SAJAforum

CRIME: Father accused of strangling daughter near Atlanta

An awful story from the Atlanta area. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

A Jonesboro man faces murder charges in the strangulation death of his 25-year-old daughter early Sunday over what police said was her desire to end an arranged marriage.

Chaudhry Rashid, 54, is being held at the Clayton County jail and faces an initial court appearance Monday afternoon.

Police say he apparently became angry during an argument in which the victim, Sandeela Kanwal, told him she wanted out of the marriage, Clayton police spokesman Timothy Owens said.

The father and daughter are both of Pakistani descent, and police said language barriers have slowed their investigation.

A police report released Monday offered new details:

Rashid's wife, Gina Rashid, 49, called police just before 2 a.m. Sunday and told them she had been awakened and heard screaming in a language she could not understand. Gina Rashid, who is African-American, left the house out of fear and called police from nearby.

Gina Rashid told police Kanwal wanted to end the arranged marriage and had not spoken to her father in two months because of their disagreement on the matter.

Please post comments, links, updates, etc, in the comments section.

CRIME: See all SAJAforum postings in the CRIME category and see the U.S. Desi Crime Map.

FOLLOW UP: High-Flying American School of Aviation Grounded

We recently posted about the sudden shutting down of the flight school, American School of Aviation, based in Atwater, California, that left over 100 international enrolled students stranded and without a house. It turns out the students, many of whom are from India, had paid $40,000 upfront for the 10-month course.

Mainstream papers in the US haven’t covered this story, barring two articles in the Merced Sun-Star, one on June 20th when the school virtually went on sale and another one on 26th June before the students were evicted.

Lisa Tsering of India-West has covered the story in detail, including charges such as a lapsed insurance policy, the absence of a business license and eight violation charges levied against the school by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). An FBI investigation for fraud is currently underway.

The American School of Aviation, founded by Manpreet “Prince” Singh and his wife, Reny Kozman, ceased operations last week after months-long troubles that included a lawsuit for unpaid fuel bills, a state code violation for insufficient insurance, at least eight violations imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration and an unpaid utility bill leading to the eviction of the students from the former Air Force barracks where they’d been housed.

“I can’t do miracles,” Kozman told India-West by phone June 27. “We’re downsizing big-time. These kids have gotta grow up. I can’t solve everyone’s problems.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has started an inquiry into whether the school’s owners were committing fraud, a representative from the Merced County District Attorney’s office told India-West June 30.

“The owner of the school is here on a Green Card from India,” said Merced County Deputy District Attorney Walter Wall. “So it raises international issues.” A call to the FBI public relations officer in Sacramento was not returned by press time. <snip>

County officials grounded ASA’s flights in May because the school’s insurance policy had lapsed, and city officials accused the school of operating without a business license.

PAKISTAN: Five questions for Aitzaz Ahsan, leader of the lawyers' movement

This morning, Aitzaz Ahsan, the President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association and the leader of Pakistan’s “lawyers’ movement,” spoke to a large audience at the New York City Bar Association about the lawyers’ movement, the importance of an independent judiciary, and the role of U.S. policy in Pakistan’s judicial crisis. During the past year, the New York City Bar has played an active role in support of Pakistan’s lawyers and judges — organizing a solidarity rally with other area bar associations after Gen. Pervez Musharraf imposed “emergency” rule in November, issuing a statement strongly urging Musharraf to restore the rule of law, and awarding an honorary membership, one of the organization's highest honors, to Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

In his remarks, Ahsan thanked U.S. lawyers and bar associations for their “unstinting support for constitutionalism, rule of law, and reinstatement of an independent judiciary in Pakistan.” He said that last November’s rally — which drew hundreds of New York lawyers to the steps of the courthouse in lower Manhattan — “was an unprecedented collective action, and it was noticed throughout Pakistan.” Ahsan expressed his view that “what has endeared the people of America to the people of Pakistan, despite the adversarial policies of the American administration, has been the support of the bar associations.”

Following his address at the New York City Bar, Ahsan briefly talked to SAJAforum about the lawyers’ movement, the prospects for reinstatement of the judges ousted by Musharraf, and the role of Pakistan’s media:

Q: There’s been much speculation about what caused General Musharraf to try to dismiss the Chief Justice of Pakistan back in March 2007. What do you think caused him to take that step?

A: I think that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz poisoned Musharraf’s ears after the Steel Mills Case, which was a judgment that was an indictment of the Prime Minister. After the Supreme Court decided that case, people started saying — including myself in speeches in the National Assembly — that the Prime Minister could be indicted, and ought to be indicted. So there is some evidence of the fact that Shaukat Aziz began to advise Musharraf to fire the Chief Justice, and played on his fear that the Chief Justice was going to decide against him in his bid to be the President for another term. So I think it was mainly this, a paranoia that was created in Musharraf’s mind by Shaukat Aziz.

