i feel like i'm always rambling

Jenn, I don't get it either. It's really discouraging when there are so many talented Asian Americans in the arts who are not recognized as they should be. It is upsetting that in order for some films to be shown and to gain popularity, there has to even be an Asian American Film Festival, you know what I mean? Why can't Asian Americans just be in the media, without the pretense of them being Asian American? I know that many Asian Americans are discouraged by their parents from even pursuing such dreams of becoming actors or actresses. They are pushed toward more 'productive' and money-making work. Still, culture and family pressures are not the only reasons for such underrepresentation of our communities in the media. There's definitely something wrong in the media itself that is preventing Asian Americans from gaining exposure. And I believe that there is a demand for Asian Americans too, so that argument cannot be made either. I just don't get it. Fortunately, we're gaining some ground, especially since JABBAWOCKEEZ WON!!! Yay! … Kaba should've been in the finals, but … let's not get into that.

So ... I don't really know what else to write about, but I feel like this is a forum for me to voice my opinions about things that are going on on our campus. There are so many things that happen that affect the student population yet a lot of us don't know what's going on. Let me know if it makes you guys feel uncomfortable talking about all this really... political (for lack of a better word) stuff, but let's fight the model minority stereotype!! Anyway, so as I've announced in class, I'm part of the Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN). Berkeley's PCN is the longest running culture show on campus and the second longest running PCN in the nation, second to that SFSU. It's a show that exhibits Pilipino culture in both the traditional sense and the Pilipino American sense. But even more than that, it's a space for our community's voices to be heard. Through PCN we are able to educate our own community and other communities about issues that are important to us. In addition, the process of PCN builds a sense of community among the participants. We spend HOURS preparing for this show, dedicating much of our days to PCN. As you can tell, it's something important to us.

PCN costs A LOT of money, and we all put much effort into raising as much money as we can. However, every year we request money from the ASUC to help fund the show. This year, we asked for $3000. After spending literally HOURS in Senate Chambers, this amount went down to $2500, then $2000, and eventually was settled on $1500. This was extremely controversial, as MORE money was allocated to other student organizations, such as fraternities and sororities. We could not understand how our own student government would not support us. The only advocates we seemed to have were the CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education) senators. I realized the importance of having people who represented my beliefs in not only the student government but the national and state governments. Thus … in a shameless attempt at campaigning … I’M VOTING CALSERVE!!! YAY!!! Elections are April 8 to 10. Ask me if you have any questions!! :D