Valpo's Engineers Without Borders Work in Tanzania

A team of Valparaiso University students recently returned from a 10-day trip to Tanzania, where they launched what will be at least a five-year relationship with a village facing health and land degradation due to problems with its water canal system.

Alex Williams, president of Valpo’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders and a junior civil engineering major from Fargo, N.D., traveled with seven other students and an engineering professor to the village of Masaera, where they assessed the scope of the project and sought to gain the support of its people.

Over the next year, the chapter will research the best designs for improving the canal and create an educational program so the community is prepared to maintain the canal network themselves.

Valpo’s chapter will return to Masaera next May to begin implementing its canal improvement plan and education program.

Masaera is the second community in Africa that Valpo’s EWB chapter has worked with. In 2008, the chapter completed a five-year project constructing drinking and irrigation water systems for the village of Nakor in Kenya.

EWB-VU was the first university chapter to begin a project in Kenya and it was named a Friend of Kenya by the country’s ambassador last year. Valpo’s chapter won the Engineers Without Borders-USA Educational Achievement Award in 2005 and members have presented information about its Nakor project at several conferences, including the World Education Colloquium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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International Students and Scholars

Purdue University's Office of International Students and Scholars is profiled in the spring 2009 issue of "Perspectives".

According to the article by Valerie O'Brien, Purdue has the second-highest number of foreign students among public universities in the United States -- abut 5,500. In addition, Purdue has about 700 faculty and staff from around the world.

The ISS office has an initiative called GO Purdue! -- with the GO standing for Global Outreach. It offers cultural, educational, service and social opportunities to Purdue's international students.

A new program to begin in Fall 2009 called Business Mentors will match students nearing graduation with local business leaders.

Purdue's International Friendship Program pairs students with community volunteers. According to Michael Brzezinski, ISS director and associate dean of international programs, Purdue has arranged the largest number of college friendship relationships in the U.S.

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CTS to Provide Telecommunication Parts For China

CTS Corporation, which designs and manufactures electronic components, announced it has been selected to provide a precision oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) by a leading Chinese telecommunications provider. The miniaturized OCXO will be used in TD-SCDMA wireless communications equipment, including base stations.

The Chinese telecommunications company is a major supplier of mobile telecommunications systems, microelectronics, communications access and service for the Chinese market. Manufacturing will begin in June 2009 at CTS’ Tianjin, China facility with initial expected revenues of several million dollars over the next three years.

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Visitors from Sudan and Brazil Scheduled

The Global and National Missions Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis will host 12 visitors from two countries next month.

The visitors, from the Bor diocese in Sudan and the Brasilia diocese in Brazil, will be in Indiana 17 June through 7 July. They'll visit Waycross Conference Center on 30 June, and will be hosted by St. Philip's Episcopal Church of Indianapolis for the July 4th celebrations.

Helio Castroneves Wins His Third Indy 500

When Helio Castroneves took the checkered flag at the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500 mile race on 26 May, 2002, he became the first driver to win the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” two years in a row since Al Unser won in 1970 and 1971; and only the fifth driver in Indianapolis 500 history to win in consecutive appearances. And, Castroneves, a native of Brazil, won his third Indy 500 today.


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Lotus World Music & Arts Festival

The 16th annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival will take place 24-27 September in Bloomington.

The first Lotus was in 1994 (three small venues downtown; about 800 people attended). It was launched by a handful of people on the local music scene, including James Combs, (a rock musician in a band called Arson Garden), Shahyar Daneshgar (a classically trained musician from Teheran who had settled in Bloomington), and Lee Williams (a booking agent).

The first festival committee thought about calling the event the Bloomington World Music and Arts Festival, but decided to go with “Lotus” instead for two main reasons. 1) The lotus flower grows all over the globe (including Lake Lemon in Monroe County); it expresses beauty and universality. 2) Many of the festival planners had known the Orange County old-time musician Lotus Dickey (1911-1989). Lotus was a kind, curious, talented, and generous musician, and that spirit was something the planners wanted to capture with the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival.

The festival is organized by the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation – a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization with a staff of three full-time people and many volunteers.

