Greetings CRAA Members,

It has been a busy past few months. The board has been avtively dealing with a number of different association and community activities. This issue of the news letter is very important because it covers Health Department concerns and crime activity against chinese restaurant owners. Another important item is the upcoming elections of the board of directors. I encourage everyone to consider being a board member. It's a great opportunity to jmake a difference in our chinese restaurant industry and in the chinese community.

Summer is coming and although restaurant business generally slows down during that time the activities of the association continue on. Our participation in the community's Fourth of July celebration and our Autumn Moon Babquet in September are two major events during the summer. Also, we continue to work on COOP, Government, Advertising, Etc.

Its been almost a full year that I've served as your President. I've learned a lot and I think a lot has been accomplished thanks to the help of many members and the board of directors. I believe with everyone's continued support the coming year will be just as successful or better.

Safety Training Seminar

 a Safety training Seminar waaaaas presented by the Phoenix Police Department, Phoenix Alarm Company and the CRAA. Several members of the police department spoke about different areas of crime safety at home, business, and in the car. Two representatives from the alarm company spoke about alarm features that may help in a home invasion/burglary situation. The following are a some of the discussion highlights and recommendations presented at the seminar:

Doors. Make sure they can be secured both front and back of your business and home. A double cylinder deadbolt is preferred. The hinges should be on the inside of the door. Use wide angle peepholes.

If you are being followed call 911 and give a good description of both your vehicle and the suspect vehicle. Keep moving and keep making right hand turns at major intersections which will make it easier for police to find you. If you do not have a cell phone, go to a busy shooping center and locate a public phone.

If you suspect that you are being followed but are not sure, then do something unexpected like making a right hand turn then stopping to the side. See if the vehicle behind you dose the same thing.

Know where police and fire station are. Pull into the parking lot and honk your horn loud and continously.

At home, install security doors in front of your regular doors Properly installed, they are hard to force open. They make it hard to see in, but are easy to see out.

To help avoid being a target of asoan gangs the police recommend that you don't put your name and address in the phone book. Asian gangs come into town and look in the phone book for asian names. Also, don't put prominent asian features on the outside of your home such aas ornaments because that is another thing asian gangs look for.

If you are suspicious of someone, go ahead and take a good description and a license plate number. The information may be useful later.

If you are a victim of a crime, try to remain calm and get a good description(s). Afterwards don't mess with the crime scene. You may destroy some important evidence.

The alarm company pointed out that if your phone line is cut, your alarm system cannot be monitored and your alarm company may not know your line has been cut until hours later. They recommend that people look into what they call a "cell backup" sevice where an alarm's monitoring system is still operational even if the telephone line is cut. If you currently have an alarm, ask your company. Not all alram companies offer such a service.

Phoenix Alarm is one that does. Pjoenix Alarm also recommended having a panic button feature which is a button when pressed will alert the police department.

Finally, the alarm company stated that the exposed phone line leading into your home is only a few fet long and that it is possible to wrap it in metal. This makes it harder and more time consuming to cut which may discourage criminals. The materials are available at major hardware stores.

These are just some of the recommendations presented. For a more complete list just mail a request to the CRAA and you will be sent a copy.

The Health Department held a "Cultural Awareness Class" for its inspectors so that they can better understand and respect the cultures of different ethnic people. Prior to the class the CRAA board of directors met with the Health Department Supervisor in charge of conducting the class, Mr. Mo Heydari, R.S. The board expressed many concerns and were able to convey several chinese cultural things that inspectors should be aware of. Some of the items discused were:

• Language problems. Taking the time to communicate and be understood. Ways to make sure owners are understanding what the inspectors are saying and vice versa.
  
  
• How chinese culture affects the way a chinese restaurant is organized and managed.
  
  
• How the manager in the dining room may not be the only person who needs to understand Health Inspection concerns. Who is really in charge?
  
  
• How figures of authority are treated in Chinese culture.
  
  
• The uniqueness of chinese food and the different preparation and cooking methods.
  
  
• How the lunch hour is not a good time for inspectors to arrive.

When a restaurant does have problems and there is a language barrier, the CRAA can help but the restaurant owner must ask first for assistance.

Mr. Garry Ong attended the class with all the inspectors, made a one hour presentation and answered questions on these cultural issues. Hopefully the class will lead to a better understanding by the inspectors, better communication and a better environment in which restaurant owners can work with inspectors to improve scores.

We should all thank Garry for a great job!

As part of the Chinese Week project, the CRAA sponsored this year's Spelling Bee Contest put on by the Arizona Education Foundation. The CRAA sponsorship waas in the amount of $10,000 which the foundation used to conduct the contest and send the winner to Washington D.C. to compete in the National Spelling Bee.

President Dan Ong was one of the three spelling bee judges at the state finals which took place on March 31, TV Channel 15 showed the finals on April 14. Especially beneficial for our restaurant industry was that the CRAA was given a lot of exposure in the print and TV publicity leading up to and during the finals. A chinese gril, Kimberly Yang from Mountainside Middle School almost won the contest placing second.

All member of the CRAA were mailed a plaque from the Arizona Education Foundation thanking us. You can proudly display the plaque in your restaurant as a supporter of education.

There are five vacancies on the Board for the years of 2007 - 2008. Please vote for your candidates by making check marks next to their names or fill in the name of you ideal candidates into the blank line. You can vote up to five candidates.

CRAA
P.O. BOX 34435
Phoenix, AZ 85067