NCVA REPORTER - May 11, 2004

In this NCVA Reporter:

Events

• Helping Immigrant Professionals Work in Their Profession Public Forum – May 12, 2004
• National Conference for College Women Student Leaders – June 3-5, 2004

 Funding Opportunities

• Community Service Block Grant Training and Technical Assistance Program - Train the Trainers
• Basic Center Program
• Street Outreach Program
• Health Careers Adopt a School Demonstration Program
• Compassion Capital Fund Targeted Capacity Building Program
• National Resource Center for Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
• Healthy Marriage Resource Center
• Support for Services to Torture Victims Grant
• Youth Transition into the Workplace Grants (YIW Grants)

Jobs/Internships

• Teens Respond to Ads That Tell Why Smoking is Bad

News

• Census tests nation's 'model minority' myth (Associated Press)
• It's Not a Flag They Can Look Up To (Los Angeles)
• Passage of House Resolution 402 – Regarding Human Rights in Lao (Press Release)
• U.S. group battles sex trade in S.E. Asia (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Vietnam flag furor ends with international flag ban at Fullerton (Associated Press)
• A Generation Takes Root on New Soil (Washington Post)

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EVENTS

The Santa Clara County Immigrant Action Network Invites you to a Public Forum on

HELPING IMMIGRANT PROFESSIONALS WORK IN THEIR PROFESSION

• Jane Leu, Executive Director, Upwardly Global, San Francisco

  • "Programs and Services for Immigrant Professionals"

• Jose Ramon Fernandez Pena, Director, Regional Health Occupations Resource Center

  • "The Welcome Back Center: Working with Foreign Medical Graduates"

• Hieu Nguyen, Immigrant Action Network Intern

  • "Medical Doctors with Foreign Diplomas: Their Experiences and Barriers to Licensing"

Wednesday, May 12, 2004, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM

San Jose City College Community Room, 2100 Moorpark Avenue, San Jose

Bring Lunch or Purchase Lunch in the SJCC Cafeteria--Drinks & Cookies Provided

Sponsored by the Office of Diversity, San Jose City College

For More Information or Directions call Milina Jovanovic, 408/792-2342

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NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR COLLEGE WOMEN STUDENT LEADERS

Purpose, Power, Progress

June 3-5, 2004

Washington, DC

The AAUW National Conference is a unique opportunity to foster leadership and engage promising young women from all over the country! Participants will learn new skills and information, make contacts and gather resources that will help them learn what it takes to become a successful leader not just on campus or their communities, but nationally and internationally.

Encourage or support a student to attend!

Registration is easy! Just log on to the main American Association of University Women's website (<http://www.aauw.org/>) or visit the homepage for the National Conference (<http://www.aauw.org/nccwsl>). The site contains detailed information on programming, speakers , and special events for the 2004 National Conference. Plus, download a copy of the flyer to post or share!

Early Registration Deadline is May 7th, so register now to take advantage of a $35 discount!

Mariama S. Boney, MSW

Associate Director, Programs and Partnerships-(Association/Leadership Training Institute)

American Association of University Women

1111 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

boneym@aauw.org; (202)728-7612; fax (202)466-7618

Visit our website at: http://www.aauw.org

"Because Equity is Still An Issue"

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

COMMUNITY SERVICE BLOCK GRANT TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM – TRAIN THE TRAINERS

WHO:  Non-profit, faith-based, and community organizations, with demonstrated expertise in providing training to individuals and organizations on methods of effectively addressing the needs of low-income families and communities.

WHAT: A grant to fund a continuation of the "train-the-trainers" approach to helping States and local CSBG eligible entities sustain and advance their implementation of Results Oriented Management and Accountability, or ROMA in support of a national community action goal.

WHEN: Applications due June 11, 2004.

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $300,000 is available to fund 1 award.

CONTACT: To view the program announcement, head to http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/HHS/ACF/OA/HHS-2004-ACF-OCS-ET-0008/Grant.html. For additional information, please contact Dr. Margaret Washnitzer

at 1-800-281-9519 or email ocs@lcgnet.com.

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BASIC CENTER PROGRAM

WHO: Faith-based and community initiatives, County and city governments, higher education institutions, Native American tribal governments, and nonprofits.

