MAASU

Be sure to read the new and beautiful MAASU November Newletter, painstakingly put together by our PR Chair, Grant Huang. In this issue, he recaps the hugely successful MAASU Leadership Retreat held at the University of Missouri at Columbia. There are a ton of pictures and even a link to the LR Video. Also in this issue, an interview with the featured ECC Member, Maruel Unrein. Finally, our advocacy chair, Xu Gao, rants about the necessity of cultural groups.

Reminder: our communications co-chair position is still open.

I'm pretty sure that everyone who attended the MAASU LR at Mizzou this weekend will agree that Mizzou planned and hosted one of the best Leadership Retreats in the history of MAASU. Of course, this could not have been possible without the extremely hard work of the LR Planning League, so go on facebook and shoot them a thank you :)

Hope everyone picked up some good hero training from the workshops. And don't forget to check back here regularly for the upcoming Spring Conference at UMich.

Also, just wanted to remind everyone that the Communications Co-Chair position is still open, so if you're interested, the applications are HERE. Feel free to contact any of the ECC if you have any questions regarding this position.

Due to some recent reorganization, there is now an opening for the Communications Chair. If you're interested in joining the MAASU ECC, please read more about this position under the ECC roles page. Remember to come talk to the ECC about it this weekend at MAASU LR, or directly apply using this form:

Download Here

For those of you attending MAASU LR this weekend, we'll see you there. If not, we hope to see you at MAASU SC later in the year.

The 2008 MAASU Leadership Retreat website is up, so be sure to go there an register, as well as take a look at what to expect November 14-16 at the University of Missouri. As always, the website for the the Leadership Retreat is at:

lr.maasu.org

See you there.

Congratulations to Brian Peng, former ECC Co-Finance, for being elected as the new ECC Chair. Here's a bit of information about him:

Hailing from the suburbs of Dallas, TX, Brian is currently a senior majoring in accountancy with a minor in political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has remained very active in the Asian American and Illinois campus community throughout his college career, and loves to meet new people. Brian's hobbies include: sports, traveling, relaxing, hanging out with friends, going to the movies, and staying busy. He envisions MAASU expanding to become a household name in the Midwest, and hopes to accomplish this in the long-run by increasing membership and developing long-term partners with external organizations.

Mark your calendars everyone, the dates of both the MAASU Leadership Retreat and the Spring Conference have been finalized:

MAASU LR - November 14 to 16, 2008
@ University of Missouri

MAASU SC - April 3 to 5, 2009
@ University of Michigan

As always, new information regarding any MAASU events will be posted right here when it's announced, so stay tuned. Hope everyone's summer's going well.

The final results of the ECC voting is in, and the University of Missouri will be hosting the 2008 MAASU LR in the fall. More information will be posted once we know it arrives, for now, start looking forward to going to Missouri next semester.

Dear friends,

As you may know, an earthquake struck the Sichuan province on Monday, causing massive amounts of damage to property, infrastructure, and over ten thousand deaths, lives which will never be recovered; students whose studies came to a terrible, unexpected end, fathers who will never return home, and children who, most tragically of all, will never get a chance at life. If you didn't know the details, please take a few moments to look over the cold, hard facts presented below, and to think of the human lives who are still in desperate need of help.

Facts:
- The Sichuan province was hit by a earthquake rated 7.9 on the Richter scale on Monday
- There are nearly 900 trapped students in Juyuan Middle School this moment, only ONE survivor has been found so far.
- In some areas, 80% of the buildings were reported to have been destroyed
- Over 12,000 reported dead or injured
- Dozens of aftershocks felt as far away as Beijing (960 miles away) and the Thai capitol Bangkok (1,200 miles away)
- 3.5 million homes were damaged or destroyed
- 25,000 may be trapped
- Sichuan, not historically known for earthquakes, was unprepared for an earthquake of any magnitude
- This is the largest earthquake on record in China for over 30 years

China is still reeling from the massive and catastrophic snowstorms earlier this year. In the face of another disaster only three months later, an earthquake whose death toll will eclipse that of the snowstorm, the people of China need all the help they can get.

These are some donations methods. There are on-campus donations available through OCEF and CSSA.

(1) Red Cross in China or in US

Go to www.redcross.org.cn, Click the "????" and follow the instruction there. Visa Credit Card is accepted and
international transction fee is around $1.94 for $100 transaction.
OR
Simply www.redcross.org and under FIND IT FAST, click Response to CHINA's EARTHQUAKE.

(2) Hong Kong Red Cross

http://www.redcross.org.hk/home.cfm?langId=1&Ver=G
Click the "Donations" Button at the left upper corner.

(3) American Red Cross Central Illinois Chapter

Mail check to:
404 Ginger Bend Dr., Champaign, IL 61822
Please make the check payable to American Red Cross, and please CLEARLY MEMO it : for disaster relief of earthquake in China.

(4) Tsinghua Alumni Association in Greater Chicago Area (registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization)

Please make your check payable to
Tsinghua Alumni Association in Greater Chicago Area.
Also indicate "China Earthquake Relief" in the memo
area of the check.
All transactions of donations will be published online
with the last name listed, also the company match will
go with the donation to earthquake and will be listed
also.

Other good resources include:
*Operation Blessing International
Operation Blessing International is rated four out of four stars on Charity Navigator and the first charity and aid organization to be allowed to fundraise in China (2001) and has delivered 2 Million tons of rice to Myanmar in the wake of the Cyclone Nargis. Help support OBI's disaster relief efforts including aid to the recent earthquake victims in China.

*AmeriCares International
AmeriCares International has delivered over $7 billion of aid to 137 countries over the course of 25 years and has a four star rating in efficiency from Charity Navigator.

*Mercy Corps
Like OBI, Mercy Corps is also rated four stars overall from Charity Navigator, and is already on the ground in China, assisting through a longtime partner. Since 1979, they have provided $1.5 Billion in aid to 106 countries, and can reach over 16.4 million people with their staff of 3500.

*International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
"The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world's largest humanitarian organization, providing assistance without discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions."

The IFRC includes the Red Cross societies listed above.

Receipts will be provided by request from the respective organizations.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
The MAASU Executive Coordinating Committee

Special thanks go to the OCEF, AAA of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, CSSA and especially Yankun Guo for their initiative

-Written by Brian Kung and Yankun Guo