竞选家长教师会财务主管

家酉

经常听到同胞抱怨华裔在美国被歧视或不被重视,本人不认同,说此话的同胞有无扪心自问一下:“我行使或参与美国宪法赋予人民的权利和义务,去投票、做陪审员或者参与公益活动?我有没有为维护自己的权益勇敢的站出来?” 从个人经历的一件小事,我认为美国是一个真正“机会平等,公平竞争”的国家。
到美后我一直是全职妈妈,过着相夫教子的生活,相对上班妈妈时间比较机动,有更多机会参与两个女儿的学校活动,为各种活动做义工、捐赠所需物品或者帮助去募捐等。大女儿上学前班时学区白人占95%,几乎每天拿回些表格让我填写做义工,其中有一份表格是“PTA Treasurer”。财务出身的我未加细看便把自己的名字填入了空白处,哪想过了一段时间,女儿告诉我今晚是PTA竞选大会!当时便把我逗乐了,做个义工搞得这么兴师动众,我不去可以吗?谁爱干谁干,先生告诉我PTA Officers是需要通过选举产生表格上写得清清楚楚,问题是我沒仔细看,既然自己闯的祸自己得去收拾烂摊子。到了会场那竞选场面你美利坚总统也不过如此罢了,各种有望成功的侯选人名字贴得到处都是。选举准时开始,提名人逐步逐个报出每个职位和候选人名单,如此职位仅有一候选人,那这职位就是此人;但如有两人或以上各候选人必须上台做个简单的竞选演说,然后家长教师会会员投票。轮到报财务主管候选人名单时,提名人只报出一候选人名字,接着马上问到会者如无人想参与竞选,那此人就自然当选财务主管。个人性格使然,本想放弃此职位的我,举手站起来发问:“为什么没听到报我的名字?”提名人藉口无法念出我的名和姓,我说念不出和不念是完全不同的两回事。接着我们俩候选人分别上台做了简单的自我介绍和为什么觉得自己更适合做财务主管,我简明扼要介绍自己的财务背景和到美后的情况,另一候选人发表了长篇自我介绍,她是地方名人但没有任何专业背景。会员投票结果是50对50,为了最终的定夺,所有理事长和校长去另一房间再次投票,结果是我胜出!
通过这件事,我体会到了什么是“机会平等,公平竞争”。自己先勇敢的跨出去,机会是平等的,竞争也是公平的”!当然在工作中难免遇到困难,也受到过威胁,这都是后话。美国毕竟是一個法治國家,两年任期届满时,全体同仁挽留我参加竞选下两年的任期,由于打算搬家我婉拒了;抱怨不能解决问题,只有站出来发声参与,才能从根本上解决华裔在美的处境!

美国百人会关于DHS最新隐私权提案的提议

美国国土安全部(DHS)近日就隐私权法提交了一项新提案(提案名:DHS/ ALL–038,内部威胁项目记录系统;案卷号:DHS-2015-0050)。针对该项提案,美国华裔组织“百人会”发表了相关评论——

“《隐私权法》自颁布实施以来,旨在为了防止政府在收集公民个人信息之后,对其进行误用和滥用。然而,此次DHS在提案中要求——以后但凡涉及“内部威胁项目”,DHS在行动中可享有更多豁免《隐私权法》的限制权。其中包括:对泄露个人隐私不再承担责任、拒绝公民查看访问自己的个人记录、收集并保留与调查无关和不准确的个人信息,并且没有任何通知!

多年以来,百人会一直坚定不移地拥护着法律的贯彻和实施。此次,针对DHS涉及《隐私权法》的提案我们表示担忧:它赋予DHS的执法权限太大了!因此,针对那些在DHS行动中可能会牵涉到的无辜人群,我们需要一套必要的预防和保障机制。

在美国历史上,亚裔一直承受着各种难以想象的歧视,比如《排华法案》。除此之外,在第二次世界大战中,人口普查数据就曾被用来识别、募集和拘捕日裔美国人——虽然这种行为在法律上是被禁止的(http://bit.ly/1OjSHxC)。 近代以来,过分试图去捍卫本土利益的思潮已经渐渐逾越了法律的界限。曾有位华裔联邦承包商遭受带有偏见性的调查,事情水落石出之后,主审此案的法官在最后 审判时不得不为其承受的不公起诉与待遇做出道歉;另一位华裔联邦雇员也因一些不可靠的证据遭遇不当指控,一切亦仅仅因为其出身“有问题”。虽然政府后来撤 销了指控,但这一切已经对她造成了严重的伤害。政府的这些行径不仅仅毁了他们的职业生涯,毁了他们的生活、他们的财务安全,也粉碎了他们的梦想。

