Japanese American Citizens League

An 18-year-old Sacramento man described by his attorney as a racist has been convicted on five of 12 felony charges involving a series of racially motivated firebombings last year. Richard Campos showed no emotion when the jury returned its verdict Monday after four days of deliberations. The conviction on five counts carries a maximum of 14 years in prison, authorities said. Superior Court Judge James Ford declared a mistrial on the remaining seven counts and dismissed the jury.

The Japanese American Citizens League, a leading California Asian American civil-rights group, will hold a panel discussion on the measure supporters call the California Civil Rights Initiative this week in Pacoima. The forum, scheduled for Friday at the San Fernando Valley Japanese-American Community Center, will include speakers on both sides of the controversial initiative.

The FBI has now questioned hundreds of Arab-American political, business and civic leaders in its campaign to "interdict terrorists," deepening anxieties in that community and spreading concerns elsewhere. Increasingly, from accounts given by those who have been questioned, the FBI's aims seem more like political intimidation than effective intelligence gathering. In effect, even if not necessarily in intent, an entire group feels it is under suspicion because of its ethnic heritage.

The article, "Loral to Sell 49% Stake in Ford Division" (Oct. 23), described plans by Loral to sell the satellite division of Ford Aerospace to three European firms to create one of the world's largest commercial satellite businesses. I consider a satellite company a strategic industry that is important to the national security of the United States. As such, I waited for expressions of opposition from members of Congress and media columnists. I have waited for a week and haven't heard any opposition whatsoever from any source.

The Orange County Human Relations Commission is investigating allegations that three Japanese-American women were harassed and assaulted at a Red Onion restaurant here. The three women were at the restaurant at 16450 Pacific Coast Highway when they were "assaulted verbally by some Anglo women and men who were coming after them because they were speaking Japanese," said Rusty Kennedy, the commission's director.

Although the numbers looked impressive, the majority of the people participating in the [New Otani] protest neither live nor work in Little Tokyo ("AFL-CIO Chief to Press L.A. Case in Japan," Feb. 20). The New Otani Hotel only has 285 employees, of which 118 have requested a secret ballot vote. In fact, we know that many of the protesters are college students who live on the Westside, and the majority of protesters are union members from other labor organizations. They clearly do not speak for the New Otani employees nor for the Little Tokyo community.

A "War on Drugs" citizens panel headed by Mayor Tom Bradley and Police Chief Daryl F. Gates has been formed to hold public hearings on how to stem a narcotics problem in Los Angeles that has reached "enormous proportions," it was announced Tuesday. Standing in front of a police property room in which $1 billion worth of seized cocaine is stored, Bradley and Gates said a panel of 14 prominent residents would hear from experts on the growing drug trade in Southern California and how to curb it.

Jesse Jackson said Wednesday he is forming a multiethnic coalition that will launch a boycott of baseball stadiums across the country beginning on opening day unless club owners adopt specific hiring plans to integrate the game's management. Spurred by racist comments attributed to Cincinnati Red owner Marge Schott, Jackson said his new "Rainbow Coalition on Fairness in Sports" also will urge President-elect Bill Clinton to refuse to throw out the first pitch on opening day next year.

Huntington Beach resident Kenneth Inouye this week was elected chairman of the Orange County Human Relations Commission. The vice chairman is C. William Wood of Laguna Beach. They will serve one-year terms. Inouye is managing partner of Inouye, Shively and Longtin, an accounting firm in Laguna Hills. He is internal vice president of the Orange County Japanese American Assn. and a past district president of the Japanese American Citizens League.