Council of Asian Pacific Americans (CAPA)

THE VINCENT CHIN CASE REMEMBERED 25 YEARS LATER

Do you remember the details of the Vincent Chin case, the watershed Asian American civil rights case from 25 years ago? And what were the lessons learned from that important case? This article is to fill you in on the details and those lessons.

The Facts

On June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin, a 27 year old Chinese American was with three of his buddies for a bachelor party at the Fancy Pants Bar in Highland Park a few days before his upcoming wedding. By the end of the evening, Vincent Chin had been beaten by two white auto workers with a baseball bat and Chin was clinging to life, only to die four days later.

Vincent got into an altercation with Ronald Ebens and his stepson Michael Nitz. Vincent and his friends, and Ebens and Nitz were told to leave the bar. Ebens got a baseball bat from the trunk of his car, and Vincent and his friend Jimmy Choi ran away. Ebens and Nitz drove around for 30 minutes looking for Vincent. Ebens and Nitz caught up to Vincent Chin on Woodward Avenue outside a nearby McDonald’s. While Nitz held Vincent, Ebens beat him with several swings of the baseball bat. Vincent Chin died on June 23, 1982after he was taken off life support.

In a State criminal proceeding Ebens and Nitz were charged with second degree murder, but later plead guilty and no contest respectively to manslaughter in a plea bargain. Without any prosecuting attorney present at sentencing, Wayne County Circuit Judge Charles Kaufman heard only from defense attorneys and sentenced the men to only three years probation and a $3,000 fine.

The Chinese American community and soon the whole Asian American community were outraged at the lenient sentence. On Leong President and honorary mayor of Chinatown Kin Yee called then OCA-Detroit Chapter president Roland Hwang for a meeting to talk about the sentence. Combining the efforts of two groups would be a stronger force for the case. Hence, at that meeting at On Leong Hall, American Citizens for Justice, a newly formed Asian American civil rights group was born with a name to show broad support for justice for Vincent. Kin Yee, Marisa Chuang Ming, Helen Zia, and Roland Hwang were the first officers.

Attorney Liza Chan filed a motion to reopen the sentence, claiming misrepresentations were made during sentencing in front of Judge Kaufman. Appeals to reopen the sentencing in the State appellate courts were not successful. Later on, after investigation by American Citizens for Justice, and journalists, it was learned Racine Colwell one of the dancers in the bar overheard Ebens say “Nip”, “Chink”, and “because of you mother fuc---s, we’re out of work.”

Research revealed that the most viable option for justice for Vincent Chin was the pursuit of federal civil rights charges against Ebens and Nitz. Lily Chin, the mother of Vincent met with the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights William Bradford Reynolds, the FBI agreed to investigate the case, and a federal criminal trial proceeded. The federal trial before U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor resulted in a guilty verdict against Ronald Ebens and a 20-year sentence. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the verdict citing trial errors. Later, a change of venue motion was granted, and the case was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. At a second trial in Cincinnati, Ohio, a jury found Ronald Ebens not guilty of a civil rights violation in the killing of Vincent Chin.

Lessons Learned

Those lessons are summarized below:

1.   Identifying and interviewing all of the witnesses is crucial.

We cannot assume that law enforcement will always identify all of the facts and the motivations for an assault. Here, police investigation was lacking. The detective did not interview the dancers at the Fancy Pants where such interviews would have revealed the motivations of Ebens and Nitz, what was said, and what occurred about a half an hour before the beating.

2.  Coalition building is important.

After the sentence of probation, American Citizens for Justice and the APA community could not get a meeting with the then-county prosecutor William Cahalan. It took the intervention of New Detroit, the urban coalition that arose from the 1967 Detroit Riot, and the Detroit Organization of Black Organizations, for a meeting to occur with the prosecutor.

The importance of coalitions cannot be overemphasized. Moving ahead twenty years after the beating death of Vincent Chin, representatives of New Detroit, the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Michigan branch, and the Anti-Defamation League, all participated in the 20^th Year Remembrance in Detroit.

