ECAASU 2009 will promote the unique nature of the vast Asian cultures while emphasizing the need for the unification of ALL Asian American students.

This conference will be, by far, the highlight of your scholastic year. With exceptional workshops, captivating speakers, and fierce entertainment, ECAASU 2009 will be an unforgettable experience - one you definitely do NOT want to miss out on!

The 2009 conference will be held at the luxurious Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Fitted with spacious ballrooms and swanky rooms, the hotel is walking distance from the Rutgers University College Avenue Campus, making it the prime location for this conference.

This can be better written.

Love,
A humble ECAASU fan and attendee

(P.S. Is this an appropriate albeit cynical Blaaag post?)

EDIT:

Marilla writes, "i'm sorry, i honestly didn't read any of that, except the part where they said "vast Asian cultures" and i completely flashed back to the cornell president's speech [last year at ECAASU]. oops."

Happy bday, T. Xie! After your first professional year at that fancy investment company, we at The Blaaag are happy to know that you still throw ridiculous parties. Even if they're now in a neighborly residential spot in Astoria, with annoyed downstairs neighbors. We're also happy to know that you still shout nonsense after a few hours and a few drinks.

Love, us.

There's a discussion THIS SUNDAY 8pm in Lerner's Broadway Room. See the event. Be there!

NROTC: Idea Exchange
Sunday, 10/26 @ 8pm in the Broadway Room in Lerner

United Students of Color Council wants to provide a safe space for the community of color and our allies to talk about the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC).

Come continue the conversations you've been having or begin the conversation on Sunday! We will begin by summarizing what has been happening in relation to NROTC on this campus and what will be happening. After pooling our knowledge together, we will begin a dialogue about the implications of NROTC. Issues to be addressed, include: Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT); race/ethnicity and class in relation to the military; military presence on Columbia University's campus, and more.

Come hear what your peers have to say and share your thoughts too!

Patrick Chang, AAA social chair, has sent another ridiculous email. This time, he is "laying down the fucking LAW." Enjoy.

This message is for Everybody

Dear You all,
I'm sorry for the last minute change, but the cultureshock meeting on Sunday is for EVERYONE. I'm laying down the fucking LAW and everyone has to be there. We have 4 weeks until cultureshock, which for all of you illiterates, it means that EVERYONE has to get crackin on EVERYTHING. I will let everyone know their job there, just be prepared. Cause if you don't get your shit done I will be pissed. Just prepare for a world of pain. Like seriously. I'm already angry. I'll see you all there Patrick

Patrick

So at today's Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) 5 Year and Intercultural Resource Center (IRC) 20 Year anniversary celebration, Senior Assistant Dean Melinda Aquino made a little speech about the difficulty in creating an Office of Multicultural Affairs and all the benefits that its creation has brought. Then she called out the alumni that were in attendance and guess who responded! Kevin Nadal!


Any of you who were at the LGBTQ Sulu Series this summer will definitely remember him, because he did this amazing standup routine that included how Filipinos can always spot each other from across the room and the classic "So what are you... really?" question (aka, "Where are you really from?", aka every ethnic American's greatest fear). Well, guess what, he's a Columbia alum and an ex-ROOTEd facilitator! I totally got his card. David called me a groupie, but it was worth it.

Yay OMA / IRC! Yay Kevin Nadal!

Another thing that we've heard very little of... until now. The thirty-six current and former workers who sued Saigon Grill "for violating wage laws won a $4.6 million judgment today".

Yay! Read more about it at Grub Street.

Tian, former chair of AAA, and current fancy analyst for some fancy place Midtown East, recently made "MY MOM IS A FOB" blog with this entry:

caffeine leads to the coffin

(Written by my mother in an e-mail discussing a bill I received from a pharmacy)

Mom: Try to not eat too much Madison , you may addict to it, just like you addict to coffin.

Midterms, a horrible beast. But here at Blaaag, we relieve the stress by looping songs, zoning out, and writing papers we later have no memory of.

Some song suggestions, from my personal collection:

Usher - Burn
Allure - All Cried Out
Britney Spears - Oops!... I did it Again (MAH FAVE)
Mary J. Blige - Be Without You
Mariah Carey - Fantasy

I don't want to touch this one, but somehow I think that I might have to. The race argument is such an overused, ignorant one that I barely feel like talking about why Powell, who is a Republican, an advisor and friend to McCain, and an initial supporter of the Iraq occupation, was and always has been likely to endorse McCain. I can't be the only person out there who saw the New York Times article that basically quoted Powell verbatim that the tipping point for his endorsement, after what must have been a serious weigh-in of both candidates, was (not race but) the atrociousness of McCain's campaign tactics and the unlikelihood that McCain's administration would help our nation.