Q: In the past, most Supreme Court justices in Pakistan have cooperated with military coup leaders and even have sought to legitimize military takeovers in their judicial decisions. What do you think has made this moment different and caused so many judges to react differently this time?

DESI SPOTTING: High-flying American School of Aviation grounded

In the days after 9/11, the term "flying while brown" was coined to describe the sometimes tense situation facing South Asians and Arabs of various hues. There were several documented cases of so-called "Muslim-looking" people (including Sikhs) being asked to leave flights they had just boarded, and cases of general harassment at airports.

Given the fact that some of the 9/11 hijackers were trained at American flight schools, I had presumed it was difficult/impossible for brown folks to go anywhere near such schools. This post is an item about a school that not only welcomed brown folks - it was RUN by brown folks.

That's the logo of the American School of Aviation, a flight school based in Atwater, California (about two hours by road from San Francisco). I had never heard of the school until I got an e-mail from Savita Patel, who works for Voice of America's Hindi Service and Aaj Tak, a news channel in India (she can be reached at patelsavita[at]hotmail.com). She wrote:

I filed a story on ASA Flying school operating from the Castle Airbase in Atwater in California's Merced county. 107 Indian students were evicted from their hostel on Friday. Each of them had paid $45,000 to get into a 10-month flying course to get their pilot's
license and were hopeful of getting great jobs in India after that. The school has been shut for a month now and the management has not paid fuel costs to another flight support company and not paid the hostel electricity and water bills. Hence the students were evicted after the electricity was cut off. It was a TV story for Aajtak and was in the headlines on the channel. I wanted to keep you informed so that others can pick this up.

When I interviewed Reny Kozman, co-owner and VP of ASA (and wife of CEO Prince Singh), she blamed the whole situation on rising fuel prices. She says that she will try her best to run the school again from some other airport in a much smaller operation ASA had an office in Gurgaon, which shut down a couple of months back. They used to source students from many cities in India via agencies.

Some students who can afford to pay about $10,000 to $15,000 more will complete their required flying hours in other flying schools, like the one in Hayward. Some others who can't pay more, are stranded. Some want to wait and see if the school starts again, as the owners are saying. Some others who can't stay on for very long, if it takes more time, will go back home without their licenses. As of now, they are staying with friends, relatives and
some at small motels. Gemini Flight Support Company, which has filed a case against ASA has provided some of its barracks to some students and comes with a relatively low rental. Stan Thurston, the GM of Gemini told me that blaming it on fuel costs is irrational and other flying schools were feeling the pinch as well, but are functioning well.

TECH: Ash Patel moves up at Yahoo

Ash Patel, an early Yahoo! employee (he's been there since 1996), features prominently in the latest restructuring at the company. From NYT:

The new structure consolidates responsibility around two senior executives, Hilary Schneider and Ash Patel.<snip>
Mr. Patel started at Yahoo in 1996. Responsible for a broad swath of the company’s technology infrastructure, he will now head the newly formed audience products division that will be responsible for product strategy and product management for many crucial Internet services, including search and e-mail. <snip>
The executive responsible for running Yahoo search, Vish Makhijani, who is also leaving, is being replaced by Tuoc Luong, on an interim basis.

From WSJ:

The plan shifts more responsibility to two senior executives. Ash Patel, a Yahoo veteran who has been in charge of efforts to open up its sites to other developers, will lead a division in charge of global product strategy.

From the Washington Post:

Under the new order, announced yesterday, executive vice presidents Hilary Schneider and Ash Patel are being given expanded responsibilities over Yahoo's products and sales divisions.

He's the only South Asian on the official management team page. His now out-of-date bio is below. Post your comments, please.

WEBCAST: Dileepan Sivapathasundaram on Zimbabwe and his ordeal

Back in April 2008, Dileepan Sivapathasundaram was thrust into the media spotlight when he was detained and then released in Zimbabwe at the same that that New York Times reporter Barry Bearak was arrested (he has since been released, too).

With all the news about Zimbabwe's mockery of an election today, we thought we'd remind you of a webcast we hosted with Sivapathasundaram on May 5, 2008, a month after his release. He discussed his work in Zimbabwe, analyzed the elections, talked about the future of that part of Africa, and much, much more.

Meet Dileepan Sivapathasundaram, a U.S. democracy worker who was arrested in Zimbabwe in April while helping local groups monitor the elections. We discussed his detention, how he was freed and his work as a democracy activist. Sivapathasundaram is a Sri Lankan-American who works for the National Democratic Institute ("a non-partisan, non-profit,
non-governmental org that aims to support democratic values & practices in more than 60 countries").

Post your comments below. Journalists want to contact him can write to dileepansiva[at]gmail.

