NCVA eREPORTER - January 27, 2004

In this NCVA eReporter:

Events

• Fundraising Workshops for Nonprofits
• SPIN Project’s 2004 Activists of Color Training – January 27, 2004
• National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Conference – March 26-27, 2004

Funding Opportunities

• Join Hands Day Mini-Grants
• Calif. After-School Grants
• Youth-Development Research Grants
• Media and Youth Violence Research Awards
• Calif. Blue Foundation Promises Big Funding Hike
• Support for Education and Civic Needs
• Focus on Social Change Projects
• LISC Provides Community Development Support

Jobs/Internships

• Asian Pacific American Youth Leadership Development Program
• TACL-13th Annual Political Summer Internship Program
• International Leadership Foundation Summer Internships

Tips

• Maximum Youth involvement: The Complete Gameplan for Community Change

News

• Six Asian Pacific Americans Appointed to Sacramento Posts (Capitol Morning Report)
• Critics fear neglect of Asian health care (Mercury News)
• Politics haunt TET festival (Sacramento Bee)
• Outreach to Low-Income Voters (Congressional Quarterly)
• Pentagon’s Online Voting Program Deemed Too Risky (Washington Post)
• Democrats Won’t Get Justice Memo (Washington Post)
• Valley political group sets sights higher (Mercury News)
• Request for Nominations of Members to Serve on the Census Advisory Committee (Federal Register)

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Events

Fundraising Workshops for Nonprofits
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services: Workshops for Nonprofits

(http://www4.compasspoint.org)
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services is a nonprofit training, consulting and research organization with offices in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. CompassPoint offers a wide variety of services for nonprofits, including fundraising workshops. Workshops cover a variety of topics such as fundraising planning, fundraising research, grantwriting, fundraising from government sources, and strategies for corporate fundraising. For a list of workshops, or to register online, visit the above website.

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The SPIN Project’s 2004 Activists of Color Training

January 27, 2004

San Francisco, CA

As part of our “Speaking for Ourselve” program, the SPIN Project is pleased to offer a full-day media training for progressive activists of color here in the Bay Area.  This is a fantastic opportunity for you to take advantage of SPIN's media training expertise.  At the training you will hone your media skills, and develop cross-movement relationships with other activists faced with the challenge of earning media attention for progressive issues facing communities of color.

For more information about the SPIN Project, please visit our website at http://www.spinproject.org.

The training will be from 9:00am - 5:00pm on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 in San Francisco, at a wheelchair accessible site, with lunch provided as part of the registration fee.  We will provide further details upon your registration.

This highly interactive, fun, and grassroots-oriented workshop covers media tactics designed to increase the profile of your group or issue in the press.  The media is a powerful player in the local, state, and national debate around critical issues.  Help shape this debate by learning how to get your voice heard, your messages communicated, and your story told in the press.

Topics include media dos and don'ts; spokesperson training; media messages; "framing" your news for maximum impact; pitching stories; and being on television or radio.  The workshop features several interactive role-play sessions and writing assignments.  Students are recorded to practice their sound bites. Informative handouts and media resources are provided.  We also provide information about strategic press plans, press releases, media events, and more.

This workshop requires advance registration. Space is limited, so registration will be on a first come, first served basis. This workshop is for activists of color associated with organizations working for positive social and political change.  Each organization will be allowed to send one person to allow the widest possible range of groups to benefit from the training.  (If you want send more than one person from your organization, we will create a waiting list and evaluate based on advanced registration and space available.) This event is intended to reach people who have not attended a previous SPIN training, so if you have, please pass this information along to others in your organization whom you feel might benefit from it. In addition, this workshop is for those who believe in working with the media to communicate our messages to the public.  It's not a workshop for those who loathe the media and will not work with it for social change.

The training and valuable handouts are easily a value of $500 per person and is mainly being subsidized by our funders. The value of the skills and materials you will take back to your organization is immeasurable! There is a fee of $50 to help cover some costs of lunch, refreshments, meeting space, materials, and a copy of SPIN WORKS!, a comprehensive media guidebook. Your $50 will secure your spot in the workshop.  If your organization is unable to cover the $50 fee, please contact Heath Wickline at 415-284-1420 ext. 309 or heath@spinproject.org to make arrangements.  No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

Finally, if you are based outside the Bay Area and are unable to attend this training, please contact the SPIN Project about scheduling a workshop in your town. SPIN Project trainers visit cities throughout the US on a regular basis, and we would love to hear from you.

To register for the training, please:

1) Complete the registration form below and email reply to heath@spinproject.org.  Please put “Activists of Color Media Training Registration” in the subject line of your email.

2)    Make your $50 check or money order made payable to

The SPIN Project.  Please note: this registration fee is non-refundable. If you are unable to attend the training, we will provide the materials to you, but are unable to refund your $50.

Please mail your check to:

The SPIN Project

77 Federal Street, 2nd Floor

San Francisco, CA 94107

This will save your spot at the workshop. We must have both the registration and needs assessment forms as well as $50 before your registration can be completed.

Please feel free to pass this invitation to other progressive activists of color in the Bay Area who may be interested in this event.

Please note: This training is for activists of color only. A second SPIN Bay Area training for other activists will take place in March, 2004. If you are interested in attending this training, please contact heath@spinproject.org

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REGISTRATION FORM (please complete & email reply)

Name:

Title:

Organization:

Address:

City:

State:

Zip:

Phone:

Fax:

Email:

URL:

Dietary Needs:  (Non-veggie, veggie, vegan)

Other Needs:

The SPIN Project is committed to helping grassroots activists increase the diversity of spokespersons and issues covered in the media.  To that end, our goal is to ensure that a broad range of perspectives is represented at SPIN Trainings, especially as this training is for activists of color. It would help us evaluate our progress meeting these goals if you would provide the following information:

Gender:

Race:

Sexual Orientation:

The following questions will help us get a better sense of your organization and to develop the training curriculum to best suit the needs of groups represented in the room.