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Indiana Senator: Ease Trade, Travel Restrictions to Cuba

U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R.-Ind.) joined 16 other Republican and Democratic Senators on a bill introduced yesterday easing U.S. trade restrictions to Cuba, the Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2009 (S. 1089), his office reports.

The bill would help U.S. farmers and ranchers export their products to Cuba by allowing timely and direct cash payments for agricultural goods. The bill also requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to promote U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba. Additionally, the bill lifts the current travel ban, allowing U.S. citizens and legal residents to travel to Cuba, and it eases restrictions on exports of medicines and medical devices, Lugar's office explains.

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Mariko Hayashi Program and Mitsuwa Market Shopping

See Mariko Hayashi and make a stop at the Japanese Gourmet Food Fair in Chicago on a bus trip from Indianapolis 14 June. It's sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Indiana and JTB USA.

Hayashi is a renowned and popular writer, columnist and essayist, especially popular among women in Japan. Hayashi, who is visiting the U.S. from Japan, will give a special presentation at the Hyatt Regency in Woodfield, Ill. NOTE: The program will be given in Japanese only.

The same day, the Japanese Gourmet Food Fair will be held at the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Chicago, said to be the largest Japanese grocery store in Midwest.

The trip will include both the Mariko Hayashi program (or shopping at the Woodfield Mall) and the Mitsuwa Food Fair!

Price (per person):
$73 includes the Hayashi Mariko program (must be older than 12 years old)
$48 for no lecture; shopping only (during the lecture, shopping will be at Woodfield Mall)

Reservation deadline is 4 June. For more details, go to the website.

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IU Business Students Head to France

A group from the IU Kelley School of Business Indianapolis will travel to France this weekend for the school's first undergraduate study abroad program in Strasbourg, reports Inside INdiana Business.

The undergraduate students and their advisors will tour companies, visit the European government and cultural institutions, and hear presentations by European Union experts.

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Eli Lilly and Company’s Global Day of Service is 20 May

Eli Lilly and Company’s Global Day of Service, one of the largest corporate volunteer initiatives to take place in a single day, will celebrate its second year Wednesday (20 May).

This is a day-long event in which Lilly employees around the globe unite with one common cause: to improve the communities in which they live and work. A complete list of Indianapolis projects is available online.

Some 9,500 Central Indiana Lilly employees, in partnership with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc., and more than 60 organizations including INDOT, Indy Parks, United Way of Central Indiana, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis, Indianapolis Public Schools, Boy Scouts of America and others, will work one of two, four-hour shifts from 8 a.m.-Noon and 1-5 p.m.

In addition to Indianapolis, more than 30 Lilly site locations from New Zealand to California are participating in the Global Day of Service.

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"Working Effectively with Japanese"

"Working Effectively with Japanese" is the theme for a seminar set for 28 May. Sponsored by Japan-America Society of Indiana and Japan Intercultural Consulting, it will be held in Valle Vista Golf Club & Conference Center, 755 East Main Street, Greenwood.

The event begins with registration at 8 a.m. and ends at 12:30 p.m. Fee is $100. Registration information is available online.

This seminar is for Americans who already work with Japanese or who wish to embark on new business relationships and partnerships. Employees of Japanese transplant companies and local economic development officials (and mayors) are especially encouraged to attend. Participants will learn how to communicate effectively with Japanese, how decisions are made in Japanese organizations, and understand Japanese culture in the workplace. Instructor is Yoshio Goto, Consultant, Japan Intercultural Consulting.

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Asian Art Exhibit at Garfield Park in Indy

An unusual display is on exhibit at the Garfield Park Arts Center, 2432 Conservatory Drive, Indianapolis.

The "Asian Arts Exhibit" features artwork and cultural regalia from Asian artists and artwork from Asian-American children in Central Indiana.

Exhibiting artists include: Heidelberg Bayquen (oils), Lou Hii (Chinese papercuts -- such as the one pictured), Linda Evans (Japanese embroidery) and Kim Le Tran (Photography Exhibit, "Daily Life of the Vietnamese People in the Recent Years").

The exhibition runs through 29 May. For more information, call 317:327-7091.

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Purdue students head to China for Global Business Plan Competition

Purdue University students Kristeen Hudson, Brian Paplaski (pictured) and Joshua Hall are taking their first place finish at the university's Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition in February to a global competition in Hong Kong on 3-6 June, reports Purdue's News Bureau.