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• April 5, 2008: NYT's Barry Bearak arrested in Zimbabwe; Dileepan Sivapathasundaram released (includes CPJ alert)

HEALTH/CRIME: NJ doctor suspended for removing wrong lung

This story has got to be every surgical patient's nightmare - and, I presume, every surgeon's as well. From WNBC.com:

Santusht Perera's physician’s license was suspended after he removed of portions of the wrong lung during surgery and allegedly attempted to conceal the error.

Perera was issued a two-year suspension on June 5 from the State Board of Medical Examiners . The Board’s appellate court upheld the suspension in Perera’s appeal case with a final decision on June 12.

After the surgery, Perera told the patient, Richard Flagg , the right lung tissue, which was wrongfully removed, contained a life-threatening tumor even though he knew it did not.

According to state medical officials, Perera's misconduct prevented Flagg from being properly treated. Before he died in September, 2003, Flagg testified before Congress arguing for patients’ rights in malpractice cases.Perera’s suspension from his practice at Hoboken University Medical Center began June 6.He has been fined $30,000 in penalties and $51,273.10 in reimbursement of costs.
[Video of WNBC report here.]

 

Read the state attorney general's 15-page administrative action complaint from May 16, 2005 (PDF).

This story reminded me of a 1995 medical story in NYC. That's when a New York surgeon operated on the wrong side of the brain of Rajeswari Ayyappan, mother of Bollywood star Sridevi - Ayyappan died later in India.  The hospital then settled with Sridevi's family and that doctor went onto become head of neurosurgery at another hospital, where, in 2000, he was suspended after operating on the wrong side of another patient's brain. Read a 2000 Rediff report on the "Sridevi's mother" doctor.

Post your comments below.

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• Dr. Dipak Desai of Las Vegas accused of infecting thousands with hepatitis (anyone have updates on the Desai story?)
  

OBIT: Vinay Chakravarthy loses battle with leukemia

[UPDATED: Funeral plans in Boston added below. Please continue sharing your thoughts.]

In March 2008, we wrote about the passing of Sameer Bhatia, one of two South Asian men whose struggle with leukemia had caught the imagination of South Asians and others across the U.S. We are sorry to report that the other young man, Vinay Chakravarthy, 29, passed away this morning.

"We are devastated at our loss today," said a spokesperson for the Chakravarthy family. "Vinay was an amazing soul who inspired all of us with his will to live. We take some comfort in knowing his journey may have saved lives through the campaign, and in all the lives he touched with his love and
spirit."

Vinay, through HelpVinay.org and Sameer, through HelpSameer.org, used their illness as a way of mobilizing the community and bringing attention to the lack of South Asians in the national bone-marrow registries.

Vinay was featured in a April 16, 2008, PBS/WGBH special, "The Truth About Cancer," taking on the question, "how far have we come in the war on cancer." You can learn more about the show here; you can watch it here; Vinay's segment begins here (chapter 5).

This is a logo of the PBS show: Vinay with his wife, Rashmi; they were married in 2005.

Vinay's last posting on HelpVinay was on May 12:

Hello everyone!

Once again sorry about the delay in updating all of you especially after the PBS documentary. Well as most my already know since my relapse in January 2008 after BMT, I received a dose of mylotarg which placed me in remission. Since then I have been battling graft versus host disease and multiple complications that have placed me in the ICU three times now. The first time for acute kidney and liver failure and the second, third time for excessive blood loss from the gut. I was successfully treated for all ICU visits, the last stay I required an interventional radiology procedure to stop the internal bleeding. After the procedure I was transferred back to the regular floor and my diet was slowly advanced to normal! I am doing well so far and will be transferring to a physical rehab center here in Boston to get my overall strength back. I hope to be home for good in 2-3 weeks! The rehab facility will provide 3 hours of physical therapy seven days a week, quite intense but should be better for me in the long run.

While I was in the ICU a lot has happened in our community, I want to send my love to Sameer and his family. Please if you need anything let us know, let the community know, we will always be there for you.

Here's what his parents had sent out last year (via SAJAer Seshu Badrinath, Vinay's cousin):

Vinay is the world to us - he is warm, funny, and loving. We have watched him grow from a little baby, to a young boy playing sports, to a fine young man determined to be a doctor, to a man marrying the girl of his dreams. Please help our son to have a chance to live - to be with his wife, with us, and with his friends.

If you aren't registered in the registry (I am, having signed up at a SAJA Convention drive some years back), please do so. Here's info on how to do so, from HelpVinay, SAMAR, the South Asian Marrow Association of Recruiters and MatchPia.org.

