NPIEN first met Brittany when we participated in a student forum on-campus. She also served as a volunteer at our annual conference in November. We are very proud of you Brittany! She will also be participating as a Guest Speaker when our Mentoring Program kicks off in April.
**From the USC Student Afairs web page**
New Initiative Aims to Create Pacific Islander Community on Campus
By Kate Mather
Photo by Nathan Carter
PULE project coordinator Brittany Valdez introduces a panel on militarization in the Pacific Islands.
“What is it like to be you on this campus?” The provocative question that Asian Pacific American Student Services (APASS) staff asked USC students, community activists, faculty and staff last year marked the start of a new initiative that encourages unity among Pacific Islander students on campus.
A year later, the Promoting Unity, Liberation and Education initiative (PULE) is steadily growing and making a name for itself at USC. Designed to increase dialogue about issues facing Pacific Islanders, the initiative’s goal is to foster a stronger sense of community for Pacific Islander students on campus.
“We had this idea of creating a place that would be a resource and a voice and a place where we can share more about the culture and show others at USC what it means to be a Pacific Islander and why that’s important,” said Brittany Valdez, a graduate student studying social work and project coordinator for the program. “We want people to be more aware about Polynesia, what’s going on there and the importance of its existence — history, present and future.”
PULE hosted its third event of the year last week, a panel discussion exploring the history of militarization in the Pacific Islands. The Wednesday event was standing-room only, with students, faculty and community members attending.
“The large turnout from a varied audience shows how much support exists for the initiative,” said Sumun Pendakur, director of APASS. “There’s a feeling of appreciation for the dialogue we’re trying to facilitate, but it also lets people know — whether they’re students on campus or community members — that there is support here at USC.”
That sense of support is key, she added. There are currently approximately 130 undergraduate Pacific Islander students enrolled at USC out of a total population of about 17,000, which can result in a sense of disconnect from the larger university community.
“Of course they have that Trojan pride, but there are also some feelings of loneliness and alienation,” Pendakur said.
Both Valdez and Pendakur said they hope PULE will benefit the larger Pacific Islander community in Southern California as well, particularly by becoming a resource for Pacific Islander high school students who hope to come to USC.
“I used to work in admissions, and I didn’t see many Pacific Islander students come through the doors of USC. To me that was really sad,” Valdez said. “We thought this type of initiative could be a pipeline to a community here on campus where we bring high school students to come and learn about the university.”
Another of PULE’s goals is to dispel some of the negative stereotypes that can surround the Pacific Islander community. The group’s first event last semester, titled “We Are Leaders,” brought in Pacific Islander professionals to tell their success stories.
“We wanted to move away from that stereotype that Pacific Islanders have high incarceration rates, high dropout rates and low numbers going into higher education,” Valdez said. “We wanted people who have gone into the medical field or become lawyers — people who had been really successful — to be examples for younger Pacific Islanders.”
At the end of PULE’s events, attendees are asked to complete feedback forms, which are then used in future planning. This is crucial to PULE’s goal of being an organic, dialogue-based initiative, according to Pendakur.
“I can base everything off statistics and literature and research, but it’s not the same thing as having that rooted connection,” Pendakur said. “We have a team led by Pacific Islanders, and we take that — along with the focus groups, the dialogue and feedback from each event — to go back and really take a look at those things so we know how to best move forward.”
As PULE continues to evolve, organizers said they are getting positive feedback from a wide range of people — most importantly, however, from students.
“Our Pacific Islander students are so excited to hear about what we are doing and have almost immediately said, ‘Yes, I want to be part of this,’ because this is something they just haven’t had,” said Valdez.
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Youth Health and Fitness Day
Note: Special Guests Troy Polamalu, Jillian Michaels, Bob Harper, Marcus Mc Neill
Event Date: April 2, 2011
Location/Venue: Los Angeles, California, UCLA Campus (tentative)
Host: The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders/The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (Lead Commissioners: Hines Ward, Sefa Aina, and Kamuela Enos) and California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (Lead Commissioner: Tana Lepule)
Objective: The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (the Commission) has prioritized addressing the alarming and increasing rate of overweight and obesity plaguing Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities as foremost in its outreach efforts.
