11/19/09

Introduction

Everyone should create a WordPress account and use WordPress to have discussions online.

Check-Up

Discussion on Role of ASA for Prospective Student Outreach

• Use the blog so that high school students can see what events we put on
• Meet with prospective students during multicultural weekend
• Speak with Admissions Office

Committee Updates

Committee on Speakers:

• Spoke with Pres. Emerson, have his support.
• Will prepare letters by next Wednesday

Committee on Communication

• Created profiles on Haverford.edu

Committee on Events

• Haven’t met, but Charles spoke with some groups

Outings

• Dim Sum this Saturday
• Hot Pot soon
• Tri-Co event

ASA Student-Faculty Tea

Date:	Thursday, November 19, 2009
Time:	4:30pm – 6:30pm
Location:	Wyndham House Blue Room

Come out for ASA’s first Student-Faculty Tea of the year!

Don’t know what courses to take next semester? Interested in a career in academia?

Join your fellow classmates and meet APIA professors (from various departments) at Bryn Mawr in an informal setting. Get to know the faculty, learn about their experiences and areas of interest, and ask any questions you might have about their experiences or upcoming courses!

Refreshments will be served.

Professors attending:

HOANG TAN NGUYEN, Ph.D, UC Berkeley
Experimental filmmaker
Assistant Professor of English, Queer Cinema Film Studies
http://www.brynmawr.edu/english/Faculty_and_Staff/HTNguyen.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_Tan_Hoang

YONGLIN JIANG, Ph.D., University of Minnesota
President, Society for Ming Studies
Assistant Professor, East Asian Studies Dept.
http://www.brynmawr.edu/eastasian/jiang.htm

PAULINE LIN, Ph.D, Harvard University
Assistant Professor and EAS major advisor, East Asian Studies Dept.
http://www.brynmawr.edu/eastasian/lin.htm

XUEMEI CHENG, Ph.D, John Hopkins University
Assistant Professor, Physics Department
http://www.brynmawr.edu/physics/XCheng/

DENISE F. SU, Ph.D, New York University
Assistant Professor, Anthropology Dept.
http://www.brynmawr.edu/anthropology/faculty.html

DIANNA XU, Ph.D, University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor, Computer Science Dept.
http://www.cs.brynmawr.edu/~dxu/

GINA VELASCO, Ph.D, UC Santa Cruz
Assistant Professor, Anthrology & Gender & Sexuality Studies Dept.
http://www.brynmawr.edu/cap/documents/GinaVelascoBiography2008.pdf

Sexual Orientation in the Workplace

Date: Friday, November 20
Time: 12:30-2PM
Place: Dalton 212 A, Bryn Mawr (right near the Blue Bus stop)

The third Diversity Conversation of the 2009-2010 academic year will take place this Friday, 11/20, with a discussion of “Sexual Orientation in the Workplace.” Join the Career Development Office’s Associate Director Michaile Rainey and Director of Intercultural Affairs Chris MacDonald-Dennis as we explore the following questions:

Should I have to deny who I am in order to get a job?
How much can I reveal without consequence?
What is the impact of denying one’s true self?
How can I make the transition from a supportive community to an unknown and possibly unfriendly environment?
To be or not to be OUT-  is that the question?

Handouts about LGBTQ employers and other career advice materials will be available.

Students, staff and faculty from the Bi-College community are welcome to attend. Bring your lunches, your observations and your questions! For more information, contact Vanessa Christman at x6594 or vchristm@brynmawr.edu.

The last Diversity Conversation of the fall will be a look at current events on Friday, December 11.

11/12/09

Introductions from BMC and Swat; “Oh wait, Swat and BMC aren’t here,” Ben

Comparing ASA websites with Swat and HC

Meeting with Emerson Wednesday 10:00 – 10:30 AM

Tri-co get together

Committees

Committee on Events: Chris, Danielle, Charles, Jen

• Magdalen Hsu-Li music
• Thai New Year; hottest month of the year, spray people with water
• Beau Sia video
• Jimmy Thong Tran

Committee on Communication

• Website, scrapping site and linking to a new site if want

Upcoming Events

• Stacy Eunchen, Friday 8:00  PM Founders
• Single Parents email, kids coming from single parent house hold
• APIA discussion, intercommunity, faculty,