FUNERAL INFO - BOSTON, from HelpVinay.org:

Thursday:
Viewing is from 5:00 - 7:00 PM ET
Folks will be saying a few words around 5:30 PM
Location: Mann and Rodgers Funeral Home
Located in JP on the corner of South Huntington and Centre Street

Friday:
Rites/Service will be held in the morning from 9:30 AM onward for about an hour.
Location: Mann and Rodgers Funeral Home
Located in JP on the corner of South Huntington and Centre Street

A private cremation for family members only will be held at 10:30 in the Forest Hills area.

 

Some of you have enquired if you could do something in Vinay's memory. We request that you do not send flowers or other gifts. If you would like to make a donation in Vinay's memory, we would suggest that you donate to the National Donor Marrow Program.

Feel free to also donate in Vinay's name.

Vinay's commitment to finding other South Indian's a match has been made evident to the work that him and the group, helpvinay.org have done thus far for the South Asian Community.

 

Please post your thoughts, comments, etc, below. We will make sure his family sees them.

Earlier: Sameer Bhatia loses battle with leukemia

CRIME: Two students face charges for alleged computer crimes

Those smiling faces are of Omar Khan and Tanvir Singh, each 18 years old. From Fox News:

Two Orange County, Calif., high school seniors were supposed to have graduated Wednesday.

Instead, they're facing serious prison time for alleged crimes that some people might not think are all that serious.

County prosecutors allege Omar Khan, 18, of Coto de Caza, and Tanvir Singh, 18, of Ladera Ranch, broke into Tesoro High School in Las Flores to steal tests and change their own and others' grades on the school computer network.

While Singh allegedly only tried doing it once, Khan apparently did it several times.

Khan's been charged with 69 felony counts and could get more than 38 years in prison. Singh faces four counts and could wind up with three years.

"This is still an ongoing investigation," Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino told the Orange County Register. "We are looking at the possibility that more students were involved. But it's still unclear."
<snip>
Tesoro High School, with 2,800 students, is often ranked as one of the country's best. Both it and Coto de Caza, the gated community where Khan lives, are featured on the TV reality series "Real Housewives of Orange County."

Khan's lawyer's response:

"It's just a very sad situation all the way around," she added. "There's a lot more going on than meets the eye at this point, with a lot of kids."

Defense attorney Carol Lavacol told the Los Angeles Times that Khan was "a really nice kid; he's only 18 years old."

And Singh's lawyer:

"This is certainly not the first time we've heard of a kid cheating," attorney Merlin Stapleton said, arguing the charges were too harsh. "Sometimes they do these types of things simply to see if they can. The only thing that makes this case different is the technology  used."

See Uber Desi coverage. Post your comments, updates and more, below.

CRIME: See all SAJAforum postings in the CRIME category and see the U.S. Desi Crime Map.

WORKPLACE: Former Sikh employee sues Disney World, citing discrimination

A Florida musician who worked for Disney World contends that he was fired because the “Disney look” does not include a beard and a turban.

Sukhbir Channa, a 24-year-old trumpet player, worked at Disney World from late 2005 to early 2006.  In a lawsuit filed against Disney last week he claimed he was dismissed from his job because of his beard and turban. The lawsuit also says Channa reapplied for the job the following year, but was not rehired because of his facial hair.

Channa discussed the case at a Tampa news conference earlier this week.  According to the Orlando Sentinel:

[Channa] is seeking $1 million in damages, class-action status for the lawsuit, and a court order to prevent "further discrimination against Sikh employees and prospective employees."

"It was very insulting to be told I was a great trumpet player, I was qualified for the gig and a strong asset, but my looks still prohibited me from anything that involved me being seen by the public," Channa said.

"This is my career. This is what I do for a living. This is what my passion is," he said.   

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) is representing Channa in the lawsuit.  In a press release posted on SALDEF’s website, chairman Manjit Singh said:

The Walt Disney World Company is widely regarded as the iconic American company. It is shameful for Disney to claim that a person doesn't have the 'Disney Look' because it implies that Sikhs are not sufficiently American.

A Disney spokeswoman told the Sentinel that Channa never reapplied for a position in 2006 and that the company does not discriminate against Sikhs.

"We value and respect diversity in our cast members and treat each request [for an accommodation] individually," spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said. "The type of accommodation varies with the type of request, job and location."

You can watch a WTVJ video story about this, including soundbites from Channa.

What do you think?  Post your comments below.

GLOBALIZATION: New report looks at India & China in pharma R&D

In March 2008, SAJAforum hosted a webcast with Vivek Wadhwa (along with Vinod Dham, "the father of the Pentium chip") about immigration and business. Wadhwa, a technology entrepreneur who is currently a fellow at Harvard Law School and executive in residence at Duke University, wrote to us today about his latest research projects. Take a look below and post your comments, please.

