What a year: Virginia Tech killings, Yul Kwon highlight 2007

The Virginia Tech massacre -- Mass murderer Seung-Hui Cho shot 32 people to death on the Virginia Tech campus during a rampage back in April. A tragedy by any measure, and an event that sparked much conversation about race and stereotypes.

Yul Kwon -- He actually won Survivor: Cook Islands in 2006, but 2007 could be considered the Year of Yul Kwon. He was a one-man media machine and was seemingly everywhere, in every magazine (including Hyphen Issue 11) and on every TV show. He's used his 15 minutes of fame to promote positive images of Asian Americans, and by all accounts he's succeeded.

Kenneth Eng -- The former AsianWeek columnist could be the anti-Yul Kwon. Eng raised a ruckus with his "Why I Hate Blacks" column. AsianWeek apologized for publishing the column and fired Eng. Later in the year, Eng was arrested twice after being accused of threatening his neighbors and a fellow New York University student.

Bobby Jindal wins Louisiana governor's race -- Jindal becomes the first Indian American governor ever, the youngest governor elected (he's 36) and the first non-white governor in the state since Reconstruction. He takes office this month. Depending on your politics, this could be a good or bad thing (Jindal is a conservative Republican).

These were some things that popped into my mind when I think about 2007. Feel free to comment and add your own.

Harry Mok

Editor in chief

Editor in Chief Harry Mok wrote about growing up on a Chinese vegetable farm for the second issue of Hyphen and has been a volunteer editor since 2004. As a board member of the San Francisco and New York chapters of the Asian American Journalists Association, Harry has recruited and organized events for student members. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also a graduate student instructor in the Asian American Studies Department.