1. Tell us a bit about your organizational structure. Are you a national group with chapters? A coalition? A statewide group with local affiliates?

2.  Does your organization primarily serve a community or communities of color?  If so, please describe the community or communities served, and the ways in which you work together.

3.  Please indicate which of the following foundations provide financial assistance for your work:

___ Akondi Foundation

___Albert A. List Foundation

___ Arca Foundation

___ California Women’s Foundation

___ Ford Foundation

___ French American Charitable Trust

___ Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation

___ McKay Foundation

___ Nathan Cummings Foundation

___ Panta Rhea Foundation

___ Silicon Valley Community Foundation

___ Solidago Foundation

___ Tides Foundation

___ Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock

4. What are the primary ways that your group currently communicates with the public and the press?

___ Newsletter

___ Web site

___ Press releases

___ Op Eds

___ Reports/studies

___ Letters to the Editor

___ Press Kits

___ Radio Actualities

___ Press conferences/Media Events

___ Public Service Announcements

___ Media Briefings

___ Other ____________

6. What is the skill set you want to gain from this media training?

7. Why do you want this training? What is the situation that brought you to this point?

8. As a person of color, what is your biggest issue with the media?

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"Building an Asian Pacific American Women's Movement: A National Economic Justice Gathering hosted by NAPAWF"

American University, Washington College of Law, Washington, DC

March 26-27, 2004

On Friday and Saturday, March 26-27, 2004, the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF) will host a National Gathering at American University, Washington College of Law on issues of economic justice and how these issues uniquely impact Asian Pacific American (APA) women and girls.  The Gathering entitled "Building an APA Women's Movement:  A National Economic Justice Gathering" will focus on educating ourselves (APA women) and the community, and the broader public about the current socio-economic status of APA women and girls, and to dispel myths that all Asian Pacific Americans, considered by many to be the "model minority," are well-educated and financially successful. 

For further information or to register, please visit:

http://www.napawf.org/savethedate/savethedate.html

Please contact Helen Kim at hkim@napawf.org or call (202) 293-2688 with any questions.

Helen Kim

National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)

1112 16th Street, NW Suite 110

Washington, DC 20009

(202) 293-2688

(202) 463-2119 (fax)

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Funding Opportunities

Join Hands Day Mini-Grants

(http://www.joinhandsday.org)

Youth-led volunteer projects are eligible for $250-500 mini-grants to be awarded for Join Hands Day, which is May 1, 2004.

Youth up to age 25 who are affiliated with a nonprofit group can apply for the grants from the Points of Light Foundation. Join Hands Day is sponsored in partnership with America's Fraternal Benefit Societies.

Grants will go to programs that have strong youth-adult partnerships, mobilize youth, positively impact the community, and are well-planned and achievable. Preference will be given to projects that partner with fraternal-benefit organizations.

Application deadline is Feb. 2.

For more information, see the program website at the link above, call 202-729-8135, or e-mail: youthandfamily@pointsoflight.org.

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Calif. After-School Grants

(http://www.cde.ca.gov/funding/profile.asp?id=360)

The California Department of Education will award $29 million in 21st Century Community Learning Center Grants for after-school enrichment and summer programs.

The grants target at-risk, school-age youth.

Maximum grant is $250,000 per program per year. Nonprofits and local education agencies are eligible to apply.

Application deadline is March 4.

For more information, see the agency website or contact Kevin Brown at 916-319-0729.

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Youth-Development Research Grants

(http://wtgrantfoundation.org/info-url_nocat3042/info-url_nocat_list.htm?attrib_id=4398)

Researchers who look at the factors influencing the healthy development of adolescents and young adults can apply for grants from the William T. Grant Foundation.

The William T. Grant Scholars Program provides $300,000 grants over five years to support postdoctoral research on youth development; improving programs, policies, and institutions affecting young people; and adult views of youth. Projects should focus on youth ages 8 to 25.

Up to six grants will be awarded. Deadline is July 1. For more information, see the program website.

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Media and Youth Violence Research Awards

(http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/HHS/CDC/PGO/CDC-PA&%23032%3B04060/Grant.html)

Feb. 17 is the due date for applying for funding to research possible links between exposure to media violence and the prevalence of youth violence. The grant program is funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Two cooperative agreements will be inked between CDC and nonprofit groups, government agencies, or faith-based organizations. Total project funding is $600,000.

For more information on the Cooperative Agreement for Research on the Association Between Exposure to Media Violence and Youth Violence, see the announcement online or call 770-488-2700.

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Calif. Blue Foundation Promises Big Funding Hike

(http://www.blueshieldcafoundation.org/)

The Blue Shield of California Foundation plans to boost its annual giving to $24 million in 2004 thanks to an infusion of cash from its parent company.

Blue Shield of California recent gave $30 million to its foundation to boost annual giving, which was about $8 million in 2003. The nonprofit company enjoyed its best fiscal year in history last year.

The added funding will make the foundation one of the largest in California.

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Support for Education and Civic Needs
International Paper Company Foundation

(http://www.internationalpaper.com/our_world/philanthropy/index.asp)

The International Paper Company Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in communities where the company has operating facilities in 19 states, and, on a limited basis, in select overseas locations. The Foundation focuses on environmental education, economic education, and literacy programs for children, as well as critical educational needs. In addition, the Foundation provides seed money on a one-time basis for new, critical community needs and supports nonprofit organizations where employees volunteer. Nonprofit organizations and certain municipal, county, state and federal entities, such as school districts and police departments, are eligible to apply. Application deadlines and procedures are available from local company facilities. Visit the above website for more information.

