Asian American Association Elects 1999 Steering Committee

On December 17, the Asian American Association (AAA) announced its newly-elected 1999 Steering Committee. Emily Y. Yang '01 and Walter Kim '00 were elected co-presidents of the organization.

Voting was conducted by e-mail Dec. 14-17. All positions were uncontested, making for some fairly easy decisions.

Yang said it was unusual for so few people to run.

"We would have liked to see more people run this year. Everyone who was running had good qualifications for their positions, and most likely they would have gotten on [the committee] anyway," Yang said.

Yang attributed the small number of candidates to the time commitment that a position on the AAA Steering Committee entails.

"It's really hard for people to find the time to dedicate to planning the events that AAA puts on," she said.

Yang was enthusiastic about the newly elected committee, citing their diversity.

"The group is really good in the sense that it's one of the most diverse groups we've had in recent years," she said. "Not only in terms of ethnicity, but in terms of backgrounds and viewpoints."

Shen was also upbeat about the incoming leadership. "Everybody seems really motivated and lots of new ideas are coming in," she said.

Kim and Yang said their goals for the new years were to "build a better-informed, more involved Asian/Asian-American community" and to "encourage much more interaction" with different student organizations at Harvard."

Also elected were Vice Presidents Shen and Seng-dao Yang '01, Secretary-Historian Andrew Park '01, Educational/Political Chairs Chhay Chhun '02 and Tri Mac Phuong '02, Cultural Chairs Vicki L. Fossum '01 and Jennifer W. Toy '01, Social Chairs Sean S. Cheng '02 and Lisa M. Watanabe '02 and Interethnic Liason Chanda K. Ho '01.