MissionMatchUp, an Internet-based company that helps raise money for mission trips and other fund raising needs, will square off against more than 60 finalists from Australia to Vietnam at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Innovation & Entrepreneurship Student Challenge.

Next month's event, which is open to secondary and university students, includes eight U.S. student teams, 13 from the United Kingdom, 10 from Canada and 17 from China.

Hudson and Paplaski, who are graduating from Purdue this week, launched MissionMatchUp as a social networking Web site to provide custom interfaces for individuals to create, distribute and raise funds for service trips and sponsors or donors for fundraising efforts. For the China competition, the team has added Hall, a junior from Mishawaka, studying computer information technology with a focus on network engineering.

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IU and Notre Dame Executive Education Ranked by Financial Times

The Financial Times has ranked two Indiana business schools among the top 65 in its annual survey of international non-degree programs worldwide.

The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University (pictured) was ranked fourth among U.S. public institutions, 11th nationally and 26th overall in Executive Education.

The only other Indiana school on the list was the University of Notre Dame, which was ranked 56th overall.

The rankings are compiled from responses to two sets of questionnaires. The first is a client survey, compiled from telephone interviews of the top corporate executive education purchasers. The other is a survey of statistical data completed by the business schools. The data from the client questionnaire accounts for 80 percent of the school's final score.

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Medical Interpreter Conference

A conference on medical interpretation will be held 16 June in Ritz Charles, 12156 North Meridian Street, Carmel. Sponsored by Rural and Urban Access to Health of St. Vincent Health, it will consider professional development and integration of medical interpretation into the health care team.

The agenda begins with registration and continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m., followed by an all-day series of speakers, panels and discussions. Registration fee is $50. Keynote speaker is Ira SenGupta, executive director of Cross Cultural Health Care Program.

For registration and information, see the website.

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"One Step Ahead of Hitler"

Fred Gross, author of One Step Ahead of Hitler: A Jewish Child's Journey through France, discusses his book at 7 p.m. tomorrow [11 May] in Carmel Clay Public Library, 55 4th Avenue SE, Carmel. It is sponsored by the Carmel Clay Public Library Foundation.

Gross knew much about the history of the Holocaust, but he knew very little of his or his family's story. It was not until the late 1980s, when he began to ask questions, that his mother opened up about their flight from the German invasion of Belgium. Later, his two older brothers would add to their mother's memories. Most of the Grosses' flight takes place in France during its defeat and collaboration with the Nazis, when 75,000 Jews were rounded up for deportation to death camps.

Gross was born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1936. A graduate of New York University, he was a reporter for the Journal-Courier, a daily newspaper in New Haven, Conn., and has been a public relations specialist in education for nearly thirty years. For the past 17 years Gross has been actively involved in the Jewish community in Louisville, Ky. He has taught a Holocaust curriculum to Sunday school students, and continues to share his story with middle and high school students and adult audiences.

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Tajima Hiroyuki Exhibition Continues at IMA

Tajima Hiroyuki (1911–1984) is widely regarded as an important sōsaku hanga (creative print) movement artist. Traditional Japanese woodblock prints were collaboratively produced by a team of skilled artisans directed by a publisher, but in sōsaku hanga the artist designed, carved and printed his creations by himself. The creative print movement was, in part, a response to Western ideas of originality and individual artistic expression.

Tajima’s method included the use of shellac, torn and crumpled papers, dyes and other materials in conjunction with wood blocks to create low reliefs and intricate surfaces upon which to print. This method, combined with suggestions of highlighting and modeling, makes his prints appear to take on three-dimensional qualities, although the print surface is completely flat.

He used overprinting and techniques of dye resist, producing richly saturated colors with complex and textured effects that invite and reward close observation. His layered color combinations make his prints glow as if illuminated from behind, resulting in great visual depth and instilling his works with a mood of mystery and quiet beauty.

Tajima was born in Tokyo and graduated from Nihon University in 1932, and from the Western-style painting division of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1943. He created his first print in 1946, and joined the Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai (a group of abstract and surrealist artists) the same year. He studied printmaking under Nagase Yoshio (1891–1978), an artist of the sosaku hanga school, and fabric dyeing with Hirokawa Matsugorō (1889–1952). He also made landscape prints under the name of Nagai Kiyoshi.

