NCVA REPORTER - December 21, 2004

In this NCVA Reporter:

Events

• Drug-Free Communities Grant Application Workshop – Multiple Dates in Jan & Feb 2005

Funding Opportunities

• Green Communities Initiative Announces Grant Guidelines
• CiviConnections Grants to Support School Service-Learning Projects
• Cable Positive's Tony Cox Community Fund to Support HIV/AIDS Programming
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Announces Excellence in Cardiac Care Program for Minority Americans
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Accepting Applications for Culturally Competent Health Care Grant Program
• International Women's Media Foundation Announces Fellowship for Journalists Reporting on Human Rights and Social Justice
• Independent Sector Invites Nominations for John W. Gardner Leadership Award

Jobs/Internships

• Project Vote Smart Research Internships
• National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development Winter/Spring Internships 2005
• National Endowment for the Humanities Offers Summer Internships Program
• Getty Funding Available for Multicultural Internships at Los Angeles Area Museums and Visual Arts Organizations

Tips/Resources

• Free Tech Planning Tool for Nonprofits
• Media Grants for Nonprofits

News

• For Rep. Sanchez, No Goodwill in Vietnam (Washington Post)
• National Southeast Asian American Groups Call for Healing and Unity After Shootings in Wisconsin (Press Release)
• Hate Crime/Hate Incident Tracking Form (Press Release)
• APIAVOTE Holds Historic Post-Election Debrief for Asian Pacific Islander Americans (Press Release)
• Stark Contrasts Found Among Asian Americans (Los Angeles Times)
• Radio Address of the President to the Nation Regarding Economic Summit (Press Release)
• D.C. Official Helps People Understand One Another (Washington Post)
• Election of S.J. School Trustee Marks Group’s Push to Find Voice (Mercury News)

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EVENTS

SAVE THE DATE FOR DRUG-FREE COMMUNITIES GRANT APPLICATION WORKSHOP

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
625 Slaters Lane, Suite 300
Alexandria, VA 22314
www.cadca.org

The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Program will offer a series of regional workshops starting in January 2005 for community coalitions that are interested in learning how to apply for a DFC grant. The workshops will provide detailed information about the application process, including requirements for the FY 2005 DFC grant application. Both existing and potential grantees are welcome to attend the workshops. To register for the workshops, visit cadca.org/DFCApplication.

Workshops will run from 8:30 am-4 p.m. The first DFC grant application workshop will be held on January 14, the day following the close of CADCA's National Leadership Forum.

While there is no registration fee, you are responsible for all other costs associated with attendance. Please contact the hotel directly to secure a room if you need one. There are a limited number of rooms at each location. Room rates are noted below. When calling a hotel, be sure to request the "Applicant Workshop Block."

Workshops will be held on the following dates and locations:

Jan. 14- Renaissance Hotel
999 9th Street
Washington, DC
Phone-202-898-9000
Fax-202-962-4470
Room Rate $155.00

Jan. 18- Marriott City Center, Charlotte, NC
100 W Trade St
Charlotte, NC 28202
Phone: 704-333-9000
Fax: 704-347-178
Room Rate $129.00

Jan. 25- Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel
5855 West Century Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90045
Phone-310-641-5700
Fax-310-337-5358
Room Rate $100.00

Jan. 27- Renaissance Chicago Hotel
1 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Phone-312-372-7200
Fax-312-372-0093
Room Rate $155.00

Feb. 1- Oklahoma City Sheraton
1 North Broadway
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
405-235-2780
Room Rate: $109.00

The Drug-Free Communities program provides grants of up to $100,000 for up to five years to community coalitions working to reduce substance abuse locally using multiple strategies across multiple community sectors. The Drug-Free Communities currently funds more than 700 coalitions located throughout the country. The new 2004 Drug-Free Communities grantees -- announced in September -- received a total of $21.9 million in matching grants. To learn more about the Drug-Free Communities Program, visit drugfreecommunities.samhsa.gov.

For questions about the workshops, e-mail workshops@cadca.org.

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

GREEN COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE ANNOUNCES GRANT GUIDELINES

Deadline: Rolling

The Green Communities Initiative is a five-year, $550 million initiative to build more than 8,500 homes across the United States that provide significant health, economic, and environmental benefits to low-income families and communities. The effort is a partnership of the Enterprise Foundation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects, the American Planning Association, and leading corporate, financial, and philanthropic organizations.

The initiative will offer financing, grants, and technical assistance to developers to build affordable housing that promotes health, conserves energy and natural resources, and provides easy access to jobs, schools, and services.

Grants will help cover the costs of planning and implementing green components of affordable housing projects, as well as tracking their costs and benefits.

A minimum of $1 million in grant funds is available to participants. Individual grants are expected to range between $15,000 and $50,000.

The grant competition is open to 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public housing authorities and tribally designated housing entities. For-profit entities may participate though joint ventures with qualified organizations.

(http://enterprisefoundation.org/resources/green/)

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CIVICONNECTIONS GRANTS TO SUPPORT SCHOOL SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECTS

Deadline: February 25, 2005

CiviConnections, a three-year teacher grant program funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Council for the Social Studies, supports students and teachers across the United States in linking inquiry into local history with service-learning activities.

Teams of three teachers from grades 3-12 in the same public school district are invited to apply for grants of $7,500 through the program. The grant covers the costs of attending a summer workshop, implementing the program during the fall of 2005, and attending a 2005 conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Applicants must be members of the National Council for the Social Studies (or agree to join if their application is accepted). Teachers that teach disciplines other than social studies are eligible to apply; however, priority will be given to those teachers who teach social studies or a social science course. Part time or retired teachers are not eligible.

