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I have worked as a professor for almost 30 years at two Ivy League institutions -- the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. Ivy League institutions epitomize the Ivory Tower. We imagine that professors and students discuss rarefied subjects while being disconnected to the reality on the ground. However, I wholeheartedly reject this version of academia. Two weeks ago, I had the immense pleasure of organizing a K-pop conference at Yale University titled "K-pop Production and Consumption: Conversations among Industry Professionals, Social Scientists, and Humanists." My co-organizer was Yale postdoctoral fellow Dr. Lee Won-seok, who happens to be a former drummer in the K-pop industry who worked with acts like Shinhwa and Lee Hyo-ri. The conference was sponsored by multiple units at Yale -- the Council on East Asian Studies to the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Kempf Fund at the MacMillan Center, and the Yale’s Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration. This is a sign of the relevance of K-pop to numerous academic centers at Yale. My vision was to introduce academics who study K-pop to people that actually work in the industry. For the panelists, we welcomed RBW’s Kim Hyung-kyu, who helped to produce Beast, Mamamoo, Pentagon, G(I)-dle, Oneus, Onewe, Young Posse, and so forth. Next, we had Kim Su-bin, a former idol of the group Say Yes and current songwriter, producer, topliner and CEO of Aiming Music. He has produced almost 400 songs for groups such as Twice, EXO, Super Junior, SF9 and Astro. We also welcomed Dahae Choi, creative director at Hitfire Productions AB in Sweden, and who has an extensive career in music publishing and forming some of the first song camps. Finally, we welcomed Jay Kim, a former employee in PR at a major K-pop entertainment company and currently a K-pop journalist. We invited them to participate along with academics in Sociology, Ethnomusicology, East Asian Studies, Korean Studies, Theatre Arts, English and Classics. We gathered at Yale University for two wonderful days, and everyone had a great time. What was so special was that everyone there was serious about K-pop -- we are all fans, producers and/or consumers of it. Also, we didn’t have to defend its importance to anyone at the conference. We all felt pure joy and happiness throughout the conference -- I don’t know if it was because we all loved music or if we just liked each other. There were so many unique moments. First, we enjoyed welcome messages from five idols/groups including Say My Name, Purple Kiss, Young Posse, Jae-Joong of JYJ and Yonghoon of Onewe. These have been posted on YouTube if you’re interested. Faculty and students learned what it was like to be an idol and the rigorous testing and training that trainees endure. Who knew that trainees at one company had to write monthly book reports? We also learned about various methods for computing the allocation of song royalties. Industry professionals seemed fascinated that professors and Ph.D. students were spending time studying K-pop. In the session, “Fandoms,” we heard about Korean versus international fandoms from professor Mathieu Berbiguier of Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Stephanie Choi of Suny Buffalo talked about how the activities of female fans are a direct response to gender inequities in Korea. We learned about performing materialization and affective labor from Professor Areum Jeong of Arizona State University. She also talked about fan meetings with Taeyong of NCT Dream. In the session titled, “Sounds,” I talked about the link between K-pop and 1980s New Wave Music. Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Michigan Sunhong Kim, previously a professional "gugak" (traditional Korean music) musician, presented her paper on how Suga of BTS uses traditional Korean instrumentation and imagery in "Daechwita" as a commentary on military history during Park Chung-hee’s regime and beyond. We heard about the use of autotune and vocoders in Ateez songs from Professor Donna Kwon, an Ethnomusicology professor at the University of Kentucky. The panel on “Past and Future” featured Dr. Yanxiao He of Tsinghua University whose work ties Classics to K-pop more broadly, and specifically to BTS’s “Dionysus.” We learned about how computational social scientists analyze data on social media platform X to examine the sway BTS carries in shaping the online conversation about discrimination against Asian Americans from Dr. AJ Alvero of Cornell University. Next, we heard fascinating papers by professor Hye Won Kim of Kennesaw State University about the production of K-pop. She is unique in that she was a pop singer and now a professor. Ph.D. candidate Lee So-yoon from The University of Chicago talked about the proliferation of hagwons that offer credentialing to adults who want to work in the K-pop industry -- not as idols, but in production and support roles. Finally, we learned about K-pop markets. Professor Kim Sung-min of Hokkaido University described the reception of K-pop in Japan and how it reflects Japan-Korea relations. Professor Youjeong Oh of the University of Texas, Austin, described how tourism based on BTS has brought fans to Korea. One of the most memorable highlights was during our last reception, where we all participated in a sing-a-long. Hye Won Kim (professionally known as Hey) performed her hit song, “Je T’aime” with Kim Hyung-kyu; Kim Su-bin and Kim Hyung-kyu performed a “freestyle” song -- meaning that they made it up on the spot. Finally, the Korean participants sang “Forever with You” by Lee Moon-sae. Hye Won Kim recorded it and sent it to Lee (apparently they are friends!) on the spot. Shockingly, he responded to her and expressed his happiness at seeing it. I tried to explain to my American friends this was as if we sang “Candle in the Wind” at a party and then someone at the party who is a friend of Elton John’s texts the video to him, and then he immediately responds. This was truly surreal and magical. If we think of all the groups who were mentioned during the conference or played during our lunch breaks, I think we covered all the generations from Seo Taiji, H.O.T., S.E.S., 2NE1, Girls Generation, Beast, TVXQ, Super Junior, Big Bang, EXO, BTS, GOT7, Twice, iKON, Seventeen, Pentagon, Brave Girls, NCT 127, Ateez, Stray Kids, G(I)-dle, TXT, Enhyphen, NewJeans, Zerobaseone, and Young Posse. Still, how memorable is it that we ended with a song by Lee Moon-sae, who debuted in 1978. Not bad for a two-day conference in Connecticut, right? Grace Kao Grace Kao is an IBM professor of sociology and professor of ethnicity, race and migration at Yale University. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.
