A long struggle

John Trasvina, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, spoke at the well-attended annual general meeting of the SF League today about immigration policy. He pointed out that the United States has for many years had a policy of reuniting families through allowing relatives of immigrants a fast track to a green card. The new revised Immigration Bill coming to the Senate this week changes that system to one of relying on points given for job and language skills. Opinions about our new immigration policy vary widely, crossing party lines as well as geographic areas. While John was speaking to us, a rally was held at the Washington Monument by a group of people opposed to the Immigration Bill because it allows "amnesty" for illegal migrants. The National League could not have chosen a better time to conduct a study of immigration. It's an issue that all voters should be knowledgeable about. It will our future and the future of our children and grandchildren for generations. The San Francisco League has set up a committee to study immigration and all members are invited to attend meetings, learn more about the issue, and help the group come to a consensus on what our policy should be. For further information check the website and call or email the League office.

A long-lasting struggle

John Trasvina, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, spoke at the well-attended annual general meeting of the SF League today about immigration policy. He pointed out that the United States has for many years had a policy of reuniting families through allowing relatives of immigrants a fast track to a green card. The new revised Immigration Bill coming to the Senate this week changes that system to one of relying on points given for job and language skills. Opinions about our new immigration policy vary widely, crossing party lines as well as geographic areas. While John was speaking to us, a rally was held at the Washington Monument by a group of people opposed to the Immigration Bill because it allows "amnesty" for illegal migrants. The National League could not have chosen a better time to conduct a study of immigration. It's an issue that all voters should be knowledgeable about. It will our future and the future of our children and grandchildren for generations. The San Francisco League has set up a committee to study immigration and all members are invited to attend meetings, learn more about the issue, and help the group come to a consensus on what our policy should be. For further information check the website and call or email the League office.

Losing a channel?

In today's information society news stories come in many formats. We live in a multi-channel world, we are told, with TV, the Internet, radio, blogs, and magazines competing to catch our attention. But for steady, day-by-day coverage of important issues and events in our city, nothing matches the newspapers. We are fortunate in having more than one paper in San Francisco, but we don't have so many that we can afford to lose any of them. Jon Carroll, in his column in the Chronicle today, talks about how sad the atmosphere is around the Chronicle office as one reporter after another is let go. The leading paper in San Francisco is shrinking before our eyes. It's not just individuals who will miss the newspapers. Civic organizations like the League will find it harder to get their message out to the public. Many of the electronic sources of information and opinion are heavy on opinion and offer limited and sometimes skewed information. It's not that newspapers are perfectly objective, but at least they make an effort, and they leave a paper trail so mistakes can be seen and errors retracted. Those of us who care about public discourse had better start thinking about the channels journalists will be able to use to spread the objective and factual information citizens need to make informed decisions. The format may change, but the honorable tradition of the press and the work of journalists is needed now more than ever.

Play a game--learn to vote

Generations of League members have tried to educate young people about how elections work, but some people at the University of Southern California have come up with a new twist. According to a story in today's Washington Post, they have created a new free game to help people understand how important Redistricting is in shaping elections. The Redistricting Game lets players change district borders in a fictional state and demonstrates how the changes can protect incumbents or oust the opposition. This is an issue the League has grappled with for years, trying to support ballot measures that would make the process fair, but it's hard to convince people that it is important. Now it seems there may be a tool to help the average voter understand why redistricting matters. The game will be demonstrated at the Games for Change conference in New York this week and will be available starting Monday, June 11 at athttp://www.redistrictinggame.org.

How healthy are we?

Voters keep saying that health care is a major priority for them, but there have been very few successful legislative action to improve our current system. As David Lazarus writes in the Chronicle today even the passage of Sen. Kuehl's bill (SB840) in the Senate does not mean that we are moving closer to a solution in California. Even if the Assembly can lend support to the measure, Governor Schwarzenegger will veto it. Lazarus suggests that the issue should be presented to voters as a ballot measure. Can you imagine the deluge of ads by insurance companies, health care providers, business and other groups that would sprout over that measure? Opinions are strong on the subject and emotions run high. The release of Michael Moore's film "Sicko" at the end of this month will increase the tensions further. Even though the League has not made this issue a high priority at this time, members are interested and many will want to learn more about the ideas being put forth. Add one more issue to the list of items the League will want to study.

Taking the League abroad?

Getting potential voters to register and cast their votes is an ongoing effort for the League. The early League leaders concentrated on encouraging women to use their newly obtained ballot, but now we make an all-out effort to get everyone to vote. It's easy to forget that women around the world are not always considered potential voters. The Los Angeles Times today has a chilling story from a woman who has worked as a reporter in Saudi Arabia. Saudi women are not allowed to vote any more than they are allowed to drive a car. The story quotes young, educated women who ask "Why should I vote when I have a father or husband who can vote?" The truth is that no matter how much some Saudi women may proclaim that they are completely satisfied with conditions in their country, it is hard to believe that the constant restrictions don't affect their view of themselves. When a person is treated as a danger, a temptation to men who must be hidden away in the back room of restaurants and in separate lines in banks, there must be a feeling of isolation and of being less important to the life of the country than men are. Unfortunately, the United States government and American corporations don't mind going along with these regulations and taking advantage of the rich Saudi economy and oil reserves. Even Starbucks forbids women sitting down to drink their lattes without going into a hidden room in the back of the store. Perhaps its time for the League to turn its attention to pushing for changes in this policy. Next time you sip a coffee in Starbucks while you check email on your laptop, take the time to send the company a message complaining about their willingness to go along with oppressive laws in rich foreign countries.

Do the candidates get it?

For all the talk of political candidates learning from Howard Dean's successful use of the Internet in the last presidential campaign, some experts believe that many candidates haven't updated their thinking in the last four years. Today's Chronicle includes an interview with Andrew Rasiej, publisher of TechPresident.com who says "Any politician or political organization that fails to grasp the power of this new medium is simply waiting to be included in the section on dinosaurs in Wikipedia." According to Rasiej, the efforts of most candidates so far have been "pretty pathetic". The secret of the Internet, he says, is that it allows voters to participate in a campaign, not just observe it. The League has been working for more than 70 years to empower voters to have more influence in determining the people and policies that shape our government. We stand ready to work in any medium to make citizens more active participants in the political process.

Happy Birthday to Youth!

On a day when most of the news seems bad, it's nice to come across a success story, especially one dealing with young people. As the Chronicle tells us today Youth Radio started 17 years ago in Berkeley and is still going strong. Young people, working with the project have learned to write news stories for newspapers and radio stations. They have gone on to work for stations like KQED and you will hear their broadcasts on NPR stations around the country. Now they are expanding, having formed the Youth media International Network, and moving into larger state-of-the-art facilities in Oakland. They will be able to tell their stories in a variety of media in Spanish as well as English, helping to bridge the gap between ethnic groups, generations, and communities. We hope they will get the corporate help they need to expand the program and flourish for future generations.