Issue summary and 2nd draft petition

[Huy Tran]

Hopefully, this can start to be circulated by tomorrow.  Personally, I would like to see UVSA Norcal collect 1000 signatures by Wednesday, so that we can fax this to those who represent the districts of where our VSAs are located.  Please share your thoughts.

In the meantime, I am also drafting an op-ed for the San Jose Mercury News.  Will send out draft as soon as it is completed.

--
Huy Tran
Public Relations and Outreach Chair
United Vietnamese Student Associations of Northern California
www.norcaluvsa.org

[Natalie Newton]

Hi Huy and all,

My name is Natalie Newton (my parents changed their name from Nguyen), from Seattle, WA. A small group of us are organizing up here and planned on making a petition similar to the one Huy made as well. We wonder if we can combine efforts and circulate this petition very widely.

 

However, since the format of this petition is a word document, I wondered if we could instead make it electronic, and easier for us to keep track.

 

In solidarity,

Natalie

Seattle

[Huy Tran]

Natalie,

I'm not sure about what you mean.  What does making it "electronic" entail?  Feel free to distribute the petition as needed.

The focus for UVSA at the moment is to do everything possible to support the delay of the start date of the MOU.  The gameplan in place is twofold:

1.  Petition - My personal goal in this is to get 1000 signatures from the VSAs in Northern California by March 20th.  The signatures will then be faxed to all congressional representatives in Northern California, with a letter asking any representatives who have not joined in Lofgren's letter to do so.
2.  Phone calls and emails - 1000 signatures landing at our representatives office without any notification that this is happening will be ineffective.  We need to call and/or email them to let them know that this is happening at the moment to support Congressional efforts to delay the start date of the MOU.

If March 22nd arrives and the MOU is enacted, we will regroup to come up with a gameplan for a longer campaign.

UC Davis folks, I know that yall have been quite active in this matter.  What's happening on your end?

[Huy Tran]

Also, here this is a draft op-ed that is currently being worked on.

[Natalie Newton]

Hi Huy,

 

I mean creating something at this site for example: www.thepetitionsite.com It is very easy. You can copy and paste your document.

 

If you use a word document, it's really clumsy to Save, Save as and then pass it on to others who will sign the document. In addition, with the word document, you have to later consolidate it all by hand, because people will be signing it at different times, and emailing it out.

 

The above site consolidates it all at once (electronically). And it automatically counts how many people sign it. I'm sure many of you have signed similar style electronic petitions.

 

I'm actually reading over your petition more closely, and we might create something in addition to it. Our group in Seattle wants to create something that describes 3 main reasons why the Repatriation Agreement is problematic:

 

1. UNJUST LAW: It punishes people 3 times for so-called crimes. People under this agreement have already served their time, and are now going to be detained in ICE detention centers and further deported back to Vietnam, which they will have no jobs or livelihood.

2. HUMAN RIGHTS: It breaks up families and asks people to basically throw away 10+ years of their lives.

3. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: This is all part of a series of concessions Vietnam has made to the US as a way to survive and participate in global capitalism, which eats away at other developing countries like Vietnam. Officials in both governments have contracted several trade agreements in constellation with other diplomatic agreements like this one in order to further create a power imbalance and make Vietnam more and more dependent on US global capitalist power. Contact me if you want more info on this. 

Peace

Natalie

Seattle, WA

 

On 3/14/08, Huy Tran <huy....@norcaluvsa.org> wrote:

www.norcaluvsa.org

[Huy Tran]

Natalie,

The immediate focus for UVSA at this moment is to delay the start date of the MOU.  While the Intercollegiate Council will convene to investigate this matter more deeply, I cannot add any further arguments into the current petition because it would go beyond the scope of what our Council has already approved.

Let's do a follow-up discussion about the broader implications of this agreement after March 22nd.

[Natalie Newton]

Hi Huy,

That's fine. I am not asking for you all to change your letter, but just letting you know what we in Seattle are interested in writing.

 

Peace

Natalie