In this NCVA Reporter:

Events

Funding Opportunities

Tips

Jobs/Internships

News

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Events

California Voter Registration Deadline – September 23, 2003

(http://www.ss.ca.gov)

Eligible voters who want to register today can find forms at post offices, libraries, Department of Motor Vehicles branches, or some city clerk's offices and social service agencies. Forms can also be printed from the secretary of state's Web site, http://www.ss.ca.gov .

Completed forms must be postmarked by today and mailed to the county registrar. Forms can also be taken to county registrars' offices or to DMV offices by the close of business today.

Anyone who is a citizen of the United States, a resident of California, not on parole or in prison for a felony conviction, and who will be 18 by Oct. 7 is eligible to vote. Voters who are already registered do not need to re-register unless they have moved or taken a new name since the last election.

Voters who wish to change their party affiliation may re-register, but because it is not a primary, individuals affiliated with a party will not be restricted from voting for any candidate.

Where to register

Here are the addresses for Southern California registrars' offices:

Los Angeles County

In person: 12400 Imperial Hwy., Norwalk 90650

By mail: Voter Registration,

P.O. Box 1024, Norwalk 90651-10241

(800) 481-8683

Orange County

In person: 1300 S. Grand Ave., Bldg. C, Santa Ana

By mail: Registration & Elections Dept., P.O. Box 11298, Santa Ana 92711

(714) 567-7600

Riverside County

2724 Gateway Drive, Riverside 92507-0918

(800) 773-8683

San Bernardino County

777 East Rialto Ave., San Bernardino 92415-0770

(800) 881-8683

San Diego County

In person: 5201 Ruffin Road,

Suite I

By mail: Voter Registration,

P.O. Box 85656, San Diego 92186-5656

(800) 696-0136

Ventura County

Hall of Administration, Lower Plaza, 800 S. Victoria Ave., L-1200, Ventura 93009-1200

(805) 654-2784

The secretary of state also maintains toll-free election information hotlines:

English: (800) 345-8683

Spanish: (800) 232-8682

Chinese: (800) 339-2857

Japanese: (800) 339-2865

Korean: (866) 575-1558

Tagalog: (800) 339-2957

Vietnamese: (800) 339-8163

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UVA’s “Coming Together Community Picnic” Come One, Come All To Enjoy the Food and Fun!

Dear Friends, Supporters and Sponsors,

We are very delighted to be writing to all of you about an exciting new development in our community - the formal introduction of a new volunteer and social organization, United Vietnamese Americans ("UVA"). UVA has been established as a volunteer and social organization with two distinct goals: (i) to help better our community through service projects and (ii) to provide a forum for our community to come together. Through a sense of civic duty, UVA members are dedicated to making a positive change in our community by improving and enriching the lives of others. In addition to volunteer service projects, UVA provides a venue for our members to develop and cultivate friendships, fostering a sense of unity and camaraderie.  As reflected in our organization's name, UVA highly values unity and thus strives to develops this sense of unity through events and programs to bring our community together.  To learn more about UVA, our service projects, and upcoming events, please go to our website at www.uvaus.com.

As reflected in our tagline "Coming Together to Better Our Community", UVA will continue to work to bring our community together.  To this end, we would like to invite all of you to UVA's Coming Together Community Picnic next Saturday, September 27th.

Event:          UVA Coming Together Community Picnic
Date:           Saturday, September 27th, 2003
Place:          Lake Elizabeth - Central Park, Fremont, CA
                   40000 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont CA 94538
Time:           12 noon to 5 p.m. (Lunch will be served at 12:30)
Activities:     Volleyball, Football, Paddle Boats, and any game you'd like to bring! 

All of us on the UVA Team hope that you will be able to attend.  Please RSVP to an Evite, which will be sent to you in the near future.  UVA has been made possible because of the support and encouragement from so many of you in the community.  Thank you so very much.  We are doing a good thing together to serve a noble cause - helping people.

With warmest regards, we remain

Very truly yours,
Nhat Ngo, President
Debbie Nghiem, Vice President
Vanechay Phommachack, Treasurer
Thang Do, Director of Designs
Suzanne Lai, Director of Entertainment
Joanna Hoang, Director of Event Coordination
Jennifer Nguyen, Director of Event Marketing
Mark Virasak, Director of Event Planning
Khang Hoang, Director of Membership
Toan Cao, Director of Recreation
Dinh Nguyen, Director of Social Services

www.uvaus.com

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NCVA’s Voter Registration Drive – September 26-27, 2003

The National Congress of Vietnamese Americans (NCVA) is continuing its Voter Education/Outreach Program on the weekend of September 26-27 from 11:30 am – 2pm at Eden Center located on Wilson Boulevard at Seven Corners in Falls Church, Virginia.

