[Immigrantrightsnynj] Voices That Must Be Heard

[Immigrant Rights NYNJ]

For full coverage and links, go to: http://www.indypressny.org

Voices That Must Be Heard 
Edition 380 9 July 2009
Tomasz Deptula, Editor of Nowy Dziennik/Polish Daily News, is the guest editor and Sharan Harper is the Multi-media Associate Editor of this issue

NEWS
Calling home - and losing minutes
By Kristofer Rios, Gotham Gazette, 30 June 2009. 
A 2007 study by the Hispanic Institute, a nonprofit research group, revealed that, on average, calling cards deliver only 60 percent of advertised minutes. 

Rent increases in New York City benefit no one
By E. Fraysinnet, La Tribuna Hispana, 24 June 2009. Translated from Spanish by Emily Leavitt.
Carlos Sjoberg, an 80-year-old Peruvian man, who receives $800 a month from his pension fund and pays $650 in rent, asked, "I don't have anywhere to go, and if they keep raising the rent, where am I going to go?"

VIDEO :: Last month the Rent Guidelines Board decided on increases for New York City renters. 

Growing up homeless
By Sarah Secunda, The Indypendent, 26 June 2009. 
According to the Coalition for the Homeless, from July to November 2008, more than 1,300 new families entered New York City's shelter system each month, the highest monthly average since the city began recording this data 25 years ago. Among them are people who were middle class, had jobs, and who had no other options. 

Ecuadorians in New York City mull a migration home 
By Andrew Silverstein, City Limits, 26 June 2009. 
Casa Ecuatoriana in Corona, Queens - where the greatest numbers of Ecuadorians live - is running Bienvenidos a Casa: Welcome Home, a program encouraging immigrants to return to their native land. 

Tired of negligent landlords
By Jose Acosta, El Diario La Prensa, 1 July 2009. Translated from Spanish by Emily Leavitt.
Passing in front of 618 Academy Street, a building in upper Manhattan, a woman can be seen bathing next to her children on the fire escape. She has opted for this peculiar method of hygiene because her landlord hasn't wanted to repair the bathtub, which has been unusable for some months. 

NYC Asian groups demonstrate for safe schools
By Chong Eun Lee, Korea Times, 2 July 2009. Translated from Korean by Sun-Yong Reinish.
New York City already has laws that demand respect for every student's dignity, and regulations on the books protecting schoolchildren from forms of mobbing and ostracizing, bullying and bias crimes; the problem lies in their enforcement.

VIDEO :: Two years ago activists called on the New York City Department of Education to stop bullying of immigrant students.

Questions being raised about digital transition
Via PPH
On June 12th, the US switched from analogue to digital broadcasting. The switch has been hailed as a success by the Federal Communication Commissions (FCC), but thousands of people here in NY and elsewhere across the country have been unable to watch television. CNPI reporter, Julia Paul interviewed a few New Yorkers who are having troubles with the digital transition. And Joel Kelsey, the Policy Analyst with Consumers Union, a guest on the Global Movements Urban Struggles show addresses some of the issues raised by consumers. 

EDITORIALS
Immigration reform: it's in the numbers
By Ray O'Hanlon, Irish Echo, 7 July 2009. 
The author observes that immigration reform will happen only when the numbers fall into place comfortably: the number of undocumented; the number in support in Congress; the number of unemployed, and finally the self-appointed number of sponsors for reform.

How 9/11 affected Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans
Via Aramica, 3 July 2009. 
Sociologists Anny Bakalian and Mehdi Bozorgmehr have authored a book that looks at activist and advocacy roots in Muslim-American communities and their influence on the communities' response to profiling and prejudice.

VIDEO :: The consequences of the 9/11 attacks will undoubtedly be felt for years to come. And the tragedy has continued to affect ordinary Muslim Americans to this day.

BRIEFS
Polish American Congress launches 2009 voter registration drive in Brooklyn
By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Nowy Dziennik, 1 July 2009. Translated from Polish by Aleksandra Slabisz.

New Jersey gang raid brings 2 Filipinos to their downfall
Via Filipino Reporter, 2 July 2009. 

Patty war irks Diaspora: Jamaicans abroad not fully embraced
By Caryle Mcketty, English, The Weekly Gleaner, 2 July 2009. 

Bedford Park teen killed; shootings double in 52nd precinct
By Alex Kratz, Norwood News, 29 June 2009. 

Immigrant women hit the New York City streets to earn a living
By Virginia Alvarado, Diario de México, 2 July 2009. Translated from Spanish by Marissa Billowitz.

EDUCATION WATCH
Anti immigrant bias in gifted and talented exam for children
By Abu Taher, The Weekly Bangla Patrika, 27 June 2009. 

Many roads, one destination
By Helen Zelon, City Limits, 24 June 2009. 

DOE's Internationals Schools Network: A place for recent immigrant students
By Mohsin Zaheer, Weekly Sada-e-Pakistan, 27 June 2009. 

A tough choice: Russian parents find difficulty choosing the right schools for their children
By Yana Krasilnikova, Novoye Russkoye Slovo, 24 May 2009. 

Arab-American parent volunteers make a difference in city schools
By Rachel Millard, Aramica, 22 May 2009. 

The reformer: Michele Cahill hopes to bring success in city schools to nation, in new role at Carnegie foundation
By Peter McDermott, Irish Echo, 26 June 2009.