Minnesota Colleges Find Diverse Ways to Say 'Welcome'

A recruitment brochure printed in nine languages? Public and private colleges alike are working to attract a multicultural student population. When politicians and education leaders talk about demographic shifts, people usually think of Texas and California. But for decades Minnesota, especially the Minneapolis area, has had growing Asian and African immigrant populations, who are now being joined by Latin Americans. In all, the state's immigrant population has nearly doubled since 2000, according to the State Demographic Center.

Full text article by Emma L. Carew is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/17/10.

Bloomberg Pledges $125 Million to Reduce Traffic Deaths

Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, has pledged $125-million for an international program aimed at reducing and preventing deaths and injuries from automobile crashes. The five-year program will benefit 10 low- and middle-income countries with large numbers of deaths resulting from traffic crashes. The six organizations that will coordinate the program with the countries’ government agencies are the Association for Safe International Road Travel, Global Road Safety Partnership, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, World Bank Global Road Safety Facility, World Health Organization, and World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport.

Full text article by Betsy McKay is available via The Wall Street Journal, 11/18/09.

Number of Foreign Students in U.S. Hit a New High Last Year

The number of foreign students attending American colleges hit an all-time high in 2008, capping three consecutive years of vigorous growth, according to new data from the Institute of International Education. Some 671,616 international students attended U.S. institutions in 2008-9, an increase of almost 8 percent from a year earlier. First-time-student enrollments grew even more robustly, by nearly 16 percent.

Full text article by Karin Fischer is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/16/09.

Churches Borrow Franchise Approach to Expand

Church pastors seeking to expand their congregations overseas are turning to tech-savvy communication approaches and franchise marketing to bridge the distance between their services at home and abroad.

Full-text article by Alexandra Alter is available via the Wall Street Journal, 6.13.08.

Sanford Health Hopes To Open Its First International Site in Dublin, Ireland

Sanford Health soon might ink a deal to build its first international children's clinic in Ireland.

The health system is in the process of exchanging agreements with the Hermitage Medical Clinic to build a $5 million children's health clinic, said Sanford Executive Vice President Dave Link. The 126-bed independent hospital is in west Dublin.

The hospital is using a $400 million donation from South Dakota businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford to build clinics throughout the world, create opportunities for health research and identify and then resolve one of "the most pressing health issues of our day."

Full-text article by Megan Myers is available via ArgusLeader.com, 5.30.08,

A New Breed of Billionaire

A growing number of wealthy people in countries that have long been marred by poverty - such as India, Mexico, Turkey, and Russia - are turning to philanthropy.

Full-text article by Landon Thomas Jr. is available via The New York Times, 12.14.07.