New touch screen voting machines for Fairfax County, Virginia will be available for community members to familiarize themselves.

In its ongoing efforts to empower the Vietnamese American community, NCVA has been registering new voters every weekend during the month of September under the leadership of AnhThu Lu and Jackie Bong Wright.

“The power of our vote = the strength of our community”

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Funding Opportunities

Seed Money Available for Nonprofit Start-Ups

(http://www.nationalservice.org/whatshot/notices.html)

The Corporation for National and Community Service has $4 million available in grants to support new and start-up organizations, the Federal Register reported Sept. 16.

The intent of the grants is to foster the next generation of national-service organizations by providing seed money. Established organizations proposing new projects or programs or looking to plan and implement new service programs are also eligible to apply for the funding.

Nonprofit and public agencies are invited to submit grant proposals. Grant amounts vary depending upon the concept of the project.

The deadline for applications is Nov. 17, 2003.

For details, call 202-606-5000, ext. 408.

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Battling Mental Illness

Nick Traina Foundation (http://www.nicktrainafoundation.org/)

The Nick Traina Foundation was founded in 1998 by best-selling author Danielle Steel as a legacy to her son who lost his life to manic-depression. The Foundation supports organizations involved in the diagnosis, research, treatment, and/or family support of manic-depression, suicide prevention, child abuse and children in jeopardy. Assistance is also provided to struggling musicians in the areas of health and mental illness. Special consideration is given to proposals that address manic-depression in children and young adults. Requests are reviewed quarterly and grants range from $5,000 to $25,000. For more information, visit the website above.

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Fighting Childhood Hunger in America

ConAgra Foods Foundation

(http://www.conagrafoods.com/leadership/community_guidelines.jsp?lpnc=ok&null)

The mission of the ConAgra Foods Foundation is to improve the quality of life in communities where ConAgra Foods' employees work and live. The major commitment of the Foundation is fighting childhood hunger in America; however, support is also provided in the following areas: arts and culture, civic and community betterment, education, and health and human services. The amount requested from the Foundation should be related to amounts contributed by others in the community. Applications are due the last working day of January, April, July and October, annually and no phone, fax, or email requests will be accepted. Visit the above website for more information.

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Strengthening Our Communities

Georgia-Pacific Foundation (http://www.gp.com/center/community/index.html)

The Georgia-Pacific Foundation supports organizations that are located where the company maintains facilities. This includes cash and product donations, matching gifts to causes supported financially by company employees, and product donations and financial contributions in response to natural disasters and other crises. The key areas of the Foundation's giving are education, enrichment of community, and the environment. Grant applications are accepted between January 1 and October 31, annually. The above website has complete application guidelines.

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Support for Women Victims of Violence

The R.O.S.E. Fund (http://www.rosefund.org/indexRose.html)

The R.O.S.E. (Regaining One's Self-Esteem) Fund is committed to helping women victims of violence by supporting educational and awareness programs and assisting individual women survivors of violence to rebuild their lives and regain their self-esteem. The Fund offers awards, continuing education grants, scholarships and survivor grants. The deadline for survivor grants is December 1, 2003; the next deadline for scholarships is December 3, 2003. Visit the above website for more information.

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Recognizing Student Volunteers

Prudential Spirit of Community Awards (http://www.prudential.com/community/)

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards recognize middle and high school students for volunteer community service. The program is sponsored by the Prudential Insurance Company and administered by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Eligible students must be in grades five to twelve and must have engaged in a recent volunteer activity. Awards of $1,000 and $5,000 are given at the state and national level. The deadline for student applications is October 31, annually. The deadline for schools, Girl Scout councils, and county 4-H groups to select local honorees and submit those applications is November 7, annually. For more information, visit the above website.

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Cooperative Enterprise Aids Communities

Cooperative Development Foundation (http://www.coopdevelopment.org/)

The Cooperative Development Foundation promotes self-help and mutual aid in community, economic, and social development through cooperative enterprise. CDF works to bring together the funds and partners to incubate and replicate cooperative solutions to people's needs. CDF administers a number of funds supporting cooperative activities ranging from helping people move from welfare to work, creating affordable housing co-ops for rural seniors, and creating value-added agriculture co-ops to help farmers increase their market share. CDF works only in the cooperative sector. Grants range from $300 to $10,000. Visit the above website for more information.

