MAUVSA Elections

MAUVSA will hold elections on Sunday July 20, 2008. Nominations will be accepted at mauvsa@gmail.com until 10pm on Saturday, July 19. Candidate acceptance of nominations are due no later than 11:59pm on Saturday July. Stay tuned for more details

President
Long Nguyen

Internal Vice President
Stephen Nguyen

External Vice President
Anh Nguyen

Treasurer

Secretary
Hoainam Nguyen

Webmaster
Loc Nguyen

Historian

Alumni Association Chair
Diana Nguyen


Elections start promptly at 12 noon

Franconia Governmental Center
6121 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA 22310
- From I-95, take exit 169A-B toward Franconia Rd/Franconia/VA-644 E
- Merge onto Spring Mall Rd/Spring Mall Dr
- Turn left at Loisdale Rd- Turn right at Franconia Rd/VA-644 E

Endless Dream

Dear Friend in the community,

The Mid-Atlantic Union of Vietnamese Student Associations (MAUVSA) cordially invites you to attend Endless Dream, our first annual charity ball. Throughout the school year, Vietnamese Student Associations across Virginia, Maryland and DC have unified in a common mission to raise awareness and funds on behalf of Vietnam VOICE (Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment). Vietnam VOICE was chosen last summer as our Collective Philanthropy Project by our umbrella organization, the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (uNAVSA).

VOICE is a non-profit organization, providing a voice for the overseas Vietnamese community through education and advocacy for the protection of Vietnamese refugees, counter trafficking of Vietnamese women and children in South-east Asia and other issues confronting the conscience of our community.

Throughout the year, students have displayed extraordinary passion and creativity in their quest to reach a national goal of $35,000 to build a resource center in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Through our unified efforts, as of today, over $7,200 has been raised among our seven member VSAs (George Mason University, George Washington University, James Madison University, University of Maryland College Park, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). With several culture shows and events to occur before the charity ball, we are well on our way to raising $8,000. Though we are a young organization, we are making an impact on our community everyday.

Please join us as we celebrate the efforts of our member schools. For tickets to the event, please refer to the enclosed flyer. If you would like to sponsor us in our community debut, please email MAUVSA@gmail.com for more information. Thank you for your time and support.

Sincerely,


Phuong Mai Nguyen

MAUVSA President

2007-2008

"Raise Your Voice!" at VCU

February was a busy month for VSA@VCU. They had their "Raise your VOICE!" Week, VSA@VCU held booths throughout the Commons (Central Campus) and informed many people about VOICE. Armed with their passion and care for VOICE, they informed the public about their actions and urged them to spend money at our date auction. Titled, “Another Shot at Love," the show included over 18 performers and a little over two hours of great performances. VSA@VCU was able to raise $3000 for VOICE! VCU VSA’s President, Stephen Nguyen said, "I’m really proud of VCU's students and VSA's members for raising all that money during such a fun, charitable event. I shaved my head for charity upon reaching the $3,000 dollar mark and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The real question now is how next year's president will try to raise the bar for next year's CPP!" The culture show practices began with the show date set for April 26. More details regarding the culture show will come soon. VSA@VCU is very busy with their countless volunteer efforts at food banks. Lastly, VSA@VCU would also like to congratulate JMU and UVA VSA's for putting on some great culture shows!


-Austin Van

Vietnamese Health and Interesting Facts

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest a sugar called lactose that is found in milk and dairy products. People with lactose intolerance do not produce enough of the lactase enzyme to break down actose. Instead, undigested lactose sits in the gut, causing gas, bloating, and stomach cramps. When the intestine cannot absorb the lactose-containing foods, it can lead to diarrhea.

Some ethnic groups are more likely to be affected than others because their diets traditionally include fewer dairy products: Almost all Asians* and Native Americans are lactose intolerant, and up to 80% of African Americans and Hispanic Americans also have symptoms of lactose intolerance. Their ancestors did not eat dairy foods, so their bodies were not prepared to digest dairy, and they passed these genes on from generation to generation.

