66th Annual Conference - Arizona

Dear fellow AAPOR members,

Having the honor and good fortune to be your elected Annual Conference Chair for 2011, I have a special message for you. By now you have received AAPOR President Peter Miller’s communication reporting Council’s deliberations on the merits and threats of moving our annual conference out of Arizona. And you know that Council unanimously decided to continue our plans for the 2011 annual conference to be held in Phoenix. 

Like many of you, I am following national reaction to SB1070 as well as the thoughtful and passionate discourse that has dominated our AAPORNET forum in recent days. Clearly, our members have put forth cogent, compelling and, yes, conflicting viewpoints regarding the site of AAPOR’s 2011 annual conference in light of this legislation. And generally we have communicated our diverse, insightful views with respect and tolerance. It seems that the AAPOR membership enjoys a widely diverse set of perspectives on SB1070 and the issue of whether or not to move our 2011 annual conference. More importantly, we also share a strong commitment for rigorous, scientific, ethical public opinion research. That is something special.

I can personally attest to a deep feeling of ambivalence – I detest SB1070 and what I believe it communicates to immigrant minorities (I being the 3rd generation descendent of an undocumented Mexican immigrant). But I also know how widespread profiling is. It has been an unfortunate reality for generations in the Southwest. SB1070 is a marginal step backwards in an environment that was already in great need of attention. Putting aside the content of these views, my point is that, I – like you – have my own unique set of experiences, knowledge, and perspectives that I bring to this issue. AAPOR members share common beliefs and values, and we have our differences too. Both can be used to strengthen our association and our industry.

Therefore, as your 2011 Annual Conference chair and fellow AAPOR member, my message to you is this: Let’s focus on and draw strength from our shared values and commitment to objective research. That is why we are AAPOR! Let’s leverage our strengths to bring issues of racial profiling, justice and public perceptions of race/ethnicity to the forefront of the public eye in Phoenix next year as part of our annual conference. We can contribute to public discourse on the consequences of SB1070 by embracing our strengths and presenting solid research on these important policy issues.

I will be attending our annual conference in Chicago next week and am eager to receive your thoughts, concerns and questions about our 2011 conference. Please feel free to communicate with me. I am at your service.

Sincerely,

Rob Santos
2011 Annual Conference Chair
rsantos@urban.org

 





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