L'Italo-Americano

THURS DAY,   MAY  9,   2013  From the director Cari Lettori, By now you have hopefully become accustomed to the ongoing changes and improvements to L'Italo-Americano. All of these changes, both big and small have not only created a new and modernized look to the newspaper, but also have added to the readability of our newspaper. We have diversified our content to include something that will appeal to all generations and also added ways in which that content is dissiminated. In doing so, we have begun this very thoughful and focused journey to sustainability, further aiding our effort to guarantee L'Italo-Americano's holds a future in this increasingly tech savvy society where current events and information is just a mouse click or tweet away. Over the past year in particular, the challenges that L'Italo-Americano has faced and consequent decisions regarding the future direction of the paper, have not been easy. At times the challenges have seemed insurmountable, but we have overcome them by not just relying upon L'ItaloAmericano established, but limited financial resources, but also by the continued support and patronage of all our readers. Sponsorship and support can take many forms such as advertising support, subscriptions & renewals, sharing local community news, participation in our facebook community, website comments on our articles, retweeting our tweets, adding calendar events to the calendar section and passing on the paper to a relative or a friend when you are done reading it. If you haven't already noticed, you should know that our digital edition makes subscribing to L'Italo-Americano easier than ever. Moreover, each subscription includes a complete archive of back issues, all available at your fingertips. The Digital Replica Edition is an exact replica of the print edition that's delivered to homes and retail outlets, but in an environmentally friendly and form that can be viewed from your home computer tablet or smart phone. You can "pinch and zoom" to enlarge stories and photos. You can also touch the "Pages" button on the top navigation bar to view a carousel of all available pages. The top navigation bar also has a "archive" button to view a list all currently available editions. We live in a moment of unprecedented social and technological transformation that demands new ideas to keep pace with these times, and modern technology is giving us more ways to tell stories with pictures, audio, video and interactive graphics. L'Italo-Americano will deliver them all. I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of requests we receive every day from new contributors, driven by the same values and passion for the Italian culture that drove L'Italo-Americano for the past 105 years. We always welcome new contributors, please send us an email at info@italoamericano.com if you are interested in becoming part of our team. One of our most recent additionn is the return of the San Diego section. We are proud to, once again, provide the San Diego Italian-American community local residents with news and events, advertising coverage, and to celebrate the accomplishments of individuals and organizations within the community. Benvenuta San Diego. Another important addition to our initiatives is our Annual Golf Tournament. We started this project last year with the help of our friends Vito and Pasquale Roberto, with the double intent to create a social event and to raise funds for L'Italo-Americano. The response was so enthusiastic and encouraging that we decided to make the tournament a yearly event. Our Second Golf Tournament just took place at Porter Valley Country Club in Northridge, with an even better outcome than the previous one. About 90 players, 30 big sponsors, and an energetic group of volunteers made this a great event. Thanks to all of them and to the donations received from our readers and supporters, L'Italo-Americano annual Golf Tournament officially became one of our main fundraising events as well as one of our most exciting public events. We have already started to work on the next year's edition, but in the meantime you can read more about the 2013 event on pages 12 of this issue. Despite these uncertain times, L'Italo-Americano is still growing strong, continues to deliver each and every week, the most compelling stories as well as covering events that affect the Italian community. Above all and more than ever, our small team is committed and determined to fulfill our mission to promote and preserve Italian heritage, language and culture passed down through generations to come. All this and more we do for posterity so the values of our rich heritage that makes us unique in the world are never forgotten or dismissed as something of the past. L'Italo-Americano in it's longevity and continued appeal to different generations over this 105 years is something to be extremely proud of. Con affetto, L'Italo-Americano PAGE  15 Italian society set to decide its future while facing fundamental changes Continued from page 1 "Italy is not a racist country, it has a well-rooted culture of hospitality", recalled new Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge, adding though that its law looks outdated when com- declined birth rate a young population of foreign descent. Almost 900,000 non-EU minors live in Italy today, either born in the country or arrived with their parents at a very early age. New Minister Kyenge with President Napolitano pared to the newest social events that has changed the perception of what being Italian means. According to the Italian Institute for Statistic, slightly less than 8 percent of Italian inhabitants (4.5 million people) are foreigners. Roughly 3.5 million of them are non-European Union nationals. Along with that, last year almost 80,000 babies were born in Italy to nonItalian parents. Many of those immigrants have started their own businesses and founded families, providing a country with a substantial But due to the law, Italy has the lowest rate of naturalization among the EU countries. Particularly problematic is the situation of the "second generation". Whether their parents are originals from Africa, Asia, Europe or Latin America, they grew up attending Italian public schools, speaking Italian and sharing goals and dreams with their Italian friends. Nevertheless, according to the actual law, they have to wait until their 18th birthday before applying for citizenship. And if they were not registered immediately after birth by their parents, which is often the case, they will be like any other foreign immigrant forever, needing a residence permit issued on specific conditions. A famous example is Balotelli, one of Italy's biggest soccer stars and a forward on the national team, who was born in Italy to parents from Ghana and raised by an Italian family. Its case, and its remarked love for the national team, has been often used as an example of what being Italian means. "The appointment of Cecile Kyenge is a huge step forward towards a more civil Italian society, more responsible and aware of the need for better and definitive integration," Balotelli said. The new citizenship law, which will be proposed in a short period of time, called for a citizenship based more on the "soil" than on "blood". Something called "socialization-based acquisition", where residence, schooling, integration in the society and shared constitutional values form the basis of the citizenship. "We must treasure the desire for new Italians. A community based on integration is built in the halls of schools and universities," new appointed Prime Minister Enrico Letta said. Whether the new bill will be approved or not will probably determine the destiny of million of people living in Italy and with them the future of Italy itself. Italy and US ready to celebrate Mother's Day Continued from page 1 The effort was later supported by the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where a Mother's Day event was attended by hundreds of children and their mothers. The church has now become the International Mother's Day Shrine. It is a tribute to all mothers and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. After being fully established in the US, the holiday was then adopted by several countries although leaning on different meanings or associated with different events (religious, historical or legendary), and celebrated on different dates to fit already existing celebrations. As in the United States, Mother's Day is celebrated in Italy on the second Sunday of May and is seen as an important day when families traditionally come together to celebrate and look after their mothers. And it could have not been any different considering the well-known important role mothers play in the Italian culture. In the Bel Paese Mother's Day, in its present form, was celebrated for the first time on May 12, 1957, in the medieval town of Assisi thanks to the initiative of a priest, Otello Migliosi. The celebration was so succes- sful that the following year Mother's Day was adopted throughout the whole country. At the end of 1958 the Parliament officially recognized the holiday. Although the official recognition is relatively fresh, like most of the holidays in Italy, the feast linked back to the Roman Empire, when a whole weekend of celebrations was held in May to celebrate the goddess Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage and motherhood. With the coming of Christianity, the tradition evolved into a religious festival when the 'mother' started to be associated to Mary, venerated as the ultimate expression of motherhood. Today, Mother's day has become a commercially successful holiday in many parts of the world but still retains the feeling of a simple celebration in Italy with children giving home-made gifts, cards, letters and flowers.

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