NCVA Reporter - December 23, 2003

In this NCVA Reporter:

Events

  • Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Hearing – January 13, 2004
  • Vietnamese Language Classes
  • Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) - Summer 2004

Funding Opportunities

  • Support for Creative Activist Recruitment Projects
  • Community Support from Sempra
  • Microsoft Software Giveaways
  • Baltimore Community Foundation Grants
  • E-Scholars

Jobs/Internships

  • Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program
  • MVMA Program Manager

Tips

  • Website Offers Management Information for Leaders in Community Development
  • Guide to Data on Immigrants in U.S. Communities

News

  • Little Saigon District Development – San Francisco, CA
  • Court Rules Administration Can’t Hold U.S. Citizen as ‘Enemy Combatant’ (Congressional Quarterly)
  • End May Be Near for Swordfish Fleet (Los Angeles Times)
  • Census Report Confirms Most in Santa Ana Foreign-Born (Los Angeles Times)
  • Civil rights leader steers group to broader focus (Mercury News)
  • Medical mission to Vietnam (Mercury News)
  • Area's diversity represented (Houston Chronicle)

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Events

Invitation to Attend A Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Field Hearing

Dear Friends:

I invite you to attend a critical field hearing sponsored by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus on the status of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (the Initiative).  The hearing will provide background on the Initiative, and will review the current and future status of the Initiative.  The hearing will take place on Tuesday, January 13th from 10:00 a.m. - noon at the Santa Clara City Council Chambers, 1500 Warburton Avenue, Santa Clara, CA.*

As you may know, the Initiative was originally established by President Clinton's Executive Order 13125, which also established the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (the Commission).  President Bush signed an Executive Order renewing the Initiative and Commission once, but that Executive Order extended the Initiative and Commission only to June 7, 2003.

The Initiative was originally established to advise the President, through the Secretary of Health and Human Services, on the three mandates of the Executive Order: To develop, monitor and coordinate federal efforts to improve Asian American and Pacific Islander participation in government programs; to foster research and data collection for Asian American and Pacific Islander populations and sub-populations; and to increase public and private sector and community involvement in improving the health and well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The Commission presented an Interim Report to the President in January of 2001, and focused on five cross-cutting issues:

* Improving data collection, analysis and dissemination for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders;

* Ensuring access, especially linguistic access and cultural competence, for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders;

* Protecting civil rights and equal opportunity for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders;

* Strengthening and sustaining Asian American and Pacific Islander community capacity;

* And recognizing and including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in federal programs and services.

I sincerely hope that you will make the time to come find out more and offer input about the Initiative's progress and future direction.  A distinguished panel of AAPI community leaders, as well as representatives from the Initiative, will be invited to give us all more insight into the plans for the direction of this important effort.  Your input is essential, as we provide important feedback to the Administration about next steps for the Initiative.

For more information about our hearing, you can contact Jennifer Van der Heide Escobar, Chief of Staff, and Bob Sakaniwa, Senior Counsel at 202-225-2631; or Victoria Tung, CAPAC Fellow, and Elizabeth Lee, Field Representative at 408-558-8085.

Thank you in advance for participating at this critical forum.

Sincerely,

Michael M. Honda

Chair-Elect

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

*Parking is available in the lot east of the Council Chambers in designated visitor spaces or undesignated spaces.  Parking is also available on Warburton Avenue and across the street from City Hall in the Triton Museum of Art parking lot.  Please do not park in spaces reserved for City vehicles.

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Vietnamese Language Classes

Vietnamese Fundamentals is going into its 5th semester this Spring 2004:

COURSES AVAILABLE:

  - Regular (12 weeks): for students w/ no knowledge of Vietnamese

  - On Caffeine (8 weeks): for students w/ basic command of spoken Vietnamese

WHEN:

  - 1st class: 6:20pm - 8:20pm Tuesday, 1/27/04.

  - Make up for 1st class: 6:20pm - 8:20pm Thursday 1/29/04.

  - Classes meet 6:20pm - 8:20pm Tuesdays (Drills) and Thursdays (Lectures) thereafter.

WHERE/HOW:

  - Pre-register by 5pm Monday, 1/19/04 to attend the 1st class for free:

    http://fundamentals-first.com/vietnamese/preg-html.htm

  - Vietnamese-American Community Center at:

    42 Charles Street, Dorchester, MA  02122

DETAILS:

  - Information on directions, tuition, required texts, instructors, etc.:

    http://fundamentals-first.com/vietnamese

Son Vu

svu@fundamentals-first.com

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Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) - Summer 2004

(http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/SEASSI/)

The Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) will offer 8-week intensive summer Heritage language and culture classes in Khmer, Lao, Hmong and Vietnamese. The classes will take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from June 14 to August 6, 2004.

These classes are intended for Hmong, Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese university students who grew up in North America and can speak/understand the language of their Southeast Asian culture (to at least a minimal degree) and would like to learn to read and write their language as well. Students with no oral or spoken command of the language can also study at SEASSI, but would be placed in a beginning level class with non-native speakers. Placement will be determined on the first day of classes.