Here are some tips for dealing with lactose intolerance:
*Choose lactose-reduced or lactose-free milk.
*Take a lactase enzyme supplement (such as Lactaid) just before you eat dairy products.
*When you do drink milk or eat lactose-containing foods, eat other non-lactose foods at the same
meal to slow digestion and avoid problems.
*Drink juices that are fortified with calcium.
*Eat a variety of dairy-free foods that are rich in calcium, such as broccoli, beans, tofu, or soy milk.
*Consider hard cheeses such as cheddar, which are lower in lactose.
*Yogurts that contain active cultures are easier to digest and much less likely to cause lactose
problems.
*Learn to read food labels. Lactose is added to some boxed, canned, frozen, and prepared foods.

*Southeast Asians - 98%, Asian Americans - 90% http://nutrigenomics.ucdavis.edu/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interesting Facts Submitted by Long Nguyen
From Wikipedia
Teochew -- a dialect of Chinese spoken in the Chaoshan region.
Total Speakers -- About 10 million in Chaoshan. Approximately 2-5 million speakers overseas.
Chaoshan was one of the major sources of Chinese emigration to Southeast Asia during the 18th–20th centuries, forming one of the larger dialect groups among the Overseas Chinese... In particular, the Chaozhou people settled in significant numbers in Thailand and Cambodia... They constitute a significant minority in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia... Chaozhou speakers also live in Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Europe.


-Long Nguyen

Other March Events

MAUVSA Retreat

Saturday, January 26, MAUVSA held its first Retreat at Virginia Tech. “The mission of this day is to bring together old and new friends.; a chance to network and to get to know each other,” said President Phuong Mai Nguyen. The retreat ran from for 10am-5pm. The morning began with participants signing in and participating some morning activities including putting together comic strips panels that were cut up and taped to each participants name tag and the song game where MAUVSA Execs pick a word and the groups would have to come up with a song that includes that word. MAUVSA presented five workshops and each participant had emailed in ranking his/her top four. The workshops included Vietnamese Cinema: Come get a preview of the newest releases in Vietnamese cinema led by facilitators Christina Wadhwani and Duyen Bui. Phuong Mai Nguyen and Linda Ha led the Icebreakers and Getting-To-Know-You Games for Your Org: Discover and share fun ways you bring in your new members that minimize the awkwardness and maximize the fun. Facilitator Michael Phuong let the workshop Tet: Ever wonder why we do the things we do at Tet? He presented everything you need to know on Tet. Long Nguyen and Julie Ha led the Gamers International League: Enjoy the Wii? Love the Halo? What better way to bond with new friends than over video games? The room was set up with different TVs and play ystems where the participants were able to enjoy the different games. Stephanie Lieu of Virginia Tech led the workshop Project Runway: Teams had access to racks of donated clothes. Teams then put together the best outfit and prepared for a runway show at the end of the day where the audience selected winners who received prizes.

-Linda Ha

UVA VSA Tet Show

Celebrate the Year of the Rat with UVA VSA! The Vietnamese Student Association at the University of Virginia cordially invites you to experience Tet Show 2008: 25th Anniversary Spectacular. The Vietnamese Student Association was the first Asian Pacific American organization founded at the University of Virginia in 1983. Twenty-five years later, our mission and goals still remain the same. VSA is, has always been and will continue to be a family of friends as well as an organization for Vietnamese and Vietnamese American culture, issues, and interests. Celebrate this momentous event and enjoy cultural and modern dances, fall-off-your-seat-hilarious skit performances, VSA's Next Top Model fashion show, and so much more! Free authentic Vietnamese cuisine will be served following the show. The show will be at Jackson P. Burley Middle School, 901 Rose Hill Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Doors Open at 1:30 PM and Show Starts at 2PM Come Celebrate some more at the Official Tet Show Afterparty - "Flavor of Love" at Szechuan Restaurant, 2006 Holiday Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22901 from 11PM - 2AM. Please contact Christine Ngo at christinengo19@gmail.com to arrange housing.



-Christine Ngo