3.  Pressure brings results.

Federal involvement is most often discretionary. Usually cases are left for local prosecution. The application of local hate crime tack on statutes (in Michigan, it is 2 years additional or $5,000 fine) is discretionary with the local prosecutor. Without community pressure, a local prosecutor may not apply the hate crime provision. Federal interest in a particular case or a set of facts likely will not arise without community pressure and media attention on a case, pointing out the egregiousness of the case facts, or the unfairness of the sentencing result without Federal involvement.

4. Sentencing is a crucial part of the case.

The county prosecutor’s office did not treat the sentencing hearing as a very important part of the justice process. The cases were treated as complete after the plea bargain. Assistant prosecutors at the time of the Vincent Chin case routinely did not appear at sentencing. Since the Chin case, the county assistant prosecutors have more often appeared at the sentencing phase.

5. The media has an important role.

ACJ was very fortunate to have journalist Helen Zia, then a writer for the Detroit Free Press and Metropolitan Detroit, and later managing editor of Ms. Magazine, as its first secretary and later president. It was Helen who was able to gain the attention of the news desks of the media in Detroit and later the attention of a writer for the New York Times.

Without the scrutiny of the media, it is quite possible the later investigations in the case, the involvement of the FBI, and the Department of Justice decision to proceed with a civil rights trial involving an Asian American victim, all might not have occurred.

6. The victim’s loss must be a matter of record.

At the time of the Vincent Chin case, the impact of the victim’s death was not a matter of record. The Chin case became a cornerstone for the state statute that gives representatives of the victim’s family an opportunity to make a statement about the impact of the loss on the victim’s family at sentencing.

7. Changing venue changes results.

We now know after the Rodney King case how a change of venue (in that case to suburban Simi Valley from Los Angeles) can vastly affect the results of a case after a jury trial. The same held true in the Vincent Chin case when the second federal trial of Ronald Ebens in Cincinnati, rather than in Detroit, resulted in a not guilty verdict, rather than guilty.

8.  The activists can wear different hats.

Many of the activist volunteers in the Vincent Chin case went on to wear different hats so their advocacy could take place in different forums. The Asian American Bar Association of Michigan came into being during the Vincent Chin case. Many of the same volunteer attorneys were involved in ACJ and the founding of the Asian American Bar. Attorney Harold Leon, who appeared in the movie “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” went on to become the first president of the Asian American Bar Association of Michigan in 1985.

9. The case leaves a lasting legacy.

The legacy of the Vincent Chin case lives on today. What must we as leaders and activists remember?

Organize. To be ready to fight harassment and hate violence, the APA community wherever it may be must be organized. That is the matter of importance for OCA ¡V to have chapters in every state and every metropolitan area where sufficient numbers of Asian American reside.

Coalition build. Wherever there is an opportunity to identify and work on civil rights issues and to develop a common agenda, whether it is harassment, hate violence, or immigration reform, OCA and its chapters should explore working with other civil rights organizations, both locally and nationally.

Contact the Media. Never be afraid to contact the media with your story of harassment, discrimination or hate violence. If the case goes unreported, it will have an unsatisfactory result. Each chapter should identify its media point persons hopefully ahead of time, and identify media outlets that are willing to run those stories.

One hopes that the lessons of the Vincent Chin case will be remembered anytime an incident of intolerance, ethnic or racial discrimination, or hate violence occurs and comes to the attention of the OCA, or any OCA chapter.

Roland Hwang is a past president of the OCA-Detroit (1983). He most recently served as vice president of the chapter (2005-06). He served as the first Treasurer (1983), and later as President of American Citizens for Justice (1992-94). He serves as an attorney for the State of Michigan. He was appointed a hearing referee for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, and was a past member and chair of the Michigan Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He can be reached at hwangr@aol.com 

Disclaimer
The views expressed in the editorials are solely of the individual author and are not necessarily those of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans or its members.
CAPA reserves the rights to delete any reader's response or comment to the article, if considers inappropriate.

MENTORING: A Perspective                                               

By Chandresh Thakore
President (Retired)
Puerto Rico Operations Warner Lambert

A lot of people wonder: what is ‘mentoring’? Let us try to understand that with a simple preamble. … To start, let us explore a simple question:  What is common amongst Xerox, Google, and Mentor? Give up, so soon?? … Well, all these nouns started just as nouns. In course of time, however, they started being used also as verbs. For example, it is very common these days to hear: Will you please xerox this for me? … I am going to google  CAPA. … I wish I find someone to mentor me. How did the noun Mentor become the verb mentor?