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Focus on Social Change Projects
A.J. Muste Memorial Institute

(http://www.ajmuste.org/)

The A.J. Muste Memorial Institute supports projects that promote the principles and practice of nonviolent social change. Funded projects must be concerned with peace and disarmament, social and economic justice, racial and sexual equality, and/or the labor movement. The Institute's Regular Grant Program funds international, national, and local projects that seek to advance nonviolent grassroots education and action for social and economic justice. Priority is given to projects with small budgets and little chance of funding from more traditional sources. The International Nonviolence Training Fund supports nonviolence training projects outside the United States, and within Native nations in the U.S. which build capacity and leadership among people engaged in nonviolent struggles, prepare participants for specific nonviolent actions or campaigns, and are geared to "training the trainers" in order to expand and multiply nonviolence training throughout a targeted community. Deadlines for the Regular Grant Program are February 27 and April 30, 2004, with additional 2004 deadlines becoming available in the spring. Applications for International Nonviolence Training Grants are accepted year-round. Visit the above website for more information and application instructions.

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LISC Provides Community Development Support
Local Initiatives Support Corporation

(http://www.liscnet.org/)

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a national nonprofit community development organization, provides technical assistance, grants, loans and equity investments to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) in urban and rural areas. Headquartered in New York City, LISC operates local programs in 38 cities and the rural program operates in 37 states, involving hundreds of CDCs from coast to coast. Each local program provides financial and technical support for community-driven program priorities defined by CDCs in their local areas. Target areas include rural development, housing, economic development, community-building, and organizational development and leadership cultivation. Community Development Corporations across the country are eligible for assistance. Visit the website for more information.

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Jobs/Internships

Asian Pacific American Youth Leadership Development Program

For Immediate Release: January 16, 2004

For more information, contact:

Jenelle Goltiao, Program Outreach Coordinator
(408) 941-0888
fax (408) 941-0095
JGoltiao@VisionNewAmerica.org

Vision New America's Youth Leadership Development Program: A 2004 Public Policy Internship

Vision New America is offering Asian Pacific American (APA) youth a unique opportunity to experience how the government really works. Vision New America is a non-partisan, non-profit, grassroots organization established in Silicon Valley in 1996 to promote the civic participation of underrepresented ethnic groups, starting with the Asian Pacific American (APA) community. As a way of developing APA youth leadership and increasing APA representation, we offer high school and college students, a Summer Public Policy Internship.

Through this program, we recruit, train, and place high school and college students in government offices to provide our youth with an opportunity to gain insight and exposure to governmental affairs and public policy; to build bridges between the APA community and public officials; and to encourage APAs to participate in mainstream politics and community service.

In the past four years, we have placed almost 20 students in internships at our nation's capital in Washington, D.C.  We also nearly placed 100 high school students at the state, county and city levels of government in California, including members of the California State Legislature, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and San Jose City Council.

Vision New America invites and challenges all Filipino/Filipina college students nationwide to apply.  We encourage you to represent our APA community and see how our government really works.

Program Outreach Coordinator Jenelle Goltiao comments, "As a Filipina American working to empower APA youth and develop confident and informed leaders, I believe this internship opportunity is truly a rare educational tool for students to grasp a deeper understanding of public policy, seeing how they are directly affected by it."

The time to apply is now!  The application deadline for high school students is January 16, 2004 and for college students: February 1, 2004.

For more information about our organization or programs, or to download your application, visit our website at: www.VisionNewAmerica.org.  If you have any questions, email JGoltiao@VisionNewAmerica.org, ATTN: Jenelle Goltiao, or call us at (408) 941-0888.

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TACL-13th Annual Political Summer Internship Program

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Position: Summer Internship for various Senators, US Representatives, Local Government Offices; 13-14 positions available in Los Angeles, New York, and D.C.

Deadline: March 1, 2004

Date: June 21 to August 6 (7-week program)

Taiwanese American Citizens League's (TACL) 13th Annual Political Summer Internship Program infuses the Taiwanese American community with a greater understanding of the political system through placement of college level students at offices of local, state, and national public officials. This allows Taiwanese Americans to be better recognized as a developed community with a voice.

Apply: Visit http://www.tacl.org/programs/internship/index.php to download application and read instructions

Questions: Teddy Liaw, Internship Coordinator, teddy.liaw@tacl.org

Description:
Interns experience first hand how the political system works and observe and participate in the formation of policies, both domestic and foreign. In addition to working in their offices, interns visit either Sacramento (West Coast interns) or Delaware (East Coast interns), attend community events, participate in leadership development workshops, and various other activities.

List of participating political offices:
·      Barbara Boxer, US Senator
·      Howard Berman, US Representative
·      Gilbert Cedillo, California Senator
·      John Chiang, California S tate Equalization Board Member
·      Judy Chu, California State Assembly member
·      Christopher Cox, US Representative
·      Dana Rohrbacher, US Representative
·      John Liu, New York City Councilman
·      Bob Margett, California State Senator
·      Lucille Roybal-Allard, US Representative
·      Edward Royce, US Representative
·      Linda Sanchez, US Representative
·      Hilda Solis, US Representative

The purpose of the Taiwanese American Citizens League is to enhance the quality of life for Taiwanese Americans. Our work is largely devoted to building an understanding of Taiwanese American heritage encouraging pride in Taiwanese American identity, developing a strong Taiwanese American community, advocating around issues pertinent to Taiwanese Americans, and helping to contribute to our culture, ever richer in its diversity.

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International Leadership Foundation Announces Summer Public Affairs Internships for Asian American College Students in Sacramento, CA and Washington, DC

(www.ileader.org)

For the fifth consecutive year, The International Leadership Foundation (ILF) will award up to 30 internships for Asian American College Students to better understand American government. Each student awarded a fellowship will spend six weeks during the summer working for a government agency in either Washington, DC or in Sacramento, California.

Any undergraduate student in good standing at a junior college, college, or university is eligible to apply. Applicants must be United States citizens or legal residents. Applications must be received by February 27th, 2004, and can be submitted by mail or email. Interested students can find information about the program by visiting www.ileader.org.

Each ILF Fellow selected will receive a $1,000 scholarship, funded by the ILF and the Ronald McDonald House Charities Foundation's "RMHC / ASIA" scholarship program.  The ILF works with government agencies to place each Fellow in an internship that reflects his or her area of interest.  Students must pay for their own travel, housing and living expenses during their internships.