(http://www.socialstudies.org/civiconnections/)

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CABLE POSITIVE’S TONY COX COMMUNITY FUND TO SUPPORT HIV/AIDS PROGRAMMING

Deadline: February 9, 2005 (2005 Cycle 1)

Cable Positive's Tony Cox Community Fund is a national grant program that exists to encourage community-based AIDS organizations and cable outlets to partner in joint community outreach efforts, or to produce and distribute new, locally focused HIV/AIDS-related programs and public service announcements (PSAs).

Eligible local community outreach projects include, but are not limited to, World AIDS Day (December 1) and National HIV Testing Day (June 27) events, AIDS Rides/ Walks, other joint efforts between AIDS organizations and local cable operators, etc. Funding is also available for production costs of HIV/AIDS-related programs and PSAs.

Grants are available up to $5,000 for 501(c)(3) organizations, with special consideration given to AIDS service organizations (ASOs) and cable systems and producers partnering with ASOs.

(http://cablepositive.org/programs-tonycox.html)

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ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES EXCELLENCE IN CARDIAC CARE PROGRAM FOR MINORITY AMERICANS

Deadline: January 14, 2005 (Letter of Intent)

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ( http://rwjf.org/ ) has announced Expecting Success: Excellence in Cardiac Care, a new program designed to improve the quality of health care provided to minority Americans by focusing on the continuum of cardiovascular care delivered in inpatient and outpatient settings.

The program's goals are to improve cardiovascular care for African Americans and Latinos; develop effective and replicable quality-improvement strategies, models, and resources; encourage the spread of such strategies and models to additional clinical areas; and disseminate relevant lessons to policy and provider audiences.

General acute-care hospitals or hospital consortia that serve substantial numbers of African-American and/or Latino patients with cardiovascular disease are eligible to apply.

Up to ten sites will be selected to participate in the 29-month-long collaborative "Learning Network." Each site will receive grants of $200,000 and technical assistance and training.

(http://expectingsuccess.org/)

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BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD MASSACHUSETTS FOUNDATION ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR CULTURALLY COMPETENT HEALTH CARE GRANT PROGRAM

Deadline: January 19, 2005 (Letters of Inquiry)

Through the Pathways to Culturally Competent Health Care funding program, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation ( http://www.bcbsmafoundation.org/ ) will provide grants to Massachusetts healthcare delivery organizations to help expand access to culturally competent care in a way that is systemic, replicable, and sustainable.

The program is designed to help improve the delivery of healthcare to a range of populations, including immigrants and refugees from a variety of backgrounds, African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Latin Americans, Native Americans, members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, people who are homeless, and people with disabilities.

The foundation will only consider Letters of Inquiry from healthcare delivery organizations. Community-based organizations and healthcare advocacy groups are not eligible to apply. However, healthcare delivery organizations are encouraged to consider partnerships with community-based organizations that can strengthen the delivery of culturally competent care for specific populations.

Program grants of $20,000 to $50,000 are available to applicants ready to implement new initiatives or expand existing programs that have the potential for successful outcomes and sustainability.

Planning grants of $15,000 are available for early stage initiatives supported by data and assessments indicating the viability and necessity for the program.

(http://www.bcbsmafoundation.org/foundationroot/en_US/grants/focusArea.jsp)

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S MEDIA FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES FELLOWSHIP FOR JOURNALISTS REPORTING ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Deadline: February 25, 2005

The International Women's Media Foundation invites applications for the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship, a new program that supports women journalists who report on human rights and social justice issues. The fellowship combines research opportunities at MIT's Center for International Studies and other Boston-area universities with reporting opportunities at the New York Times and the Boston Globe.

The fellowship is named for a Boston Globe reporter who was a 1998 winner of the IWMF's Courage in Journalism Award. Elizabeth Neuffer was killed in May 2003 while covering the war in Iraq. The IWMF has established this project in collaboration with Neuffer's family and friends.

The flexible structure of the fellowship will allow the fellow to design a program that combines academic research with practical experience covering human rights. The fellow will also have a key role in the Elizabeth Neuffer Forum on Human Rights and Journalism, an annual program to be held in May. The fellowship will run from September 2005 to May 2006.

Successful applicants will be dedicated to a career in journalism in print, broadcast, or Internet media and show a strong commitment to sharing knowledge and skills with colleagues upon the completion of the fellowship. Excellent written and spoken English skills are required. Expenses, including air fare and housing, will be covered.

(http://iwmf.org/programs/neuffer)

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INDEPENDENT SECTOR INVITES NOMINATIONS FOR JOHN W. GARDNER LEADERSHIP AWARD

Deadline: January 31, 2005

The John W. Gardner Leadership Award was established by Independent Sector in 1985 to honor outstanding Americans who, in their own way, exemplify the leadership and ideals of John W. Gardner, founding chairperson of Independent Sector.

The award recognizes living Americans working in or with the voluntary sector who build, mobilize, and unify people, institutions, or causes. The award consists of $10,000 and a replica of an original relief bust of John Gardner by the late sculptor Frederick Hart.

Anyone may nominate an individual to receive the award.

(http://www.independentsector.org/about/gardneraward.htm)

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JOBS/INTERNSHIPS

PROJECT VOTE SMART RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS

Project Vote Smart has received $210,000 in additional Scholarship Grant Money for our Internship Program.  We are seeking to immediately place 10 students in research positions for 10 weeks.  The students may start anytime between Jan 1 and May 1 2005.

