A big congrats to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor for hosting a successful Spring Conference to RELFECT. CONNECT. DIRECT. We hope you all had fun and are able to bring what you learned from the conference back to your respective campuses to increase APIA awareness!

And congrats to the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, the host school for the MAASU 2009 Leadership Retreat!

If your school is interested in hosting the MAASU 2010 Spring Conference, please review the bidding guidelines here and submit your bid to Judy Sun and Dani Masuda by May 8th!

Also, if you like working with websites and are computer savvy, fill out this application to apply for our Technical Networking Chair position on ECC! Submit your application to Judy Sun and Dani Masuda by May 8th!

Applications
First off, with Spring Conference less than a week away, a lot of things are going to be decided very shortly, including next year's MAASU ECC as well as the schools that will be hosting LR and SC.

ECC is not only a great way to improve your leadership skills and learn more about yourself, it does so in a regional environment, where the people you're influencing are not just on your campus, but in campuses across the entire Midwest. So if you'd like to be part of an APIA movement bigger than just your school and work with other leaders from all over the region, apply to be part of the ECC: Application Here.

The chance to host LR and SC not only puts your university at the front lines of the APIA movements, but leaves a lasting impression to everyone that travels across states to attend the conferences. I for one will never forget the schools that I got the chance to visit and there conferences held there, and would never have gotten the opportunity if the leaders there didn't decide to host the conference. It's a lot of work, but it for sure pays off. Here are the guidelines for when your school decides to announce your bid at SC: Leadership Retreat, Spring Conference, and Schedule.

Slanties? Are you Serious?
I don't have much to say, just check out this picture of this eyewear called "Slanties."

Are you serious? Here's the original article that I read about it on (thanks to Shane for sharing this):

http://www.racialicious.com/2009/03/18/slanties-eyewear/

I should not be the only one that's fuming about this. Slanties? WTF? Speaking of being ECC and part of a larger movement, this is what MAASU's capable of. An entire region of angry students can definitely do something about this crap. More info coming up about just what we might do. Have some suggestions? Make an account and leave a comment, or post in our forums.

- Jake

MAASU ECC is currently looking for applicants to become the next Executive Direction.

Description:
The Executive Director plays a critical role in the direction, coordination, and implementation of MAASU initiatives and events. Below are the qualifications and job responsibilities of the Executive Director position.

Qualifications
-Bachelors Degree required from an accredited university
-Knowledge of and interest in the APIA Community
-Ability to communicate efficiently and effectively both orally and through written communication.
-Prior experience working with or within a student organization
-Exceptional interpersonal skills in dealing with complex issues regarding diversity and social justice.
-Must have excellent organizational skills
-Must be readily accessible to communications

If you are qualified and interested in this position, please download the application

Here

and email it our current ED Naomi Daradar at her email Naomi.Daradar@wustl.edu

The deadline for the application is March 6th.

- Jake

Register now for the MAASU Spring Conference, visit the link below and tell all your friends to register as well. I also hear that the hotel this semester's going to be crowding up quickly since there's another event going on, so get on it people.

sc.maasu.org

- Jake

From the MAASU Programming Chair, My-Phuong:

"Bring MAASU to your CAMPUS!
During the month of March, create an event for a dialog between the different groups on your campus. These groups can be the different ethnicities, the lgbt group, everyone. The topic of the dialog would be used to create unification between the groups. See the proposal for more details.

CANNED FOOD DRIVE
Make giving a must this semester. Each campus would be competing in their own group (small, mid, large schools) to achieve the maximum number of canned foods. The winner of each group will get recognition at this years MAASU conference at University of Michigan!"

Look at the attachment for more info. And sign up for MAASU SC if you haven't done so yet.

- Jake

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.