"The ILF program is non-partisan," explained C.C. Yin,  President of the ILF. "We make certain that students get exposed to a wide range of viewpoints." In addition to their own internships, the ILF Fellows also attend weekly seminars and other events to learn about government  

"The Asian American community has not yet achieved full equality in politics," said Joel Szabat, founder of the ILF. "ILF Fellowships promote the civic involvement of the next generation of API leaders." In 2003 the ILF and the Ronald McDonald House Charities provided thirty fellowships to deserving Asian American college students.

Szabat and Chiling Tong, senior officials in President Bush's administration, supervise the ILF Fellowship program in Washington, DC.  Fellows who wish to do their internships in Sacramento work with California State Legislators.

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Tips

Maximum Youth involvement: The Complete Gameplan for Community Change

This planning manual for youth/adult collaboraton on advocacy projects compares various models to figure out what level of youth involvement makes sense for you and identifies essential organizational supports. It also has an extensive appendix of reproducible handouts and worksheets plus an action handbook.

Please visit the link below for ordering and pricing information.

(http://www.youthactivism.com/myitoc.htm)

Publication date: 2003  

Source:

Name Youth Activism Project

Address P.O. Box E

Kensington, MD 20895

Phone 1-800-KID-POWER

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News

January 9, 2004

From Capitol Morning Report

SIX ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS APPOINTED TO SACRAMENTO POSTS

CAUSE Chair Charlie Woo Appointed to APIA Affairs Commission

PASADENA, CA - Five Asian Pacific Americans (APA) from throughout the state of California have been appointed to key commissions and boards by the Senate Rules Committee, with one APA appointed to a gubernatorial post.

Appointed to the newly-created Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs were Alexis Wong, president of AGI Capital Group (real estate investment), San Francisco; Francisco Hsieh, owner and GM of Chinatown Restaurant, San Francisco, and Charles Woo, co-owner and CEO of Megatoys and CAUSE Chairman, Los Angeles. Their terms expire on January 1 of 2006, with the exception of Alexis Wong, whose term expires on January 1, 2008.

Davis resident Michelle Fan, acupuncturist of Acupuncture and Herbal Clinic Center in Sacramento has been appointed to the Health Professions Education Foundation Board. Her term expires on January 1, 2005. 

Appointed to the Advisory Committee on Managed Health Care, Angie S. Wei, legislative director for the California Labor Federation will serve for a term until January 1, 2005.

Stephanie Shimazu has been appointed as deputy to the governor's legal affairs team under Secretary Peter Siggins. Shimazu is a Sacramento resident and former counsel for the Department of Social Services. 

CAUSE congratulates these leaders of the APA community on their new appointments.

The Capitol Morning Report issued this appointments list on Friday, January 9, 2004.

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January 14, 2004

Critics fear neglect of Asian health care

By Cecilia Kang
Mercury News

Bay Area political leaders and activists criticized the Bush administration's plan to move its Asian-American advisory commission to the Department of Commerce, saying the shift reflects an emphasis on the economic and business interests of Asian immigrants over health care.

During a Tuesday forum in Santa Clara organized by U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell, several members in the audience of about 200 said that pressing health care problems facing Asian-Americans could be neglected if the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders moves away from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The advisory group, called WHIAAPI, has been housed under that department since its inception under President Clinton in 1999. It gathers data from various Asian-American groups on health care, immigration and education to inform policy makers about these issues.

But the most recent members of the commission, appointed by President Bush, said they would be able to work more closely with the Minority Business Development Agency and the Small Business Administration to help immigrants -- who make up 60 percent of all Asian-Americans -- get financial support to start new businesses and training for new jobs.

``Our next focus should be on economic development,'' John B. Tsu, chair of the commission and a regent at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, said at Tuesday's hearing. The 40-year-old university is dedicated to adult education.

Tsu, a Millbrae resident and a former professor of political science and Asian studies at the University of San Francisco, said at Tuesday's meeting that Bush would sign a new executive order next week to renew the initiative, which had expired six months ago. Tsu also confirmed rumors that the commission would be transferred to the Commerce Department.

Honda, however, said the shift in focus would hurt programs that have been put in place in recent years by the Department of Health and Human Services to address the unique health care needs of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

``Now in its fifth year, the initiative has suffered from severe neglect by the Bush administration,'' said Honda, who is chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. ``The Commerce Department has a jurisdictional focus that emphasizes business priorities over the broader needs of AAPI groups struggling with issues like access to health care and overcoming language barriers.''

Health care experts say Asian-American women have the lowest rates of screening for cancer, while Asian-American youth have the fastest-growing number of smokers of any ethnic group in the nation. And Asian-American adolescent and senior females have among the highest suicide rates of any ethnic group.

``The message is clear: AAPI issues are not a priority for this administration,'' House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday in a statement read by a staff member for the San Francisco representative.

The new commission will hold five training and employment workshops through this year and 2005 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Honolulu.

Lupo T. Carlota, who served on the last commission with Tsu, assured the forum's participants that health care issues would not be neglected under the Department of Commerce because he said programs that were implemented by the commission already are under way.

``We already made commitments, and it becomes secondary nature where the commission is housed as long as it stays focused on its mission,'' Carlota said.

Contact Cecilia Kang at ckang@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5066.

(http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7707485.htm)

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January 16, 2004

Politics haunt Tet festival

Entertainer's ouster reflects generational divide among Vietnamese Americans.

By Thuy-Doan Le -- Bee Staff Writer

Headlining this weekend's Sacramento Tet Festival is a young Vietnamese American pop balladeer with a familiar name, Don Ho.

Another singer, Hanoi transplant Bang Kieu, had been the scheduled attraction. Instead, he'll be defending himself in San Jose against allegations that he's too close to a communist regime many California Vietnamese fled in the 1970s.

The switch goes to the heart of a community being forced to re-examine its identity as a new generation of American-born Vietnamese comes of age.

