The Chronicle

Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: News
Last update: 4/18/07 at 9:34 AM EST

Media Credit: Lauren Prats Survivor winner Yul Kwon speaks Tuesday as part of an effort to increase Asian donors of bone marrow.

Two different types of survivors discussed their personal experiences with leukemia and Asian American representations in the media at a talk in the Griffith Film Theater Tuesday evening.

Yul Kwon, the winner of "Survivor: Cook Islands," and Cammy Lee, a leukemia survivor, discussed the disease and encouraged students, especially minority students, to register with the National Marrow Donor Program.

"The best chance of finding a matching donor is someone of your own ethnicity," said Lee, whose life was saved by the stem cells donated by a Chinese-Canadian woman.

Kwon said he has worked to raise awareness about the issue since his childhood friend and Stanford University classmate was diagnosed with leukemia and was unable to find a perfect match.

In addition to encouraging students to enter the NMDP Registry, Kwon-whose parents emigrated from South Korea- spoke about the perception of Asian Americans in the media and his personal experiences on the reality TV show.

Before appearing on "Survivor" in 2006, Kwon graduated from Yale Law School and went on to work as a lawyer and consultant, among other professions.

Kwon said he never expected to become a TV personality, but he chose to appear on the popular show because of a lack of Asian American representation in the media.

"Growing up, I didn't see a lot of people who looked like me or whom I could look up to," he said.

Kwon added that he did not know the season's teams were determined based solely on race until he had actually arrived at the Cook Islands.

"When I found out, I was totally horrified," he said. "I didn't think that CBS would do something that socially irresponsible."

Kwon said, however, that he decided to go forward with the show to help present a positive image of Asian Americans on national TV.

"If we really want to change how we are viewed in this country, we have to get mainstream success," he said.

Kwon also encouraged students to pursue careers in a variety of fields and engage in more community outreach activities.

"I was really inspired to do more for the community," freshman Alyssa Zhu said.

The event was hosted by the Asian Students Association, who invited Kwon because of his desire to break down stereotypes about Asian Americans.

"He is a positive representation of people of Asian decent in the media, which until recently continuously typecast East/Southeast Asian males as caricatured kung-fu masters or asocial geeks," senior Kevin Fang, outgoing ASA president, wrote in an e-mail.

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