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Tips

Report Addresses Community Development Issues

The Brookings Institute: Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy

(http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/20030527_bogart.htm)

(http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/20030527_Bogart.pdf)

Civic Infrastructure and the Financing of Community Development, a report by William T. Bogart published by The Brookings Institution, probes the relationship between community development organizations - public, private and nonprofit - and the vitality of community development itself. The strength and diversity of nonprofit community development organizations heavily influence how community development projects are funded and to what extent private sector financial institutions participate. The full report is available on The Brookings Institution website listed above.

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Jobs/Internships

Executive Director – Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation

Washington, D.C.

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation seeks an Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer to lead and advance the Corporation, which serves a national network of community-based, resident-led, public-private partnerships, and provides leadership and innovation in the housing and community development field.

The Corporation is a public, non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C. with field offices nationwide and is funded primarily by Congressional appropriations. Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation supports, financially and technically, a network of local non-profit organizations led by local residents, lenders, other business people and local government officials to stabilize and revitalize communities in urban, rural and suburban areas, and it serves as an engine of innovation and training for the field.

Founding and History

The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation developed from a 1972 effort by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to increase thrift-industry lending in declining neighborhoods.  In 1974, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board joined with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish an inter-agency task force to encourage banks as well as savings and loan associations to participate in a series of local NeighborWorks® revitalization programs.  The task force was expanded and formalized as the Urban Reinvestment Task Force, which was composed of HUD, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Comptroller of the Currency.

By 1978, the Task Force’s success in stimulating new investment of private-sector capital with a minimum of government involvement led Congress to establish the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation [P.L. 95-557, Section 606(a)(3)]. Congress intended Neighborhood Reinvestment to serve as a highly flexible, non-bureaucratic laboratory for revitalizing communities.  The Corporation would mobilize private, public and community resources at the neighborhood level so “new ideas and approaches could be studied, refined and pilot tested.” 

Today, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation promotes the expanded impact and reach  of a national network of non-profits while seeking to ensure the organizational health and sustainability of each organization. The network   has grown to more than 226 organizations, spanning 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, having an impact on more than 2,300 American communities, including urban neighborhoods, suburban and rural areas.  Moreover, each of these affiliated organizations has adopted a specific locally tailored strategy for improving their communities, fashioned by resident leadership and partners from the private and public sectors.

Under the Corporation’s stewardship, the NeighborWorks® Network has grown into the nation’s largest system for revitalizing neighborhoods in decline. 

The NeighborWorks® System

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, the NeighborWorks® organizations and Neighborhood Housing Services of America (NHSA) as well as other specialized entities (RNA Community Builders and Neighborhood Capital Corporation) comprise an innovative and productive system for stabilizing and strengthening distressed and vulnerable communities.

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation focuses on training, technical assistance and organizational health monitoring, and provides limited operating and capital funding to expand and maintain the strength of the NeighborWorks® Network and the broader housing and community development field. 

Employing approximately 250 staff, 110 in Washington, D.C. and 140 in eight principal field offices, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation’s assistance to NeighborWorks® organizations is equivalent to specialized consulting in the private sector. Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation helps Network organizations increase capacity or scope or expand into new service areas.  Many NeighborWorks® organizations develop and implement multiple strategies to achieve their mission, including: homebuyer education and counseling, foreclosure prevention counseling, resident leadership development, management of high quality affordable mutual and rental housing, youth employment services, community education projects and similar services.  Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation has helped the Network develop and implement a series of special initiatives and strategies including the Campaign for Homeownership, the Rural Initiative, the Multifamily Initiative, the Resident Leadership Initiative and the National Insurance Task Force.  The Corporation has also recently completed a comprehensive strategic plan involving substantial and systematic input and review by internal staff and NeighborWorks® network leadership.

To create the strongest possible community-based organizations, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation has established chartering standards for every NeighborWorks® member, so that businesses and other investors can have confidence that their investments will be sound, tested by the Corporation’s organizational assessment division.

Nationally acclaimed NeighborWorks® Training Institutes and on-site delivery of highly tailored technical assistance aim at building staff, board and organizational capacity and solving specific problems.  Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation field and training staff offer insights and/or skill building on areas including: financial management systems; human resource policies and procedures; multi-family housing development, asset and property management; business planning; revitalization strategies; single family lending; resource development; and resident and organizational development.  Leadership and technical training was delivered to over 11,000 community residents and volunteers through Institutes and other training events in 2002.

The Corporation also supports NeighborWorks® organizations and the broader community-development field with publications and online information resources that address a breadth of issues and document best practices in community development throughout the country. 