WHAT: To address the runaway and homeless youth problems by alleviating problems of runaway and homeless youth; reuniting youth with their families and encouraging the resolution of intra-family problems through counseling and other services; strengthening family relationships and encouraging stable living conditions for youth; and help youth decide upon constructive courses of action.

WHEN: Applications due June 4, 2004.

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $17 million will fund up to 180 awards.

CONTACT: To request an application, please contact ACYF Operations Center, c/o the Dixon Group, Inc., 118 Q Street, NE., Washington, DC 20002-2132; telephone: 1-866-796-1591, e-mail: FYSB@dixongroup.com.

To read the full program announcement, head to

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-8787.htm .

For program information, please contact Dorothy Pittard at 202-205-8906 or email dpittard@acf.hhs.gov.

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STREET OUTREACH PROGRAM

WHO: Faith-based and community organizations, and non-profit organizations.

WHAT: To provide education and prevention services to runaway, homeless and street youth, up to age 21, who have been subjected to or are at risk of sexual exploitation or abuse. The goal of the program is to establish and build relationships between street youth and program outreach staff in order to help youth leave the streets. The objectives are to provide support services that will assist the youth in moving and adjusting to a safe and appropriate alternative living arrangement

WHEN: Applications due June 11, 2004.

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $9 million will fund between 44-88 awards.

CONTACT: To request an application, please contact ACYF Operations Center, c/o the Dixon Group, Inc., 118 Q Street, NE., Washington, DC 20002-2132; telephone: 1-866-796-1591, e-mail:FYSB@dixongroup.com <mailto:FYSB@dixongroup.com>.

To read the full program announcement, head to http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-9548.htm.

For program information, please contact Kelli Matson-Geist, at 866-796-1591 or email FYSB@dixongroup.com.

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HEALTH CAREERS ADOPT A SCHOOL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

WHO: Middle schools, high schools, community colleges, non-profit faith-based and community-based organizations, and health or education professional organizations.

WHAT: To stimulate the development of partnerships between community based organizations, schools, and health professionals, exposing underrepresented minority (URM) and disadvantaged students to health careers, introducing health career curriculum, improving academic achievement, and promoting healthy lifestyles through education.

WHEN: Applications due June 1, 2004.

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $400, 000 will fund up to 10 awards.

CONTACT: To view the full program announcement, head to

http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/HHS/HRSA/GAC/HRSA-04-087/Grant.html.

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COMPASSION CAPITAL FUND TARGETED CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM

WHO: Faith-based and community organizations, non-profits, for-profits, and federally recognized Native American Tribal governments.

WHAT: To build the capacity of faith-based and community organizations that address one of the following four priority areas: At-risk youth; Homeless; Marriage education and preparation services to form and sustain healthy marriages; Social services to those living in rural communities. CCF Capacity-Building awards will assist faith-based and community organizations to improve their program effectiveness and sustainability, enhance their ability to provide social services, expand the organization, diversify the funding sources, and emulate model programs and best practices.

WHEN: Applications due May 19, 2004.

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $5 million will fund up to 100 awards. Awards will be for a 12-month budget period.

CONTACT: To view the full program announcement, head to www.hhs.gov/fbci and click on the Compassion Capital Fund Targeted Capacity Building Program link under the column "Current Funding Opportunities" or head directly to the Compassion Capital Fund website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccf.

To request an application, contact the Administration for Children and Families Office of Community Services Operations Center, Compassion Capital Fund Targeted Capacity Building Program, 1815 North Fort Meyer Drive, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209,

Telephone: 1-800-281-9519, email: ocs@lcgnet.com.

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NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY-BASED GRANTS FOR THE PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT

WHO: Public or private non-profit agencies and organizations, including faith-based organizations, for-profit organizations, and institutions of higher education may apply.

WHAT: To provide financial support for training and technical assistance to promote the purposes of the Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect program

WHEN: Applications due June 14, 2004. Please note, the grantee must match at least 10 per cent of the total approved cost of the project

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $1 Million will fund one award.

CONTACT: To view the program announcement, head to http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2004-ACF-ACYF-CA-0005.html. To request an application, please contact ACYF Operations Center, c/o The Dixon Group, Inc., ATTN: Children's Bureau, 118 Q Street, NE., Washington, DC 20002-2132; Telephone: (866) 796-1591.