Students will have a chance to learn more about the traditions of the culture and how to make sense of their lives and traditions in America/Canada in an historic al context. Independent, project-oriented study opportunities will also be available, in the context of modular instruction, so students who enter the program at an intermediate literacy level can also have their educational needs met and be stimulated and challenged.

The classes are taught by experienced instructors from the United States, Canada and Southeast Asia, and make use of the latest teaching materials and methods. All classes carry one full year of university language credit. A variety of fellowships and tuition reductions are available. For more information, please visit the SEASSI Heritage Program website:

http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/SEASSI/heritage

Even if you've visited the above website before, please take another look, since new photos, videos and program information ha ve recently been added for Vietnamese, Khmer and Hmong.

Please note also these important deadlines in regard to applying for financial aid for the program:

January 12, 2004 FLAS Fellowship Application Deadline
February 2, 2004 Heritage Language Fellowship Application Deadline
April 1, 2004 Tuition Fellowship Application Deadline
April 1, 2004 Wisconsin Bilingual Education Grant Deadline
April 1, 2004 Final SEASSI Application Deadline

For descriptions of the individual fellowships, please see:

http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/seassi/financial_aid.htm

Please circulate this information to any potentially interested parties. Thank you.

Frank Smith
 Heritage Language Facilitator
 Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute
 University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Funding Opportunities

Support for Creative Activist Recruitment Projects

 General Service Foundation: Engagement Innovation Test Fund

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

The Engagement Innovation Test Fund, a collaboration of the General Service Foundation and the Common Assets Defense Fund, supports creative efforts to engage or recruit new members and activists in the work of public interest organizations while educating the public about the organizations' missions. The goal of the Fund is to test a number of member and activist recruiting techniques from a variety of different organizations and movements and share the lessons learned widely. Grants of between $3,000 and $6,000 are available to nonprofit organizations that wish to undertake short-term projects of six months or less with replicable results. Applications must be submitted via email by January 7, 2004. Application information and forms are available on the website listed above.

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Community Support from Sempra

 Sempra Energy Community Partnership Program

(http://www.sempra.com/community.htm)

The Sempra Energy Community Partnership Program supports organizations and activities in communities where Sempra Energy employees live and work including communities in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. The Community Partnership Program's areas of interest include education, the environment, business and economic development, community and civic leadership, health and human services, and arts and culture. Information about communities where the company has a presence can be found at http://www.sempra.com/community_1a1c.htm. Applications are accepted throughout the year. Visit the above website for more information or to apply online.

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Microsoft Software Giveaways

(http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/citizenship/giving/apply/)

The Microsoft Corporation will donate computer software to support the creation of community-based technology and learning centers that seek to bridge the "digital divide" and fight technological illiteracy.

Nonprofits that have the necessary computer hardware to run the requested software may apply. Groups that operate afterschool programs are encouraged to apply.

For more information, see the Microsoft website or contact Microsoft Corporation, Community Affairs, 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052; 206-936-8185.

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Baltimore Community Foundation Grants

(http://www.bcf.org/grants_ggag.html)

The Baltimore Community Foundation is accepting letters of inquiry from local programs in three grantmaking areas: arts and culture, children and families, and community development.

Specifically, the foundation is interested in programs that support disadvantaged neighborhoods, develop young leaders, and improve the health and welfare of children and families, among other priorities.

Nonprofits in the Baltimore areas may apply. For more information, contact Dion Cartwright, BCF, 2 East Read St., Baltimore, MD; 410-332-4171; e-mail: dcartwright@bcf.org.

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e-Scholars

(http://www.studentjobs.gov/e-scholar.asp)

The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) e-Scholar website provides all students (high school and higher), parents, and career professionals information on different educational opportunities offered by Federal Government departments and agencies, or partnering organizations. If you have any questions, please read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) .

(http://www.studentjobs.gov/e_faqs.asp)

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Jobs/Internships

BARBARA JORDAN HEALTH POLICY SCHOLARS PROGRAM

The Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program is Now Accepting Applications for the Summer of 2004.

Program: The Scholars Program brings talented African American, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native college seniors and recent graduates to Washington, DC, where they work in congressional offices and learn about health policy. The application deadline is January 30, 2004.

Purpose: The Kaiser Family Foundation established the Scholars Program to honor the legacy of late U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who was a Foundation Trustee, and to expand the pool of students of color interested in the field of health policy.

Structure: Through the nine-week program (June 1 - July 30, 2004), Scholars gain knowledge about federal legislative procedure and health policy issues, while further developing their critical thinking and leadership skills. In addition to an internship in a congressional office, Scholars participate in seminars and site visits to augment their knowledge of health care issues, and write and present a health policy research paper. The program is based at Howard University.

Eligibility: Eligible candidates must be U.S. citizens who are members of a racial/ethnic minority group and will be seniors or recent graduates of an accredited U.S. college or university in the fall of 2004. Candidates are selected based on academic performance, demonstrated leadership potential and interest in health policy.