While an older generation defines itself by its anti-communism, the younger generation, bridging two worlds, sees modern Vietnam as a source of fresh pop culture, part of the mix that defines these Vietnamese Americans.

For these younger people, respect for elders often clashes with the frustration of being expected to share their enmity.

"I have anger when my parents talk about the past," Kay Nguyen said. "If you need to think about it, you need to think about the future and not think about the history because it's hard to get ahead."

Reluctant to speak for fear of offending her parents, she nonetheless said the older generation has time to think about the glory days in Vietnam -- time that younger Vietnamese Americans don't have. To the 30-year-old Elk Grove insurance agent, the issue of who should sing at the festival is a matter of entertainment, not politics.

Opponents of Bang Kieu, whose two-name sobriquet is used like the single-name monikers of entertainers like Sting or Madonna, have focused on an interview he gave to a Vietnam newspaper in November, while he was there with his wife visiting his mother.

According to the article, the 30-year-old singer said his fans should get used to him flying back and forth between the United States and Vietnam. It quoted Bang Kieu as claiming he's made an effort to rid Vietnam of music created by Vietnamese abroad and has attracted an overseas audience for music created in Vietnam.

The statements made émigré Vietnamese communities suspicious of Bang Kieu's political ties, said Nhuong Nguyen, president of Sacramento's Association of Former Vietnamese Political Prisoners.

Nguyen, imprisoned from 1975 to 1982, said he and others in the community are not against Bang Kieu personally, but fear Vietnam's communist government is trying to send spies to gain the trust of people in the United States.

Bang Kieu declined to be interviewed for this article, but in an interview that appeared earlier this month in Viet Bao, a San Jose-based newspaper, he denied making the statements attributed to him in the newspaper in Vietnam and said allegations that he backs Vietnam's government aren't true.

Bang Kieu spent most of his life in Hanoi and recently married singer Trizzie Phuong Trinh, 35, who has lived in the United States since 1979. The couple and their son live in the Southern California community of Fountain Valley. She said the family is exhausted from trying to clarify the situation.

Trinh said she was present during the interview and that the paper twisted Bang Kieu's quotes, then made up more. Not included in the interview were Bang Kieu's compliments of U.S. artists.

"I know the pain and suffering of the people losing their country," Trinh said. "I hope that they will look back and see the sincerity of Bang Kieu, who wants to help the boat people and ... how much he wants to be part of the community..."

If that's true, the controversy is unfortunate, Nguyen said. "We protest, not because we're evil or we're seeking revenge, but we are against the communist regime in Vietnam," he said.

Ly Pham, entertainment coordinator for the Sacramento Tet Festival, had something else in mind when he suggested Bang Kieu for the annual Lunar New Year celebration. Pham said he thought Bang Kieu had been accepted by the Vietnamese American community, given his sponsorship by a California music label, contribution to refugees and his publicly proclaimed loyalty to Vietnamese émigré communities.

Bang Kieu, Trinh and Don Ho each have followings among the roughly 500,000 Vietnamese Americans in California, more than 20,000 of whom live in the Sacramento area.

Pham's plans fell apart last month when prominent Vietnamese groups demanded the committee drop Bang Kieu from the festival.

Pham said the strong sentiments reflected the older generation's fear that the younger generations will become complacent and that the line they draw between communist Vietnam and the overseas communities will blur and diminish.

Allen Hoang, chairman of the Sacramento Tet Festival Committee, said the decision to drop Bang Kieu from the program was not necessarily because of pressure, but because it was in the best interest of the community.

"The Tet Festival is to unite the community, and it's an event that all of us can enjoy," Hoang said.

If the lineup for the festival is settled, the controversy isn't.

Bang Kieu is scheduled to appear Saturday in San Jose to answer accusations that he is a communist sympathizer at a debate hosted by the Vietnamese Community of Northern California. San Jose lawyer Tam Nguyen said he'll be on hand to offer his views on Bang Kieu's political loyalty.

"They will allow him to express his point of view, and I will also present my side of the story," said Nguyen, who also publishes the semiweekly publication SaigonUSA, which has led the attack on Bang Kieu.

"The community will decide. On one hand, I would like to welcome people from Vietnam to join us for freedom, but because my wounds from the war still bleed, and I see the pain of the people caused by the communists, therefore I must take what Mr. Bang Kieu says with a grain of salt."

Nguyen said most young singers coming from Vietnam project in their music an image of a prosperous country, but that there are people in Vietnam who are Bang Kieu's age -- doctors, lawyers and journalists -- who have been put in jail for expressing themselves.

If the country is prospering, it may be in no small part because of growing trade and tourism links with the United States, a relationship formally recognized last month when the U.S. government granted Vietnam normal trade status.

Vietnam's imports to this country hit $4.25 billion during the first 11 months of 2003, up from $2.4 billion in 2002, much of it clothing and shoes, according to census data, and U.S. exports to Vietnam doubled to $1.27 billion for the same period.

This week, signaling a thaw even among the old guard, former exiled South Vietnamese premier Nguyen Cao Ky traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, known as Saigon when he left it in 1975.

"A lot of people said 'Don't go, don't go,' but I said, "This is my home, my country,' " Ky, who lives in Hacienda Heights, near Los Angeles, told the Associated Press. "We Asians, we believe in destiny, so it's the right time, the right moment to come."

With some in the Sacramento Vietnamese community urging caution before pointing fingers, one of Bang Kieu's loudest opponents in Sacramento now wishes he could take his words back.

Nga Tran, president of the Vietnamese American Senior Citizens Association in Sacramento and publisher of the Sacramento publication Tieng Vang, said that after reading Bang Kieu's response in the Viet Bao article, he empathized with him.

If it's really true that the information was planted, Tran said, then Bang Kieu is just another victim of the Vietnamese government and should be supported by the Vietnamese community here.

A former government prisoner, Tran said he knows what the Vietnamese regime is capable of. He's one who worries that Vietnamese in America are letting down their guard, becoming vulnerable to propaganda sent in the form of imported entertainers or religious figures.