今天,数十万计的亚裔美国人作为联邦雇员或承包商,在兢兢业业、引以为荣的为国家做着贡献。然而,美国国土安全部(DHS)基于其立场所提出的这项 提案,却给大量美国公民带来了很大的风险。无辜公民将会因DHS私下的误解、偏见或偏执行为被诬告,他们会受到不公正并具伤害性的调查和起诉,而且无从求 助。

因此百人会建议,美国国土安全部(DHS)的这项提案需要做出修改,至少应满足以下几点:

● 个人应该可以随时提出要求,并且至少可以查看自己安全文件的概要;

● 作为正当程序的一部分,当被调查或被指控时,个人可获准查看自己全部的安全文件;

● 当确认清白后,无关的、不准确的记录必须及时从个人记录中清除;

●  公用的统计概要信息需要对外公布,用以追踪、监测信息收集和使用的态势和动向;

● 建立第三方监测机制,对固有政策及相关做法进行定期审查。”

 

谢谢您对我们这份提议的关注与支持!

by Herman Li

Acting Chair

Download PDF: http://www.pavatar.us/Documents/C-100Comment20160324.pdf

Link to the  Proposed Rule document: https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DHS_FRDOC_0001-1439

梁彼得案或有转机 陪审员不爽 曾隐瞒父亲曾入狱

因涉嫌枪杀非洲裔青年格利而被陪审团裁决二级误杀等五罪俱成的前华裔警员梁彼得,近日得到布碌仑地区检察官汤普森(Kenneth Thompson)的宽大量刑建议,一些参与该案判决的陪审员对此意见不一。其中一名陪审员不仅表示震惊与愤怒,还透露自己父亲曾因开枪误伤朋友而坐牢七年,使该案又出现新转折,因为法官曾在挑选陪审员时询问其本人或家属是否有被捕纪录,显然该陪审员当时隐瞒了事实。

据每日新闻报导,汤普森23日向法官提出判处梁彼得缓刑五年、戴电子追踪器接受六个月居家监管及500个小时社区服务的量刑建议后,不少非洲裔社区民众表示强烈反对,一些参与该案的陪审员对此也有不同意见。其中唯一的非洲裔陪审团员,69岁的史克林(Carlton Screen)表示,非常理解汤普森的量刑建议。“他只是在做自己的工作,我无法质疑他,这是他作为检察官的判断。”

一名62岁的该案白人陪审员则对汤普森的量刑建议表示非常的震惊与不解。“如果梁彼得无需入狱,那起诉他的意义又何在?我们花费这么多时间、精力又是为什 么?”该陪审员指出,他也同意梁彼得不需要按照二级误杀的最高刑期,坐牢15年那么久,但汤普森现在提出的量刑建议非常荒唐。“判刑标准不应因被告种族、 身分、地位而不同,警察也不例外。汤普森不能因为梁彼得是警察,就不顾普通人意见,对法官提出如此轻的量刑建议。”

该陪审员甚至还透露,自己父亲就曾因开枪误伤朋友而坐牢七年多,梁彼得不应因为其警察身分而无需入狱。不过这一新消息的披露也揭示,该陪审员曾在法官与检辩双方律师挑选陪审团成员时隐瞒重要事实,因为主审法官Danny Chun曾询问每位候选人及其家人是否有被捕纪录,如果这位陪审员当时透露了此事实,他则一定会落选。

在本案于今年1月底开审时,Danny Chun会同助理检察官和梁彼得的律师,曾用整整两日时间,从上百人中筛选出12名陪审员及四名候补陪审员,而筛选标准主要集中在候选者是否对此案已有默认判断,或被自身经历、族裔、听闻等影响,其中有个拥一半亚裔血统小孩的女子和在政府楼工作的男子都落选。

原文:http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2016/03/27/5089704.html