Compensation: Scholars receive approximately $5,000 in support, which includes a stipend, daily expense allowance, airfare and lodging.

Additional information: Application forms and additional information about the Program are available online at http://www.kff.org/docs/topics/jordanscholars.html. For further information, contact program manager Jomo Kassaye at 202.865.4827 or jkassaye@huhosp.org.

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MVMA JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

The Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Association, Inc. (MVMA), a non-profit, educational and community organization based in Wheaton, Maryland, is searching for a full-time Program Manager to manage its programs and daily operations. For additional information about MVMA please go to: www.mdvietmutual.org.

Title: Program Manager

Roles and Responsibilities: The successful candidate will manage a variety of educational programs for a predominantly Asian American/Vietnamese American clientele. Responsibilities will include recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, supervising, and evaluating college interns and teaching staff; writing and assisting with writing grants; preparing budgets, financial reports and bills; ensuring compliance with documentation/reporting requirements; meeting with grantor representatives.

Duties include but are not limited to:
* Provide leadership, supervision and management of program.
* Assist with budget development to ensure adequate funding to meet program needs.
* Assess opportunities for and initiate new program activities.
* Identify new opportunities for funding and fundraising.
* Develop comprehensive individual donor program including prospect identification, solicitation strategies, cultivation, stewardship and upgrading.
* Oversee database maintenance and gift acknowledgement process.
* Work in conjunction with the Membership Director to develop an annual newsletter.
* Attend community and outreach events as requested by the Chair and Executive Director.
* Maintain a professional working environment.

Qualifications:
* U.S. Citizen.
* Bachelor's degree or higher.
* Excellent oral, written communication and interpersonal skills.
* Strong computer skills; Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc...) and Internet research skills.
* Organized and able to work independently with initiative and minimal supervision.
* Ability to lead and motivate volunteers and interns; team player.
* Able to work with flexibility and maintain a sense of humor.
* Bilingual in English and Vietnamese is helpful but not required.

Compensation: Salary commensurate with experience; paid vacation, holiday, and sick leave; health insurance coverage.

Applicants should e-mail, fax, or mail resume and salary history to:

Hoan Dang
hoan.dang@mdvietmutual.org
(301) 942-1257 (fax)
11501 Georgia Avenue, Suite #312
Wheaton, MD 20902

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Tips

Website Offers Management Information for Leaders in Community Development

Management Information Exchange

 (http://www.lcmmix.org/)

Management Information Exchange (MiX), a website dedicated to energizing and growing the management expertise of leaders in community development, offers community-based organizations and their staffs a free source of management information. The website, using information drawn from the management practices of successful community-based organizations and from the private and nonprofit sectors, addresses such challenges as motivating people, managing change, communicating for results, working with boards of directors, and developing high performance management systems. Visit the above website to access the resources.

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Guide to Data on Immigrants in U.S. Communities

The New Neighbors: A User's Guide to Data on Immigrants in U.S. Communities, by Randy Capps, Jeffrey S. Passel, Daniel Perez-Lopez and Michael Fix, is a new publication about changing immigration patterns. Prepared by the Urban Institute with the support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the guide provides an overview of national trends in immigration and a review of data sources useful for answering policy and research questions. Figures in the guide are based primarily on U.S. Census 2000 data. They include the following findings:

* Immigrants Disperse to New Growth States - The five states with the fastest growing immigrant populations are North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, Arkansas and Utah.

* Latin Americans and Asians Predominate among the Foreign-born - Fifty-two percent of foreign-born immigrants are from Mexico or other Latin American countries.

* More than Half of Recent Arrivals are Limited English Proficient - Sixty percent of immigrants who arrived during the 1990s are limited English proficient.

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit policy research and educational organization. This and other reports on immigration and related issues are available through the Urban Institute Web site: http://www.urban.org  

Or contact:

The Urban Institute
2100 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Tel: (202) 833-7200

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News

Little Saigon District Development – San Francisco, CA

The opening of the Asian Art Museum--and the anticipated arrival of 500,000 new visitors per year to the area--represents an excellent economic development and community revitalization opportunity for the Tenderloin. The Museum has a natural and long-term interest in beautifying the area and making itself the centerpiece of a destination zone of Asian arts and culture. An association with local businesses and community organizations, in coordination with City departments, could help the Museum to realize this goal.

We envision a Little Saigon District featuring cuisine, public art, and cultural programming. This area would be anchored by numerous existing Southeast Asian eateries and retailers, and by the new Asian Art Museum. Phased in over time to facilitate participation and ensure success, it would involve careful coordination of marketing, signage, merchandising, and street cleaning.

The following document outlines projects and phases that could support a Little Saigon District--from early administrative efforts and community organizing to more comprehensive projects involving institutional collaborations and permanent financing mechanisms. Like any complex effort, it is a work in progress. We encourage discussion and look forward to receiving feedback on it.