The NeighborWorks® Network

Each nonprofit NeighborWorks® organization is locally governed, raises its own operating funds (mostly from local private-sector partners), and sets its own strategies, typically using as a primary tool revolving loan funds to meet the needs of clients for whom conventional loans are insufficient to support homeownership or rehabilitation.

One of the greatest resources and challenges in older neighborhoods is the existing housing stock. Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation helps NeighborWorks® organizations preserve housing by rehabilitating aging structures, increasing home ownership and expanding the number of affordable rental and mutual housing units.  To increase home ownership, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation provides loans, grants, training and technical assistance to local organizations so that they can offer pre-purchase counseling, assemble pooled loan funds from local lenders, increase financing options and market their programs.  When there is a need for multi-family and rental properties, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation helps develop public-private financing, reimbursable acquisitions and equity grants for rehabilitation.  In 2002, nearly 70,000 low and moderate-income families were able to purchase or maintain their homes because of the Network’s activities.

The board of directors of each NeighborWorks® organization includes residents, representatives of financial institutions, insurance companies, local businesses, civic organizations and local government.  Members of the NeighborWorks® network retain their own individual organizational names, but are linked by a common commitment to NeighborWorks® standards and goals.

Neighborhood Housing Services of America (NHSA)

Neighborhood Housing Services of America plays a critical role in meeting the capital needs of the NeighborWorks® network, bringing low-cost, flexible, private-sector capital and innovative loan products to members of the NeighborWorks® network.  As a core service, NHSA operates a specialized secondary market that purchases loans made from NeighborWorks® organizations’ revolving loan funds. These purchases provide a stream of investment capital back into NeighborWorks® organizations to serve target neighborhoods.

Established in 1974 as a state chartered, private nonprofit corporation, NHSA is headquartered in Oakland, California, operating with a staff skilled in financial, community and governmental processes. NHSA is supported by Neighborhood Reinvestment and works in partnership with the Corporation to meet the needs of NeighborWorks® organizations and their clients.  This approach was specifically authorized (in Section 606 (a) of P.L. 95-557, as amended) when Congress established the Corporation in 1978.

Governance:  Board of Directors and U.S. Government

In accordance with its enabling legislation, a Board of six (6) Directors appointed ex officio governs the Corporation. Board members are: a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a member of the Board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, a member of the Board of National Credit Union Administration and the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development or his designee. The Executive Director reports to the Board.

Neighborhood Reinvestment Funding:

The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation receives most of its funding through an annual Congressional appropriation.  Working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the relevant congressional committees to establish the appropriation level is one of the fundamental responsibilities of the Executive Director.

The budget for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2003 is $119.6 million, which includes a federal appropriation of $105 million.  The appropriation for the fiscal year starting October 1, 2003 is currently under consideration by Congress.

In addition to appropriated funds, in 2002 alone, the Network generated over $1.7 billion, mostly from private industry (banks and insurance companies), in direct investments.

Organizational Structure:

The Executive Director leads the Corporation through an executive team comprised of the Chief Operating Officer, the Corporation’s General Counsel and Treasurer and a management team consisting of: the officers and heads of the key functional divisions reporting to the COO (Field Operations; National Programs, Initiatives & Research; Organizational Assessment; Training; Finance & Administration) as well as Development & Communications, Policy & Legislative Affairs and related staff functions.

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation operates in a decentralized organizational structure. The National office, located in Washington, D.C., leads and coordinates eight District Offices strategically located throughout the continental U.S.  The District Offices have locally based staff who work closely with NeighborWorks® organizations in their respective regions.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will possess the following professional experiences and personal attributes:

Vision and Leadership Skills

Management and Fiscal Experience

Community Development Background

Communication Skills

Compensation and Benefits

An attractive compensation and benefit package, within statutory limits, and progressive pension/savings/health plan will be offered.

Responses should be directed to:

Monroe “Bud” Moseley

Isaacson, Miller

334 Boylston St.

Boston, MA 02116

Phone: (617) 262-6500

Fax: (617) 262-6509

E-mail: bmoseley@imsearch.com

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RECRUITMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION - SCHOLARS IN HEALTH DISPARITIES

2004 GRANT CYCLE

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Center for the Advancement of Health are pleased to announce recruitment for the 2004 cohort of W.K. Kellogg Foundation Scholars in Health Disparities. 

This program challenges post doctoral investigators from a variety of disciplines such as economics, sociology, political science, public health and law, to examine the causes and consider policy solutions for health disparities by race/ethnicity, gender and income/socioeconomic status.

Research topics funded by this program include the ways by which social, economic, political, environmental and educational inequalities and institutional racism play a role in the creation of health disparities, and the development of policy initiatives that might reduce these disparities.