Our political research center, founded by national political leaders Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, John McCain, Geraldine Ferraro and 40 other prominent political leaders, is now handling millions of citizen inquiries a day and  was recently recognized by over 100 news organizations as the best there is.

We provide an extraordinary experience for interns in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Our young people's efforts to defend the citizens’ right to the facts about those that govern do not stop on Election Day.  We will have over 10,000 newly elected officials to track - their speeches, voting records, backgrounds, issue positions and campaign contributions (that's right; they will already be fundraising for their next go around).  Project Vote Smart collects exciting and important research, that U.S. News and World Report says, "would make the founders weep with joy."

Students interested in applying may visit the internship page of our website –
http://www.vote-smart.org/program_internships.php
or email intern@vote-smart.org for an application form and more information.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could tell your students about this opportunity.  The Project pays all living expenses.

Lisa Coligan
Internship Coordinator

Project Vote Smart
1 Common Ground
Philipsburg, MT  59858
406.859.8683 (ph)
406.859.8680 (fx)
lisa@vote-smart.org

(www.vote-smart.org)

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NATIONAL COALITION FOR ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

WINTER/SPRING  INTERNSHIPS 2005

The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development was founded in 1999 as the first national organization dedicated to the housing and community development needs of Asian American and Pacific Islander populations. National CAPACD's mission is "to be a powerful voice for the unique community development needs of AAPI communities and to strengthen the capacity of community based organizations to create neighborhoods of hope and opportunities." Our member organizations offer a wide array of community building programs and advocate around issues of housing, employment and economic development throughout the U.S.

We are looking for Winter/Spring interns that want to gain experience with national organizing, capacity building, research and policy support. Interns can assist with a variety of projects under our core programs areas which include:

* Policy Development & Advocacy - Assist with researching and developing advocacy initiatives and involving member organizations in advocacy activities. Assist with policy analysis and legislative tracking.

* Action Research - Assist with the development and dissemination of census data, coordinate with the Asian Pacific American Community Development Data Center on developing future research studies on community development issues.

* Membership Development & Communications - Work with staff to outreach to new member organizations, assist with member organization needs assessments, develop informational materials, brochures, press releases, special reports and websites.

* Organizational & Program Development - Facilitate communications with the Board of Directors and assist with coordination of other committees and task forces. Assist with proposal development and research. Provide support for organizational programs and activities that promote community development.

To Apply:
Please visit our website to download application at
http://www.nationalcapacd.org/opportunities.html

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Please contact David Thor at 202.223.2442 or dthor@nationalcapacd.org.

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NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES OFFERS SUMMER INTERNSHIPS PROGRAM

Deadline: January 5, 2005

The Summer Internships Program of the National Endowment for the Humanities ( http://neh.gov/ ) is designed to introduce college students to the programs and operations of the federal agency charged with promoting scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities in the United States.

During their ten-week stay in Washington, D.C., interns will be assigned, in most cases, to one office of the agency to assist with daily work and participate in the intellectual life of NEH. Typically, an intern's time will be split between routine administrative duties and an individual project that makes best use of the intern's skills, talents, and interests. For example, past interns have written articles for Humanities magazine, researched emerging fields in the humanities, and developed Web-based tools for the gathering of humanities-related information.

To be eligible for an internship, an applicant must be entering his or her junior or senior year in the fall of 2005 and have declared an undergraduate major in one of the disciplines of the humanities or have a strong background in the humanities. Applicants must be either a citizen of the U.S.; a foreign national who has been a legal resident in the U.S. for at least three years; or a territorial resident of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Each intern will receive a stipend of $4,000. NEH anticipates making up to fifteen awards.

(http://neh.gov/interns/guidelines.html)

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GETTY FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR MULTICULTURAL INTERNSHIPS AT LOS ANGELES AREA MUSEUMS AND VISUAL ARTS ORGANIZATIONS

Deadline: February 1, 2005

In order to increase diversity in the professions related to museums and the visual arts, and to provide support for local organizations, the J. Paul Getty Trust ( http://getty.edu/ ) is offering funding to Los Angeles-area museums and visual arts organizations for multi-cultural undergraduate internships during the summer of 2005.

The internships are intended specifically for outstanding students who are members of groups -- i.e., individuals of African American, Asian, Latino/Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander descent -- currently underrepresented in these professions.

Museums of all types and nonprofit visual arts organizations of any size located in Los Angeles County are eligible to apply for these grants. Applicants must have nonprofit status as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Service Code.

Organizations may request support for one to three full-time internship positions, each with a salary of $3,500, for a ten-week period between June and August 2005. Organizations will also receive $500 per internship to assist with administrative costs.

Internships should be designed to offer eligible students experience in key areas such as curatorship, conservation, education, publications, and related programmatic activities.

Eligibility for internships will be limited to currently enrolled undergraduates who either reside or attend college in Los Angeles County, will have completed at least one semester of college by June 2005, and will not graduate before December 2005.

(http://getty.edu/grants/education/multicultural_la.html)

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TIPS/RESOURCES

FREE TECH PLANNING TOOL FOR NONPROFITS

TechAtlas, a free planning tool for nonprofits, will continue to be distributed by developer Npower thanks to a new grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $213,000 to NPower company for the continuation and expansion of TechAtlas, PNN Online reported Dec. 1.

