The National Park Service and the National Park Foundation have announced the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held on Thursday, December 3, 2009, at 5:00 p.m., on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C.This year, the event will introduce a new lottery system for the general public, providing a chance to obtain free tickets to the ceremony. The new online lottery will be available beginning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Wednesday, November 4th (or 8:01 p.m. Alaska Standard Time (AKST) on Tuesday, November 3rd). The ticket lottery remains open through 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, November 6th (or 7:59 p.m. AKST on Friday evening, November 6th), by going to the online ticket lottery application page at www.recreation.gov.The National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony marks the opening of the four-week event sponsored by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, the official charitable partner of America’s National Parks.
PLEASE DISSEMINATE WIDELY (list-serves, social networks, etc.)
Dear friends and colleagues:
Do you want the Smithsonian Institution to celebrate the Asian Pacific American (APA) community at its 44th annual Folklife Festival ( http://www.festival.si.edu ) on the National Mall next summer? Do you want Americans from all over the country, including some of our nation's most influential legislators, journalists and opinion leaders, to join millions more online to learn about Asian Pacific American heritage and culture and the impact on American society? And do you want our community's traditions, accomplishments, stories and milestones to be recorded in an oral history project that is preserved for our descendants in perpetuity in the archives of the Smithsonian?
The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage for the first time in 44 years will be focusing on APAs for the 2010 Folklife Festival (June 24-July 5, 2010). Although focusing on APAs from the Greater Washington D.C. area, this event will represent the rich cultural heritage of the over 15 million APAs that live in the U.S. The annual festival attracts over a million visitors from around the country and the world, another 6 million visit the website, and about 40 million people learn about it through media coverage. Don’t let this once-in-a -lifetime opportunity slip by because our community can’t raise the necessary funding.
Recent Challenge
The Smithsonian Center for Folklife will pay about a million dollars toward the cost of a program such as the APA celebration, and it usually asks the community being featured to contribute another $450,000. Usually this money is raised by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife through fundraising proposals written to family and corporate foundations. This year, however, because of the state of the economy, no foundation monies have been forthcoming and several major corporate and individual donors have said that they cannot even make a pledge until after January 1, 2010. So, the Smithsonian APA Program and Phil Tajitsu Nash, who has been hired by the Center for Folklife to be the curator for the APA segment of the 2010 Festival, have been assisting the Center for Folklife in fundraising efforts. The Mayor’s Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs also has proven to be a valuable partner by arranging meetings with over a dozen embassies so we can ask them for assistance.
At a recent meeting held at the Smithsonian, a decision was made to either postpone or scale back the Asian Pacific American focus of the 2010 Folklife Festival unless substantial progress has been made towards the $450,000 in tax-deductible cash or pledges by October 31st.
In the past month, several organizations, community leaders and individuals stepped up to the challenge:
As of 10.28.09 Juanita Tamayo Lott (in memory of Robert Henry Lott) $10,000 Long Nguyen ($10,000 challenge grant) Office of Hawaiian Affairs ($10,000) AARP ($10,000) Local entrepreneur (anonymous) ($10,000) Bel and Ken Hong ($5,000) OCA NOVA and DC ($5,000) Yu Hua Tsou (Columbus, OH) ($5,000) Asian Pacific American Bar Association- DC ($1,200) Japanese American Veterans Association ($1,200) Gerald and Nancy Yamada ($1,200)
Laotian American National Alliance ($1,200)
Jennifer Chun ($400) Online donations at www.apa.si.edu ($460 as of 10/28/09)
TOTAL = $70,660
We are hoping to raise another $29,340 by November 1, but we need your help in the next four days to succeed. The ultimate goal is to raise $450,000 by next year, so that the APAprogram has the same scale and scope as the other two themes for 2010 (Mexico and Smithsonian Workers). The Mexican segment raised their outside funds already.
We urge you to join the donors above by making the most generous contribution or pledge that you can afford by October 31st, and pass along this appeal to your family and friends. To read more, please see our flyer (http://tinyurl.com/yj96r9h) and list of sponsorship benefits (http://tinyurl.com/ykn4332).
Contributions from domestic and foreign businesses, individuals, foundations, trusts and nonprofit organizations are welcome. This is a great marketing opportunity for businesses since the festival attracts over a million people in ten days in the nation's capital. ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW. The Smithsonian’s tax-exempt ID number is 53-0206027. Donations can be made in cash, checks, credit cards (great for mileage cards) and stocks. Also, we can provide documentation if you have a corporate matching program.
How to Help
Please spread the word to your networks by forwarding this email and encouraging them to help. Your endorsement is critical as you reach out to your networks.
Contribute as generously as you can. Donate online at www.apa.si.edu/donate.asp and write "Folklife Festival" in the Comments box. Or you also can write tax-deductible checks payable to Smithsonian APA Program and mail to:
Smithsonian APA Program Capital Gallery, Suite 7065, MRC: 516 P.O. Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 ATTN: Foklife Festival 2010
Encourage your nonprofit organizations to give as a group. We accept donations nationwide. We have asked the major APA groups who live in this area (Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indian and Korean) to raise about $35,000 from their various groups.
Encourage your contacts in the Asian ethnic media to feature this story.
For questions or suggestions regarding presenters, scope of the program, oral/visual histories, etc. please contact Curator Phil Tajitsu Nash at pnash@umd.edu or 301-405-0996.
