Indy's Irish Fest

This weekend is the 15th annual Irish Fest in Indianapolis. It takes place in Military Park, downtown, 17-19 September. (Pictured are some of the Irish dancers from last year's celebration.)

Two Fishers Teachers Return from Asia

Two Fishers High School social studies teachers received grants from the Freedman Foundation to travel and study.

Jenna Bergren traveled to South Korea for ten days through the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. Her trip will include tours of the major cities as well as travel in some small villages.

Bob Hoffman attended a summer institute for secondary teachers sponsored by the Program for Teaching East Asia (TEA.) The week-long seminar explored a variety of topics related to the growing economic and political influence of China worldwide. The teachers will meet with specialists who will share diverse perspectives on a “Chinese Century.”

Participants will be conducting in-service sessions for fellow educators in their district and communities. Hoffman, for example, intends to work with the Fishers Sister Cities Organization to make new connections with its sister city of Binjang, China.

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Purdue to Join Forces With Chinese Researchers

Purdue University's Center for the Environment and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are forming an environmental research partnership, reports Inside INdiana Business. Officials from both institutions will take part in a signing ceremony today to establish the China-U.S. Joint Research Laboratory on Sustainable Ecosystem. The partnership will create programs that offer opportunities for student, scholar and faculty exchange in research and study.

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Pakistan Relief Efforts in Indy

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World Cup Hopes

The effort to bring one of the largest sporting events in the world to Indianapolis shifts to New York City this week, reports Inside INdiana Business.

Indiana Sports Corp. President Susan Williams and Senior Vice President of Events Susan Baughman are in New York City as U.S. officials host representatives from the world governing body of soccer for an inspection tour. Indianapolis is one of 18 potential host cities in the U.S. bid for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup.

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Westlane Students Traveled to China

Gretchen Becker reported on a trip by 32 Westlane Middle School students from Indianapolis who traveled to China 26 May through 5 June along with school staff and parents.

Unfortunately, the link to the online version has expired from the Indianapolis Star.

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Indy's Village Exchange

Reporter T.J. Banes profiled sisters Anne and Kelly Campbell in a recent Indianapolis Star. The pair operate The Village Exchange, a boutique in Broad Ripple that sells items made by artisans in underdeveloped countries.

Banes notes that the Campbell sisters are planning a trip -- open to the public -- to Thailand 27 November to 8 December, and are arranging for a group of 25 students from Franklin (Ind.) College to go to Uganda in January.

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German Official Discusses Reunification 20 Years Later

IU Professor Studies Justice System in India

Jayanth Krishnan (pictured) will serve as project director for an intensive study on the lower judiciary in India, according to the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Krishnan is professor of law, Charles L. Whistler Faculty Fellow and head of the India Initiative at the Maurer School's Center on the Global Legal Profession.

The research Krishnan is overseeing is being supported by a $261,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to the National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), a non-governmental association based in the state of Maharashtra. Partnering with Krishnan and NCAS will be the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and Jagori Grameen, located in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

Krishnan and his colleagues will conduct a pilot study of district courts in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh in order to arrive at a preliminary understanding of what is happening in these forums. The study will also include an analysis of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) forums in India.

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Latinos Discuss the New Wishard Project

On 27 July, some of the city’s Latino leaders gathered with the business community to network and discuss contract opportunities available to minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses through The New Wishard project.

The networking session and panel discussion, “Hispanic/Latino Connection: Making the Contract Connection,” was co-sponsored by the Hispanic Business Council of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, Indiana Commission of Hispanic and Latino affairs, Indiana State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Garcia Construction, Cabello Associates and OfficeWorks.

Danny Lopez, executive director of the Indiana Commission for Hispanic and Latino Affairs moderated a Latino business owner panel discussion, which included panelists Charlie Garcia, president and CEO of Garcia Construction Group and Kathy Cabello, president of Cabello Associates.

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Ukrainians Learn from Indiana Farmers

A Purdue Extension educator in Fulton County has made it possible for two graduate students from Ukraine to stay with Indiana farmers to work and learn this summer, reports the Purdue News Bureau.

Mark Kepler came up with the work-study idea after he visited the Poltava State Agrarian Academy in Ukraine three years ago.

Kepler last winter found two farmers in Fulton County interested in hiring students from Poltava to work on their farms this summer. The farms are family operations with more than 1,000 acres and exemplify farming life in Indiana.

Two graduate students - Ol'Ha Reva and Sergii Panchenk - arrived in Indiana in May to begin their work.

As part of the program, Reva came to Purdue University for three days in August to learn more about DNA extraction in plants. Working in a laboratory for the first time, she studied plants and genotypes with agronomy professor Herb Ohm. (The photo shows Reva working with Dr. Ohm. It's a Purdue Agricultural Communication photo by Tom Campbell.)

After finishing her studies in the lab, Reva returned to Rochester to continue working on the farm with her host family, Tom and Jill Weaver.

Panchenk is staying with Alan and Nancy Gohn in Rochester, working in the fields and helping around the farm. Both Ukrainians will fly back to Poltava in September.

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IU Professor Heads to South Africa

The U.S. State Department and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board have selected an Indiana University professor for a Fulbright Specialists project in South Africa, reports the IU News Bureau.

Victor M.H. Borden (pictured), professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the Indiana University School of Education, Bloomington, will conduct a program at the University of KwaZulu Natal in September. Borden will deliver the keynote address at the university's fourth annual teaching and learning conference and then deliver a series of workshops and seminars to develop capacity amongst academics to plan, implement, evaluate and improve projects and programs that enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning and promote student success.

Borden leaves in mid-September for South Africa. His work concludes in the first week of October.