(http://www.urbansolutionssf.org/downloads/little_saigon_draft.pdf)

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December 18, 2003

COURT RULES ADMINISTRATION CAN'T HOLD U.S. CITIZEN AS 'ENEMY COMBATANT'

Congressional Quarterly

A three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled today that a U.S. citizen arrested 19 months ago on suspicion of planning a terrorist act cannot be held as an "enemy combatant" because Congress did not authorize such treatment of citizens. By 2-1, the panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the government cannot continue to hold Jose Padilla -- who was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare Airport in May 2002 -- as an enemy combatant, a status under which he has not been charged with a crime nor allowed to see a lawyer. Padilla is suspected of plotting to detonate a "dirty bomb," a conventional explosive combined with radioactive material. "Padilla's detention was not authorized by Congress, and absent such authorization, the president does not have the power under Article II of the Constitution to detain as an enemy combatant an American citizen seized on American soil outside a zone of combat," the court said.

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December 18, 2003

End May Be Near for Swordfish Fleet
*Federal officials propose tough restrictions on West Coast commercial fishermen in an attempt to protect sea turtles.

By Kenneth R. Weiss, Times Staff Writer

The federal government on Wednesday proposed shutting down the West Coast's commercial swordfish fishing fleet, saying that too many sea turtles are being inadvertently snagged on baited hooks in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

The proposed regulations by the National Marine Fisheries Service come as a federal judge in San Francisco is considering closing down the same San Pedro-based fleet under a lawsuit by conservationists aimed at avoiding the projected extinction of the leatherback sea turtle and arresting the decline of other turtles.

Most of the two dozen remaining long line fishing boats were pushed out of Hawaii a few years ago by similar restrictions adopted to protect sea turtles. Now, this group of mostly Vietnamese American fishermen face the loss of their livelihood if the restrictions are adopted in a 1,200-mile swath of Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.

"I will lose everything I have," said Alan Duong, who earlier this year bought a new $1.2-million fishing boat. "I put everything I had into the boat. I borrowed money from everyone I know, all my relatives, and we still owe the bank."

The proposed regulations, which could go into effect in March, focus exclusively on "long lining," a fishing practice of unfurling lines of baited hooks that stretch as far as 50 miles off the stern of boats.

Specifically, the regulations would ban setting these lines in waters near the surface, usually within the top 100 feet, which tend to lead to more encounters with air-breathing sea turtles.

Commercial fishermen catch nearly all of their swordfish by setting lines near the surface, using squid as bait and marking the lines with submergible light sticks that attract their prey. Unfortunately, this form of fishing also catches more turtles than lines set at greater depths, as is done by fishermen looking for tuna and other types of fish.

Using data collected by observers on board the fishing boats, federal officials estimate that in a typical year the West Coast fleet generally sets about 1.5 million hooks a year, and inadvertently snags or entangles 174 loggerhead turtles and 52 leatherbacks.

Federal officials expect that all of these turtles would be released alive. But based on federal calculations, 61 loggerheads and 15 leatherbacks would die later because of related injuries, sometimes inflicted when a turtle that has swallowed a hook is hauled on board.

Although this is a small number of turtles, both of these species are on a sharp decline and protected under the Endangered Species Act.

"Unfortunately, we are almost at the point where every leatherback [turtle] matters," said Larry Crowder, a biologist at the Duke University Marine Laboratory. Unless things change, he said, the leatherback sea turtle will become extinct within the next 10 to 30 years.

Fishing boat captains in San Pedro say they rarely catch turtles. Furthermore, the fishermen argue that shutting them down won't protect the turtles from swordfish boats from Mexico, Taiwan, Korea and Japan that fish the same international waters.

"We go out and fish side by side with the foreign boats," said Long Nguyen of Honolulu, whose 85-foot boat is now based out of San Pedro. "They eat turtles," he said of his foreign competitors. "We save turtles. So how come they can fish [with] long line [gear] and we cannot?"

Nationwide, U.S. sword-fishing boats make up less than 5% of the worldwide fleet.

Fishing for swordfish off the West Coast is done in international waters at least 200 miles from shore. To bring swordfish into U.S. ports, fishermen must get permits from the federal government under the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council earlier this year recommended that the West Coast be allowed to continue without the restrictions placed on fishermen in Hawaii.

The recommendation prompted William T. Hogarth, the head of the National Marine Fisheries Service, to write that the recommendations "failed to provide adequate protection for threatened and endangered sea turtles."

The council's plan, he wrote, created a "situation, which disappoints me greatly."

The National Marine Fisheries Service has been embroiled in a lawsuit filed by the Turtle Island Restoration Network and other conservation groups over the issue. Over the summer, the conservation groups won a key legal battle before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and are now pressing for a federal judge in San Francisco to shut down the West Coast fleet, as was done in Hawaii in 2001.

"We want to close the loophole," said Brendan Cummings, a lawyer in the case for the Center for Biological Diversity. "What is prohibited off Hawaii shouldn't be allowed off of California."

