Latino Voting in the 2008 Election: Part of a Broader Electoral Movement
By James G. Gimpel
LA PRENSA SAN DIEGO
The 2008 presidential election provided yet another opportunity to assess stability and change in the basic partisan commitments of voters. For almost 10 years now, leading GOP strategists have suggested that the party is on its way to making lasting inroads with Latino voters. Unfortunately, the 2008 results indicate that the party is no closer to this goal now than it was when it started. Exit polls on Election Night indicated that President-Elect Obama won 67 percent of the Latino vote. The Pew Research Center’s national survey taken the weekend before Election Day showed virtually the same results: 32 percent for McCain and 68 percent for Obama.
The quixotic and costly Republican efforts to realign a large share of Latino voters have evidently been a failure. The Hispanic population consistently identifies by a margin of 2:1 with the Democratic Party, and it is heavily concentrated in places where the local Republican Party presence is weak — especially in larger cities and older suburbs.
Given that new voters learn their politics from those around whom they live and work, the Latino concentrations in the nation’s most Democratic cities and counties provides little opportunity for regular exposure to anyone with Republican allegiance. In many of these locales, there are few Republican candidates even on the ballot. Very few Latinos are migrating into Republican-heavy communities, where they might develop some affinity for the Grand Old Party’s politics. Notably, where you do find Latinos living among Republican majorities, they are stronger in their support for GOP candidates, but the gap in party identification stems precisely from the fact that there are far fewer of them residing in such locations.
The upshot of the steadiness of Latino support for the Democratic Party is that a campaign cannot sway Latinos, or any other group, by simply broadcasting a few ads, making an extra campaign stop, or by announcing a new policy vision — nor does it help much if you do it in a foreign language. The vast majority of voters, Latino or otherwise, are not sufficiently attentive to campaign activities for those efforts to pay significant dividends.
Among those who are most attentive to campaigns, outreach messages fall on unsympathetic ears. Some have suggested that voters are selectively attentive when they view campaign-related information, commonly screening out or sharply discounting news and advertising content that is discrepant with what they already believe. This may be true, but a simpler account suggests that incoming content is filtered through the application of prior beliefs. A campaign ad for a candidate, for instance, is simply evaluated using different criteria by Republicans than it is by Democrats. Prior feelings and prejudices always come into play.
Whichever theory of biased learning is used to explicate it, the result is the same: stability in political attitudes rather than change even in the face of vigorous campaigning. No voter begins an election year as a blank slate, and one does not have to be a zealot to be resistant to new political arguments.
Considering the entrenched Democratic Party loyalties of Latino registrants, the legions of Latinos who are noncitizens, and those who are citizens but remain unregistered and do not vote, surprisingly few Latinos are persuadable targets of campaign outreach. This is why no reasonable amount of party effort will turn them in any short amount of time.
Republicans and the Latino Vote in Battleground States
Latino support for the McCain-Palin ticket varies by state because this population does not have the same socioeconomic profile at every location. Moreover, Latino voters are no different from any other voter, subject to favorite son appeals, as McCain did best in Arizona, winning an estimated 41 percent of the Hispanic vote, while losing to Obama in the Illinois Senator’s home state: 72 percent to 27 percent. The fact that McCain won as much as 27 percent of Latino votes in Illinois testifies to the durability of party identification in determining vote choice. Republicans can count on a small but loyal base of Hispanic supporters year in and year out even when the playing field is tilted against them.
Most campaigning occurred, however, in battleground states, and not in Arizona and Illinois. If any Latino votes were up-for-grabs, they should have been subject to campaign persuasion efforts in the highly competitive states.
Among the battleground states for which exit polling tabulations for Latino voters are listed, the results were not encouraging for Republicans awaiting a big payoff for efforts aimed at attracting Latinos. McCain’s worst performance among Latinos was in Nevada, a state George W. Bush won in both 2004 and 2000. There McCain managed to garner just 22 percent of the Hispanic vote, compared with Bush’s estimated 39 percent four years earlier. In Texas, considered a safe Republican state in presidential elections, McCain captured just 34 percent of the Latino vote, compared with Bush’s estimated 49 percent in 2004.
Fortunately for Republicans in the heavily GOP states, Latinos split more evenly, and Obama was held to 58 percent. But this was still far more Democratic support than he received among non-Latinos in the safe GOP states, at just 43 percent.
In 2008, Latino voters supported the GOP ticket at levels above the usual 30 percent only when they resided in states that were already safely in GOP hands. In competitive and Democratic states, they predictably supported Obama. The excitement of Latinos for the Obama-Biden ticket ran consistently strong even in states that were not in question. The only conclusion to be drawn from the evidence is that there were few Latino votes that were in play by October when the major campaigns were gearing up for their final push.
Latino Voting and Other Contests
Further down the ballot, Republicans did not fare any better among Latino voters in 2008 than in previous years. According to the exit polling for the U.S. House races, Latinos favored Democrats 68 percent to 29 percent.
Latinos were significant large voting blocs in four states with contested U.S. Senate seats: Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Virginia. In all four, Latinos cast over 61 percent of their votes for the Democratic candidates with the total reaching 71 percent for Mark Warner in Virginia.
An Across the Board Drop In Republican Support
By now, a number of post-mortem analyses have shown that the drop in support among Latinos was part of a broad-based electoral movement away from the Republican ticket compared with four years ago, and was hardly specific to that demographic group. Latino support for the GOP nominee dropped from where it was in 2004, but support for John McCain dropped among most other segments of the electorate as well; most significantly among young voters (-13 percent), the very wealthy (-17 percent), those without high school diplomas (-13 percent), and those earning less than $15,000 per year (-11 percent) — many of whom are also students.
Comparisons of the exit polls for the two election years also suggest that President Bush outperformed McCain across a wide variety of cultural groups thought to be well entrenched behind the GOP, including those who had previously served in the military (-3 percent); among born-again Christians (-4 percent); rural residents (-4 percent); and those who attend church weekly (-6 percent).
Seemingly modest losses among college graduates (-3 percent) and among white men (-5 percent) are of particular moment because these blocs are such a large share of the total voting population. According to estimates derived from the 2008 exit polls, college graduates numbered 57.8 million, casting about 44 percent of total votes. White men numbered about 47.2 million or 36 percent of total votes cast. By contrast, Latinos cast an estimated 11 million votes, or around 9 percent of the total.
The lower turnout of commonly Republican constituencies and higher turnout among regular Democrats also reconstituted the mix of interests in the 2008 electorate compared with four years ago. For example, rural voters were only 21 percent of the total electoral pie in 2008, compared with 25 percent in 2004. African American and Latino turnout in 2008 were well above 2004 levels, another source of the more lopsided vote share won by the Democratic nominee.
The Election Results And Immigration Policy
Credible observers can agree that the Republican performance among Latinos in 2008 was unimpressive, but the lackluster showing was a more general pattern hardly confined to this subset of the population.
Some have insisted that the election’s results are a direct consequence of Republicans turning against open and generous immigration policy in the years since 2004, when George W. Bush did better among Latinos. Republicans are said to have tarnished their brand among Latinos in the intervening years by opposing immigration legislation that would have granted legal status to millions of illegal immigrants. Florida Senator Mel Martinez insisted on NBC’s Meet the Press that anti-Hispanic rhetoric among Republicans would relegate the party to minority status.
The fact that four years ago George W. Bush did better than John McCain among numerous other electoral groups, not just Latinos, seems lost on these commentators. Did young voters and the affluent also desert the McCain-Palin ticket because of position-taking on specific policies between 2004 and 2008? Perhaps Barack Obama’s campaign promise to tax wealthy Americans is responsible for the dramatic movement in his direction of those earning more than $200,000 per year? No one can easily argue that the broadly based electoral movement away from the GOP resulted from Republicans (or John McCain) taking adverse policy positions in the years between 2004 and 2008 on immigration or any other issue. The evidence that specific issues mattered is pretty weak.
Latino voters just aren’t that different from other voters in the national electorate. Their support for Republicans rises or falls when support for GOP candidates rises among the broader electorate of which they are an important part. There is nothing mysterious in the election results and no evidence that indicts immigration policy as the reason for Republicans’ poor showing among any of the myriad groups identified. Alternative explanations for the election outcome going to the strength of party identification, the higher turnout of the Democratic base relative to the Republican base, and widespread concerns about the economy, are far more plausible.
Arguably, what the various election surveys show is that Latino support for the Democratic Party was quite stable and predictable this year as in previous years. Political support for a candidate almost never hinges upon a single issue. In any given election, announced issue positions usually fall on deaf ears. When queried directly, survey respondents will certainly offer opinions in response to questions about issues, it’s far less certain that they know anything about the candidates’ positions on those issues, or will vote on the basis of their issue opinions on Election Day. Elites and immigration-oriented advocacy groups are quite sensitive to campaign policy chatter, the masses are far less so.
Evidence from polling conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center in mid-summer indicated that the major policy concerns of Latinos were no different than the concerns of non-Latinos: the economy, jobs, and education topped the list. The War in Iraq and immigration policy were ranked as lower policy priorities. Even at that point in the contest, well before the national party conventions, Hispanics preferred Obama overwhelmingly, indicating that they were quick to come aboard the nominee’s bandwagon in spite of having supported Hillary Clinton throughout the presidential primaries. There were virtually no differences in support for Obama between native-born or foreign-born Latinos.
As for immigration policy, per se, there is little evidence that it was an influential factor in the choice between the two candidates by October and November. As a generic issue priority among voters, concern about immigration actually favored McCain, according to the Mid-October Pew Research Center survey conducted about two weeks prior to the election. But when respondents were asked in the same survey whether they favored a program to legalize illegal immigrants (conditional upon them being employed, the payment of fines, and the conduct of a background check) Latinos who were supportive of such an option preferred Obama by an 80 percent to 20 percent margin, in spite of the fact that McCain had sponsored legislation to accomplish exactly that just a year before. John McCain’s consistent history of taking stands in favor of lenient immigration laws made no impression. He gained nothing from it against a candidate in the Democratic Party who held even more liberal views.
Finally, all indications are that Latino turnout was higher than it was in 2004. The greater mobilization of Hispanics across the nation may well account for the greater support for Barack Obama, not Republican positioning on immigration policy. As I have pointed out in previous CIS Backgrounders, George W. Bush often did well among Latinos at times and in locations where turnout was especially low, for example, in his 1998 gubernatorial reelection bid. Misreading these results may have fooled naive strategists into believing that Republicans could quickly alter the basic partisan loyalties of Latinos if the right candidate was running or the proper issue mix was selected.
In reality, though, winning a larger share of Latino votes due to low turnout is not the same thing as converting Latinos to the Republican Party through campaign appeals or clever selection of issue positions. Conversely, when Latino support for Democrats rises, as it did in 2008, that may have little to do with issues, policies, or even candidates. Campaigns are not trivial, but they are not everything, either. Some campaign activity is efficacious in reaching voters, most of it is not.
Conclusions
Those who want their readers to believe that the election hinged on a single issue will commonly misuse polling data by showing that a difference in support for a policy viewpoint is associated with voting for the candidates. This simplified kind of analysis ignores several realities: First, few voters care enough about a single issue to make it the sole determinant of their vote. Second, party identification remains the overriding cue for vote choice, and issue positions are often only spuriously related to support for candidates. Finally, such evidence vastly over-intellectualizes the vote decision, portraying voters as far more knowledgeable and engaged than they are. Most voters are paying only intermittent attention to the campaign, not studying every campaign ad and attending every local event.
Over the long term, Republicans can expect to enlarge upon their voting margins among Latinos as Latinos become more prosperous and move into areas of existing Republican Party strength where they can develop ties to other GOP adherents. As it stands, what separates Republican-identifying Latinos from Democrats is primarily religion and income. Involvement in Evangelical church circles is clearly associated with Republican Party gains among Latinos, but promoting religious conversion seems like an unusual and possibly controversial way to go about building a base of party support.
As long as Latinos remain in lower income brackets, an outcome virtually assured by sustained high levels of unskilled immigration, the Democrats will continue to maintain their lopsided edge. American ethnic history has shown that the path to Republican Party identification is a slow and multi-generational one. The greater the education and skills deficit new immigrants arrive with, the longer this political migration process will take.
James G. Gimpel is a professor of government at the University of Maryland, College Park. He can be reached at jgimpel@gvpt.umd.edu. For the complete report visit the web site for the“Center for Immigration Studies” http://cis.org/latinovoting.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
San Jose Latinos targeted by Police
San Jose task force member proposes moratorium on use of public-drunkenness law
By Sean Webby Mercury News 01/30/2009
Suspicious that the San Jose Police Department is misusing the state public-drunkenness law to make false arrests and racially profile Latinos, some members of a task force studying the issue are proposing dramatic reforms, including placing on a temporary moratorium on using the misdemeanor.
Some, including a City Council member, are suggesting the law may need to be changed.
Pete Carrillo of the Silicon Valley Democratic Latino Forum and others said at a contentious task force meeting Thursday night that he suggested the moratorium because the stakes over the controversy had grown so high, transcending the controversial arrests.
"I believe there is a credibility and trust issue between the SJPD, the city administration and the city at large,'' said Carrillo, who came up with a long list of ideas including the proposed ban on the arrests. "It is real, it is persistent and it is growing.''
City Attorney Rick Doyle said Friday that the council does not have the authority to order the police to stop using a state law. But the council could prioritize which laws to enforce, Doyle said.
Police Chief Rob Davis said he "respected Carrillo's right and his ability to raise these issues'' and looked forward to addressing them further along with the task force.
Asked for his response, Mayor Chuck Reed said: "The council has appointed a task force and they have a job to do. It's important that the elected officials not inject themselves into that process prematurely, but allow the task force to do their work."
Arrests in San Jose
The City Council formed the task force amid public outcry after the Mercury News reported in October that the city arrested 4,661 people for public drunkenness in 2007 — far more than any other department in the state. The newspaper also found that 57 percent of those arrested were Hispanic, though the city's population is about 30 percent Latino. Such a disproportionate ratio was not found in any other major city, nor in figures for the entire state.
Carrillo and other members of the 24-member task force brought up enlisting the state delegation to try to change the law itself — or even decriminalizing public intoxication altogether.
In a separate effort, not connected to the task force, Councilwoman Nora Campos has scheduled a meeting next month with the office of Karen Bass, the speaker of the state Assembly, to discuss potential changes to the state law.
Proposals from Carrillo and other task force members began to pour in at the end of the second meeting of the Public Intoxication Task Force, during which both members and city residents blasted the department. Many said saying the issue was not so much the law, but how it was being misused by officers.
One task force member proposed reopening a sobering station, something now used by cities such as San Diego and counties such as Alameda. Another suggested making officers get regular refresher training courses on the law, and a club owner proposed a program in which cabs would drive home drunken bar and club patrons.
Expanding upon an idea proposed by Raj Jayadev, a community activist, Carrillo proposed that the City Council order local police to stop using the law for 180 days.
"It will send a clear message that the city of San Jose is doing everything right now to stop racial profiling, stop arrests without proof of intoxication, and will ensure that formal due process system within the legal system is instituted.''
Criticism of police
Many of the task force members leveled harsh criticism at the police department after hearing officers generally only had to observe that a person was dangerously drunk to justify an arrest.
And such evidence is rarely reviewed by the district attorney's office, which generally sees such cases only if a person pleads not guilty or there are other — more serious — cases attached.
"So your evidence is 'The police said so,' '' Walter Wilson of the African-American Community Services Agency said to a prosecutor on the panel.
On that point, Carrillo suggested the task force come up with more objective standards to make arrests — he suggested a measurable blood alcohol content of 0.25 or above.
He also recommended that the district attorney's office sample the public-intoxication cases, which are generally adjudicated in a misdemeanor court by a judge with no lawyers present, to determine if they are valid and look for any troubling racial patterns.
The district attorney's office said Friday that it would review Carrillo's recommendations and be prepared to discuss them at the next public meeting, scheduled for Feb. 26.
Contact Sean Webby at swebby@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5003.
By Sean Webby Mercury News 01/30/2009
Suspicious that the San Jose Police Department is misusing the state public-drunkenness law to make false arrests and racially profile Latinos, some members of a task force studying the issue are proposing dramatic reforms, including placing on a temporary moratorium on using the misdemeanor.
Some, including a City Council member, are suggesting the law may need to be changed.
Pete Carrillo of the Silicon Valley Democratic Latino Forum and others said at a contentious task force meeting Thursday night that he suggested the moratorium because the stakes over the controversy had grown so high, transcending the controversial arrests.
"I believe there is a credibility and trust issue between the SJPD, the city administration and the city at large,'' said Carrillo, who came up with a long list of ideas including the proposed ban on the arrests. "It is real, it is persistent and it is growing.''
City Attorney Rick Doyle said Friday that the council does not have the authority to order the police to stop using a state law. But the council could prioritize which laws to enforce, Doyle said.
Police Chief Rob Davis said he "respected Carrillo's right and his ability to raise these issues'' and looked forward to addressing them further along with the task force.
Asked for his response, Mayor Chuck Reed said: "The council has appointed a task force and they have a job to do. It's important that the elected officials not inject themselves into that process prematurely, but allow the task force to do their work."
Arrests in San Jose
The City Council formed the task force amid public outcry after the Mercury News reported in October that the city arrested 4,661 people for public drunkenness in 2007 — far more than any other department in the state. The newspaper also found that 57 percent of those arrested were Hispanic, though the city's population is about 30 percent Latino. Such a disproportionate ratio was not found in any other major city, nor in figures for the entire state.
Carrillo and other members of the 24-member task force brought up enlisting the state delegation to try to change the law itself — or even decriminalizing public intoxication altogether.
In a separate effort, not connected to the task force, Councilwoman Nora Campos has scheduled a meeting next month with the office of Karen Bass, the speaker of the state Assembly, to discuss potential changes to the state law.
Proposals from Carrillo and other task force members began to pour in at the end of the second meeting of the Public Intoxication Task Force, during which both members and city residents blasted the department. Many said saying the issue was not so much the law, but how it was being misused by officers.
One task force member proposed reopening a sobering station, something now used by cities such as San Diego and counties such as Alameda. Another suggested making officers get regular refresher training courses on the law, and a club owner proposed a program in which cabs would drive home drunken bar and club patrons.
Expanding upon an idea proposed by Raj Jayadev, a community activist, Carrillo proposed that the City Council order local police to stop using the law for 180 days.
"It will send a clear message that the city of San Jose is doing everything right now to stop racial profiling, stop arrests without proof of intoxication, and will ensure that formal due process system within the legal system is instituted.''
Criticism of police
Many of the task force members leveled harsh criticism at the police department after hearing officers generally only had to observe that a person was dangerously drunk to justify an arrest.
And such evidence is rarely reviewed by the district attorney's office, which generally sees such cases only if a person pleads not guilty or there are other — more serious — cases attached.
"So your evidence is 'The police said so,' '' Walter Wilson of the African-American Community Services Agency said to a prosecutor on the panel.
On that point, Carrillo suggested the task force come up with more objective standards to make arrests — he suggested a measurable blood alcohol content of 0.25 or above.
He also recommended that the district attorney's office sample the public-intoxication cases, which are generally adjudicated in a misdemeanor court by a judge with no lawyers present, to determine if they are valid and look for any troubling racial patterns.
The district attorney's office said Friday that it would review Carrillo's recommendations and be prepared to discuss them at the next public meeting, scheduled for Feb. 26.
Contact Sean Webby at swebby@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5003.
Hispanic students grow across Oklahoma
Number of Hispanic students grows across the state
By Bridget Nash, Staff Writer
The number of Hispanic students in Oklahoma increased last school year.
Out of 644,777 students enrolled statewide for the 2007-08 school year, 67,652 students were Hispanic, an increase of 3,461 from the previous year.
To Ringwood Public School officials, an increase in Hispanic students is old news.
“We’re about 40 percent Hispanic,” said Ringwood Superintendent Ray Johnson, “but that’s not been a recent increase.”
Ringwood is equipped with an English as a Second Language (ESL) program, and the ESL staff frequently participates in professional development geared toward teaching students who are not proficient in English.
Johnson also said the rest of Ringwood’s teachers try to participate in the same type of professional development at least once each year.
Enid Public Schools has a program similar to ESL called English Language Learners (ELL), and that program has seen an increase in participants.
In October 2007, there were 553 ELL students and as of October 2008 there are 628 ELL students.
Amber Graham Fitzgerald, director of school and community relations, said 75 percent of ELL students speak Spanish as their primary language.
Marshallese-speaking students make up 20 percent of the ELL enrollment, and there are 12 other languages in the remaining five percent, said Fitzgerald.
In addition to ELL, Enid is helping students who are not proficient in English in other ways.
“For several years, we have required that all of our professional development workshops include an ELL component,” Fitzgerald said. “Our goal is for ELL students to be successful in academics and in their efforts to become English proficient.”
Despite the efforts to help students who are not proficient in the English language, State Superintendent Sandy Garrett said the state is looking for more bilingual teachers. The Education Department also is seeking more money for professional development.
By Bridget Nash, Staff Writer
The number of Hispanic students in Oklahoma increased last school year.
Out of 644,777 students enrolled statewide for the 2007-08 school year, 67,652 students were Hispanic, an increase of 3,461 from the previous year.
To Ringwood Public School officials, an increase in Hispanic students is old news.
“We’re about 40 percent Hispanic,” said Ringwood Superintendent Ray Johnson, “but that’s not been a recent increase.”
Ringwood is equipped with an English as a Second Language (ESL) program, and the ESL staff frequently participates in professional development geared toward teaching students who are not proficient in English.
Johnson also said the rest of Ringwood’s teachers try to participate in the same type of professional development at least once each year.
Enid Public Schools has a program similar to ESL called English Language Learners (ELL), and that program has seen an increase in participants.
In October 2007, there were 553 ELL students and as of October 2008 there are 628 ELL students.
Amber Graham Fitzgerald, director of school and community relations, said 75 percent of ELL students speak Spanish as their primary language.
Marshallese-speaking students make up 20 percent of the ELL enrollment, and there are 12 other languages in the remaining five percent, said Fitzgerald.
In addition to ELL, Enid is helping students who are not proficient in English in other ways.
“For several years, we have required that all of our professional development workshops include an ELL component,” Fitzgerald said. “Our goal is for ELL students to be successful in academics and in their efforts to become English proficient.”
Despite the efforts to help students who are not proficient in the English language, State Superintendent Sandy Garrett said the state is looking for more bilingual teachers. The Education Department also is seeking more money for professional development.
GOP eyes Latino Voters, again
Republicans and Latino Voters: Has the GOP Shifted on Immigration Reform?
Some blamed losses in the fall on losing support from Latino voters, among other groups
By Justin Ewers January 30, 2009
After their dramatic losses in the fall elections, Republican leaders spent weeks publicly flogging themselves not just for losing the support of millions of Reagan Democrats and suburban moms—but for pushing away Latino voters, in particular, one of the country's fastest-growing demographic groups.