Some 2700 years ago, the Greek warrior Odysseus was often gone to escapades, such as the Trojan Wars. Being gone from home often, Odysseus, as a concerned father, entrusted the schooling of his son to one of his trusted advisor. The name of this advisor was Mentor. Thus, Mentor was a teacher. Not sure exactly when, but the word Mentor got in to the dictionary that defines it as a ‘wise and trusted adviser’ to someone who is less experienced, to someone who can use some coaching. Pretty soon, the noun Mentor became the verb Mentor.

So, in a practical sense, a mentor is a teacher; mentoring is teaching or, better, guiding.  In a more meaningful sense, mentoring is the relationship between a mentor and a protégé (the person being mentored). It simply implies that if mentoring is based on a relationship that is both serious and purposeful, it is more likely to succeed.

Thus, ‘Mentoring’ is not a revolutionary, space-age discovery! It is not rocket science! It is a simple concept that has been around, in some form, for ages. It has, however, acquired considerable amount of interest, at least in the business world, over the last 10-15 years. Plethora of material is available on the topic. Folks in business management and, specifically, human resources have spent considerable time and money and energy to see how the business organization and individuals can benefit from ‘mentoring’.

Again, what is mentoring? It is teaching. It is guiding. It is holding hands, in a way. Every organization has experienced people. By definition, ‘experience’ imparts knowledge and wisdom, it enables the individual become well-versed in handling situation, finding a way out, pointing the right direction, etc. By implication, the ‘mentor’ has been in the trenches or on the front line. That has, supposedly, given that person an edge over others not in a similar situation. He/she is wiser to know what works and what does not work. … On the other hand, there are folks new to the work environment. They may be smart but, obviously, do not quite know the ropes, so to say. It would not be uncommon for such individuals to struggle, even falter. They may not understand an effective way to accomplish their tasks and goals. In spite of a lack of experience, some may be successful to a degree. But, the process of accomplishment would, indeed, be facilitated and, even, enhanced if someone, experienced and wise, is willing and ready to help.

The key is to match such two persons. An organization interested in developing its younger folks with potential would make sincere efforts in getting such two individuals together, and develop a process to achieve the objective of passing on the wisdom and experience of those who have to those who don’t and, hopefully, benefit from them.

There are certain elements vital to the success of such a mentoring program: (1) proper selection and match of the mentor and the protégé; (2) sincerity of purpose on the part of both individuals; (3) commitment of time on the part of both individuals, along with frequency of interaction that is both practical and useful ; (4) a clear understanding of what is to be achieved; and (5) a periodic review of how the process is going, with an implied willingness to change course, if necessary. Both mentor and the protégé have their individual responsibilities. They must be understood and fulfilled.

Mentoring can be both formal and informal. Formal mentoring has a strict structure to it, with defined procedures re various aspects. Informal mentoring does not depend on such formalities and, at times, it comes out of personal relationships. Both have their pluses and minuses. There is no reason to not have a combination of the two, building on the best aspects of both.
While ‘mentoring’ is more common in the business world, it is not uncommon in other fields, such as: athletics, education, public affairs, politics, arts and sciences, etc. In fact, everything else being equal, the most valuable benefit an aspiring young person can have is to have a mentor to help enhance his/her career.

I feel so strongly about the value of mentoring, I’d actively look for a mentor if I had the opportunity to start my career all over again. I am not complaining about what I got out of my career. But, undoubtedly, the process would have been faster and, likely, enhanced.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in the editorials are solely of the individual author and are not necessarily those of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans or its members.

CAPA reserves the rights to delete any reader's response or comment to the article, if considers inappropriate.

We Have Some Work To Do

By Katherine M. Lee
President, Council of Asian Pacific Americans

On December 5th I attended an Affirmative Action rally in Detroit that featured 15 or 20 very prominent speakers from a diverse background.  One of them, who seemed to command a great deal of respect from his fellow speakers and the audience, spoke favorably of Affirmative Action, no surprise there.