From: Vivek Wadhwa <vivek[at]wadhwa.com>

As you know my team at Duke and Harvard has been studying the globalization of industries. We about to release our first report in a series which shows how India and China are becoming major players in global R&D. Even though China is investing hundreds of billions of dollars into next-generation plants to turn the country into an export power in semiconductors, passenger cars, and specialty chemicals, India is ahead in innovation and R&D.

We observed that in the aerospace industry, Indian companies are designing the interiors of luxury jets, in-flight entertainment systems, collision-control/navigation-control systems, fuel-inverting controls, and other key components of jetliners for American and European corporations. In the automotive industry, Indian engineers are helping to design bodies, dashboards, and power trains for Detroit vehicle manufacturers. In telecom and computer networking, Indians are developing futuristic technologies for the intelligent cities which are being constructed in the Middle East. Indian engineers are also developing technology behind the next generations of cell phones for European and American companies.

The first in our series of reports looks at the pharmaceutical industry. Details of this are provided below The press release below will be on the wire on Wednesday, June 11 morning. Our detailed report can be downloaded from www.globalizationresearch.com.

If anyone wants to contact me, they can write to me directly.

Thanks, Vivek <vivek[at]wadhwa.com>

Among the findings, as highlighted in the press release below:

Through detailed interviews with executives of 16 pharmaceutical firms in China and India on their business models, value-chain activities, partnerships and technology capabilities, the researchers found that:

1. Indian and Chinese companies are making strides in the most lucrative segments of global value chains. In less lucrative segments, such as preclinical testing, animal experimentation and manufacturing, Chinese firms appear to be more prevalent.

2. India is regarded as a more mature venue for chemistry and drug-discovery activities than China.

3. Domestic Indian and Chinese firms rarely have the capital and the regulatory expertise to develop a drug beyond phase II clinical trials. Their commercial development of new intellectual property therefore necessitates relationships with major multinational corporations.

You can download the full report here.

Press release below. Post your comments, please.

ENVIRONMENT: New site features interview with Dr. Pachauri, Nobel winner

I got an e-mail from veteran environment journalist Roger Cohn announcing his new venture:

Yale Environment 360

I wanted to let you know that Yale Environment 360 — a new online magazine devoted to covering the global environment — is up and running at e360.yale.edu. Please go to our site and take a look at some of our articles. You’ll find pieces by noted environmental advocate and writer, Bill McKibben; New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert; climate scientist Richard C.J. Somerville; marine biologist and author Carl Safina; British journalist Fred Pearce; and many other writers, scientists, and thinkers. Our inaugural issue features opinion, analysis, reporting, and discussion on the major environmental issues of the day — from climate change, to growing water shortages, to the challenge of crafting an innovative energy policy in the United States. We showcase reporting from China, the Amazon, and Russia — just a sampling of our global reach — and a provocative interview with Nobel Prize-winner Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

PREZ RACE: NYT news story on Bobby Jindal and his agenda

[SAJAforum sources, resources about the 2008 race]

Here's what the front page of the New York Times website looked like around noon EST today. Must be the first time that two desis who engender such mixed emotions have been featured in separate stories at the top of the site (click to magnify the screengrab).

On the right, you can see a pointer to a profile of M. Night Shyamalan, whose new movie is opening on June 13. See SAJAforum's roundup of pre-release press.

The other desi, of course, is Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, who is part of a lot of buzz about the possibility that he might be a candidate to join Senator John McCain on the Republican ticket this year.

Today, the NYT's Adam Nossiter has the piece above was the first serious assessment of Jindal's possible candidacy inside the news pages of the Times. Back in April, columnist William Kristol had floated Jindal's name in the opinion pages (see our coverage collection below). From today's piece:

Religion and fiscal stringency have a friendly home at the state Capitol here, with a conservative, Bobby Jindal, in the governor’s office, a host of straight-arrow novice legislators eager to please him and an honored spot for the Louisiana Family Forum in the old marble halls.

The newly conservative tone of state government is seeping through a host of successful bills — on school vouchers, creationism, stem-cell restrictions and tax and spending cuts — and it is adding to the speculative frenzy here surrounding Mr. Jindal as a potential vice-presidential choice for Senator John McCain.

Politicians here say they are certain that Mr. Jindal would balance a McCain ticket, and not just because he is an Indian-American. The Christian right has a new champion in Mr. Jindal, a serious Catholic who has said that “in my faith, you give 100 percent of yourself to God.”

Bumper stickers saying “Jindal for V.P.” are circulating here, with increased velocity after the governor’s stay two weekends ago at Mr. McCain’s Arizona ranch. Mr. McCain’s schedule has him campaigning in Louisiana next week, according to his Web site.

“He has everything McCain is lacking,” said State Representative John LaBruzzo, a Republican, speaking of Mr. Jindal. “He’s seen as a true conservative, which McCain is seen as less than.”

