editors' notes
Dear reader,
As you peruse the contents of our publication, I realize that some questions may arise. For example: “Why is there a nearly headless woman on the cover?”, “What is hardboiled?”, “Why “hardboiled” ?”, and near the end of the issue perhaps: “Where is the FREAKING Sudoku?”
Our cover is a response to the tenuous state of the East Asian Language and Cultures department here in Berkeley (explained in detail by the lovely Cecilia on page 7). Inadequate funding threatens the very existence of many courses that are integral in upholding the values of liberal education. Essentially, the budget cut neglects our histories, silences the tongues and voices of our predecessors, and frankly, is an all encompassing slap to the face.
As our campus’ only Asian American newsmagazine, we are here to address API issues that are overlooked by mainstream media. Asian Americans comprise more than 40% of the students on campus and we are here to provide a medium for your voices to be heard. The term “hardboiled” is a reference to the 1992 John Woo flick and its tough detectives, pursuit of truth, and simple badass-ness.
Finally, sorry folks, there will be no Sudoku, but I’m sure that after reading this issue you will find it in your beautiful hearts to forgive us.
alice tse
internal managing editor
I joined hardboiled with a false sense of security. I thought I was committing myself to becoming a part of an organized, established publication – one in which I would be a shiny new screw in a giant machine that had been running smoothly for over a decade. This mindset quickly crumbled under the chaos that characterized my first semester with hardboiled.
Since then, more order has been introduced into our production process, but there’s still a comfortable messiness about hardboiled that I’ve come to appreciate over time, especially while working with this year’s staff. We talk too much, show up late to the meetings (okay, so that might just be me), and at times, we disagree. We disagree on many issues, from how to run our publication, to politics, to whether the cupcakes at our staff retreat were insufferably dry or mostly edible. I don’t agree with everything that is written in this issue and I still stand by my stance that those cupcakes were unacceptable, but if there’s one thing hardboiled has taught me, it’s that journalism isn’t all about presenting the correct angle, or taking the proper stance, or winning over your readers; sometimes it’s about getting to express yourself and putting your ideas out there. It’s taught me to stop being a snot head and appreciate the humanness of journalism, with its capacity for error and for brilliance that can’t be produced from even the most well-oiled machines.
Whether you agree or disagree with the words printed in this issue, I hope that you can appreciate hardboiled for what it is – a publication to provide coverage for Asian Pacific American issues, but also a place for Asian Pacific American students to take risks and share what’s on their minds.
eunice kwon
story editor