Indiana Tech to Recruit in China

As part of efforts to increase international enrollment, Indiana Tech reports it has entered an agreement with the Foundation for International Education to recruit students from China.

The Foundation for International Education (FIE) will recruit transfer students who have completed three years of post-secondary education in China and wish to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Indiana Tech, 1600 East Washington Boulevard, Fort Wayne, Indiana. FIE also will help identify qualified high school graduates with a similar interest, as well as potential partner universities for Indiana Tech. Under the terms of the agreement, FIE will be Indiana Tech’s sole representative in China for an initial, renewable period of 18 months.

Indiana Tech plans to recruit international students from a variety of countries by establishing articulation partnerships with colleges, developing recruitment agency agreements, and arranging exchange agreements with higher education institutions abroad. Such exchange agreements are intended to increase the university’s international enrollment, while also creating more study abroad opportunities for Indiana Tech students.

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Fort Wayne Lauded for Immigrant Integration

Recognizing that local governments play a central role in developing and implementing immigrant integration programs, a new report from the National League of Cities (NLC) showcases 20 city programs for promoting social cohesion within the community.

The report, Municipal Innovations in Immigrant Integration: 20 Cities, 20 Good Practices, is produced by NLC’s Municipal Action for Immigrant Integration (MAII) program and focuses on public safety, immigrant outreach, civic engagement and city services.

The 20 city programs featured in the report are:

· Fort Wayne Indiana (Hispanic Immigrant Liaison)
· Austin, Texas (Immigrant Outreach Program)
· Seattle, Washington (Latino Advisory Council)
· El Paso, Texas (Victim Services-Immigration)
· Durham, North Carolina (Mayor’s Hispanic Latino Initiative)
· Louisville, Kentucky (Office of International Affairs)
· Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Mayor’s Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs)
· Columbus, Ohio (New American Initiative)
· Chattanooga, Tennessee (HANDS Across Chattanooga)
· Skokie, Illinois (Immigrant Services)
· Los Angeles, California (Immigrant Integration Partnership)
· Boulder, Colo. (Immigrant Advisory Committee)
· Santa Clara Co./San Jose, Calif. (Immigrant Relations and Integration Services)
· Littleton, Colorado (Littleton Immigrant Integration Initiative)
· San Francisco, California (Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs)
· New York City, New York (Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs)
· Washington, District of Columbia (Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs)
· Princeton, New Jersey (The Princeton Community ID Card)
· Richmond, Virginia (Hispanic Liaison Office)
· Houston, Texas (Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs)

“Immigrants strengthen our communities by bringing cultural and educational resources which help create economic opportunities. Local governments must provide necessary services to ensure a smooth transition for both the immigrants and the communities,” said Ricardo Gambetta (pictured), NLC’s manager for immigrant integration (and former Indianapolis resident). “Through this report, we hope that the 20 programs highlighted can be used as models for other successful integration programs.”

In addition to outlining these programs, the report also makes a number of suggestions for local, state and federal officials in how to better integrate the immigrant community. Examples of these suggestions include developing a nationwide strategy for immigrant integration; cooperating with municipal agencies; addressing local demographics, issues and challenges; establishing mayoral advisory boards and immigrant affairs offices; and recognizing immigrant contributions to the economy.

Compiled after several months of research, on-site visits, policy discussions and consultations with city officials, the programs featured in this report exemplify successful public-private partnerships, advisory initiatives and action-oriented programs to help immigrants successfully acclimate to their new homes.

As part of NLC’s Center for Research and Innovation, MAII promotes civic engagement and naturalization among immigrant communities. MAII is a resource for NLC members, fostering a knowledge-sharing network to help cities learn from the experiences of their counterparts across the country. The MAII project is supported by the Knight Foundation.

For more information on the Municipal Action for Immigrant Integration program, go online.

The National League of Cities is the nation’s oldest and largest organization devoted to strengthening and promoting cities as centers of opportunity, leadership and governance. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.

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Fort Wayne Business Backs Off Burmese Ban

"The owner of a Fort Wayne business that posted a sign barring Burmese people from entering has apologized, but it may not be enough to get the business off the hook with civil rights groups.

"Ricker Oil Co.'s coin-operated laundry still could face an investigation from Fort Wayne's Metropolitan Human Relations Commission. Director Gerald Foday says the panel could pursue charges if they are warranted.

"Sanctions could include fines, mandatory employee retraining and other remedies, Foday said.