Already distributed to more than 7,000 nonprofits, TechAtlas enables an organization to evaluate their current technology and leads them through a four-step process to plan the development of new technologies. The Gates Foundation grant will allow NPower to tailor its software system to better fit a wide range of nonprofit clients.

This is the second time the Gates Foundation has contributed a significant sum to the TechAtlas program; the first was in 2001. The improved program system will be available in summer 2005.

(http://www.pnnonline.org/article.php?sid=5619)

(http://techatlas.org/tools/)

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MEDIA GRANTS FOR NONPROFITS

Dec. 31 is the deadline for CyberAlert's media grants for nonprofits.

CyberAlert, an online media-monitoring company, will make grants which range from $2,340 to $3,540 to fund a full year of free news monitoring services. The company has committed to making at least 10 grants, totaling $25,000.

All charitable, educational, and non-profit organizations in the U.S. and Canada are eligible to apply. Winners will be notified in January.

For more information, visit CyberAlert and apply online.

(http://www.cyberalert.com/prgrants.html)

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NEWS

December 13, 2004

FOR REP. SANCHEZ, NO GOODWILL IN VIETNAM

By Al Kamen

Washington Post, Page A19

The arrival Friday of a United Airlines flight into Ho Chi Minh City was seen as a big deal, not merely because folks such as actor David Hasselhoff, star of the cerebral but widely acclaimed TV series "Knight Rider" and the even more esoteric "Baywatch," were aboard.

No, the landing was historic because it was the first commercial flight to arrive at Tan Son Nhat airport since the communists took over in 1975.

But another Californian, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D), was not on that or any other flight to Vietnam. That's because she's persona non grata, unable to get a visa because she has had the effrontery to criticize the commies for "blatant disregard of religious freedom" and the usual violations of human rights.

Sanchez, whose Orange County district includes "Little Saigon," also co-founded the Congressional Vietnam Caucus, a group of human rights hard-liners constantly badgering the Vietnamese to stop repressing elderly Buddhist monks.

A couple of weeks ago she was in Thailand and hoped to go to Vietnam for a couple of days to talk security and trade issues, meet with the American Chamber of Commerce and nongovernmental groups, maybe pop in on a few imprisoned dissidents and so on.

The U.S. Embassy requested a visa for her. But the country's august National Assembly said no way. "Ms. Loretta Sanchez altogether lacks objectivity and goodwill toward Vietnam. The Vietnamese National Assembly and Vietnamese public opinion" -- to which the assembly is doubtless very responsive -- "share the view that a visit to Vietnam by . . . Sanchez would not serve Vietnam-U.S. relations."

U.S. Ambassador Michael W. Marine appealed to no avail. That'll show her how the Vietnamese love to hear dissenting views.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59794-2004Dec12.html)

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December 15, 2004

PRESS RELEASE

HMONG NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INC. (HND)
SOUTHEAST ASIA RESOURCE ACTION CENTER (SEARAC)

NATIONAL SOUTHEAST ASIAN AMERICAN GROUPS CALL FOR HEALING AND UNITY AFTER SHOOTINGS IN WISCONSIN

Contacts:

Hmong National Development (HND): (202) 463-2118
* Pang Houa Moua

Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC): (202) 667-4690
* Doua Thor

National organizations representing Hmong and other Southeast Asian Americans are calling for unity among communities following the deaths of six hunters and the wounding of two others in Wisconsin on November 21, 2004.  Chai Soua Vang, the alleged assailant in the case, is a Hmong American who arrived in the U.S. from Laos in 1980.

Doua Thor, a Hmong American and the Deputy Director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) of Washington, DC, is working with communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota to ease tensions following the shooting.  “We learned earlier this week that one store in Minnesota sold bumper stickers saying ‘Save a Hunter Shoot a Mung.’  Most people know that kind of language has no place in America.  Singling out everyone in an ethnic group for punishment – even as a joke – is against what this country stands for – against really basic principles like equality and respect.  The vast majority of people, no matter what their background, realize that Mr. Vang is just one person, and whether he is guilty or not, he does not define Hmong Americans,” according to Ms. Thor.

Tong Lee, the Interim Executive Director of Hmong National Development, a Washington, DC-based Hmong American organization, voices similar concerns: “Hmong and other Asian Americans are appalled at these tragic deaths and grieve for the victims and their families.  Sadly, some are choosing to respond to this tragedy by attacking Hmong Americans. The shooting should not overshadow the many contributions made by the Hmong. We continue to enliven neighborhoods that were once run-down and to enrich the communities where we live.  All communities should be united in grief and concern, not separated by anger.  We stand united with all Americans who oppose any form of racial intolerance.”

(www.searac.org)

(www.hndlink.org)

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December 15, 2004

PRESS RELEASE

HMONG NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INC. (HND)
SOUTHEAST ASIA RESOURCE ACTION CENTER (SEARAC)
NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LEGAL CONSORTIUM (NAPALC)

HATE CRIME/HATE INCIDENT TRACKING FORM

Hmong National Development, Inc. (HND), National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC), and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) are coordinating efforts to collect information on hate crimes or hate incidents that occur against the Hmong community. If you experience, witness, hear or read about any racial bias as a result of the Chai Soua Vang hunting matter in Wisconsin or any other matter, please report the incident to NAPALC. Incidents can be reported online at www.napalc.org/reporthate/ or by selecting the “Online Hate Crimes Incident Reporting Form” link on the NAPALC homepage (www.napalc.org).

