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples for National Native American Heritage Month, we reflect on Momaday’s life, work, and lasting impact both on […]

Muslim Teacher Doxed, Harassed Online

Among untold number in state subjected to false claims of antisemitism Throughout the past 13 months, claims of antisemitism have erupted locally and nationwide leading to high profile civil rights complaints, congressional outrage and news reports claiming a crisis of hate. But a parallel story of discrimination has gone largely hidden from public view: The stories of Muslim and Arab Americans and others who have had their careers and livelihoods thrown into jeopardy by baseless and defamatory claims of antisemitism. […]

Volunteer Annie Lee Honored at ABCD Boston’s Heroes Gala

The Asian American Civic Association, publisher of the Sampan, nominated volunteer Annie Lee as a Community Hero at the Action Community Development Corporation of Boston ‘s Annual Gala this year. Every year ABCD honors individuals who have served their communities. The AACA nominated Lee for her leadership as a founding member of the Voyagers, AACA’s youth services center. Lee, pictured second to left at top right, came to the AACA as a participant of a coding program offered by the […]

We Must Guard Our Rights to Free Speech and Dissent

This election has been portrayed as critical for the future of our democracy. But a key part of that democracy, our First Amendment rights, will no doubt remain under attack – no matter who wins. Republican candidate and former president, Donald Trump, openly threatens those who do not agree with him. At the same time, vice president and Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris – and Pres. Joe Biden – are guilty of doing little to protect the rights of those who […]

For Families With No College Education, B.C.’s Messina School Offers a First Shot

At Messina College, a new branch of Boston College, students have the chance to be the first in their family to graduate college. Arielys Lugo, 18, is one such student who’s a member of the inaugural class that started earlier this summer. Messina “was everything I wanted in one school,” Lugo told the Sampan, during a recent visit to the college at its leafy Brookline campus. “I didn’t really know if I wanted to be in a four-year school, so […]

Fewer Minority Students FillHub’s Higher Education Seats

In the first school year since a United States Supreme Court ruling effectively ended affirmative action admissions policies, we’re already seeing shifts in who’s filling classrooms in colleges and universities in the Boston area. Following the six-to-three ruling, advocates of affirmative action feared that the proportion of minorities admitted into colleges and universities would fall, cutting off educational opportunities to those who need them the most. In addition Sampan interviewed and surveyed many area students who expressed dismay at the […]

‘Join or Die’ Argues Clubs Can Save America. But Is It Just Groupthink?

Is the downfall of Democracy dependent on something as simple as the decline of social clubs? That’s the central theme of “Join or Die,” a documentary film that screened at film festivals in 2023 and is currently making the rounds at community film screenings across the country. “The trend toward greater polarization in America did not begin five years ago. It certainly did not begin with Covid. It didn’t begin with Trump. It began 50 years ago. You can see […]

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