so you ask “What does ECAASU National do?”

and we reply with:

ECAASU TIMELINE OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2009-2010

. . .

Saturday April 18^th, 2009 - Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, travels to New York University to participate in a panel on “Gender Expressions: Breaking the Binary” at the 3^rd annual NYCAASC (NYC Asian American Student Conference)

Wednesday April 22^nd, 2009 – ECAASU National Board 2009-2010 finalized

Tuesdays 10:30pm – Weekly ECAASU National Conference Call Meetings, chaired by National Board Chair Tiff Su

Biweekly – ECAASU Newsletters written and distributed by Communications Chair Kayleigh Huang

Monthly –Conference Liaison Nilam Patel, communicates with the ECAASU 2010 Conference Board at the University of Pennsylvania

Ongoing – Marketing/Outreach Chair Caspar Wang, communicates with multiple colleges around the country to secure conference bids for ECAASU 2011

Saturday April 25^th, 2009 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, travels to Columbia University to facilitate workshops on “Asian Americans in the Media” and “Asian American Student Leadership” at their inaugural Crossroads High School Conference

Saturday May 2^nd, 2009 – Conference Crossover Meeting at University of Pennsylvania

Saturday August 1^st, 2009 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, travels to New York University to facilitate workshops on “Asian Americans & Sex” and “Shmoozin’ & Boozin’: Social Networking Etiquette 101” at CYI’s (Chinatown Youth Initiative) inaugural Youth Leadership Conference

Saturday September 12^th, 2009 – ECAASU National Board Retreat in New York City

Thursday September 24^th, 2009 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, authors a statement of denunciationagainst MTV for racially insensitive portrayals of South Asian dance and its community in the Season 3 “Bollywood Challenge” episode of America’s Best Dance Crew

October 2009 – Board of Directors revises ECAASU Mission Statement and Bylaws.

Friday October 9^th – Saturday October 10^th, 2009 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, travels to the University of Florida to deliver the keynote address at SERCAAL (Southeast Regional Conference of Asian American Leaders)

Co-Vice Chair Eugene Mok, and Student Issues Advocacy Chair Clara Ng-Quinn, join Calvin in leading a conference icebreaker and mixer.

Calvin also facilitates 4 workshop sessions on “Asian Americans and Sex” and “How to Walk, Talk, and Dress Like a Baller: Social Networking Etiquette” and performs at the closing ceremony: ECAASU at SERCAAL

Saturday October 10^th, 2009 – National Chair Tiff Su, Outreach Chair Caspar Wang, co-Vice Chair Michelle Horikawa, and Communications Chair Kayleigh Huang travels to Northeastern University to facilitate a workshop on Asian American student leadership at BAASIC (Boston Asian American Student Intercollegiate Conference).

They also organize a general dinner and mixer for conference delegates afterwards. Over 50 people attend.

Saturday October 24^th, 2009 – ECAASU travels to New York City to organize a mixer, free dinner, and afterparty for local Asian American student leadership in the area. Over 60 people from 15 colleges attend.

Monday October 25^th, 2009 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, travels to Rutgers University to facilitate a workshop on “Asian American Sex & Sexuality” as part of the Asian Student Council’s speaker series. Over 100 people attend.

November 2009 – Student Issues Advocacy Chair Clara Ng-Quinn, begins to author an ECAASU Hate Crimes Packet as a how-to guide in dealing with incidents of hate crimes on a collegiate campus. This project is still ongoing.

Saturday November 7^th, 2009 – ECAASU travels to Washington, D.C. to organize a mixer, free dinner, and afterparty for local Asian American student leadership in the area. Over 30 people from 10 colleges and high schools attend.

December 2009 – Civil Rights Advocacy Chair Derek Mong, authors an ECAASU Census 2010 Informational Packet

December 2009 – Civil Rights Advocacy Chair Derek Mong, initiates a partnership with APIAVote. In this partnership, APIAVote and ECAASU create a scholarship where students from all over the country are able to attend the ECAASU National Conference for Census 2010 training with all expenses paid

December 2009 – Rutgers University “Native Tongue” interviews Board of Directors member Calvin Sun

Monday December 14^th, 2009 – ECAASU UPenn Conference Bid Team member Justin Ching, authors a statement that demands more dialogue to prevent racial tension regarding the racially-motivated hate crimes against Asian American high school students in Philadelphia.

Tuesday December 29^th, 2009 – Civil Rights Taskforce Advocacy Chair Derek Mong, authors a statement of denunciation against the racially-motivated hate crimes against Asian American high school students in Philadelphia

February 2010 – Board of Director members revises ECAASU Conference Bid Guidelines, with updates including ECAASU National guaranteeing nearly full financial support for the annual National Conference.

Friday February 19^th – Saturday February 20^th, 2010 – National Chair Tiff Su, co-Vice Chair Eugene Mok, and Board of Directors members Allen Pan and Calvin Sun, travel to University of Pennsylvania to oversee final preparations for the 33^rd annual ECAASU National Conference

Saturday February 27^th, 2010 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, travels to University of Massachusetts – Amherst to facilitate 2 workshops on “Asian American Female Body Image” and “Shmoozin’ & Boozin’: Social Networking Etiquette 101” at 5PAN (5 College Pan Asian Network Conference)

Sunday February 28^th, 2010 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, travels to Columbia University to facilitate a workshops on Gender Stereotypes at the inaugural Break the Silence Conference. ECAASU also co-sponsors the event.

March 2010 – Board of Directors revises and creates a more thorough ECAASU National Board application

March 2010 – Board of Directors revises and creates a more thorough ECAASU Conference Bid application

Thursday March 4^th – Saturday March 6^th, 2010 – ECAASU National Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Over 1500 people attend.

Saturday March 6^th, 2010 – co-Vice Chair Eugene Mok creates professional working relationship with Quest Crew for future performance opportunities.

March 2010 – National Chair Tiff Su creates professional working relationship with Far East Movement for future performance opportunities.

Monday April 5^th, 2010 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, will travel to Rutgers University to facilitate a workshop on “Shmoozin’ & Boozin’: Social Networking Etiquette 101” as part of the Asian Student Council’s speaker series.

