APLC Peer Network

About APLC
"The Asian Pacific Islander (API) community is the fastest growing population in the United States and California. This rapid growth has not been accompanied by similar growth in the fields of public policy, community service, and politics. In these areas API Americans remain severely underrepresented. For example, only 6 of 120 California state legislators are of API descent.

The vitality and effectiveness of our government depend on strong ties to the people in the community. By increasing diversity, public agencies assume a richer texture and become more responsive to the needs and concerns of people from all ethnic, geographic, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

The Asian Pacific Leadership Conference to be held on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara offers 50 college undergraduates, selected from public and private colleges across the state, a unique opportunity to explore their potential to develop him or herself as future leaders for California’s emerging Asian Pacific Islander communities. The conference features highly interactive workshops, intensive small group discussions, exploration of leadership in a cultural and community context, and the chance to interact personally with state leaders." --taken from Asian Pacific Leadership Conference Facebook groups network

Titles for wiki?
Any suggestions? APLC peer network sounds too bureaucratic. Something informal and kinda slick would be nice. We can use this name for now but we can change it once we find a title.

Article on protests against the effects of Proposition 209
TAKEN FROM THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN AN INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED BY THE INDEPENDENT BERKELEY STUDENTS PUBLISHING COMPANY.

"PROTESTERS URGE REGENTS TO SUPPORT CAMPUS DIVERSITY By Sarah Donner Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES—The cries of protesters outside the UC Board of Regents meeting in Los Angeles Wednesday were not only heard through the windows, but echoed in much of the board’s discussions. The meeting began with public comments from dozens of black UCLA alumni, students and local leaders who claimed the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996 led to a “diversity crisis” on UC campuses. Many of the speakers asked for expanded outreach programs for minority students that would help them be more academically prepared before entering college. “I must make sure we’re more welcome now than we were in 1964” said J. Daniel Johnson, vice chairman of the Black Alumni Association. About two hours into the meeting, yelling protesters outside dressed in all black “mourned” the effects of Proposition 209 and asked the regents to include the protesters in removing the “barriers to diversity.” The regents then decided to add four additional students to the regents’ commission on Proposition on 209. The motion to have greater student representation on the commission spearheaded by Student Regent Maria Ledesma—was not the only victory for the students on Wednesday. Before they voted to approve the 2007-08 financial budget for the UC Office of the President, a handful of regents said the $31 Million allocated towards academic preparation was too small of a sum. “I looked out the window and students are saying that we’re not doing enough,” said Regent Odessa Johnson. “We can see too this is a tiny amount of money we’re spending in an effort to achieve diversity.” UC President Robert Dynes noted that while the hard numbers seem small, many efforts focusing on diversity are not included in the $31 million budget allocation. “The science and math teacher initiative in some sense can be thought of (that) as outreach. While this doesn’t come under the heading of ‘outreach’ this is a program aimed at opening the avenues,” he said. The financial budget plan was approved unanimously b y the regents, although chairman Gerald Parsky said many priorities—such as diversity—need to be looked at before the next meeting in January. Despite the discussion, many students said they felt the effects of Proposition 209 will be an uphill battle. “I feel like the situation in the Ucs right now is like a car wreck,” said UCLA sophomore Sarah Andrews, member of the Afrikan Student Union. “I can’t walk away, but I need to fix it. This is my university and I’m not going to abandon it.” "

"Why APYLP? Why APLC?" - Response to Sandra Michioku
Dear Sandra,

I know I do not speak for everyone when I say this, but I believe that the conference, though dense and somewhat nauseating at times, is actually quite effective. I think between jamming a million facts and ideas into our heads and listening to a million speakers, some of the ideas really got across even if it took a few days to settle. Also, the information really gives a very real and concrete grounding to the issues. I think there are a few folks who may have gone away saying "that was useless," but I do not know if this is just an external postulation and internally they really have begun to think about their roles as leaders and citizens in the community. For those participants who are able to really take in all of the information without overloading and process it as the feed comes in, these participants really benefit and are able to strengthen their positions and logic surrounding the issues. I know for me personally, I was able to go into very contemplative and deep analysis of the trends, even though many of my opinions and thinking proofs about the issues had already been constructed. If anything, the wealth of exposure to well articulated arguments and a plethora of analytical perspectives took the iron in my belief system and transformed it into steel. I know that many people were quite put off by the Ron Brown's presentation and while I do feel somewhat angry that this approach is one that actually works in specific situations, I believe that his workshop was probably one of the most helpful. A local mentor of mine in Berkeley echoed his advice to me when speaking to me about the importance of power and force when involved in an organization that requires you to be on guard at all times. I know that the line of activism I hope to reach will require me to have power relationships and that in order to protect myself from my naivete and optimism I have to be ready to use my influence and power to prevent fatalistic situations. I am ecstatic and greatly appreciate that there were so many female speakers and strong women leaders at the conference. In this day and age I believe that they are the most underestimated leaders and that is why they are the most potentialed to make a change. Social inequality for women has been locked in place for so very long a time that they have one of the most potent sources of argument to demand civility. I also appreciate the fact that many young women were at the conference because even though we did not want the focus of the conference to be on gender issues, implicitly the speakers were able to get the points across, and I think many of us probably weren't even conscious that we were learning about those issues. I now know that I have a true purpose in my leadership and that there will be a time for me to step up and affect change at a critical time. This realization has also led me to another conclusion: there are many young potentials around me that given the right circumstances will begin to follow the leadership path and use their talents and abilities to bring attention to both minority and API/APA issues. I have already begun planning on getting in contact with many of my younger peers and when they are old enough to apply I will hint at them to search for programs like these. I hope that at that time the program still exists because then my peers will be able to benefit as much as I have from the conference, and perhaps even moreso. I would not tell them so much as I would help lead them through stages of development which i hope can result in their willingness to become a part of the movement. Much of this sounds manipulative in nature but at the moment there I cannot really think of it any other way and until I think more about this, this explanation is all I can really offer. But I believe that if you choose to continue providing college students an opportunity to prove themselves worthy they will not disapoint you. I believe in the aims of this program and all the strength it will bring to our API/APA movement. Thank you for hearing my response and good luck with what you decide to do with the program and any other objectives you reach this coming year.

Kevin Horikoshi APYLP 2005 alum, 2006 APLC 2006