Many placed the blame for the loss on conservatives in their own party, pointing to the heated Republican opposition to a series of failed immigration reform bills in 2007. "[T]he very divisive rhetoric of the immigration debate set a very bad tone for our brand as Republicans," Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican, said after the election. "There were voices within our party, frankly, which if they continue with that kind of rhetoric, anti-Hispanic rhetoric...we're going to be relegated to minority status."
From Karl Rove to Colin Powell, GOP leaders agreed: The numbers didn't lie. In November, 68 percent of Latinos, who made up nearly 1 in 10 voters overall—and whose percentage of the electorate is climbing—supported Barack Obama over John McCain. The gains made among Hispanics by George W. Bush, who won more than 40 percent of the Latino vote in 2004, had disappeared. "We have to reach out to Hispanics," said John Ensign, a Republican senator from Nevada, summing up what appeared to be the GOP's new conventional wisdom.
This week, though, some Republicans, including Ensign himself, have shown that not all conservatives have changed their tune on at least one issue important to Latinos—immigration—nor, it would seem, do they intend to. As the candidates for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee continued to try to out-conservative each other ahead of today's party officer elections, two new reports from right-wing think tanks demonstrate that the battle for the soul of the Republican Party is far from over—arguing not only that Republicans should stick to their guns on immigration, but that the Latino vote is already lost to the GOP.
Ensign, for one, found himself taking a familiarly hard line earlier this week during a vote on a government healthcare program for low-income children. Seemingly abandoning his nascent Hispanic outreach efforts, he opposed a measure that would have removed a five-year waiting period before children of legal immigrants can access the program. "It would seem to me," Ensign said, "that we are giving more incentives for folks to come to the United States, not just to participate in the American dream but to come to the United States to get on the government dole." Two other high-ranking Republicans, Charles Grassley of Iowa and Orrin Hatch of Utah, filed amendments that would also have eliminated the provision.
As eyebrows went up once again in the Latino community, two conservative organizations released studies with very different takes on the election than the one offered by GOP leaders in the fall.
First, the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports severe restrictions on immigration, published a report which concludes that the GOP's stance on immigration isn't actually what hurt the party with Hispanic voters. In "Latino Voting in the 2008 Election: Part of a Broader Electoral Movement," James Gimpel, a professor of government at the University of Maryland, argues that the Republican party gave up ground in the election across many demographic groups—white males, for example—and that Latinos, like all voters, were much more concerned with the economy than with immigration.
"There is little evidence that immigration policy was an influential factor in Latinos' choice between the two candidates once basic party predispositions are taken into account," the report says. Gimpel dismisses the notion that Republicans might be able to woo Latinos by offering McCain- or Bush-style immigration reform. "As long as Latinos remain in lower income brackets," he says, "an outcome virtually assured by sustained high levels of unskilled immigration, the Democrats will continue to maintain their lopsided edge."
Another D.C.-based group, The American Cause, chaired by Pat Buchanan, released a similarly defiant study this week arguing that the GOP needs to get tougher on immigration, not softer. The report, "Immigration and the 2008 Republican Defeat," which analyzes all of the Republican losses in 2008 House races, concludes that Republicans lost because they supported "amnesty" for illegal immigrations, while Democrats emphasized border security—a stance that proved popular with voters.
The Buchanan group, which describes itself as a promoter of "economic patriotism," offers a bleak prognosis for Republicans. Since the party has never won a majority of the Latino vote, it concludes, Republicans should be focusing their effort not on "reforming" immigration policy, but on stopping mass immigration altogether. "The Demographic changes made by mass immigration have been disastrous to Republicans and will be fatal if not halted," says a press release announcing the report, which urges the GOP to solidify its political base, not expand it. "Whatever gains, if any, pandering to Hispanics gives is greatly outweighed by loss of the White vote, which is more important."
Political observers on both sides of the aisle, meanwhile, were struck not just by the sudden resurgence of an issue that has spent several years off the political stage—but by its surprisingly shrill tones. Among some conservative groups, anti-immigrant sentiment is certainly alive and well. "Their whole political theory has been not to win the people in the middle but to win the hard-core Republican base," says Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, an immigration reform advocacy group. These new studies, he says, reflect a fundamental split in the Republican Party that the election did nothing to resolve. "You have a growing number of thinkers and elders in the party saying 'We're going the wrong way,'" says Sharry. "But you have almost no one in the rank-and-file saying that."
It's no accident that the issue of immigration is flaring up again, of course. During the presidential campaign, Obama promised to tackle immigration reform in his first year as president, and political observers believe legislation could move to Capitol Hill again as soon as this fall. "The reason they're pushing back is they realize this election has been a game-changer on immigration," says Sharry. "The sleeping giant awoke."
Three million new Latino voters went to the ballot box this fall, redrawing the electoral map—and leaving many analysts wondering how Republicans can imagine a way forward, politically, that does not include Latino voters, and, by extension, immigration reform.
Many experts scoff at the argument made in the two new reports that immigration policy is somehow not important to Latinos. Though Hispanics, in the last year, have certainly rated the economy and jobs as two of their top concerns, polls show that immigration is never far from their minds. Nearly 90 percent of Latino voters in one poll conducted after the election said immigration was either "somewhat important" or "very important" to them.
There is abundant evidence, meanwhile, that Latino voters are moving away from Republicans, and toward Democrats, largely because of the GOP's association with anti-immigration hard-liners. More than 11 million Latinos voted in the election this fall, up from only 7.6 million in 2004. They proved decisive not just in heavily Latino swing states like Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada but also in previously solid red states like Indiana, where Obama won by a margin of only about 25,000 votes—largely because he dominated McCain among recent Latino immigrants.
The political calculus—for Latino groups, and for many moderate Republicans—seems clear. "There will be political consequences for our leaders who do not understand that we are sending a strong message through that turnout," Janet Murguía, president of the advocacy group National Council of La Raza, said earlier this month.
The question, now, is whether GOP leaders hear that message—and how they decide to act on it.
Some blamed losses in the fall on losing support from Latino voters, among other groups
By Justin Ewers January 30, 2009
After their dramatic losses in the fall elections, Republican leaders spent weeks publicly flogging themselves not just for losing the support of millions of Reagan Democrats and suburban moms—but for pushing away Latino voters, in particular, one of the country's fastest-growing demographic groups.
Many placed the blame for the loss on conservatives in their own party, pointing to the heated Republican opposition to a series of failed immigration reform bills in 2007. "[T]he very divisive rhetoric of the immigration debate set a very bad tone for our brand as Republicans," Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican, said after the election. "There were voices within our party, frankly, which if they continue with that kind of rhetoric, anti-Hispanic rhetoric...we're going to be relegated to minority status."
From Karl Rove to Colin Powell, GOP leaders agreed: The numbers didn't lie. In November, 68 percent of Latinos, who made up nearly 1 in 10 voters overall—and whose percentage of the electorate is climbing—supported Barack Obama over John McCain. The gains made among Hispanics by George W. Bush, who won more than 40 percent of the Latino vote in 2004, had disappeared. "We have to reach out to Hispanics," said John Ensign, a Republican senator from Nevada, summing up what appeared to be the GOP's new conventional wisdom.
This week, though, some Republicans, including Ensign himself, have shown that not all conservatives have changed their tune on at least one issue important to Latinos—immigration—nor, it would seem, do they intend to. As the candidates for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee continued to try to out-conservative each other ahead of today's party officer elections, two new reports from right-wing think tanks demonstrate that the battle for the soul of the Republican Party is far from over—arguing not only that Republicans should stick to their guns on immigration, but that the Latino vote is already lost to the GOP.
Ensign, for one, found himself taking a familiarly hard line earlier this week during a vote on a government healthcare program for low-income children. Seemingly abandoning his nascent Hispanic outreach efforts, he opposed a measure that would have removed a five-year waiting period before children of legal immigrants can access the program. "It would seem to me," Ensign said, "that we are giving more incentives for folks to come to the United States, not just to participate in the American dream but to come to the United States to get on the government dole." Two other high-ranking Republicans, Charles Grassley of Iowa and Orrin Hatch of Utah, filed amendments that would also have eliminated the provision.
As eyebrows went up once again in the Latino community, two conservative organizations released studies with very different takes on the election than the one offered by GOP leaders in the fall.
First, the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports severe restrictions on immigration, published a report which concludes that the GOP's stance on immigration isn't actually what hurt the party with Hispanic voters. In "Latino Voting in the 2008 Election: Part of a Broader Electoral Movement," James Gimpel, a professor of government at the University of Maryland, argues that the Republican party gave up ground in the election across many demographic groups—white males, for example—and that Latinos, like all voters, were much more concerned with the economy than with immigration.
"There is little evidence that immigration policy was an influential factor in Latinos' choice between the two candidates once basic party predispositions are taken into account," the report says. Gimpel dismisses the notion that Republicans might be able to woo Latinos by offering McCain- or Bush-style immigration reform. "As long as Latinos remain in lower income brackets," he says, "an outcome virtually assured by sustained high levels of unskilled immigration, the Democrats will continue to maintain their lopsided edge."
Another D.C.-based group, The American Cause, chaired by Pat Buchanan, released a similarly defiant study this week arguing that the GOP needs to get tougher on immigration, not softer. The report, "Immigration and the 2008 Republican Defeat," which analyzes all of the Republican losses in 2008 House races, concludes that Republicans lost because they supported "amnesty" for illegal immigrations, while Democrats emphasized border security—a stance that proved popular with voters.
The Buchanan group, which describes itself as a promoter of "economic patriotism," offers a bleak prognosis for Republicans. Since the party has never won a majority of the Latino vote, it concludes, Republicans should be focusing their effort not on "reforming" immigration policy, but on stopping mass immigration altogether. "The Demographic changes made by mass immigration have been disastrous to Republicans and will be fatal if not halted," says a press release announcing the report, which urges the GOP to solidify its political base, not expand it. "Whatever gains, if any, pandering to Hispanics gives is greatly outweighed by loss of the White vote, which is more important."
Political observers on both sides of the aisle, meanwhile, were struck not just by the sudden resurgence of an issue that has spent several years off the political stage—but by its surprisingly shrill tones. Among some conservative groups, anti-immigrant sentiment is certainly alive and well. "Their whole political theory has been not to win the people in the middle but to win the hard-core Republican base," says Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, an immigration reform advocacy group. These new studies, he says, reflect a fundamental split in the Republican Party that the election did nothing to resolve. "You have a growing number of thinkers and elders in the party saying 'We're going the wrong way,'" says Sharry. "But you have almost no one in the rank-and-file saying that."
It's no accident that the issue of immigration is flaring up again, of course. During the presidential campaign, Obama promised to tackle immigration reform in his first year as president, and political observers believe legislation could move to Capitol Hill again as soon as this fall. "The reason they're pushing back is they realize this election has been a game-changer on immigration," says Sharry. "The sleeping giant awoke."
Three million new Latino voters went to the ballot box this fall, redrawing the electoral map—and leaving many analysts wondering how Republicans can imagine a way forward, politically, that does not include Latino voters, and, by extension, immigration reform.
Many experts scoff at the argument made in the two new reports that immigration policy is somehow not important to Latinos. Though Hispanics, in the last year, have certainly rated the economy and jobs as two of their top concerns, polls show that immigration is never far from their minds. Nearly 90 percent of Latino voters in one poll conducted after the election said immigration was either "somewhat important" or "very important" to them.
There is abundant evidence, meanwhile, that Latino voters are moving away from Republicans, and toward Democrats, largely because of the GOP's association with anti-immigration hard-liners. More than 11 million Latinos voted in the election this fall, up from only 7.6 million in 2004. They proved decisive not just in heavily Latino swing states like Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada but also in previously solid red states like Indiana, where Obama won by a margin of only about 25,000 votes—largely because he dominated McCain among recent Latino immigrants.
The political calculus—for Latino groups, and for many moderate Republicans—seems clear. "There will be political consequences for our leaders who do not understand that we are sending a strong message through that turnout," Janet Murguía, president of the advocacy group National Council of La Raza, said earlier this month.
The question, now, is whether GOP leaders hear that message—and how they decide to act on it.
Hispanic group targets TV talking heads for hate speech
Hispanic Group Alleges Hate Speech on Cable News
Petition to FCC claims that hate speech is "prevalent" on cable news networks
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/29/2009
In a petition to the FCC this week, the National Hispanic Media Coalition claims that hate speech is "prevalent" on national cable news networks and wants the government to do something about it.
That was one of the assertions made by the group in a formal request that the commission open a notice of inquiry into "the extent, the effect, and possible remedies" to what it said was a pervasive problem, and not just on conservative talk radio.
NHMC, a nonprofit LA based media advocacy group, cited a 2007 Media Matters study that concluded that "the alleged connection between illegal immigration and crime" was discussed on 94 episodes of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, 66 times on Fox's Bill O'Reilly, and 29 times on Glenn Beck's Headline News show.
Lou Dobbs' ongoing criticism of immigration reform and border enforcement, or more specifically the lack of it, has often drawn criticism from immigrants' rights groups.
NHMC defined hate speech as speech whose cumulative effect is to create an atmosphere of hate and prejudice that "legitimizes" violence against its targets.
NHMC was looking for a sympathetic ear from an FCC under Democratic hands, citing candidate Barack Obama's fall 2008 speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus about immigrants "counting on us to stop the hateful rhetoric filling the airwaves."
It also sent a copy of the petition to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, asking it to update its 1993 report to Congress on the role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes.
The group said it was not asking the FCC to re-impose the fairness doctrine, something some congressional Democrats have suggested they might want to do, but it does want the FCC to collect data, seek public comment, explore what they say is the relationship between hate speech and hate crimes and "explore options" for combating it. An aide to then candidate Barack Obama told B&C at least twice during the campaign that he did not support reintroducing the doctrine.
Saying its critics would raise the "red herring" of the doctrine, NHMC said it "has not...called for any such remedy."
A CNN spokeswoman said the network has no comment at this time. Fox News had not commented at press time.
Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps was not commenting on the petition, either, but he did indicate that he stood by comments he made to B&C back in 2007 about regulating hate speech, a conversation prompted by Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
"There are roles here for all of us. Parents are the first line of defense when it comes to indecency, violence or the hate speech you are talking about," he said at the time.
"Industry is the second line of defense to provide the tools and controls, but those haven't worked so well. So they need to provide also some sense of practical self-discipline as they did with the old voluntary codes of broadcaster conduct. It wasn't necessarily a golden age, but it was a practical attempt to practice some self-discipline," he said.
"And there is a role for Congress and the courts if they don't like what Congress does. We have a system of checks and balances, but, for checks and balances to work, everybody has to be participating. It doesn't do for the industry to say this is all for parents or for someone in government to say this is all for the FCC or all for Congress to do. We all have to step up to the plate on this with some common sense."
"As an academic I taught the beauties of the First Amendment for many years, so nobody is looking to supplant or run roughshod over it. But we have a pressing national problem that I think lots of people are determined to get a resolution of."
Petition to FCC claims that hate speech is "prevalent" on cable news networks
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/29/2009
In a petition to the FCC this week, the National Hispanic Media Coalition claims that hate speech is "prevalent" on national cable news networks and wants the government to do something about it.
That was one of the assertions made by the group in a formal request that the commission open a notice of inquiry into "the extent, the effect, and possible remedies" to what it said was a pervasive problem, and not just on conservative talk radio.
NHMC, a nonprofit LA based media advocacy group, cited a 2007 Media Matters study that concluded that "the alleged connection between illegal immigration and crime" was discussed on 94 episodes of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, 66 times on Fox's Bill O'Reilly, and 29 times on Glenn Beck's Headline News show.
Lou Dobbs' ongoing criticism of immigration reform and border enforcement, or more specifically the lack of it, has often drawn criticism from immigrants' rights groups.
NHMC defined hate speech as speech whose cumulative effect is to create an atmosphere of hate and prejudice that "legitimizes" violence against its targets.
NHMC was looking for a sympathetic ear from an FCC under Democratic hands, citing candidate Barack Obama's fall 2008 speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus about immigrants "counting on us to stop the hateful rhetoric filling the airwaves."
It also sent a copy of the petition to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, asking it to update its 1993 report to Congress on the role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes.
The group said it was not asking the FCC to re-impose the fairness doctrine, something some congressional Democrats have suggested they might want to do, but it does want the FCC to collect data, seek public comment, explore what they say is the relationship between hate speech and hate crimes and "explore options" for combating it. An aide to then candidate Barack Obama told B&C at least twice during the campaign that he did not support reintroducing the doctrine.
Saying its critics would raise the "red herring" of the doctrine, NHMC said it "has not...called for any such remedy."
A CNN spokeswoman said the network has no comment at this time. Fox News had not commented at press time.
Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps was not commenting on the petition, either, but he did indicate that he stood by comments he made to B&C back in 2007 about regulating hate speech, a conversation prompted by Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
"There are roles here for all of us. Parents are the first line of defense when it comes to indecency, violence or the hate speech you are talking about," he said at the time.
"Industry is the second line of defense to provide the tools and controls, but those haven't worked so well. So they need to provide also some sense of practical self-discipline as they did with the old voluntary codes of broadcaster conduct. It wasn't necessarily a golden age, but it was a practical attempt to practice some self-discipline," he said.
"And there is a role for Congress and the courts if they don't like what Congress does. We have a system of checks and balances, but, for checks and balances to work, everybody has to be participating. It doesn't do for the industry to say this is all for parents or for someone in government to say this is all for the FCC or all for Congress to do. We all have to step up to the plate on this with some common sense."
"As an academic I taught the beauties of the First Amendment for many years, so nobody is looking to supplant or run roughshod over it. But we have a pressing national problem that I think lots of people are determined to get a resolution of."
Hispanic task force joined by Sen. Patty Murray
CONGRESS: Sen. Murray joins Hispanic task force
By Les Blumenthal, Herald
Washington, D.C. Sen. Patty Murray has joined the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force.
The task force, formed in 1989, brings together senators and Latino leaders to focus on the top issues in the Latino community.
"People across our country turned out in this election because they were engaged and wanted change," the Washington Democrat said. "And as we work to implement that change — from getting our economy back on track to improving access to health care and reforming education — we need to hear from a wide variety of voices."
Murray has supported immigration reform and was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would allow states to offer in-state tuition to immigrant students.
By Les Blumenthal, Herald
Washington, D.C. Sen. Patty Murray has joined the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force.
The task force, formed in 1989, brings together senators and Latino leaders to focus on the top issues in the Latino community.
"People across our country turned out in this election because they were engaged and wanted change," the Washington Democrat said. "And as we work to implement that change — from getting our economy back on track to improving access to health care and reforming education — we need to hear from a wide variety of voices."
Murray has supported immigration reform and was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would allow states to offer in-state tuition to immigrant students.
Friday, January 30, 2009
GOP Hispanic strategy needs rebuilding says McCain
McCain: GOP must rethink its Hispanic strategy
By Juan Castillo | January 29, 2009
Add vanquished presidential candidate Sen. John McCain to the ranks of Republican leaders who think the party needs to take a hard look at itself if it wants to reach Hispanic voters.
The Hill reports that the Arizona senator privately told colleagues this month that the GOP’s poor image among Latinos devastated his campaign. He attributed that image to intra-party squabbles over immigration reform.
“He talked about the loss of Hispanics and the loss of young people,” a GOP source says in the article.
McCain won only 31 percent of Hispanic voters in the November election. Estimates of support for Bush range from 40 to 44 percent in 2004.
Latinos are the nation’s fastest-growing demographic group; political experts say they played a key role in turning Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida from red to blue in 2008.
Several GOP leaders, including former President Bush, have spoken out recently on the politics of immigration and its damaging effects on reaching Latino voters. Bush told The Washington Post that the party “should be open-minded about big issues like immigration reform, because if we’re viewed as anti-somebody — in other words, if the party is viewed as anti-immigrant — then another fellow may say, “Well, if they’re against the immigrant, they may be against me.”
Before running for president, McCain rankled many conservatives in his own party by championing legislation that would have allowed some illegal immigrants already here to legalize their status.
A dissenting view on Latino voting comes from University of Maryland professor James Gimpel who contends that GOP losses in the election were not affected by the immigration debate. Instead, the economy and jobs topped concerns among both Hispanics and non-Hispanics, Gimpel writes in a new report for the Center for Immigration Studies, “Latino Voting in the 2008 Election: Part of a Broader Electoral Movement.” Read the report here.
In a recent Pew Hispanic Center poll, 88 percent of Latinos called immigration an important issue.
By Juan Castillo | January 29, 2009
Add vanquished presidential candidate Sen. John McCain to the ranks of Republican leaders who think the party needs to take a hard look at itself if it wants to reach Hispanic voters.
The Hill reports that the Arizona senator privately told colleagues this month that the GOP’s poor image among Latinos devastated his campaign. He attributed that image to intra-party squabbles over immigration reform.
“He talked about the loss of Hispanics and the loss of young people,” a GOP source says in the article.
McCain won only 31 percent of Hispanic voters in the November election. Estimates of support for Bush range from 40 to 44 percent in 2004.
Latinos are the nation’s fastest-growing demographic group; political experts say they played a key role in turning Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida from red to blue in 2008.
Several GOP leaders, including former President Bush, have spoken out recently on the politics of immigration and its damaging effects on reaching Latino voters. Bush told The Washington Post that the party “should be open-minded about big issues like immigration reform, because if we’re viewed as anti-somebody — in other words, if the party is viewed as anti-immigrant — then another fellow may say, “Well, if they’re against the immigrant, they may be against me.”
Before running for president, McCain rankled many conservatives in his own party by championing legislation that would have allowed some illegal immigrants already here to legalize their status.
A dissenting view on Latino voting comes from University of Maryland professor James Gimpel who contends that GOP losses in the election were not affected by the immigration debate. Instead, the economy and jobs topped concerns among both Hispanics and non-Hispanics, Gimpel writes in a new report for the Center for Immigration Studies, “Latino Voting in the 2008 Election: Part of a Broader Electoral Movement.” Read the report here.
In a recent Pew Hispanic Center poll, 88 percent of Latinos called immigration an important issue.
Latino student growth creates challenges
Latino population now exceeds others at FHS
Debbie Ramsey Managing Editor January 29th, 2009
Fallbrook High School’s 2007-2008 School Accountability Report Card (SARC), which was presented and approved at the January 12 district board meeting, reveals the Latino population at the school is now greater than any other group; that improvements have been made in student proficiency in certain subjects; and proficiency is declining in other areas of study.
Compared to the school’s 2006-2007 SARC, the new data shows a 3.3% decrease in the Caucasian student population and a 2.3% increase in students of Latino heritage. In the 2007-2008 report it reflects a total enrollment of 2,903 for Fallbrook High School with the Latino students now accounting for 44.6% of the student body and ‘White (Non-Hispanic)’ students 43.6% of the population.
In the 2006-2007 report, Latino students were counted as 42.3% of the population and ‘White (Non-Hispanic) as 46.9%. Increases, albeit much smaller, were also noted in cultural backgrounds including African American, American Indian, Asian, Filipino and Pacific Islander.
