11/18/04

LC041118

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

He's blazed a trail from Saigon to Sacramento. Is the state's
first Vietnamese-American lawmaker a bellwether in politics?

Van Tran>> Democrats may be making inroads in the 1990's, but
the twenty-first century, I believe, is the century of the
Republicans.

Val>> And then, he's been called the Michelangelo of East Los
Angeles. Now he's keeping a promise to himself by inspiring a
new generation.

All that and more straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> He was born halfway around the world in the midst of a
war. Four decades later, he is the highest ranking Vietnamese-
American elected to office in California. His name is Van Tran
and he's the new Assemblyman from Garden Grove. As Hena Cuevas
tells us, his journey from Saigon to Sacramento signals a new
step for Vietnamese-Americans.

Hena Cuevas>> It's been almost thirty years since the Fall of
Saigon ended the Vietnam War and three decades since a young boy
escaped that war-torn country, settled in California and made
political history.

Van Tran>> It's known as the Golden State and I found the gold
in that sense.

Hena Cuevas>> In 1975, the first wave of Vietnamese refugees
and immigrants began their lives in the United States. Van
Tran's family was among them.

Van Tran>> We were political refugees right after the Vietnam
War and I only knew two words of English, but we lost everything
in Saigon, Vietnam.

Hena Cuevas>> He was only ten when his family moved to the
Midwest.

Van Tran>> It was definitely an interesting experience for a
ten year old kid who was transplanted half a world away in Grand
Rapids, Michigan seeing snow for the very first time, going
trick-or-treating for the very first time as a ten year old kid,
or going to my very first baseball game in Detroit, and having
my first slice of pizza and watching "Happy Days" (laughter).

Hena Cuevas>> A few years later, they moved to California,
settling in Garden Grove. For the young immigrant, growing up
in Orange County, a traditional Republican area, helped shape
his political views, although he says his biggest influence was
the man who was running the country during his youth, Ronald
Reagan.

Van Tran>> I grew into political maturity during President
Reagan's presidency back in the mid-1980's. I learned the value
of honesty, forthrightness and being firm and standing firm with
your principles and your moral values.

Hena Cuevas>> He got his first taste of politics during his
freshman year at UC Irvine when he accepted an internship in
Washington, D.C. with California Congressman Robert Dornan.
Almost twenty years later, after a career in business and law,
Tran has made a name for himself in Orange County.

>> "This is Van Tran. He's running for Assemblyman."

>> "I know, and I've seen him on Channel 3. How are you?"

Hena Cuevas>> He campaigned for the California State Assembly
and won and, at age thirty-nine, became the first Vietnamese-
American to serve in the state's legislature.

Van Tran>> Definitely, there's added responsibility and
pressure being the first of anything.

Hena Cuevas>> Why do you think people are so interested?

Van Tran>> (Laughter) That's a good question. Personally, I
don't think I'm that fascinating.

Hena Cuevas>> The Republican party seems to disagree, calling
Tran the new face of the GOP and using him as a recruiting tool
in the changing Orange County.

Van Tran>> "How many people registered yesterday?"

>> Yesterday we registered forty."

Hena Cuevas>> Scott Baugh, chairman for the GOP in Orange
County, says the party needs to include more minorities in order
to survive.

Scott Baugh>> I've always said that, as long as the Republican
party is all white males like myself, we won't reflect the great
diversity that California has. Without a significant outreach
program to the minority communities, the Republican party will
shrink in California.

Hena Cuevas>> One of the realities facing both parties in
Orange County is the changing face of the population. For
example, in Garden Grove, more than forty percent are foreign-
born and, here in Westminster, Little Saigon has the highest
concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. It was in
Little Saigon that the Republicans set up their headquarters for
the 2004 election.

>> "What is your first name?"

>> "My first name is Lanh, L-A-N-H."

>> "L-A-N-H?"

Hena Cuevas>> Tapping into the large Asian community paid off.
Not only did the party's numbers increase, but Tran won the
Assembly seat with nearly sixty percent of the votes.

Scott Baugh>> Now you can't always determine what the outcome
will be because it's not just the ethnic community you belong
to. It's your ability to campaign. It's your ability to get
other people to follow you. Of course, Van Tran has that
talent.

Van Tran>> There are certain expectations on the part of your
constituents or your ethnic unity to represent them well and I
think I do. But equally important, you know, I was elected by
the entire constituency which spans over nine or ten cities and
I intend to represent everyone well.

Hena Cuevas>> He represents the 68th District which includes
Garden Grove, Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Newport Beach and portions of
Westminster. As an immigrant, Tran has strong views on one of
California's most contentious issues: illegal immigration.

Van Tran>> I understand that people come here to look for a
better life and opportunities, but we do have legal means for
foreigners or people from other countries who come in and do
that, such as my family and so many other legal immigrants who
came through the process.

