December 28, 2012-January 3, 2013 - Asian Journal Digital Editions

An Asian Journal MagazineImmigrationCornerATTY. MICHAELgroom would not be includedGURFINKELunder that petition. You wouldhave to petition your spouseunder the F-2A category (greenIN a previous article, Icard spouse petitioning spouse),discussed various situations and they might have to wait anwhere marriage would affect additional five or more years fora person’s eligibility for a visa, their priority date to becomeand situations where it might current.be advantageous to marryEmployment-Based Visas,before being processed for the such as Labor Certification (EBgreencard. Here are some more 1, 2,3):situations dealing with the effect Marriage will not affect aof a marriage on a person’s person’s eligibility for a visa basedeligibility for a visa:on a petition by an employer. InIt may be advantageous to marrybefore your immigrant visa is issued(or you adjust status).Brother or Sister of USCitizen (F-4):It is always permissible tomarry if you are under petition byyour US citizen brother or sister.Your marriage will have no effectwhatsoever on your eligibilityfor a visa in the F-4 category. Infact, if you marry before yourimmigrant visa is issued (or beforeyou adjust status in the US), thenyour spouse can be included,or added on, as a derivativebeneficiary of your brother orsister’s petition. If you get yourvisa through your brother orsister’s petition as “single” andmarry afterwards, your bride orBY MONET LUI MET Joey in a beautypageant. I am so impressed by hisdedication and talent in fashionand beauty pageant scene.Although we didn’t get a chanceto really connect, I am privilegedto share a bit of his inspiring story.Joey Galon graduated withB.A. Degree in Fashion andTextiles design from San Franciscoand Business Administrationfrom San Diego State. He beganhis creative career in marketing,public relations and specialevents in the fashion industry,producing high profile fashionshows. This experience allowedhim the opportunity to establishnew product launches, designsets, choreograph shows, andwork exclusively with top couturedesigners and their collections,including many well known supermodels.Mr. Galon contributedhis creative eye doing visualdisplays and event planning forrenowned retail companies suchas I. Magnin, Neiman Marcus andArmani among others.Aside from his educationaland professional career infashion, Mr. Galon has beena beauty pageant aficionadosince the early 80’s. He has beenfollowing Miss Philippines-USAPageant, a preliminary to the MissPhilippines Universe, World &International Pageant in Manila,Health@HeartASexpensive asmedicationsPHILIP S. CHUA,are today, thisMD, FACS, FPCSquestion ismost relevant.And even if they were free, no one would want to throwaway and waste such valuable items if they were stillpotent. Yes, drugs do expire and lose their potency andeffectiveness at some point. But the issue is whether theexpiration date on the drug container the endpoint atwhich it is totally useless and should be discarded.Many of us have probably faced the dilemma wherewe had an upset stomach, headache, or diarrhea, andthe only drug we found in our medicine cabinet had anexpiration date past a month or a year or two ago. Is themedication still potent? More importantly, is it even safeto take it?The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guideused a column published in PsychopharmacologyToday to provide clarification on this important issue.The expiration date printed on the medication box andor bottle really stands for a certain “legally required”information, but not what it actually infers, and not whatwe might think it means.When the expiration date printed on the medicationcontainer has passed, most of us will surely think thedrug is expired and worthless, and throw the medicationaway.In 1979, a law was passed in the United Statesrequiring drug manufacturers to stamp an expirationdate on their products, the date at which they canguarantee the full potency and safety of the drugs.The information we have in our column today aboutthis issue came from a study conducted by the US Foodand Drug Administration (FDA), per request of the USmilitary.When would marriagehurt my petition?fact, it may be advantageous tomarry before your immigrant visais issued (or you adjust status).That way, your spouse would beincluded under the employer’spetition, and would be eligibleto receive a visa the same timeas you.Derivative Beneficiaries:If a child is a “derivativebeneficiary” under their parent’spetition (i.e. their parent is beingpetitioned by an employer (laborcertification), or by a parent (F-1or F-3), or brother or sister (F-4)and that derivative child (eventhough under 21) gets married,the child would no longer beconsidered a “child”, and, thus,ineligible to receive a “derivative”visa.As you can see, there arecertain situations where it is“bawal” (or prohibited) to getmarried, while in other cases, itmay be to your advantage to getmarried. That is why if you havequestions about whether or notit is “safe” to marry, I suggest thatyou seek the advice of a reputableattorney, who can evaluate yoursituation and tell you whether ornot it is best to get married beforegetting your green card.