Five years ago, statistics listed in the 2002-2003 SARC report, provided by FUHSD assistant superintendent Jim Yahr, reflected the ‘White (Non-Hispanic)’ student population as 52.3% and the Latino as 37.7%.
The portion of the student population considered ‘socioeconomically disadvantaged’ also increased at Fallbrook High School from 31% in the 2006-2007 report to 35% in 2007-2008. Yahr said the category ‘socioeconomically disadvantaged’ pertains to students that are eligible for the free or reduced lunch program, or, where neither of the student’s parents has earned a high school diploma.
Also included in the SARC report are statistics that reflect the level of proficiency possessed by Fallbrook High School students in various subject area. In the 2007-2008 report, the percentage of students that tested at or above proficiency level in core subjects was revealed. It reflected the following: English-Language Arts, 47.4%; Mathematics, 21.3%; Science, 37.6%; and History-Social Science 24.1%. When compared to the statistics from 2002-2003, marked improvement can be found in English-Language Arts (+8%) and Science (+9%). In the subjects of Mathematics and History-Social Sciences, student proficiency at the school has dropped significantly, by 4% and 13% respectively.
Based on these reports, it appears Fallbrook High can be proud of the percentage of students they have completing their high school education and graduating. The report shows Fallbrook High’s latest graduation (completion) rate as 93.2%, compared to a District average of 87.1 and a statewide average of 79.5%. This is the third year in a row that Fallbrook High has increased its graduation rate percentage.
From 2006-2007 to 2007-2008 the SARC reports reveal that class sizes were increased across the board. In English classes, the number of students assigned to a class increased from an average of 25 to 27; Mathematics went from 26 students per class to 28; Science went from 28.5 to 29.7; and Social Studies rose from 29.4 to 31.3.
In the 2007-2008 report it showed that teachers were compensated at a higher level (based on the Fiscal Year 2005-2006) than the prior year. The beginning teacher salary was reported as $32,299; mid-range teacher salary as $61,260; and the highest teacher salary at $75,740.
The salary paid to the superintendent of the district also increased, by $15,133, from $164,823 to $179,956. This latest salary figure is $34,604 higher than the state average for districts in the same category, according to the report.
Conversely, the salary for the principal of Fallbrook High School dropped from the previous amount of $108, 741 to $102,828 according to the report. The statewide average principal’s salary for a district of Fallbrook’s size category is reported to be $8,606 higher, at $111,434.
Numerous phone calls made by the Village News to the Fallbrook Union High School District office seeking comment on the findings of this report; plans to address student proficiency levels; and more were not returned.
Debbie Ramsey Managing Editor January 29th, 2009
Fallbrook High School’s 2007-2008 School Accountability Report Card (SARC), which was presented and approved at the January 12 district board meeting, reveals the Latino population at the school is now greater than any other group; that improvements have been made in student proficiency in certain subjects; and proficiency is declining in other areas of study.
Compared to the school’s 2006-2007 SARC, the new data shows a 3.3% decrease in the Caucasian student population and a 2.3% increase in students of Latino heritage. In the 2007-2008 report it reflects a total enrollment of 2,903 for Fallbrook High School with the Latino students now accounting for 44.6% of the student body and ‘White (Non-Hispanic)’ students 43.6% of the population.
In the 2006-2007 report, Latino students were counted as 42.3% of the population and ‘White (Non-Hispanic) as 46.9%. Increases, albeit much smaller, were also noted in cultural backgrounds including African American, American Indian, Asian, Filipino and Pacific Islander.
Five years ago, statistics listed in the 2002-2003 SARC report, provided by FUHSD assistant superintendent Jim Yahr, reflected the ‘White (Non-Hispanic)’ student population as 52.3% and the Latino as 37.7%.
The portion of the student population considered ‘socioeconomically disadvantaged’ also increased at Fallbrook High School from 31% in the 2006-2007 report to 35% in 2007-2008. Yahr said the category ‘socioeconomically disadvantaged’ pertains to students that are eligible for the free or reduced lunch program, or, where neither of the student’s parents has earned a high school diploma.
Also included in the SARC report are statistics that reflect the level of proficiency possessed by Fallbrook High School students in various subject area. In the 2007-2008 report, the percentage of students that tested at or above proficiency level in core subjects was revealed. It reflected the following: English-Language Arts, 47.4%; Mathematics, 21.3%; Science, 37.6%; and History-Social Science 24.1%. When compared to the statistics from 2002-2003, marked improvement can be found in English-Language Arts (+8%) and Science (+9%). In the subjects of Mathematics and History-Social Sciences, student proficiency at the school has dropped significantly, by 4% and 13% respectively.
Based on these reports, it appears Fallbrook High can be proud of the percentage of students they have completing their high school education and graduating. The report shows Fallbrook High’s latest graduation (completion) rate as 93.2%, compared to a District average of 87.1 and a statewide average of 79.5%. This is the third year in a row that Fallbrook High has increased its graduation rate percentage.
From 2006-2007 to 2007-2008 the SARC reports reveal that class sizes were increased across the board. In English classes, the number of students assigned to a class increased from an average of 25 to 27; Mathematics went from 26 students per class to 28; Science went from 28.5 to 29.7; and Social Studies rose from 29.4 to 31.3.
In the 2007-2008 report it showed that teachers were compensated at a higher level (based on the Fiscal Year 2005-2006) than the prior year. The beginning teacher salary was reported as $32,299; mid-range teacher salary as $61,260; and the highest teacher salary at $75,740.
The salary paid to the superintendent of the district also increased, by $15,133, from $164,823 to $179,956. This latest salary figure is $34,604 higher than the state average for districts in the same category, according to the report.
Conversely, the salary for the principal of Fallbrook High School dropped from the previous amount of $108, 741 to $102,828 according to the report. The statewide average principal’s salary for a district of Fallbrook’s size category is reported to be $8,606 higher, at $111,434.
Numerous phone calls made by the Village News to the Fallbrook Union High School District office seeking comment on the findings of this report; plans to address student proficiency levels; and more were not returned.
NY Latino leaders called to step up
Latino Leaders Should Step Up
El Diario/La Prensa, Editorial, Staff, Jan 29, 2009
Editor's Note: An editorial in New York's Spanish-language El Diario/La Prensa calls on Latino politicians to take a stand against the recent appointment of Kirsten Gillibrand as the new U.S. Senator from New York. Latinos have come too far, editors write, to accept a senator who espouses the kind of positions that Latinos have been fighting against for years.
NEW YORK -- In the 2006 and 2008 elections, Hispanic voters sent a clear message to Washington: reform immigration and stop allowing immigrants to be used as scapegoats.
Desperate families at risk of being separated took part in a Harlem assembly earlier this month to remind elected representatives of this mandate. With the economic crisis, immigration reform becomes even more urgent for the well-being of millions of families.
But through Governor David Paterson’s vetting process, our state now has a senator who espouses the kind of positions that Latinos have fought against for the last several years. Some Hispanic leaders are responding. That response must be strong and consistent. And it has to reflect that we have come too far to cede ground to those who continually want to put the issues that matter to Latinos on the backburner.
Right-wing pundits paint a picture of America under siege by undocumented immigrants, specifically Latinos. They ignore a long, historical truth—that our nation has vastly benefited from immigrants. And they try to hide that millions of American families count undocumented immigrants within them.
This hostility literally put our lives in danger. Hate crimes against Latinos—including the undocumented and legal residents— increased by 40 percent over the last five years.
Our community has fought back against the lies and hate. Under the banner of “Today we march, tomorrow we vote”, Hispanic organizations worked to naturalize legal residents, register voters, and get Latinos to the polls. The results are evident—Latino voters turned out in record numbers, casting 10 million ballots in the 2008 presidential election. According to all reputable polls, an overwhelming percentage of Hispanic voters support a path to legalization.
Our vote counts. Our issues count. And the leaders who say they represent us must do so effectively and without hesitation.
El Diario/La Prensa, Editorial, Staff, Jan 29, 2009
Editor's Note: An editorial in New York's Spanish-language El Diario/La Prensa calls on Latino politicians to take a stand against the recent appointment of Kirsten Gillibrand as the new U.S. Senator from New York. Latinos have come too far, editors write, to accept a senator who espouses the kind of positions that Latinos have been fighting against for years.
NEW YORK -- In the 2006 and 2008 elections, Hispanic voters sent a clear message to Washington: reform immigration and stop allowing immigrants to be used as scapegoats.
Desperate families at risk of being separated took part in a Harlem assembly earlier this month to remind elected representatives of this mandate. With the economic crisis, immigration reform becomes even more urgent for the well-being of millions of families.
But through Governor David Paterson’s vetting process, our state now has a senator who espouses the kind of positions that Latinos have fought against for the last several years. Some Hispanic leaders are responding. That response must be strong and consistent. And it has to reflect that we have come too far to cede ground to those who continually want to put the issues that matter to Latinos on the backburner.
Right-wing pundits paint a picture of America under siege by undocumented immigrants, specifically Latinos. They ignore a long, historical truth—that our nation has vastly benefited from immigrants. And they try to hide that millions of American families count undocumented immigrants within them.
This hostility literally put our lives in danger. Hate crimes against Latinos—including the undocumented and legal residents— increased by 40 percent over the last five years.
Our community has fought back against the lies and hate. Under the banner of “Today we march, tomorrow we vote”, Hispanic organizations worked to naturalize legal residents, register voters, and get Latinos to the polls. The results are evident—Latino voters turned out in record numbers, casting 10 million ballots in the 2008 presidential election. According to all reputable polls, an overwhelming percentage of Hispanic voters support a path to legalization.
Our vote counts. Our issues count. And the leaders who say they represent us must do so effectively and without hesitation.
More Latino leaders needed
Florencia Velasco Fortner: Let's produce more Latino leaders
Dallas Morning News January 29, 2009
A recent request by a reporter for the names of up-and-coming Latino leaders in the southern Dallas area was a painful reminder of the void in leadership in the Hispanic community. As the reporter and I started cross-referencing names, we were both amazed at how small the list was in comparison to the size of the Latino population in the southern half of our city.
While it is true we do have eminent Hispanic leaders, not enough of them actually live south of Interstate 30.
We have many local community leaders who work hard every day in our schools to improve education. I also acknowledge that we have many local residents helping neighborhood organizations improve our community. But, for the most part, the names of these hard-working local leaders are not recognized on the larger stage that is the Dallas community.
Several long-established community organizations such as LULAC focus on activism, and strong business leaders are affiliated with the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
We also have had celebrated leaders who for many decades were the voices and the trailblazers of the Latino community. Leaders like Adelfa Callejo, Anita Martinez, Trini Garza and Rene Martinez certainly made inroads.
The issue isn't that we don't have any leaders; the issue is that we do not have enough.
The reasons why could be many. Maybe it's because our struggle here in Dallas is "newer" than that of other groups. Maybe we as Latinos tend to be more focused on entrepreneurial endeavors rather than community activism. Maybe it's because we haven't had a Latino inspire us since César Chávez. Or it could be nothing more than Latino immigrants' preference for being in the shadows.
Whatever the reason, we have a leadership void in North Texas.
It's crucial that we mentor and create new opportunities for young Latinos to get involved in community issues. It's imperative that Latinos develop leadership roles in our neighborhoods.
We need the younger, stronger voices of Latinos who have a passion and desire to improve our community. We need Hispanics who have the enthusiasm and the wherewithal to work to improve the lives of the disenfranchised. We need a new generation of Hispanic leaders who are willing to go beyond their comfort zone and work with people in our neighborhoods who don't necessarily look like us but are in the same boat.
If this last presidential election has taught us anything, it is that people working together can make possible what we thought impossible a few short months ago. It showed us that leaders with energy, enthusiasm and strength of purpose can make a difference in their communities.
Hispanics voted in record numbers in this last election. That kind of power can make change. It can make change that directly influences the lives of people. We need to make sure the power that the Latino voice can bring does not come cheaply. That it comes with a commitment to making the lives of Hispanics and other people of color better.
We need a new generation of leaders who not only take up the mantle of the trailblazers who have gone on before us but who also have the vision and the strength to take us further. And by "us," I mean all of us – not just Latinos, but everyone in North Texas.
Florencia Velasco Fortner is president and CEO of the Dallas Concilio. Her e-mail address is fvelasco@dallasconcilio.org.
Dallas Morning News January 29, 2009
A recent request by a reporter for the names of up-and-coming Latino leaders in the southern Dallas area was a painful reminder of the void in leadership in the Hispanic community. As the reporter and I started cross-referencing names, we were both amazed at how small the list was in comparison to the size of the Latino population in the southern half of our city.
While it is true we do have eminent Hispanic leaders, not enough of them actually live south of Interstate 30.
We have many local community leaders who work hard every day in our schools to improve education. I also acknowledge that we have many local residents helping neighborhood organizations improve our community. But, for the most part, the names of these hard-working local leaders are not recognized on the larger stage that is the Dallas community.
Several long-established community organizations such as LULAC focus on activism, and strong business leaders are affiliated with the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
We also have had celebrated leaders who for many decades were the voices and the trailblazers of the Latino community. Leaders like Adelfa Callejo, Anita Martinez, Trini Garza and Rene Martinez certainly made inroads.
The issue isn't that we don't have any leaders; the issue is that we do not have enough.
The reasons why could be many. Maybe it's because our struggle here in Dallas is "newer" than that of other groups. Maybe we as Latinos tend to be more focused on entrepreneurial endeavors rather than community activism. Maybe it's because we haven't had a Latino inspire us since César Chávez. Or it could be nothing more than Latino immigrants' preference for being in the shadows.
Whatever the reason, we have a leadership void in North Texas.
It's crucial that we mentor and create new opportunities for young Latinos to get involved in community issues. It's imperative that Latinos develop leadership roles in our neighborhoods.
We need the younger, stronger voices of Latinos who have a passion and desire to improve our community. We need Hispanics who have the enthusiasm and the wherewithal to work to improve the lives of the disenfranchised. We need a new generation of Hispanic leaders who are willing to go beyond their comfort zone and work with people in our neighborhoods who don't necessarily look like us but are in the same boat.
If this last presidential election has taught us anything, it is that people working together can make possible what we thought impossible a few short months ago. It showed us that leaders with energy, enthusiasm and strength of purpose can make a difference in their communities.
Hispanics voted in record numbers in this last election. That kind of power can make change. It can make change that directly influences the lives of people. We need to make sure the power that the Latino voice can bring does not come cheaply. That it comes with a commitment to making the lives of Hispanics and other people of color better.
We need a new generation of leaders who not only take up the mantle of the trailblazers who have gone on before us but who also have the vision and the strength to take us further. And by "us," I mean all of us – not just Latinos, but everyone in North Texas.
Florencia Velasco Fortner is president and CEO of the Dallas Concilio. Her e-mail address is fvelasco@dallasconcilio.org.
Latino immigrants targeted unfairly video shows
Advocates for immigrants say Latinos unfairly targeted in Fells Point raid
By Scott Calvert | scott.calvert@baltsun.com
Immigrant advocates today released video footage that they say shows federal agents unfairly targeted Latinos during a January 2007 raid outside a 7-Eleven store in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood.
The video, taken from store cameras, captured the raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The roundup netted 24 men suspected of being illegal immigrants. Most have since been deported or left the country voluntarily.
In the video, agents can be seen ignoring several black store patrons while rounding up Latino men. Advocates say a white man who had hired three Latinos for day labor was allowed to drive his pickup truck away from the 7-Eleven after the Latinos were taken into custody. His race could not be determined in the video.
In addition, the advocates say that the video shows agents detaining a number of Latinos who had been standing at a bus stop across the street from the 7-Eleven, a common hiring spot for day laborers.
"Today with this video we're fighting back," said Jessica Alvarez, chairwoman of the National Capital Immigration Coalition. "Today we are showing everyone exactly what our community has been telling us about the abuses, about the racial profiling."
Alvarez spoke at a late morning news conference at a Fells Point church a few blocks from the 7-Eleven on South Broadway.
Richard Rocha, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he has not seen the footage. But, on the issue of racial profiling, he said: "These allegations were thoroughly investigated in 2007 and were deemed to be unsubstantiated."
"In this case our officers used their training and experience to respond to a developing situation as it unfolded. They were approached by individuals asking if they needed workers. Those workers were questioned and ultimately it was determined they were in the country illegally."
CASA de Maryland, a Silver Spring-based immigrant advocacy group with a Baltimore office, released the video. The group announced it had sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court for internal documents related to the raid.
CASA also said it had filed wrongful arrest claims with Homeland Security on behalf of three of the men detained in the raid. One voluntarily returned to El Salvador. The two others are free on bond in Baltimore while fighting the government's attempts to deport them. All are seeking $500,000 apiece.
By Scott Calvert | scott.calvert@baltsun.com
Immigrant advocates today released video footage that they say shows federal agents unfairly targeted Latinos during a January 2007 raid outside a 7-Eleven store in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood.
The video, taken from store cameras, captured the raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The roundup netted 24 men suspected of being illegal immigrants. Most have since been deported or left the country voluntarily.
In the video, agents can be seen ignoring several black store patrons while rounding up Latino men. Advocates say a white man who had hired three Latinos for day labor was allowed to drive his pickup truck away from the 7-Eleven after the Latinos were taken into custody. His race could not be determined in the video.
In addition, the advocates say that the video shows agents detaining a number of Latinos who had been standing at a bus stop across the street from the 7-Eleven, a common hiring spot for day laborers.
"Today with this video we're fighting back," said Jessica Alvarez, chairwoman of the National Capital Immigration Coalition. "Today we are showing everyone exactly what our community has been telling us about the abuses, about the racial profiling."
Alvarez spoke at a late morning news conference at a Fells Point church a few blocks from the 7-Eleven on South Broadway.
Richard Rocha, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he has not seen the footage. But, on the issue of racial profiling, he said: "These allegations were thoroughly investigated in 2007 and were deemed to be unsubstantiated."
"In this case our officers used their training and experience to respond to a developing situation as it unfolded. They were approached by individuals asking if they needed workers. Those workers were questioned and ultimately it was determined they were in the country illegally."
CASA de Maryland, a Silver Spring-based immigrant advocacy group with a Baltimore office, released the video. The group announced it had sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court for internal documents related to the raid.
CASA also said it had filed wrongful arrest claims with Homeland Security on behalf of three of the men detained in the raid. One voluntarily returned to El Salvador. The two others are free on bond in Baltimore while fighting the government's attempts to deport them. All are seeking $500,000 apiece.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Latino group, MALDEF, files suit against Texas Department
Latino group sues over Texas licensing rule
By ANABELLE GARAY Assoicated Press Jan. 28, 2009
DALLAS — Latino advocates sued the Texas Department of Public Safety on Wednesday over new rules affecting which non-U.S. citizens can obtain driver's licenses and identification cards.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed the lawsuit in state district court in Austin. It's on behalf of three men with permission to work in the country and a Lewisville landscaping business that employs seasonal foreign workers through a federal program.
The men are landscaping workers in North Texas who need to drive as part of their job but could not obtain a Texas driver's license under the new DPS policies because their visas are valid for only 10 months. DPS rules exclude people from receiving driver's licenses if they have a visa for less than one year or have less than six months remaining on it, MALDEF said.
Officials also changed the appearance of driver's licenses for persons with legal permission to be in the U.S. so that they differ from licenses given to citizens and green card holders.
MALDEF contends the Public Safety Commission, which oversees DPS, exceeded its authority and did not have Legislative approval to adopt the rules. The suit also said the new policies prevent thousands of people living legally in Texas from receiving standard licenses.
"We are confident the courts will step in and put an end to these arbitrary rules," Nina Perales, MALDEF southwest regional counsel, said in a statement.
DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said she could not comment on pending litigation.
The Public Safety Commission asked for the guidelines, saying it was necessary to verify people's residency in the state, enhance security and deter fraud and misrepresentation, according to documents. The series of changes took effect by Oct. 1.
With the changes, Texas moves closer to complying with the federal REAL ID Act, which requires states to check immigration status and verify the identity of license and identification card applicants.
Gov. Rick Perry has defended the new rules as necessary to ensure public safety and national security.
"DPS has tried to sneak these rules in through the back door and in doing so, has created a litany of problems preventing both citizens and noncitizens with legal permission from receiving licenses," MALDEF attorney David Hinojosa said in a statement. "This is not only harming persons by denying them licenses but also businesses that need their workers to drive in performing their jobs."
Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, a San Antonio Democrat, has said the changes are a major policy decision that should not have been initiated as a part of DPS rule-making.
Another group, the Texas Civil Rights Project, also has sued over the policies.
By ANABELLE GARAY Assoicated Press Jan. 28, 2009
DALLAS — Latino advocates sued the Texas Department of Public Safety on Wednesday over new rules affecting which non-U.S. citizens can obtain driver's licenses and identification cards.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed the lawsuit in state district court in Austin. It's on behalf of three men with permission to work in the country and a Lewisville landscaping business that employs seasonal foreign workers through a federal program.
The men are landscaping workers in North Texas who need to drive as part of their job but could not obtain a Texas driver's license under the new DPS policies because their visas are valid for only 10 months. DPS rules exclude people from receiving driver's licenses if they have a visa for less than one year or have less than six months remaining on it, MALDEF said.
Officials also changed the appearance of driver's licenses for persons with legal permission to be in the U.S. so that they differ from licenses given to citizens and green card holders.
MALDEF contends the Public Safety Commission, which oversees DPS, exceeded its authority and did not have Legislative approval to adopt the rules. The suit also said the new policies prevent thousands of people living legally in Texas from receiving standard licenses.
"We are confident the courts will step in and put an end to these arbitrary rules," Nina Perales, MALDEF southwest regional counsel, said in a statement.
DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said she could not comment on pending litigation.
The Public Safety Commission asked for the guidelines, saying it was necessary to verify people's residency in the state, enhance security and deter fraud and misrepresentation, according to documents. The series of changes took effect by Oct. 1.
With the changes, Texas moves closer to complying with the federal REAL ID Act, which requires states to check immigration status and verify the identity of license and identification card applicants.
Gov. Rick Perry has defended the new rules as necessary to ensure public safety and national security.
"DPS has tried to sneak these rules in through the back door and in doing so, has created a litany of problems preventing both citizens and noncitizens with legal permission from receiving licenses," MALDEF attorney David Hinojosa said in a statement. "This is not only harming persons by denying them licenses but also businesses that need their workers to drive in performing their jobs."
Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, a San Antonio Democrat, has said the changes are a major policy decision that should not have been initiated as a part of DPS rule-making.
Another group, the Texas Civil Rights Project, also has sued over the policies.
Hispanic immigrants targeted by residents
Chatham residents decry county's immigration stance
Illegal Immigration
WRAL News Jan. 28, 2009
Pittsboro, N.C. — Some Chatham County residents want officials to reconsider a recent decision against taking part in a federal program to identify illegal immigrants charged with crimes.