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HEALTHY MARRIAGE RESOURCE CENTER

WHO: Government entities, institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments, Non-profit and for-profit organizations, Small businesses, and faith-based organizations.

WHAT: A cooperative agreement (cost sharing required) to provide a Healthy Marriage Resource Center (HMRC). The HMRC will serve as a national repository and distribution center for information and research relating to healthy marriage for educators, practitioners, individuals, and other interested entities. In addition, the HMRC will provide individuals with information on locally run healthy marriage programs. Further, the HMRC will develop resource materials to promote the objectives of the ACF Healthy Marriage Initiative.

WHEN: Applications due June 14, 2004.

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $4.5 Million will fund one award.

CONTACT: To request an application, please contact the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., 4th Floor, West Side, Washington, DC 20447, ATTN: Barbara Ziegler Johnson, Telephone: (202) 401-4646.

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SUPPORT FOR SERVICES TO TORTURE VICTIMS GRANT

WHO: Faith-based organizations that serve torture survivor populations or access to this population are eligible to apply. New and current grantees with an emphasis on five cities (Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami and Seattle) with known populations of torture victims and no center for direct services are encouraged to apply.

WHAT: to provide medical, psychological, social and legal services to torture victims. In addition, one cooperative agreement will be awarded to fund an organization that will provide technical assistance and training to service providers of torture victims.

WHEN: Applications are due May 21, 2004.

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $10 Million is available for funding.

CONTACT: To view the complete program announcement, head to http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-6293.pdf.

For further information, contact Carl Rubenstein at 202-205-5399 or email crubenstein@acf.hhs.gov.

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YOUTH TRANSITION INTO THE WORKPLACE GRANTS (YIW GRANTS)

WHO: Non-profits, for profits, city and state governments, institutions of higher education, Tribal organizations, faith-based and community organizations.

WHAT: To broaden prior workplace prevention initiatives related to prevention and early intervention, as well as related co-morbidity issues for employees and their families.  Examples of well-researched interventions are: NREP workplace programs, Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs); drug-free workplace programs; peer to peer; health and wellness programs; health risk assessments and health care prevention initiatives.  Grantees will be expected to document, implement, and evaluate workplace prevention/early intervention programs tailored for young adult employees ages 16-24. Specific attention should be paid to gender, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and occupational variations.

WHEN: Applications due May 27, 2004.

AWARD AMOUNT: Approximately $2 Million is available for funding.

CONTACT: For further information, contact, Deborah Galvin Ph.D. at 301-443-6780 or email dgalvin@samhsa.gov.

For a link to the full announcement, head to our website at www.hhs.gov/fbci and look under Current Funding Opportunities, or head to http://www.samhsa.gov/grants/2004/nofa/sp04006_YIW.htm.

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JOBS/INTERNSHIPS

TEENS RESPOND TO ADS THAT TELL WHY SMOKING IS BAD

In order to convince teens that smoking is a health risk, the American Legacy Foundation has used tactics similar to those employed by marketers of products like cell phones, soft drinks, and trendy apparel, USA Today reported May 2.

The goal of the foundation's "Truth" ad campaign is to sell teens on the idea of not smoking. By exposing the marketing tactics of tobacco companies, it appears that the American Legacy Foundation has captured the attention of teens. By having a credible message, the television ads have made not smoking cool.

"You don't have to be much of a social scientist to recognize that saying, 'I dare you to do something,' is almost a guarantee that young people will rebel," said Chris Cullen, executive vice president, marketing and communications at the foundation.

Cullen said the Truth campaign's message has gotten "into the in crowd. We are privileged to have an inside conversation with 12- to 17-year-olds," he said. "At some point teens seem distanced by the facts. They told us to show them a way to think about 1,200 daily deaths."

Cheryl Healton, chief executive of the foundation, said that in six months the organization will release a study that shows "clear evidence that the Truth campaign has accelerated the rate of decline in youth smoking."

(http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2004-05-02-smoking_x.htm)

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NEWS

May 5, 2004

CENSUS TESTS NATION’S ‘MODEL MINORITY’ MYTH

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States are generally better educated, and more likely to fall into upper income brackets than the average American, Census Bureau estimates show.