Friday April 9^th – Saturday April 10^th, 2010 – Civil Rights Advocacy Chair Derek Mong, will travel to Ohio State University to facilitate workshops on “AAPIs, Census, & Elections: Upping the Ante on Political Empowerment” and “Fill In Our Future: Make AAPIs Count in the 2010 Census” with Jeanette Lee from the AAJC at the 2010 MAASU (Midwest Asian American Student Union) Conference.

Saturday April 10^th, 2010 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, will travel to Columbia University to facilitate a workshop on “Are Asian Americans Sexy?” at the 2^nd annual Crossroads Conference

Friday April 16^th – Saturday April 17^th, 2010 – Board of Directors member Calvin Sun, will travel to the University of Virginia to deliver the keynote address at the inaugural PURSUIT (Passionately Unite, Respect, Serve, Understand, Initiate Together) conference on social activism and global issues.

Calvin will deliver a separate keynote address at the closing ceremony of the DiAPAson Asian American Leadership Retreat at the University of Virginia

co-Vice Chair Michelle Horikawa will join Calvin in leading a conference icebreaker and mixer.

Calvin will facilitate 2 workshop sessions on Racial Profiling and Affirmative Action and will perform at the opening ceremony.

2 things:

and

Do it.

Advocacy, Events & Conference, Op-Ed, Press about ECAASU, Updates accomplishments, done, ecaasu, list, of, we've, what

Hello ECAASU delegates! This is Calvin Sun, one of the Board of Directors on ECAASU National back from a brief trip at Philly and we’re happy to say that everything is looking good and you’re in for a treat. We figured we might as well give y’all a head start on this conference and give you a little peek on what to expect (i.e. so you DON’T GET LOST!!! We care about you).

—

THE BASICS

So you arrive at UPenn…get to the center of campus! Look for something that looks like this:

-

Whether you’re coming in on THURSDAY, FRIDAY, or SATURDAY head over to Registration at Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall:

-

Most of the conference will take place at or around this beautiful Quad:

—

THURSDAY

After registering, stay for the Kickoff Mixer (FOOOOOD) at Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall (8pm):

-

After making new friends, go out/go to bed!

—

FRIDAY

Rise and shine. Grab some breakfast (FOOOOD) at the Ground Floor Lobby in Houston Hall (9:30am):

-

Friday workshops & networking mixers will take place in either Houston Hall or Irvine Auditorium (11am – 2:30pm):

Houston Hall

or

Irvine Auditorium

-

Friday movie screenings will take place in Huntsman Hall (2:30pm):

-

After a day of walking tours, movie screenings, dance workshops, leadership workshops, and networking mixers (at various locations) head over to Houston Hall’s Bodek Lounge for the Bubble Tea & Mango Lassi Social (6pm):

-

After the Social, walk over to the Opening Ceremony at Irvine Auditorium (7:30pm):

-

After the Opening Ceremony, go out/go to bed!

—

SATURDAY

Rise and shine. Grab breakfast (FOOOOD) at Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall (8am):

-

Your Saturday workshops will take place in the following buildings (10am, 2:15pm, 3:45pm):

But to make your life easier, most of the Saturday workshops will take place at Williams Hall:

-

In anticipation of the afterparty, hone your/pick up some breakdancing and hip hop skills during the 1st workshop session on Saturday at 10am, which will take place in the Class of 1974 Lounge/Café 58, (inside Irvine, next to the auditorium):

-

After the 1st workshop session, send at least 2 delegates (as many of you are welcome!) to represent your school and vote in the ECAASU 2011 Conference Elections in Room G17 at the Claudia Cohen Hall (11:15am):

-

After a Colosseum-style election in picking the next ECAASU 2011 host, head to Irvine Auditorium to hear U.S. Congressman Mike Honda speak (12:45pm):

-

Go resume Workshop Sessions 2 (2:15pm) & 3 (3:45pm)! Again, most of these workshops will be in Williams Hall:

-

After the workshops, relish what you’ve learned and wipe away those tears at the Closing Ceremony at Irvine Auditorium (5:15pm):

-

Have your last sobering chance to impress that special someone and say your goodbyes at the Farewell Reception (FOOOOD) at the glamorous Penn Museum (7pm):

-

But it’s not over yet! After the reception . . .

Don’t stop, make it pop

DJ, blow my speakers up!

Tonight, I’mma fight

‘Til we see the sunlight!

Tick tock on the clock

But the party don’t stop, no (oh oh oh oh!)!

Take our shuttle bus over to the ECAASU Afterparty at Shampoo Nightclub (10:30pm)! (Shuttle Buses from the Sheraton Hotel will take you back and forth all night). Once you’re there, find me on the dance floor.

-

I would tell you to go to bed again, but on an ECAASU Saturday night? That might not happen.

—

SUNDAY

Wake up in the morning and feel like P-Diddy. You did it. With a million memories and pictures behind you, it’s time to go home (or come with me and a bunch of other delegations in continuing the ECAASU experience in NYC for 4 more days!).

See you at ECAASU 2011!

—

So there you have it: A bare bones account of what to expect at ECAASU 2010! Let us know if you have any questions. See you at the conference,

- Calvin, ECAASU Board of Directors, ECAASU National,and ECAASU Conference Board!

Events & Conference, Fun Stuff, Op-Ed 2010, conference, ecaasu, expect, go, Guide, Map, of, Pennsylvania, to, university, upenn, what, Where, workshops

continued from SERCAAL Recap, Day 1 of 3. . . .

- Saturday, October 10th -

Waking up on the floor of Jo-Ann’s dorm, I remember the Ring Ring Ring’s at 8am in the morning. Yes I was irritable. Yes I was underslept. Yes I didn’t know where I was for a moment. But those ring ring rings reminded me that I had a keynote to do. So off I was in a mad dash waking up poor Jo-Ann to have her drive me and Eugene to the Reitz Student Center as soon as possible. I had 20 minutes until my keynote and already I wanted to curl up in a corner in a fetal position and dream of Tempur-Pedic® mattresses. Beautiful beautiful Tempur-Pedic® mattresses. . . .

My freaky tempur-pedic® dream.