Hena Cuevas>> Do you think that because you're an immigrant,
it's easier for you to talk about certain topics that other
people might not?

Van Tran>> Yes and no. I want it to be very clear that on the
one hand as a former immigrant, I can speak firsthand or from a
personal level. But on the other hand, I'm also sensitive to
the fact that we live in the United States. We come here
seeking opportunity and freedom and I would not want to deny or
unduly deny or be perceived as so restrictive to the point in
which I deny everybody else the opportunity that I also had.

Hena Cuevas>> In his district sits this memorial to the Vietnam
War, a reminder of the past many of these Orange County
residents left behind. For Tran, Vietnam is a war that stills
holds a powerful grip on the nation as shown during this past
presidential election. He believes it's time for the country to
move on.

Van Tran>> We dwell a disproportionate amount of time on what
John Kerry and President George Bush did or did not do in
Vietnam. That's definitely an issue that, I think, should be
laid to rest once and for all and then move on to issues of
present day concern. As memories fade and as we move into a new
generation, then the Vietnam War will be but a distant memory
just like World War I or World War II.

Hena Cuevas>> However, he does have strong views on the
communist government in Vietnam. He says he's not allowed to go
back because of his work and has even received death threats.
Tran will be sworn in as the state's first Vietnamese-American
lawmaker in December, but before that, he's got another major
event to attend.

Van Tran>> What's next? Well, getting married is a bigger
project, of course (laughter), and definitely it's something
that I look forward to. But politically, I don't know, I don't
know. I'm just happy to be elected to the State Assembly. This
is a great honor for me.

Hena Cuevas>> And a step forward for the Vietnamese community
in Southern California who will be watching as one of their own
steps off the sideline and jumps into the game. I'm Hena Cuevas
for Life and Times.

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Val>> And now for an update of a past Life and Times story.
About a year ago, we took you to Santa Cruz Island, part of the
Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. Park officials
there were trying to save an endangered species of fox by
releasing it into the wild. This is a species found no place
else on the planet, the Santa Cruz Island Fox, an animal no
bigger than a house cat. Last year, biologists set nine foxes
that were raised in captivity free on the island. Each of them
was equipped with a radio tracking collar.

Tim Coonan>> To many people, the Island Fox has become almost
characteristic of the Channel Islands. It's a very unique
species. You know, the only place it lives in the entire world
is on this sixth largest of the eight Channel Islands. It is
the most geographically restricted canid in the world. It's a
very unique piece of our biodiversity, so our stewardship
responsibilities to save this piece of biodiversity are very
clear.

Val>> There are only about seventy-five Santa Cruz Island Foxes
left. That's down from more than fifteen hundred a decade ago.
Unfortunately, five of the newly-released foxes became part of
nature's food chain. They fell prey to the Golden Eagle.

Russell Gallipeau>> The fox, who adapted not having an aerial
predator, doesn't know how to react to this and, the next thing
you know, the Golden Eagle is targeting the fox.

Val>> Golden Eagles are fairly new to the Channel Islands.
When the first ones flew out from the mainland about a decade
ago, they preyed on wild pigs, descendants of farm animals left
behind by ranchers a century ago. The baby pigs have become a
magnet for the eagles.

Russell Gallipeau>> On the search for a pig, they also come
across the fox.

Tim Coonan>> Island Foxes have been in the environment eighteen
thousand years out there. Ferrell pigs have been there a
hundred and fifty. The Island Fox, not only is it a native
species, it's one of the most important ones out there. Soon
the species will be listed as endangered, or four of the
subspecies will, and then we have legal responsibilities to
safeguard that species from extinction. So the route we need to
take is real clear.

Val>> The route the Parks Service has chosen is to eradicate
those Ferrell pigs which would remove the attraction for the
Golden Eagle. In the meantime, the remaining four foxes
released on Santa Cruz Island last year were recaptured for
their own protection.

Val>> As American soldiers are fighting in Iraq, veterans of
the first Gulf War got some heartening news. As you know, many
of them suffered from Gulf War Syndrome. They showed no obvious
injuries, but they suffered from chronic illness and many were
on disability. The government had always claimed their problems
were psychological, but now for the first time the Veterans
Administration says it will study chemical exposure as a
possible cause of Gulf War Syndrome. As Philip Bruce told us in
his story that first aired in 2002, solving the mystery of their
illness is half the battle.

Philip Bruce>> Anthony Joseph says he first wanted to join the
Marines when he was a boy growing up in Trinidad. Back then, he
watched them on his way home from soccer practice standing guard
over the American Embassy. Later, after he and his mother moved
to the United States, he got his wish. At age twenty-four,
Joseph joined the Marines.