But the latest data from the Census Bureau show that Asian Americans are clustered around the lower end of the education and income spectrum as well. For instance, 8.2 percent of Asian Americans 25 and over in March 1999 had less than a ninth-grade education, compared with 7.1 percent of all Americans and 4.5 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

Still, 27.6 percent of Asian Americans had at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 18.5 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 17 percent of all Americans.

What the figures show, said Paul Ong, director of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at UCLA, "that the 'model minority myth' has some basis, but it is only part of the picture."

"A portion of Asian-Pacific Americans are struggling to survive."

Among Asian Americans 15 and older, 12.2 percent made between $25,000 and $34,999 in March 1999, compared with 14.1 percent of all Americans and 14.5 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

But 16.7 percent of Asian Americans made more than $50,000, as opposed to 14.2 percent of all Americans and 16.2 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

Other findings released yesterday:

*  A majority of Asian Americans live in the West, 53.1 percent; 19.8 percent are in the South, 17.6 percent in the Northeast and 9.5 percent in the Midwest.

*  Most live in or around metropolitan areas: only 3.7 percent live outside a city or suburbs.

*  Asian Americans tend to live in households with more people: 46.4 percent live in a home with at least four people, compared with 33.9 percent of all Americans and 30.5 of non-Hispanic whites.

(http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/cens051.shtml)

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May 6, 2004

IT’S NOT A FLAG THEY CAN LOOK UP TO
CSUF's Vietnamese grads may protest if only the communist banner flies.

By Jeff Gottlieb and Mai Tran, Times Staff Writers

The flying of the Vietnamese flag, the potent symbol of a lost war and a stream of refugees, could lead to demonstrations at Cal State Fullerton's graduation this month by students and anticommunist activists from Little Saigon.

The banner of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with a gold star on a red background, is supposed to fly with 79 other flags representing the homelands of Fullerton students.

But students want the yellow and red flag of the defeated South Vietnam to fly along with the Vietnamese flag, said Son-Kim Vo, coordinator of Fullerton's Intercultural Development Center and advisor to the university's Vietnamese Student Assn.

"The communist flag is immoral," said Phu Ngoc Nguyen, 20, a member of the student association. "I want a flag that represents me to be flown."

Students said they may walk out of ceremonies if the flag of South Vietnam is not flown. They are meeting with community members this weekend to map out more elaborate plans for next year's ceremony if the university doesn't agree to their flag compromise.

A committee of eight campus administrators and staff members have met twice to discuss how to keep the commencement from becoming political, said Owen Holmes, the associate vice president for public affairs and governmental relations, who chairs the committee.

"This is a special time for families and graduates," he said.

More than 8,000 students will attend graduation May 29 and 30, with about 40,000 family members and friends also expected.

About 2,000 students of Vietnamese descent attend the university, which has an enrollment of more than 30,000.

Chien Ngoc Bach, spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, urged school officials to hang the flag of his country, which has been recognized by the United States since 1995.

"As an educational institution, the university should teach students about the truth rather than myth," he said.

The controversy comes a week after officials from Garden Grove and Westminster, home to the largest Vietnamese population outside Vietnam, proposed ordinances to keep trade delegations and officials from the communist nation from visiting Little Saigon.

Several U.S. cities, including San Diego, Houston and St. Paul, Minn., have passed resolutions requiring that the South Vietnamese flag represent the country when necessary at civic events.

Emotions have run strong in the Vietnamese exile community since the fall of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, in 1975, when many supporters of the South Vietnamese government and American intervention were driven into exile or forced into "re-education" camps.

A Westminster video store owner's display of the communist flag in 1999 sparked months of demonstrations. Others in the fiercely anticommunist community who have shown the slightest support for Vietnam's government have been denounced as traitors.

International flags were displayed at Fullerton's graduation for the first time in 1997. Paula Selleck, a spokeswoman for the campus, said the Vietnamese flag was displayed for the first time last year.

Vo, the advisor to the Vietnamese Student Assn., said she thought both Vietnamese flags had flown previously.

The Vietnamese flag that flew last year attracted the attention of at least one man, who climbed a fence and pulled down the banner several hours after graduation, said Lt. Will Glen of the university's police department.

