In The News

Technology Gap Forces Flexibility in Teaching

Lori Aratani May 21, 2003
Andrew Hill High School in northern California, USA, which serves some of the area's poorest students and immigrants, has brought technology into its daily teaching, with wireless network installed and laptops equipped in classrooms. Computer use is integrated into the education. With a third of the student-body still in a struggle to master the English language, teaching methods that...

Chinese Beats... on Cuban Streets

May 20, 2003
Chinese migration to Cuba rose significantly in the mid-19th century with the demand for unskilled labor in the island's sugar industry. Over the years, the overseas Chinese community has been involved in Cuba's war for liberation from Spain, endured U.S-friendly Batista's dictatorship and Castro's nationalization project. One Chinese immigrant, Rolando Ziang Lian, reminisces...

Fewer People Are Crossing Border Bridges

Jeorge Zarazua May 19, 2003
The war on Iraq has negatively affected the traffic on the international bridges between Southern Texas and Mexico, with substantially fewer travelers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the past two months. Making the situation worse, say some Texas-side business owners, are Mexico's decision to lower its gas prices along the border - which gives Mexican drivers one less reason to visit the...

More 'Can I Help You?' Jobs Migrate From U.S. to India

Amy Waldman May 11, 2003
Due to advances in global media technologies, the public and the private sectors in the United States are increasingly subcontracting services to countries with cheap labor. Contractors for the State of New Jersey arranged for telephone operators in Bombay, India to handle calls from the state's welfare recipients. These telephone operators are paid by a US-based company, owned by an...

Europe's Identity Crisis

Steven Erlanger May 5, 2003
Europe's left wing has given the right a boost. Popular liberal fears of Americanization and "coca-colonization" have fostered the belief that individual cultures are in danger of extinction. And France's extreme right is exploiting this pervasive anxiety in the current presidential elections. Though Jacques Chirac is sure to win ultimately, the neo-fascist Jean-Marie Le...

Human Trafficking Casts Shadow on Globalization

Michele A. Clark April 23, 2003
Women and children have been among the biggest losers in this era of globalization, if we consider the massive increase in human trafficking in recent years. Cheated or sold into a life of sexual slavery or indentured servitude, the victims of human trafficking and their stories reveal the dark underside of increased international mobility. With the demise of socialist states, in particular,...

Latino Immigrants Stepping Up to Serve the US Cause

Enrique Rangel March 31, 2003
The ultimate sign of nationalism is often seen as a willingness to give your life for your country. Since WWII, immigrants born in Latin and South America have fought for the American military, often before they even gained official recognition as American citizens. Joining the military may the fastest way to prove loyalty to a new state and to integrate oneself into a new nation. Immigrant...