Midwest Asian American Students UnionMAASU

August 2011 •leadership•passion•activism•unity•advocacy•

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Announcements

Apply Now to Be an Advocacy Co-Chair!

Become a Member School Today!

Are you interested in APIA issues? Do you like to blog? Consider applying for the Advocacy Co-Chair position! E-mail chair@maasu.org for an application!

2011-2012 Membership Fees:1 year- $75 (expires after MAASU Spring Conference 2012)2 year- $140 (expires after MAASU Spring Conference 2013)3 year- $200 ((expires after MAASU Spring Conference 2014)

Look for the form on our website on the last page and mail to:Midwest Asian American Students Unionc/o Danielle Masuda6515 Wydown BlvdCampus Box 1250St. Louis, MO 63105

Check Out Our New Website!Now more user-friendly @maasu.org! We are also on the following networks:

[facebook] MidwestAsianAmericanStudentsUnion[twitter] OfficialMAASU[tumblr] MAASUnews

Like us! Tweet us! Follow us!

Want to have your event be featured in our newsletter? Have ideas for new content? Contribute to our newsletter! e-mail the Public Relations Chairs at pr@maasu.org

e-mail tech@maasu.org to join our listserv!

We are excited to be hosting the 2012 MAASU Spring Conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign! As Co-Directors of the planning committee, our goal is to showcase our vast campus, the talented students and alumni that make up our Asian Pacific American community, as well as the powerful collaboration fostered by the entire Midwest--that means you! Our theme for the upcoming year is “Breaking H.A.B.I.T.S,” overcoming the hostility, adversity, boundaries, ignorance, tension, and stereotypes that we knowingly or unknowingly create every single day. Join us in breaking old habits that segregate, and learn what it takes to build new habits that integrate. See you in the spring!

Sincerely, Kim Mok and Simon Huynh

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Conferences

SC 2012 | Conference Chairs Say ‘Hi!’

LR 2011 | Location Announced!

Dear MAASU Family,

I would like to be the first to officially announce the location for the Fall Leadership Retreat as the University of Illinois at Chicago! We are very excited to invite everyone to our home, the city of broad shoulders, and display our Asian American pride. The date will be the second weekend of November, the 11th - 12th, and we already have a number of inspiring workshops and wonderful entertainment lined up for a promising conference! Please be on the look-out for our Facebook page, website and logo to launch soon. We all sincerely hope that you will be able to join us for an exciting weekend!

Sincerely, Norman Chen and Tito Katungkan

Greetings my fellow activists!

I hope that your summer is going well and that you are following your passion and achieving your goals. Since the last spring conference at Minnesota, I have been working tirelessly with the new Executive Coordinating Committee--transitioning them into their roles, planning this year’s projects, and just getting to know them.

Keep on the lookout for new projects this year and be sure to check out MAASU’s new website! Stay in the loop on APIA issues and stay passionate!

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A Word From the ECC

Chair | Jolie Yang

Hey guys!

I am the secretary for MAASU and I joined MAASU to change the challenges I have faced in my life and to protect others from facing the same problems. I plan on using this opportunity this year to improve the bond between the Executive Coordinating Committee and the issues of the APIA, because the better we understand what’s going on in the community the better we are able to help you by voicing out those concerns. I also want to broaden our field of issues to include more Southeast Asian issues because we are all Asian and all of our voices matter.

Secretary | Chetana Musapeta

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Public Relations | Winnie Cheng

Hi everyone!

As the public relations chair, I will be keeping everyone up to date with MAASU events, as well as happenings within the APIA community, through the newsletter and various forms of social media. Be sure to like us on facebook, tweet us on twitter, follow us on tumblr, and last but not least, check out our new website! We’ll also be launching our very own MAASU merchandise line, so be on the look-out for that!

If you would like to spotlight a campus leader or event, e-mail me at pr@maasu.org!

What is Advocacy?Advocacy is the public support of a cause. Throughout the year, I will be writing articles and short announcements on the MAASU website with Asian American awareness in mind. Along with our traditional social media outlets like the MAASU blog, Facebook, and Twitter, we will be exploring other mediums such as Tumblr and YouTube.

What kind of projects can you expect this year?APA awareness isn’t limited to politics! Besides the usual APA news briefs, I will also be experimenting with book reviews and discussions about different traditions (food recipes, anyone?) and spotlights on individuals in our communities. We are working to make the website more interactive so your voice can be heard too. I look forward to helping everyone create a memorable experience with MAASU!

Advocacy | Allison Roebuck

I am revamping the MAASU webpage to make it not only more user-friendly but more interactive and up-to-date. I hope to put the MAASU blog to good use -- keeping members informed of current events, trending topics, and new cultural findings! A dedicated section will exist for event promotion of not only MAASU and but all Midwest APIA organizations. Some other new notables will include social networking buttons (like us, tweet us, +1 us -- it’s your choice!), and potentially a new webstore for soon-to-be created MAASU merchandise.

Additionally, MAASU is under-going a brand makeover. We’re bringing a fresh new feel not just to the website but also the entire organization!

Technical Networking | Carlo Cruz

As an organization centered on APIA activism and empowerment, MAASU will take a more active, direct role in promoting these important goals. The MAASU Vision Project is aiming toward promoting and endorsing well-deserved organizations through extensive MAASU-wide fundraising initiatives. Not only will member schools be fulfilling MAASU’s missions, but MAASU itself will gain new partners that will strengthen it as a whole. This project will hopefully cement MAASU as a fundamental part of the Asian American Community in the Midwest and beyond. MAASU sponsorship will allow the selected charity to receive acknowledgement and most of all benefit from the collective fundraising efforts of every MAASU school. Upon fulfilling or surpassing set goals, a prize will be presented to the MAASU schools at the Spring Conference to reward students for their hard work!