"At issue is a sign an employee posted on the laundry's door that said, 'For sanitary reasons, there are no Burmese people allowed.'

"Fort Wayne is home to about 5,000 Burmese, the largest concentration in the United States.

"Immigrants from the country, also known as Myanmar, often chew betel nuts and spit the residue, which can result in red stains.

"Ricker Oil spokesman Jonathan Bausman said Ricker's has discussed its concerns about certain behaviors with Burmese advocates and the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health. He said other companies have expressed similar concerns.

"Company President Jay Ricker said the company has removed the sign and posted an apology on YouTube."

Above is an item reprinted in its entirety from page 2 of the "Metro+State" section of The Indianapolis Star published 14 March 2010. Note: The Star's website credits the item to the Associated Press, adding "Health department spokesman John Silcox says businesses can’t banish an entire group because of an individual’s actions."

The YouTube apology can be found here.

There's another story here, about the lack of reaction from the mayor of Fort Wayne.

For more on the betel nut, check out this entry in Wikipedia.

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23rd Annual Indiana Highland Games and Scottish Festival

The Indiana Highland Games and Scottish Festival takes place Saturday (13 June) on the Concordia Theological Seminary Soccer Fields, 6600 North Clinton Street, Fort Wayne, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $10.

Rising Gael performs in the Entertainment tent. Clans participating include: Bruce, Mackay, Baird, Cunningham, MacLaren, Donald, Shaw, Armstrong, Donnachaidh, Ramsay, Mackenzie, Maclean and MacLaine of Lochbuie.

The annual event is sponsored for the 23rd year by the Scottish Cultural Society of Fort Wayne. For more information, check the website.

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Willkommen zum Germanfest 2009

Germanfest begins tomorrow in Fort Wayne, and runs through 14 June providing a week-long celebration of Essen, Trinken, und Gemuetlichkeit ('Eating, Drinking, and having a really Good Time').

The Germanfest Konzert & Heimatabend will be held at Park Edelweiss, 3355 Elmhurst Avenue, at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, followed by a dinner from 6-8 p.m. Doors open at 3 p.m. Fort Wayne’s second oldest German organization, the Fort Wayne Männerchor/Damenchor will be your hosts for the official opening Konzert of Germanfest 2009, led by their director Greg Vey. You will be entertained with authentic German folk music. Following the Konzert, stay and enjoy Heimatabend when the Männerchor/Damenchor are the hosts for an evening of great food: Roast Pork, Hot Vegetables, Bratkartoffeln, Salat and desserts, German style beverages, entertainment and gemutlichkeit. Admission is free, and dinner tickets can be purchased at the door for $10. George Berger will provide the music for your listening and singing pleasure.

Köstritzer Abend/Köstritzer Night is from 5 to 10 p.m. Monday (8 June) at Club Soda in Fort Wayne. The German Heritage Society will be the host for an evening of food, music and fun on the open air patio at Club Soda. Traditional Thuringer Brats hot off the grill and Köstritzer Schwarzbier will be available. Köstritzer is the beer brewed near Fort Wayne's German Sister City, Gera. As part of the evening's entertainment, Rock 104 will again be hosting a Germanfest tradition: The Masskrugstemmen Contest. Admission is free.

Bitburger Abend/Bitburger Night at the Fort Wayne Sport Club, 3102 Ardmore Avenue, takes place beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday (9 June). Join the Fort Wayne Sport Club for another Germanfest tradition: Bitburger Abend! Plenty of Bitburger Bier, food, and live musical entertainment will be available at this event - the evening kick-off party prior to opening the Bier Tent at Headwaters Park.

The festival pavilion and beer tent hours in Fort Wayne's Headwaters Park are 10:30 a.m. to midnight 10 June, 11 a.m. to midnight 11 June, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. 12 June and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. 13 June.

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Canadian Firm to Open First U.S. Location in Indiana

A Canadian manufacturer will open its first factory direct showroom in the United States in Fort Wayne, reports Inside INdiana Business. Carts of America, Inc., which makes hot dog carts and mobile food stands, is a subsidiary of Kingston, Ontario-based Willy Dog, Ltd.

"Open House" celebrations are scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 20 and 21 March at 7616-H DiSalle Boulevard, Fort Wayne, with free hot dogs, cold drinks and prizes. All are welcome.

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2009 National Palatines to America Conference

The next National Palatines to America Conference will be held 18-20 June at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne.

For information, click here.

