International Violin Competition Announces Winners

The laureates for the 2010 International Violin Competition hail from three continents. They are:

Gold medalist: Clara-Jumi Kang (pictured, near right), Germany/South Korea
Silver medalist: Soyoung Yoon (pictured, far right), South Korea
Bronze medalist: Benjamin Beilman, United States
4th Place Laureate: Haoming Xie, China
5th Place Laureate: Antal Szalai, Hungary
6th Place Laureate: Andrey Baranov, Russia

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Indiana Looks to Grow India Connection

Some Indiana business and community leaders say enhancing economic ties with India could mean big business for the state, reports Inside INdiana Business. Thursday (23 September), Indianapolis law firm Barnes & Thornburgh LLP convened a meeting with more than two dozen Indian executives and Hoosier business leaders representing technology, energy, education and manufacturing. The goal is to help increase business between Indiana and the Asian nation.

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Valpo Joins Internationalization Project

Valparaiso University has been asked to join a national organization focused on internationalization efforts, reports Inside INdiana Business.

The school is one of eight institutions invited to be a part of the American Council on Education's 2010-2011 Internationalization Laboratory Cohort. Valparaiso will help develop strategies for campus internationalization by forming campus leadership teams to work on strategic planning and student outcomes. It will also attend three community meetings in Washington, D.C. and conduct site visits and peer reviews.

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PowWow This Weekend

The 15th Annual Gathering of the People (Native American) PowWow opens at 10 a.m. tomorrow and Sunday on the VCCC Club Grounds, 10382 Grotto Road, Terre Haute.

It's sponsored by Vigo County Conservation Club.

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10th Celebration of Indy's Diversity

The Indianapolis Mayor’s Office is accepting applications for the 10th Annual Mayor’s Celebration of Diversity Awards. The awards will be presented on 21 January to businesses and organizations throughout Marion County that embrace, celebrate, and apply holistic inclusion and participation of a diverse people, making the workplace a better environment in which to work and the community a better place in which to live, work and raise a family.

(The Nationalities Council of Indiana received its diversity award from Mayor Bart Peterson in 2003.)

Recognition will be given for outstanding performance, in one or all of the following four categories: Community Relations - Activities that encourage and support diversity in the community; Development - Opportunities for diversity strategies within the organization; Leadership – Vision develops and supports
diversity strategies throughout the organization; Workforce Diversity – Diversity representation in the workplace.

Also, the top award given is the special Sam H. Jones Award, named in honor of the first president of the Indianapolis Urban League, who was a tireless advocate for peace, justice and racial understanding. It recognizes a business or organization with exemplary performance in all four categories, the “Best of the Best”.

Nomination forms are available online or by calling 317:327-5091. Nominations may be submitted online or postmarked by 4 p.m. 21 October.

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Today is Fiesta Time in Indy

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Arzberg, Germany, visits its Sister City in Indiana

South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke, Common Council Members, and community representatives met with a delegation from South Bend's Sister City today in the Mayor's Office, reports Inside INdiana Business.

South Bend formed a Sister City relationship with Arzberg in 2005. This year's delegation includes new Mayor Stephan Gocking, former Mayor Winfried Geppert and his wife Anne-Marie.

Other members of the delegation include Arzberg City Council Member Baroness Silvia von Waldenfels, City Council Member Roland Koffmane and Christa Koffmane, Adam Seyferth, former mayor of neighboring Thiersheim and Dagmar Seyferth, Thomas Zeitler, member of the city administration, Ingrid Eisenkolb and son Dr. Alexander Eisenkolb, Karl-Heintz Freina and Heide Freina and daughter Kathrin, Horst Gebhardt, trip organizer Jurgen Stowasser, and from North Carolina, Oscar and Ingrid Dobereiner. The delegation will be in South Bend through Sunday.

The connection between South Bend and Arzberg is more than 150 years old, the mayor notes. Throughout South Bend, there are reminders of that heritage, from the former Muessel Brewery to the local Zion Church, Muessel School and Elbel Golf Course.

Gabrielle Robinson, former Director of International Programs at Indiana University South Bend has been the driving force in establishing this relationship, and organizing the activities and exchanges that have happened to date. She is also the author of German Settlers of South Bend, and worked with the Center for History and other sources to develop a comprehensive history of the South Bend German immigrants.

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Kinder Lernen Deutsch

German classes will be offered again this academic year to first-grade children at Valparaiso University's Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center.

Beginning 27 September and ending on 25 April, Valpo's "Kinder lernen Deutsch" classes emphasize learning German through fun activities, games and songs, and are taught by undergraduate students of German.

The weekly classes meet for one hour, beginning at 4 p.m., for a total of 19 sessions.

Jennifer Bjornstad, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures and director of the German House, supervises the program and said approximately 300 children have enrolled in "Kinder lernen Deutsch" over the past decade.

Children who begin taking German in the first-grade program can continue for two additional years in "Kinder lernen Deutsch." In fourth and fifth grades, children then have the option of continuing their German or starting a new language in the "Bridges to World Languages" program, a separate after-school program offered by Valparaiso Community Schools in partnership with Valparaiso University.

Registration will continue until the class is full. To register a child, call 219:548-1569 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The registration fee for the full year is $60 and is due on the first day of class.

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Ugandan Healthcare

Bill Flavin (center in photo), an undergraduate student in biochemistry at University of Notre Dame, South Bend, was given the opportunity to conduct research in Uganda this summer.

His three-week research project was funded and organized in partnership with the Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity as part of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.

After spending the past three summers researching in the Digestive Diseases Research Core Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center, Flavin decided to focus his research in Uganda on enteric and diarrheal diseases caused by impure water, as a consequence of extreme systematic poverty and grassroots economic growth and development. In addition to researching the healthcare system, Flavin also spent time working with local businesses and schools to address the issues.

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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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