When police asked that the flag be returned, he handed them a South Vietnamese banner instead.

Fullerton is not the only college to have problems displaying the Vietnamese flag. Vo said that a few hours before commencement at Santa Ana College two or three years ago, people noticed the Vietnamese flag was being flown. Members of the Vietnamese community complained to university officials, and all international flags were taken down, Vo said.

Last October, officials at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., faced similar protests after they hung international flags, including one from Vietnam, to decorate the campus. The campus refused to back down when students complained.

Because of its proximity to Little Saigon, Fullerton has a special relationship with the Vietnamese community. Fullerton President Milton A. Gordon said he has been told the campus has the largest number of students of Vietnamese descent of any university in the country.

Since the late 1990s, the campus has cultivated a closer relationship with the Southeast Asian country, including at least two visits to Vietnam by Gordon.

Cal State Fullerton has agreements with five Vietnamese universities for a variety of collaborations that include faculty visits. In addition, 31 students from Vietnam attend the Fullerton campus.

Vo said the flag controversy began after last year's graduation. She said a Little Saigon newspaper blamed the Vietnamese Student Assn. for allowing the university to fly the flag.

She said the students sent a petition to Candy Mink, the dean of students.

Mink said she didn't remember the petition but recalled meeting students between the end of December and the beginning of February. "I listened to those concerns and the university leadership is addressing them," she said.

Xuan Vu, a board member of the Vietnamese American Public Affairs Committee, who has been working with the students, said the South Vietnamese flag is an important symbol.

"We're not doing this to keep out the Vietnamese government, but it's a clear message of representation," she said.

"We're saying, 'No, the communist government does not represent us.' "

(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-flag6may06,1,1614168.story)

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May 6, 2004

PASSAGE OF HOUSE RESOLUTION 402 – REGARDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN LAO

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the urgent need for freedom, democratic reform, and international monitoring of elections, human rights, and religious liberty in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Contact: Ms. Xoua Kue or Paul Christopher, 202-543-1444, 559-252-3921 or

202-318-0266 (fax)

WASHINGTON (U.S. Newswire) -- In an historic vote today, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed strongly worded legislation (H.Res. 402) introduced by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the emergency crisis facing the Hmong people in Laos and the urgent need for freedom, democratic reform, and the international monitoring of elections, human rights and religious liberty in Laos.

"Today's historic vote in the U.S. Congress for the passage of H. Res. 402 is something that we at the Lao Veterans of America have worked very hard at for nearly two years in Washington, D.C.," stated Colonel Wangyee Vang, national director and founder of the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., the nation's largest Lao and Hmong veterans organization. "Today's vote in Congress for Congressman Burton's Laos bill marks an important victory for the freedom-loving Lao and Hmong people now suffering under the Communist regime in Laos as well as all of the veterans and the Laotian and Hmong-American organizations and individuals who joined together as a team to help us fight for the passage of this important legislation, to help bring freedom and democracy to Laos," Colonel Wangyee concluded.

Rep. Dan Burton was joined by Reps. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Mark Green (D-Wisc.), Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Thomas Petri (R-Wis.) and others in introducing the Laos legislation on October 16, 2004. H.Res. 402 was introduced following a special session of the U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos, held in the Longworth House Office Building, where a number of prominent Members of Congress, Laotian and Hmong organizations, dissidents, victims and human rights organizations testified about the current crisis in Laos and the plight of the Hmong people, including the Lao Veterans of America, the Lao Students Movement for Democracy, Amnesty International and others. Hundreds of Lao and Hmong veterans, and their families, are slated to convene in the U.S. Congress early next week for a special U.S. Congressional reception and events to honor Rep. Burton's legislation and Members of Congress who have taken a leadership role in its passage. The Congressional events are cosponsored by the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., and the Center for Public Policy Analysis.

"Congressman Burton's bold new legislation addressing the current situation in Laos is a first step toward engaging the Pathet Lao regime, United Nations and the State Department more seriously, honestly and effectively regarding the horrific plight of the jailed Laotian students, political and religious dissidents and Hmong civilians and rebels now under brutal siege in closed military zones," stated Philip Smith, executive director for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis. Smith also serves as the Washington director for the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., the Lao Students Movement for Democracy and a coalition of Lao and Hmong organizations seeking political and human rights reforms in Laos.