We arrived at the student center and were immediately served brown bag breakfasts (ingenious!). I managed to scarf down a few muffins before going on to deliver my keynote. How did it go? Well, here’s note to self: never write down jokes. I’m funnier — if I’m funny at all — when I’m joking off the cuff. Otherwise, I can’t really say how I did except that my audience looked like they were paying pretty close attention (at least from the pictures, that’s my only evidence). Kudos to them, because it was 8:30am in the morning and if I were them, I would have slept through my own keynote speech. And if you’re reading this and you did end up sleeping (shame on you!), ECAASU was kind enough to put up an edited transcript of my keynote speech online: http://www.ecaasu.org/site/?p=676

My audience . . .

. . . and me.

looks like they're paying attention

I took a few Q&A and then quickly segued into leading the general mixer where all 100-150 attendees got into a large SERCAAL (circle, haha, GET IT?! If you don’t I’ll pat your head and give you a biscuit) and I asked random questions. It’s pretty much  playing “never have I ever” except it’s about 9:30AM in the morning, you don’t have a drink in your hand, and you have to stand up and sit back down if you’ve done it.

SERCAAL's circle

leading SERCAAL's circle.

I figured some of you might be interested in the results, so here were some of the following questions I asked:

• How many of you took a shower this morning? (about 1/3 didn’t….dirty people)

• How many of you have peed in the shower before?  (about 1/3 admitted they have, and the rest are LIARS)

• How many of you identify yourself as South Asian American? (2 people)

• How many of you have the “Asian Glow”? (1/3 did, 1/3 didn’t, the final 1/3 didn’t know what “Asian Glow” meant)

• How many of you have taken Asian American studies? (about a 1/3)

• How many of you voted in the last presidential election? (about 1/2, the other 1/2 didn’t citing that they were too young at the time)

• How many of you have been in an interracial relationship? (about 2/3 with a good mix of both guys and girls . . . very impressive)

• How many of you have dated/hooked up with someone who was White? (2/3)

• How many of you have dated/hooked up with someone who was Hispanic? (1/3)

• How many of you have dated/hooked up with someone who was Black? (1/4)

• How many of you have dated/hooked up with someone who was South Asian? (probably no more than 4 people)

• How many of you feel your parents would be upset by interracial relationships? (3/4)

• How many of you find yourselves sometimes judging interracial couples? (1/4)

• How many of you have been teased because of your ethnicity? (2/3)

• How many of you have teased others because of ethnicity? (1/2)

• How many of you have ever been ashamed of being Asian American? (1/3)

• How many of you have ever considered being an Asian American politician? (only about 1/5 . . . surprising!)

• How many of you have been victims of a hate crime? (2 people stood up when they thought it meant “violent” crimes but when I said it included hate speech, about 2/3 of the conference stood up. In solidarity!)

SERCAAL's circle

We then discussed whether it was surprising that in a ballroom packed with East Asian and Southeast Asian Americans, fewer have dated a fellow South ASIAN AMERICAN than any other ethnicity including White, Latino and Black. We also talked about why many of our communities are mutually exclusive, what was the correct approach to confronting hate crimes, and a few other related topics to the questions I had asked. It was a great way to get a good visual picture of the conference and the overall makeup of our collective experiences as Asian Americans.

ECAASU Student Taskforce Chair, Clara Ng-Quinn

ECAASU Co-Vice Chair, Eugene Mok

Then we were off to the workshops! ECAASU was lucky to fill up all 3 workshop sessions with two topics: “Asian Americans: Sex & Sexuality” and “How to Walk, Talk, and Dress Like a Baller: Social Networking Etiquette.” Both of our workshops packed to the point that SERCAAL staff had to ask groups of 15-20 people to leave at a time. Never deterred, ECAASU presented each topic at least twice, with an extra 4th session facilitated during the conference break for those who got kicked out of our earlier sessions. About 20-30 people attended each workshop, and we were glad to meet everyone on a more intimate basis (you can’t get any more intimate than exchanging personal thoughts and stories on sex & sexuality). However, the 3rd workshop on Sex & Sexuality was like pulling teeth — although it was full, nobody was relating to each other about their views on sex & sexuality except for myself, Rob Scharr, Linda “Alanys” Li, Melissa “Maisa” Reyes (what is with all these nicknames?), and 2 other girls whose names aren’t resonating with me right now (I guess you needed a nickname for me to remember). Rob, Linda, Melissa, and those 2 other girls: Thank you for speaking your minds! I really wished the males could have stepped it up because we need to break this stereotype that Asian American guys are uncomfortable with talking about their experiences with sex and sexuality. Where’s the confidence, amigos? It’s not that hard. (that’s what she [didn’t] say . . . har har har).

Sidenote: What made this conference run like a well-oiled German machine was the fact that everything…EVERYTHING (keynotes, workshops, mixers, performances…) was on one floor. For you future conference hosts, take notes.

my social networking etiquette workshop, before they had to kick out half of this room for overpopulation

my social networking etiquette workshop

paying attention

talking about sex & sexuality.

Sometime in between the 2nd and 3rd workshops we took a lunch break where we hung out and chatted with Mandeep Sethi. What started off as a 5 minute conversation about what it was like growing up in our respective communities, turned into a 30 minute dialogue about the possibility of uniting the East and West Coast for future networking and collaboration. And thanks to a long lunch break, a scrumdiddlyumptious Floridian “chee-burger” that fell apart when I tried to eat it (delicious hot mess nonetheless), and the eagerness of Eugene, Mandeep, and myself, we left the conversation knowing something unique was about to brew; keep an eye on Mandeep and ECAASU because some amazing things are about to happen! (As I’m writing this, Mandeep just facebook chatted me inviting me out to San Francisco State University for a big West Coast conference coming up….Free trip to California? ABSOLUTELY.)