Tim Price, an official with the regional office of the Fishery Service, said one alternative solution involves changing the type of fishing hooks and switching bait. Experiments in the Atlantic Ocean last year with this gear reduced the catch of loggerheads by 90% and leatherbacks by 65%.

Fishing authorities in Hawaii are pushing to reopen the swordfish fishery using the experimental gear, and some officials are pushing for this in California, rather than a shutdown.

Crowder said the new techniques haven't been studied enough to know if they are effective.

"I share the frustration of [domestic] fishermen," Crowder said. "If you shut down the entire U.S. fishery, you don't solve the problem for the loggerhead and leatherback turtles." But if the new gear works, he said, "you can export them to other countries. You cannot export a closure."

(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-turtles18dec18,1,2673246.story)

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December 18, 2003

Census Report Confirms Most in Santa Ana Foreign-Born
Community learns what it already knew. Study also says three other large Californian cities are among six in the U.S. with such majorities.

By Jennifer Mena, Times Staff Writer

Foreign-born residents form majorities in six large U.S. cities, including Santa Ana, Glendale and El Monte, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report issued Wednesday.

Topping the list of cities of 100,000 people or more are Hialeah, Fla., and Miami, with an estimated 72% and 60% of residents born abroad, respectively.

Next come Glendale, with an estimated 54%, and Santa Ana, with 53% of its population of 337,977 coming from outside the United States. Census officials said the figures for the two cities were statistically indistinguishable.

The report, which for the first time analyzes sample data on foreign-born populations from the 2000 census, echoes conclusions of previous reports that counted Santa Ana's large foreign-born population, mostly natives of Mexico, and a smaller group from Vietnam.

In a 2002 survey, the Census Bureau estimated that 48% of Santa Ana's population is foreign-born. The figure for 2001 was 56%. Joseph Costanzo, a census researcher coordinator, said the study released Wednesday uses responses from one-sixth of the 115 million American households that received the census long form. The previous surveys involved samples as small as 750,000 respondents, he said.

The differences in the results can most likely be attributed to differences in sample size and do not necessarily indicate fluctuations in the foreign-born population in Santa Ana, Costanzo said.

Other large cities with high foreign-born populations are Daly City, Calif., 52%; El Monte, 51%; Elizabeth, N.J., 44%; Garden Grove, 43%; and Los Angeles, 41%.

The report was old news to Santa Ana officials, who have long responded to the needs of the foreign-born by increasing the number of bilingual employees and outreach programs to serve their needs.

"What we have found is that it makes a big difference when we have bilingual staff in City Hall and the Police Department," said City Council member Jose Solorio. "In the past, we could have a police officer respond to a call and there would be a need for a translator. We've eliminated that problem."

Solorio said the city also provides written information in Spanish, Vietnamese and Cambodian.

The Santa Ana Police Department has 180 bilingual police officers, who speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Persian and constitute 51% of the force. Of non-sworn department employees, 66% are bilingual, said Police Department spokesman Sgt. Baltazar De La Riva.

Of the city's 1,571 employees, 43% receive extra pay for their language skills, said Enrique Alva, director of personnel.

At the Santa Ana Unified School District, bilingual education director Howard Bryan said that 68% of the district's students are learning English and that most of their parents were born outside the United States. Bryan said the district estimates about one-third of the city's adults are "under-schooled," and "that puts pressure on us to provide services to help parents help their children."

The district provides or assists in offering elementary school classes for adults, as well as high school equivalency courses and English.

"Other communities don't have this," Bryan said.

"But they don't have our population."
(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-census18dec18,1,5787872.story)

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December 22, 2003

Civil rights leader steers group to broader focus
PRESIDENT OF NAACP'S SAN JOSE CHAPTER REACHES OUT TO DIVERSE MINORITY GROUPS

By Katherine Corcoran
Mercury News

For many African-Americans it was a first -- an NAACP president rejecting a plan to name a road after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because it angered Latinos.

But for Rick Callender, who heads the San Jose chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the decision made perfect sense. Since taking the helm three years ago, the 33-year-old San Jose resident has tried to reach beyond the NAACP's traditional African-American base to reflect the diversity of Silicon Valley.

It's a move that has brought Callender kudos for his vision and criticism about his priorities. And it puts him at the forefront of an emerging debate about the role of the nation's oldest and largest civil-rights group in the face of changing demographics.

The question looms on the horizon nationally, even in eastern and southern regions with high numbers of African-Americans. But diversity issues weigh most heavily for the organization in California and the West, where the black population remains small.

``At this point, Rick Callender is on the cutting edge in California,'' said Steven Millner, professor of African-American Studies at San Jose State University. ``Progressive organizations, if they're going to be progressive, are going to have to pursue these strategies with vigor.''

The NAACP was founded in 1909 as an integrated organization to fight lynchings and other injustices suffered by African-Americans, and has taken on discrimination claims and causes from people of all races and colors.