"Moreover, Congressman Burton's bill, H.Res. 402, sends a high-level and clear message to the Communist Pathet Lao regime and the international community that the U.S. Congress condemns the Lao regime's Stalinist behavior as a closed society, and urges it to open up to political reform, power sharing, democracy, religious freedom and international election monitoring and human rights," Smith stated. Continued Smith: "It is also important to note that this is the first legislation specific to the nation of Laos to pass the U.S. Congress in over five years, when Congress last acted it was in 1999 to condemn the Communist regime for the brutal crackdown against the Lao students movement for democracy, the disappearance of two missing Hmong Americans and the brutal military attacks against the Hmong people."

H.Res. 402 was staunchly opposed by the Communist Pathet Lao regime and outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Laos, Douglas Hartwick, who lobbied repeatedly and aggressively to kill the legislation - - and against its growing support and eventual passage in Congress. One member of Congress voted against the legislation, with a second member of Congress reportedly officially abstaining from casting a vote in support of the bill.

"Over the last several weeks, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Douglas Hartwick was reportedly again in Washington, D.C., during his final weeks in office, in a last-ditched effort to lobby Congress against support and passage of the Laos legislation, H.Res. 402, which is highly critical of the Pathet Lao regime and its recent brutal actions directed against many of the suffering Laotian and Hmong people," said Smith. "Hartwick's deplorable lobbying, and attempted white-washing effort, together with the Pathet Lao regime, bitterly directed to seek to defeat H.Res. 402, the Laos and Hmong democracy, human rights and humanitarian relief legislation, has now utterly failed, since it defied the true reality of the situation on the ground and the will of the American Congress," Smith concluded.

The Pathet Lao regime has officially condemned the U.S. Department of State's most recent human rights report on Laos. It has also repeatedly condemned Rep. Burton's Laos legislation. The passage of the legislation comes on the heals of increased political violence in Laos and the United States, including a campaign of mass starvation and brutal attacks by Vietnam and Lao military forces directed against Hmong and Laotian civilians and rebels in closed military zones in Laos as well as the alleged acts of political violence directed against Hmong and Lao Americans opposed to the communist Pathet Lao regime in Minnesota's Twin Cities. The Pathet Lao regime is staunchly allied militarily and politically with the remaining Communist regimes of North Korea, Cuba and Vietnam.

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U.S. GROUP BATTLES SEX TRADE IN S.E. ASIA
Christian organization gets federal funds

Henry Hoenig, Chronicle Foreign Service

Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- A U.S. evangelical Christian group has become a driving force behind a campaign backed by the Bush administration to stamp out prostitution and pedophilia in parts of Southeast Asia.

The International Justice Mission, an Arlington, Va.-based Christian organization that has received $1.7 million in federal funds, has been working in recent months with the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh and a newly formed Cambodian government task force, mounting raids on brothels -- including one operation that freed girls younger than 11 -- and helping in arrests of foreign pedophiles.

The Arlington group is part of the State Department's War Against Trafficking Alliance, which also includes the Salvation Army and Shared Hope International, the latter a recipient of financial assistance from a Seattle charity called the Northwest Christian Community Foundation.

"A year ago, we were hammering the Cambodian government, (but) there was nothing going on in terms of arrests and prosecutions (of pimps and pedophiles)," John Miller, director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said in an interview with The Chronicle.

He called the new round of raids and arrests "the first sign of aggressive law enforcement in Cambodia." 

The International Justice Mission's efforts stem from a $150 million "faith-based" effort launched by President Bush to draw upon "the compassion of America's religious institutions" to combat human trafficking in the Third World, predominantly women and children forced into sexual slavery.

"Government has often denied social service grants and contracts to these groups,'' Bush said in his State of the Union address in January. "By executive order, I have opened billions of dollars in grant money to competition that includes faith-based charities."

The U.S. government estimates that between 800,000 and 900,000 people are smuggled every year across international borders for prostitution and labor -- a business worth $7 billion to $12 billion annually, a criminal enterprise surpassed only by drug trafficking and illegal arms.

UNICEF estimates that about 2 million children are involved in the sex trade worldwide.