I also don't want to talk about the fact that even while it seems likely that Powell would have endorsed McCain, he has always been viewed as a moderate Republican with liberal leanings. He is, for one, pro-choice, has admitted to the errors in evidence pointing towards a need to invade Iraq, has served and dissociated himself from the Bush administration, and has, in the end, shown a stance that in many ways aligns with Obama's.

Since Powell's initial likelihood to endorse either McCain or Obama seems to have stood on equal footing, and other tipping points (besides race) have been put on the table, I don't want to finally talk about the fact that it doesn't matter if Powell factored race into the equation, but it matters that Limbaugh suggests that this factor was a primary reason for Powell's decision. It's a gross misrepresentation of Powell's experience as well as his political background.

After a few hours straight of midterm-writing, I don't care to write extensively about this. In fact, I don't even think that I'm making a coherent argument. so I'll just let you read other blogs that actually say something less roundabout and vague.

The tactic's enabler is none other than Patrick Chang, AAA's Social Chair.

Read his e-mail below:

Free Braveheart Movie Showing at my PLACE!

NOT

I tricked you guys into looking at my e-mail about what else besides
FLYERING

That braveheart title was not totally random. I will supply you with an in depth analysis/annotation of a speech from Braveheart

"I am William Wallace. And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny! You have come to fight (he meant flyer here instead of fight) as free men. And free man you are! What will you do without freedom? Will you fight(and here)?" "Two thousand against ten?" - the veteran shouted. "No! We will run - and live(this guy also meant flyer)!" "Yes!" Wallace shouted back. "Fight and you may die(aka watch as your flyer's are torn down). Run and you will live at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here as young men and tell our enemies that they may take our [flyer's down] but they will never take our [ability to flyer 3 days in a row!]!"

No wonder people think that AAA is full of weirdos.

Check. This. Out.

Simply, a blog about all the funny things that our fobby mommies do. My favorite?

SUBJECT LINE: I UNDERSTAND YOU

Now I realize the difference between students graduated from Yale or Harvard and other regular university. So your dad and me are not worried about your job, but worry about one thing which your dad wants me to talk with you.

I understand you, like all other young people, would like to experience the love, a romantic love. We also know, to stop young people having sax before marriage is impossible, but we’d like to remind you, at least you should always protect yourself well.

1. Do not let pregnancy happen.

2. Prevent the disease. your skin is not good, I am afraid the first time having sex you might get pain and suffered.

with love,

Mom

Don't know what a FOB is?

Since I'm cracked out in Butler, I'm going to keep this recap short:

• NAASCon's afterparty was in a warehouse. Let me repeat that, A WAREHOUSE. 18+, $3 cover, unlimited drinks, and glow-in-the-dark neon bracelets. It was like a seedy rave, but without any E
• The afterparty DJ played bad music. There was, at one point, a techno mix (see rave comment above)
  
• Debbie Wei is such a powerful speaker. There were people crying in the audience. She also made a bad joke about how most of the movement she gets is aided by Metamucil (Oh god)
  
• Monna, Linda, and my "Embodied, Empowered" workshop was really successful! There was great discussion, great feedback, and we were the only student workshop facilitators at the conference. I'm so proud!
• The Northeastern regional caucus (facilitated by Vivian and Bryan, with a lot of Columbia representation) was also pretty successful. Lots and lots of people. Some of the issues discussed: Asian American Studies and Ethnic Studies, the divide between cultural and political groups, and various conferences on the East Coast
  
• Georgian supermarkets are huge. Hugeeeeeee
• Georgian supermarkets also don't seem to have Georgian peaches, but instead California peaches and such. Vivian thinks this is an example of "why capitalism sucks"
• Driving in good weather is much better than driving in a storm
• We accidentally drove into a night wedding in a botanical garden, and thought that it was a cult ritual
• Our favorite rockstars, Julia Rhee, Dennis Chin, and May Lin were in attendance
• We accidentally stumbled into Eats, a soul food restaurant run by hipsters. It was the hippest place in all of Atlanta
  
• We also stumbled across Krystal and Zesto, which had, respectively, Pumpkin Pie Milkquake and great soft serve.
• Yay Atlanta! Yay NAASCon!
• Most of the ethnic restaurants have stupid names, with things like "Thaicoon" or "Panda" in them (Nhu-Y: "WE DON'T EAT PANDAS")
  
• We had Cracker Barrel on the way back. The hostess asked for Vivian's name and said, "Ravine?" Yeah, we're that ethnic

(Nhu-Y, Vivian, Saff, and others - if you remember other important things, please add them in the comments section!)