Don't Fry Day

Posted by: "Roxanna Bautista" rbautista@apiahf.org roxbautista
Tue May 19, 2009 6:57 pm (PDT)


Learn about "Don't Fry Day" - Protect Your Skin Today and Every Day at www.skincancerprevention.org

To help reduce rising rates of skin cancer, the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention has designated the Friday before Memorial Day, May 22, 2009, as Don't Fry Day .

Our goal is to encourage sun safety awareness by reminding everyone to protect their skin while enjoying the outdoors.

This year, the National Council is specifically emphasizing "Slap on a Hat" -encouraging everyone to wear protective clothing like a wide-brimmed hat to provide important protection from too much sun.

Did You Know?

Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon.

Did You Know?
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 1 million skin cancers are diagnosed annually.

Did You Know?
It is estimated that one American dies every hour from skin cancer.

Did You Know?
One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.

Did You Know?
Melanoma is the second most common form of cancer for young adults 15-29 years old.

Did You Know... if YOU spread the word about "Don't Fry Day" then more people will KNOW?

We invite you to get involved in raising sun safety awareness. Every voice, action, or effort is another step towards reducing and preventing skin cancer. Join the "Don't Fry Day" campaign to encourage your friends, neighbors, relatives, colleagues, and everyone to be safe in the sun.

Here are some simple ways to be safe in the sun. Remember, Slip, Slop, Slap®...and Wrap and plan activities away from the midday sun:

- Slip on a shirt;
- Slop on sunscreen (SPF 15 or higher);
- Slap on a hat; and
- Wrap on sunglasses to protect the eyes and sensitive skin around them from ultraviolet light.

For more information, including additional statistics and other resources, visit the Council's site: www.skincancerprevention.org

The National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention is the united voice of 45 organizations, associations, and agencies dedicated to reducing skin cancer morbidity and mortality in the U.S. National Council members represent some of the nation's premier researchers, clinicians and advocates for melanoma and skin cancer prevention.

Graduation with Daddy

It was a good weekend. I wish I could have spent more time with him, but I was also studying for a final a few hours after the Public Health graduation. Anyway, I realize I didn't know anything about him. My parents have been divorced since I was 5 or 6, and I grew up living with my mom. When we were in elementary school, my dad would take us out every weekend...and eventually that has decreased to lunches and dinners on holidays and birthdays and when I'm visiting home. I wanted to find something fun or entertaining for him to do, and I had not a clue what he liked. I chose to go to Oakland because there was popular restaurants at Jack London Square and free outdoor dance lessons for the Rumba that day. We tried it a little bit. Father-daughter dance...I've never had one of those. It made me feel kind of emotional. I had really never done anything with my father besides lunch and dinner. No playing sports, no teaching me how to drive a car, no helping me with homework, no- a lot of things. My mom took on a big burden. I don't wanna say it's purely his fault though. It is what it is. My mom tries to avoid him every chance she gets and only reluctantly talks to him when she has to.

Then we went back to Berkeley. He liked it near the college with people constantly up and about and with your occasional dose of weird people singing or screaming or yelling. Based on his comments, I've discovered that he likes lively places. He goes to get yogurt with his friends back at home too just like we do here. He really respects educated people, like people with their PhDs and Master's. All he ever got was his AA degree. He told me a little bit about how he met my mother and how he gave her a pen for her birthday. He told me that my mom was a good wife and a good mother and told me to thank her for raising us.

So many questions unasked and so many stories untold. I don't know why this is, that we sometimes in our hectic lives forget to ask our parents things...lots of things. Or maybe because we're afraid to ask or to used to the culture of keeping things to yourself, not disclosing too much, not treating parents like friends and asking them too many direct questions. My mom and I talk a lot, and she told me that her and her mom never had this type of relationship, and she claims that is one of the reasons why American culture is good.

I was so scared to ask my mom how my parents got divorced, and never asked her until last year. I didn't even know my mom's refugee story until I was writing a paper on it while studying abroad. I didn't even know my dad helped get provisions for the boat he was on from a US ship because he had self-taught himself English in Vietnam. I found that out from my uncle in Vietnam.

My challenge to you today: Ask your parents a question. Spark a conversation. Listen to their stories.

Divorce

Yesterday, I graduated...well not really, I walked though. I have one more final on Wednesday. Cursed UC Berkeley--terrible scheduling.

Anyway, my dad came to see me walk. I'm walking two graduations: the Public Health major commencement and the Southeast Asian graduation. I really wanted both of them to attend the Southeast Asian graduation because it is a much more personal commencement and because I was gonna be a student speaker. However, my parents are divorced, so it was kinda agreed (I was hoping that we could all be civilized adults and come to the same one, but my mom said no) that my mom would attend the one next Saturday and my dad would attend the one this past Saturday. My mom is now remarried. I was talking to my friend about this dilemma before, and my friend said, "Why don't they just both come to your graduation? Shouldn't it be about you?" I replied, "They can't" (although I was thinking the same thing...why can't we all just be civilized adults about this?). He responded with, "Why not? White folks do it all the time." I think about shows like Reba (in which the father cheats on the mother, remarries, and they live as neighbors and all friends) and think to myself, Can that really happen? I've never seen an Asian family do it. Maybe because it would threaten the family structure too much? What do you think?

My stepdad is insecure about his position in the family, and when my dad talk about my family, he only mentions my mom, never my stepdad. They're both in denial that the other exists and they never talk about each other to my siblings and me.

Something rarely talked about in the Asian American community is single-parent households. How common are they?

I feel like for traditional people, it's still something pretty shameful. My uncle in Vietnam said that him and his wife fought and had stuff happened (I kinda felt like he was implying cheating), but they still stayed together because that's what you do. He claimed too many people in America get divorced (50% is what it was when I last checked). 1 out of 2 chances you're gonna get divorced.

My maternal relatives never mention my dad. Maybe he's a taboo topic now.

OCA/Verizon Scholarship

OCA and Verizon are teaming up to provide OCA's first scholarship for students currently attending college. Ten (10) $2000 scholarships are available to college students.

Eligible applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
Identify as being part of the Asian Pacific American Community (please see FAQ for more specific details)
College student entering their Sophomore, Junior and Senior Years (Graduate students are not eligible to apply)
Demonstrate financial need
Be a permanent resident or U.S. citizen
Have a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale)
Specific Majors (listed in the application)
Applications can be found on http://www.ocanational.org. Deadline to submit or postmark applications is June 30, 2009.

Please no phone calls concerning the scholarship.

Best regards,
Douglas Lee
OCA, Senior Program Manager