Application: For further information and application materials, visit www.cfah.org or contact Barbara Krimgold, Director of the Scholars Program, at bkrimgold@cfah.org or April Oh, Program Manager after October 15, 2003. Deadline for receipt of applications is January 15, 2004.

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Coordinator, Retention Programs & Services Asian Pacific American Student Affairs

IT TAKES A VILLAGE…

To produce one graduate of the University of Arizona, it takes the commitment of the entire University community. The Department of Multicultural Programs & Services (DMPS), one critical component of this community, is seeking three outstanding professionals to work directly with the University's diverse student populations. The DMPS consists of four units that offer targeted outreach, academic, cultural, and social programming, and a variety of resources designed for the retention and graduation of students.

If you are seeking a position allowing professional growth, the ability to impact college students, and an excellent salary with terrific benefits, the DMPS may be the right place for you!

Coordinator, Retention Programs & Services

Asian Pacific American Student Affairs (Job #26949)

Coordinator, Retention Programs & Services

Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs (Job #26950)

Coordinator, Retention Programs & Services

Native American Student Affairs (Job #26951) 

Please access www.hr.arizona.edu, for the full job descriptions and application information.

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Oak Human Rights Fellowship 2003

(http://www.colby.edu/oak/)

The Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights was established in 1998 by a generous grant from the Oak Foundation. Each year, it hosts an Oak Human Rights Fellow to teach and conduct research while at residence in the College and organizes lectures and other events centered around the fellow's area of expertise. The purpose of the fellowship is to offer an opportunity for prominent practitioners in international human rights to take a sabbatical leave from their work and spend a period of up to a semester as a scholar-in-residence at the College. This provides the Fellow time for reflection, research, and writing. While all human rights practitioners are eligible, we especially encourage applications from those who are currently or were recently involved in "on-the-ground" work at some level of personal risk. The Oak Fellow's responsibilities include regular meetings with students either through formal classes or informal discussion groups and assistance in shaping a lecture series or symposium associated with the particular aspect of human rights of interest to the fellow. The fellow also is expected to participate in the intellectual life of the campus and enable our students to work or study with a professional in the human rights field. The Fellow will receive a stipend and College fringe benefits, plus round-trip transportation from the fellow’s home site, housing for a family, use of a car, and meals on campus. The Fellow will also receive research support, including office space, secretarial support, computer and library facilities, and a student assistant. The Fellowship is awarded for the fall semester (Sept.-Dec.) each year. Following the period of the award, the fellow is expected to return to her or his human rights work.

OAK HUMAN RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP SEARCH FOR 2004: FOCUS ON HUMAN RIGHTS WORK IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

The search for the Fall 2004 Oak Fellowship will focus on a human rights practitioner doing human rights work in East and Southeast Asia (i.e., China, Japan, North and South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong). We will not be taking applications for the program until September 1, 2003. If you would like more information or to be placed on a mailing list to receive an application form, please contact the Oak Institute’s office at oakhr@colby.edu.

Information about the 2004 Oak Fellowship will be available in August or September 2003. If you would like to be notified when the 2004 search opens, please contact us at oakhr@colby.edu

OAK HUMAN RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP 2003

The 2003 Oak Human Rights Fellow is Raji Sourani, a Palestinian human rights lawyer who is the Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, an independent legal body based in Gaza City dedicated to protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law, and upholding democratic principles in the Occupied Palestinian territories. His work focuses on documenting and recording human rights violations perpetrated in the Gaza strip and advocacy for Palestinians in both the Israeli and Palestinian courts. Mr. Sourani also holds the Vice Presidency of the Federation Internationale des Lignes des Droits del’ Homme and is a board member of the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Cairo. Information regarding the lecture series on human rights issues related to Mr. Sourani’s work will be posted some time in early September.

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Alston/Bannerman Fellowship Program

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

The Alston / Bannerman Fellowship Program is committed to advancing progressive social change by helping to sustain long-time activists of color. The program honors those who have devoted their lives to helping their communities organize for racial, social, economic and environmental justice. The program provides resources for organizers to take sabbaticals for reflection and renewal.

Each year, 10 organizers of color are awarded the Alston/Bannerman Fellowship. They receive $15,000 to take sabbaticals of three months or more. The deadline to apply for the 2003 Fellowships is December 2, 2002.

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News

Virginia Launches New Minority Research Training Efforts

WASHINGTON (Sept. 15, 2003) - In a move to strengthen the contributions of minority researchers to biomedical and clinical research, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced several new efforts to increase scientific career opportunities for under-represented minorities.