The International Justice Mission -- founded in 1997 by Gary Haugen, a former civil rights attorney with the Justice Department -- has played a high-profile role in lobbying Congress to pass the 2003 Protect Act, which is best known for introducing the "Amber Alert" for missing children, but which also enables the U.S. government to prosecute Americans who engage in sex acts with minors overseas.

In September, retired Army Sgt. Michael Clark, 69, of the Puget Sound area became the first American to be held under the act when he was arrested after stepping off a plane in Seattle. In March, he pleaded guilty to having sex with two young Cambodian boys and faces a potential 30-year sentence.

In the past 16 months, Cambodian police have arrested 16 foreign pedophiles, a record number; in 2002, only eight were arrested. The detained men include five from the United States and 11 from Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Germany and New Zealand. Three of the Americans -- including Clark – have been deported to stand trial in the United States. Under Cambodian law, they can receive as much as 10 years in prison.

The International Justice Mission, which is particularly active in Cambodia, where prostitution is legal, has similar programs in Thailand, India and the Philippines. In each country, the group's investigators monitor suspects, note their movements, interview children they have contacted and turn evidence over to the police. Media reports indicate their efforts have led to the release of hundreds of sex slaves.

The group has established a training program in Cambodia. Later this year, the group will show 250 police officers in 21 provinces how to protect victims and identify pedophiles.

The success of the International Justice Mission's campaign is most evident in Svay Pak, a shantytown outside Phnom Penh notorious for its many brothels. Few middle-aged foreigners cruise the area these days, and the "travel" section of a popular sex tourism Web site warns its readers to "stick to ladies who appear over 18. ... They are starting to crack down."

But the group's tactics have drawn criticism from other nongovernmental organizations inside Cambodia.

Pierre Legros, head of France's Acting for Women in Precarious Situations, describes International Justice Mission investigators as "cowboys" more interested in playing to television cameras during high-profile busts than focusing on the root causes of child prostitution -- desperate poverty, in the view of many experts. Last year, one of the group's investigators led an undercover crew from NBC's "Dateline" program with a hidden camera through the brothels of Phnom Penh.

Christian Guth, a former French police officer who advises Cambodia's Interior Ministry on the child-sex trade, says the International Justice Mission's aggressive methods have led to the imprisonment of innocent people.

"It's happened already that NGOs have pushed police to arrest somebody who is not guilty," he said. "An investigation needs to respect the rights of the suspect. We don't want to make a mistake. There must be a presumption of innocence."

Naly Pilorge, director of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, said more than half the suspects arrested during one high-profile raid engineered by the International Justice Mission at Svay Pak last year were later released because they had simply been "in the way" -- food and drink vendors who cater to sex tourists but are not involved in the actual sex trade.

Sharon Cohn, the International Justice Mission's director of anti- trafficking operations, bristles at such criticism and argues that quick action is imperative: "It's not about coming up with a five-year plan -- though these things are important," Cohn said. "It's about rescuing the girls and throwing the pimps and brothel owners in jail."

At a White House ceremony in March, President Bush praised Cohn as "a noble soul who cares deeply about the plight of every woman." Bush added: "This government stands with you, and our country stands with you. We abhor the practice of sex slavery, and we will do all we can to help you."

Robert Mosier, the Christian group's vice president for investigations who helped arrange the raid on Svay Pak last year, said he looked forward to the day when Cambodian police shut down the area on their own. It is a day he believes will be hastened by his organization's efforts to train Cambodian police officers in combating human sex trafficking.

"It's not a process that's going to be over with one raid," Mosier said. "There's been an impact already, but the police need to be more pro-active -- and that's what our training programs are all about."

(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/11/MNGLC6JEOI1.DTL)

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May 11, 2004

VIETNAM FLAG FUROR ENDS WITH INTERNATIONAL FLAG BAN AT FULLERTON

FULLERTON, Calif. (Associated Press) -- A seven-year tradition of flying the home flags of graduating foreign students at California State University, Fullerton, will end this year because of opposition to the display of the banner of the communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The school will display only the flags of the United States, California and the campus at the May 29-30 ceremonies, college President Milton A. Gordon said Monday. It will list the 79 home countries of the students in the graduation program.