* * *TELECAST SCHEDULETFCSundays5:45pm PSToriginalSundays1:50am PSTreplayANC USSaturdays9:30am PSToriginalThursdays•7pm PSTreplayANC PHILSundays1:30am PhiloriginalFridays•11am PhilreplayJoey Galon: Living his dreams and his passionPhilippines.He designed his first pageantgowns in 1983, which hasencouraged him to study fashiondesign in college.Mr. Galon has since beenExecutive Director for localpageants in the Miss Americaprogram, worked as staff memberfor Miss USA, Miss Universe,coached countless pageantdelegates and has judgednumerous pageants across thecountry and internationally.His more than twenty yearsexperience in fashion andpageant involvements, plustwo decades of dedication inpersonal development and publicspeaking, have led him to openan additional business called“Runway for Life.” Runway forLife is a personal development,pageant coaching and wardrobestyling organization. Runwayfor Life paved way for him tobe a keynote speaker in variousevents both nationally andinternationally, teaching hisself-empowerment and personaldevelopment courses to hundredsof students.His clothing line, Joey GalonAtelier was officially launchedat Miss USA 2010 in Las Vegas.It showcased his collectionof evening gowns made forpageantry.Mr. Galon was recentlyhired as a Catering Executivefor Culinary Arts Catering, aninstitution responsible for eventswith chief contracted clients:Smith Center for the PerformingArts and the Springs Preserve inLas Vegas.He was also part of the realityshow series, Model Latina, as thisseason’s official Model Coach to14 models.Recently, he flew to New YorkCity to film his second realityshow, a brand new fashion series(from the same producers whocreated Project Runway) on thenew Lifetime Network: 24 HourCatwalk. The show was aired earlythis year. 24 Hour Catwalk featuredhim as one of the nation’s up andcoming new designers, competingfor the grand prize to gain fullsponsorship and marketing ofhis burgeoning clothing linecompany.Watching beauty pageantsannually on TV is his family’sfavorite past time. It was like theSuper Bowl for him.He designed his sister’s firstevening gown for a competition,without any prior experience.Inspired by this new foundinterest, others noticed hisDo drugs really expire?Since the military has a massive and expensivestockpile of medications, which it has to discard andreplace every few years, the research was done forobvious economic incentive.The study revealed that “90 percent of more than100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, wereperfectly good to use even 15 years after the expirationdate,” retaining most of their original potency.Following this scientific investigation by the US-FDA,it is apparent that the expiration date does not stipulatethe exact date at which medication is no longer effectiveor has become unsafe.According to the Harvard Guide, “medicalauthorities state expired drugs are safe to take, eventhose that expired years ago.” While the potencydiminishes with time, 90 percent of the medicationsare generally still effective, even “15 years after theirexpiration date,” as we quoted earlier.Of course, there are some exceptions. There aredrugs whose stability and potency diminish fasterand last shorter. Examples of these are nitroglycerin,insulin, liquid antibiotics. Tetracycline was listed as a rareexception, still controversial.The report further stated that excluding the above,“most medications are as long-lasting as the ones testedby the military.”If the “expired” pain pills taken still works, or the“expired” anti-hypertensive medication continues tocontrol the blood pressure well, or the “expired” antidiarrheadrug still controls diarrhea, obviously they arestill potent, effective, and useful. So, why throw themaway?One way to help preserve the potency ofmedications is to keep them in a cool dark place orrefrigerated. Sunshine and heat diminish the potency ofdrugs.Continued on Page 5creative talents, which eventuallyled to fashion design school.After school, he vowed thatwhat his education has taughthim was not for him to keep, butto share.He bring forth today, originalinfluences in his evening gowns.A good fit, well-made gowns,style and color that reflectshis personality, are his mostimportant motivation in hiscreations.Joey’s personal approach tohis designs, targets the pageantmarket because women arecelebrated formally duringthe evening gown segmentsof competition. Every womanshould celebrate her beauty,better in a beautiful gown!It was not an easy transitionwhen he entered the specialevents industry. Joey takes thesame approach to color, balanceand symmetry when designinggowns, to events.Joey says, “I’m just livingmy dreams and my four mainpassions: Special Events, Fashion,Personal Development Trainingand Keynote Speaking.”To you Joey, Mabuhay andGod bless!***