But it remains an overwhelmingly African-American organization at a time when the Latino and Asian populations are growing much faster than blacks. State and national NAACP leaders agree that the organization's membership should become more diverse, even as it enjoys a remarkable comeback from an era of scandal and mismanagement a decade ago.

Forefront of diversity

Any efforts they've made, however, have paled in comparison to those in San Jose, where Callender has built one of the most diverse memberships and advisory boards in the country. His efforts have led some NAACP members to warn against branching out too much.

``We cannot permit the focus to not be on helping black people to catch up, but we welcome everyone who wants to be part of the movement,'' said the Rev. Amos Brown, head of the San Francisco NAACP and a national board member.

Those who know Enrico ``Rick'' Callender don't find it a stretch that in a disagreement between blacks and Latinos, he would come down on the side of Latinos. Since becoming NAACP president in early 2001, he has taken on issues confronting all ethnic groups, including the controversial police shooting of Bich Cau Thi Tran, a Vietnamese woman, and preventing hate crimes in San Jose schools against students who are Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent.

In recent months, Callender also launched an NAACP investigation into the county Social Services Agency, following complaints that the agency was wrongfully removing children from many Latino families, as well as from African-American homes.

He has increased NAACP membership from about 1,000 to 2,500, and the group has gone from nearly all black to 72 percent African-American, with 10 percent Asian, 10 percent white and 8 percent Latino membership. Nearly half of the members of his advisory board are not African-American. He said people are surprised to walk into the NAACP office and see it staffed with Asian-Americans.

Diverse board

``We have the most diverse board in California,'' said Callender, son of a black activist and a Panamanian immigrant, whose name is pronounced ``ky-YEN-der'' in Spanish. ``The same thing I ask of the corporations, to reflect the community, we should do as well.''

But some local NAACP members say they find themselves at odds with his positions, saying they run counter to traditional African-American concerns.

Ken Stewart, who is African-American, spearheaded the effort to rename King Road in East San Jose for the slain civil rights leader, only to withdraw the proposal because the mostly Latino residents argued that the road symbolizes the Chicano movement of the 1960s.

Callender helped kill the name change, Stewart said, by opposing it publicly in the Mercury News rather than with Stewart directly.

But Callender, who said he talked to Stewart before contacting the newspaper, said he couldn't support a proposal that split blacks and Latinos.

``I've received a lot of support from African-Americans thanking me for preventing this from becoming a rift,'' he said.

Callender also opposed a proposal from a group of black leaders this year requesting that the county Human Relations Commission condemn the use of the word ``nigger,'' citing instead a national NAACP resolution condemning all racial epithets as equally offensive.

``He's not connected with our community anymore,'' said Dawn Spears, an African-American, who says she won't renew her San Jose NAACP membership, electing instead to join only the national organization. ``He's diluting what little power there is'' for blacks, who are only 3.5 percent of San Jose's population, Stewart added.

But supporters say Callender's work fits with the original mission of the NAACP. In California, state NAACP President Alice Huffman defended American Indians in then-gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger's attack on Indian gaming, and said she is using her seat on Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's Commission for One California to reach out to Latinos.

When Spears questioned Callender's position on King Road to the state organization, Huffman told her the NAACP needs to consider both blacks and Latinos as its constituents.

If there's an issue on the table between the two groups, Huffman said in an interview, ``I trust my local leader to make the right decision, not the `black' decision.''

Maintain core membership

No one, including Callender, sees the NAACP abandoning African-Americans as its core members. But the pressure toward diversity only stands to increase here and across the country. The NAACP's Miami branch, which has a white leader, is working to recruit blacks from Caribbean and Latin-American countries, despite tensions between those immigrant groups and African-Americans.

National Board Chairman Julian Bond, a venerable civil rights leader from the 1950s and 1960s, notes his organization has always worked in tandem with other civil rights groups, and the national office last summer told branches along the route of the Immigrant Freedom Ride to support the marchers in any way they could.

Still, he applauds Callender's efforts as a model for the future of the NAACP.

``I fervidly wish it would become more racially and ethnically diverse,'' Bond said. ``We believe colored people come in all colors.''

Contact Katherine Corcoran at kcorcoran@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5330.

(http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/7548214.htm)

(www.sanjosenaacp.org)

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December 21, 2003

Medical mission to Vietnam
 SAN JOSE PHYSICIANS RETURN TO GIVE CARE

By Ben Stocking
Mercury News Vietnam Bureau

DA BAN, Vietnam - The San Jose doctors rolled into this village where people scavenge through a garbage dump, drink foul water and feel sick much of the time.

About 300 people were lined up outside the local clinic, and they practically knocked the doors down when they saw the O'Connor Hospital team arrive with stethoscopes, blood-pressure cuffs and bags of free medicine.

``You rolling up your sleeves yet, you guys?'' Kiet Ha, a hospital administrator, asked his colleagues as the crowd came into view.

Like thousands of overseas Vietnamese before them, the O'Connor doctors had come back to do good works in the country they fled after the war.