FILMS: M. Night Shyalamalan's latest movie, "The Happening"

These are photos from the W. 103rd Street subway station in Manhattan, one of several spots with billboards for a movie opening soon across the country: M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening," an R-rated scary film opening, appropriately, on Friday, June 13 (see the first trailer). Below is a collection of some of the pre-opening press.

Today's business section of the New York Times has a front-page story about Shyamalan and his recent adventures. From "A Hollywood horror story, with a twist," by Allison Hope Weiner, who interviewed him from (that's the word used in the piece, so I presume it was by phone) his office outside Philadelphia:

...movie audiences still know Mr. Shyamalan as the guy who makes scary movies with a twist.

He also has not been able to undo his reputation in Hollywood as a talented filmmaker who will not play by studio rules. After the success of “The Sixth Sense,” he criticized Disney executives, dared to compare his talent to Steven Spielberg’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s and has steadfastly asserted his reputation as an outsider by refusing to move from Philadelphia to Hollywood.

His outsider persona continued to work for him, so long as the films “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable” and “Signs” continued to make money. But when his films started to falter at the box office — his last movie, “Lady in the Water,” was drubbed by critics and ignored by moviegoers — the Hollywood establishment’s support began to wane.

That failure has put considerable pressure on his new film, “The Happening,” an R-rated horror movie for Fox that opens on June 13. Another failure would harm the Shyamalan name and make it difficult for him to keep full control over his films.

Among other things, the piece talks about his next project.

Mr. Shyamalan is also directing “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” a big tent-pole movie based on a Nickelodeon cartoon, scheduled to be released in 2010 for Paramount.

“I obviously did my homework and checked him out before deciding to make the movie. It’s a very important movie for us,” said John Lesher, president of the Paramount Film Group. “He’s collaborative, open to suggestions and wants to make a hit movie. He’s open in the right way. You want a filmmaker who has passion and want him to defend why he believes something is correct.”

SPELLING BEE: Sameer Mishra wins, with 'guerdon'

[Note: Six of the ten last National Spelling Bee winners, including Sameer, are of Indian descent]

Thirteen-year-old Sameer Mishra, a four-time veteran of the National Spelling Bee, finally won the competition, becoming the latest desi to win. He took home the $35,000 cash award and $5,000 in other prizes. From the Associated Press:

The 13-year-old from West Lafayette, Ind., who often had the audience laughing with his one-line commentaries was all business when he aced "guerdon" — a word that appropriately means "something that one has earned or gained" — to win the 81st version of the bee Friday night.

"I don't know about comedy lines, but my parents have been telling me since the beginning that I should always stay calm, cool and collected," said Sameer, who likes playing the violin and video games, and hopes one day to be a neurosurgeon.

Sameer, appearing in the bee for the fourth time and a top 20 finisher the last two years, clenched both fists and put his hands to his face after spelling the winning word. He won a tense duel over first-time participant Sidharth Chand, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., who finally stumbled on "prosopopoeia," a word describing a type of figure of speech.

Sameer was a crowd favorite throughout the tournament. When told one of his words in the semifinals was a dessert, he deadpanned: "That sounds good right now." He rolled his eyes and muttered "wonderful" when told that one of his words had five different language roots. He once asked "Are you sure there are no alternate pronunciations?" and later uttered "That's a relief" after initially mishearing the word "numnah" (a type of sheepskin pad).

And what did he have to say while hoisting the heavy trophy? "I'm really, really weak."

Look at the list of top finishers. Out of 12 kids, five are South Asian (I can't tell from her name where Samia's family is from; assuming Pakistan):

• Sameer Mishra (the winner)
• Sidharth Chand (2nd place)
• Samia Nawaz (4th place tie)
• Kavya Shivashankar (4th place tie)
• Jahnavi Iyer (8th place tie)

Note, last week, Akshay Rajagopal won the National Geographic Geography Bee and $25,000 (link below).

The screengrab on the left is from the front-page of ESPN.com. Mishra is one of the first South Asians other than golfers Vijay Singh or Daniel Chopra (who won the first tournament of the 2008 season) to have his photo featured on that front page. ESPN and its corporate cousin, ABC, treat the bee like a big-time sports event, airing the early rounds on ESPN and then the finals live on prime-time on ABC. Read ESPN's coverage, including a quiz.

Post your comments below.

Related coverage:

• Sriram Hathwar, age 8, Goes Down on Day 1, but Others Advance
• ESPN profiles Samir Patel, "the Dan Marino of spelling"
• A South Asian Spelling Bee Launches and Akshay Rajagopal Wins the Geography Bee

In 2005, Tunku Varadarajan wrote a WSJ essay: "Why Do Indians Excel in Bees,"

Where are they now?