Dr. Beheruz Sethna

We then finished our lunch and listened to 3rd keynote of the conference, Dr. Beheruz Sethna, the first person of Indian origin to serve as President of an American University (University of West Georgia). Quite a big deal, and his keynote was no less impressive; Dr. Sethna was able to uniquely present his argument that the idea of the “melting pot” or a series of “separate enclaves” of communities is unsuitable not only for the optimization of diversity, but also ineffective for in business environments and living conditions. Dr. Sethna proved his point by asking (and demonstrating, literally): Would we rather eat a taco salad when it’s blended as a drink or when its separated into its individual ingredients? Although I have heard this speech given over and over in the last couple of years, I never saw someone actually manually blend a taco salad into a drink. On a side note, as this nuclear waste/liquid turd was being passed around, I unwisely decided to take a sip of it. . . . All I remember is that thinking how this would be the closest I would get in knowing what a male foot tastes like.

blended taco salad drink = male foot.

After Dr. Sethna’s intriguing and fascinating speech and the aforementioned packed 3rd and (impromptu) 4th workshops, the ECAASU team were immediately rushed by our dedicated stalwart brother-in-arms, Brandon Magtalas, to his house for a quick shower and change for the SERCAAL’s closing banquet dinner. Naturally after giving a workshop on social networking etiquette where half of it was discussing dress code, I couldn’t let SERCAAL down; I busted out my newly tailored suit and came in there rolling in like a baller, or at least I tried my best to . . . because no more than 10 minutes after sitting down  and listening to Jim Toy deliver an impassioned speech of what it was like growing up as a LGBTQ Asian American since 1971 (quite interesting . . . and I’ve heard Jim Toy speak before about this topic . . . he’s been through a lot), Brandon rushed me out of the banquet hall again to change into a frumpy set of T-shirt and jeans. Apparently I was scheduled to dance with a bunch of other b-boys while Mandeep would go up to perform; how could I possibly turn that down?

So we did our tricks and we did our flips. Naturally, for someone who hasn’t practiced since March, I tried my best to not fail too miserably or break my neck. But it did feel good to perform again.

dancing . . .

. . . and dancing . . .

. . . and dancing . . .

. . . and spinning . . .

. . . and spinning . . .

. . . and spinning.

Finishing a quick cypher, I dashed out the ballroom to change back into my suit. So before anyone could realize I was gone for too long, I was back in my suit finishing my chicken and rice. Clark Kent is overrated.

Sidenote: Shout-outs to the wonderful people at my table: Eugene, Arienne, Eva, Long, Lai Ling, Linda, and Thao! Thanks for making me feel way too self-conscious about my table manners, especially since I forgot to discuss it in my workshop.

dinner table buddies

The conference then wrapped up with another edgy performance by Kate Rigg including an impassioned disparaging of the Hot 97 racist “tsunami song,” a musical piece on the Asian Fetish/Yellow Fever phenomenon, and a rehash of “Rice Rice Baby.” My praises of her shall not go unsung; we best get her ass to ECAASU, stat! She’s amazing!

Kate RIgg

A few subsequent thank you’s from the SERCAAL staff (HOLLA FOR A DOLLA!!! YOU DID IT!) signaled the end of the 2 day whirlwind of a truly fantastic conference, and I had the enormous pleasure afterwards to meet many attendees one-on-one as we took pictures, joked around, and gave a lot of hugs. Goodbyes are painful, but hugs make them easier. And ECAASU loves hugs.

cool people.

Eugene and I then hung out with Kate Rigg and the ambitious AASU Presidents of UF, Philip Cheng and Vanessa Kwong, on how they can get involved with ECAASU. Kate Rigg expressed interest in working for ECAASU as a consultant, while Philip and Vanessa were considering an actual bid to have ECAASU hosted at UF in 2011. We literally spoke to them for a good 2 hours about this so all I can say is that the competition is on, and you better bring your A-game if you want ECAASU to come to your school. UF’s got some serious connections.

. . . Then the afterparty. It was a lot of fun. That is all you need to know.

- Sunday, October 10th -

The morning after I was awoken to melodious karaokeing by my wonderful hosts Kim Sabilona and Jessica Concha. Their dorm is like a freaking hotel…and I won’t tell you where they live because I don’t want everyone to know where the best place in Florida to stay is.

We had a nice breakfast and then decided to drive to Lake Wauberg; at some random point last night I had demanded that I wanted to swim. There was an FSA potluck event going on, so I got to eat from a grill. For a New Yorker, that’s a big freaking deal.

Enjoying an hour or two listening to people sing much better than I ever will (people in FSA apparently love to sing), I dove into the lake for a swim with fellow aforementioned buddies Brandon Magtalas and Melissa “Maisa” Reyes. Brandon showed off his somersault dives, I showed off my racing dives, and Melissa fell into the lake. I swear, If I could have stayed a little longer I could have turned her into a pro diver (next time, Melissa). Of course, this being Florida, I must mention that I was told “not to go too far out” because there were alligators roaming around who wrestle me away via a bloody mess. That’s nature for you.

I took a few dives, laps, and a 20 minute canoeing around the lake before I realized it was time for me to go home. The goodbyes were even more painful because I knew I was never going to swim for at least another 8 months. Just kidding. It was painful because saying goodbye to Christy, Melissa, Brandon, Vi, Diana, Shakila, Merancia, Pauline, SophieAnn, became a terrible ordeal. Never will I meet such a great group of people who were willing to laugh at all my bad jokes.

farewells

After taking a few pictures and many more hugs, Kim and Jessica began to drive me to the airport in Jacksonville. We played music and sung in the car all along the highway and almost got lost. After breaking a few speeding laws, they got me there about 30 minutes before my flight was about to leave, which is how I like it. After a few last hugs and goodbyes to a group of wonderful souls, their car pulled away and before I knew it, my adventure was over.

Looking back, I think it was difficult for me to write about SERCAAL without recalling the amazing number of people I’ve met at UF. Missing was the self-indulgent snobbery you would find on the Northeast as nobody I met at UF was “too cool” for school and everybody was willing to get to know you. I think it was one of the few conferences where I was able to remember many people by their first names because they created such a personal and intimate atmosphere throughout the weekend; people actually wanted to be your friend, not because they had to. In any case, I can’t thank the SERCAAL 2009 staff enough for not only pulling off an amazing conference in the nick of time, but also providing me with the unique opportunity to befriend what possibly could be the most down-to-earth group of people I could ever meet face to face. I’ll miss you all terribly. Stay classy, Florida.