来自布鲁克林的州众议员 Mr. William Colton针对布鲁克林检察官 3/23 提交给法官的对梁彼得量刑的建议发表的声明

虽然布鲁克林检察官发布的关于量刑的声明没有建议判决Peter Liang入狱而进一步加重对梁彼得的不公,但是这个声明本身并没有更正那个判梁彼得manslaughter的有罪决定。

我很高兴的看到,检察官的这份声明与他的手下在法庭最终陈词的自相矛盾之处:检察官在法庭上告诉陪审团,梁彼得在发觉楼梯间有人之后,对准对方的方向主动开枪。而在出具给法庭的证据当中,根本没有任何一个可以用于支持这个严重错误和没有任何根据的结论。这份陈词直接表明检察官把判决向错误的方向引导的意图,法官应该以此为理由批准辩护律师要求法官宣布mistrial的动议。

这份判决梁彼得5年缓刑,6个月家庭监禁和500小时的社区服务的建议,仍然给梁彼得打上被定罪的重犯的烙印。

在这之前,从来没有人在如此缺乏法律和事实依据的基础上被判如此重罪。

这个不公正的定罪基于如此特殊的一个事实:由于NYC房屋管理局的不作为,pink house根本就不是一个安全的,适合人类居住的环境。由于电梯经常无法使用,新入职的警察Peter liang,他的搭档另一位新警员,和无辜的市民Akai Gurley 必须使用楼梯。而这个没有照明漆黑一片的楼梯间一直是臭名昭著的高犯罪发生地。

NYC房屋管理局和警察局一直试图掩盖造成这个悲剧的真正原因:他们自己内部运行机制的失效。房管局转而指责其工作人员,却罔顾这么一个事实:大楼长达几个月没有照明,没有任何一个工人被派过去维修。而警察局则指责提供CPR训练的教官没有给新入职的警察足够的急救训练,且只是许诺以后不会再让两个新警察搭档执行公务。

唯一能体现公正的做法就是撤销有罪指控,或是声明判决错误从而否决指控。任何其他的做法,只是在延续这个不公正和试图替那些失职的政府机构和官员寻找替罪品。

为了防止类似悲剧的发生,政府机构和官员必须更好的服务并保护我们的居民。

寇顿议员的信由@Susan Zhuang 提供
@li zhang 连夜翻译成中文
@Yue Zhang 律师加以修改

检察官提量刑建议 梁彼得无须坐牢

前华裔警官梁彼得被布碌仑检方以重罪控诉,且已被陪审团裁定有罪后,该案在23日迎来峰回路转,当天下午布碌仑地区检察官肯·汤普森(Ken Thompson)发出一份声明说,鉴于该案的事实、当事人没有犯罪前科,以及梁彼得对公众安全不会带来任何威胁,因此他认为监禁梁彼得是没有必要的。

为此,汤普森已向主审法官陈丹尼提出量刑建议,即希望判决梁彼得缓刑5年,配带电子镣铐在家监禁6个月,做社区服务500小时。汤普森还说,上述量刑建议是最好的公正,正如他之前所说,该案没有赢家,基于案件的事实与细节,我对该案的判决要求只有正义与公正。

peterliang-da-recommendation

宾州2016大选投票介绍

初选 (General Primary) 04/26/2016登记截止日3/28/2016
大选(General Election) 11/08/2016 登记截止日10/11/2016

一  选民 登记

居住在宾州的年满18周岁美国公民才能投票。 必须登记才能投票。懂英文的朋友可以直接在网上登记:

https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/Pages/VoterRegistrationApplication.aspx

也可以下载登记表, 打印, 填写,然后给您的县(county) 寄去: https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/Pages/VoterRegistrationApplication.aspx#
英文有困难的朋友,可以请人代为填写。
除非需要更改名字,地址或党派,你只需要登记一次。

重要日期

初选 (General Primary) 04/26/2016登记截止日3/28/2016
大选(General Election) 11/08/2016 登记截止日10/11/2016

初选只有登记为民主党或共和党的选民才可以参加。如果你希望你喜欢的候选人能够顺利进入大选,你就应该在3/28日前登记或更改党派, 并参加该党的初选。如果登记参加初选,大选不需要再登记了。