The exhibition continues through 11 October in the Frances Parker Appel Gallery, gallery level 2 of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 North Michigan Road, Indianapolis.

Image credit: Tajima Hiroyuku, Japanese, 1911-1984. Chiizuroune, 1962, wood block print. Gift of Toshie Tajima

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International Business Owners to Visit Bloomington

The Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership, a program of the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, will host seven international business owners, reports Inside INdiana Business (although no dates for the visit have been announced).

The group will learn about the city's growing presence as a life sciences hub, participate in a brief tour and visit local life sciences organizations. Representatives include a provincial governor, business owners and agency directors from Angola, Egypt, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal and Serbia.

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Former Indy Resident Named Ambassador to Cyprus

Frank Urbancic Jr. (pictured) was sworn in as Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Cyprus on 14 August 2008.

A native of Indianapolis, Urbancic joined the Department of State in 1983. He speaks French, Arabic, and Turkish, with additional studies in Greek. Prior to this appointment, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy to the Coordinator in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

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Indy and Taiwan

There's a graphic on today's business pages in The Indianapolis Star titled "A Profitable Exchange" listing the links between our state and the Pacific island nation.

It's correct as far as it goes -- but, inexplicably, it leaves out the most important link: Indianapolis (Indiana's capital) and Taipei (Taiwan's capital) are sister cities! The agreement between Indianapolis and Taipei is a year older than the agreement between Indiana and Taiwan -- 31 years vs. 30.

In any case, be sure to head over to Clowes Hall for tonight's blockbuster performance in honor of Taiwanese Heritage Week. Ro Han Mem, the famed cultural troupe from Taiwan, performs at no charge, thanks to the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Butler, the Taiwanese-American Association of Indianapolis, the State of Indiana, the City of Indianapolis, Telamon Corporation and the Taipei Economic and Culture Office in Chicago.

And, yes, the Taiwanese-American Association of Indianapolis is a member of the Nationalities Council of Indiana.

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Two Kenyans Win Indy's Mini Marathon

Two runners from Kenya finished first in the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis. Women's race winner was Janet Cherobon, who currently lives in Rome, Ga. Men's winner was Festus Langat of West Chester, Pa.

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Partnership Inked Between School of Education at IUPUI and Indy Latino Groups

A partnership between the Indiana School of Education at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Latino community was signed last Thursday (30 April).

The memorandum of understanding formalizes the partnership and describes the creation of a unit within the School of Education's Center on Urban and Multicultural Education (CUME) at IUPUI dedicated exclusively to the study of Latino education in Indiana. Working as a federation of local neighborhood organizations, school districts, university researchers, and other key stakeholders, the unit would set and oversee implementation of a collaboratively-derived agenda built around these goals:

* Create a knowledge base on the status of Latino education in the state
* Enrich the public discourse bearing on Latino education issues
* Provide technical assistance in educational practices that work best for Latinos
* Advance policies and programs that address issues and needs.

Students and Teachers from China Visit Indy

A group of 22 students, teachers and administrators from the Dalian Experimental School in Liaoning Province in northeastern China, visited Westlane Middle School (MSD of Washington Township in Indianapolis) this past week.

The two are partner schools (you can read more about the project here).

Westlane plans a visit to Dalian in June 2010.

Read all about it in The Indianapolis Star, at least until The Star removes it from its website! Gretchen Becker was the reporter.

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Muncie-Delaware County Delegation Back from Japan

Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley; Terry Murphy, Vice President, Economic Development for the Muncie-Delaware County Economic Development Alliance (EDA), and Larry Ingraham, President of Ingraham and Associates and special Japan consultant to the City of Muncie and Delaware County Commissioners, recently returned from a highly successful week long business trip to Japan, according to the EDA.

“We had twelve appointments with business and company leaders during the week,” said Murphy. “Three of the companies have active projects and have already completed site visits to our community. We also met with other key business leaders in the areas of finance, government, private business, and construction."

This is the fourth consecutive year a Muncie-Delaware County Delegation has visited Japan.