SERCAAL 2009

pictures courtesy of Alan Ho & Long Nguyen.

written by Calvin Sun, ECAASU Board of Directors.

Events & Conference, Fun Stuff, News & Videos, Op-Ed, Press about ECAASU, Uncategorized, Updates american, asian, beheruz, calvin, coast, conference, east, ecaasu, florida, jim, kate, keynote, leaders, mandeep, of, regional, rigg, sercaal, sethi, sethna, south, southeast, sun, toy, uf, union, university

As I’m typing this in the comforts of the regional Metro-North railway, bundled up in my winter coat and scarf, I can’t help but pine for Florida weather. Because only about a week ago I was there, enjoying the comforts of greasy sunblock and algae-filled lakes, those blissful diversions from the maddening jungles of NYC. But if I really think about it, it was more than the nature-lovin’, tree-hugging activities there that made my weekend so meaningful. And I promise I’ll do my best attempt to write thoughtfully without delving into dramatics (after all, being emo is overrated). . . .

SERCAAL 09

Before I begin, let me describe my task at hand: I have to write about what happened at SERCAAL while leaving out all the un-kosher details. That’s easy. But I can’t write a sentence further without mentioning the people that I’ve met there. Even though I’ve spent quite possibly every day of my life debunking stereotypes and generalizations, you cannot deny Floridian hospitality. It’s the real deal, and I guarantee there were a special bunch of gentle souls that made me want to stay a tad bit longer . . . but this is where I can get emo, so I’ll stop here with the feelings and you can stop feeling sorry for me.

- Friday, October 9th -

This sucka flew me to florida.

I flew into a clean and well-designed Jacksonville airport on a Friday afternoon, where I met Jo-Ann Gonzalez. Her generosity was unmatched — she was willing to drive a good 2 hours each way to pick up a dude she never met and for a conference she couldn’t even attend. While driving back to the University of Florida, we managed to exchange numerous stories of our lives while swapping good music. After I was generously prepped with the basics of what to expect from the life of an average UF student, I reunited with ECAASU Co-Vice Chair Eugene Mok and ECAASU Student Taskforce Chair, Clara Ng-Quinn. Eugene and Clara flew in from Philadelphia, PA and Ithaca, NY respectively, and like me, braved a 2 hour drive from the airport. From there I was given all my materials and instructions by the thorough and fantastic SERCAAL Co-Programming Chair, Kevin Chiu, who then handed me off to SERCAAL Outreach Committee Member Diana Nguyen as our handler-for-the-day. We gave Diana a lot of grief just for fun (like making her run around the student center in her heels), but she remained a good sport. If her future career as a chemical engineer doesn’t work out, she’ll have my top recommendations as a professional chaperone.

Diana, my chaperone.

Events & Conference, Fun Stuff, Op-Ed, Uncategorized, Updates american, asian, conference, florida, gainesville, keynote, leaders, regional, sercaal, southeast, weekend

Excerpts from Calvin D. Sun’s (ECAASU Board of Director) Keynote Address at SERCAAL

University of Florida

Saturday, October 10th

9:00 A.M. EST

Calvin Sun speaks at SERCAAL

SERCAAL might have made a terrible mistake by inviting me because I don’t belong here. How many of you are between the ages of 21 to 23? OK, half of you in this room probably are just as young as I am. Note that your keynote speaker before me was highly renowned new media designer and filmmaker, Lina Hoshino. She has been making films for 15 years; 15 years ago I was 7 years old and watching the Power Rangers. Your keynote addresses later today will be delivered by Jim Toy, longtime community activist since 1971 — which is 15 years before I even existed — and Dr. Sethna, the first person of Indian origin to serve as the President of an American University. Me? I’m just proud to be first person of Chinese origin to serve as mascot of my high school swim team. The Trinity Tunafish.

It just so happens that I’ve been incredulously asked to be one of your keynote speakers and all I can do is acknowledge how awesome you guys are — not as a mentor or an advisor 20 years ahead of you, but as a peer. You made a big step just by being here and you should all applaud yourselves for taking such an initiative.

. . .

I grew up in a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood in New York City. At home, I toiled under the strict Chinese values of my parents while at the same time I took on the lifestyle of American living. However, both sides still viewed me as the odd one out. I was the Americanized bastard son at home and I was the token Asian guy at school. To make matters worse, both sides thought my eyes were too small. I didn’t fit in anywhere and I was sad. Like a platypus. . . . Then high school where I transferred to Trinity School. I remember my first meeting with the Asian American club and saw that the only thing they did was have dinners and touch each other. In fact, the name of the group was the “Asian Appreciation Club.” What the hell are you supposed to do in an “appreciation” club? “Look, there’s Asian lookin’ folk here, let’s appreciate them!” Think how awful it was to be marginalized without having even a cool name for our club.

. . .

Back in the early winter of 2002, my older brother from the Bay Area sent me a trailer for Justin Lin’s Better Luck Tomorrow. With my crappy 56k modem — remember those days? — I waited 2 hours for a 5 minute trailer to load. And then I saw the images. Young Asian American faces, speaking fluent English and being tough. They were flirting, they were kissing, and they were in high school. I didn’t know what the movie was about and frankly I didn’t care. Here was a film with major American studio backing that was showing off young Asian American talent in non-stereotypical roles.

Within a week, I started hijkacking the Asian Appreciation meetings and started hyping up the film. I called up friends at other high schools and told them to rile up their local Asian American clubs. And if they could, they should talk to their friends and their friends of friends. In all of this, I learned that simple genuine enthusiasm will get people to listen, as long as you’re not drunk. Once they’re sold, they’ll start doing the work for you. Within 2 months, I had a list that plateaued at 300 high school and college students and a handful of New York City theaters wanting to do business with us.

I decided to settle for the AMC Empire in Times Square who offered us their biggest theater . . . but on the condition that we could sell out all 600 seats. If I failed, I would be banned from ever coming back. So did I tell the manager that I was a junior in high school and I had never done this before? You bet your [redacted] I didn’t. I took the risk and tried to figure out how I could fill the last 300 seats.