• Here's an article from 2004 on Nupur Lala, who won in 1999 and starred in the hit documentary "Spellbound." At some point, she declined an offer from MTV to be in a reality TV show, calling it "too invasive."
• And here's some info on Balu Natarajan. He's the first Indian to win the Spelling Bee - in 1985 - and is now a Chicago-area physician who serves on the medical team of the Chicago Marathon. Balu is also a friend, and it's to his credit that he never let on that he'd won; I only found out much later. Such a well-adjusted boy!
• The winner of the 1988 Bee, Rageshree Ramachandran, was profiled by Time magazine last year.  At the time she was a Ph.D and M.D. resident in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco.

SPELLING BEE: Sriram Hathwar, age 8, goes down on Day 1, but others advance

Eight-year-old Sriram Hathwar, the youngest person to ever compete in the National Spelling Bee, correctly spelled 'elicitation' in Round 2 but didn't advance. From ABC News, "Youngest Speller in History Hits Bee Stage":

"Elicitation," said Sriram, making sure to pronounce the word correctly. "E-l-i-c-i-t-a-t-i-o-n."

The crowd cheered perhaps just a touch louder for the pint-size speller, and he slinked back to his seat on stage, disappearing behind the taller contestants sitting in front of him.

Despite his correct spelling of a word trickier than many of the others given during the preliminary round of the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee -- his peers were asked words such as "rigatoni" and "macaroon" -- Sriram was barred from moving on to the bee's quarterfinals because of his score on a written spelling test administered earlier this week.

The Spelling Bee ends Friday. Here are the desi kids who made it to the semifinals:

• Easun Arunachalam
• Arushi Jauhari
• Shiva Kangeyan
• Vaibhav Vavilala
• Sameer Mishra
• Kavya Shivashankar
• Akshat Shekhar
• Sidharth Chand
• Jahnavi Iyer

Go, team!

SPELLING BEE: ESPN on Samir Patel, "the Dan Marino of Spelling"

Samir Patel, spelling legend, at 9, and, now, at age 14. Photo on the right by Mike Stone.

For you non-U.S.-football fans, the reference in the headline is to Dan Marino, who is widely considered the greatest quarterback never to win the Super Bowl. And Samir Patel, at age 14, is widely considered the best speller never to win the National Spelling Bee. As this year's tournament gets underway, ESPN.com profiles Patel, who is over the age limit and won't be participating. From "Spelling Bee Icon Moves on to Other Challenges," by Elizabeth Merrill (she also interviewed his mom, Jyoti):

In 2003, Samir captivated America by playfully breezing past boys and girls in varying stages of adolescence and finishing third at the bee. He didn't really understand what he'd accomplished. He was 9 years old. The next summer, he was tripped up by "corposant" and finished 27th. Every year he studied harder; every trip to Washington, D.C., brought more disappointment. He peaked, by bee standards, at the age of 11 when he finished second.

Now he's 14, with nowhere to go this week when 288 tiny geniuses are in Washington fighting for the final word and maybe a two-minute spot on "Good Morning America." The rock star of the bee will be home, his eligibility over. The TV will be off for some of the competition because his family doesn't have cable. Maybe he'll hum a few bars of "Mrs. Robinson," a song that used to unclutter his head while he sat through the other spellers' turns. Samir doesn't know it's the theme song from a movie about a boy trying to be a man.

"I wouldn't say that I miss it, because after five years it was time to move on to another chapter of my life," he says. "I've had a lot of other stuff to keep my mind busy. I try not to dwell on the past."

Other snippets:

PREZ RACE: Coverage of Jindal's weekend at McCain's

[SAJAforum resources, sources, links for covering the 2008 Presidential race]

That's Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and his wife, Supriya, at the airport (Phoenix or New Orleans, anyone know?) after their weekend at John McCain's home in Sedona, Arizona. He was one of three possible vice presidential running mates invited to hang out with John and Cindy McCain and various guests, including politicos, business leaders, etc. Also attending were two other possible VP candidates, Charlie Crist, governor of Florida and Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor.

The media, especially the 24-hour cable news networks (see MSNBC screengrab below), have been buzzing about the weekend, but this is just the start of the VP season, and there are plenty of other possible candidates on the shortlist, including Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota (and host of the 2008 Republican Convention in St. Paul) and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas.

From WWL-TV's text and video report by Mike Hoss:

Following a weekend with presidential hopeful Senator John McCain, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said he discussed a number of topics with the senator, except the possibility of being McCain’s vice presidential running mate.

“There was never any explicit talk whatsoever about a short list, about vice president, any of that,” said Jindal.

However, the governor did say he had several one on one moments with Senator McCain during his weekend trip to Arizona.

“It was a wonderful weekend,” Jindal said. “John and Cindy were very gracious. Not only did we have a chance to talk to him one on one, as well as in a group, we had a chance to visit with the other senators there, the other business leaders.”