CPGC Trip

• extend out some ideas
• tailor trip back to the community
• possibility have a committee
• Identity and culture blending
• Kristen talk with Carol
• Possibility Vietnam; diseases, Agent Orange, continuous project instead of a one time visit
• broader point of view than personal identity

Transforming Trauma into Art

Date: Thursday, November 19, 2009

Time: 8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Location: Stokes Auditorium, Haverford College

An Evening with Judith Sloan, Performance/Lecture Transforming Trauma Into Art. Accompanied by percussionist Ken White
Stories of love, hardship, trauma, diversity combining music, poetry, images, and monologues. Sloan will present excerpts from her critically acclaimed collaborative work: Crossing the BLVD: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new America and her new work-in-progress Yo Miss! Teaching Inside the Cultural Divide, Volume 1.

Crossing the BLVD was created in collaboration with Warren Lehrer, photographer, co-writer, designer with a sound track that includes music by Scott Johnson, Gogol Bordello, Eugene Hutz, Yury Lemeshev, Sergey Ryabstev, produced by Judith Sloan with Sheldon Steiger.
Yo Miss! Teaching Inside the Cultural Divide Vol. 1 is a project of EarSay, Inc and is being directed by Michael Dinwiddie, with assistance from Yoni Oppenheim. Soundtrack includes music by Taylor Rivelli, Ken White, David Krakauer, Frank London, Dave Guy, Judith Sloan, produced by Taylor Rivelli, Judith Sloan and Ken White.

Brought to you by the Asian Student Association (ASA) & Amnesty International

Contact: LinKai Jiang ljiang@haverford.edu
Cellphone: 718-3550239

What the Critics Say about Sloan’s previous work:

Crossing the BLVD is a whirlwind tour and love poem of what has often been called the most racially and ethnically diverse county in America. In the tradition of the playwright Anna Deavere Smith, Ms. Sloan regularly performs “Crossing the BLVD” at schools, museums and community events, adopting the personae (and respectfully mimicking the accents) of the varied immigrants whose stories are in the book…
The New York Times, City Room Blog, Sewell Chan

“In listening to what people have to say, Judith Sloan captures the essence of their lives… She is one part Studs Terkel, one part Lily Tomlin, two-parts originality.” The Herald, Bloomington

“Superb! A world view that sees comedy and tragedy as two bones of the same skeleton in the closet.” Sara O’Sullivan The Scotsman, Scotland’s National Newspaper

“[Sloan’s] Denial of the Fittest is highly articulate, funny, intimate, sexy and very frightening.” Thom Dibdin The Stage, London

“Sloan wickedly skewers stereotypes… screws up her face with Lily Tomlin-esque elasticity. Plus, Sloan’s a good juggler.” Evelyn McDonnell The Village Voice

“Sloan challenges U.S. Foreign Policy, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, homophobia, and a host of other issues throughout an amazingly varied series of character-driven monologues.” Ms. Magazine

The University of Pennsylvania to Host Lieutenant Daniel Choi, Asian-American LGBT Activist

Philadelphia, PA — The University of Pennsylvania will host a lecture by Lieutenant Daniel Choi on Thursday, November 19, at 5 pm in Houston Hall, Hall of Flags, followed by a unique student-led discussion. Choi will share his experiences as a gay Korean-American military officer who was dishonorably discharged for publicly coming out, and his ongoing fight for equality.

On March 19, 2009 Choi announced on “The Rachel Maddow Show” that he is gay. Upon this announcement, the U.S. Army began discharge proceedings against Choi for violating the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy (DADT), a U.S. Federal law restricting open gays and lesbians from serving in the military. A 2003 graduate of West Point, Choi was one of only eight in his graduating class who majored in Arabic. He served in the 10^th Mountain division and in South Baghdad as a platoon leader, company executive officer, battalion and brigade staff officer, Iraqi Arabic language instructor, and civil-military reconstruction engineer. Despite his service to the U.S. Army and the country, he was discharged.