Palatines to America is a German genealogy society dedicated to the study of ancestors from all German speaking lands. The society takes its name from the fact that some of the earliest German-speaking immigrants to the American colonies came from a region in present-day Germany known as the Palatinate (Pfälz) and were called Palatines (Pfälzers).

IPFW Students Go to China

Ten Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne students enrolled in the Special Studies in International Business class in the Doermer School of Business and Management Sciences head to China tomorrow (5 March), reports the IPFW News Bureau.

The students will be studying and staying in Shanghai and Beijing where they will learn about the Chinese economy, business culture, and cultural differences between China and the United States.

While the students are learning about Chinese business customs, they will also be doing market research for two Fort Wayne businesses, considering how their clients’ products and services may be marketed, sold, and used in that part of the world. Once back in class at IPFW, they will put together international business plans for each firm pointing out how they can improve their strategic positions on the global market.

The group will arrive in Shanghai Friday afternoon and will stay there until Tuesday, when they move on to Beijing. They will leave China 15 March.

The cost of the trip is underwritten by local businessman Bill Lawson.

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International Trade Conference in Fort Wayne

Businesses from across Indiana are invited to the City of Fort Wayne’s International Trade Conference from 7:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. 1 October at the Grand Wayne Center to learn more about how to be successful in international trade.

The one-day conference offers workshops on risk management and an international trade “boot camp.” Futurist and global management consultant Barry Minkin, author of ECONOQUAKE, is the keynote speaker at lunch.

The deadline to register for the conference is 22 September. The cost is $50 for the workshops and lunch or $35 for lunch only. To register online or pay using a credit card, click here. For more information or to request a brochure, contact Ola DeGabriele, the City’s international trade manager, 260:481-0498.

Umbrella Series Translated into Korean

Fort Wayne-based LaBov & Beyond Inc.'s Umbrella Series is going global, according to Inside INdiana Business.

Copies of the illustrated business parables, geared at helping companies energize and engage employees and maximize sales potential and brand awareness, are currently being printed and published in South Korea. Seoul-based Kyujang Publishing Co. approached LaBov & Beyond last year about translating the series into Korean and publishing it.

Canadian Meat Shop Chain Expands to Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne has been selected as one of two cities where Canada-based M&M Meat Shops Ltd. will open its first U.S. retail shops. Inside INdiana Business says that the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports that the company chose Fort Wayne after studying the demographics of numerous cities, although it has not selected a location for its store. The stores are expected to open in August under the name My Menu.

Indiana's International Festivals

Major thanks to the F.C. Tucker Company of Indianapolis for publishing a brochure the Nationalities Council of Indiana has been trying to get funded and printed for decades! "International Festivals", mailed to its extensive list this week, includes details on sixteen different cultural celebrations around the state, from "Taste of Noble County Ethnic Festival" on 17 May in Ligonier to our very own International Festival 20-23 November in Indianapolis (all the festivals -- and more -- are on our calendar). As it says in the brochure, "We embrace our mixture of heritages and ethnicities with annual city festivals that feature crafts, entertainment, demonstrations, parades, and, most of all, food (because Hoosiers have never met a cuisine that wasn't worth celebrating!)." Next time you see a Tucker agent, say thanks!

Festivals included (in chronological order): Taste of Noble County Ethnic Festival (17 May), Dragons on the Ohio (6-7 June), Indiana Highland Games (14 June), International Festival of Arts and Culture (14 June), Oldenburg Freudenfest (18-19 June), Middle Eastern Festival (18-20 June), Swiss Days (24-26 July), Pierogi Festival (25-27 July), Jasper Strassenfest (31 July-3 August), Schweizer Fest (4-10 August), Swiss Wine Festival (21-24 August), Little Italy Festival (29 August-1 September), Greek Festival (5-6 September), Columbus Scottish Festival (13-14 September), Seymour Oktoberfest (2-4 October) and Indy's International Festival (20-23 November). Of course, there are many more ethnic festivals than these in Indiana, but this brochure is a great start!)

French Optical Company Acquires GK Optical

Essilor a multinational firm based in France, has acquired GK Optical, a group of two prescription laboratories in Greenwood and Fort Wayne. Essilor, a manufacturer of opthalmologic optics, produces 195 million eyeglass lenses each year. Its brands include Varilux® (progressive lenses), Crizal® (multiple-coating lenses), Transitions® (variable photochromic lenses), Airwear®, Nikon® (high-technology lenses) and Xelios™ (corrective lenses for sunglasses).

