OCA-Chicago Co-Sponsors Chicago Watch Party for First National Presidential Townhall Hosted by APA Community

On Saturday, May 17, 2008, the APA community will meet all three Presidential candidates at the First National Presidential Townhall organized by APIAVote at the University of California at Irvine, which will be streamed across the country and watched by many. OCA-Chicago, together with Asian American Institute, Japanese American Citizens League, Korean Resource and Cultural Center, and DePaul University's Asian Cultural Exchange, is co-sponsoring a local watch party for the Townhall at DePaul University (Belden & Sheffield in Lincoln Park), Room 220. The opening ceremony and potluck party will start at 5 pm, with the candidates speaking live from UC-Irvine at 6 pm. Come to learn about the candidates' positions on various issues before you vote in the November general election. Please RSVP to April Lewton at aai@aaichicago.org or at 773.271.0899. Visit http://www.apiavote.org/ for updates.

Myanmar Cyclone and China Earthquake Relief Agencies

Tropical cyclone Nargis brought unprecedented devastation to Myanmar. The 7.9 quake in Sichuan Province of China was equally unkind to the people in Sichuan, especially in the rural areas. Please consider donating to one of the international relief agencies which will accept donations to help victims of the two natural disasters. Many will accept in-kind donations too. Two very effective relief organizations are Doctors Without Borders and Internatinal Committee of the Red Cross.

Asian Fest is Here Again!

In celebration of the City Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the Asian American Coalition of Chicago will present Asian American Festival, to take place at the Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago during the week of May 19. Last year, the Chinese American community members of the Coalition hosted the festival. This year it's the Korean American community's turn to play host. Please join us for a week of fun and Asian performances. Click here for more informaiton.

OCA to Celebrate 35th Anniversary at National Convention in DC

Our national organization is turning 35 this year. We will celebration this milestone at the National Convention at the Hiltong Washington in Washington DC, from July 31 through August 3, 2008. This year, you can register online at http://www.ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163&Itemid=, which has detailed instructions. For additional assistance, contact Doug Lee or call 202 223 5500.

OCA-Chicago Kicked Off City's Celebration of APA Heritage Month by Unveiling "Spaces and Places" Bookmark

OCA-Chicago unveiled the 11th Anniversary APA Heritage Month Commemorative Bookmark "Spaces and Places," on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at Site Design Group, Ltd. This year's bookmark honors Chicago Chinatown's award-winning architecture - the Ping Tom Memorial Park and Chinese American Service League Kam L. Liu Building; and the Cambodian American Heritage Museum on Lawrence Avenue. The ceremony was attended by Asian American liaisons of elected officials, sponsors FOX TV Chicago and SuncasTV, OCA members and community friends. In addition to disseminating the bookmarks to libraries throughout Chicagoland, our sponsor SuncasTV also produced an IPTV version, which can be viewed on www.suncasTV.com. A big thank you to the staff of Site Design Group for providing the venue and refreshments and to Dunkin Donuts for providing donuts and munchkins, to FOX anchor/reporter Nancy Loo for acting as emcee, and to ENERI Communications for designing the bookmark and organizing the event!

OCA-Chicago Co-Sponsored Panel on Asian Americans in Politics at Asian American Studies Conference in Chicago

The 25th annual national conference of the Association for Asian American Studies was held in Chicago in mid-April. Working with the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute of Southern Illinois University, the Asian American Policy Council of Illinois, the Japanese American Citizens League, and the South Asian American Policy and Research Institute, OCA-Chicago co-sponsored a panel on Asian Americans in Politics at the conference. The panel featured Dr. Konrad Ng of the University of Hawai‘i, Chicago's own Judge Sandra Otaka and Dean Frank Wu from the Wayne State School of Law in Michigan, and was moderated by Professor Phil Tajitsu Nash of University of Maryland. Click here for Professor Nash's report of the panel discussion and the conference that appeared in the 4/28 edition of AsianWeek.

OCA Monitors National Debate on Olympics in China for Impact on Race Relations in the United States

OCA is concerned about the impact on race relations in the United States caused by the use of negative language and racial stereotypes in the ongoing debate on the Olympics in China. While OCA strongly supports free speech, dialogue and engagement, it believes public officials, media representatives, and community leaders need to be aware that the language used in this debate has a direct impact on race relations in the United States . Whether it is bullying on the playground, hurtful behavior in the workplace, or more serious bias-related violence, racialized rhetoric can have a very negative impact on the daily lives of all Americans. Click here to read OCA's recent press release. Click here to read a thoughtful article on the topic written by Jeri Okamoto Floyd, President of the Southern California Chapter of Family with Children from China.

Apply for an OCA Internship

An OCA Internship is a great opportunity for students to learn firsthand about national issues and policies that affect Asian Pacific Americans. The OCA Internship Program also exposes interns to other aspects of Washington, D.C. Last year, interns visited Congressional offices where they had an opportunity to meet with Congressional Representatives, APA staffers, and members of the Congressional APA Caucus. Interns will also have a lot of hands on experience at the offices in which they are placed. For more information and application forms, visit our national organization's website at http://www.ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=

Apply for JACL Ford Fellowship

The Japanese American Citizens League is looking for an emerging community leader for the JACL Ford Fellowship at JACL's Mid West Office in Chicago. For more information and application details, click here.