The Board of Commissioners voted three weeks ago to pass on an opportunity to participate in the federal 287(g) program administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under it, ICE agents give local law enforcement agencies access to federal immigration databases so they can identify illegal immigrants they have arrested on local charges. ICE trains officers how to initiate deportation cases against those people.
Wake, Cumberland and Alamance counties already participate in the program, and Orange County recently joined a separate ICE program called Secure Communities that doesn't include the deportation portion of 287(g).
"Chatham County will become a sanctuary county, and that is exactly what this resolution is telling illegal immigrants – 'Come to Chatham County because we are not going to enforce federal law,'" said Heather Johnson, spokeswoman for Chatham Conservative Voice, a grassroots organization in the county.
The county saw an estimated tenfold increase in Latino residents between 1990 and 2005 and now is home to one of the largest Latino populations in North Carolina.
In 2000, white supremacist David Duke spoke in Siler City about the Latino influx in the county. The event drew 75 participants, but hundreds of others observed from the sidelines.
Three years ago, one of the largest rallies in North Carolina in favor of legalizing undocumented workers also occurred in Siler City.
George Lucier, chairman of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, said local officials do enforce the law, but they don't want to take on the federal job of immigration enforcement.
"For the federal government to say to local agencies who are not equipped to handle immigration issues, 'It's your problem,' is not right," Lucier said.
Participating in the 287(g) program also would have required the county to build a new jail, he said.
"Our choice is, do we want to build a new school or do (we) want to build a new jail, and our choice is we'd rather build a new school," he said.
Johnson said local residents didn't have any input before the board decided.
"My concern is over the lack of the transparency," she said. "(The decision is) not a view representative of the citizens of our county."
Lucier said the public had the same notification on the 287(g) resolution as it has of any other item that goes before commissioners. He also said about 70 percent of the e-mails he's gotten since the board took its stand have favored the decision.
Illegal Immigration
WRAL News Jan. 28, 2009
Pittsboro, N.C. — Some Chatham County residents want officials to reconsider a recent decision against taking part in a federal program to identify illegal immigrants charged with crimes.
The Board of Commissioners voted three weeks ago to pass on an opportunity to participate in the federal 287(g) program administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under it, ICE agents give local law enforcement agencies access to federal immigration databases so they can identify illegal immigrants they have arrested on local charges. ICE trains officers how to initiate deportation cases against those people.
Wake, Cumberland and Alamance counties already participate in the program, and Orange County recently joined a separate ICE program called Secure Communities that doesn't include the deportation portion of 287(g).
"Chatham County will become a sanctuary county, and that is exactly what this resolution is telling illegal immigrants – 'Come to Chatham County because we are not going to enforce federal law,'" said Heather Johnson, spokeswoman for Chatham Conservative Voice, a grassroots organization in the county.
The county saw an estimated tenfold increase in Latino residents between 1990 and 2005 and now is home to one of the largest Latino populations in North Carolina.
In 2000, white supremacist David Duke spoke in Siler City about the Latino influx in the county. The event drew 75 participants, but hundreds of others observed from the sidelines.
Three years ago, one of the largest rallies in North Carolina in favor of legalizing undocumented workers also occurred in Siler City.
George Lucier, chairman of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, said local officials do enforce the law, but they don't want to take on the federal job of immigration enforcement.
"For the federal government to say to local agencies who are not equipped to handle immigration issues, 'It's your problem,' is not right," Lucier said.
Participating in the 287(g) program also would have required the county to build a new jail, he said.
"Our choice is, do we want to build a new school or do (we) want to build a new jail, and our choice is we'd rather build a new school," he said.
Johnson said local residents didn't have any input before the board decided.
"My concern is over the lack of the transparency," she said. "(The decision is) not a view representative of the citizens of our county."
Lucier said the public had the same notification on the 287(g) resolution as it has of any other item that goes before commissioners. He also said about 70 percent of the e-mails he's gotten since the board took its stand have favored the decision.
Hispanic group joins Learn NY
Black, Hispanic, and Asian activist groups join Learn NY
by Elizabeth Green
Learn NY, the pro-mayoral control group, is partnering with the Hispanic Federation, the Black Equity Alliance, and the Asian American Federation, the group announced today in a press release. The three groups are going to help Learn NY host forums.
On the heels of news last week that the publisher of El Diario is joining the Learn NY board, this could bring a not-so-covert racial dynamic to the mayoral control debate. Another way Learn NY might make the same point: Among the group’s lobbyists are former Bronx party boss Roberto Ramirez, who heads the MirRam group. Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, chairwoman of the education committee, just told me MirRam lobbyists have already begun meeting with lawmakers to pitch Learn NY’s stance on the law. Learn NY’s lead spokesman so far has been Geoffrey Canada, the black C.E.O. of Harlem Children’s Zone.
Having the city’s non-white communities stand strongly for mayoral control would be a departure from the historical pattern. In the past, racial minorities have opposed mayors’ efforts to take control. Remember decentralization here in the 1960s, led in part by the black and Puerto Rican communities? The pattern applies to other cities, too, according to this essay (PDF) by Columbia Teachers College professor Jeff Henig:
The most important complaints have come from racial minorities, parents, and teachers. Despite the fact that it is presented in race-neutral language, mayoral control has sparked racially defined responses in a number of cities.
by Elizabeth Green
Learn NY, the pro-mayoral control group, is partnering with the Hispanic Federation, the Black Equity Alliance, and the Asian American Federation, the group announced today in a press release. The three groups are going to help Learn NY host forums.
On the heels of news last week that the publisher of El Diario is joining the Learn NY board, this could bring a not-so-covert racial dynamic to the mayoral control debate. Another way Learn NY might make the same point: Among the group’s lobbyists are former Bronx party boss Roberto Ramirez, who heads the MirRam group. Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, chairwoman of the education committee, just told me MirRam lobbyists have already begun meeting with lawmakers to pitch Learn NY’s stance on the law. Learn NY’s lead spokesman so far has been Geoffrey Canada, the black C.E.O. of Harlem Children’s Zone.
Having the city’s non-white communities stand strongly for mayoral control would be a departure from the historical pattern. In the past, racial minorities have opposed mayors’ efforts to take control. Remember decentralization here in the 1960s, led in part by the black and Puerto Rican communities? The pattern applies to other cities, too, according to this essay (PDF) by Columbia Teachers College professor Jeff Henig:
The most important complaints have come from racial minorities, parents, and teachers. Despite the fact that it is presented in race-neutral language, mayoral control has sparked racially defined responses in a number of cities.
Hispanic voters lose confidence in Colorado Governor
Ritter takes a hit with Hispanic voters
by Alicia Caldwell on January 28, 2009
According to another poll from Public Policy Polling:
“Bill Ritter’s taken a bit of a hit with Hispanic voters since choosing Michael Bennet to replace Ken Salazar rather than appointing another Hispanic to take his place.
Our newest poll finds Ritter’s approval rating at 47/40. That +7 net approval rating is a drop from when it was +13 at 49/36 in mid-December shortly after it was announced Salazar would become Interior Secretary. Almost all the downward movement for Ritter since that time has come with Hispanics. Where before the Bennet appointment his approval with that group was 54/30, it’s now slightly negative at 44/48. He may have some fence mending to do there.”
by Alicia Caldwell on January 28, 2009
According to another poll from Public Policy Polling:
“Bill Ritter’s taken a bit of a hit with Hispanic voters since choosing Michael Bennet to replace Ken Salazar rather than appointing another Hispanic to take his place.
Our newest poll finds Ritter’s approval rating at 47/40. That +7 net approval rating is a drop from when it was +13 at 49/36 in mid-December shortly after it was announced Salazar would become Interior Secretary. Almost all the downward movement for Ritter since that time has come with Hispanics. Where before the Bennet appointment his approval with that group was 54/30, it’s now slightly negative at 44/48. He may have some fence mending to do there.”
Hispanics targeted by Gillibrand PR firm
Gillibrand Hires Hispanic Outreach Firm -- And The Firm's Pal Eases Up
John DeSio January 28, 2009
Daily News reports that newly-minted Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has hired the Mirram Group to mend fences with the Hispanic community. Too bad Mirram's friends probably played a role in breaking those fences to begin with.
The consulting firm is co-operated by Roberto Ramirez, the former chairman of the Bronx Democratic Party, and Luis Miranda. Both men are power brokers within the Hispanic political world, and have strong ties to local elected officials -- including Peter Rivera, Bronx assemblyman, former chairman of the Assembly's Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force and longtime ally of Ramirez.
Rivera issued a statement immediately after Gillibrand's appointment, declaring that Gillibrand's positions on immigration would make her an impossible sell to New York Democrats. But as Gillibrand began negotiating with Mirram, Rivera began to soften his attacks.
The original Rivera statement said, "[Paterson's] choice will no doubt anger New York's huge immigrant communities and could go as far as creating political obstacles to meaningful immigration reform efforts of our new President. It is clear to me that Rep. Gillibrand will face a primary and create splits among New York Democrats that will only serve to damage our party."
That fax included a list of statements by Gillibrand, and was quickly followed by statements from Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, and a press release from an organization simply describing itself as a Queens-based "Hispanic Group."
On Saturday, Gillibrand met with the Mirram crew for the first time.
On Tuesday, Rivera issued another release, this one announcing a press conference designed to slam Gillibrand, adding that her "pandering to xenophobes has made her persona non-grata in communities across the state."
But now Rivera has backed off from that language, attributing it to a misquote by an aide.
Rivera said today that he is still not convinced Gillibrand is the right woman for the job, and was hoping to meet with her next week. When asked if the Mirram hire might be enough to change his mind, Rivera said that issues, not staffing decisions, would dictate his support. "My stand has nothing to do with [their hiring] of the Mirram Group or anyone else," said Rivera. "I don't think that the statements that I have made are impacted in any way, shape or form by who's on staff or who they hired."
During our interview, Rivera's office sent out several e-mails detailing Gillibrand's positions. One contained an odd mix of scores given Gillibrand by several political interest groups: recipients learned that she "supported the interests of the Alliance For Headache Disorders Advocacy 0 percent in 2007" -- and also that "In 2007-2008 English First gave Senator Gillibrand a grade of A [boldface in original]."
Several Bronx political insiders, all anonymously, were quick to point to the close relationship between Rivera and Ramirez, and surmised that their meeting would end well, thanks to the senator's new business relationship.
"It would not surprise me if this was staged," said one Bronx politico. "It's like it came out of a script."
Rivera said he has been in contact with the Mirram Group, but not to coordinate strategy or change his positions. Instead, he said that the consultants had been reaching out to gauge his current level of dissatisfaction with the Gillibrand pick.
"I'm still where I've been all along," said Rivera. "And where I've been all along is questioning where Gillibrand is on refugee issues and immigrant issues."
Rachel McEneny, a Gillibrand spokeswoman, has not yet been reached for comment.
John DeSio January 28, 2009
Daily News reports that newly-minted Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has hired the Mirram Group to mend fences with the Hispanic community. Too bad Mirram's friends probably played a role in breaking those fences to begin with.
The consulting firm is co-operated by Roberto Ramirez, the former chairman of the Bronx Democratic Party, and Luis Miranda. Both men are power brokers within the Hispanic political world, and have strong ties to local elected officials -- including Peter Rivera, Bronx assemblyman, former chairman of the Assembly's Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force and longtime ally of Ramirez.
Rivera issued a statement immediately after Gillibrand's appointment, declaring that Gillibrand's positions on immigration would make her an impossible sell to New York Democrats. But as Gillibrand began negotiating with Mirram, Rivera began to soften his attacks.
The original Rivera statement said, "[Paterson's] choice will no doubt anger New York's huge immigrant communities and could go as far as creating political obstacles to meaningful immigration reform efforts of our new President. It is clear to me that Rep. Gillibrand will face a primary and create splits among New York Democrats that will only serve to damage our party."
That fax included a list of statements by Gillibrand, and was quickly followed by statements from Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, and a press release from an organization simply describing itself as a Queens-based "Hispanic Group."
On Saturday, Gillibrand met with the Mirram crew for the first time.
On Tuesday, Rivera issued another release, this one announcing a press conference designed to slam Gillibrand, adding that her "pandering to xenophobes has made her persona non-grata in communities across the state."
But now Rivera has backed off from that language, attributing it to a misquote by an aide.
Rivera said today that he is still not convinced Gillibrand is the right woman for the job, and was hoping to meet with her next week. When asked if the Mirram hire might be enough to change his mind, Rivera said that issues, not staffing decisions, would dictate his support. "My stand has nothing to do with [their hiring] of the Mirram Group or anyone else," said Rivera. "I don't think that the statements that I have made are impacted in any way, shape or form by who's on staff or who they hired."
During our interview, Rivera's office sent out several e-mails detailing Gillibrand's positions. One contained an odd mix of scores given Gillibrand by several political interest groups: recipients learned that she "supported the interests of the Alliance For Headache Disorders Advocacy 0 percent in 2007" -- and also that "In 2007-2008 English First gave Senator Gillibrand a grade of A [boldface in original]."
Several Bronx political insiders, all anonymously, were quick to point to the close relationship between Rivera and Ramirez, and surmised that their meeting would end well, thanks to the senator's new business relationship.
"It would not surprise me if this was staged," said one Bronx politico. "It's like it came out of a script."
Rivera said he has been in contact with the Mirram Group, but not to coordinate strategy or change his positions. Instead, he said that the consultants had been reaching out to gauge his current level of dissatisfaction with the Gillibrand pick.
"I'm still where I've been all along," said Rivera. "And where I've been all along is questioning where Gillibrand is on refugee issues and immigrant issues."
Rachel McEneny, a Gillibrand spokeswoman, has not yet been reached for comment.
Hispanic enrollment up in Oklahoma
Oklahoma Schools See Increase In Hispanic Students
NewsChannel 8 - 01/28/09
State Superintendent Sandy Garrett says because of the increase in Hispanic students there will be an effort to hire more bilingual teachers.
Garrett says the Education Department will also ask the legislature for more money to train teachers in other languages and the help students make the transition into classes after a move.
NewsChannel 8 - 01/28/09
State Superintendent Sandy Garrett says because of the increase in Hispanic students there will be an effort to hire more bilingual teachers.
Garrett says the Education Department will also ask the legislature for more money to train teachers in other languages and the help students make the transition into classes after a move.
Hispanic group recognizes high school students
Santa Teresa High School Students honored by National Hispanic Recognition Program
Sun-News report 01/28/2009
LAS CRUCES - The New Mexico Public Education Department recently announced that Natalie Kutchera and Andrea Nanez, students from the Gadsden Independent School District received a national academic recognition. The students are seniors at Santa Teresa High School and are part of a group of forty-three students from throughout the state who made the academic roster of the "National Hispanic Recognition Program". The honor is due to their academic accomplishments, high grade point averages, and exemplary PSAT scores in reading, writing, and math.
Natalie and Andrea both understand the value of making this honor roll. "I'm honored to be one of the 5,000 selected among thousands and thousands who were considered for this honor roll," says Natalie. "It is good to know that all the hard work is paying off. Being listed will open opportunities for me to enter some top universities." Andrea also notes the impact of the scholars list, "Top colleges and universities like recruiting from the scholars list. Making this honor list will give me a 'leg up' and allow me to enroll into some selective universities." The two students currently rank one and two in their graduating class, each owns a 4.2 grade point average.
Natalie has her eyes set on the University of Portland and is leaning towards a major in Engineering Management. She also has academic scholarship offers from New Mexico State University, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and the University of New Mexico.
She credits her mother Irma and stepfather Ruben Camargo for her success in the classroom. She says it is their support and encouragement, which pushed her to strive in the classroom and prepare herself for the next level.
Andrea also credits her parents, Armando and Refugio Nañez for her success, noting they have always pushed her to place education as a priority in her life. Andrea says she is fascinated with science and plans to major in Biology, eventually pursuing a career in the medical field. Just like her mother who works in this field, she would like to apply her skills to help others. Several universities are on Andrea's "radar" they are Stanford, Texas A&M, or Rice University. She also has a full-scholarship offer from the University of New Mexico.
Both students are deeply involved in school activities and clubs. Natalie is a member of the National Honor Society, Academic Team, Senior Class, and Rotary Club. As a freshman, she earned 1st place in the "Animated Robotics" category in the Technical Skills Bowl sponsored by New Mexico State University. As a sophomore, she was a "People to People Ambassador" and traveled all over Europe on an educational tour. She also received the runner-up award in the statewide, "My Space Trip Essay Contest".
Andrea is also a member of the National Honor Society, Academic Team, Rotary, and Youth & Government Club. She also participates in tennis and plays for the school band. For the last two years, the local Optimist Club has recognized her at their statewide banquet.
Sun-News report 01/28/2009
LAS CRUCES - The New Mexico Public Education Department recently announced that Natalie Kutchera and Andrea Nanez, students from the Gadsden Independent School District received a national academic recognition. The students are seniors at Santa Teresa High School and are part of a group of forty-three students from throughout the state who made the academic roster of the "National Hispanic Recognition Program". The honor is due to their academic accomplishments, high grade point averages, and exemplary PSAT scores in reading, writing, and math.
Natalie and Andrea both understand the value of making this honor roll. "I'm honored to be one of the 5,000 selected among thousands and thousands who were considered for this honor roll," says Natalie. "It is good to know that all the hard work is paying off. Being listed will open opportunities for me to enter some top universities." Andrea also notes the impact of the scholars list, "Top colleges and universities like recruiting from the scholars list. Making this honor list will give me a 'leg up' and allow me to enroll into some selective universities." The two students currently rank one and two in their graduating class, each owns a 4.2 grade point average.
Natalie has her eyes set on the University of Portland and is leaning towards a major in Engineering Management. She also has academic scholarship offers from New Mexico State University, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and the University of New Mexico.
She credits her mother Irma and stepfather Ruben Camargo for her success in the classroom. She says it is their support and encouragement, which pushed her to strive in the classroom and prepare herself for the next level.
Andrea also credits her parents, Armando and Refugio Nañez for her success, noting they have always pushed her to place education as a priority in her life. Andrea says she is fascinated with science and plans to major in Biology, eventually pursuing a career in the medical field. Just like her mother who works in this field, she would like to apply her skills to help others. Several universities are on Andrea's "radar" they are Stanford, Texas A&M, or Rice University. She also has a full-scholarship offer from the University of New Mexico.
Both students are deeply involved in school activities and clubs. Natalie is a member of the National Honor Society, Academic Team, Senior Class, and Rotary Club. As a freshman, she earned 1st place in the "Animated Robotics" category in the Technical Skills Bowl sponsored by New Mexico State University. As a sophomore, she was a "People to People Ambassador" and traveled all over Europe on an educational tour. She also received the runner-up award in the statewide, "My Space Trip Essay Contest".
Andrea is also a member of the National Honor Society, Academic Team, Rotary, and Youth & Government Club. She also participates in tennis and plays for the school band. For the last two years, the local Optimist Club has recognized her at their statewide banquet.
Poor Latinas least likely to have health insurance
Analysis finds dismal state of health insurance among poor Latinas
Latino Journal
A policy brief released by the California Latinas for Reproductive Justice's (CLRJ) highlights the growing silent epidemic of Latinas' lack of health insurance and the vital role that California's public health programs play in sustaining Latinas' health. Entitled "Access to Health Insurance: A Vital Step in Promoting Latinas' ReproducLatinastive Health & Justice," the brief documents the dismal state of health insurance among California Latinas while state legislators continue to debate funding for critical public health programs within the state budget.
In analyzing data from the UCLA California Health Interview Survey, CLRJ found that Latinas comprised over half of California's women without health insurance in 2005 and were twice as likely to be uninsured for the entire past year compared to white women (52.7% vs. 24.7%). Additionally, the analysis found that over 1.4 million Latinas under age 65 lack health insurance and were three times as likely to be uninsured than are white women (39.3% vs. 13.4%), with nearly four out of ten Latinas being uninsured all or part of the year. Finally, CLRJ found that Latinas have the highest rates of being uninsured across all racial and ethnic groups of women.
"The number of uninsured Latinas in California is already reaching epidemic proportions," said Rocio L. Córdoba, CLRJ's Executive Director. "California cannot afford to ignore Latinas' disproportionate lack of access to health insurance, which has served to exacerbate reproductive health disparities and deny Latinas' reproductive justice. California policymakers must remain steadfast in developing innovative solutions to expand access to health insurance to the most vulnerable California communities. To maintain the status quo, or worse, reduce Latinas' limited options, would place low-income Latinas' lives at risk."
The lack of access to timely preventive health services-such as mammograms, Pap tests, or regular check ups-has contributed greatly to Latinas' reproductive and sexual health disparities. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among Latinas. Latinas also have the highest risk of developing cervical cancer and represent one-third of diagnosed invasive cervical cancer cases in the state each year. Increasing Latinas' access to health insurance is critical to ensuring that Latinas receive life-saving and less costly preventive care.
"The well-being of over 1.4 million Latinas hangs on the line every time the Medi-Cal program is on the state budget's chopping block," said Marisol Franco, CLRJ's Policy & Advocacy Manager. "Medi-Cal is the primary source of health insurance for 1.4 million Latinas."
California's public health programs provide a critical entry point for low-income Latinas to receive necessary medical attention and preventive services. This is especially critical in difficult economic times when low-income Latinas are significantly burdened by external economic factors. Maintaining funding for public health programs - such as Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and Family PACT - play a vital role in closing the gap in access to health care and reproductive health disparities.
Studies have found that women with health insurance are more likely to receive preventive, primary, and specialty care, and have better access to new medical developments. Women without access to health insurance are more likely to postpone care, delay or forego obtaining important reproductive health screenings, and less likely to take medications. Employer-sponsored health insurance was found to be 55.7 percent of coverage for all women in California, while Latinas are forced to rely on a patchwork of sources to obtain health care.
For more information visit the CLRJ's Policy Brief at www.californialatinas.org/policy.
Latino Journal
A policy brief released by the California Latinas for Reproductive Justice's (CLRJ) highlights the growing silent epidemic of Latinas' lack of health insurance and the vital role that California's public health programs play in sustaining Latinas' health. Entitled "Access to Health Insurance: A Vital Step in Promoting Latinas' ReproducLatinastive Health & Justice," the brief documents the dismal state of health insurance among California Latinas while state legislators continue to debate funding for critical public health programs within the state budget.
In analyzing data from the UCLA California Health Interview Survey, CLRJ found that Latinas comprised over half of California's women without health insurance in 2005 and were twice as likely to be uninsured for the entire past year compared to white women (52.7% vs. 24.7%). Additionally, the analysis found that over 1.4 million Latinas under age 65 lack health insurance and were three times as likely to be uninsured than are white women (39.3% vs. 13.4%), with nearly four out of ten Latinas being uninsured all or part of the year. Finally, CLRJ found that Latinas have the highest rates of being uninsured across all racial and ethnic groups of women.
"The number of uninsured Latinas in California is already reaching epidemic proportions," said Rocio L. Córdoba, CLRJ's Executive Director. "California cannot afford to ignore Latinas' disproportionate lack of access to health insurance, which has served to exacerbate reproductive health disparities and deny Latinas' reproductive justice. California policymakers must remain steadfast in developing innovative solutions to expand access to health insurance to the most vulnerable California communities. To maintain the status quo, or worse, reduce Latinas' limited options, would place low-income Latinas' lives at risk."