Each of these Viet kieu, as they are known in Vietnam, has lived the up-by-the-bootstraps immigrant success story. After leaving Vietnam in sadness and confusion in their youth, they crammed into crowded apartments in the United States, toiled in menial jobs, worked their way through medical school and eventually built thriving private practices.

A bit more American than Vietnamese now, the doctors are something in between. And the deeper they sink roots in their new country, the more they yearn to reconnect with their homeland.

Earlier this month, they visited Da Ban and two other villages in southern Vietnam that have medical clinics run by the Daughters of Charity, a worldwide order of Roman Catholic nuns that runs O'Connor. And they laid the groundwork for a more enduring contribution: financing a clinic to help prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, which is raising alarm among Vietnamese health officials.

Hard work, bad water

In Da Ban, as in large swaths of Vietnam, most villagers make a living doing back-breaking work: harvesting rice. Or they sift through garbage at the huge dump nearby, looking for anything they might recycle or sell.

After a lifetime of stooping in rice paddies and carrying 40-pound baskets of grain on their heads, many suffer from neck and back injuries. And the nearest safe water supply is three miles away, so people often don't have time to retrieve it or haul it home. They sometimes use the mucky, pale green water available nearby -- runoff from the rice and farm fields.

Many of their ailments arise from a combination of hard work and unsafe drinking water. (The O'Connor doctors are seeking $5,000 to help the village drill a well to provide clean water.)

The patients, who had been lining up since 6 a.m. on a cool, sunny day, shuffled in with a host of maladies. There was a young woman who had a large tumor protruding from behind her ear and an old man with a strange fungus creeping across his bald spot, which he had dyed blue with a homemade remedy. There were listless children with scabs on their bodies and a 50-year-old woman with ovarian cancer.

``I have one year left to live,'' she said. ``Do you have any money to help my four children?''

Many of the patients had scratches and bruises on their skin, which they had scraped in an effort to ``let out the bad wind'' -- a folk belief that illness can literally escape through one's flesh.

It would be a long day for Dr. Thang Tran, a 38-year-old internist; Dr. Minh Quang Thai, 46, a family practitioner; Dr. John Lien, 44, a cardiologist; and Dr. Vu Viet Van, 30, an infectious-disease specialist from Ho Chi Minh City who helped coordinate the trip.

Besides the four-member O'Connor team, doctors and dentists from Ho Chi Minh City had come to help out. The day would be punctuated by the shrieks of children having rotten teeth yanked out.

The doctors worked quickly and efficiently, taking patient histories, inspecting eyes and ears, listening to lungs and heartbeats. They furiously wrote prescriptions for antibiotics, skin creams and pain medications to treat the headaches, rashes and allergies that afflict so many people here.

Care unaffordable

``The people are basically overworked and underfed,'' said Phuong Binh, 44, a sister with the Daughters of Charity, which runs an elementary school and an acupuncture clinic in Da Ban to help people cope with chronic pain.

Seeking solace from a lifetime of drudgery, many of the town's 3,800 residents pack the Catholic church next door to the clinic every Sunday, where the local priest conducts three Masses to accommodate them.

Medical care in Vietnam is far less advanced -- and less expensive -- than it is in the West. But the residents here, many of whom earn just half Vietnam's annual average income of $420, still can't afford it.

The San Jose team had brought $50,000 worth of medical supplies and medications collected from O'Connor, local doctors and the St. Louise Regional Medical Center based in Gilroy.

A team of Vietnamese pharmacists quickly counted out pills, sealed them in plastic bags and doled them out to the patients, some of whom tried to push their way through the door, worried that the supplies might run out.

When the day ended, eight hours after it began, the doctors had treated 500 people. An exhausted Lien delivered his diagnosis of health care in Da Ban: ``It's poor.''

The elderly, carrying a lifetime of aches and pains, looked much older than they were; the children, stunted by malnutrition, looked much younger.

``They look so worn out,'' Lien said. ``I saw one 40-year-old who looked like he was 60.''

The doctors were gratified to provide so much direct care, unburdened by the reams of paperwork required by HMOs back home. But they knew their work would provide only fleeting benefits.

``They're bleeding, they're wounded, but we're giving them a Band-Aid,'' said Tran.

The next day, the doctors traveled to Cu Chi, an hour's drive from Ho Chi Minh City. There, they hoped to make a more enduring contribution at the Mai Hoa AIDS hospice run by the Daughters of Charity.

Since it opened two years ago, the sisters have cared for 124 people. Some of them were reunited with their families before dying; 71 have died here. The longest stay was a year; the shortest, three hours.

Cremated remains are kept in ceramic urns on glass-enclosed shelves, each bearing a picture, name, birthday and date of death.

On a recent day there were 12 patients in the clinic, including a 5-year-old boy with a twisted body who can no longer see or hear. Nearby, a 4-year-old boy, AIDS-free, waited for his mother to die.

Her body had wasted away to virtually nothing. Her husband, a heroin addict, had infected her. She assumed he ran away and killed himself when he found out he was sick.