When completing the online form, try to provide as much information as possible. If you have actual newspaper clippings, photos, emails, letters, etc., please mail, fax, or email them to:

Aimee Baldillo, Esq.
National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
1140 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 296-2300 [P]
(202) 296-2318 [F]
email: abaldillo@napalc.org

If you do not have access to the Internet, have difficulty accessing the page, or need Hmong language assistance, please contact Doua Thor (doua@searac.org – 202-667-4690) at SEARAC or Pang Houa Moua (panghoua@hndlink.org – 202-463-2118) at HND.

For general inquiries, please contact:
HND: Pang Houa Moua, 202-463-2118, panghoua@hndlink.org;
NAPALC: Aimee J. Baldillo, 202-296-2300, abaldillo@napalc.org;
SEARAC: Doua Thor, 202-667-4690, doua@searac.org.

Additional information and resources on hate crimes and hate incidents can be found at: www.napalc.org/aavpubs

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December 15, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Janell Hu (APIA VOTE) National, (202) 223-9170
Ilean Her (MN) Local, (651) 296-0538

APIAVOTE HOLDS HISTORIC POST- ELECTION DEBRIEF FOR ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICANS

Washington, D.C. - At the first-ever national Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) post-election debrief, over 100 community leaders from all over the country joined APIAVote in the nation's capital to discuss how they successfully mobilized large numbers of APIA voters to the polls, and to look forward to building more political strength.

Janelle Hu, National Director of APIAVote, said, "Our community is looking forward to building greater political power through a stronger, more comprehensive program. This weekend, we were also able to hear success stories from field organizers from throughout the country about their work. We also heard about the challenges that they faced, and concluded with everyone even more committed to improving the voting system. We look forward to holding a strategic planning session in the first half of 2005 and maintaining and channeling our community's enthusiasm."

Ilean Her, Executive Director of the Council of Asian Pacifics of Minnesota in St. Paul, MN: "The APIAVote debrief provided a broad picture of how our community has truly mobilized nationally and locally, and I feel proud to have participated in such a historic event. I had the chance to learn from my peers and am bringing back some truly innovative strategies to St. Paul. Those of us in MN really need to build a strategy to develop campaigns with the local media, which will help the community in MN gain better insight into the ways APIAs are becoming increasingly vested in the American democratic system."

Gloria T. Caoile, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, stated, "We are glad to have brought together all the local volunteers and staff who implemented an exhaustive voter registration, education and mobilization campaign. APALA will continue to integrate APIAs into the labor movement and political system by providing comprehensive training programs, building capacity within local communities, and running nonpartisan voter outreach campaigns. We feel fortunate to share our knowledge and resources with other younger organizations so that our community can become increasingly politically savvy."

Eunsook Lee, Executive Director of the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, remarked, "We learned from each other that one of the key ways of institutionalizing political involvement is to organize year-round on issues that speak to our community. Also, we challenged ourselves to improve upon our successes and to support each other as we build a broad-based APIA political awakening."

Daphne Kwok, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, proclaimed, "Each election cycle, we see more and more APIAs run for public office. On November 2, there were over 230 APIA candidates at local, state, and federal levels. In the primaries, there were even more APIA candidates who are not reflected in that number. One hundred and fourteen candidates won seats in nineteen states including Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, South Carolina, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Utah, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, New York, California and Hawaii."

Christine Chen, Executive Director of the Organization of Chinese Americans, reflected, "APIAVote has moved forward by bounds and leaps since our start in 1996! What is exciting this cycle is to see young people, new people be engaged and empowered by the political process. This weekend is just the start of laying the foundation and groundwork for a permanent national structure that addresses civic participation every single day instead of once every four years."

###

APIAVote is a national coalition of non-partisan nonprofit organizations that encourages civic participation and promotes a better understanding of public policy and the electoral process among the Asian and Pacific Islander American community. National APIAVote partners are APIA Greek Alliance, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian American Online, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Hmong National Development, National Asian American Student Conference, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, Organization of Chinese Americans, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and South Asian American Voting Youth. APIAVote was founded in 1996 and maintains its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

(www.apiavote.org)

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December 16, 2004

STARK CONTRASTS FOUND AMONG ASIAN AMERICANS
* The group's average family income tops the overall U.S. figure. But while Indians prosper, Cambodians, Laotians and Hmong struggle.

By Teresa Watanabe and Nancy Wride, Times Staff Writers

Indian Americans have surged forward as the most successful Asian minority in the United States, reporting top levels of income, education, professional job status and English-language ability, even though three-fourths were foreign-born, according to U.S. census data released Wednesday.

The striking success of Asian Americans who trace their heritage to India contrasted with data showing struggles among Cambodian, Laotian and Hmong immigrants. Those three groups reported continued significant poverty rates, low job skills and limited English-language ability since their flight from war and political turmoil.

The report, "We the People: Asians in the United States," was based on 2000 census data and underscored the enormous socioeconomic diversity among the nation's 10 million Asian Americans, more than one third of whom live in California, the state with their largest population.

Asian Americans increased from 6.9 million, or 2.8% of the U.S. population, in 1990 to 10.2 million, or 3.6%, in 2000. Including mixed-race Asian Americans, counted by the census for the first time in 2000, the population was 11.9 million, or 4.2%.

"It is a community of contrasts," said Kimiko Kelly, research analyst with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles. "Asian Americans are seen as a model minority who are not suffering from barriers to education or progress. But if you look closely, you see a community that covers the whole spectrum, from wealthy to very poor."