Asian American Groups Dismayed by U.S. Supreme Court Decision Upholding Voter ID Law

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and other Asian American organizations, including OCA, express dismay with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in two consolidated cases, Crawford v. Marion County Election Board and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita, which rejected a constitutional challenge to the Indiana law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification before they can vote. The Asian American organizations had filed an amicus ("friend of the court") brief in the Supreme Court, detailing the problems of restrictive voter ID laws, especially for racial and language minority voters. Click here to read AALDEF's press release.

OCA Receives $50,000 Grant from UPS

OCA is pleased to announce that it has received a $50,000 grant from The UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of UPS (NYSE: UPS). The grant will be used to support the OCA-UPS Gold Mountain Scholarship for APA students who are the first in their family to attend college. Click here for OCA's press release.

Teachers Needed

CNSCS (Chicago Northwest Suburban Chinese School, http://www.cnscs,org) operates on Sundays out of Fremd High School in Palatine. CNSCS is a non-profit, Chinese Language and cultural school with a membership of about 200 families. It is in need of instructors for extracurricular activities courses, for both adults and children. One of the most pressing matters is finding enough qualified instructors, especially for subjects pertaining to Chinese culture. If you are interested in helping the school in this regard, please contact Linda Gaio, CNSCS at (847)321-5793.

Chicago Transit Authority Benefit Program

The RTA/CTA Transit Benefit Program is based on a law allowing employees to pay for transit using pre-tax income (Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century – TEA-21). Another plus is that employers can reap benefits as well as there is little or no cost to the business and the savings for the employees and employer comes from the pre-tax nature of the process. There can be as few as 1 or as many as a company can muster. It is a great benefit for employees because they save on expenses they are already experiencing. CTA works with companies to provide Transit Cards and FareChecks for their employees to realize savings on CTA, Metra, South Shore, and Pace systems. We also offer Chicago Card Plus for additional CTA savings. Click here for a flyer about the program. For more information, contact Janice Rector, Transit Program Specialist, Market Development at 312-681-2734 or jrector@ransitchicago.com.

Asian American Organizations Encouraged by Maximum Sentence in the Murder of Cha Vang; National Efforts Will Continue for Strengthening Hate Crime Laws

The Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), Hmong National Development, Inc. (HND) and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) are encouraged that on the heels of Monday’s community rally around racial justice in Madison, Wis., James Nichols received the maximum sentence allowed under Wisconsin law in the murder of Hmong American Cha Vang. AAJC will continue to urge for the strengthening of hate crime laws across the natin. To read AAJC's press release, click here.

Chicago Chinese-American Museum Calls for Donation or Loan of Toys and Games

The Chinese American Museum of Chicago is planning its next exhibition titled "Chinese At Play: Toys, Games and Leisure Activities" and is asking for Chicagoans to donate or loan toys or games to the exhibit. For more information, click here.

Help WWII Vets Campaign - The Nisei Commemorative Stamp Petition

IPlease take the time to sign this online petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Nisei_Stamp/index.html to urge the United States Postmaster to issue a commemorative stamp to honor the Nisei who serve in the Armed Forces during World War II. It's an honor they richly deserve. Please urge your friends to do the same.

Ongoing Study and Video Documentary Reseearch Project - Call for Participants

Study on Asian American and Pacific Islander Women's Experiences

Maria Luisa V. Tungol, MPH Candidate 2008, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University in Atlanta, is conducting a study involveing Asian American and Pacific Islander women and their experiences with their sexuality and being Asian American and/or Pacific Islander. It will take 15-20 minutes to answer questions about the subject's thoughts and feelings surrounding her ethnic experience and sexuality. Ms. Tungol is looking for Asian American, South Asian American, and Pacific Islander women who are 18 years of age or older. Participants must currently live in the United States. The completely anonymous survey is to be completed entirely online, so it can be done anywhere and at any time. If you have questions, please contact contact Maria-Luisa Tungol at mtungol@sph.emory.edu. To participate, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=qzCT6PUlv9vSDKDRtChzSA_3d_3d.

JOB POSTINGS

From time to time, we receive requests from various companies and community organizations to post their announcements of employment opportunities with these companies and organizations. Please click the "Job Post" button on the left panel to check job postings. ChicagoDiversity is a network of local diversity employment Web sites committed to connecting employers with qualified, local applicants of all backgrounds. Check job postings (including jobs in other States) at http://www.chicagodiversity.com/jobs.asp, where you can browse the jobs by their respective categories, by companies, or use the Advanced Search Form to quickly find a list of jobs. We have also received many requests from CBS to post job descriptions. The Station is especially interested in applications from diverse applicants. You can check out job posts at http://www.cbsradio.com/careers/index.html.