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A Weekend with Antonio Rocha

Antonio Rocha, a native of Brazil, comes to Indianapolis for two performances in the Basile Theater at the Indiana Historical Society, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis.

The first, "Jungle Tales" is 7 p.m. 21 January. Rocha draws from his repertoire of animal tales with an ecological theme and a myriad of fantastic sound effects. Tickets are $5 for children 5-12, and $10 for adults. The second, "Brazilian Extravaganza", is 7:30 p.m. 22 January. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

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Japanese Students Learn About U.S. Culture

When 29 college students from Tokyo, Japan, stepped off a plane in Indianapolis recently, they were embarking on a unique journey of discovery.

To be sure, the students from Tsuda College will perfect their English skills in this custom language immersion program developed by the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC), a language and cultural training center that is part of the School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

But discovering more about American culture - and perhaps even a bit more about themselves—will also be an important part of the curriculum.

The Women in Leadership Intensive Summer Program, now in its sixteenth year at IUPUI, is designed to show young women from the all-female college in Japan what it takes to be a leader in the United States, and across cultures.

Prominent female leaders from Indianapolis speak to the students about their journey into leadership roles in the corporate and not-for-profit community.

As part of the program, the students are required to synthesize what they learn from guest speakers and other research and develop a portfolio, presenting what they have learned to the class.

Students live with local families during their month-long stay in Indianapolis. They also have opportunities to participate in a number of cultural activities, including attending an Indiana Fever women’s professional basketball game, visiting the Eiteljorg Museum and the Indiana State Fair. They also took an overnight trip to Chicago.

ICIC develops language and intercultural training programs for many different types of academic and professional groups.

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Purdue's Global 4-H

Indiana 4-H Global Programs sent two groups of students to Poland and Japan, while students from Japan visited Indiana.

The program has held a partnership with Meiji Gakuin High School in Tokyo, Japan for nearly 30 years. Ann Williams, an extension educator for DeKalb County, and Tiffany Henson, a 4-H'er from Dearborn County, left for Japan on 15 July for a three-week stay.

Williams and Henson are learning about the Japanese education system and culture. Williams is living with a high school teacher, and Henson is staying in a high school student’s home.

While Williams and Henson tour Japan, 21 students from Japan are visiting Indiana to learn about culture and 4-H programs during their 3-week visit to 19 counties. The Japanese youth arrived on 21 July and are staying in the homes of 4-H families.

Global 4-H Programming also has maintained a six-year partnership with part of southern Poland. This summer, three adult representatives and 13 Indiana 4-H youth visited Poland for three weeks. The group learned about the 4-H system in Poland, lived with Polish families and toured cultural sites and cities.

To date, 58 people from Indiana have visited Poland through this program. Next year students from Poland will visit Indiana.

For more information on Global 4-H programs, email Lee Stanish.

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International Conference on Cloud Computing in Indy

The second IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing Technology and Science will be held 30 November through 3 December in the University Place Conference Center and Hotel on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. It is hosted by the Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University.

The mission of Pervasive Technology Institute is to improve quality of life in Indiana and the world by inventing, developing, deploying and delivering innovations in information technology.

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Native American Heritage Days in Indy

Native American Heritage Days are 28 and 29 August 2010 in Garfield Park, 2345 Pagoda Drive, Indianapolis.

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Arjia Rinpoche Talks About His Book

Arjia Rinpoche, director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, will talk about the turbulent years he spent in Tibet during the Cultural Revolution during a presentation beginning at 1:30 p.m. 28 August in Border's Book Store, 8675 Rivercrossing Boulevard, Indianapolis.

Rinpoche, who spent 16 years in a forced labor camp, is the author of Surviving the Dragon: A Tibetan Lama's Account of 40 Years of Chinese Rule (Rodale Press, 2010).

This event is free and open to the public. More information available by email or call 317:816-0119.

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The American way: tolerance for diversity

The American way: tolerance for diversity

Posted: August 22, 2010
The Indianapolis Star
Letter to the Editor

The rancor over a building project in lower Manhattan is troubling on many levels. It seems nonsensical that the Cordoba House, which has met all city requirements and has received all necessary permits, should be prevented from building on property it has owned for years. There's nothing sacred about a former Burlington Coat Factory.

Sure, the project will be a Muslim community center, and it's a couple of blocks from the World Trade Center, largest of the Sept. 11 attack sites. However, the United States is not at war with Islam.

Al-Qaida masterminded the 9/11 attacks, not Cordoba House. A mosque is just part of a planned community center. In any case, what's wrong with organized prayer at that location?

We in the Nationalities Council of Indiana know that our state is a better place because of "the sheer creative energy that comes when you mix all our diverse people and cultures together," as Thomas L. Friedman noted in The New York Times recently.

Indy's International Festival each fall highlights the fact that Indianapolis is composed of many different ethnic groups, some of which include Muslims.

Tolerance is an American value, right up there with freedom of religion and freedom of speech. It's part of the American way of life that has attracted immigrants for centuries.

Susan McKee
Past president
Nationalities Council of Indiana
Past president, International
Center of Indianapolis


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"Nior bhris focal maith fiacal riamh"*

Irish storyteller Niall de Burca comes to the Indiana Historical Society, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, for two performances.

The first, "Takes for the Telling", is 7 p.m. 3 December 2010. Tickets are $5 for children 5-12 and $10 for adults. The second, "Ancestor Tales: The Old Stories of Ireland", is 7:30 p.m. 4 December. Tickets in advance are $20, and $25 at the door.

Raised in the west coast of Ireland, de Burca now lives in the capital of Dublin. He is a tradition-bearer at ease in both Gaelic and English, telling the old stories with charm.

*"A good word never broke a tooth."

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