If you plan to make a donation please contact the Festival Curator, Phil Tajitsu Nash at pnash@umd.edu and francey.youngberg@verizon.net so that we can include it in our October 31 totals.
We know you can make the APA feature in the 2010 Foklife Festival an event that we all canbe proud of!
Best regards,
Francey Lim Youngberg Development Consultant, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program 202-487-8160
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
GRADUATE SCHOLARHIP PROGRAM
2009-2010 ACADEMIC SCHOOL YEAR
Rural Development Profile
Rural Development (RD) is the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) agency that is committed to helping improve the economy and quality of life in all of rural America.Through our programs, we touch rural America in many ways.
RD’s financial programs support such essential public facilities and services as water and sewer systems, housing, health clinics, emergency service facilities and electric and telephone service.We promote rural economic development by supporting loans to businesses through banks and community-managed lending pools.We offer technical assistance and information to help agricultural and other cooperatives get started and improve the effectiveness of their member services.In addition, RD provides technical assistance to help rural communities undertake community empowerment programs.
The United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, is offering a Graduate Scholarship Program that provides funding for graduate school as preparation for a career in Government service.The program is designed to recruit individuals to work for USDA-RD after completion of graduate course work in a particular discipline.The program is administered under the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP).
Rural Development is seeking to offer two (2) scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic school year.The scholarships will be awarded to students enrolled or soon to be enrolled in a Master’s program.Generally, a maximum of two (2) years of funding will be provided for a Master’s degree program.
The recipients of the scholarship will enter into an agreement with USDA-RD and receive full tuition scholarships.Prior to graduation, recipients are required to work at USDA-RD for a minimum of 640 hours, generally during the summer months.In addition to the scholarship, interns will be paid for their work experience.
After graduation, the scholarship recipients are required to work for USDA-RD for one year for every year of financial assistance received by USDA-RD.
The scholarship award includes the following
Full-tuition scholarship: tuition, mandatory university fees and books;
Paid internship (work a minimum 640 hours) leading to permanent employment;
Employee benefits; and
Mentoring, career development, and leadership training.
Applicants must meet all of the following eligibility requirements
Be a United States citizen;
Posses a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, recognized by the U. S. Department of Education, or be a graduating senior with at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average based on a 4.0 scale;
Be accepted into or enrolled in an accredited institution, recognized by the U. S. Department of Education, as a graduate student, seeking a Master’s degree in a field as defined above;
Have a strong interest in a public service career with USDA-Rural Development; and
Not a current USDA employee.
Please submit the following: Open Until Filled
Letter of interest;
Resume;
Official college transcript(s);
Verification of current graduate school attendance; or
Three letters of recommendation;
Verification of graduate school acceptance for the Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 Semester/Quarter.
This is a unconventional music video - we are shooting a dramatic short film based on the song. After the success of our last film for MSTRKRFT ft. John Legend. “Heartbreaker” – the record label has put us to the task of doing another more in depth narrative. This film will be a provocative, well acted, beautiful story about love amidst good and evil. We are searching for real actors, that are interested in investing them selves into this great little project. We have a great cinematographer, amazing locations and top notch wardrobe. The last but most important piece of the puzzle is our actors. Please consider this role as a not a music video, but a great short film, we have every intention of creating a real piece of art and a beautiful story.
Thank you.
-Vincent Haycock - director
They are mainly looking for actors for this and not really models. Cheryl and Will I.AM are not going to be in this video so the actors are doing all the work telling the story. It's basically a short film, low budget ,and just a good thing to have on an actor's reels. There is little pay. The casting is TODAY at the below address from 5-8pm. Below is the address to send head shots or reels to so they can look at beforehand.
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP POSITION
(Assistant Director and Senior Specialist)
Domestic Social Policy Division
($157,050 - $162,900)
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) seeks a dynamic and innovative senior leader to plan, direct and evaluate research and analytical activities in the field of domestic social policy for the United States Congress. The Congressional Research Service works exclusively for Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS has been a valued and respected resource on Capitol Hill for nearly a century.
The assistant director, Domestic Social Policy Division, will lead one of five research divisions at CRS and will have overall responsibility for managing a staff of nearly 100 employees. In meeting ongoing congressional policy-making and oversight needs, the division provides analysis in the areas of education, labor, income security, immigration, criminal justice, health policy, and child and family well-being. The assistant director will be expected to manage the research to help Congress in its decision-making with regard to these important policy problems.
The assistant director reports to the CRS director, advising on all aspects of the research management and operations of the Service, and exercises overall responsibility and delegated authority for the oversight and administration of the Domestic Social Policy Division’s human, financial, material, and information research assets.
Is selected as the assistant director you will:
Ensure that the research and analysis produced by the division is of the highest quality, consistently meeting Congress’s expectation for objective, nonpartisan, timely, legislatively relevant, authoritative and accessible support.
Serve as a principal CRS representative to Members, committees, and officers of the United States Congress.
Collaborate with other senior leaders to assure full identification of significant issues and development of analytical approaches.
This is an executive level position ($157,050 - $162,900). Applications must be received by November 20, 2009. For more information and to apply online, please visit our website athttp://www.loc.gov/crsinfo.
CRS is the public policy research arm of the U.S. Congress, and is fully committed to workforce diversity.
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