He spoke of how it has helped minority students get admitted to Universities, again no surprise.

Then he said “look at the number of Asian students at the University of Michigan, they might as well take over the university, they might as well call it Asian University!” … “Asian students are known to be very good in studying hard… but NOTHING ELSE!!!” 

Big surprise there.

“What did he just say???”  I asked myself in disbelief! 

A young Asian man sitting in front of me was equally struck by the comment.  He immediately spoke up and said: “You are stereotyping the Asian Pacific Americans!”

I have to thank him for speaking up. 

The speaker responded by referencing an article from the Wall Street Journal that describes what is happening in Cupertino, California where Caucasians have taken their children out of some schools to avoid competition with Asian Americans (“The New White Flight”, By Suein Hwang, The Wall Street Journal: November 19, 2005). 

After the program, I waited in line to speak with this gentleman.  As I shook his hand and introduced myself as President of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans, I asked him “How can I help to change your perspective of Asian Pacific Americans”. 

His reply, “Oh! let me send you this article,” was more than a little disappointing.

I left with a heavy heart tinged with more than a little anger, but I didn’t realize just how much impact his statement had on me until I realized I was walking in circles looking for my car. I stopped there on the street and asked myself what to do about the anger.

Should I go back and throw some stereotypes about African Americans back at him?

Should I demand an open apology on behalf of all Asian Pacific Americans?

Should I tell him about the Association of Chinese Americans Essay Award Dinner where more than 30 Asian High School students who had been honored achieved 4.0 grade point averages while participating in three or more extracurricular activities?

I finally found my car and started home, and two thoughts came to my mind as I was driving: 

First, we have to help one individual, the speaker, who should be our friend, overcome his prejudices about Asian Pacific Americans, so he will stop saying such hurtful, untrue, things about us.

Second, and far more important, we need to start doing a much better job of educating the whole community about Asian Pacific Americans.  That’s the only way to defeat the stereotypes so our children won’t have to live with them.

I immediately called our Education Committee Chair, Tai Chan, and then Frank Wu, Dean of the
Law School at Wayne State University for their ideas.   

I also very much need your comments and suggestions for ways to achieve both goals.  Now that the anger has subsided, I really don’t think individual actions taken against the speaker would be helpful or productive, and I ask you to refrain from them.

We, Asian Pacific Americans, need to work together to overcome the stereotypes that infect even those who should be our friends.  I now know more than ever that we must, and I truly believe we can.

Thank you for letting me vent. 

Now, let’s get on with the job.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in the editorials are solely of the individual author and are not necessarily those of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans or its members.

CAPA reserves the rights to delete any reader's response or comment to the article, if considers inappropriate.

HAAP is for Healthy Asian Americans

By Janilla Lee, Ph.D.

From the 2000 census report, 21.9% of Asian Americans had annual income $100K or more, nearly double that of the U.S. population (13.8%). Under the shadow of this big header labeling Asian Americans as an affluent group, it is easily overlooked that there are still 22.3 % of Asian Americans (29% for total U.S. population) below the poverty line of annual income $25K or less. They need help, even more so than other low-income Americans because of language and cultural barriers.

For this reason, the Healthy Asian American Program (HAAP) at the University of Michigan School of Nursing is to provide health service to the underserved people. This program can help low-income women to receive free breast and cervical cancer screening, i.e. mammogram and pap smear tests, paid for by the State of Michigan. Women of 40 or older are recommended to take these tests annually.

In addition to service, HAAP also provides health data for Asian Americans, as part of the on-going research to understand health needs for every ethnic group. What is the health data for Asian Americans in comparison to that of Caucasians, Latino or African Americans? What is the health difference between Asians and Asian Americans? What are the leading cancers in each Asian American group? What is the survival rate for each cancer? All these questions require special studies from different subgroups and HAAP can facilitate such studies for each Asian American group locally or nationally.

The 3rd mission for HAAP is to educate the community to be aware of all health issues facing Asian Americans. Lay Health Advisor is a program that HAAP has been carrying on for the past 5+ years for this mission. We first educate community health leaders, then have them cascade the information to their families and circle of friends. By going thru the grape vine to spread information, the network set-up can also be used for specific or emergency health issues. Examples are a disease breakout, searching for a specific bone marrow type etc., the network can help communication.