"By opening up more opportunities in VA research to minority health care professionals, we're ensuring that veterans will continue to be served by the best this country has to offer," said Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. Leo S. Mackay Jr.

With an overall goal of enhancing research opportunities for minorities and increasing funding for minority-serving institutions, the initiative calls for three new mentoring programs:

        * Supporting institutional collaborations between VA and minority-serving institutions, involving students and faculty from these institutions partnered with VA mentors.

        * Providing applied training in research on VA-funded projects to participants ranging from high school students and college undergraduates, to graduates and pre-doctoral students.

        * Offering a supportive career path for mentored research within VA for people who have completed their clinical fellowships or doctoral training within the last two years. The program provides a full salary to awardees for three years.

Mackay noted that VA's new mentor programs are modeled after successful programs offered by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The mentoring programs will partner VA medical centers with historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and other institutions with sizeable concentrations of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, native Hawaiians and Alaska natives.

Projected to cost about $6 million annually, the program is scheduled to begin in April 2004.

"We believe VA research programs can be enhanced nationally by engaging the leadership of minority-serving institutions, foundations, professional societies and the VA research community," Mackay said.

For more information about the program, visit the website at www.va.gov/resdev.

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Child’s status as citizen doesn’t protect parents

By Jessie Mangalim and Edwin Garcia (Mercury News)

Question My close friend and his wife both have H-1B visas and were laid off within a week of each other. Now they have to leave the country in 15 days or find another employer. They had a baby -- born in the United States -- two months ago.

Can the parents stay here legally as the parents of a U.S. citizen? Can they work? If they can, how can they obtain work permits? Are they eligible to apply for green cards?

Benny Perumatty
San Jose

Answer Both your friend and his wife would already be considered ``out of status'' by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the day that their employment was terminated, according to Kelly McCown, an immigration lawyer with McCown & Evans in San Francisco.

There is no such thing as a 15-day deadline to leave the country. Your friend may be referring to the informal policy of the BCIS California Service Center that considers an extension of a person's H-1B status -- without the person first having to leave the United States to obtain a new I-94 card -- if the new employer's petition is filed within 10 days of the immigrant's termination date, McCown said.

If your friends find other jobs, their new employers can apply for H-1B approval. They can then restore their legal status by leaving the United States and obtaining new I-94 cards upon re-entry, McCown said.

The child is indeed a U.S. citizen. The child's citizenship status does not change the parents' situation. Once the child reaches the age of 21, he or she can sponsor the parents for permanent residence, or green card, McCown said.

Hotline dispute: When the BCIS ended walk-in counter service at the California Service Center in Laguna Niguel this summer, the agency directed customers to a toll-free number. That customer service hotline, (800) 375-5283, has been declared a failure by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

About 79 percent of the customers who used the hotline told the association in a survey that their experience was unsatisfactory. Two out of three gave the service the lowest possible rating, saying that people who answered the telephone did not give helpful assistance.

Palma Yanni, president of the association, said phone operators are not sufficiently trained in immigration matters. They read from prepared scripts and often give wrong information, she said.

Russ Knocke, a BCIS spokesman in Washington, D.C., disputed the findings. The immigration bureau recently conducted its own survey of customers and found that 80 percent were satisfied with their use of the toll-free number, Knocke said.

Send your questions to immigration@ mercurynews.com or fax us at (408) 288-8060.

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Immigrants Changing Face of L.A. County

By JOHN ROGERS

The Associated Press

Thursday, September 18, 2003

TEMPLE CITY, Calif. - Jason Chen was pursuing the American dream when he joined the rush of Asian immigrants to Los Angeles County in the 1980s. These days, he prepares for another rush - of lunchtime customers to his noodle house.

"My mother brought us here just for a better life, I guess," said Chen, 32, as he, his mother and their employees on Wednesday prepared dim sum, rice, noodle dishes and exotic Asian drinks at their Quality and Quantity Kitchen.

Then, laughing sheepishly, he added: "Isn't that what everybody says?"

Indeed, waves of dream chasers like Chen, who have helped transform several cities like this one into booming Asian-American suburbs, have made Los Angeles County one of the most diverse areas in the nation.

The state's most populous county now has the fastest growing population of Asians and Hispanics, as well as the largest population of American Indians and Alaskan natives found anywhere in the United States, according to census figures from 2000 released Thursday.

The increase in the two years tracked since the last national census gave Los Angeles County 1.3 million Asians, 47,000 more than reported in 2000, according to the Census Bureau.