Obesity and diabetes have been a growing concern in the United States for a number of years and a catalyst for the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign. This issue is particularly dire in the Native Hawai`ian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities.
In a report released by the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, data indicate roughly 1 out of 5 NHPI high school youth (20.4%) are obese, one of the highest percentages among all racial groups in the United States; and 1 out of 3 NHPI high school youth (33.5%) are likely to be overweight or obese.
Commissioner Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers is leading this effort as an advocate for the NFL’s Play 60 campaign, which encourages youth to be physically active for at least 60 minutes per day. Joining Commissioner Ward are fellow Commissioners, Sefa Aina and Kamuela Enos, both of whom are active members of the NHPI community in California and Hawaii respectively. With the support of the White House Initiative staff led by Executive Director Kiran Ahuja, the issue of childhood obesity in the NHPI community is receiving the necessary attention and energy needed to combat it.
Event Format: On April 2, 2011 at the UCLA campus (tentative), the Commission will host a half-day “Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health and Fitness Day” featuring exercise, healthy foods, and routine health check-ups. In line with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign message, the program will include the following components to promote healthy eating and physical activity:
· Speakers and Presentations (A program that will include the Commissioners as well as leaders and celebrities in the NHPI community who will deliver key messages.)
· Physical Activity Stations (Run by current NHPI collegiate athletes.)
· Health Village (NHPI community-based health advocates and local Federally Qualified Health Clinics serving the highest concentrations of NHPI.)
· Diet and Healthy Food Village (We intend on inviting dieticians to help encourage healthy food choices, and chefs who know how to make cultural dishes more health-conscious.)
This event will target the NHPI communities in Southern California, home to the largest population of NHPIs after Hawaii. The Commission will coordinate outreach efforts with NHPI churches and other cultural/community centers to bring their families and friends however, the focus for the day will be the NHPI youth and combating childhood obesity.
Multi-Media NHPI Youth Collaborative Potential: This event will generate an opportunity for collaboration with one of the nation’s premiere digital media programs - Hawai`i based Waianae High School’s Searider Productions (http://www.seariderproductions.com). Searider Productions serves one of the largest concentrations of Native Hawaiians in the world, and, with support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, utilize digital media to increase academic proficiencies in one of Hawai`i’s most at-risk communities. Over the course of its 18 years of existence, Searider has grown into a national media powerhouse, from winning the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 2008, to consistently taking top honors at the prestigious Student Television Network annual challenge. Many of Searider’s most successful work have focused on issues facing the Hawaiian community, including award winning shorts on childhood obesity.
Background
“Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) populations are at much greater risk than other Americans for inactivity-related diseases, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and some cancers. Thus, it is a matter of concern that NHPIs are typically found to be less active than their White counterparts, and a large proportion of NHPIs do not meet current physical activity recommendations.”
· According to the U.S. Census 2000 data, there are approximately1.1 million NHPI people or 0.4% of the total population in the United States. Although NHPIs are found in every state, they are most concentrated in the states of Hawai`i, California, and Utah. Southern California is home to more than half of all NHPI communities living in California.
· According to the World Health Organization, three of the top ten obese nations in the world are from the Pacific Islands. In American Samoa 93.5% of the population is obese, and this trend has followed the community into the continental U.S.
· As studies have shown, NHPI’s have seen both their traditional diets, and their traditional lifestyles altered by Westernization. Coming from a subsistence culture/lifestyle to a more sedentary one has had disastrous effects on the health of the NHPI community. Within urban cities, specifically in places like Los Angeles, CA, cheap-calories, lack of green spaces, and under-funded afterschool/extracurricular sports activities have only encouraged this problem.
Thanks to the following who made contributions this week, joining Sandy Silverstein:
We have raised $245 out of our goal of $3,000 to date
Please join us!
