The title of Asian Pacific American can give and take. It can empower and at the same time engender the feeling of being a minority within a minority group.

APAs made up 34.6 percent of the University of California’s new freshman admits in 2005 — the second largest group next to Caucasians, according to university data. The same report defines APAs as: Chinese, East Indian/Pakistani, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Other Asians.

For Nefara Riesch, who is of Samoan descent, being “other” or just “Asian” doesn’t encapsulate a Pacific Islander’s struggle for access to higher education. The 19-year-old history major is one of about 40 Pacific Islanders on the University of California, Los Angeles, campus of over 24,000 undergraduates. For Riesch, the numbers just don’t add up.

In order to call attention to the plight of smaller APA ethnic groups, UCLA’s Asian Pacific Coalition (APC) is leading a campaign to pressure university administrators to disaggregate the “Other Asian” category, which critics say traps some APAs under the Model Minority Myth.

The Count Me In! Campaign, which is currently a UCLA initiative but will soon spread to the other UC campuses, seeks to achieve: the inclusion of 10 more APA ethnic groups such as Bangladeshi, Fijian and Hmong in the university’s collection of data; the creation of a Pacific Islander racial category; and financial support for outreach projects targeted at disadvantaged APAs.??

“The truth of the matter is, we can’t be placed under the homogenous Asian American umbrella,” said Riesch, who grew up in East Palo Alto, known then for being the murder capital of the country. “Not everyone fits in that category.”

Statistically the odds are against Pacific Islanders like Riesch: only 15 percent get their bachelor’s degree and only 1 percent go on to get their master’s degree. For many, upward mobility and higher education are virtually inaccessible without help. Being lumped into an “Asian” group undermines the struggles of smaller APA ethnic groups, critics say.??

The campaign was the direct response to anti-Asian sentiment expressed at UCLA when admission numbers were released. An October 2006 column in the university newspaper blamed APA students for lowered numbers of African American and Hispanic admits.??

“It was a wake-up call,” said Riesch. “It was supposed to be sarcastic, but for us it was filled with hate.

“The APC immediately hosted a forum to dispel the misconception and from there, the Count Me In! campaign was born.

“We’re underrepresented and from a different part of history, a different part of the world,” said Kevin Peanh, 20, about his Cambodian heritage.

Being placed under a ubiquitous Asian classification was personally detrimental to the Long Beach, Calif., native because his classmates would often think his family was more affluent than it was. “My mom is a caretaker and my dad is a machinist,” said Peanh.??

University of California officials agree that placing all APAs in a single category likely masks differences in experience, educational background and socio-economic status.??