Other parts of the state also showed steady increases in their Asian populations, according to census officials, although their overall numbers do not match those found in Los Angeles County.

San Diego County's Asian population, for example, increased to 274,469 from 245,659 in 2000. Alameda County, in the San Francisco Bay area, saw its numbers rise from 301,225 to 327,017 during the same period. Orange County, with a burgeoning Vietnamese population, saw its number of Asians increase from 393,689 to 422,656.

In Los Angeles County, the Asian immigration wave, which includes Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and other ethnic groups, has been building quietly for decades.

It first gained national attention when Monterey Park, located just over a hillside from downtown Los Angeles and not far from that city's Chinatown, became America's first Asian-majority city in the 1980s.

The suburb of about 60,000 people, which was transformed during that time from a collection of blue-collar homes to an area known as Little Taipei, and later as the Chinese Beverly Hills, is now more than 60 percent Asian.

Chen, who lives in Baldwin Park, settled there when he arrived from Taiwan 20 years ago.

"Most people started in the Monterey Park area," he says of fellow Chinese immigrants. "That's where we had family and friends. That's where we could communicate in the beginning, until we learned English."

Many then fanned out east across the county's San Gabriel Valley, transforming suburbs like Temple City, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Alhambra, Diamond Bar and Arcadia into bustling areas of Asian-American commerce.

Radio and cable TV stations now carry programs in various Asian languages and main streets are lined with Asian-run businesses, many hawking Asian-language newspapers.

"Asians come here for three reasons," said Steve Lee, a Korean-American who manages the repair shop at a gas station in Arcadia, a city of about 53,000 whose Asian population nearly doubled to about 45 percent during the previous decade.

"There are lots of jobs. You can get a job as a cook or in a cleaners here right away. Then you can save and open a small business and have a better life," he said." And the third reason Asian people come here is for the schools."

Other immigrants cited different reasons for settling and staying in Los Angeles County. Among them, the word that Asians are more welcome in metropolitan areas like New York and Los Angeles than the rest of the country and that, when all else is equal, Los Angeles wins out for better weather.

Charles Jin, who arrived from China in 1984 to attend college, says he enjoys living in an area where he regularly comes in contact with Hispanics, whites and blacks, as well as Asians.

At his dry cleaners in Temple City, he said, his customer base is so varied that he no longer addresses Asian people in Chinese unless he knows that's what they prefer.

"So many Asian people look so much alike that they could be Japanese or Korean or Chinese," he said. "So I speak to them all in English."

On the Net: http://www.census.gov

© 2003 The Associated Press

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27723-2003Sep18.html

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Friday, September 19, 2003

Preserving a culture: the quest for a library

DOCUMENTS, BOOKS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEOS NEED A HOME

Mercury News Editorial

The first wave of Vietnamese arrived in San Jose in the 1970s, here in the ``Valley of Golden Flowers,'' a name they used to describe the wild mustard blooming on the valley floor. But for many Vietnamese who followed, their lives were marked by war, refugee camps and pirates who preyed on fleeing families.

Today, Santa Clara County is home to the second-largest concentration of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans in the nation. Their rich culture deserves preservation, not just for the Vietnamese community, but for San Jose and the Bay Area as well.

That's the goal behind a plan to create a Vietnamese historical library in East San Jose. The hunt is on for a temporary home for the library, which would serve as a repository for historical documents, books, photographs and videos brought here by first generation Vietnamese immigrants. It's a way to retain Vietnamese culture for future generations, and it promises to give the broader community a deeper understanding of the experiences and emotions of many Vietnamese here who have rebuilt their lives, often from scratch.

The Viet-American Cultural Foundation, led by Van Le, has partnered with City Councilman Dave Cortese to find a free-standing 2,000-square-foot space to temporarily house the library while they look for permanent digs.

Getting the project off the ground would cost about $20,000, Cortese says, most of which would go to cover rental costs and utilities. Even in tight times, raising that money should be possible in Silicon Valley.

Down the road, Vietnamese community leaders should include the library in their plans for the larger cultural gardens project, set to be built on a four-acre slice of Kelley Park. That project should have broken ground last year but it's been stalled because of politics and conflicts within the community.

San Jose city officials, who remain committed to the project but frustrated by the lack of progress, said they were terminating the old contract with the Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Foundation. One plan is to have the newly formed Viet-Heritage Society continue the project in some form, under the leadership of San Jose businessman Henry Le, co-owner of Lee's Sandwiches. With Le as its head -- and if Cortese applies enough energy-- it's an effort that should succeed.