完整的选举日历:http://www.votespa.com/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1212520&parentname=ObjMgr&parentid=27&mode=2

三 参加投票:

1)如果您有任何困难亲自投票,或有理解困难,您可以请求帮助。
如果您预期选举日您因为出差,休假或其它如宗教原因,无法亲自投票, 您可以申请缺席投票(Absentee Ballot), 详细介绍如下:
http://www.votespa.com/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1174088&parentname=ObjMgr&parentid=7&mode=2

2)投票地点:给您的County 打电话,或者在如下网址输入您的地址:
http://www.votespa.com/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1174087&parentname=ObjMgr&parentid=1&mode=2

3)如果这是您的第一次参加投票, 您需要出示批准的有效证件。 批准的有效证件如下:

带照片的证件:

  • Pennsylvania driver’s license or PennDOT ID card (宾州驾照)
  • ID issued by any Commonwealth agency (宾州政府签署的身份证件)
  • ID issued by the U.S. Government (美国政府签署的身份证件)
  • U.S. passport (美国护照)
  • U.S. Armed Forces ID(美国军人证)
  • Student ID (学生证)
  • Employee ID (工作证)

不带照片,但是有您的名字和地址的证件:

  • Confirmation issued by the County Voter Registration Office (县选举办公室的确认证件)
  • Non-photo ID issued by the Commonwealth(宾州政府签署的无照证件)
  • Non-photo ID issued by the U.S. Government (美国政府签署的无照证件)
  • Firearm permit (持枪证)
  • Current utility bill(当前水电账单)
  • Current bank statement (当前银行对帐单)
  • Current paycheck (当前工资单)
  • Government check (政府资票)

 

 

Minority Students at Grade Schools

Today during casual conversations my 9 year old son and his best friend told me this event. Two weeks ago another friend (white, let’s call him Fred) made a rap song and shared with those boys in his  small circle (2 out of 5 are minorities but no blacks). The song went like this: “black people suck, they suck less than a buck, they suck, suck, suck….” The rap shocked those boys and they scolded Fred for racism and made him stop. This incident touched a sensitive nerve of mine, so that I probed my son and his friend for more intelligence. I know Fred pretty well. He is nice to his friends and respectful to adults. Fred has some anger issues so that he took out from certain kids including his younger brother. In the same week the only black boy at 3rd grade was suspended for two weeks as a result of repeated kicking of another  boy on his private part. Therefore Fred made the rap to bash the blacks in general. Apparently he made himself a fool and received scolding from his friends.

I immediately thought of the Peter Liang case. The black boy made a mistake and had been penalized with suspension. He should not be further penalized by receiving the outrageous rap. The black boy was spared from undue penalty by his friends which were properly taught by the school system. The difference in Liang’s case is he was not as lucky due to a corrupt system, the NYC government. The different treatments the black boy and Liang received amplify the importance of good systems. Bad systems make much harder to prevent damages to the societies and the people in them. Many schools are good but not flawless and people are not perfect. We may all be Fred or victimized by Fred once in a while. In those less than desirable situations minorities are usually more vulnerable. We all want our kids to have fun and prosper at school. I summarized the following ideas for young minority students and their parents to consider.

1. Assimilation is a powerful tool. Usually kids don’t have English issues. They may need to become culturally closer to the mainstream. Team sports or other group  activities  are effective means to help them blend into the environments different from their families. Kids are usually keen on what they need to do to be included. Immigrant parents lack of school experience at USA may need to pay extra attention to their kids behaviors and requests. Listen to your kids.
2. Make efforts to influence the systems.  Decent US schools have high standards of fair play rules and little tolerance on bully.  At school kids need to learn and practice how to raise attention and work with the authorities such as the teachers to seek protection or fairness.
3. Create alliances with other minority students.  Recognize other Chinese, Indians or blacks  can be your allies on certain issues.  If seeing unfairness to other minorities, you should help them. That is good for you as well.  My son’s grade there are less than 10% non-white students. I asked him to try to become acquainted with those minority students. At times they may need to unite for larger impact.
4. Make friends in general.  Friends make each other happy and help each other out. The fact you have friends shields you from being picked on by bullies.
5. Know your status as a minority,.  Know your strengths and weaknesses, and find your unique paths to your goals. Not every Chinese kids like to stay quiet and like only math and science.  The Chinese kids are just as diverse as other races.
Lastly I think we should teach our young kids how to live happy and fulfilling lives. Everybody just gets to live once, and this is one of the few things that are absolutely fair regardless of race, gender or the family you are born into.