From an analysis by Aziz Haniffa of Rediff/India Abroad, "McCain's invitation to Jindal "strategic":

FOOD CRISIS: Interview with "Stuffed and Starved" author Raj Patel

The international food crisis has been profoundly felt around the world (check out our coverage) but it's only in the last few weeks that the US media has latched on. One of the experts who's become a go-to person for the media is Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System." He and his work have been covered in recent days by the San Francisco Chronicle, Alternet, Newsweek, Forbes, The New Yorker and NPR.

We asked him a few questions about the coverage of his book and the issue.

Tell us about your book - how is it benefiting from all the attention, in terms of sales and such?

The book has been getting the kind of reception I never expected. The books sales are a tightly kept secret - the minute they let me know is the minute the publishers start owing me royalties, so I've not really had any indication directly. But it has been a bestseller in independent bookstores in Australia and across Canada, is being reprinted a month after it was launched here in the US. It also has been published in Australia, Canada, the US, UK, Netherlands and Spain, with Italian, Korean and Chinese editions to come, and a special Indian edition out next month. A dozen documentary companies are interested in turning it into a documentary and, frankly, I'm a little overwhelmed.

Did you or your publisher expect a completely different reception when you first started working on it?

The publishers who got behind it early were always excited by it - in the UK, Netherlands, Australia and Canada in particular. But the hardest market to sell in was the US - it was turned down by pretty much every major publisher. But the timing of the launch here has much to do with its success too - it happened at just the same time as the extent of the global food crisis was starting to break in US media. And the subsequent reception has taken everyone, me included, by surprise. No one, least of all me, expected this to result in testimony in front of the House Financial Services Committee, or appearances on CNN or Al Jazeera, or a couple of slots on NPR.

PREZ RACE: McCain to meet with Jindal, Romney, Crist

[See all SAJAforum posts, resources, sources about the 2008 presidential race]

For three months now, we have been covering the possibility that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal might/perhaps/could be on the short list for potential vice presidential running mates for Sen. John McCain. The talk suddenly got taken a lot more seriously yesterday, as journalists started reporting that McCain was going to meet this weekend with three possible running mates: Jindal; Florida Governor Charlie Crist; and former Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney. From "McCain to meet 3 possible running mates" by NYT's Adam Nagourney:

Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, on Friday is scheduled to meet with two Republican governors who have been prominently mentioned as potential running mates, according to Republicans familiar with McCain's plan.

The two governors, Charlie Crist, of Florida, and Bobby Jindal, of Louisiana, have both accepted invitations to meet with McCain at his home in Arizona, according to Republican familiars with the decision. One Republican said that Mitt Romney, a former rival of McCain for the presidential nomination wasalso expected to visit him this weekend. Romney's advisers declined to comment.

McCain, after a week of campaigning, is heading home on Friday for three days without a public schedule. His campaign declined to comment on the meetings.

"We don't talk about the V.P. selection process," said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser.

Still, the names of McCain's visitors and the timing — coming three weeks after the Arizona senator told reporters that he had a list of 20 potential running mates — strongly suggested that he was moving into an intensified phase in his search for a vice presidential candidate.

From a similar story by the Boston Globe's Joseph Williams and Scott Helman:

FOOD CRISIS: Vinod Khosla's view

It's not every day that you see a South Asian name in the headline of a Wall Street Journal editorial. Today's "Khosla's Conspiracy," complete with one of the paper's signature "woodcut" illustrations, is all about venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.

Spiking food prices, global shortages and Third World riots have managed to elicit repentance from some ethanol evangelists. Not Vinod Khosla. As the Silicon Valley billionaire explained last week in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, ethanol's contribution to the crisis is "very minor" and "overblown."

"Food prices have been going up," Mr. Khosla conceded. "But there are massive PR campaigns trying to ascribe most of the blame to biofuels." Apparently "lots of people" are behind the plot, though Mr. Khosla singled out one: "Clearly, the American Petroleum Institute has been very, very concerned about food prices, and you wonder why."

Gosh. API is a trade group for the oil and gas industry that is radioactive on Capitol Hill. But we didn't realize that API's tentacles were wrapped around the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the USDA, all of which blame ethanol for inflationary pressures on food prices. Nor did we appreciate how much authority API's views carried with the U.N.'s special rapporteur for the right to food, Jean Ziegler, who says Western biofuels programs are "a crime against humanity."

Having missed the original SF Chronicle piece, I went back and found it. It was a Q&A (with business editor Al Saracevic and reporters David R. Baker, Ilana DeBare and Deborah Gage) that ran in the paper on Sunday, May 11: "On the Record: Vinod Khosla."

Flush with money and determined to save the world, the green-tech industry stands in full flower of its giddy youth.