HAAP was founded by Dr. Mei-yu Yu in 1996 with the help of a few other Asian Americans at U. M. School of Nursing. Since then,
•  More than 1730 patients benefited from the free screening programs.
•  7 different research papers were published on Asian American Health issues.
•  LHA network has been established among Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese.

Unfortunately Dr. Yu passed away in August 2005. Currently Dr. Oakley, a retired professor from U.M. School of Nursing, is the acting director until the University can hire a permanent staff to direct this program. The University recognized this is an important program for them as well as for the community, and will continue and support its progress.

About half of HAAP staff. (Standing, left to right) Amy Seetoo, Deborah Oakley (interim director), Janilla Lee, Lily Deng and Judy Chen, front row are all university students who are hired by HAAP.

Contact Information

Website: http://www.nursing.umich.edu/haap

Project Office
Room 3246
University of Michigan
School of Nursing Building
400 North Ingalls
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0482

Phone: (734) 936-8913 or toll free 877-625-4683
FAX: (734) 936-8910
Multilingual Voice Mail: Phone: (734) 936-8903 or toll free 800-936-8903
Press 1-Chinese, 2-Korean, 3-Japanese, 4-Asian Indian,
5-Vietnamese, 6-Hmong, 7-Filipino

Disclaimer

The views expressed in the editorials are solely of the individual author and are not necessarily those of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans or its members.

CAPA reserves the rights to delete any reader's response or comment to the article, if considers inappropriate.

Linking and Engaging the Community

Tai Chan, Ph.D.

“Linking and engaging the community” will be the theme of the CAPA Retreat on September 10, 2005. Indeed, this strategic goal of CAPA should be practiced by all community organizations in doing what is right for their own constituencies and for the community at large. First and second generation Asian Americans will probably agree that we have the best of both worlds in America. Freedom, liberty and justice enable us to improve our lives and the future generations. Festive and celebration events showcasing Asian culture and heritage are entertaining, encouraging, and educational for everyone. There is so much we can learn from each other, and “life is certainly more than a box of chocolates” is quite appropriate. “Diversity is our Strength” is not just a slogan; it should be the guiding principle and a tool to build stronger communities in America. Our cultural heritage, diverse and rich, is a valuable asset as we work together to overcome the barriers, pride and prejudice in our society. We need innovative ideas to link and engage people to serve the community at large. A critical step is to identify specific societal needs which may be met by Asian American volunteers. We should have the mindset that we are here to serve the community. It is not about you or me; it is about us – the US in these United States of America.

At the last CAPA Summit in 2004, the theme “Building Bridges” was the stimulus to provoke us to find ways to be connected in the greater community. We were challenged to enrich our lives by working with others in the communities around us through service and sacrifice. At the operational level, we have to involve other community organizations, corporations, schools and universities, local businesses, government, and philanthropic foundations as partners to support high impact events in the community. Since 2001, CAPA has taken small steps to educate one another on Asian cultures, offered seminars and workshops to equip ourselves to foster friendship in understanding the needs and aspirations of Asian Americans. But, this is not enough. It is time to take bigger and bolder steps to meet the needs of the community at large.

Looking back, the early Asian American pioneers who came more than a hundred years ago have literally given their blood, sweat, and tears to build America. They came alone without their family, worked as laborers for years under very harsh conditions, then returned to the old country with their life savings to live out their golden years. Sadly, this cycle repeats itself for several generations until the end of WW2. Asian Americans no longer have to maintain the confining lifestyles by keeping their noses to the grindstones in the community. Their new lives as passport carrying American citizens with all the rights and privileges had begun. Asian Americans are getting more educated and more affluent, capable of giving back to America in their new roles as scientists, engineers, doctors, businessmen, lawyers, community leaders, and even elected officials in government.