Sick and desperate

She was sitting outside with a 22-year-old woman named Phuong, whose face was covered with scabs from Kaposi's sarcoma, an ailment that often afflicts AIDS patients in Vietnam, where patients don't generally enjoy the benefits of the expensive medication ``cocktails'' that have prolonged the lives of their counterparts in the United States.

When she was 17, Phuong started working as a ``bar girl'' in Ho Chi Minh City, selling drinks and sex to her customers. A year later, she was HIV-positive.

She kept working for three years after that, urging her customers to use condoms but not turning away the business if they said no. She would tell them she had the AIDS virus, but about four customers a week would sleep with her anyway. She said they figured she didn't really have AIDS and was just trying to make them wear a condom, which they refused to do.

``I didn't think it would happen to me,'' said Phuong, who now weighs just 60 pounds.

Sister Thue Linh, who runs the hospice, said her staff of five nuns was overwhelmed caring for the 12 patients who live here, all of whom have been rejected by their families. ``The sisters have to hold their hands in the last hours of their lives,'' she said.

The O'Connor team is talking to Sister Linh about how to make a longer-term contribution. They could raise money for the hospice and use it to hire more staff. They might open a clinic next door and hire doctors to focus on testing and preventive work.

The team has returned to San Jose, but its work in Vietnam will continue. The Sisters of Mercy operate a foundation that might help. O'Connor might contribute.

``I'm so depressed,'' Tran said after his conversation with Phuong. ``But I feel a sense of urgency.''

Contact Ben Stocking at bstocking@mercurynews.com.


(http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7544119.htm)

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December 21, 2003

The World in Houston

Area's diversity represented

By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Houston Chronicle

The transformation of Sharpstown is nearly complete.

Over the past 20 years, the 6,800-home planned community in southwest Houston made a remarkable demographic shift from all-American suburb to international hub. Yet the political representation remained as frozen in the past as the time capsule that developer Frank Sharp buried in the cornerstone of Sharpstown Mall nearly 50 years ago.

A region that had become the city's most ethnically diverse, Sharpstown and the rest of southwest Houston continued to elect city councilmen who were, in the words of former city planner Jerry Wood, "older, white and mildly Republican."

Along comes Masrur Javed "M.J." Khan. The Pakistani-American won election to the City Council from the district representing Sharpstown earlier this month, becoming not only the council's first Muslim but also the first who came of age in another country, speaking another language.

In this, he represents his district.

Nearly half the people in southwest Houston's District F were born in another country, a far greater percentage than any other district in the city (even the heavily Hispanic east and north ends have fewer immigrants). If Houston had such a thing as a disenfranchisement index, District F would win it on almost every scale except poverty. A third of its residents are not citizens, and more than a fourth of its adults speak little or no English.

People who don't speak English are less likely to vote, and people who aren't citizens lack the right. For years, Anglos, currently at just 18 percent of the district's population, continued to hold power. (The district is 43 percent Hispanic, 22 percent African and African-American and 15 percent Asian.)

In a conversation nearly two years ago, Metropolitan Organization activist Joe Higgs noted the difficulty of getting immigrants involved in Houston politics, particularly in areas like southwest Houston. He cited Alief Super Neighborhoods and the Sharpstown Civic Association as Anglo-dominant groups that set the political agenda in the area.

The last two city councilmen from District F came up from being board members of the Sharpstown Civic Association. Khan's opponent, Terry McConn, would have been the third.

Sharpstown Civic Association President Candice Alexander believes Anglos in the area are more civically active because they are older and better established.

"The young people aren't unhappy enough to get involved," she said, adding that Sharpstown residents are "darn proud" of the area's diversity.

Not long after developer Sharp drained the rice fields and started putting up homes for middle-class white families near the corner of U.S. 59 and Bellaire in the 1950s, the Sharpstown Civic Association was formed to maintain the beauty of the area by policing the deed restrictions -- a task it still performs.

Modern visitors are likely to pass right by Sharpstown's old suburban neighborhoods, awed by the sprawl of newer Asian businesses occupying the malls there and in the rest of southwest Houston. The region houses at least five mosques, three Hindu temples, one Sikh temple and uncounted African, Korean and Vietnamese churches, by Khan's tally.

He knows because he visited most of these places of worship in his campaign. His outreach to the ethnic communities was tireless. He produced campaign literature in four languages -- English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese.

"It was not really one campaign, it was several campaigns," Khan says. One for Anglos, one for African-Americans, one for Hispanics and one for each of the ethnic communities.

Khan is not entirely proud of this. He sees it as one of his goals to bring a pluralistic unity to the area, including elderly Anglos. His efforts could have implications beyond southwest Houston.

"District F today is what Houston will be in a couple decades," Khan predicts. "It is what America will be in about 70 years or so."

E-mail Edward Hegstrom at edward.hegstrom@chron.com.

(http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2313708)

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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.

Visit us at www.ncvaonline.org.