The lack of access to timely preventive health services-such as mammograms, Pap tests, or regular check ups-has contributed greatly to Latinas' reproductive and sexual health disparities. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among Latinas. Latinas also have the highest risk of developing cervical cancer and represent one-third of diagnosed invasive cervical cancer cases in the state each year. Increasing Latinas' access to health insurance is critical to ensuring that Latinas receive life-saving and less costly preventive care.
"The well-being of over 1.4 million Latinas hangs on the line every time the Medi-Cal program is on the state budget's chopping block," said Marisol Franco, CLRJ's Policy & Advocacy Manager. "Medi-Cal is the primary source of health insurance for 1.4 million Latinas."
California's public health programs provide a critical entry point for low-income Latinas to receive necessary medical attention and preventive services. This is especially critical in difficult economic times when low-income Latinas are significantly burdened by external economic factors. Maintaining funding for public health programs - such as Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and Family PACT - play a vital role in closing the gap in access to health care and reproductive health disparities.
Studies have found that women with health insurance are more likely to receive preventive, primary, and specialty care, and have better access to new medical developments. Women without access to health insurance are more likely to postpone care, delay or forego obtaining important reproductive health screenings, and less likely to take medications. Employer-sponsored health insurance was found to be 55.7 percent of coverage for all women in California, while Latinas are forced to rely on a patchwork of sources to obtain health care.
For more information visit the CLRJ's Policy Brief at www.californialatinas.org/policy.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Analysis of Latino Vote in 2008
Latino Voting in 2008: Part of a Broader Electoral Movement
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the 2004 general election, President Bush garnered perhaps 39 or 40 percent of the Latino vote. Four years later, after extensive debate on immigration, Sen. McCain received approximately 32 percent of the Latino vote. Some have suggested that the GOP's stance on immigration has hindered political gains among Hispanic voters.
The Center for Immigration Studies has released a new Backgrounder challenging that assertion. "Latino Voting in the 2008 Election: Part of a Broader Electoral Movement," by Prof. James G. Gimpel of the University of Maryland, argues that GOP losses in the election were not limited to Hispanic voters and not affected by the immigration debate.
The Backgrounder is available online at: http://cis.org/latinovoting
Among the findings:
* Exit polls from Election Day indicated that President Barack Obama won 67 percent of the Latino vote, and John McCain 32 percent. This compares to estimates of Latino support for George W. Bush in the range of 39 percent or higher in 2004. In 2000, Bush is thought to have received 35 percent of the Latino vote.
* McCain's consistent history of advocating a legalization program for illegal immigrants made no impression on Latino voters.
* McCain lost the Latino vote by a wide margin even in his home state of Arizona, 56 to 41 percent. This was in spite of widespread news coverage of his immigration stance in that state.
* The drop in Republican support among Latinos between 2004 and 2008 was part of a broad-based electoral movement away from the GOP, and was hardly specific to that demographic group. McCain received only 57 percent of the white male vote, compared with 62 percent for Bush in 2004, and McCain's 55 percent of regular church goers was significantly lower than Bush's 61 percent.
* Credible surveys indicate that the major policy concerns of Latinos were no different than the concerns of non-Latinos: The economy and jobs topped the list.
* There is little evidence that immigration policy was an influential factor in Latinos' choice between the two candidates once basic party predispositions are taken into account.
* In 2008, Latino voters supported the GOP ticket at levels above the usual 30 percent only when they resided in states that were already safely in GOP hands.
* The size of the Latino voting population should be kept in perspective alongside other subsets of the electorate. An estimated 11.8 million voters were of Latino ancestry, compared with 17 million African Americans, 19.7 million veterans, 23.6 million young people, 34 million born-again white Christians, and 45 million conservatives.
The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research organization that examines the impact of immigration on the United States.
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the 2004 general election, President Bush garnered perhaps 39 or 40 percent of the Latino vote. Four years later, after extensive debate on immigration, Sen. McCain received approximately 32 percent of the Latino vote. Some have suggested that the GOP's stance on immigration has hindered political gains among Hispanic voters.
The Center for Immigration Studies has released a new Backgrounder challenging that assertion. "Latino Voting in the 2008 Election: Part of a Broader Electoral Movement," by Prof. James G. Gimpel of the University of Maryland, argues that GOP losses in the election were not limited to Hispanic voters and not affected by the immigration debate.
The Backgrounder is available online at: http://cis.org/latinovoting
Among the findings:
* Exit polls from Election Day indicated that President Barack Obama won 67 percent of the Latino vote, and John McCain 32 percent. This compares to estimates of Latino support for George W. Bush in the range of 39 percent or higher in 2004. In 2000, Bush is thought to have received 35 percent of the Latino vote.
* McCain's consistent history of advocating a legalization program for illegal immigrants made no impression on Latino voters.
* McCain lost the Latino vote by a wide margin even in his home state of Arizona, 56 to 41 percent. This was in spite of widespread news coverage of his immigration stance in that state.
* The drop in Republican support among Latinos between 2004 and 2008 was part of a broad-based electoral movement away from the GOP, and was hardly specific to that demographic group. McCain received only 57 percent of the white male vote, compared with 62 percent for Bush in 2004, and McCain's 55 percent of regular church goers was significantly lower than Bush's 61 percent.
* Credible surveys indicate that the major policy concerns of Latinos were no different than the concerns of non-Latinos: The economy and jobs topped the list.
* There is little evidence that immigration policy was an influential factor in Latinos' choice between the two candidates once basic party predispositions are taken into account.
* In 2008, Latino voters supported the GOP ticket at levels above the usual 30 percent only when they resided in states that were already safely in GOP hands.
* The size of the Latino voting population should be kept in perspective alongside other subsets of the electorate. An estimated 11.8 million voters were of Latino ancestry, compared with 17 million African Americans, 19.7 million veterans, 23.6 million young people, 34 million born-again white Christians, and 45 million conservatives.
The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research organization that examines the impact of immigration on the United States.
Colorado senator bothered by Hispanic ads
Springs senator speaks out against Spanish seat belt ads
Story By: David Ortiviz Jan 27, 2009
New Spanish ads may start airing on TV stations to encourage Latinos to buckle up. But State Senator Dave Schultheis says he's worried the ads will hinder immigrants from learning English. "That begins to hold back the assimilation of people into our country," said Schultheis.
The Colorado Department of Transportation created the adds to educate Latinos in our state about the importance of using seat belt. CDOT says in 2008, about 23% of accident victims who died and weren't wearing seat belt, were Hispanic. The ads reportedly cost about $15,000 to produce.
Schultheis says he understands the desire to educate Hispanics about using seat belts, however, he doesn't believe the government should fund the project. The senator is also worried the Spanish ads will hinder Spanish speaking people from learning English.
"I think that in order to do well in this country, you need a good understanding of the English language," said Schultheis. "Everytime we capitulate, and you might say, assist other language groups in their own language, you are hindering that assimilation and that's a real concern to me," he added.
Story By: David Ortiviz Jan 27, 2009
New Spanish ads may start airing on TV stations to encourage Latinos to buckle up. But State Senator Dave Schultheis says he's worried the ads will hinder immigrants from learning English. "That begins to hold back the assimilation of people into our country," said Schultheis.
The Colorado Department of Transportation created the adds to educate Latinos in our state about the importance of using seat belt. CDOT says in 2008, about 23% of accident victims who died and weren't wearing seat belt, were Hispanic. The ads reportedly cost about $15,000 to produce.
Schultheis says he understands the desire to educate Hispanics about using seat belts, however, he doesn't believe the government should fund the project. The senator is also worried the Spanish ads will hinder Spanish speaking people from learning English.
"I think that in order to do well in this country, you need a good understanding of the English language," said Schultheis. "Everytime we capitulate, and you might say, assist other language groups in their own language, you are hindering that assimilation and that's a real concern to me," he added.
Latino mayor accused of taking bribe
Mayor of Hartford Is Accused of Taking Bribe in a Municipal Corruption Plot
By LYNNLEY BROWNING January 27, 2009
Another Connecticut politician was engulfed in scandal on Tuesday when the mayor of Hartford, Eddie A. Perez, was arrested on bribery and corruption charges after an extensive investigation.
Eddie A. Perez, the mayor of Hartford, as he surrendered on Tuesday. He was accused of getting cut-rate work on his house.
Mr. Perez was accused by state prosecutors of deliberately underpaying a local contractor for renovations at his two-story colonial house in Hartford that included a whirlpool, kitchen counters and a remodeled bathroom with a steam sauna.
Prosecutors said that the renovations were worth around $40,000 but that the mayor paid the contractor, Carlos Costa, just over $20,000 — and did so in 2007, about two years after they were done and just as prosecutors were beginning their inquiry. Mr. Perez also requested and received fraudulent billing statements for the work, according to the charges against him.
Mr. Costa thought he “would be blackballed as a contractor in the city” if he did not do the renovations free, prosecutors said he told them.
A sober-faced Mr. Perez, 51, a Democrat who is in his third term as mayor, surrendered early Tuesday after being charged with three counts of bribery, conspiracy and falsifying evidence, following a 15-month investigation. He was freed without bail.
Mr. Costa, who prosecutors said was a longtime friend of Mr. Perez, has done millions of dollars of work in recent years for the city of Hartford as part of lucrative contracts approved by Mr. Perez and his associates. Mr. Costa, of neighboring West Hartford, was arrested on Monday and charged with the same crimes as Mr. Perez.
Mr. Perez apologized in a statement and at a press conference for actions he called “inappropriate and inexcusable” but did not resign his office and vowed to fight the charges.
William T. Gerace, a lawyer for Mr. Costa, said that “Carlos is a hard-working contractor who was put in an awkward position and who did what he thought he had to do.”
The charges are a severe blow to the city.
In recent years, Hartford had embarked on an ambitious campaign to promote itself as “New England’s Rising Star,” full of sophisticated restaurants, a growing business community and urban-development projects.
Connecticut is the wealthiest state in the nation, thanks to its so-called Gold Coast of billion-dollar hedge fund firms in Greenwich, but it also has an urban underbelly of communities — including Hartford — that are struggling with crime and job losses.
Mr. Perez, a native of Puerto Rico who grew up in the rough-and-tumble Clay Arsenal area north of downtown Hartford and became the city’s first Latino mayor, had played a major role in the city’s turnaround campaign — and possessed a personal story to match it.
In 2006, he told Yankee Magazine that as a youth he belonged to a street gang called the Ghetto Brothers, and was nicknamed “The Professor,” but said that he quit to focus on his education and community organizing.
Viewed as a rising star in Hispanic circles, he holds a degree in economics from Trinity College, in Hartford, and once served as the college’s associate vice president of community and government relations.
The authorities also arrested a Hartford employee, Edward Lazu, who certifies contractors for municipal jobs, on related charges, and said in a statement that “additional arrests are expected.”
Prosecutors from the state’s Division of Criminal Justice, which filed all of the charges, have been scrutinizing Mr. Perez since at least early 2007; they searched his home and the offices of Mr. Costa’s contracting company in August 2007.
The charges against Mr. Perez emerged from information provided to a grand jury empanelled in October 2007 to investigate suspicions of corruption and misuse of state funds.
Hartford now joins a grim roster of Connecticut cities hit by embarrassing corruption scandals — and worse.
The former three-term mayor of Bridgeport, Joseph P. Ganim, is serving a nine-year sentence after being convicted in 2003 on federal charges of bribery, racketeering, extortion and mail fraud.
Also that year, the former three-term mayor of Waterbury, Philip A. Giordano, was sentenced to 37 years on federal charges involving sex with two girls, 8 and 10, while in office.
In 2005, former Gov. John G. Rowland received a year-long sentence stemming from a federal corruption investigation.
Douglas Rae, a professor of management and political science at Yale University who has studied American cities, said that Hartford ranked among the lowest of cities when it comes to transparent and responsible government.
But Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, said in an interview on Tuesday that perhaps Connecticut was simply better at rooting out corruption, compared with other states.
Mr. Costa runs a company called USA Contractors that has received millions of dollars of city contracts, including a $7.3 million project to develop the Park Street area near Trinity College.
Mr. Costa performed an estimated $2,600 worth of work on a driveway and sidewalk for Mr. Lazu, the city employee. Prosecutors quoted Mr. Lazu as saying that he paid $1,100 for the work and they quoted Mr. Costa as saying that he did the work free because it was “the cost of doing business” in Hartford.
Mr. Perez is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court next Tuesday.
By LYNNLEY BROWNING January 27, 2009
Another Connecticut politician was engulfed in scandal on Tuesday when the mayor of Hartford, Eddie A. Perez, was arrested on bribery and corruption charges after an extensive investigation.
Eddie A. Perez, the mayor of Hartford, as he surrendered on Tuesday. He was accused of getting cut-rate work on his house.
Mr. Perez was accused by state prosecutors of deliberately underpaying a local contractor for renovations at his two-story colonial house in Hartford that included a whirlpool, kitchen counters and a remodeled bathroom with a steam sauna.
Prosecutors said that the renovations were worth around $40,000 but that the mayor paid the contractor, Carlos Costa, just over $20,000 — and did so in 2007, about two years after they were done and just as prosecutors were beginning their inquiry. Mr. Perez also requested and received fraudulent billing statements for the work, according to the charges against him.
Mr. Costa thought he “would be blackballed as a contractor in the city” if he did not do the renovations free, prosecutors said he told them.
A sober-faced Mr. Perez, 51, a Democrat who is in his third term as mayor, surrendered early Tuesday after being charged with three counts of bribery, conspiracy and falsifying evidence, following a 15-month investigation. He was freed without bail.
Mr. Costa, who prosecutors said was a longtime friend of Mr. Perez, has done millions of dollars of work in recent years for the city of Hartford as part of lucrative contracts approved by Mr. Perez and his associates. Mr. Costa, of neighboring West Hartford, was arrested on Monday and charged with the same crimes as Mr. Perez.
Mr. Perez apologized in a statement and at a press conference for actions he called “inappropriate and inexcusable” but did not resign his office and vowed to fight the charges.
William T. Gerace, a lawyer for Mr. Costa, said that “Carlos is a hard-working contractor who was put in an awkward position and who did what he thought he had to do.”
The charges are a severe blow to the city.
In recent years, Hartford had embarked on an ambitious campaign to promote itself as “New England’s Rising Star,” full of sophisticated restaurants, a growing business community and urban-development projects.
Connecticut is the wealthiest state in the nation, thanks to its so-called Gold Coast of billion-dollar hedge fund firms in Greenwich, but it also has an urban underbelly of communities — including Hartford — that are struggling with crime and job losses.
Mr. Perez, a native of Puerto Rico who grew up in the rough-and-tumble Clay Arsenal area north of downtown Hartford and became the city’s first Latino mayor, had played a major role in the city’s turnaround campaign — and possessed a personal story to match it.
In 2006, he told Yankee Magazine that as a youth he belonged to a street gang called the Ghetto Brothers, and was nicknamed “The Professor,” but said that he quit to focus on his education and community organizing.
Viewed as a rising star in Hispanic circles, he holds a degree in economics from Trinity College, in Hartford, and once served as the college’s associate vice president of community and government relations.
The authorities also arrested a Hartford employee, Edward Lazu, who certifies contractors for municipal jobs, on related charges, and said in a statement that “additional arrests are expected.”
Prosecutors from the state’s Division of Criminal Justice, which filed all of the charges, have been scrutinizing Mr. Perez since at least early 2007; they searched his home and the offices of Mr. Costa’s contracting company in August 2007.
The charges against Mr. Perez emerged from information provided to a grand jury empanelled in October 2007 to investigate suspicions of corruption and misuse of state funds.
Hartford now joins a grim roster of Connecticut cities hit by embarrassing corruption scandals — and worse.
The former three-term mayor of Bridgeport, Joseph P. Ganim, is serving a nine-year sentence after being convicted in 2003 on federal charges of bribery, racketeering, extortion and mail fraud.
Also that year, the former three-term mayor of Waterbury, Philip A. Giordano, was sentenced to 37 years on federal charges involving sex with two girls, 8 and 10, while in office.
In 2005, former Gov. John G. Rowland received a year-long sentence stemming from a federal corruption investigation.
Douglas Rae, a professor of management and political science at Yale University who has studied American cities, said that Hartford ranked among the lowest of cities when it comes to transparent and responsible government.
But Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, said in an interview on Tuesday that perhaps Connecticut was simply better at rooting out corruption, compared with other states.
Mr. Costa runs a company called USA Contractors that has received millions of dollars of city contracts, including a $7.3 million project to develop the Park Street area near Trinity College.
Mr. Costa performed an estimated $2,600 worth of work on a driveway and sidewalk for Mr. Lazu, the city employee. Prosecutors quoted Mr. Lazu as saying that he paid $1,100 for the work and they quoted Mr. Costa as saying that he did the work free because it was “the cost of doing business” in Hartford.
Mr. Perez is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court next Tuesday.
Latino DMV director touts growth of online use
DMV ONLINE TRANSACTIONS INCREASED 15 PERCENT DURING 2008
PRESS RELEASE
SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced today a significant increase in customers using DMV online services. In 2008, more than 7 million customers used online DMV transaction services, an increase of 15 percent over 2007.
“Customers conducting DMV business online save time, energy and it is good for the environment,” said DMV Director George Valverde. “The DMV Web site offers a convenient alternative for our customers to renew their vehicle registrations, driver licenses and other important activities.”
Vehicle registrations remain the most popular online option, as 5,577,328 vehicles were registered through the DMV website, a 14.8 percent increase over the 2007 total of 4,857,251. June and July were busy months for online vehicle registrations surpassing 500,000 transactions twice for the first time since the 2003 inception of the online program.
Online driver license renewals totaled 641,337, a 31.8 percent increase from 486,532 logged the previous year. Online change of address filings numbered 742,021 and notice of release of liability filings totaled 909,957.
PRESS RELEASE
SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced today a significant increase in customers using DMV online services. In 2008, more than 7 million customers used online DMV transaction services, an increase of 15 percent over 2007.
“Customers conducting DMV business online save time, energy and it is good for the environment,” said DMV Director George Valverde. “The DMV Web site offers a convenient alternative for our customers to renew their vehicle registrations, driver licenses and other important activities.”
Vehicle registrations remain the most popular online option, as 5,577,328 vehicles were registered through the DMV website, a 14.8 percent increase over the 2007 total of 4,857,251. June and July were busy months for online vehicle registrations surpassing 500,000 transactions twice for the first time since the 2003 inception of the online program.
Online driver license renewals totaled 641,337, a 31.8 percent increase from 486,532 logged the previous year. Online change of address filings numbered 742,021 and notice of release of liability filings totaled 909,957.
Latino group asks where are the rest of appointments?
Latino Appointments Stall as Obama Administration Begins
USHLI
Over one month has passed since the incoming Obama Administration named another Latino/Latina to a Cabinet, sub-Cabinet, or senior executive level position, so there is nothing new to report. An article in The Washington Post by Al Kamen reported last week that of 45 high-level appointments announced to date, two (2) were Latino. Latinos haven't seen a number this low in any incoming administration since Nixon was first elected in 1968. It seems like the economy is not the only thing that hasn't been this bad in 40 years.
The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 26 Latino national organizations including USHLI, intends to continue working on getting more Latinos appointed to high-level positions.
USHLI
Over one month has passed since the incoming Obama Administration named another Latino/Latina to a Cabinet, sub-Cabinet, or senior executive level position, so there is nothing new to report. An article in The Washington Post by Al Kamen reported last week that of 45 high-level appointments announced to date, two (2) were Latino. Latinos haven't seen a number this low in any incoming administration since Nixon was first elected in 1968. It seems like the economy is not the only thing that hasn't been this bad in 40 years.
The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 26 Latino national organizations including USHLI, intends to continue working on getting more Latinos appointed to high-level positions.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Hispanic leaders differ on immigration reform timeline
Hispanic leaders differ on when to expect immigration reform
Dallas Morning News Jan 26, 2009
Hispanic leaders sent a message, and a few demands, to the new Obama administration today at a panel discussion in Washington, DC.
Except two leaders -- former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros and Janet Murguía, president of the advocacy group National Council of La Raza -- disagreed a bit when it came to a time-table for comprehensive immigration reform.
They and others spoke at a panel discussion to launch the new book "Latinos and the Nation's Future," edited by Cisneros and published by Texas-based Arte Público Press. The book was touted as a "blue-print for policy-makers."
During the Q&A, all panelists explained what they would say if they had one minute with President Obama.
Murguía said she would urge him to fulfill his campaign promise to seek comprehensive immigration reform. "We need to get that issue off the table or it will slow his entire efforts to move these other major pieces of legislation across," Murguía said.
Later Murguía added the record Latino voter turnout in the election, especially in swing states, came with high expectations: "There will be political consequences for our leaders who do not understand that we are sending a strong message through that turnout."
Cisneros then offered his own take. He noted the country faces major crises, like the recession, making it difficult to talk about things like immigration. He called for "some reality and patience."
"Janet is completely correct. Yet it's not going to happen in the first year. This is probably something we see over a couple of years," Cisneros said. "And I'm not flacking for the administration," he added.
Dallas Morning News Jan 26, 2009
Hispanic leaders sent a message, and a few demands, to the new Obama administration today at a panel discussion in Washington, DC.
Except two leaders -- former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros and Janet Murguía, president of the advocacy group National Council of La Raza -- disagreed a bit when it came to a time-table for comprehensive immigration reform.
They and others spoke at a panel discussion to launch the new book "Latinos and the Nation's Future," edited by Cisneros and published by Texas-based Arte Público Press. The book was touted as a "blue-print for policy-makers."
During the Q&A, all panelists explained what they would say if they had one minute with President Obama.
Murguía said she would urge him to fulfill his campaign promise to seek comprehensive immigration reform. "We need to get that issue off the table or it will slow his entire efforts to move these other major pieces of legislation across," Murguía said.
Later Murguía added the record Latino voter turnout in the election, especially in swing states, came with high expectations: "There will be political consequences for our leaders who do not understand that we are sending a strong message through that turnout."
Cisneros then offered his own take. He noted the country faces major crises, like the recession, making it difficult to talk about things like immigration. He called for "some reality and patience."
"Janet is completely correct. Yet it's not going to happen in the first year. This is probably something we see over a couple of years," Cisneros said. "And I'm not flacking for the administration," he added.
Hispanic Leadership Institute partners with Ford Motor Company
Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute & Ford Motor Company Provide Opportunity for Hispanic College Students To Intern in Nation’s Capital
PRESS RELEASE January 26, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC – The deadline for Hispanic college students to apply for the 2009 Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program is quickly approaching! Internship applications are due by Friday, February 20, 2009.
Since 2004, the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) has been sending qualified Hispanic college students to Washington, DC for a six-week internship through the Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program.