. . .

And on Saturday April 12^th, 2003, I can safely say 600 Asian Americans and their friends attended a sold out screening in Times Square. The director, Justin Lin, who now directs the Fast & the Furious movies and indie flicks like Finishing the Game, came out along with Sung Kang, Parry Shen, and Julie Asato herself.  And it was partly because of our screening and other similar efforts on the East Coast that Better Luck Tomorrow made the highest average ticket sales per screen than any other big-budgeted Hollywood film that weekend, including the Adam Sandler/Jack Nicholson hit Anger Management which opened on that same weekend. (and just to compare: Anger Management made $11,889 per screen while Better Luck Tomorrow made $27,751 per screen).

For a 16 year old high school junior, that night taught me two things. First, I didn’t do it because I consciously wanted to represent Asian American pride; before this I had no experience with Asian American issues. I did it because I just felt I had to. There was no other choice for me. I saw a cast that looked exactly me and I felt that was enough to become part of a groundbreaking movement. And it was after this screening when I knew for fact I identified myself as an Asian American and I was proud of it. The second thing? I learned that it doesn’t matter how old you are to get [redacted] done. Passion knows no age limits.

. . .

Each of us in this very room is capable of doing great things. By the very nature of being here, as part of an Asian American community, the chance for us to succeed is multiplied. The next Kal Penn or Helen Zia could be you, you, or you. All it matters is discovering that passion and seizing the opportunities. And I think that by all of you being here today, a little bit of that passion is coming out.

. . .

How many of you here identify yourselves as East Asian? Southeast Asian? How about South Asian? Notice that the proportions here are drastically skewed. It is the unfortunate fault of both the establishment and ourselves that we have come to accept the notion of Asian American to refer to really, East Asian American. Well, we NEED our South Asian brothers and sisters in this fight. Without them, we only hurt ourselves.

[In working with the South Asian American community] I got to discover many new ways of outreach and bridge building while promoting the goals of the Asian American sociopolitical movement. Diversifying the face of what it means to be Asian American only gains you even greater support because it grants a legitimacy to the fact that we’re not a self-interested or exclusive community. So to the South Asians, we told them: your fight is our fight.

. . .

I realized that by being self-exclusive, we lose potential allies that can tip the scales in our favor. That’s where student government came in. I admit, I ran for student government back when I was a freshman because I thought it was the cool thing to do. (But l was also a tool). When I got elected, I was pretty much the only Asian American on student council. I felt a little whitewashed at that moment, but instead of just going along with it, I decided to change the game. I fought hard to encourage other Asian American students to step outside of their shells and run for class president or vice president. Even though some of us may have negative attitudes about student government, being on it gains you constant, daily access to the University administration and allows you to send class e-mails to the entire student body. Do you know how much good work you can accomplish with that?

. . .

I was just one person and despite my efforts, being on student council still made me part of the establishment. How could fellow student activists trust me if I represented a University administration that historically were so neglectful of issues like ethnic studies? I don’t have a clear cut solution to this problem because there really isn’t any. They were right; the reason activism exists is because it highlights something unjust with the status quo that needs to be fixed. I was representing that status quo by being on student government. But at the same time, nothing can be fixed unless we have allies within the establishment listening to us.

. . .

I want to stress the danger of being too activisty to the point where you become blind to the opportunities that present themselves when they take the form of allies that will be surprisingly — part of the establishment. If you start drawing the lines in the sand, it becomes Us vs. Them. People can’t work together in that environment. Although sometimes that method is necessary if there’s no other recourse, most times it’s overly combative. So if you refuse to listen to people because of their titles or the organizations that they represent, you yourself will contradict everything that you’re fighting for. Nobody will want to hear you out; nobody will want to work with you. So you can yell loud and proud, but don’t forget to listen. Sometimes the unlikeliest of allies might be the opposition and sometimes it takes working with the opposition to change it from within.

. . .

The important thing to realize is that we are on the right side of history. But most importantly, we’re also on the same side. That includes other students of color, students of all religions, white students, yes even the South Asian students and student government. You can find a kernel of hope in each of these communities if you try. All you have to do is to appeal to their ability to listen, so they can empathize with our struggles as Asian Americans. Befriend them, party with them, buy them a beer, gain their trust, and then not only will they be willing to work with you, but they will want to work with you. And if all else fails, join their community and see what you can do from the inside. Run for student council, join the bhangra team, enlist in the Black Students Organization. Because we have the responsibility to take a proactive role in trying something out of the box when something isn’t working, because frankly, we got nothing to lose except our egos. And what better way to shatter a stereotype and prove our confidence when we become future Asian American leaders.

Another misconception of activism is associating it with constant negativity. You can protest something all you want, that’s great, but without making an equal effort in positively supporting Asian Americans, like their presence in the mass media, you’re gonna end up looking like a group of Debbie-Downers. People don’t like working with Debbie-Downers. We’d rather work with glue-sniffing teletubbies than Debbie-Downers. That’s because we’re all naturally drawn to enthusiasm of positive activism. And positive activism is still activism.

. . .

There are just so many ways to get involved without being so angry and losing 15 pounds. You just have to find those ways.

. . .

And for the minority of you out there who are at SERCAAL but don’t feel the activist vibes stirring within you, I’m gonna warn you all about the plagues of complacency. You all may be great leaders at whatever you do, but don’t forget you’re a leader because you’re serving a community, a constituency, a group of people, and never yourself. So what’s just as bad as an inability to listen to potential allies is the inability to care for the allies that we already have. Being aware of this, remember this quote by Peter Drucker: “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” That quote is so sexy I wish I could take credit for it.

. . .

So I like to impress upon you 3 things today: Find your passion, understand that potential achievements have no age limits, and think outside the box when working with communities outside your comfort zone. If we are able to stand united and commit to those ideals, our achievements will be remembered sooner than we think.

. . .

So to the ladies and gentlemen of SERCAAL: Know why you are here. Know that you are needed. Know that you are capable. You all have what it takes to do great great things. Our community is sorely in need of Asian American leaders like you. We can’t look anywhere else for help because the spotlights are on us. And we’re going to tell the world that we’re here and we’re not going anywhere.

