CommunicASIANS Spring 2009

8/14/2019 CommunicASIANS Spring 2009

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cover graphic by Katherina Huo

communicASIANS is published quarteby the Stanford University Asian Am Activities Center (AC). Views expin communicASIANS are those of thwriters and do not necessarily reprethe opinions of the AC.communicASIANS welcomes all signed letters of opwhich are subject to editing for leaccuracy, and grammar.

Asian American Activities CenterOld Union Clubhouse- 2nd FloorStanford, CA 94305-3064

Service: A Way of LIfe ...............................................................................3

News

Got CAPS? ................................................................................................11Meet the Asian American CAPS counselors!

How do you weigh the benefits of donating time or money to AAPI causes?The Value of a Dollar.........................................................................6

Whats Keeping AAPI from Entering the Public Service Sector?.......4The cultural implications of low numbers of AAPI in the public service sector

A Conversation with Cari Chen ..........................................................8A Stanford alumna talks about her experiences with philanthropy

S taff

E ditor -in -C hiEf

B etty P ham

a SSoCiatE E ditor

C hristie C ho

L ayout E ditor

G Ea K anG

C ontributorS

P a h ua C ha

L an L

e uniCe Lee

J ason Lee

r aJan P ateL

a ndrew P iPathsouk

i ndu P remakumar

J hanvi s hriram

m eera s uBash

k eLvin v uong

k entaro w atari

s heLLy X ie

C eCiLia y ang

Asian Pacific Islander (API) Heritage Month ............................................13What you should expect in the upcoming month of May for API Heritage Month

Public Service: Luxury or Responsibility? ................................................14Theres light at the end of the tunnel - service as an opportunity in this economy.

Wanted: Volunteers (Reward: $4000) .................................................... 15USAservice.org as a tool for citizens in answering President Obamas call to service

Design for Social Change ........................................................................10Innovative methods to help you realize your public service goals

Voices

Feature

Spring & Summer 09 Oppor tunities........................................................12A list of four service opportunities to try in the upcoming months and school year

Senior Reflection ..................................................................................... 16A3C senior staff members reflect: what is life after Stanford?

Reflections on Dartmouth ........................................................................13A student responds to the Dartmouth appointment of an Asian American president

H elp us improve our programming !

Weve generated a survey with questions regarding the publication of CommunicASIANS. Wed love to hear from you!To provide us with some very helpful feedback, please visit the following link:

http://a3cservices.stanford.edu/communicasians/survey

We look forward to reading your comments and suggestions!

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communic A SIANS spring 2009, XIV, issue no.2


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A 3 C S tAff

a ssociate DeaN aND Directorc iNDy N

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Facilities c oorDiNatore mily Zhao

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P uBlicity c oorDiNatorc ecilia y aNg

s Peaker s eriesJ asoN J i

J asoN l e

w eBmaster a Dam moua

January 20th of this year represented a day of hope for many Americans. On that memorable day, we ushered in anew president who proclaimed that change was in our coun-trys future. This president spoke of the plans that he had instore, plans that would improve the state of the economy andrestore the faith of the people in the government. Amongstthe plans was a special one, directed towards the youth of thenation, highlighting the importance of service and commu-nity building. President Obamas call to service enthusedthe younger generation, with many students answering thecall by enlisting in efforts to serve the public.

In high school, it was dif cult to explain the reasons Ihad for all of the volunteering that I did. My parents took issue with the fact that my volunteer hours took time awayfrom my studies, while I argued that the hours reinforced mywell-roundedness as a student and that I could put it on myrsum. Little did my parents know that I never even loggedhalf of the hundreds and hundreds of community servicehours that I did.

(I hope they arent reading this right now because I cer-tainly still use that excuse for a lot of the things that I do.Mom and Dad, if you are reading, Im sorry.)

I think that we, as members of next generation, shouldchange the negativity surrounding non-technical career

paths. After all, who are we to say that non-pro t workersdont positively affect the same number of lives as doctorsdo? Improving communities and the lives of others should besomething that is respected; not everything can be measuredthrough the number of professional degrees that someoneholds or his salary. Those who take the road less traveledshould be celebrated, as those students will be the ones whowill pave the way for younger generations.

In this issue, we have highlighted several service opportu-nities and how other students have chosen to answer the call.We hope that these opportunities will be things that you con-sider during your time here and after graduation. Even if youchoose not to dedicate the rest of your life to public service,offering even a small bit of your time and efforts can affectmany different communities in a lasting way.

CommunicASIANS hopes that it will inspire you to con-sider what you can do for the community. While we feel thatwe do our best to highlight issues that affect API students,we would love to hear your opinion. Please visit the A3Csurvey at http://a3cservices.stanford.edu/communicasians/

survey to let us know how we are doing. For any other com-ments, concerns, or questions, please feel free to e-mail me at

[email protected]. I would love to hear from you!Cheers and happy reading!

Enjoy,

Betty PhamEditor-in-Chief

E ditor s LEttEr A C

communic asians2


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Documents

CommunicASIANS Spring 2009