WHITE HOUSE REGIONAL TOWN HALL MEETING IS TODAY

Old Dominion University will be the site of the historic Eastern Region Community Town Hall Meeting being convened by President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on Monday, Sept. 18. The university will be one of only 10 interactive video-teleconference sites for the meeting, which will originate from New York University's Law School in Manhattan.

Open to the public, the conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Gornto TELETECHNET Center studio on Old Dominion's Norfolk campus. Free parking is available in Lot 45 on 43rd Street, just west of Hampton Boulevard.

The President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders was established by Executive Order 13125, signed on June 7, 1999. The Executive Order mandated a federal initiative to improve the health and well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased participation in federal programs where they may be underserved.

The commission will use community testimony from the Sept. 18 meeting and other regional town hall meetings as the basis for two reports it will submit to the president in the coming year. Community groups and individuals are invited to testify and share personal experiences that illustrate barriers Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders face in accessing public programs, as well as strategies they have developed for overcoming such barriers. Information on submitting written or oral testimony can be found on the Initiative's web site, www.aapi.gov, or by calling Lisa Hasegawa, the Initiative's community liaison, at (301) 443-2492.

Open public comment will be accepted between 4 and 7 p.m. from any individuals who are not previously scheduled to testify before the Commission. The entire meeting is open to the public, and individuals who are not testifying are encouraged to attend to watch the proceedings.

For more information about the Old Dominion town hall location call 683-5759. For more information about testifying or the Initiative, call the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at (301) 443-2492.