Response to Misintepretation of 220 Rallies in Clara Wang’s Opinions on USA TODAY

Clara Wang’s USA TODAY Article
Clara-


As one of the organizers of the Peter Liang rally in Philadelphia, I have to say I strongly disagree with your overall opinions on those rallies in 43 cities across the nation. As a Chinese American, I hate to tell you I am disappointed that you, a top university educated Asian descendent, unfortunately misconstrued the rallies and our pledges. Furthermore, your article is spreading the wrong messages and bringing more misinterpretation to the general public. I ask you to stop, listen to me, and think again for yourself.

You wrote “both black and white activists misconstrue Asian activists as protesting Liang’s conviction. What they are really protesting is the fact that so many white cops before Liang got away with the same crime scot-free.” You may believe you have possessed the insider’s viewpoints on these protests as an Asian descendent. Unfortunately I have to tell you, you can’t be more wrong! The black and white activists are correct. We are protesting Liang’s conviction. We are protesting the NYPD’s bureaucracy which has created two victims, Gurley and Liang. We intend to stop this bureaucracy further victimizing Liang by over-penalizing him with a conviction disproportional to his misconduct. Based on your article I had to guess you really knew little about the depths and magnitude of these rallies and our pledges. Please spare yourself five minutes to watch some YouTube videos on those rallies. I doubt you would find substances to support your claims. Could you possibly have misjudged your fellow Asian protesters?

You stated people went on protests “wasn’t because the verdict was unjust. They were angry because so many white police officers involved in fatal shootings before him were let off. Liang,” Again, you are wrong! We are protesting because the conviction was unjust! We don’t believe Liang’s conviction of 2nd degree manslaughter fits the facts of a misfired bullet bouncing off a wall and accidentally hitting Mr. Gurley in the dark. More evidences have surfaced with regards to the accidental and tragic nature of Mr Gurley ‘s death, and the political undercurrent of the subsequent conviction. Those new findings have cast serious doubt on various aspects of this conviction including mishandled court hearings. Questions for you, in your idealist mindset, have you ever wondered why a then 26-year old, only several years senior of you, who may not be as privileged to enter a top university, got convicted for reckless 2nd degree manslaughter from a gun accident in NYC, where NO police officers have been convicted in line-of-duty shooting deaths for over a decade? Have you ever wondered why the NY Police Union did not spare him a top attorney, as the Union had previously done in similar incidents, as many other police unions in the country may have done? Have you ever wondered what life and death really meant to two rookie cops while patrolling at night in NYC house projects which at times can be war-zone like, and near where two police officers were killed in execution style in 2014? Have you ever wondered why NYPD had two rookie officers without adequate training patrolling in those highly dangerous areas? Aren’t you suspiciouu?  Had you thought through those facts, I doubt you would have stated “Liang is facing up to 15 years in prison, and rightfully so…for a police officer in a tense situation — especially in New York City — there is no room for panic”.

I trust you would do more research on this tragedy, rethink your opinions, and take corrective actions. If you need info, please contact me at fishswimsallday@gmail.com. I appreciate you have properly acknowledged a few good things of those protests such as breaking away from being the silent minority. Thank you.

The city as an arena for civic action

I recently dug up this 2014 TED talk by Asian American author, civic educator and politics commentator Eric Liu.  In this talk, Mr. Liu put forth the simple but often overlooked idea that the power of individual citizens are best realized at the local level, in the arena of the city.  Mr. Liu was President Clinton’s speechwriter so of course his own talk is very engaging.   I was reminded of Mr. Liu’s work by Wen’s recent essay urging Asian Americans to engage in local public service and politics.

A few days ago, a group of community volunteers started the Philadelphia Tri-State Chinese American Association. The mission of this nonprofit organization is to encourage and support Chinese Americans in local public service and politics. I think this is a wonderful and timely act.

Also by the way, here is a whimsical quiz written by Eric Liu to see how much political power YOU have:

(Not to be taken too seriously.)