"The young always talk about change, but we will be against the communists until we lose our breath and die," Tran said.

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The Bee's Thuy-Doan Le can be reached at (916) 321-1040 or tdle@sacbee.com.

(http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/8109957p-9042152c.html)

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January 20, 2004

Outreach to Low-Income Voters

CQ POLITICS DAILY reports that a coalition of community organizations, the Center for Community Change, plans a $15 million nonpartisan drive to get 2 million low-income voters to the polls this year, with an emphasis on 30 politically competitive states. According to information provided by the center, only 38 percent of voters earning less than $10,000 per year voted in 2000, while 72 percent of voters with household incomes above $50,000 voted that year.

(http://www.communitychange.org/default.asp)

(http://www.communitychange.org/buildcos/cvp.htm)

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January 22, 2004

Pentagon’s Online Voting Program Deemed Too Risky

By Dan Keating
Washington Post Staff Writer

A Pentagon program for Internet voting in this year's presidential election is so insecure that it could undercut the integrity of American democracy and should be stopped immediately, according to computer-security specialists who were asked to review the $22 million pilot plan intended for about 100,000 overseas voters.

The critical report released yesterday is intended to halt the momentum building for national Internet voting as the least expensive and most convenient way to upgrade election technology that was exposed as unreliable in 2000.

"It's not possible to create a secure voting system with off-the-shelf PCs using Microsoft Windows and the current Internet," said Avi Rubin, an associate professor of computer science and the technical director of the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

He and Barbara Simons, a retired researcher from International Business Machines Corp., said their biggest fear is that this year's experiment would be a hit, leading to widespread Internet voting for the 2008 presidential election. That is when the kind of Internet attack they envision could emerge, possibly from foreign subversives.

"History has shown that when people have the opportunity to tamper with an election they do," said Rubin, noting that the Internet is rife with viruses and worms even when there is no incentive for an attack.

The threat to the current election is great enough that the program should be shut down immediately, said Rubin, Simons and the other two other scientists who released a report yesterday -- David Wagner, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of California at Berkeley, and David Jefferson of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The Pentagon's Federal Voting Assistance Program was created in 1986 to help military personnel stationed overseas vote. It also serves civilian Americans living abroad. Yesterday, a Pentagon spokesman defended the pilot program.

"The concern for security is a good thing, and we respect what they've done," Glenn Flood said. "But we think the thing will be secure, and security will continue to be enhanced. We're not going to stop it."

Supporters say the pilot for military, government and private citizens abroad is important to learn the right way to gather electronic votes and to help overseas voters who often have trouble casting ballots. The chance of a security threat has to be weighed against the knowledge gained and the improved voting access for those people, said R. Michael Alvarez, co-director of the CalTech-MIT Voting Technology Project and co-author of "Point, Click and Vote," a recent book about online voting.

"There's a widespread perception that Internet voting is going to happen at some time," he said. "As scientists, we'd like to lay out some kind of rational path that leads from punch cards and lever machines to that logical future."

Britain and Switzerland are experimenting with Internet voting, and the Michigan Democratic Party cited the Pentagon effort as a reason for running its own online voting program in this year's caucuses, which are Feb. 7. The authors of the report, which did not review Michigan's system, said any Internet voting would be open to fraud.

Alvarez got a $1.8 million Pentagon grant to study the Internet voting experiment. He invited critics such as Rubin -- who had already published a paper critical of Internet voting -- to participate in the review. "It's a democracy. Debate is critical. We brought in these people now because we want that feedback," Alvarez said.

The four authors of yesterday's criticism were among 10 researchers involved in the review. Alvarez said he plans a report from the entire group after the election, when the system's performance can be gauged.

The Pentagon pilot includes 50 counties in seven states that volunteered: Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Washington. South Carolina's Feb. 3 primary will make it the first state to try the system. Hawaii's chief elections officer, Dwayne Yoshina, said he has read the report and intends to stick with the program for a September primary and the November election.

The system is expected to be used for requesting absentee ballots and casting them in presidential primaries and the fall election, said Meg McLaughlin, president of Accenture eDemocracy Services, the contractor building the system.

"There's nothing in the report that is new to us," she said. "There's nothing that we didn't address."

McLaughlin said she was surprised that the critics would not want the experiment to run through the election to learn from it.

But Simons said that calling the program an experiment ignores the fact that voters will be casting votes that will count. If there is a question about the legitimacy of those votes, she said, the election could be undermined. It is no favor to overseas voters to let them think they have cast ballots when they actually have not, she said.

Supporters note that the late-arriving overseas ballots contributed to the 2000 Florida ballot fiasco. That election led to calls for better voting systems and better ways to collect ballots from citizens abroad.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36875-2004Jan21.html)

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January 22, 2004

Democrats Won't Get Justice Memo

Texans Say Document Could Embarrass GOP 

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer

The Justice Department has formally refused a demand from Texas Democrats to release a lengthy internal memo about a Republican redistricting plan that experts believe could produce a GOP gain of as many as seven House seats in that state later this year, according to documents and officials.

The internal legal opinion, which includes a 73-page narrative and 1,750 pages of accompanying documents, is eagerly sought by 14 Democratic House members from Texas as part of their attempt to halt the GOP redistricting. The new voting map was enacted in October by the Republican-controlled Texas legislature after months of conflict, and Attorney General John D. Ashcroft cleared it in December.

The Justice Department notified the Texas lawmakers last week that it would not release internal documents on the case because they contain "predecisional deliberative material" that is exempt from public information laws, according to a copy of the letter.

The Democrats' lead attorney, J. Gerald Hebert of Alexandria, responded with an appeal to the Justice Department yesterday, alleging that career attorneys had recommended an objection to the redistricting plan, but were overruled by political appointees. Democrats argue that the Texas map violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it eliminates two districts in which minorities make up a majority of the voters.