Former Boise State coach Chris Petersen still gets asked about the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma on the first day of 2007. That game had everything. Underdog Boise State took a 28-10 lead over one of college football's blue bloods that was followed by a 25-point Sooners run capped by what could have been a back-breaking interception return for a touchdown with 1:02 left. Then the Broncos used three trick plays that remain sensations to not only force overtime but win 43-42. And then there was the marriage proposal by Boise State running back Ian Johnson — shortly after scoring the winning two-point play — to cheerleader Chrissy Popadics that was accepted on national TV. That game put Broncos football on the national map for most fans, but looking back 18 years later, Petersen sees it differently. "Everybody wants to talk about that Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game, which is great how it all worked out and all those things," Petersen said. "But we go back to play TCU (three years later) again on the big stage. It's not as flashy a game, but to me, that was an even better win." Going back to the Fiesta Bowl and winning, Petersen reasoned, showed the Broncos weren't a splash soon to fade away, that there was something longer lasting and more substantive happening on the famed blue turf. The winning has continued with few interruptions. No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for another trip to the Fiesta Bowl, this time in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year's Eve. That success has continued through a series of coaches, though with a lot more of a common thread than readily apparent. Dirk Koetter was hired from Oregon, where Petersen was the wide receivers coach. Not only did Koetter bring Petersen with him to Oregon, Petersen introduced him to Dan Hawkins, who also was hired for the staff. So the transition from Koetter to Hawkins to Petersen ensured at least some level of consistency. Koetter and Hawkins engineered double-digit victory seasons five times over a six-year span that led to power-conference jobs. Koetter went to Arizona State after three seasons and Hawkins to Colorado after five. Then when Petersen became the coach after the 2005 season, he led Boise State to double-digit wins his first seven seasons and made bowls all eight years. He resisted the temptation to leave for a power-conference program until Washington lured him away toward the end of the 2013 season. Then former Boise State quarterback and offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin took over and posted five double-digit victory seasons over his first six years. After going 5-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he left for Auburn. "They just needed consistency of leadership," said Koetter, who is back as Boise State's offensive coordinator. "This program had always won at the junior-college level, the Division II level, the I-AA (now FCS) level." But Koetter referred to "an unfortunate chain of events" that made Boise State a reclamation project when he took over in 1998. Coach Pokey Allen led Boise State to the Division I-AA national championship game in 1994, but was diagnosed with cancer two days later. He died on Dec. 30, 1996, at 53. Allen coached the final two games that season, Boise State's first in Division I-A (now FBS). Houston Nutt became the coach in 1997, went 4-7 and headed to Arkansas. Then Koetter took over. "One coach dies and the other wasn't the right fit for this program," Koetter said. "Was a really good coach, did a lot of good things, but just wasn't a good fit for here." But because of Boise State's success at the lower levels, Koetter said the program was set up for success. "As Boise State has risen up the conference food chain, they've pretty much always been at the top from a player talent standpoint," Koetter said. "So it was fairly clear if we got things headed in the right direction and did a good job recruiting, we would be able to win within our conference for sure." Success didn't take long. He went 6-5 in 1998 and then won 10 games each of the following two seasons. Hawkins built on that winning and Petersen took it to another level. But there is one season, really one game, no really one half that still bugs Petersen. He thought his best team was in 2010, one that entered that late-November game at Nevada ranked No. 3 and had a legitimate chance to play for the national championship. The Colin Kaepernick-led Wolf Pack won 34-31. "I think the best team that I might've been a part of as the head coach was the team that lost one game to Nevada," Petersen said. "That team, to me, played one poor half of football on offense the entire season. We were winning by a bunch at half (24-7) and we came out and did nothing on offense in the second half and still had a chance to win. "That team would've done some damage." There aren't any what-ifs with this season's Boise State team. The Broncos are in the field of the first 12-team playoff, representing the Group of Five as its highest-ranked conference champion. That got Boise State a bye into the quarterfinals. Spencer Danielson has restored the championship-level play after taking over as the interim coach late last season during a rare downturn that led to Andy Avalos' dismissal. Danielson received the job full time after leading Boise State to the Mountain West championship. Now the Broncos are 12-1 with their only defeat to top-ranked and No. 1 seed Oregon on a last-second field goal. Running back Ashton Jeanty also was the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy. "Boise State has been built on the backs of years and years of success way before I got here," Danielson said. "So even this season is not because of me. It's because the group of young men wanted to leave a legacy, be different. We haven't been to the Fiesta Bowl in a decade. They said in January, 'We're going to get