She said the growing diversity of the community, which was mainly Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos until 1965 immigration reforms were instituted, has multiplied the challenges facing service organizations such as hers. Translators for health clinics and courts are among the pressing needs, she said.

The contrasts are detailed in the report, which provides data on such items as age, marital status, citizenship, language, education, earnings, poverty rates, occupation and home ownership among 11 Asian American groups.

Median family income, for instance, ranged from $70,849 for Japanese and $70,708 for Asian Indians to about half that for Cambodians and Hmong. Indian men showed the highest full-time earnings, $51,900, about double the figure for Hmong men.

About 64% of Asian Indians held a bachelor's degree or more, the highest rate, compared with 7.7% for Laotians and 7.5% for Hmong, the lowest. More than three-fourths of Indians and Filipinos spoke fluent English, twice the rate for Vietnamese.

Max Niedzwiecki, executive director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center in Washington, D.C., said the differences stemmed in part from different histories. Many Southeast Asian Americans came here as refugees with less formal education and with memories of traumatic experiences stemming from the Vietnam War and the murderous Khmer Rouge reign in Cambodia, he said.

In contrast, many Asians Indians emigrated voluntarily from a relatively peaceful homeland and were equipped with strong English skills to pursue higher academic degrees or business opportunities. Between 1990 and 2000, they doubled their population to 1.6 million and now rank as the third-largest Asian American group after Chinese and Filipinos.

Take, for instance, Venkatesh Koka, a 36-year-old real estate investor in Artesia. The son of a civil engineer, Koka left a comfortable life with servants in southern India to earn a master's degree in business administration at Ohio University. As in other upper-middle-class families, he had attended schools with instruction in English since his childhood, rendering him fluent even though he has always spoken Telugu, an Indian language, at home.

He says he came to the United States in 1986 after a friend studying here lured him with wide-eyed stories of freeways, an easy life and good money.

Koka worked at a bank and initially lost $1.5 million in real estate deals, filing for bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. Since then, he said, he has bounced back as manager of his family investments and has increased their value from $3 million to $15 million. This year, his family created the Little India Village shopping plaza on Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia.

"You never learn life unless you come to America," Koka said. "In India, you have servants and money from your parents. Here, you learn independence and how to lose, how to gain."

Vinay Lal, an associate professor of history at UCLA who specializes in the Indian diaspora, said Indian Americans had made their strongest contributions in the medical and high-technology industries. He said more than half of all graduates from India's prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology come to the United States, and currently number at least 25,000. He estimated that Indian Americans constituted 20% or more of Silicon Valley employees.

He believes, however, that the Census Bureau significantly undercounted lower-income Indian Americans. Other scholarly studies have found both high rates of wealth and high rates of poverty in the community.

The new report found that Southeast Asian communities continued to struggle the most, which Niedzwiecki attributed in part to lingering traumas of strife in that region.

The nation's Hmongs originally hailed from Laos but largely migrated here from refugee camps in Thailand. Many of them have settled in California's Central Valley.

Pang Houa Moua, a program manager for the Hmong National Development advocacy group in Washington, D.C., said traditional Hmong society was agrarian and isolated, with no running water or electricity. A written language was not developed until 1950, and formal education was limited: Her own parents, she said, did not learn that the world was round until they were teenagers.

"When you throw a population like that into the middle of the most technologically advanced society in the world, people are going to be confused," she said. "They're going to struggle."

Still, experts say they find a striking divide among Southeast Asians between adult refugees and their children, who are more assimilated and successful here.

For instance, 17-year-old Prumsodun Ok of Long Beach is a promising filmmaker who just won an award and recognition from the YMCA's Youth Institute, where he works after school. Prum, as he is known among friends, also is a late-blooming accomplished classical Cambodian dancer at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach.

He is the third-youngest of 10 children whose parents speak no English and have never gotten off welfare here. They have their hearts in the homeland and are "stuck in place," the teenager said Wednesday.

He said his parents' financial dependence on public assistance stemmed from their failure to learn English, from advancing age and from isolation.

"I think they've just been so unable to adapt to life here," he said of his parents. "It's always, 'Cambodia! Cambodia!' They always look inward and are scared and isolated."

Prum was born in Long Beach, the first of the siblings to be a U.S. citizen. His older siblings were born in prewar Cambodia, postwar Thai refugee camps or elsewhere before the family settled in Long Beach, home to the largest population of Cambodian refugees outside Cambodia.

His eldest siblings, now approaching middle age, have been schooled and employed, and some have their own businesses. One owns a florist shop in Eagle Rock. Another works in the after-school program at Whittier Elementary School in Long Beach. All are off welfare, which is Prum's aspiration.

A senior in Long Beach Polytechnic High School's magnet program, Prum dreams of becoming a filmmaker and is applying to the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.

"I want to be independent," he insisted, "and I don't want anything to hold me back."

*
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Asians in America

The median annual income of Asian families exceeded that of all U.S. families, and the percentage of Asians with at least a bachelor's degree was almost double that of the total population, according to the 2000 census.

(http://www.latimes.com/features/health/consumer/la-me-asians16dec16,1,2962048.story?coll=la-health-consumer-news)

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[Note: As a nonpartisan organization, NCVA does not endorse any parties or elected officials. However, we do recognize the need for public discussion on issues which affect the Vietnamese American and Asian Pacific American communities, including Social Security, Affordable Healthcare, Economic Opportunities and Education.]

