UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, March 7, 1997
5A
Reporter relates experience
Japanese American tells of minority life
By Umut Bayramoglu Kansan staff writer
Stephanie Nishikawa admired Connie Chung since she was a child. Although Nishikawa's parents were not always in full support of her choice of career, she went into the world of broadcasting to make her childhood dreams come true.
Last night Nishikawa, an Asian American reporter for WDAF in Kansas City, shared her personal experiences as a minority in broadcasting with an audience of 20 people at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Nishikawa did not charge the Asian American Student Union for her appearance.
The Asian American Student Union presented her as the keynote speaker for the fifth annual Asian-American Festival.
"As an Asian American, I can give my community a voice on TV," she said.
"Everything you learn is in the real world, not in the classroom," she said.
Nishikawa said she moved to Los Angeles and interned with Tritia Toyota for three months following her graduation.
"I worked 40 hours a week for three months for free," she said. "As a student, you can't expect to get paid for an internship."
Nishikawa said she sent 300 audition tapes after her internship and received 100 rejection letters.
"I sent most of the tapes to the Midwest and the South," she said. "At the time, I didn't realize that I didn't meet the demographics."
Before coming to Kansas City in 1994, Nishikawa worked with KCBS in Los Angeles as a news researcher and KPIX in San Francisco as a field producer.
She also spent a year and a half in Agama, Guam, working as an anchor for Guam Cable TV, a CNN affiliate.
homesick," she said. "But, you have to make a lot of sacrifice for your job if you really want to make it."
She said that it was also difficult to become the first Asian-American reporter at WDAF. Some people assumed she got the position because of her ethnicity, she said.
"It was very difficult. I was
"The hard part was being the only Asian American, but I learned to live with it." Nishikawa said.
The 28-year-old reporter said she was planning to move back to the West Coast when her contract with WDAF expired in September.
"My eventual goal is to be on a show like 20/20 or Prime Time Live," she said.
Crystal Johnson, Milwaukee graduate student, said Nishikawa's speech was not only inspiring to journalism students, but everyone in attendance.
"It was like," Here is my life story. This is how I dealt with it. Get what you can out of it," Johnson said.
Quentin Lay, Hoyt sophomore, said the issues she mentioned directly affected Asian Americans.
"It was very enlightening for me." he said.
Bills would make English Kansas' official language
The Associated Press
TOPEKA—Two bills being considered by a Senate committee could make English Kansas's official language.
One bill is sponsored by Sen. Janice Hardenburger, R-Haddam.
"This bill simply means that the official, public business of governing will be conducted in English," Hardenburger told the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee yesterday.
Phillip de la Torre, KU professor of law, testified against the bills.
"I come only as a Kansan who is concerned that his state government is about to make a serious mistake," de la Torre said.
Sen. Don Steffes, McR-Phelson, cited Canada as an example of why an official language should be designated.
"They made the mistake many years ago of going to a two-language society," Steffes said.
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