Anthony Joseph>> Gung ho. I took pride in everything I did and
that's what I carried all the way through in my career.

Philip Bruce>> He became a diehard Marine veteran who spent
much of his time as a driver for the top brass.

Anthony Joseph>> Driving a general, it's a good job, you know.
Not everyone gets to do it, so it makes you feel special.

Philip Bruce>> Joseph is still proud of his military service,
but he's not so proud of the treatment he says he's gotten from
the U.S. government. He was one of nearly 700,000 Americans who
served in the Gulf War and Joseph says that duty left him with a
host of ailments.

Anthony Joseph>> Physically today, I'm tired. Like in the
daytime, I have no energy. I get a lot of headaches and
toothaches. Every month, I have an abscess of one tooth. My
gums bleed and I can't brush my teeth.

Philip Bruce>> And that's not the end of his illnesses. Joseph
also has rashes, stomach pains, insomnia and respiratory
problems.

Anthony Joseph>> They said my bleeding gums is not Gulf War
related, my teeth falling out is not Gulf War related, or my
rashes, the V.A. is saying, is not Gulf War related. If I have
these symptoms, it's got to come from somewhere. There was
nothing like this in my health record prior to Desert Storm.

Dr. Ronald Hamm>> There are actually thirteen separate or
distinct symptom complexes which have been associated with
returning Gulf War veterans.

Philip Bruce>> Ronald Hamm is the environmental physician at
the Veterans Healthcare System in West Los Angeles. He says the
frustration for many Gulf War vets is that the government has
never found a cause of their symptoms.

Dr. Ronald Hamm>> We have not yet found any exposure or
combination of exposures which satisfy what we would need to
know to say this exposure caused this condition.

Philip Bruce>> And then there's Toby Echelberry who joined the
Army straight out of high school. He was only twenty when he
served in the Gulf War. Echelberry came home in good health and
remains well today, but he worries about any undetected problems
that might still be lurking inside of him.

Toby Echelberry>> It just seems like there's not enough being
done and there's not enough really being published out there,
you know, to give us that peace of mind, to let us know whether
or not we are okay.

Philip Bruce>> Echelberry got on the internet hoping to track
down some old service buddies and what he found was stunning.
Information suggesting that his company may have been exposed to
a nerve agent when American troops blew up an ammunition dump
containing Iraqi rockets.

Dr. Ronald Hamm>> We're a little more than a decade past the
Gulf War, so it would really be premature to say that those
veterans who do not currently have any ill health are totally
out of the woods. I expect that's the way it's going to be and
we certainly hope that's the way it's going to be, but it would
be premature to say that dogmatically.

Philip Bruce>> On the web, Echelberry also learned about a
woman he'd served with. She had a child with a severe birth
defect. It made him think about his own young daughter. She's
in fine health, but he worries the next child he and his wife
are hoping to have someday may not be so lucky. The Veterans
Administration says birth defects are no higher among Gulf War
vets than among the rest of the population, but Anthony Joseph
says he stopped listening to the V.A. ever since they said his
illnesses were all in his head.

Anthony Joseph>> It's confusing. They kept telling me it's
mental. I'm suffering some kind of post stress. So what I did,
I filed a claim for post stress, PTSD, and I just got the
results back. I don't have the symptoms.

Philip Bruce>> Hamm says he can understand why Gulf War vets
feel ignored.

Dr. Ronald Hamm>> They went to the Gulf, they came back and now
they have a condition and they have no other explanation for
that condition. They're looking to the federal government to
make it right. And particularly, if their issue is not one of
compensation, but rather of diagnosis or tell me what I have to
expect for the future and the assembled experts cannot tell them
what to anticipate for the future, that's a rather off-putting
place to be left with.

Philip Bruce>> Meanwhile, Anthony Joseph still dreams that his
life is normal again, just the way it was before the Gulf War.

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Val>> George Yepes was born in Tijuana and smuggled into
California at the age of four. He brought with him an
extraordinary artistic talent and he's emerged as one of Los
Angeles's esteemed muralists, but his family couldn't even
afford art classes. As Patt Morrison tells us, George Yepes is
now spending his own money to give young people what he didn't
have.

[Film Clip]

Patt Morrison>> With the assured stroke of a paintbrush and a
never-sated longing for perfection, a masterpiece is created.
The virtuoso at work is George Yepes.

George Yepes>> Art is a passion, you know? It runs screaming
through my veins seven days a week, 365 days a year, and paint
until you drop.

Patt Morrison>> Some have called him the Michelangelo of East
Los Angeles, turning dozens of battered buildings and bare walls
into powerful and personal works of art.

George Yepes>> Los Angeles is the world capital of murals. The
most and finest murals are in East Los Angeles and that's where
I grew up. Seeing murals, you like to challenge yourself with
big great things, so the first chance I got to paint murals, I
dove right in.