If you're interested in helping with the library, contact Van Le at the Viet-American Cultural Foundation at (408) 347-8769 or by e-mail, vietacf@yahoo.com.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/6809685.htm

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Active Girls Less Likely to Use Drugs

New research shows that high-school girls who are on a sports team and are physically active are less likely to engage in risky behavior such as using drugs, the New York Times reported Sept. 16.

Experts have long believed physically active high-school students were less likely to use drugs. However, previous studies linked physical activity specifically with team membership.

In a national survey of 15,000 students conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers found that one-fourth of team members were not very active. Furthermore, students who were very active didn't necessarily belong to a team.

In fact, the research showed that only the 42 percent of girls who were both physically active and took part in a team sport were less likely to engage in risky behavior.

No similar pattern was found among high-school boys.

The study's findings are published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Kulig, K., Brener, N., & McManus, T. (2003) Sexual Activity and Substance Use Among Adolescents by Category of Physical Activity Plus Team Sports Participation. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 157(9): 905-912.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/health/16ADOL.html?ex=1064912378&ei=1&en=a1c95d149bec68b9

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/

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September 23, 2003

A late spurt of registrations reflects voter interest in recall

By Mike Zapler, Putsata Reang and David L. Beck

Mercury News

Jade Pham expected to spend Monday nestled in bed with a nasty cold. Then she noticed it was the last day to register to vote in the recall election, so the 28-year-old recent law school grad got dressed, trudged to the Santa Clara County Registrar's Office, and filled out forms so she could vote for the first time in four years.

``This is so important that I had to get my butt out of bed,'' said Pham.

She was not alone.

Registrars around the Bay Area reported a stream of people scrambling to meet Monday's deadline to register in time for the Oct. 7 recall, assuming the election isn't delayed. The media frenzy surrounding the race has prompted thousands of people to sign up to vote in recent weeks, a level of interest on par or slightly below what election officials said they typically see before a presidential election.

``We're very busy,'' said Alameda County Registrar Brad Clark. ``The registration is more like in a general election rather than a special election.''

The Secretary of State's Office plans to release updated, statewide voter registration totals before Oct. 7. The last report, through Aug. 8, showed that the recall had not triggered the surge of new registrations many had expected. A separate, informal survey by the office of the 16 largest counties between Aug. 8 and Aug. 25, when media coverage was at saturation, turned up a scant 31,745 new registered voters.

But interest seems to have picked up slightly since then, tempered by a federal appeals court ruling last week, now being appealed, that ordered the election delayed.

In Santa Cruz County, many last-minute registrants seemed to be students returning to the University of California-Santa Cruz, who had changed addresses since the last election.

Santa Cruz County elections program coordinator Jaime Young said the department participated in a ``vendor fair'' on campus over the weekend and signed up about 300 voters.

``The election kind of came in like a lion,'' she said. ``Like a presidential election -- a lot of oomph behind it. When the court came out with its ruling, it dropped way off.''

She was referring to the court ruling last week, now on appeal, that would postpone the recall until March. Another set of judges heard the case Monday and could rule as early as today.

In San Mateo County, elections manager David Tom said registration over the past month was running about double the usual pace.

``Talking within the elections community, that seems to be what others are saying, too: that they are having a much higher registration rate,'' Tom said.

Figures provided by the Santa Clara County elections department show that almost 17,000 people have registered in September, excluding Monday. New registrations for the month will probably slightly exceed those for the month before last year's gubernatorial election, but fall short of the number who signed up to vote before the Nov. 2000 presidential election.

At the Santa Clara County Registrar's Office, all day long a steady stream of people filed in to fill out paperwork and make sure they can cast ballots. Many were first-time voters.

``Between Arnold and all the hoopla, this election got me interested,'' said Nick Pham, 27, a high school math teacher from Milpitas who has never voted before. Pham said he wants to see how the campaigns unfold before deciding whom to back.

Others had changed addresses and needed to update their file to be eligible to vote.

Bevan Herbekian, a UC-Santa Cruz student, had company as he filed his voting paperwork on the final day he could.

``I guess I've just been busy,'' he said.

In Alameda County, the registrar of voters office reported a spike in voter registration that mirrors the increase in the run-up to last year's race for governor.

Hung Truong, a 45-year-old East Bay technician, was among the many who showed up at the county registrar's office to register Monday. Filing to vote Monday, he blamed Gov. Gray Davis for the state's fiscal crisis and said he didn't want to pass up a chance to vote him out of office. He plans to vote for actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Mercury News Staff Writer Renee Koury contributed to this report. Contact Mike Zapler at mzapler@mercurynews.com or (408) 275-0140.

(http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/recall/6838876.htm)

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