“The Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program is probably one of the best experiences I have had since coming to the U.S., and it has opened a number of doors for me,” said Roberto Castillo, a Miami resident of Cuban and Venezuelan decent and a 2008 Ford CHLI Intern with the Office of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25). “Through the contacts that I established on the program, I now have a job that I really enjoy in Miami, an internship opportunity for this winter in Washington, and the possibility of a full time job after I graduate.”
2009 applications can be downloaded from the CHLI web site at www.chli.org. Eight Hispanic students will be selected to become part of this exciting six-week internship program in Washington, DC. The interns will be placed with Institutions and Members of Congress who share the goals of the Institute. These goals include encouraging various view points and ideas of the diverse Hispanic community through research, briefings, reports, events, and other activities.
“The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute is pleased to be able to send these talented and ambitious Hispanic students to Washington, DC,” said Octavio A. Hinojosa Mier, CHLI Executive Director. “I believe that the Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program enables these bright young people to gain the skills and experience necessary to be a leader in our country and the world.”
The Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program offers invaluable insight to Hispanic students who want to gain first-hand experience on how the federal government works and public policy is shaped. The interns will also have the opportunity to interact and meet appointed and elected officials from all levels of government. In the past, students have interned with Congressional Members, Senator Mel Martinez (FL), Rep. Luis Fortuno (PR), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S. Treasury and the Organization of American States.
The program is made possible by the generous support of the Ford Motor Company Fund.
"Ford is committed to empowering communities through innovative education and we are proud to partner with CHLI to support this leadership initiative," said Raquel Egusquiza, Director, Community Development and International Strategy, Ford Motor Company Fund. "The Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership program is recognized as one of the most promising summer internship programs available to young Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent and we are thrilled to play a role in making this possible."
The application deadline is Friday, February 20, 2009. The six-week program begins June 15, 2009 and ends July 24, 2009.
To apply, applicants must:
- Be U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent Residents of Hispanic or Portuguese origin.
- Be enrolled in an accredited four year college/university or two year community college.
- Submit a completed application form, personal statement, legislative analysis, and resume, two letters of recommendation and official transcripts.
Compensation includes:
- Air fare and housing accommodations during Washington, D.C. stay.
- $2,000 stipend.
- Dell laptop computer (for use on the program and to take home at the conclusion of the internship).
- Metro card for public transportation.
To apply, visit www.chli.org. For more information on the 2009 Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program, please contact Yisel Cabrera, Manager of Programs and Operations, Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, at ycabrera@chli.org or 202-347-8280.
PRESS RELEASE January 26, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC – The deadline for Hispanic college students to apply for the 2009 Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program is quickly approaching! Internship applications are due by Friday, February 20, 2009.
Since 2004, the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) has been sending qualified Hispanic college students to Washington, DC for a six-week internship through the Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program.
“The Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program is probably one of the best experiences I have had since coming to the U.S., and it has opened a number of doors for me,” said Roberto Castillo, a Miami resident of Cuban and Venezuelan decent and a 2008 Ford CHLI Intern with the Office of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25). “Through the contacts that I established on the program, I now have a job that I really enjoy in Miami, an internship opportunity for this winter in Washington, and the possibility of a full time job after I graduate.”
2009 applications can be downloaded from the CHLI web site at www.chli.org. Eight Hispanic students will be selected to become part of this exciting six-week internship program in Washington, DC. The interns will be placed with Institutions and Members of Congress who share the goals of the Institute. These goals include encouraging various view points and ideas of the diverse Hispanic community through research, briefings, reports, events, and other activities.
“The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute is pleased to be able to send these talented and ambitious Hispanic students to Washington, DC,” said Octavio A. Hinojosa Mier, CHLI Executive Director. “I believe that the Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program enables these bright young people to gain the skills and experience necessary to be a leader in our country and the world.”
The Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program offers invaluable insight to Hispanic students who want to gain first-hand experience on how the federal government works and public policy is shaped. The interns will also have the opportunity to interact and meet appointed and elected officials from all levels of government. In the past, students have interned with Congressional Members, Senator Mel Martinez (FL), Rep. Luis Fortuno (PR), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S. Treasury and the Organization of American States.
The program is made possible by the generous support of the Ford Motor Company Fund.
"Ford is committed to empowering communities through innovative education and we are proud to partner with CHLI to support this leadership initiative," said Raquel Egusquiza, Director, Community Development and International Strategy, Ford Motor Company Fund. "The Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership program is recognized as one of the most promising summer internship programs available to young Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent and we are thrilled to play a role in making this possible."
The application deadline is Friday, February 20, 2009. The six-week program begins June 15, 2009 and ends July 24, 2009.
To apply, applicants must:
- Be U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent Residents of Hispanic or Portuguese origin.
- Be enrolled in an accredited four year college/university or two year community college.
- Submit a completed application form, personal statement, legislative analysis, and resume, two letters of recommendation and official transcripts.
Compensation includes:
- Air fare and housing accommodations during Washington, D.C. stay.
- $2,000 stipend.
- Dell laptop computer (for use on the program and to take home at the conclusion of the internship).
- Metro card for public transportation.
To apply, visit www.chli.org. For more information on the 2009 Ford Motor Company CHLI Leadership Program, please contact Yisel Cabrera, Manager of Programs and Operations, Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, at ycabrera@chli.org or 202-347-8280.
Hispanic students in poverty rises
Poverty continues to rise in Janesville schools
By FRANK SCHULTZ Jan. 26, 2009
JANESVILLE — The number of low-income students continues to rise in the Janesville School District.
The proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch under the federal lunch program rose from 31.44 percent in 2006-07 to 33.07 percent in 2007-08.
The Janesville School Board will hear a report on these and other student demographics when it meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The proportion of students considered low income has risen steadily for at least the past 10 years.
Overall enrollment as of September 2008 was up by 195, to 10,549, but that is due to the new 4-year-old kindergarten program, known as Preschool 4 Janesville, or P4J.
The number of students in kindergarten through 12th grade dropped by 173.
The Hispanic population is the fastest-growing of the ethnic groups. Hispanic students make up 8.2 percent of the district’s enrollment this school year. The number of Hispanic students rose from 778 the previous year to 866.
Not all Hispanic students need help learning English, but the district also has seen a surge in the number of students who need help in this area, and most of them are Spanish speakers.
The number of homeless students was 315 in 2007-08, compared with 312 the previous year.
Wilson Elementary School had the highest rate of low-income students, 99.1 percent. Next in line were Jackson Elementary, 54 percent, and Madison Elementary, 51.5 percent.
The proportion of black students remains steady this year, at 6 percent, or 638 students.
The number of students identified as Asian remains unchanged, at 236.
The number of white students actually rose for the first time in many years, from 8,685 last year to 8,788 this year. Whites now account for 83.2 percent of the enrollment.
One number that has not yet been released is the enrollment as of Jan. 9, when the state-mandated headcount was taken. District officials have been documenting students who weren’t in school Jan. 9 before they have to report it to the state. They promise the count will be available Tuesday.
Perhaps the most important number as the school board and administration prepare next year’s budget is the number of students who will walk through the doors next September.
Officials are concerned that families hit by layoffs over the past eight months might leave town to find work after school ends in June. A big drop in enrollment would mean a big drop in school revenue.
Officials are considering a survey of parents next month to find out how many are considering leaving.
By FRANK SCHULTZ Jan. 26, 2009
JANESVILLE — The number of low-income students continues to rise in the Janesville School District.
The proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch under the federal lunch program rose from 31.44 percent in 2006-07 to 33.07 percent in 2007-08.
The Janesville School Board will hear a report on these and other student demographics when it meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The proportion of students considered low income has risen steadily for at least the past 10 years.
Overall enrollment as of September 2008 was up by 195, to 10,549, but that is due to the new 4-year-old kindergarten program, known as Preschool 4 Janesville, or P4J.
The number of students in kindergarten through 12th grade dropped by 173.
The Hispanic population is the fastest-growing of the ethnic groups. Hispanic students make up 8.2 percent of the district’s enrollment this school year. The number of Hispanic students rose from 778 the previous year to 866.
Not all Hispanic students need help learning English, but the district also has seen a surge in the number of students who need help in this area, and most of them are Spanish speakers.
The number of homeless students was 315 in 2007-08, compared with 312 the previous year.
Wilson Elementary School had the highest rate of low-income students, 99.1 percent. Next in line were Jackson Elementary, 54 percent, and Madison Elementary, 51.5 percent.
The proportion of black students remains steady this year, at 6 percent, or 638 students.
The number of students identified as Asian remains unchanged, at 236.
The number of white students actually rose for the first time in many years, from 8,685 last year to 8,788 this year. Whites now account for 83.2 percent of the enrollment.
One number that has not yet been released is the enrollment as of Jan. 9, when the state-mandated headcount was taken. District officials have been documenting students who weren’t in school Jan. 9 before they have to report it to the state. They promise the count will be available Tuesday.
Perhaps the most important number as the school board and administration prepare next year’s budget is the number of students who will walk through the doors next September.
Officials are concerned that families hit by layoffs over the past eight months might leave town to find work after school ends in June. A big drop in enrollment would mean a big drop in school revenue.
Officials are considering a survey of parents next month to find out how many are considering leaving.
Hispanics to become Minnesota's largest minority
Hispanics expected to become Minnesota's largest minority group in 10 years
Star Tribune January 26, 2009
Hispanics, once among the smallest of Minnesota's minority groups and predicted to remain so for decades, are now expected to become the state's largest minority group within the next 10 years, the state demographer's office said Monday.
But with a lot more white folks than what experts were predicting as recently as the mid-1990s, Minnesota will also remain overwhelmingly white through the early part of this century.
As recently as 1990, there were almost twice as many blacks (95,000) as Hispanics (54,000) in Minnesota. But a '90s surge in Hispanic immigration, fueled by a white-hot economy, helped change that.
Demographer Martha McMurry now projects that by 2015, Hispanics (324,000) will have charged past blacks (314,000), despite the effects of African immigration. As of the most recent set of projections, just a few years ago, that wasn't going to happen until 2025.
McMurry cautioned, however, that the shift in expectations is more because of changes in how the forecasts are being done than to any observed change in minority arrivals or birthrates.
"I don't think there's any huge underlying shift going on," she said. "One change we made in how we do these projections is that we looked at national forecasts this time, which we haven't done before."
The notion of a general increase in diversity is a lot more reliable than any specific numbers, she said.
"A lot of the growth in the black population has been immigrants," she said. "Will that continue? Good luck trying to figure that one out. And the same is true of Latinos: We don't know what immigration policies or enforcement will be."
Star Tribune January 26, 2009
Hispanics, once among the smallest of Minnesota's minority groups and predicted to remain so for decades, are now expected to become the state's largest minority group within the next 10 years, the state demographer's office said Monday.
But with a lot more white folks than what experts were predicting as recently as the mid-1990s, Minnesota will also remain overwhelmingly white through the early part of this century.
As recently as 1990, there were almost twice as many blacks (95,000) as Hispanics (54,000) in Minnesota. But a '90s surge in Hispanic immigration, fueled by a white-hot economy, helped change that.
Demographer Martha McMurry now projects that by 2015, Hispanics (324,000) will have charged past blacks (314,000), despite the effects of African immigration. As of the most recent set of projections, just a few years ago, that wasn't going to happen until 2025.
McMurry cautioned, however, that the shift in expectations is more because of changes in how the forecasts are being done than to any observed change in minority arrivals or birthrates.
"I don't think there's any huge underlying shift going on," she said. "One change we made in how we do these projections is that we looked at national forecasts this time, which we haven't done before."
The notion of a general increase in diversity is a lot more reliable than any specific numbers, she said.
"A lot of the growth in the black population has been immigrants," she said. "Will that continue? Good luck trying to figure that one out. And the same is true of Latinos: We don't know what immigration policies or enforcement will be."
Cisneros: Nation's future linked to Latino success
Cisneros: Nation's future linked to Latino success
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros said Monday he plans to create a nonprofit that will help integrate newcomers to U.S. society by improving their English and expanding their participation in military service and civic activities.
Cisneros, who served in the Clinton administration, said he hopes to launch the group this year to "proselytize" the significance of immigrants and "the absolutely invaluable role they'll play in the American future."
The group would team up with churches, schools and other nonprofits to offer a "life plan" on how people integrate into American society, he said. The plan would include showing parents how U.S. schools work and how they can help their children advance as well as promoting their responsibility in building the nation's future.
"We've got to get beyond just the basics of legalization and citizenship," Cisneros said.
Leaving 12 million people in the shadows and undocumented "is not what civilized country wants to do when it needs workers," he said.
Latinos make up 15 percent of the U.S. population and will make up a quarter of the population by 2050. Even if the nation's borders were closed, the Latino population in the U.S. is expected to grow because the population's families are younger and larger.
Cisneros said his effort dovetails with President Barack Obama's message of multicultural inclusion. He said he and Obama talked last year about the "aspirational" themes of the Hispanic population — better wages, educational achievement, health care and legalization.
Cisneros and several other high-profile Latinos argue in a new book, "Latinos and the Nation's Future," that the large numbers mean the advancement and global competitiveness of the country depends on the progress of the Latino population.
"Is America going to be populated by a population that is large but poor, undereducated, underproductive, alienated in due course for lack of opportunity?" he asked. "Or is it a going to be populated by a community that is large but has infused with the education and skills so that it is one of the contributors to the energy, the creativity the productivity of this country going forward?"
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros said Monday he plans to create a nonprofit that will help integrate newcomers to U.S. society by improving their English and expanding their participation in military service and civic activities.
Cisneros, who served in the Clinton administration, said he hopes to launch the group this year to "proselytize" the significance of immigrants and "the absolutely invaluable role they'll play in the American future."
The group would team up with churches, schools and other nonprofits to offer a "life plan" on how people integrate into American society, he said. The plan would include showing parents how U.S. schools work and how they can help their children advance as well as promoting their responsibility in building the nation's future.
"We've got to get beyond just the basics of legalization and citizenship," Cisneros said.
Leaving 12 million people in the shadows and undocumented "is not what civilized country wants to do when it needs workers," he said.
Latinos make up 15 percent of the U.S. population and will make up a quarter of the population by 2050. Even if the nation's borders were closed, the Latino population in the U.S. is expected to grow because the population's families are younger and larger.
Cisneros said his effort dovetails with President Barack Obama's message of multicultural inclusion. He said he and Obama talked last year about the "aspirational" themes of the Hispanic population — better wages, educational achievement, health care and legalization.
Cisneros and several other high-profile Latinos argue in a new book, "Latinos and the Nation's Future," that the large numbers mean the advancement and global competitiveness of the country depends on the progress of the Latino population.
"Is America going to be populated by a population that is large but poor, undereducated, underproductive, alienated in due course for lack of opportunity?" he asked. "Or is it a going to be populated by a community that is large but has infused with the education and skills so that it is one of the contributors to the energy, the creativity the productivity of this country going forward?"
Latina sheriff critcized for making moves
Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez criticized for moving political foes to night shift
By KEVIN KRAUSE / The Dallas Morning News kkrause@dallasnews.com January 26, 2009
Representatives of the Dallas chapter of the National Latino Peace Officers Association are expected to complain to Dallas County commissioners this morning about Sheriff Lupe Valdez's transfer of several deputies to undesirable jail shifts.
The sheriff and her second-in-command, Jesse Flores, ordered the transfers on Dec. 20. They included supporters of the sheriff's Republican opponent in the November election, Lowell Cannaday, and vocal critics of her actions and policies.
Deputy Mike Ramirez, the agency's only motorcycle deputy and vice president of the association, was transferred to a midnight jail shift.
Sgt. Greg Porter, the sheriff's range master and former chairman of the Dallas County Sheriff's Association, was transferred to an evening shift at the jail.
As leaders of Sheriff's Department employee labor groups, Porter and Ramirez were the most outspoken critics of Valdez during the sheriff's race. The labor groups they represented supported Cannaday.
In addition, Scott Evans, president of the sheriff's association, was moved to a midnight shift in the traffic division. And Lt. Steve Jones, a Cannaday supporter, was transferred from the traffic division to the jail.
The moves were part of more than 20 transfers.
Porter has said the transfers were obvious retaliation – an attempt to stifle internal criticism of the sheriff and her policies. He said they will have a chilling effect on free speech within the department.
Sheriff's officials denied the moves were political retaliation, saying in a written statement that it's common for an organization's leadership to "periodically re-evaluate personnel and positions in an effort to maximize the training and experience for all of its employees."
"It is important to the success of a large organization such as ours to ensure that our employees are prepared to face new challenges on the job. It is also imperative that everyone has an equal opportunity to learn and grow within the department," the statement said.
Jones, Porter, Ramirez and Evans are being represented by a labor attorney, Bob Gorsky, who is being paid by the Texas Municipal Police Association.
On Jan. 6, Gorsky sent a letter to Valdez demanding that she reinstate the deputies to their previous positions. In the letter, Gorsky said the reassignments violated the deputies' First Amendment rights.
Valdez did not reinstate the deputies.
A news conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today at the Latino Peace Officers Association offices on South Lamar in Dallas during which Gorsky will announce "legal developments" in the case.
Commissioners have discussed the deputy transfers in closed session but have not addressed the situation publicly.
Commissioner Maurine Dickey says she isn't sure whether the dispute will lead to a lawsuit.
"I heard a rumor that these guys are disgruntled. I honestly don't know any details," she said recently.
Some leaders of the town of Sunnyvale have questioned the transfer of Ramirez, who served as the town's motorcycle deputy for years under a police services contract between the town and the Sheriff's Department.
David Byrd, a council member, said Ramirez, known as "Motorcycle Mike," is one of the "more well-known and popular officers in the town."
He said the mayor and town manager both have spoken to Valdez about the transfer. Byrd said he is concerned that the sheriff has not replaced Ramirez with another motorcycle deputy. The town paid for Ramirez's training, he added.
The Ramirez transfer "seems oddly coincidental," he said. "He's been here for a number of years and has served the town well. I'm not quite sure what the rationale is for moving him."
Sunnyvale pays Dallas County $1.1 million a year for patrol services, according to the contract, which was renewed in October for another year.
By KEVIN KRAUSE / The Dallas Morning News kkrause@dallasnews.com January 26, 2009
Representatives of the Dallas chapter of the National Latino Peace Officers Association are expected to complain to Dallas County commissioners this morning about Sheriff Lupe Valdez's transfer of several deputies to undesirable jail shifts.
The sheriff and her second-in-command, Jesse Flores, ordered the transfers on Dec. 20. They included supporters of the sheriff's Republican opponent in the November election, Lowell Cannaday, and vocal critics of her actions and policies.
Deputy Mike Ramirez, the agency's only motorcycle deputy and vice president of the association, was transferred to a midnight jail shift.
Sgt. Greg Porter, the sheriff's range master and former chairman of the Dallas County Sheriff's Association, was transferred to an evening shift at the jail.
As leaders of Sheriff's Department employee labor groups, Porter and Ramirez were the most outspoken critics of Valdez during the sheriff's race. The labor groups they represented supported Cannaday.
In addition, Scott Evans, president of the sheriff's association, was moved to a midnight shift in the traffic division. And Lt. Steve Jones, a Cannaday supporter, was transferred from the traffic division to the jail.
The moves were part of more than 20 transfers.
Porter has said the transfers were obvious retaliation – an attempt to stifle internal criticism of the sheriff and her policies. He said they will have a chilling effect on free speech within the department.
Sheriff's officials denied the moves were political retaliation, saying in a written statement that it's common for an organization's leadership to "periodically re-evaluate personnel and positions in an effort to maximize the training and experience for all of its employees."
"It is important to the success of a large organization such as ours to ensure that our employees are prepared to face new challenges on the job. It is also imperative that everyone has an equal opportunity to learn and grow within the department," the statement said.
Jones, Porter, Ramirez and Evans are being represented by a labor attorney, Bob Gorsky, who is being paid by the Texas Municipal Police Association.
On Jan. 6, Gorsky sent a letter to Valdez demanding that she reinstate the deputies to their previous positions. In the letter, Gorsky said the reassignments violated the deputies' First Amendment rights.
Valdez did not reinstate the deputies.
A news conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today at the Latino Peace Officers Association offices on South Lamar in Dallas during which Gorsky will announce "legal developments" in the case.
Commissioners have discussed the deputy transfers in closed session but have not addressed the situation publicly.
Commissioner Maurine Dickey says she isn't sure whether the dispute will lead to a lawsuit.
"I heard a rumor that these guys are disgruntled. I honestly don't know any details," she said recently.
Some leaders of the town of Sunnyvale have questioned the transfer of Ramirez, who served as the town's motorcycle deputy for years under a police services contract between the town and the Sheriff's Department.
David Byrd, a council member, said Ramirez, known as "Motorcycle Mike," is one of the "more well-known and popular officers in the town."
He said the mayor and town manager both have spoken to Valdez about the transfer. Byrd said he is concerned that the sheriff has not replaced Ramirez with another motorcycle deputy. The town paid for Ramirez's training, he added.
The Ramirez transfer "seems oddly coincidental," he said. "He's been here for a number of years and has served the town well. I'm not quite sure what the rationale is for moving him."
Sunnyvale pays Dallas County $1.1 million a year for patrol services, according to the contract, which was renewed in October for another year.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Baptists reachout to Hispanic worshipers
New Day Baptist church’s program courts hispanics
Cultural blending ‘on God’s heart,’ pastor says
Gerry Melendez/gmelendez@thestate.com /The State
The high-pitched squeaks of rubber soles against hardwood offered a fitting accompaniment to the on-court chatter Saturday afternoon in the North Columbia gym.
“Buen pase.” (Good pass)
“Corre!” (Run)
A pair of area Hispanic teams compete during a tournament at Greenview Park, Saturday, January 24, 2009. New Day, a small newly formed congregation in the Historic Eau Claire community has established a multiethnic outreach to local Hispanic residents. The church provides recreational athletic activities while also conducting English as a Second Language classes.
The regular Saturday gathering is part of a relatively young but thriving Hispanic outreach program of the New Day Baptist Church.
Since February, the small, multiracial congregation in the heart of the Eau Claire community has been fostering deeper relationships and better communication with Hispanics who have moved to the area, offering a mixture of athletic, educational and spiritual activities.
“We believe that it’s on God’s heart for people to get to know each other,” said the Rev. Ray Hoskins, who pastors the church on Abindon Road.
From its beginnings, the church embraced a multicultural worship fellowship. But it had not specifically targeted Hispanics for an outreach program until a chance meeting between Hoskins and some of the nearby Spanish-speaking residents.
Early last year, the pastor ran across Joel Morales and some friends who were playing basketball at Hyatt Park. Hoskins struck up a conversation and eventually suggested the idea of the more formal outreach, which Morales embraced.
“That was the genesis of it,” Hoskins said, adding that Morales serves as a liaison between the church and residents.
In the months since, the church has set up an English teaching program for its Hispanic neighbors with the help of students in the English as a Second Language program at Columbia International University.
Church member and CIU business professor Michael James directs the Sunday afternoon language sessions.
“We also get an opportunity to learn a little Spanish,” Hoskins said.