President Barack Obama promised to repeal DADT during his presidential campaign; however the policy still exists today. In an April 23 letter to the President, Choi wrote that the discharge is “a slap in the face. It is a slap in the face to me. It is a slap in the face to my soldiers, peers and leaders who have demonstrated that an infantry unit can be professional enough to accept diversity, to accept capable leaders, to accept skilled soldiers. My subordinates know I’m gay. They don’t care. They are professional.” The letter was signed by more than 140,000 individuals. To promote equality in the military, Choi co-founded Knights Out, an organization of West Point alumni advocating for the rights of gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Furthermore, Choi has become a national spokesman against DADT.

Following Choi’s speech, dinner will be served during discussions facilitated by members of two Penn student organizations, Queer People of Color and Sangam, in the Bistro and the Class of ’66 Reading Room at Houston Hall. Some topics the discussions will address include: homophobia in the military, homophobia in Asian Pacific American (APA) communities, interaction between APA and LGBT social justice movements, and unique issues faced by ‘double-minorities.’

The University of Pennsylvania’s Asian Pacific Student Coalition, LGBT Center, Queer People of Color, the Pan-Asian American Community House, and Sangam are organizing the event, with funding from the Intercultural Fund, SPEC Connaissance, and Tangible Change. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the following visitor parking lots: between 33^rd, 34^th and Spruce Streets; N.E. corner of 38^th and Walnut Streets; and the Sheraton Hotel parking, 36^th and Chestnut Streets.

Lt. Choi will be available to speak to the press on the day of his visit 4:15-4:45 at the Penn LGBT Center. 3907 Spruce Street.

Contact:

Rohan Grover

rgrover@wharton.upenn.edu

609-233-5114

The Struggle Continues

Everyone is invited to The Struggle Continues, a fund-raising event by Asian Americans United (AAU). The event is being held in part to recognize everyone involved in the No Casino in Chinatown campaign, which is why I would like for some of us to attend. It’s also a great opportunity to meet leaders in the Philadelphia Asian American community and hear what they have planned for the upcoming year. For anyone interested in interning with AAU or other Asian/Asian American organizations in Philadelphia, I definitely encourage you to attend.

When:
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
6:30pm – 9:30pm

Where:
718 Market St. @ the No Slots Spot

Please email me at btakemot@haverford.edu to let me know (1) if you plan on attending and (2) if you could drive people. I can drive up to four people, and it is right next to Market St. Station for anyone interested in taking SEPTA. ASA can provide SEPTA tickets.

APIA U Leadership 101: Asian Pacific Islander American College Leadership Training

The University of Pennsylvania LGBT Center, 3907 Spruce St, Philadelphia OCA is cosponsoring this event with the Asian Pacific Student Coalition at the University of Pennyslvania and State Farm. The interactive college leadership training program involves hands-on exercises, small group discussions, and presentations led by 2 qualified APIA facilitators. The one day training assembles students from each region and focuses on self-awareness, team-building, and direct action organizing. Participants will develop leadership tools to effectively serve as catalysts for change.

For more information, contact Camden Lee or Rohan Grover.

RSVP at http://www.ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=53&Itemid

Running ASA: In Search of a Leadership Bible

This is an article I wrote for the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) newsletter. I lazily copied and pasted it here with some slight edits. But since this article is about ASA I would like to share it with you all.

I have been Co-leading Asian Students Association (ASA) with Jen Phung since Spring 2008. When we took over ASA, my hope at the beginning was to merely maintain it. Despite my ambition, I was a freshman needing to learn how to run an organization at Haverford from scratch. Unavoidably, I made some mistakes such as advertise events too late or rush Jason McGraw, the student activities coordinator (a big no-no). ASA put on few new events, mostly small scale cultural activities. The only big event ASA did was the Pan-Asian  Cultural Show last year. It was a success. But overall, I did not get the sense that ASA was vibrant and  active enough.

Now move on to Fall semester of my sophomore year. New freshmen! I was anxious to recruit them. Membership and retention were my constant worries. Nothing really happened in the first few weeks. We introduced ourselves and I asked what kind of activities they wanted to see happen. Very often, there was silence. I worried too much about membership retention that I hesitated to ask them to take on a task if they did not volunteer. By then, I realized the way ASA was running was not very effective.

ASA’s structure was too loose; there wasn’t a strong sense of community; and most importantly, ASA lacked a clear overarching vision. I wanted ASA to be big and influential. But that was too vague to be productive. Then I thought about ASA as an affinity group. One of it’s main goals should be to create, maintain and expand support networks for it’s members and Asian students at Haverford in general.  By support network, I don’t just mean a safe space for members to talk about important issues. It includes any resources that can help them thrive at Haverford.