I tell you this not as someone who’s a generation or two ahead of you, but as a companion who’s going through the exact same things as you’re going through. I’m right there with you, guys. So expect me to stay in the good fight. Because I hope to be working with all of you someday, maybe even as soon as tomorrow. And, I’m looking forward to that. Thank you SERCAAL so much for your time and thank you for having me!

Calvin Sun speaks at SERCAAL

Delivered by ECAASU Board of Director, Calvin D. Sun, at 9:00AM, Saturday October 10th at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

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President Obama signed an executive order reestablishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders today, and he gave a little speech. Just read this, or at least watch his speech on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VRb9lGjeFY

….If you have identified yourself as an Asian American all your life, you can’t help but be moved when he speaks about the importance of the AAPI community in the United States. It’s especially moving when he talks about the dangers of the model minority myth and how the data collection on our communities have been sorely limited. Never before have I heard something like this in recent memory on such a large scale.

More work needs to be done, yes, but this is truly a memorable step for us. Let’s not forget that we are currently riding a wave of progress and it’s our responsibility to get as much involved as possible. Don’t look back one day and feel like you missed out on a historic movement, especially when it was right in front of your face.

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT AAPI INITIATIVE EXECUTIVE ORDER SIGNING AND DIWALI EVENT

East Room

3:46 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Well, good afternoon, everybody. Please be seated. Welcome to the White House. I’m glad you could join us today as I proudly sign this executive order reestablishing the President’s Advisory Commission and White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

Now, when we talk about America’s AAPI communities, we’re talking about the industry and entrepreneurship of people who’ve helped build this nation for centuries: from the early days, as laborers on our railroads and farmers tilling our land, to today, as leaders in every sector of American life, from business to science to academia, law and more.

We’re talking about the creative energies of musicians like the singers Penn Masala — we appreciate them — who performed today. And we’re talking about the competitive spirit of athletes like Wat Misaka, who played for the New York Knicks back in 1947 — the first non-white player in the NBA — and who served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Mr. Misaka is here as well today and — where’s Mr. Misaka? There he is. Thank you so much. (Applause.)

We’re talking about the public service of leaders like Secretaries Gary Locke and Steven Chu and Eric Shinseki and the folks on stage with me today. And we’re talking about the courage and the patriotism and sacrifice of heroes like the members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team who served in World War II, including Terry Shima. Please give him a big round of applause. (Applause.) Mr. Shima is the Executive Director of the Japanese American Veterans Association, and we are grateful that he took the time to be here today.

Some of their families had been interned. Some had been interned themselves. But they still insisted on fighting for America, and went on to become the most highly decorated unit of their size in history.

And one member of the regiment, Private Jake Kirihara, whose parents were held in a camp here in America while he fought overseas, later said: “… even though this wrong was done to us, there was never any question whether America was my country. If America needed me to help, I’ll do it.”

So this proud tradition of service continues today in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world, carried on by folks like Tammy Duckworth, my dear friend who’s here today. (Applause.) Tammy is a decorated member of our National Guard, a passionate advocate for our wounded warriors, who is now serving as our Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Veterans Affairs Department. I’m proud to have her on board and pleased that she could join us today.

And on a personal note, when I talk about America’s AAPI communities, I’m talking about my own family: my sister, Maya; my brother-in-law, Konrad; my beautiful nieces, Suhaila and Savita; and the folks I grew up with in Indonesia, and in Honolulu, as part of the Hawai’ian Ohana, or family.

Our AAPI communities have roots that span the globe, but they embody a rich diversity, and a story of striving and success that are uniquely American.

But focusing on all of these achievements doesn’t tell the whole story, and that’s part of why we’re here. It’s tempting, given the strengths of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, for us to buy into the myth of the “model minority,” and to overlook the very real challenges that certain Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are facing: from health disparities like higher rates of diabetes and Hepatitis B; to educational disparities that still exist in some communities — high dropout rates, low college enrollment rates; to economic disparities — higher rates of poverty in some communities, and barriers to employment and workplace advancement in others.

Some Asian American and Pacific Islanders, particularly new Americans and refugees, still face language barriers. Others have been victims of unthinkable hate crimes, particularly in the months after September 11th — crimes driven by ignorance and prejudice that are an affront to everything that this nation stands for.

And then there are the disparities that we don’t even know about because our data collection methods still aren’t up to par. Too often, Asian American and Pacific Islanders are all lumped into one category, so we don’t have accurate numbers reflecting the challenges of each individual community. Smaller communities in particular can get lost, their needs and concerns buried in a spreadsheet.

And that’s why I’m signing this executive order today, reestablishing the advisory commission and White House initiative created by President Clinton 10 years ago. Because when any of our citizens — (applause) — when any of our citizens are unable to fulfill their potential due to factors that have nothing to do with their talent, character, or work ethic, then I believe there’s a role for our government to play. Not to guarantee anybody’s success or to solve everybody’s problems, but to ensure that we’re living up to our nation’s ideals; to ensure that we can each pursue our own version of happiness, and that we continue to be a nation where all things are still possible for all people. That’s the impact that our government can have.

It’s the impact of a Small Business Administration that offers loans to Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs whose small businesses sustain so many communities around the country. It’s the impact of a Department of Health and Human Services that funds research on the diseases that disproportionately affect Asian American and Pacific Islander families. It’s the impact of a Justice Department that upholds the Voting Rights Act and its promise of language assistance and equal access to the polls. And it’s the impact of evidence-based research and data collection and analysis on AAPI communities — so that no one is invisible to their government.

All of that is the mission of this initiative and commission — to work with 23 agencies and departments across our government to improve the health, education, and economic status of AAPI communities. The initiative and commission will be housed in the Department of Education, and they’ll be co-chaired by Secretaries Arne Duncan and Secretary Gary Locke, both of whom have devoted their lives to promoting opportunity for all our citizens.

And I think it’s fitting that we begin this work in the week leading up to the holiday of Diwali — the festival of lights — when members of some of the world’s greatest faiths celebrate the triumph of good over evil.