December 18, 2004

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

RADIO ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  This week my administration hosted an important conference on America's economic future.  We heard from business owners, workers, economists, and many other Americans who are seeing hopeful signs throughout our country.  Our economy has come through a lot these past four years and now our people are benefiting from solid economic growth, steady gains in new jobs, record home ownership, and rising family incomes.

We also discussed some of the fundamental challenges facing our economy, from junk lawsuits and burdensome regulation to the complicated tax code, to the need for vital reforms in education, health care and entitlements.  I will work with members of both political parties to confront these problems so we can keep our economy flexible, innovative and competitive, and so America remains the best place in the world to do business.

Excessive litigation is one of the biggest obstacles to economic growth.  The tort system now costs America's economy more than $230 billion a year, and no other country faces a greater burden from junk lawsuits.  Our litigious society deters job creation and consumes billions of dollars that could be better spent on investment and expansion.  Frivolous lawsuits put American workers at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy and have a devastating impact on the medical community.  When Congress convenes next year, the House and Senate need to pass sound reforms on our medical liability, class action, and asbestos litigation systems.

Another challenge in our economy is the rising cost of health care.  More than half of all uninsured Americans are small business employees and their families.  And while many business owners want to provide health care for their workers, they just can't afford the high cost.  To help more Americans get care, we need to expand tax-free health savings accounts, which are already making a difference for small businesses and families.  We should encourage health information technology that minimizes error and controls costs.  And Congress must allow small firms to join together and buy health insurance at the same discounts big companies get.

To grow their businesses and create jobs, small business owners also need relief from excessive taxes and regulation.  The tax relief we passed has been critical to our economic recovery, and Congress needs to make that tax relief permanent.  We also need to reform our complicated tax code to encourage investment and growth, and reduce headache for taxpayers.  And to promote innovation in hiring, we must lift the burden of needless federal regulation on hardworking entrepreneurs.

As our businesses create advanced, high-paying jobs, we must ensure that workers have the education and skills to fill those jobs. We've made a good start with the No Child Left Behind Act, which is already helping students make progress in the early grades.  Now we need to bring high standards and accountability to high schools, and make sure job-training programs prepare workers for the innovative jobs of the 21st century.

To help our young people we must also fix the long-term problems in the Social Security system.  Workers in their mid-20s today will find Social Security bankrupt when they retire, unless we act to save it.  As we reform and strengthen the system we will deliver all the benefits owed to current and near retirees.  We must not increase payroll taxes.  And we must tap into the power of markets and compound interest by giving younger workers the option of saving some of their payroll taxes in a personal investment account, a nest egg they call their own, which the government can never take away.

The week's conference provided a good opportunity to discuss our economic challenges with Americans from many backgrounds, and to set the issues clearly before Congress.  I'm open to good ideas from Democrats and Republicans.  I will work with any who shares our goal of strengthening the economy.  But I will not ignore these challenges and leave them to another day.  We have a duty to the American people to act on these issues, and we will get results.

Thank you for listening.

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December 19, 2004

D.C. OFFICIAL HELPS PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER
New Law Requires Agencies To Translate and Interpret

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer, Page C05

When she was growing up, Aryan Rodriguez was struck by some people's response when her grandparents struggled with English.

THEY SPOKE LOUDER.
"I never understood that -- if you speak louder, they'd be able to understand you better," she said.

Now Rodriguez is seeking a better way to help people who aren't fluent. As the District's language-access director, she is coordinating efforts by city agencies to comply with a new law requiring them to provide interpreters and translations of vital documents.

Rodriguez, who took charge of the new post in August, said she has been impressed by agency directors' willingness to make changes.

"They've looked at it as, 'There's no other choice but to do this, especially with how diverse the Washington area is getting,' " said Rodriguez, who is originally from Puerto Rico.

The number of D.C. residents with limited English proficiency grew from about 30,000 to 38,000 in a decade, according to the 2000 Census. They make up about 7 percent of the population.

The Language Access Act, which became law in April, requires nearly two dozen city agencies to take steps to ensure that such residents have equal access to services. The agencies must have translators and provide official materials in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Amharic, an Ethiopian language.

Rodriguez, 26, is used to moving between cultures. An Air Force brat, she grew up in Puerto Rico, Ohio, Alabama, Germany and Maryland. She has an aunt who is an immigration lawyer as well as an uncle who is an immigration judge.

"It's been in the family a long time," she said of her interest in people from other places.

Since graduating from the University of Maryland in 2000 with degrees in government and communications, Rodriguez has been working in the city's Office of Human Rights, which oversees implementation of the new law.

Rodriguez has spent much of her time working with the eight agencies in the first group required to comply with the law. They include the police department, public schools, fire and emergency services and several health and human services agencies. All agencies must be in compliance by October 2006.

The eight agencies have completed assessments of their efforts and named language-access coordinators. Vital documents for the agencies have all been translated into at least five languages, Rodriguez said.

One of her challenges going forward will be to create standard practices for agencies that have very different missions, she said. An even bigger issue is to come up with the money for implementing those practices.

"Resources is a huge challenge," she said. The new law came with a $300,000 budget in its first year, enough to hire Rodriguez and an assistant and translate some documents. Agencies must shoulder most of the expense for additional staff or programs.

Denise Gilman of the Language Access Coalition, an alliance of pro-immigrant groups that pressed for the new law, said members initially were concerned about Rodriguez's limited experience in government.

"However, I have to say that we have really been pleased and pleasantly surprised by the vigor with which she has taken on this role. She has really just jumped in there and organized the process and pushed agencies to the limit," said Gilman, who works for the Washington Lawyers Committee.