ASA has been diligent in asking funding from the CPGC, the OMA and the SC to go to conferences and put on different events. But I hesitate to measure ASA’s success only by how many big events we put on or how many people came to our events. For example, we brought in comedian Eliot Chang last semester. The Founder’s Great Hall was filled with over 200 people. It was certainly a success, but a fleeting one. I always felt some sense of emptiness after I put on a big event. Now I know why. It’s the problem that every student leader is facing: what would my organization become when I graduate from Haverford?

With that concern in mind, my focus became building ASA’ organizational structure. I know only a solid structure can carry out ASA’s vision and ASA future leaders’ vision. I’ll list some of the structural changes we made.

1.Most of the active members have a position (Coordinator of Current Affairs, Coordinator of Community service, Public Relations, ASA Lounge Monitors, Coordinator of Special Events, Media Director…etc). Those positions are being constantly refined and substantiated.

2.We have an agenda for every meeting, usually one page long.

3.A central communication method. We used ASA.Haverford@gmail.com as our official email. We also use Google Doc and Google Calendar extensively. The calendar is for notification of events and meetings. Google Doc is very convenient for internal plannings and it also serves as an archive for all our institutional documents (Agendas, posters, sign-up sheets…etc). All of our active members have the password so they can easily add and modify events and documents.

4.We created a wordpress blog ASAHaverford@wordpress.com to publicize what we do. The blog is gradually being built up. By the end of this summer we’ll have a substantial amount of posts and media. Again, all our active members have the password.

5.End-of-year leadership planning marathon. All members and interested people are invited to this planning marathon. We’ll sit down and plan things out for the next semester and the entire year. We don’t leave until we’re done. I figure the planning marathon would last 5 hours, or longer.

Structure helps to build a sense of community. Gmail and WordPress allow information to be shared faster. But more importantly, ASA becomes a collective project instead of co-heads’ burden.

Camping in Kohler-Andrae State Park

Hi All,

Just came home from camping in Wisconsin this past week. I live in a suburb of Chicago and am really tight with my extended family in the Milwaukee area. Kohler-Andrae is about an hour north of Milwaukee and on Lake Michigan, so the drive up directly would have been about 3.5 hours from where I live.

One of my uncle’s has cerebral palsy; he’s wheelchair bound, deaf, and has very limited control of his upper body movement. However, that has never stopped us from getting him involved in family activities.

Approximately… 7 or 8 years ago, my family in Wisconsin started a tradition of going to one of the 7 state parks (we’ve double/triple visited a few of the really good ones) in Wisconsin that have wheelchair accessible cabins with my uncle. The cabin has one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, family/living room, and a sealed in porch. When the kids (my generation) were younger, we used to all sleep like sardines on cots in the cabin; now that we’re older, we crash in my cousin’s pop-up camper on a nearby campsite while the adults take the cabin itself.

These cabins are booked solid for the entire summer. Sign-ups begin January 1 and each family is limited to 4 days in the cabin so that as many people as possible can use it.

This trip, we took it pretty easy… went to the beach one day, went on a really long walk exploring the park another day, and sort of posey-moseyed the rest of the time around the cabin. Of course we would build a campfire every night, but we only had smores on the last night. We are getting older after all, and actually need to make sure we eat fewer than 10,000 calories worth of chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows a night.

This is the Kohler-Andrae cabin. And yes this is the same Kohler that makes toilets and other bathroom things. And yes the bathroom in this cabin was exceptionally kick-ass.

I have really fond memories of going camping with my family at these cabins. I think it would be awesome if every state made the same effort to make their state parks so accessible.

By the way, if anyone every does venture into the Wisconsin state park system for camping… make sure you go up to Door County– it is absolutely beautiful. [SIDE NOTE: so if you think of Wisconsin as the back of a left-hand mitten, Door County would be the tip of your thumb.]

Good times. Hope summer has been treating everyone right. I’m going back to work Monday… yuck, but soon we’ll all be back at school anyway. Live it up during your last few weeks of freedom and I’ll see you all soon.

Take care,
Kristin Tan