that done.' They went to work." As was the case with Danielson, Petersen and Koetter said attracting top talent is the primary reason Boise State has succeeded all these years. Winning, obviously, is the driving force, and with more entry points to the playoffs, the Broncos could make opportunities to keep returning to the postseason a selling point. But there's also something about the blue carpet. Petersen said he didn't get what it was about when he arrived as an assistant coach, and there was some talk about replacing it with more conventional green grass. A poll in the Idaho Statesman was completely against that idea, and Petersen has come to appreciate what that field means to the program. "It's a cumulative period of time where young kids see big-time games when they're in seventh and eighth and ninth and 10th grade and go, 'Oh, I know that blue turf. I want to go there,'" Petersen said. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Northern California was under a rare and brief tsunami warning alert Thursday that tested local emergency notification systems after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook part of the state. The National Weather Service canceled its alert after roughly an hour and before the tsunami was expected to arrive. In that hour, some cities and counties ordered evacuations while others relied on social media and text messages to inform people of the warning. Some people headed for higher ground, while others drove to the beach to get a better view.CHENNAI: Amidst severe criticism from various political parties over his whiplash agitation, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Saturday said his action should be likened to that of a "brother's primal anger" over the sexual assault of his sister. His action should not be viewed as political but ought to be seen as an elder brother's outburst over the "system failure" in the state, Annamalai said a day after he staged a unique whiplash agitation of flogging himself to condemn the ruling DMK and the state police over the handling of the case of sexual assault on a Chennai college student. "Don't see me as a political party leader but see me as the affected girl's elder brother. It's (inflicting whiplash on himself) like primal anger of a brother because the system has failed," Annamalai told reporters at the airport here when sought for his reaction. "Has the police been impartial in handling the case? No. There was no chance for the FIR to get leaked. How did it get leaked?" the BJP president asked. He lashed himself several times with a whip in front of his house in Coimbatore demanding justice for the Anna University student who was sexually assaulted on Christmas Eve. Also Read: TN BJP chief Annamalai whips himself to condemn Anna University sexual assault The police had arrested the suspect in the case. Several political parties including the ruling DMK had mocked Annamalai for the agitation which was also to dislodge the DMK government. He had vowed not to wear sandals till the DMK was dethroned and had even begun a 48-day ritual for a pilgrimage to Murugan temples. Also, he justified his stance on the issue. He said the "system has deteriorated" in the state. Former Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan and BJP members were arrested when they staged a protest demanding justice for the affected girl student. "So I was constrained to take up this agitation. I have taken up the issue with a religious zeal," Annamalai said.
Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy: A Closer Look at Symptoms, Diagnosis and Clinical Research UnderwayUzbekistan'sPresident Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed the progress of transportinfrastructure and engineering communications in New Tashkent (acity under construction designed to accommodate 1 millionresidents), reports. According to the Uzbek president's office, the developmentfocuses on building sustainable infrastructure for long-term use,with extensive underground engineering work underway to lay thefoundation for major future projects. The city aims to harmonize infrastructure, daily life, andenvironmental considerations. Plans include an eco-friendlytransport system integrating metro and electric buses, with 14tunnels and underground parking facilities for 100,000 vehicles.Provisions are being made for safe, barrier-free movement forpedestrians and cyclists. At one major intersection, foundation pouring for columns andwaterproofing are already in progress. Construction has alsostarted on one- and two-section underground utility corridors forcentralized heating, water, electricity, and telecommunicationsnetworks. New Tashkent will employ smart technologies aligned with modernurbanization demands. A trigeneration station—the first of its kindin Uzbekistan—will be built, and wastewater will be treated usingadvanced technologies, with the reclaimed water repurposed forirrigation and technical needs. The president was also briefed on projects planned for the firstphase of New Tashkent's development. Local and internationalinvestors presented initiatives for mixed-use complexes, hotels,and restaurants. Eleven multifunctional projects, valued at $490million, have already commenced. These developments will includeresidential, commercial, and social facilities, making the districtlively and appealing. Hotels and restaurants with uniquearchitectural designs are expected to deliver high-class servicesand attract tourism. In 2024, land plots for subsequent phases will be auctioned,offering new investment opportunities and projects. This phasedapproach will support the city's growth, generate new jobs, andstimulate local businesses. Overall, New Tashkent is expected to create approximately200,000 high-paying jobs through innovation and technology. Plansinclude technoparks, IT hubs, and education and medical clusters,positioning the city as a modern and sustainable urban center.