[Film Clip]

Patt Morrison>> What he knows of art, he taught himself, but
what he captures in his work is universal: passion, hope, death,
the re-imagination of the sacred. But there is more to Yepes'
reputation than as a master of color. His living creation is
turning Los Angeles County's inner city kids into hopeful
muralists.

George Yepes>> In East Los Angeles, growing up seeing all the
artwork and being an artist, I wanted to get lessons. The
family couldn't afford art classes, so I stood painting and
drawing in my room and I kind of made a promise to myself that,
if I ever made it as an artist, I would make an academy for ten-
year-olds.

Patt Morrison>> And that promise was fulfilled in 1992 when the
Academia de Arte Yepes was born. Its founder has since then
instructed 240 young students free of charge in the art of
painting.

Octavio Gonzalez>> We just set our minds to a project. We just
paint and we forget about the rest of what's happening outside
if we have problems. Our painting skills merge together to make
a beautiful painting.

Elizabeth Perez>> I like art class because we have fun. We
don't get yelled at that much. We don't like that much. We
just paint.

Daniel Gonzalez>> We learned about the politics that go on
around our neighborhoods. We learned what an artist has to go
through just to get a painting on the wall. It's not just going
up there and saying I want to do this. You know, you have to go
through certain people and talk to them, you know, sometimes go
fifteen rounds with them.

Student>> "And when you put paint like this, leave it alone.
Let it dry."

Patt Morrison>> What makes this class special? It is students
teaching students. As in the old schools of the High
Renaissance, the most experienced young artists work as
instructors, or so-called master painters.

Octavio Gonzalez>> It's easier to paint than to teach because
you don't have the kids asking you, well, what do I paint next?
And teaching really wipes you out.

George Yepes>> I don't explain to the students the step by step
of a mural. We just do it. If they were to sit down and, for
the first four or twelve hours, I'm explaining to them the
thirty-five tasks, it would be overwhelming.

[Film Clip]

George Yepes>> The journey to producing the art piece is an
education in itself. You have to teach a lot of problem-
solving. You have to teach a lot of production skills, a lot of
responsibility, teamwork, decision-making, so they have to come
in to the academy and know that they're part of a team that
needs to produce an art piece that goes out into the community.

George Yepes>> "Should we leave that? Do you like that? That
looks good. Try to do a little bit on that corner up there."

Patt Morrison>> The academy that Yepes has funded from his own
pocket since 1992 may not make it if Yepes must rely on his
pockets alone.

George Yepes>> I not only fund the murals, I also fund the
mounting of the murals, and the production site of the academy
takes on a lot of expenses. The students use up to about $1,200
dollars a month in paint, so if it's a decision to either paint
or to mount murals, they're always into the painting part.

Patt Morrison>> All that pushed the budget to its most
expensive year: $58,000. So how does Yepes do it? Once again,
like the painters of the Renaissance, with the help of rich and
famous patrons. They include actors Nicolas Cage, Sean Penn and
Madonna.

George Yepes>> So because of them, I get to do my murals in the
community and the academy gets to do their murals in the
academy.

Patt Morrison>> But the program has undeniable problems.
Thirty-six grant requests have been denied. Foundations are
uncomfortable with the academy's free-form approach.

George Yepes>> Our programs have gotten bigger and bigger, but
our infrastructure smaller and smaller. Henceforth, funding
agencies want to see a huge infrastructure. We have the
programs and the murals and all the work and all the effort, but
we don't have the infrastructure.

George Yepes>> "Just flip it over and just push it down and
then just lift up the panel. Let's see what that looks like,
okay?"

Patt Morrison>> Whatever becomes of the academy itself, its
legacy is already imbedded in its students' lives.

Student>> One thing I've learned from this art class is to be
confident in yourself that you can achieve the goal that you
want.

Student>> It makes me feel good about myself because I did a
mural. This is my first time and we're doing a mural with a
professional.

George Yepes>> You can teach art, but you can't teach passion.
My students have that and they're dedicated, so that when you
look at all these values, they're not just role models for
students, but they're role models for adults. When you see
them, it's like, God, we should have more of these kind of kids
around.

Val>> George Yepes has painted much more than murals and you
can see his work on exhibit at the Patricia Correia Gallery in
Santa Monica. It's called "A One-Man Mexican Revolution" and
it's there through January 8. And that's our program. I'm Val
Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching.
We'll see you next time.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times --

A modern tool to keep civil cases from ever going to trial. Put
the story on videotape before putting it in front of a judge.

>> You've got to have a real case and what you do with videos
and with graphics is you enhance that case and you describe to
your client's benefit in a better way what they've gone through.

Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.