"Clearly the Department of Justice is stonewalling this request to avoid the embarrassment that will surely ensue when the memorandum is made public," Hebert wrote in his appeal, which was filed with the department's Office of Information and Privacy. "Unfortunately, the political appointees of the Justice Department appear committed to dismantling the Voting Rights Act. They are hiding this report, because it will make their intentions clear."

Department officials have declined to comment on the details of the case, including whether the attorneys assigned to the case had raised objections to it. Sources say the team is under a strict gag order.

"These are internal deliberations, and we would not comment on deliberations that take place in these kinds of cases," department spokesman Jorge Martinez said.

Officials notified the Texas secretary of state in December that Ashcroft "does not interpose any objection to the specified changes" in congressional boundaries enacted by the Republican legislature. Under the Voting Rights Act, any changes to congressional districts in Texas and several other states, primarily in the South, must be approved by the Justice Department.

A three-judge federal panel in Texas upheld the plan earlier this month, and the Supreme Court last week declined to hear an emergency appeal from Democrats.

The Texas delegation in the U.S. House is split between Republicans and Democrats at 16 seats apiece. The existing district lines were set by a panel of federal judges in 2001 after the legislature failed to enact a redistricting plan after the 2000 Census.

Republicans argue that the court-imposed redistricting plan does not reflect the state's increasingly GOP-dominated politics. In a move spearheaded by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), Republicans overcame a series of Democratic walkouts last year and successfully pushed the new map through the divided Texas legislature. Political analysts have said the map could result in a 23-9 edge in the state delegation for Republicans after the Nov. 2 elections.

Experts in voting rights law said courts have rarely forced the Justice Department to turn over documents related to internal deliberations about redistricting cases.

Hebert and other lawyers said the length of the memo provides a strong indication that career lawyers were building a case against the map, but faced opposition from higher-level Bush administration appointees. Hebert wrote in his appeal letter that "sources inside the Department of Justice" have told him that was the case.

"There's no reason to spend a lot of time bolstering your case if you're pretty sure the front office is going to go your way anyway," said Pamela S. Karlan, a Stanford University law professor who teaches voting rights law. "It's just a lot of wasted motion. . . . It could very well be that this very long memorandum recommends denial."

But Paul F. Hancock, a Miami attorney who oversaw the Justice Department's voting rights section during the Clinton administration, said career attorneys could have prepared a long opinion to defend their position in a controversial case, regardless of whether they were for or against it. Hancock and other lawyers noted that a recent Supreme Court ruling involving redistricting in Georgia significantly altered the legal tests for determining violations of the Voting Rights Act.

"It doesn't necessarily indicate that it's a recommendation to object to it," Hancock said. "I do think it indicates that people at the staff level probably thought it was controversial and perhaps a close call."

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36807-2004Jan21.html)

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January 25, 2004

Valley political group sets sights higher
ASIAN-AMERICAN CLUB TURNS TO STATE RACE AFTER LOCAL SUCCESS
By Cecilia Kang
Mercury News

Paul Fong compares his political club to the Delta Special Forces. The troops swoop into the campaigns of Asian-Americans as if going into battle and get candidates elected to local offices.

Over the past eight years, the club has counseled 32 winning campaigns in Santa Clara County, giving the South Bay the largest concentration of Asian-American elected officials in the nation, save for Hawaii.

One race at a time, the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club has helped reshape the power structure of cities such as Sunnyvale and Cupertino. And now it wants to extend its reach beyond local politics: The group is advising a campaign in the March primary for the 20th Assembly District, a powerful Silicon Valley seat that spans from North San Jose to Hayward.

A win could catapult the organization to higher status as one of the Bay Area's most powerful political groups, as well as make it a model for other ethnic groups struggling to achieve political power.

``We're under the microscope right now with a lot of people wanting to copy us,'' said Fong, the group's founder and a trustee of Foothill-De Anza Community College District. ``This is going to be a tough race. It will be a measuring stick on how mature and effective we are.''

The club has assisted high-profile campaigns like that of Washington state Gov. Gary Locke and U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell. But so far it has focused on school board and city council races where its chosen methods -- providing strategic advice, volunteer muscle and fundraising connections -- have proven effective.

In the 20th Assembly District race, the club has indicated it will back three-time Milpitas Mayor Henry Manayan, who could become the seventh Asian-American and first Filipino-American in the state Legislature.

It will be a tough stage for the club to prove itself.

Manayan is a newcomer to the majority of the district that is in Alameda County. Opponent Alberto Torrico is being backed by the state's powerful Latino caucus and labor organizations. Two other Asian-American opponents -- Ashik Bhatt and Dennis Hayashi -- are expected to challenge Manayan for votes from the district's Asian-American voters. And Asians, while making up 24 percent of the district, have historically voted in low numbers.

In addition, campaign money tends to be critical in state legislative races, and the Democratic club -- at least so far -- does not raise as much money as bigger political players.

Still, Manayan said, the group's help will be crucial.

``The campaign is not just about money,'' he said. ``I need their troops of volunteers to help out on the ground in Alameda County, walking precincts and sending out mailers.''

The Democratic club was founded during a time of controversy: In 1996, national Democratic fundraiser John Huang was accused of taking illegal contributions from donors in Asia, casting a cloud on Asian-Americans.

``It angered Asian-Americans and was an eye-opener, showing that we needed to participate in civic activity,'' said Pearl Cheng, the club's president and a trustee for the Cupertino Union School District.

Fong, former Cupertino Mayor Michael Chang and the others decided to pool their political connections and savvy.

The group has grown to nearly 500 members and 18 board members. Honda and U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta are the club's honorary board chairmen.

While ethnic advocacy groups have tried to promote leaders in their communities, none have been as successful as the Democratic club at being a launching pad for candidates in the Bay Area, said James Lai, a professor of political science and ethnic studies at Santa Clara University.

At a recent evening board meeting over Subway sandwiches in a Cupertino apartment complex, the leaders reflected the diversity of Asian-Americans, including the grandson of a longtime Japanese-American activist and a decades-long activist for the Filipino community. Many on the board are receiving ``on-the-job training'' in the club to climb the local and state political ladder, said Fong, who calls himself a ``student of the art of the political process.''