Cheech Marin To Talk on Chicano Art

The entertainer Cheech Marin also has a serious side. He'll talk about Chicano art during a free presentation at 7:30 p.m. 25 September in the Auer Performance Hall of the John and Ruth Rhinehart Music Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. His title is, "An Interpretation of a Culture through Chicano Art".

Best known as one-half of the hilarious counterculture, no-holds-barred duo of "Cheech and Chong," Cheech Marin is a paradox in the world of entertainment. As an actor, director, writer, musician, art collector and humanitarian, he's a man who has enough talent, humor, and intelligence to do just about anything. Marin's youngest fans know him because of his work in children's music and animation.

He is the first of six speakers for the 2007-08 Omnibus Lecture Series at IUPU-Fort Wayne. The new Music Center is located on the north end of campus in the arts plaza next to the Ernest E. Williams Theatre and the Visual Arts Building.

Another Immigrant Who's Benefitted Indiana

One of America's leading landscape architects emigrated from Germany to Indiana. George Kessler, who was born in Frankenhausen, Germany, is responsible for designing the original boulevard and park systems in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Terre Haute.

Kurt Culbertson, author of Landscape of the American Renaissance: The Life and Work of George Edward Kessler, will discuss "The Genius of George Kessler" during a presentation at 6 p.m. Wednesday (29 August) in the Colfax Auditorium of the St. Joe Public Library in downtown South Bend.

The free presentation is sponsored by the Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend and St. Joseph County, Indiana. For information, see the flyer or call 219:235-9798.

Mexican Fiesta in Fort Wayne

From 29 June - 1 July, stop by Headwaters Park Pavilion (East) in Fort Wayne for the MEGA Fiesta!

Regional Mexican music, dance, food and culture is promised.

There'll be music by El Pegasso del Pollo Estevan, Latin Royalty and others, plus food Ofelia's Lounge, Burrito Colonial, Griffin's BBQ, Arctic Ice, Pence's and Nissi's South American Restaurant -- plus free children's rides all three days.

For more information, call Angie Soto, 260:494-8914, or send an email to sal@desototm.net.

Fort Wayne's Germanfest starts Sunday

The annual Germanfest in Headwaters Park at Fort Wayne is 3-10 June.

Germanfest began in 1981 and has grown to become a highlight of the summer festivals in Fort Wayne.

People come to Germanfest to sample the 'Essen, Trinken und Gemuetlichkeit' (Eating, Drinking, and a warm, wonderful time).

The Germanfest Committee of Fort Wayne is formed from the four German organizations that exist in Fort Wayne; the Fort Wayne Turners, the Fort Wayne Maennerchor/Damenchor, the Fort Wayne Sport Club, and the German Heritage Society.

Darfur to Indiana

"As many as 300 people originally from Darfur are living in Fort Wayne, with others scattered across smaller Indiana cities like Elkhart, South Bend and Goshen. Together, they form one of the largest concentrations of Darfuri in the United States."

This is an excerpt from an exceptional article in Monday's New York Times about the ability of the Hoosier Heartland to welcome yet another set of scarred refugees. Here's another snippet:

"'Cities like New York are not attractive for our beginners, too busy,' said Nourain Basheir, 41, one of the first Darfuri to settle in Fort Wayne in 1996. 'This community welcomed us cheerfully and respectfully. They understand our people.'

"Despite Indiana’s reputation among Americans as a monolithic slice of the country, in parts of Africa it is known — mostly by word of mouth — as diverse, welcoming and affordable."

After Darfur, Starting Anew in the Midwest
By SUSAN SAULNY
The New York Times
Published: April 2, 2007
"In Indiana, people fleeing the violence of Darfur find an unlikely new home that is diverse and welcoming."

Read the rest here.


UPDATE:
Almost a month after The New York Times writes about all the people from Darfur living in Fort Wayne, The Indianapolis Star finally notices. See 29 April 2007 -- at least as long as the paper leaves the link active!

Non-English-Speaking? No problem!

The City of Fort Wayne has added language translation links to its official website.

It uses Google Translation Tools to perform the language translations from English into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic. Flag links for the respective languages can be found on each page on the City’s website.

The new initiative is designed to improve customer service to non-English speaking residents and visitors to the City’s website.

One caveat: "The automated translation services strive to perform the most accurate translations possible, but in some cases, translations may vary. Downloaded forms are not able to be translated at this time," the City notes.