The Vietnamese Students Association, which includes the children of people who fled the communist regime at the end of the Vietnam War, objected to the original flag plan and threatened to disrupt graduation ceremonies if the South Vietnamese banner was not included.

"Commencement is one of the most joyous days we celebrate on the campus and we didn't want that marred by any (incident)," Gordon said.

A spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said he was disappointed by the decision, saying the views of the student association don't reflect the majority of Vietnamese-Americans.

California State University, Fullerton, is located in Orange County, which has the largest number of Vietnamese-Americans in the United States. Some 8,000 students are in the school's 2004 graduating class, including about 25 from Vietnam.

Information from: The Orange County Register

(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/05/11/state1718EDT0117.DTL)

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A GENERATION TAKES ROOT ON NEW SOIL
Young Vietnamese Americans Celebrate Their Adopted Land

By Laura Sessions Stepp
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 11, 2004; Page C01

They call themselves "The 1.5 generation," the young men and women from Vietnamese families who have grown up in the United States since the fall of Saigon in 1975. Last night, several hundred of them, along with older Vietnamese Americans, threw a $1,000-a-plate black-tie dinner at the Capital Hilton to announce, as only a glitzy Washington party can, that they are a social and political force to be reckoned with.

When the parents of these twenty- and thirty-somethings fled Vietnam on boats and settled in this country with little more than the clothes on their backs, they told themselves it was temporary. Someday, they'd move back home.

A generation and a half later, their children obviously have no such intention. From the six American flags on the dais to the Robert Mondavi wine on the table to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta's speech, the Vietnamese American National Gala -- the first of its kind, according to its promoters -- was a toast to the United States, pure and simple, an announcement that these young men and young women intend to stay and flourish here.

In their program and on their Web site, www.vangusa.com, the organizers touted more than 100 highly successful Vietnamese Americans including Lance Cpl. Andrew Dang, a Marine who died two months ago in Iraq; Monica Tran, a vice president with Giorgio Armani; and Navia Nguyen, the first Asian model to appear in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. (Now that's making it in America.)

Six Vietnamese Americans were given Golden Torch Awards, including Dat Nguyen, linebacker with the Dallas Cowboys; Eugene Trinh, the first Vietnamese American astronaut; and Trung Dung, CEO of Fogbreak Software.

Throughout the evening, young non-celebrities talked among themselves about how grateful they were to be living in this country even if in less-exalted status. Phu Nguyen, a recent graduate of California State University-Fullerton, played football at a Catholic high school in Santa Ana and listened to country music with his friends. He took his life for granted, he said, until he went to Saigon after high school and saw for the first time "prostitutes, drug addicts, kids sleeping on the streets. I feel so fortunate."

Linh Ho, a student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, had the same experience when she lived for six months in Hanoi during her undergraduate years. "I would play soccer with the boys over there, and the girls would ask me how I learned to do that," said Ho, a varsity athlete in high school.

Thuc Le, a graduate student in biophysics at the University of Chicago, came here with his parents at the age of 16 and had to learn that it was acceptable to speak his mind about world events. His father had been a member of the former government in South Vietnam. "It took me a while to realize my dad would not go to prison if I had an opinion."

The hard part has not been learning how to be American, they said. The hard part has been figuring out how to stay Vietnamese. As youngsters in school, "we were taught that George Washington was the father of our country," Le said, "but our parents were saying the father of our country was King Hung, whose dynasty ruled what is now Vietnam for almost 2,000 years."

Phuong Tu, a student at the University of California-Santa Cruz, listens to music in English in her dorm while missing Vietnamese lyrics "that have so much more emotion."

The only complaint some of these young people who had embraced America had about last night's event was that it wasn't Vietnamese enough.

Vietnamese entertainer Duyen Nguyen sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" but not the Vietnamese national anthem, Phu Nguyen pointed out to Thuc Le. There was no Vietnamese flag on the dais.

Nguyen and Le wondered out loud: Could it be that, in light of the Patriot Act, events in Iraq and the presidential campaign, the event's organizers wanted there to be no question of where their loyalties lie?

"We can be happy we've 'arrived' in America, but let's not forget where we came from," said Nguyen. He paused, unsure whether he should have been so vocal until reminded that he was, indeed, in America.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16553-2004May11.html)

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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.