What can Asian Americans do for America ? That is an open question. What do we have to offer ? How can we use our talents and resources effectively to meet the challenges ? Should we lead or be a follower ? These are issues we have to discuss in an open dialog thru the CAPA Blog at http://www.capa-mi.blogs.com/, by sharing our views on specific issues and explore options to address the well being of Asian Americans and all Americans. The editorials in the CAPA e-newsletter will serve as a stimulus and provoke us to think and act in a positive way. As Americans, our collective wisdom should move us to act and provide the compass of CAPA in serving the community with the right focus in this great nation of ours.

This is a call to “Pour out our hearts, put our minds and hands to work with words and actions” to nurture our relationships with one another and to strengthen the communities across America. Together, we will develop the strategic goals and action plans to accomplish something truly significant. Will you join us ?

_______________________________________________________________________
© 2005  Tai Chan

Dr. Tai Chan chairs the CAPA Education Committee since 2005, and served as VP of CAPA in 2004.  He is an environmental health research scientist with General Motors since 1977, and led the GM Chinese Affinity Group as Chairman in 2003. He was president of the American Association of Aerosol Research (AAAR) in 1996, and the Detroit Chinese Engineers Association (DCEA) in 2000.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in the editorials are solely of the individual author and are not necessarily those of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans or its members.

CAPA reserves the rights to delete any reader's response or comment to the article, if considers inappropriate.

Affirmative Action Affirms         

Frank H. Wu

I am often asked whether Asian Americans should support affirmative action. I had the honor of testifying in the University of Michigan case when it was tried in the United States District Court in 2001, appearing on behalf of students who intervened in favor of the programs. The practice of considering race as a factor in high-stakes decision-making, such as college admissions, is controversial, but it also is crucial to ensuring genuine diversity.

Perhaps it would be more constructive to ask a different question that emphasizes our important societal goals: should Asian Americans value racial integration? In the past generation, it has become clear that the answer is “yes.” Asian Americans, like all Americans, consistently say that we would like our institutions to be inclusive: we want the President’s Cabinet to look like the face of the nation, corporate management to be a realistic aspiration for everyone who is talented and hard-working, and selective campuses to offer opportunities to students who are African American and Latino as well as Asian American and white. The challenge, then, is how to develop practices that make our rhetoric a reality.

In the pair of University of Michigan cases, the Supreme Court has announced Constitutional guidelines that will allow us to do so. The Justices have declared that diversity is a “compelling state interest.” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in the majority opinion, “In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.”

For Asian Americans, however, the issues are different than for blacks and whites. Asian Americans are often frustrated, and rightly so, to learn that we are not recognized as racial minorities much less United States citizens. We are presumed to be model minorities or perpetual foreigners. Yet as we stand up and speak out for our civil rights, we will succeed only if we also stand up and speak out for racial equality in a principled manner.

I cringe when I meet someone who is Asian who tells me they support diversity efforts at work, because they see a glass ceiling and know that Asian Americans will advance only if their employer takes active measures to bring about such an outcome, or whose small business has benefited from a government initiative meant to encourage people of color, but who then pauses and declares they oppose affirmative action by universities because they believe their child will be disadvantaged. In a democratic system, we cannot simply demand programs that will help us while fighting programs that we believe – erroneously – will harm us. Otherwise, blacks and whites alike will realize we are self-interested rather than willing to build coalitions.

What is worse are demagogues who tell Asian Americans that African Americans’ gains come at our expense. Asian Americans are turned into a wedge group, used to attack African Americans. People say, “Look, they made it, why can’t you,” ignoring both group histories and contemporary stereotyping that is very different. Or Asian Americans are encouraged to blame racial discrimination against us on affirmative action for African Americans. People suggest that Asian Americans must be discriminated against if affirmative action is used, even though it would be illegal to use quotas whether maximum or minimum.

Affirmative action is merely a means to an ends. It is an attempt to give all people a chance to achieve the great American Dream. Asian Americans, especially those of us who are close to our immigrant origins, can understand that ideal.

___________________________________________________________

© 2005 Frank H. Wu

Frank H. Wu is the ninth Dean of Wayne State University Law School; he grew up in metropolitan Detroit.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in the editorials are solely of the individual author and are not necessarily those of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans or its members.

CAPA reserves the rights to delete any reader's response or comment to the article, if considers inappropriate.