Anywhere from 20 to 25 of the Hispanic residents regularly attend the Sunday classes.
But it’s the weekly basketball games that draw the biggest crowds, as 150 or more people — including the players, their family members and other spectators — show up for the spirited competition.
The games normally are played at Lorick Park, but on Saturday they were moved to Greenview Park, where the church held an all-day tournament that attracted teams from as far away as Virginia.
Along with its recreational and language programs, the church holds occasional multicultural services (with the help of a translator from Riverland Hills Baptist Church) and periodic multicultural meals.
“We could have said we’ll find an Hispanic church to do this, but that’s not our style,” Hoskins said.
And while only a few church members are fluent Spanish speakers, Hoskins said that has not hindered their work.
“We figured we would not concern ourselves with the language barriers,” he said.
In the 11 months since the outreach program began, participation has been both consistent and lively.
Carlos Angeles (originally of Costa Rica) moved to the area a year ago from California with his family. Angeles, who works as a framer, said he was about “50 percent” fluent in English before he moved to the Midlands.
But today, he speaks English with relative ease and credits much of his progress to the church’s program.
“I (also) like to watch TV,” Angeles said. “The programs are very helpful.”
Richard Velachenel had little need for language assistance (the Costa Rica native speaks fluent English, Spanish and Chinese), but he has enjoyed the recreational aspects of the outreach program since walking up on a pick-up basketball game at CIU last year.
“It looked pretty interesting,” Velachenel said. “And the next Saturday, I was just playing.”
Until now, the outreach’s recreational component has been geared largely to Hispanic men. But the church has entered into discussions with Lorick Park to create an expanded program for women and children.
Cultural blending ‘on God’s heart,’ pastor says
Gerry Melendez/gmelendez@thestate.com /The State
The high-pitched squeaks of rubber soles against hardwood offered a fitting accompaniment to the on-court chatter Saturday afternoon in the North Columbia gym.
“Buen pase.” (Good pass)
“Corre!” (Run)
A pair of area Hispanic teams compete during a tournament at Greenview Park, Saturday, January 24, 2009. New Day, a small newly formed congregation in the Historic Eau Claire community has established a multiethnic outreach to local Hispanic residents. The church provides recreational athletic activities while also conducting English as a Second Language classes.
The regular Saturday gathering is part of a relatively young but thriving Hispanic outreach program of the New Day Baptist Church.
Since February, the small, multiracial congregation in the heart of the Eau Claire community has been fostering deeper relationships and better communication with Hispanics who have moved to the area, offering a mixture of athletic, educational and spiritual activities.
“We believe that it’s on God’s heart for people to get to know each other,” said the Rev. Ray Hoskins, who pastors the church on Abindon Road.
From its beginnings, the church embraced a multicultural worship fellowship. But it had not specifically targeted Hispanics for an outreach program until a chance meeting between Hoskins and some of the nearby Spanish-speaking residents.
Early last year, the pastor ran across Joel Morales and some friends who were playing basketball at Hyatt Park. Hoskins struck up a conversation and eventually suggested the idea of the more formal outreach, which Morales embraced.
“That was the genesis of it,” Hoskins said, adding that Morales serves as a liaison between the church and residents.
In the months since, the church has set up an English teaching program for its Hispanic neighbors with the help of students in the English as a Second Language program at Columbia International University.
Church member and CIU business professor Michael James directs the Sunday afternoon language sessions.
“We also get an opportunity to learn a little Spanish,” Hoskins said.
Anywhere from 20 to 25 of the Hispanic residents regularly attend the Sunday classes.
But it’s the weekly basketball games that draw the biggest crowds, as 150 or more people — including the players, their family members and other spectators — show up for the spirited competition.
The games normally are played at Lorick Park, but on Saturday they were moved to Greenview Park, where the church held an all-day tournament that attracted teams from as far away as Virginia.
Along with its recreational and language programs, the church holds occasional multicultural services (with the help of a translator from Riverland Hills Baptist Church) and periodic multicultural meals.
“We could have said we’ll find an Hispanic church to do this, but that’s not our style,” Hoskins said.
And while only a few church members are fluent Spanish speakers, Hoskins said that has not hindered their work.
“We figured we would not concern ourselves with the language barriers,” he said.
In the 11 months since the outreach program began, participation has been both consistent and lively.
Carlos Angeles (originally of Costa Rica) moved to the area a year ago from California with his family. Angeles, who works as a framer, said he was about “50 percent” fluent in English before he moved to the Midlands.
But today, he speaks English with relative ease and credits much of his progress to the church’s program.
“I (also) like to watch TV,” Angeles said. “The programs are very helpful.”
Richard Velachenel had little need for language assistance (the Costa Rica native speaks fluent English, Spanish and Chinese), but he has enjoyed the recreational aspects of the outreach program since walking up on a pick-up basketball game at CIU last year.
“It looked pretty interesting,” Velachenel said. “And the next Saturday, I was just playing.”
Until now, the outreach’s recreational component has been geared largely to Hispanic men. But the church has entered into discussions with Lorick Park to create an expanded program for women and children.
Hispanic groups angered by immigrant hate crimes
Immigrants becoming targets of attacks
Ramona E. Romero, president of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA)
Cristóbal Joshua Alex cochair of HNBA's civil rights section
Philly Inquirer
It has happened again.
In early December, less than a month after seven teenagers brutally attacked and killed Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue, N.Y., a group of three assailants beat Jose Sucuzhañay in Brooklyn while shouting anti-Latino and antigay epithets. Three days later, Sucuzhañay, a real estate entrepreneur, became the latest Hispanic to die at the hands of attackers motivated by anti-immigrant bias and hatred.
According to a recent FBI report on hate crimes, there has been a 40 percent surge in anti-Latino violence since 2003. Organizations that track hate crimes paint an even grimmer picture. The Southern Poverty Law Center is now tracking 888 organizations that it classifies as hate groups - including the Federation for American Immigration Reform - a rise of almost 50 percent since 2000.
Why is this happening?
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reports that white supremacists and other extremist groups are using the immigration debate to increase their membership and incite violence against Latinos. As the ADL has noted, "the demonization of immigrants has . . . created a toxic environment in which hateful rhetoric targeting immigrants has become routine." As was the case in the death of Lucero and Sucuzhañay, that rhetoric enables those so inclined to declare open season against Hispanics.
Perhaps the starkest example of the link between policy debate and anti-Latino incidents is that of Suffolk County, where Lucero was lynched. The county executive, Steve Levy, is vocally anti-immigrant. He has appeared on Lou Dobbs to spread his message and, after Lucero's death, complained that the killing would be a "one-day story" had it happened elsewhere.
Sadly, these incidents are happening elsewhere, including Schuylkill County in Pennsylvania.
In July, Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala was attacked and killed by teens in Shenandoah. After the deadly attack, one of the perpetrators reportedly warned: "You tell your [expletive] Mexican friends to get the [expletive] out of Shenandoah . . ."
Other parts of the country are seeing a rise in violence as well.
In 2006, a Latino teenager was beaten and sodomized in Spring, Texas. One of his assailants was a skinhead etched with Nazi tattoos who had perpetrated at least one other attack against a Latino. That same year, Serafin Negrete, a 32-year-old Mexican immigrant, was killed in Prince William County, Va., by local teenagers engaged in "amigo shopping" - their term for attacks and robberies targeting Latinos.
These attacks have occurred in environments where the immigration debate is heated.
Shenandoah, where Ramirez was killed, is only minutes away from Hazleton, Pa., now infamous for its anti-immigrant ordinances. Prince William County has also adopted local anti-immigrant laws and enforcement policies. And the immigration debate rages daily in border states such as Texas.
Our national leaders' failure to enact immigration reform has left a vacuum that many states and municipalities seek to fill by introducing anti-immigrant ordinances that create tensions between Latinos and their neighbors. In Pennsylvania alone, there have been at least 18 proposals for anti-immigrant state laws, as well as for numerous municipal ordinances.
We predict that violence against Latinos will continue to escalate and more lives will be lost unless Congress addresses our broken immigration policy. We realize that there are many serious challenges competing for our leaders' attention. But we cannot continue to put immigration reform on the back burner while immigrants and citizens who look like immigrants are attacked and families are torn apart.
As President Obama has said, "If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost." As the incidents of hate crimes increase, many Latinos are losing trust in our government's willingness and ability to protect us.
Ours is a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. As our country navigates this time of crisis, neither our government nor the citizenry can stand by and allow those who rely on fear mongering to control the debate. Let's honor the best of our traditions and stand up for victims like Sucuzhañay, Lucero and Ramirez by recognizing that fair and sensible immigration reform is essential to both the security of our borders and the general welfare of the people.
Ramona E. Romero, president of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA)
Cristóbal Joshua Alex cochair of HNBA's civil rights section
Philly Inquirer
It has happened again.
In early December, less than a month after seven teenagers brutally attacked and killed Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue, N.Y., a group of three assailants beat Jose Sucuzhañay in Brooklyn while shouting anti-Latino and antigay epithets. Three days later, Sucuzhañay, a real estate entrepreneur, became the latest Hispanic to die at the hands of attackers motivated by anti-immigrant bias and hatred.
According to a recent FBI report on hate crimes, there has been a 40 percent surge in anti-Latino violence since 2003. Organizations that track hate crimes paint an even grimmer picture. The Southern Poverty Law Center is now tracking 888 organizations that it classifies as hate groups - including the Federation for American Immigration Reform - a rise of almost 50 percent since 2000.
Why is this happening?
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reports that white supremacists and other extremist groups are using the immigration debate to increase their membership and incite violence against Latinos. As the ADL has noted, "the demonization of immigrants has . . . created a toxic environment in which hateful rhetoric targeting immigrants has become routine." As was the case in the death of Lucero and Sucuzhañay, that rhetoric enables those so inclined to declare open season against Hispanics.
Perhaps the starkest example of the link between policy debate and anti-Latino incidents is that of Suffolk County, where Lucero was lynched. The county executive, Steve Levy, is vocally anti-immigrant. He has appeared on Lou Dobbs to spread his message and, after Lucero's death, complained that the killing would be a "one-day story" had it happened elsewhere.
Sadly, these incidents are happening elsewhere, including Schuylkill County in Pennsylvania.
In July, Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala was attacked and killed by teens in Shenandoah. After the deadly attack, one of the perpetrators reportedly warned: "You tell your [expletive] Mexican friends to get the [expletive] out of Shenandoah . . ."
Other parts of the country are seeing a rise in violence as well.
In 2006, a Latino teenager was beaten and sodomized in Spring, Texas. One of his assailants was a skinhead etched with Nazi tattoos who had perpetrated at least one other attack against a Latino. That same year, Serafin Negrete, a 32-year-old Mexican immigrant, was killed in Prince William County, Va., by local teenagers engaged in "amigo shopping" - their term for attacks and robberies targeting Latinos.
These attacks have occurred in environments where the immigration debate is heated.
Shenandoah, where Ramirez was killed, is only minutes away from Hazleton, Pa., now infamous for its anti-immigrant ordinances. Prince William County has also adopted local anti-immigrant laws and enforcement policies. And the immigration debate rages daily in border states such as Texas.
Our national leaders' failure to enact immigration reform has left a vacuum that many states and municipalities seek to fill by introducing anti-immigrant ordinances that create tensions between Latinos and their neighbors. In Pennsylvania alone, there have been at least 18 proposals for anti-immigrant state laws, as well as for numerous municipal ordinances.
We predict that violence against Latinos will continue to escalate and more lives will be lost unless Congress addresses our broken immigration policy. We realize that there are many serious challenges competing for our leaders' attention. But we cannot continue to put immigration reform on the back burner while immigrants and citizens who look like immigrants are attacked and families are torn apart.
As President Obama has said, "If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost." As the incidents of hate crimes increase, many Latinos are losing trust in our government's willingness and ability to protect us.
Ours is a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. As our country navigates this time of crisis, neither our government nor the citizenry can stand by and allow those who rely on fear mongering to control the debate. Let's honor the best of our traditions and stand up for victims like Sucuzhañay, Lucero and Ramirez by recognizing that fair and sensible immigration reform is essential to both the security of our borders and the general welfare of the people.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Hispanic recruits up for Dallas PD
DPD Having Success Recruiting Hispanic Officers
DALLAS (CBS 11 News)
Despite the news that more than 25,000 Texas jobs were lost in December, some local companies are hiring. The City of Dallas is hoping to hire 400 new police officers this year.
Friday afternoon police officer candidates were busy taking polygraph examinations and other tests in hopes of joining the Dallas Police Department. More than 100 men and women went to apply positions.
DPD officials say despite efforts in past years, they're now having success is recruiting Hispanics. Twenty-five year old Nicolas Zuniga is currently a physical therapist who wants to be a cop.
"I've always seen a diverse community and the people here, ya know, and I want to help out," explained Zuniga. "I've always liked helping out the community. And what better way to do it than as a police officer in Dallas?"
Nearly one year ago the Dallas Police Department launched a pilot program specifically aimed at recruiting Hispanics.
Dallas native Sgt. George Arranda spearheads the program. "It was a challenge and experience for me, growing up in West Dallas," he said.
In recent years some 30 Hispanics have attended the Dallas Police Academy. In 2008, that number more than doubled to 83.
Arranda also feels that the December death of Sr. Cpl. Norm Smith has inspired more men and women to join Dallas PD. "It actually made me want to want to sign up even quicker," said Zuniga. "You want to go out and fight crime and take guys out like that and have justice served."
The Dallas Police Department could actually benefit from other local companies that are laying employee off.
DALLAS (CBS 11 News)
Despite the news that more than 25,000 Texas jobs were lost in December, some local companies are hiring. The City of Dallas is hoping to hire 400 new police officers this year.
Friday afternoon police officer candidates were busy taking polygraph examinations and other tests in hopes of joining the Dallas Police Department. More than 100 men and women went to apply positions.
DPD officials say despite efforts in past years, they're now having success is recruiting Hispanics. Twenty-five year old Nicolas Zuniga is currently a physical therapist who wants to be a cop.
"I've always seen a diverse community and the people here, ya know, and I want to help out," explained Zuniga. "I've always liked helping out the community. And what better way to do it than as a police officer in Dallas?"
Nearly one year ago the Dallas Police Department launched a pilot program specifically aimed at recruiting Hispanics.
Dallas native Sgt. George Arranda spearheads the program. "It was a challenge and experience for me, growing up in West Dallas," he said.
In recent years some 30 Hispanics have attended the Dallas Police Academy. In 2008, that number more than doubled to 83.
Arranda also feels that the December death of Sr. Cpl. Norm Smith has inspired more men and women to join Dallas PD. "It actually made me want to want to sign up even quicker," said Zuniga. "You want to go out and fight crime and take guys out like that and have justice served."
The Dallas Police Department could actually benefit from other local companies that are laying employee off.
Hispanic freshman applications up at UVA
Freshman Applications Up At UVA
WSET News 01/24/09
Charlottesville - Freshman applications to the University of Virginia are up 16 percent over last year. More than 21,000 applications have been received for the 3,170 places in the entering freshman class. The increases are even more significant among blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and international students.
WSET News 01/24/09
Charlottesville - Freshman applications to the University of Virginia are up 16 percent over last year. More than 21,000 applications have been received for the 3,170 places in the entering freshman class. The increases are even more significant among blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and international students.
Hispanic immigrant raids were cheered by Blacks, Whites
Immigration raid spotlights rift of have-nots
The Associated Press January 24th 2009
LAUREL, Miss. — The work has always been stupefying and hard. Hour after hour standing on the line, soldering or welding or drilling in screws.
Even in today's nightmare economy, most people wouldn't want this daily grind that steals the soul in 12-hour shifts paying as little as $280 a week, before taxes.
But such labor prospers here in mostly rural Jones County, home to Laurel, where the area's biggest employer, Howard Industries, maintains a sprawling factory that builds electrical transformers and other big equipment behind a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.
Assembly lines like these offer tenuous lifelines to those desperate enough to toil on them. And sometimes, competition for these jobs pits have-nots against have-nots.
For a long time, Howard workers were poor blacks and whites in this town of 18,000, where an estimated 30 percent of the population lives in poverty.
But in the past few years, immigrants poured across the Mexican border, eagerly applying for work on the Howard line and not complaining about long hours or menial labor.
A festering resentment began to take root in the hearts of some black and white residents, producing an odd alliance in a place that has seen decades of racism. Now, even the Ku Klux Klan has turned its hatred against Hispanics.
Many blacks and whites claimed Hispanics were taking over their city and taking away jobs by not complaining about safety issues in a factory that faced $193,000 in fines last year from federal inspectors citing dangerous working conditions.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency swept in last summer and staged the largest single workplace raid. When nearly 600 Hispanics were herded past black and white Howard employees, jeers and applause and wide grins erupted.
"Bye-bye," some trilled in falsetto, fingers wagging. "Go back where you came from."
The assembly line rattles on. But now mostly blacks work it, with a smattering of whites, for the same wages paid to Hispanics. The plant, which has been working without a union contract since August, is mired in bitter negotiations over higher pay and safety issues.
Workplace raids reached an all-time high in 2008 with 6,287 arrests — a tenfold rise since 2003. After the 9-11 attacks, in the name of national security, the Bush administration announced it wanted to detain, and then deport, every illegal immigrant in America.
Such a drastic change in immigration policy was necessary to safeguard the country against terrorists, said the newly formed Department of Homeland Security…CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
The Associated Press January 24th 2009
LAUREL, Miss. — The work has always been stupefying and hard. Hour after hour standing on the line, soldering or welding or drilling in screws.
Even in today's nightmare economy, most people wouldn't want this daily grind that steals the soul in 12-hour shifts paying as little as $280 a week, before taxes.
But such labor prospers here in mostly rural Jones County, home to Laurel, where the area's biggest employer, Howard Industries, maintains a sprawling factory that builds electrical transformers and other big equipment behind a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.
Assembly lines like these offer tenuous lifelines to those desperate enough to toil on them. And sometimes, competition for these jobs pits have-nots against have-nots.
For a long time, Howard workers were poor blacks and whites in this town of 18,000, where an estimated 30 percent of the population lives in poverty.
But in the past few years, immigrants poured across the Mexican border, eagerly applying for work on the Howard line and not complaining about long hours or menial labor.
A festering resentment began to take root in the hearts of some black and white residents, producing an odd alliance in a place that has seen decades of racism. Now, even the Ku Klux Klan has turned its hatred against Hispanics.
Many blacks and whites claimed Hispanics were taking over their city and taking away jobs by not complaining about safety issues in a factory that faced $193,000 in fines last year from federal inspectors citing dangerous working conditions.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency swept in last summer and staged the largest single workplace raid. When nearly 600 Hispanics were herded past black and white Howard employees, jeers and applause and wide grins erupted.
"Bye-bye," some trilled in falsetto, fingers wagging. "Go back where you came from."
The assembly line rattles on. But now mostly blacks work it, with a smattering of whites, for the same wages paid to Hispanics. The plant, which has been working without a union contract since August, is mired in bitter negotiations over higher pay and safety issues.
Workplace raids reached an all-time high in 2008 with 6,287 arrests — a tenfold rise since 2003. After the 9-11 attacks, in the name of national security, the Bush administration announced it wanted to detain, and then deport, every illegal immigrant in America.
Such a drastic change in immigration policy was necessary to safeguard the country against terrorists, said the newly formed Department of Homeland Security…CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
Latino student applicants up at UCLA
UCLA considering more than 55,000 applicants for 2009 freshman class
By Claudia Luther 1/23/2009
An academically outstanding and diverse group of more than 55,000 freshman applicants is now under consideration for fall 2009 admission to UCLA, university admissions officials announced.
Decisions on freshman admissions will be available online by the end of March, and admitted students will make their decisions on enrollment by May 1.
UCLA traditionally receives more applications from potential freshmen than any college in the nation. This year, preliminary figures indicate that the number of applications is slightly higher than it was last year — 55,636 for 2009, compared with 55,437 for 2008.
All indications are that this year's fall freshman class at UCLA will be even stronger academically than last year's, which was superior. The average fully weighted grade-point average for freshman applicants increased to 3.89 from last year's 3.87. Nearly half of all applicants — 25,381, or 45 percent — have GPAs of 4.0 or higher.
Preliminary SAT composite test scores for freshman applicants also rose, from 1,799 last year to 1,812 in 2009. Admissions officials expect that after December SAT scores are processed, the 2009 applicants will be about 12 points above last year's level.
"We continue to be impressed and honored by the exceptional quality of applicants to UCLA," said Chancellor Gene Block. "This ensures that the incoming freshman class will continue UCLA's tradition of excellence and of preparing leaders who make extraordinary contributions to society. We are committed to offering these students the full benefit of our campus, including the finest faculty, academics and undergraduate research opportunities, as well as a rich campus experience and renowned programs in the arts and athletics."
Although the University of California Board of Regents recently told most UC campuses to reduce freshman enrollment for fall 2009 because of the severe economic crisis affecting the state, it spared UCLA and UC Berkeley. Since both campuses must turn away nearly 80 percent of their applicants, the Regents decided that enrollment reductions would exacerbate their situations. UC Merced, the state's newest UC campus, also was spared by the Regents because it is still building up its enrollment.
Slightly more freshman applications at UCLA were filed by underrepresented minorities in 2009 (13,724, or 26.4 percent) than in 2008 (13,417, or 25.5 percent). In all, preliminary figures indicate that applying freshmen included 317 Native Americans (0.6 percent), 2,753 African Americans (5.3 percent), 10,654 Latinos/Chicanos (20.5 percent), 19,596 Asian Americans (37.7 percent) and 15,967 whites (30.7 percent). The ethnicity of the remaining applicants was either "other" (756, or 1.5 percent) or unknown (1,987, or 3.8 percent).
In addition to freshman applications, the university received 16,521 applications from students transferring from other institutions; that figure is up 9.6 percent from last year's 15,075. Here again, the average GPA, which is based on college credits, was high — 3.32. Transfer applicants averaged an astonishing 117 transferable units, compared with 103 last year.
Transfer applicants also showed increased diversity over last year in many categories, with 644 African Americans (4.5 percent) applying in 2009, compared with 547 (4.1 percent) last year, and 2,541 Latinos/Chicanos (17.8 percent) applying, compared with 2,224 (16.8 percent) last year.
The total number of freshman applications at all University of California campuses increased by 2.9 percent over last year, from 95,201 to 98,002, and transfer applications increased by 11.2 percent, from 25,804 to 28,699. For further UC applications data, visit www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html.
By Claudia Luther 1/23/2009
An academically outstanding and diverse group of more than 55,000 freshman applicants is now under consideration for fall 2009 admission to UCLA, university admissions officials announced.
Decisions on freshman admissions will be available online by the end of March, and admitted students will make their decisions on enrollment by May 1.
UCLA traditionally receives more applications from potential freshmen than any college in the nation. This year, preliminary figures indicate that the number of applications is slightly higher than it was last year — 55,636 for 2009, compared with 55,437 for 2008.