Programming| Ashkaan Bahreini & Kevin Chiem

Fundraising | Norman Cheng & Winona Lozada

Winona Lozada and Norman Chen have been hard at work to secure the future viability of our beloved conferences!

While they seek our corporate partners that believe in the same message as MAASU, we will be benefitting from the funding in the form of MAASU mixers and future exposure! On-top of fundraising for MAASU, Winona and Norman are busy connecting and networking with a promising line-up of future employers for the Spring conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana Chicago to ensure that the attendees of the conference will have great chances to explore at our annual career fair! Overall, they hope that their work benefits the attendees as well as the future of MAASU.

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This is an exciting year for MAASU! In my second year on the Executive Coordinating Committee, I am looking forward to working with Steve and reaching out to schools and uniting them through MAASU’s vision. My biggest goal, which is currently in process, is to contact friends and student leaders in the state of Colorado to get them involved with MAASU. I also plan on rekindling the efforts from out past outreach co-chairs. Stay tuned! -Vigor Lam

This year I plan to reach out to all the schools in the Michigan area as well as new parts of the Midwest and beyond. Part of MAASU’s mission statement is to unite Asian Americans all around the nation. Reaching out to a greater number of schools increases the chances of bringing awareness of API issues to a wider range of people. -Steve Tzeng

Membership Outreach | Vigor Lam & Steve Tzeng

Communications’ plans and goals consist of first streamlining and making more efficient the connection and communications between MAASU ECC and its member schools, which currently stands at 28 schools across the Midwest and growing, by utilizing and taking advantage of the current technology at hand, i.e. Facebook, Skype, conference calls, and the more conventional emailing, to minimize as much confusion as possible and creating a more personal connection between MAASU-Representatives (M-Reps) and their respective member schools and MAASU. We also plan on working with Membership Outreach in their goals of inviting more schools to become a part of MAASU as member schools by assisting in developing further incentives to join and through consistent and reliable communication.

Communications | Jeremiah Song & Leona Thao

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Event Spotlight

E-mail pr@maasu.org with the following:Name of eventDate, time, placeContact name and informationEvent description

Highlight an event or program on your campus!

[Event ] CALLING ALL SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS!Be a part of history and join the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) at its FIRST national conference. At the conference in Baltimore (Sept. 30 – Oct. 1, 2011), expect to meet corporate recruiters and students; and learn how SASE will help you land your dream job/internship. Major sponsors (who will be at the career fair) include Procter & Gamble, General Electric, and more. For additional information about the conference, including a full list of sponsors, visit http://saseconnect.org/conference.Interested in starting a SASE chapter at your school or want to speak with some current SASE members? Send an email to info@saseconnect.org.

APIA Digest

[Leadership] AAJC is searching for up and coming youth advocates to represent the 2011-2012 Youth Advisory Council class. Flex your social entrepreneurship to address issues of racial equity pertinent to the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. E-mail ochow@advancingequality.org if you have any questions. Apply online now at http://bit.ly/aajcyouthapp

[Opportunity] Have an idea for an event or project pertaining to the APIA youth community? Apply for a grant at www.divshare.com/download/15456826-cd7

[Event] Everyone has a story. The AAJC Youth Advisory Council has launched the “What’s Your Story” campaign to share these unique stories within the APIA community. Share your story at http://bit.ly/lxzIQz

[Internship] The Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center is seeking interns/externs for Fall 2011. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until September 9, 2001. Find the application at www.apalrc.org/dp/node/122

[News] Phyllis Wise, first Asian American woman to lead a major American research university, is to be the new chancellor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus. Check out the article at http://bit.ly/qQKg9V

E-mail pr@maasu.org with the following:Name of eventDate, time, placeContact name and informationEvent description

Highlight an event or program on your campus!

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The Midwest Asian American Students Union is a 501(c)(3) non-for profit organization that was started in response to a need for political unity among Asian American students in the Midwest. By 1990, there were more than 20 universities in the Midwest that had formed Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) organizations. Some had been around for years; some were in their infancy. Students felt there needed to be an organization that would support the growth of these organizations and organize APIA students in the Midwest for political activism, and MAASU was formed to fill this responsibility. MAASU works to recognize the needs of the APIA community by assisting schools with the establishment of APIA student organizations, promoting leadership among students, addressing educational needs and rights of the APIA community, and developing a channel of communication among APIA student organizations in the Midwest.

The Midwest Asian American Students Union strives to be a leader within the Asian Pacific Islanders American (APIA) community.

The objectives of the Midwest Asian American Students Union are:

•To serve as a resource for schools interested in the establishment of APIA student organizations, APIA cultural centers and/or Asian American Studies programs.•To promote leadership among APIA students through programs including, but not limited to, the Fall Leadership Retreat, and Spring Conference.•To address the educational needs and rights of the APIA community.•To develop and maintain a channel of communication for APIA student organizations in the Midwest through e-mails, monthly newsletters, and networking opportunities.•To assist and encourage APIA students to work toward social change, by providing a forum for social consciousness.•To unite the APIA community across multiple identities.

About MAASU

Mission