Brain Break for the Ballot !

Local ice cream and absentee ballot request forms... who knew that these two things were such a successful combination?

This past Wednesday (October 13), AAA teamed up with the Institute of Politics - National Campaign to host "Brain Break for the Ballot", an ice-cream brain break at Annenberg Hall that aimed to get students to request absentee ballots for the upcoming general election. 2010 marks the midterm elections, which means every House seat is on the ballot, along with 1/3 of the Senate seats, many governorships, and local positions. On Study Card Day last month, hundreds of students of the Class of 2014 registered to vote as they turned in their study card, and our event was designed to help them with the next step -- getting a ballot to vote.

students requesting absentee ballots on the ice cream line

Frosh Rep Tony Cho working with VP Winston Chang on addressing envelopes

Ed/Pol Co-chairs!

ice cream!

We were successful! Over 200 forms were filled and seven large tubs of delicious ice cream were consumed. In terms of AAA's goals, we succeeded at working to increase civic participation among Asian American students and the student body at large.

This event would not have been possible without the great help of the Institute of Politics, the Harvard Democrats, and the Harvard Republicans. More exciting Ed/Pol events with these organizations to come!

Want to declare your commitment to civic participation? Want to help Harvard beat other colleges to bring Kollaboration (an exciting Asian American performance showcase) to campus? Please register for Youth Charge Now, a contest aimed at raising youth civic participation. It takes under a minute, just name, email, and address. Remember to put Harvard as your college!

Cheers,

Jenny Ye

Educational/Political Committee Co-chair

Coffee Party comes to campus!

Eric Byler, Coffee Party USA

Tonight, equipped with coffee cake from Chinatown, pastries from Au Bon Pain, and a wide assortment of drinks (yes, coffee), AAA collaborated with the Harvard College Democrats to host an event with Coffee Party USA. Eric Byler, award winning filmmaker and one of the founders of the Coffee Party, joined students, alums, and community members for a fruitful discussion in Harvard Hall.

Coffee Party USA was born a few months ago in response to the antagonism and intolerance of the Tea Party. It's all about facilitating discussion among people who want to see cooperation in government, and don't share the radical positions of the "Tea Party" protesters that fill up our news.

By the time the Coffee Party was born, Eric had gained netroots organizing experience from his work on 9500 Liberty, a documentary/political movement resisting the anti-immigration policies of his county in Virginia. The law that was passed (then repealed, thank goodness) legitimized and encouraged racial profiling is just like the new law threatening immigrants in Arizona. 9500 Liberty is showing this Sunday at the Boston Independent Film Festival.

What came out of tonight was a productive discussion about the ways that students can have a voice in the national political discussion. Sure, many of us don't identify with the radicalism that we see on TV, but what do we do about it? How are we using social media effectively to make our voice heard? What we hope to do next is to stay connected with the Coffee Party and continue to engage students on campus politically.

-- Jenny

Educational/Political Co-chair

what's coming up next: PREFROSH WEEKEND. WE'RE SO EXCITED FOR THE CLASS OF 2014!!!