But even before the club formed in 1996, its members had long been planting the seeds that would later help candidates like Otto Lee and Dean Chu, Sunnyvale's first two Asian-American city council members.

In 1975, Fong dropped out of a race for Sunnyvale City Council against Larry Stone, now Santa Clara County's assessor, and began to work for Stone's campaign.

``He ended up working harder in my campaign than just about anyone and that meant a lot to me,'' said Stone, who was the honorary co-chairman of Chu's campaign. ``Today, when an Asian-American candidate comes for my support, I remember this and I say, `Where are you with Paul Fong?' ''

Lee, a board member of the club, credits much of his success in the city council race in November to the guidance and legwork of club members. An immigrant from Hong Kong who had only lived in Sunnyvale for seven years, Lee was quickly pegged as a carpetbagger by his opponent, a third-generation Sunnyvale resident.

``I thought I had a 60-40 percent chance, with me being the 60,'' said Lee, who had served on the city's planning commission. ``But Paul Fong and Michael Chang said, `No, Otto, you're the 40. With the homegrown factor and you being an immigrant, for every step he takes, you're going to have to take three to four steps to catch up.' ''

Several club members walked the city's precincts for Lee. One member refined Lee's Web page. Another finessed his message on his mail brochure.

And there were tricks that come with experience.

Fong knew that many of the absentee votes that Lee needed to win probably wouldn't be mailed in by the city's first-time immigrant voters, who often find the process of voting confusing. Even though hundreds of those voters assured Lee they had sent in their ballots, data from the registrar of voters showed Fong's instincts were right.

Lee went back to those voters to push them again to vote and offered help in explaining the process. He won with 52.9 percent of votes.

In the 20th Assembly District race, connecting with voters will be crucial for the five candidates, said Jude Barry, an adviser for Torrico and the former chief of staff for San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales.

Top political groups that have historically delivered money and volunteer workers to campaigns will be key, including labor organizations, the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, TechNet and the Democratic Forum, he said.

The Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club ``is a great group with tremendous potential,'' Barry said. ``They are not in the top tier, but they are growing in influence.''

Fong says the group is ready for its ``first and most important test.''

``We've got to believe there's nothing we can't do,'' he said.

Contact Cecilia Kang at ckang@sjmercury.com or (408) 920-5066.

(http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7793060.htm)

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January 21, 2004

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of the Census

Request for Nominations of Members To Serve on the Census Advisory Committee on the Asian Population

AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of request for nominations.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 United States Code (U.S.C.) Appendix 2, Section 10(a)(b)), the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) requests nominations of individuals to the Census Advisory Committee on the Asian Population. The Census Bureau will consider nominations received in response to this Request for Nominations, as well as from other sources. The SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for this notice provides committee and membership criteria.

DATES: Please submit nominations by February 20, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Please submit nominations to Ms. Jeri Green, Chief, Census Advisory Committee Office, Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, Room 3627, Federal Building 3, Washington, DC 20233, or by fax to (301) 457-8608.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jeri Green, Chief, Census Advisory

Committee Office, at the above address or by telephone at (301) 763-2070.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Committee was established in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Title 5, U.S.C., Appendix 2) in 1995. The following provides information about the Committee, membership, and the nomination process.

Objectives and Duties

1. The Committee provides an organized and continuing channel of communication between Asian communities and the Census Bureau. Committee members identify useful strategies to reduce the differential undercount for the Asian population and ways data can be disseminated for maximum usefulness to the Asian population.

2. The Committee draws upon prior decennial planning efforts, research studies, test censuses, and other experiences to provide advice and recommendations for the 2010 census, the American Community Survey, and related decennial programs.

3. The Committee functions solely as an advisory body under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

4. The Committee reports to the Director of the Census Bureau.

Membership

1. Members are appointed by and serve at the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce.

2. Members are appointed to the nine-member Committee for a period of three years. Members will be reevaluated at the conclusion of the three-year term with the prospect of renewal, pending Advisory Committee needs and the Secretary's concurrence. Committee members are selected in accordance with applicable Department of Commerce guidelines. The Committee aims to have a balanced representation, considering such factors as geography, gender, technical expertise, community involvement, and knowledge of census procedures and activities. The Committee aims to include members from diverse backgrounds, including state and local governments, academia, media, research, community-based organizations, and the private sector. No employee of the federal government can serve as a member of the Committee. Meeting attendance and active participation in the activities of the Advisory Committee are essential for sustained Committee membership.

Miscellaneous

1. Members of the Committee serve without compensation, but receive reimbursement for Committee-related travel and lodging expenses.

2. The Committee meets at least once a year, budget permitting, but additional meetings may be held as deemed necessary by the Census Bureau Director or Designated Federal Official. All Committee meetings are open to the public in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Nomination Information

1. Nominations are requested as described above.

2. Nominees should have expertise and knowledge of the cultural patterns and issues and/or data needs of Asian communities. Such knowledge and expertise are needed to provide advice and recommendations to the Census Bureau on how best to enumerate the Asian population and obtain complete and accurate data on this population. Individuals, groups, or organizations may submit nominations on behalf of a potential candidate. A summary of the candidate's qualifications (resume or curriculum vitae) must be included with the nomination letter. Nominees must have the ability to participate in Advisory Committee meetings and tasks. Besides Committee meetings, active participation may include Committee assignments and participation in conference calls and working groups.

3. The Department of Commerce is committed to equal opportunity in the workplace and seeks diverse Committee membership.

Dated: January 15, 2004.

Charles Louis Kincannon,

Director, Bureau of the Census.

[FR Doc. 04-1183 Filed 1-20-04; 8:45 am]

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About NCVA
Founded in 1986, the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community advocacy organization working to advance the cause of Vietnamese Americans in a plural but united America – e pluribus unum – by participating actively and fully as civic minded citizens engaged in the areas of education, culture and civil liberties.