This coming Saturday, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, here in America and around the world, will celebrate this holiday by lighting Diyas, or lamps, which symbolize the victory of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. And while this is a time of rejoicing, it’s also a time for reflection, when we remember those who are less fortunate and renew our commitment to reach out to those in need.

While the significance of the holiday for each faith varies, all of them mark it by gathering with family members to pray and decorate the house and enjoy delicious food and sweet treats. And in that spirit of celebration and contemplation, I am happy to light the White House Diya, and wish you all a Happy Diwali, and a Saal Mubarak. (Applause.)

(The White House Diya is lit.) (Applause.)

Now I’m going to sign this bill — sign this order.

(The executive order is signed.)

All right. There we go. (Applause.)

Advocacy, News & Videos, Op-Ed, Uncategorized, Updates

As the premier Asian American student conference and a longstanding national advocacy organization for the past 30 years, the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) has been responsible for highlighting the relevant issues and providing a voice to Asian Americans across the country.

—

Advocacy, Op-Ed, Press about ECAASU crime, dartmouth, e-mail, hate, president, racism, thanh, ucsb, violence

How many times have you heard, “A woman makes seventy-four cents on a man’s dollar?”  Some people would like everyone to believe that employers are deliberately paying women less for the same work that a man does.  This is simply not true.  The statistic is being taken out of context in order to push the feminist cause.

Comparing the average male salary with the average female salary without considering context is wrong and misleading in so many ways.  If women truly did the same work for less money, all businesses would hire all women employees to cut the extra cost of hiring men.  Certain corporations cut costs by hiring undocumented immigrants, or outsource to poorly run, cheaply paid workers overseas.  If women did the same amount and quality of work, then these corporations should be hiring more women than men.  That has not been the case overall in business, so there must be something wrong with the initial statement that women do the same work for less money.

Upon closer examination, men are more likely to take riskier jobs, jobs during odd hours, and jobs that are further from home for the sake of a higher wage.  Women sometimes choose lower paying jobs in order to have more conveniences such as jobs that allow for more time at home, low risk jobs, and jobs that allow for more flexibility.  If family and children were taken out of the equation, women can and do in some instances make just as much (if not more) than men [1]. That said, when children are taken out of the equation, are performance quality equal? Not necessarily. In some cases, women without children still take more time off from work than men without children [2]. We can’t blame everything on the kids. Sometimes, it’s actually about the quality of work.

What do you think about this view: male workers have the rights to earn more money because, when comparing men in general to women in general, men actually do more work?  Take professional tennis as an example.  The Wimbledon Championships have been traditionally the most prestigious tournament in the game of tennis.  In 2007, after women players protested for the right to have equal prize money, Wimbledon conceded in giving both the men and women equal prize money.  Although the prize equality would make sense in regular tournaments where both men and women play best two out of three sets to decide a match, but in a grand slam match (and in many regular tournament finals) men have to play best three out of five sets while women still play only two out of three. Men matches also account for more fan attendance which means more money for the tournament.  Many women players celebrated this new equality and said it was a great movement that would help set the stage for more equality for women everywhere.  However, is it fair to offer the same prize for a lesser athletic performance?  Now, athletics should not be held to the same scrutiny as the professional sphere, simply because athletics depends on body strength, and males and females are biologically built differently. However, the inequalities in athletics could be used as comparisons to life in the professional sphere.

Op-Ed wage gap

Raj!

U.C. Berkeley, Sarah Lawrence College

Raj was born as Rajagopalachari Maraikayar Mukhopadhyay in Madras, capital of the Tamil Nadu province of India. At age 5, he and his family moved to Berkeley, California where he garnered his current nickname of “Raj.”

Raj enjoyed the free-loving nature of Berkeley, California where he spent most of his time reading about the history of social injustice as well as advocating for the legalization of marijuana. His interests also include fighting the man, signing petitions, getting other people to sign petitions, chasing down people to sign petitions, and of course taking long romantic walks on the beach and getting sunbathers to sign petitions.

Raj eventually moved to New York, where he is currently enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College for a Ph.D. in ethnic studies and is officially employed as the South Asian grassroots coordinator for the Obama Presidential Campaign. There in New York City, Raj enjoys organizing big rallies, counter-rallies, counter-counter rallies, and making most of his best friends at rallies. Everything else about his life, according to Raj, “you should Google.”

Professor Mao!

Hillsdale College

Professor Mao was born as Liu-Ching-Fai Mao in the province of Heilongjiang, China where he grew up dissatisfied with the quasi-communist rule of the People’s Republic of China. While educated in reputable secondary schools in the province, Mao grew tired of the growing influence of liberalism permeating throughout the coastal provinces and cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Thus, with the encouragement of his parents, Mao eventually fled to North Korea where he sought refuge in ultra-conservative values of the one-party state.

After graduating at the top of his class from the University of Pyongyang, Mao decided to instill the issues of conservatism in Amsterdam, Holland. This endeavor proved quite unsuccessful, however, as he was chased down by an angry mob after publicly claiming he had sabotaged the city’s largest underground marijuana supply with a deadly cocktail of talcum powder, tabasco sauce, chinese licorice, and flesh-eating bacteria. Nevertheless, Professor Mao was granted asylum by the United States where he pursued a professorship at Hillsdale College.

Professor Mao currently resides at Hillsdale College in Michigan, where he is an avid supporter of Palin-McCain ticket (not the other way around) and teaches a popular class called “Fighting Spin with Spin: Resisting the Liberal Elite Media. (Bless their Souls!)”

Fun Stuff, Op-Ed

Afterwards we congregated in the auditorium once more for the performances, where we saw a very talented hip hop dance team Unofficial Project of Boston University, an extremely poignant and deeply affecting “Comfort Women” monologue given by BU’s Korean Students Association concerning the Japanese use of sex slaves during World War II, and a very surprisingly funny Chinese comic, Joe Wong, who managed to take the identity of misconstrued “Chinese foreigner” and turn it upside on its head. Seriously, though, BRAVO, because I had never seen anything like it. And so the conference ended with a flurry of laughs and smiles, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the overall success of programming that the Boston BASIC crew managed to put together that day. But it wasn’t over yet. We got hungry and started thinking about food.

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