Eugenio Arene, another member of the coalition, agreed that Rodriguez has been effective.

"My impression is that she has passion and willingness to have a strong coalition" with community groups, he said. "I am not concerned about her that much, but about the political will from the city administrators on down" to hire more Latinos and ensure compliance with the law, said Arene, executive director of the Council of Latino Agencies.

Rodriguez tries to compensate for her youth with energy. Asked about her hobbies, she acknowledged that she is a workaholic. "My hobby is to ensure this program goes in the right direction," she said.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11230-2004Dec19.html)

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December 20, 2004

A shift for Vietnamese
ELECTION OF S.J. SCHOOL TRUSTEE MARKS GROUP'S PUSH TO FIND VOICE

By Jon Fortt
Mercury News

When Lan Nguyen entered Andrew Hill High School as a sophomore in 1984, he had about two years to learn English, graduate and adjust to life outside the homeland he had fled in the bottom of a fishing boat.

Twenty years later, Nguyen is the first Vietnamese-American trustee in the school district he entered as a refugee. The soft-spoken social services analyst represents a dramatic shift in a community that once largely ignored local politics, focusing its energy instead on fighting communism abroad.

Already, his presence on the East Side Union High School District board has had an impact on other Vietnamese parents, who have at times felt alienated from local government. About two dozen Vietnamese community members attended Nguyen's first meeting as a trustee earlier this month -- an unusual showing.

The younger generation of Vietnamese-Americans is ``very gung-ho about getting involved in politics because they're looking at America as their home country,'' said Kim Singh, executive director of the Asian American Public Policy Institute in Los Altos. ``If you're not at the table, other people are going to make decisions on your behalf.''

Nguyen's path to politics began last year. When a San Jose police officer was cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting death of Bich Cau Thi Tran, a rare, unified outcry arose in the Vietnamese community. Older immigrants joined the younger generation in condemning the shooting, in which the officer mistook a vegetable peeler Tran waved at him for a cleaver.

Days after the officer was cleared, a group of about 20 concerned Vietnamese professionals gathered in an Evergreen home and formed a group called Coalition for Vietnamese Americans. Something had to be done to change local politics, they decided. They needed an elected official to make their voices heard.

They interviewed candidates and checked their backgrounds, then asked Nguyen, a 35-year-old counselor and longtime community activist, to run for a seat on the East Side Union High School District board.

The coalition cut its teeth on Nguyen's campaign.

``This was the first race,'' said Arthur Bao, a co-founder of the coalition. ``We all put in what our strengths were. One member in the community was a Web developer. One person who had a lot of contacts was a campaign manager. We had people in charge of fundraising. If they could cook, they were in charge of food.''

The coalition reached out to other Asian-American and Latino groups and Nguyen became the first Vietnamese-American candidate to win support from La Raza Roundtable, a prominent Latino political group in San Jose.

Ultimately, Nguyen won one of two open seats in the hotly contested race against incumbents Craig Mann and Juanita Ramirez in November, placing him on the board of one of the county's largest school districts -- serving 24,000 students, about one in five of them Vietnamese.

Nguyen is not the area's first Vietnamese politician -- Madison Nguyen (no relation) won election to the Franklin-McKinley School District board two years ago. But East Side Union is more than twice the size of Franklin-McKinley, which has Lan Nguyen's supporters saying that his victory could have implications for the future of city politics.

Lan Nguyen was looking to the future when he decided to step up and run for the post.

``I want my children to be able to grow up later and inherit something that's good in the district,'' he said. His wife, Polly Tran, gave birth to their first child, Connor Viet Nguyen, three weeks before the election.

Nguyen was born in Vietnam, the oldest of four children. When the communist government wanted to put his father in a re-education camp after the war, father and son decided to flee.

Six times, their efforts failed -- cheats took their money but did not provide a boat for escape, or authorities caught wind of the plans. But the seventh time, an aunt connected the pair with fishermen who were allowed to leave Vietnamese waters; the two escaped by hiding with about 50 others in the ice-lined cargo hold of a 10-by-30-foot fishing boat.

Eventually they arrived at a U.S. naval base, and because Nguyen's father had been an officer in the South Vietnamese army, they were invited to come to the United States.

Nguyen's father worked 16- and 18-hour days in restaurants, saving enough money to bring over Lan's mother, sisters and brother. They arrived eight years later.

Nguyen's life experiences have influenced what he wants to accomplish on the school board. Parental involvement is increasingly important in schools, he said. His father worked long hours for their survival, so Nguyen knows how little time many immigrant families have to check homework and attend teacher conferences. He intends to speak on Vietnamese-language radio at least once a month to give updates on what's happening in the district.

And Nguyen's experience has shone through in other ways.

During his first private school board meeting, the five board members considered several expulsion cases, including some Vietnamese students. When parents were present, Nguyen was able to ask questions and address their concerns without the usual need for an interpreter. In another case, a male student arrived with a young woman who said she was his 22-year-old sister, and that she would speak for the family because their parents had to work.

Board members were skeptical, said the board's president, J. Manuel Herrera -- until Nguyen explained that in Vietnamese families older siblings often assume such duties.

``His voice is unique in the policy deliberations of the board,'' Herrera said. ``It helped us to respond in a more sensitive manner.''

Contact Jon Fortt at jfortt@mercurynews.com or (408) 278-3489.

(http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/10458495.htm)

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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.