All indications are that this year's fall freshman class at UCLA will be even stronger academically than last year's, which was superior. The average fully weighted grade-point average for freshman applicants increased to 3.89 from last year's 3.87. Nearly half of all applicants — 25,381, or 45 percent — have GPAs of 4.0 or higher.
Preliminary SAT composite test scores for freshman applicants also rose, from 1,799 last year to 1,812 in 2009. Admissions officials expect that after December SAT scores are processed, the 2009 applicants will be about 12 points above last year's level.
"We continue to be impressed and honored by the exceptional quality of applicants to UCLA," said Chancellor Gene Block. "This ensures that the incoming freshman class will continue UCLA's tradition of excellence and of preparing leaders who make extraordinary contributions to society. We are committed to offering these students the full benefit of our campus, including the finest faculty, academics and undergraduate research opportunities, as well as a rich campus experience and renowned programs in the arts and athletics."
Although the University of California Board of Regents recently told most UC campuses to reduce freshman enrollment for fall 2009 because of the severe economic crisis affecting the state, it spared UCLA and UC Berkeley. Since both campuses must turn away nearly 80 percent of their applicants, the Regents decided that enrollment reductions would exacerbate their situations. UC Merced, the state's newest UC campus, also was spared by the Regents because it is still building up its enrollment.
Slightly more freshman applications at UCLA were filed by underrepresented minorities in 2009 (13,724, or 26.4 percent) than in 2008 (13,417, or 25.5 percent). In all, preliminary figures indicate that applying freshmen included 317 Native Americans (0.6 percent), 2,753 African Americans (5.3 percent), 10,654 Latinos/Chicanos (20.5 percent), 19,596 Asian Americans (37.7 percent) and 15,967 whites (30.7 percent). The ethnicity of the remaining applicants was either "other" (756, or 1.5 percent) or unknown (1,987, or 3.8 percent).
In addition to freshman applications, the university received 16,521 applications from students transferring from other institutions; that figure is up 9.6 percent from last year's 15,075. Here again, the average GPA, which is based on college credits, was high — 3.32. Transfer applicants averaged an astonishing 117 transferable units, compared with 103 last year.
Transfer applicants also showed increased diversity over last year in many categories, with 644 African Americans (4.5 percent) applying in 2009, compared with 547 (4.1 percent) last year, and 2,541 Latinos/Chicanos (17.8 percent) applying, compared with 2,224 (16.8 percent) last year.
The total number of freshman applications at all University of California campuses increased by 2.9 percent over last year, from 95,201 to 98,002, and transfer applications increased by 11.2 percent, from 25,804 to 28,699. For further UC applications data, visit www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html.
Latino advocacy group appoints attorney as lead
Attorney new El Grupo spokesman
Changing demographic causing friction in North County, Torres says
By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 24, 2009
Victor Torres, who recently was appointed spokesman of the Latino rights organization El Grupo, said he brings a wealth of personal and professional experience to the job.
Torres, a criminal defense attorney, grew up in National City in the 1960s and 1970s, a time when the South Bay was going through demographic and cultural changes similar to what North County is experiencing today, he said.
That change created tensions within the community, he said.
As one of the first Mexican-American families to move into the National City neighborhood where he was raised, he said he heard comments from his neighbors that Mexicans should be mowing their lawns, not living next door.
A resident of Rancho Penasquitos for seven years, Torres said he now hears similar hostilities expressed toward Latino day laborers and migrant workers in North County by anti-illegal immigration groups and elected officials.
The Latino population in North County has skyrocketed since the 1990s, reaching more than 40 percent in Escondido and San Marcos.
"It reminds me of the times when I was growing up in South Bay, where change was upsetting whites because they felt like they were being taken over, and they are not," Torres said. "It's just the face of their community changing."
Things have changed in South Bay, he said, with Latinos now in elected and high government positions.
But change is coming to North County, too, Torres said, pointing to the recent election of Councilwoman Olga Diaz to the Escondido City Council.
Torres hopes to further that change as spokesman for El Grupo, a North County-based umbrella group of civil rights organizations. He succeeded Bill Flores, an Escondido resident and retired assistant sheriff, who served as the group's public voice and face for the last three years.
Torres graduated from the University of San Diego in 1984 and the University of San Diego's School of Law in 1988. He is past president of the La Raza Lawyers Association of San Diego, a group that promotes Latino participation in the legal system and provides scholarships to law students.
The association is one of more than a dozen organizations that make up El Grupo. Others include the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties, the Chicano Federation of San Diego County, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People of North County and the National Latino Peace Officers' Association of San Diego County.
El Grupo was founded in the late 1990s by the late San Marcos City Councilman Vince Andrade and others as an umbrella organization for various groups addressing Latino issues in North County.
The group faded from public view several years ago. It resurfaced in 2006 in response to events perceived as targeting minority communities in North County, including anti-illegal immigrant rallies.
The re-emergence of the group also was a reaction to Vista's day labor law and Escondido's controversial rental law barring landlords from renting to illegal immigrants in recent years.
Flores, who will remain in the organization as an administrator, said Torres was the right person for the job.
Often high-profile Latinos must censor what they say because they hold government or corporate positions. But Torres is free to express himself because he has his own business, making him a good candidate for the position, Flores said.
"He is in the best position by being self-employed," Flores said. "He has the passion and he has the liberty to say what needs to be said."
Torres said he became acquainted with El Grupo about two years ago after representing several people who had been involved in altercations with anti-illegal immigration activists in North County.
For example, Torres represented Fernando Guardado, a Fallbrook man who was pepper-sprayed by a member of the San Diego Minutemen.
The confrontation began when Guardado approached the man and smashed the man's video camera against the pavement during a protest in front of St. Peter's Catholic Church in July 2007. Guardado later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of vandalism for damaging the anti-illegal immigration activist's camera.
Jeff Schwilk, who heads the San Diego Minutemen, said he hopes Torres can "tone down the race-based rhetoric" against elected officials, law enforcement and citizens who advocate for the border security and legal immigration.
"Pitting Latinos and people who are sympathetic toward illegal aliens against American citizens is not helpful to the safety and security of our North County communities," Schwilk said.
Torres, a married father of two children, said El Grupo can act to dispel stereotypes about the Latino community. Though his family migrated from Mexico nearly 100 years ago, Torres said he has been mistaken for someone who doesn't speak English.
He said El Grupo can act as a "bridge" between the Latino community, which is increasing in numbers throughout the county, and the community at large. Torres said some people may never come to terms with the change Latinos bring, but he said his profession has prepared him to face that side, as well.
"There are some people that you're never going to change their mind," Torres said. "It's not that different than what I do for a living. There's jurors that I'm never going to change their minds."
Edward Sifuentes (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.
Changing demographic causing friction in North County, Torres says
By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 24, 2009
Victor Torres, who recently was appointed spokesman of the Latino rights organization El Grupo, said he brings a wealth of personal and professional experience to the job.
Torres, a criminal defense attorney, grew up in National City in the 1960s and 1970s, a time when the South Bay was going through demographic and cultural changes similar to what North County is experiencing today, he said.
That change created tensions within the community, he said.
As one of the first Mexican-American families to move into the National City neighborhood where he was raised, he said he heard comments from his neighbors that Mexicans should be mowing their lawns, not living next door.
A resident of Rancho Penasquitos for seven years, Torres said he now hears similar hostilities expressed toward Latino day laborers and migrant workers in North County by anti-illegal immigration groups and elected officials.
The Latino population in North County has skyrocketed since the 1990s, reaching more than 40 percent in Escondido and San Marcos.
"It reminds me of the times when I was growing up in South Bay, where change was upsetting whites because they felt like they were being taken over, and they are not," Torres said. "It's just the face of their community changing."
Things have changed in South Bay, he said, with Latinos now in elected and high government positions.
But change is coming to North County, too, Torres said, pointing to the recent election of Councilwoman Olga Diaz to the Escondido City Council.
Torres hopes to further that change as spokesman for El Grupo, a North County-based umbrella group of civil rights organizations. He succeeded Bill Flores, an Escondido resident and retired assistant sheriff, who served as the group's public voice and face for the last three years.
Torres graduated from the University of San Diego in 1984 and the University of San Diego's School of Law in 1988. He is past president of the La Raza Lawyers Association of San Diego, a group that promotes Latino participation in the legal system and provides scholarships to law students.
The association is one of more than a dozen organizations that make up El Grupo. Others include the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties, the Chicano Federation of San Diego County, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People of North County and the National Latino Peace Officers' Association of San Diego County.
El Grupo was founded in the late 1990s by the late San Marcos City Councilman Vince Andrade and others as an umbrella organization for various groups addressing Latino issues in North County.
The group faded from public view several years ago. It resurfaced in 2006 in response to events perceived as targeting minority communities in North County, including anti-illegal immigrant rallies.
The re-emergence of the group also was a reaction to Vista's day labor law and Escondido's controversial rental law barring landlords from renting to illegal immigrants in recent years.
Flores, who will remain in the organization as an administrator, said Torres was the right person for the job.
Often high-profile Latinos must censor what they say because they hold government or corporate positions. But Torres is free to express himself because he has his own business, making him a good candidate for the position, Flores said.
"He is in the best position by being self-employed," Flores said. "He has the passion and he has the liberty to say what needs to be said."
Torres said he became acquainted with El Grupo about two years ago after representing several people who had been involved in altercations with anti-illegal immigration activists in North County.
For example, Torres represented Fernando Guardado, a Fallbrook man who was pepper-sprayed by a member of the San Diego Minutemen.
The confrontation began when Guardado approached the man and smashed the man's video camera against the pavement during a protest in front of St. Peter's Catholic Church in July 2007. Guardado later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of vandalism for damaging the anti-illegal immigration activist's camera.
Jeff Schwilk, who heads the San Diego Minutemen, said he hopes Torres can "tone down the race-based rhetoric" against elected officials, law enforcement and citizens who advocate for the border security and legal immigration.
"Pitting Latinos and people who are sympathetic toward illegal aliens against American citizens is not helpful to the safety and security of our North County communities," Schwilk said.
Torres, a married father of two children, said El Grupo can act to dispel stereotypes about the Latino community. Though his family migrated from Mexico nearly 100 years ago, Torres said he has been mistaken for someone who doesn't speak English.
He said El Grupo can act as a "bridge" between the Latino community, which is increasing in numbers throughout the county, and the community at large. Torres said some people may never come to terms with the change Latinos bring, but he said his profession has prepared him to face that side, as well.
"There are some people that you're never going to change their mind," Torres said. "It's not that different than what I do for a living. There's jurors that I'm never going to change their minds."
Edward Sifuentes (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.
Latino students flood event at local campus
Hundreds attend education summit for Latino students
By Lucinda Ryan Correspondent 01/24/2009
Aspiring college students and their parents packed the classrooms and halls of Cal State East Bay in Hayward on Saturday to get a heads-up on higher education during the ninth annual Latino Education Summit.
The free, five-hour event drew 500 to 700 attendees, who took advantage of workshops presented by Cal State East Bay's faculty and students on topics including high school prerequisite courses needed to qualify for university admission, fitness and physical education, grants, scholarships and financial aid.
Some of the panel discussions were presented in both English and Spanish.
High school senior Derek Juscamayta said the help he received from a counselor in an "On-The-Spot Admission" meeting has eased his mind about moving on to college.
The 17-year-old, who plans to become a lawyer — specializing in discrimination, immigration, security and child labor issues — said the counselor advised him on which classes he needs to take for the remainder of his high school year to become fully qualified to gain admission to Cal State East Bay.
"Without this information, I would probably have gone to community college and worked," he said. "This really opened doors for me."
The event was also sponsored by the Alameda County Office of Education and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County. The summit, and others like it for other ethnic groups, are intended to expose more young people to the higher-education opportunities available to them.
Offering an environment where students and parents feel free to ask questions helps reduce the intimidation that many feel in seeking higher education resources, said Hector Garcia, director of curriculum and instruction for the county office.
"Here, they learn necessary information about what is required — how to apply, what requirements must be met, what is college life like," he said.
While the numbers of Latino college students are rising, there is still a need to encourage and inform more families, he said. The university's Web site states the number of full-time Hispanic students in a bachelors programs in 2003 was 1,114 and rose to 1,321 in 2007. The 2007 figures for other ethnic groups in a full-time bachelors program was 2,666 for the Asian/Pacific group; 2,210 for white students; 1,572 for "Other"; 1,209 for black students and 64 for American Indian students.
In all categories, female enrollment was higher than male enrollment.
Cal State East Bay's enrollment recently reached the highest number in school history, at more than 14,000. India Christman, the university's executive director for planning and enrollment management, said she thinks the increase is due in part to the institution's push for more public exposure.
"There has been an explosive growth, especially since we've had the new president (Mohammad H. Qayoumi)," Christman said, adding that there is still room for more students — even though the Cal State system is looking to steer some incoming freshmen away from some of its other, more crowded campuses.
The staff at Cal State East Bay has made a concerted effort to get the word out about campus improvements, such as its expanded dorms and the lower prices compared with private colleges and the UC system, said Gregory Smith, Cal State East Bay's associate vice president for planning and enrollment management.
"A lot more students are living here," he said. "And even to the commuting students, this has become more like a four-year campus environment."
Saturday's summit ended with a complimentary lunch and a drum and Aztec dance performance. A summit for African-American students is planned for next month.
By Lucinda Ryan Correspondent 01/24/2009
Aspiring college students and their parents packed the classrooms and halls of Cal State East Bay in Hayward on Saturday to get a heads-up on higher education during the ninth annual Latino Education Summit.
The free, five-hour event drew 500 to 700 attendees, who took advantage of workshops presented by Cal State East Bay's faculty and students on topics including high school prerequisite courses needed to qualify for university admission, fitness and physical education, grants, scholarships and financial aid.
Some of the panel discussions were presented in both English and Spanish.
High school senior Derek Juscamayta said the help he received from a counselor in an "On-The-Spot Admission" meeting has eased his mind about moving on to college.
The 17-year-old, who plans to become a lawyer — specializing in discrimination, immigration, security and child labor issues — said the counselor advised him on which classes he needs to take for the remainder of his high school year to become fully qualified to gain admission to Cal State East Bay.
"Without this information, I would probably have gone to community college and worked," he said. "This really opened doors for me."
The event was also sponsored by the Alameda County Office of Education and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County. The summit, and others like it for other ethnic groups, are intended to expose more young people to the higher-education opportunities available to them.
Offering an environment where students and parents feel free to ask questions helps reduce the intimidation that many feel in seeking higher education resources, said Hector Garcia, director of curriculum and instruction for the county office.
"Here, they learn necessary information about what is required — how to apply, what requirements must be met, what is college life like," he said.
While the numbers of Latino college students are rising, there is still a need to encourage and inform more families, he said. The university's Web site states the number of full-time Hispanic students in a bachelors programs in 2003 was 1,114 and rose to 1,321 in 2007. The 2007 figures for other ethnic groups in a full-time bachelors program was 2,666 for the Asian/Pacific group; 2,210 for white students; 1,572 for "Other"; 1,209 for black students and 64 for American Indian students.
In all categories, female enrollment was higher than male enrollment.
Cal State East Bay's enrollment recently reached the highest number in school history, at more than 14,000. India Christman, the university's executive director for planning and enrollment management, said she thinks the increase is due in part to the institution's push for more public exposure.
"There has been an explosive growth, especially since we've had the new president (Mohammad H. Qayoumi)," Christman said, adding that there is still room for more students — even though the Cal State system is looking to steer some incoming freshmen away from some of its other, more crowded campuses.
The staff at Cal State East Bay has made a concerted effort to get the word out about campus improvements, such as its expanded dorms and the lower prices compared with private colleges and the UC system, said Gregory Smith, Cal State East Bay's associate vice president for planning and enrollment management.
"A lot more students are living here," he said. "And even to the commuting students, this has become more like a four-year campus environment."
Saturday's summit ended with a complimentary lunch and a drum and Aztec dance performance. A summit for African-American students is planned for next month.
Latino University President keep projects going amid tight budget
CSUS president says two big projects are on track
By Bill Lindelof blindelof@sacbee.com Jan. 25, 2009
While California's state university system puts the brakes on construction at its 23 campuses, two large projects at Sacramento State are not affected.
That's the good news from California State University, Sacramento, President Alexander Gonzalez, who addressed faculty and students last week at his annual spring address.
"The new residence hall and the Recreation and Wellness Center are going ahead as planned because they are not being built with state funds," Gonzalez said.
To cope with California's troubled state budget, the CSU system has suspended 130 projects – including libraries, performing arts centers, labs and classrooms – because the state has frozen the disbursement of bonds used to finance such projects. That came as state officials also moved, earlier this month, to freeze all but essential hiring throughout the CSU system and to skip salary increases for all vice president-level positions and above.
A total of $848 million in projects have been halted at CSU campuses. Many of the projects were well under way.
But Gonzalez noted that work on the new residence hall, which is nearing completion at the J Street entrance to the campus, and the Recreation and Wellness Center will continue, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
The 150,000-square-foot Recreation and Wellness Center – scheduled for completion in June 2010 – will be at the north end of Hornet Stadium.
The university secured private support for the center. Also, in April 2004, students cast ballots to raise their own fees $110-per-semester to fund construction.
The new four-story, 209,000-square-foot residence hall, the first housing the university has designed and built in nearly 20 years, will increase on-campus housing to 1,700 students.
The $62 million residence hall is being funded through student rents from campus housing and summertime conferences at the halls, a campus spokeswoman said.
In his remarks last week, Gonzalez said Sacramento State is complying with cost-saving measures, such as restrictions on travel and forgoing some purchases and hires.
Despite belt-tightening, Bruce Bikle, chairman of the Faculty Senate, said the quality of education is still high and holding steady at Sacramento State.
"One way to look at this is that we are probably not much worse off than last year," said Bikle.
The university won't cut any classes and is working to preserve campus jobs, said Gonzalez, Sacramento State's president since July 2003.
By Bill Lindelof blindelof@sacbee.com Jan. 25, 2009
While California's state university system puts the brakes on construction at its 23 campuses, two large projects at Sacramento State are not affected.
That's the good news from California State University, Sacramento, President Alexander Gonzalez, who addressed faculty and students last week at his annual spring address.
"The new residence hall and the Recreation and Wellness Center are going ahead as planned because they are not being built with state funds," Gonzalez said.
To cope with California's troubled state budget, the CSU system has suspended 130 projects – including libraries, performing arts centers, labs and classrooms – because the state has frozen the disbursement of bonds used to finance such projects. That came as state officials also moved, earlier this month, to freeze all but essential hiring throughout the CSU system and to skip salary increases for all vice president-level positions and above.
A total of $848 million in projects have been halted at CSU campuses. Many of the projects were well under way.
But Gonzalez noted that work on the new residence hall, which is nearing completion at the J Street entrance to the campus, and the Recreation and Wellness Center will continue, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
The 150,000-square-foot Recreation and Wellness Center – scheduled for completion in June 2010 – will be at the north end of Hornet Stadium.
The university secured private support for the center. Also, in April 2004, students cast ballots to raise their own fees $110-per-semester to fund construction.
The new four-story, 209,000-square-foot residence hall, the first housing the university has designed and built in nearly 20 years, will increase on-campus housing to 1,700 students.
The $62 million residence hall is being funded through student rents from campus housing and summertime conferences at the halls, a campus spokeswoman said.
In his remarks last week, Gonzalez said Sacramento State is complying with cost-saving measures, such as restrictions on travel and forgoing some purchases and hires.
Despite belt-tightening, Bruce Bikle, chairman of the Faculty Senate, said the quality of education is still high and holding steady at Sacramento State.
"One way to look at this is that we are probably not much worse off than last year," said Bikle.
The university won't cut any classes and is working to preserve campus jobs, said Gonzalez, Sacramento State's president since July 2003.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Nashville Hispanics and community glad initiative failed
Locals say they're glad English-only rule rejected
Proposal sent wrong message, some say
By Chloe White January 24, 2009
Lourdes Perez breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that Nashville voters on Thursday had rejected a proposal to require that all government business be done in English.
But she says she's "saddened that this has been brought up again in the state capital."
The proposal sends the message "that we're not welcoming," said Perez, director of Knoxville's Catholic Hispanic Ministry.
"This is a country made up of immigrants. (The proposal) says that we're closing the door, and that there's no acceptance or tolerance. It makes people feel like if they don't speak the language, then they're breaking the law."
The "English First" proposal, which would have made Nashville the largest city in the country with an English-only rule in its charter, failed 41,752 to 32,144 in a special election Thursday.
Other Knoxville Hispanic community leaders, such as Luis Velazquez, executive director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of East Tennessee, regard the proposal as a step in the wrong direction.
"We were very glad when we heard," Velazquez said. "We support the decision that was made, because we thought it was unnecessary for Nashville to try to pass a law that, instead of expanding communication with people from other countries, would close it down."
Perez said it takes on average 10 years for someone to fully learn English, and the ability to obtain information and documents in multiple languages aids people during the transition period of learning English.
"It's a very difficult process," she said. "We certainly encourage people to learn English, and we would like for their priority to be learning the language, but that's not always possible. Many of these people are in survival mode - getting the kids to school, putting food on the table - and going to class to learn English isn't always a priority."
Community leaders in Nashville had worried the "English First" proposal could hurt Music City's reputation and harm federal funding, business recruitment and tourism.
"Nashville voters have voiced their opinion at the polls and spoke loudly in support of moving Nashville forward in important areas like new business recruiting and tourist development," Gov. Phil Bredesen said in a statement. "When Andrea and I came to Nashville as a young couple, we found an open and accepting community that made us feel at home. Nashville has affirmed it is still that kind of place."
Nashville City Councilman Eric Crafton spearheaded the amendment and has been pushing the initiative since 2006. Crafton and his Nashville English First group said the proposal would save money in translation services and unite the city.
Crafton said it took two petition drives and two lawsuits to put the measure on the ballot. While he was glad Nashvillians had the opportunity to vote on the issue, he said the decision is the "wrong vision."
"Yesterday, the majority of the people decided that Nashville's government should move toward a multilingual system, and while I feel this is the wrong vision for Nashville's future, this issue has been decided by the voters and it is time to move forward together to tackle other important challenges facing our city, like a failing public education system and high unemployment," Crafton said in a statement Friday.
In Knoxville, no English-only measures are on the table in Knoxville, said William Lyons, senior director of policy and communications.
"The administration has not considered advancing an 'English only' requirement for Knoxville city government," Lyons said. "We have no plans to do so."
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 4,803 Hispanics in Knox County and 2,751 in Knoxville. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2003 American Community Survey estimates the Knoxville metropolitan statistical area has 7,190 Hispanics or Latinos, and Knox County has 5,278.
For Velazquez, the decision made by Nashville citizens sends a powerful message.
"People have realized we need to be open and friendly to people who are here and welcome those who are looking for opportunities to become citizens," he said.
Chloe White may be reached at 865-342-6341.
Proposal sent wrong message, some say
By Chloe White January 24, 2009
Lourdes Perez breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that Nashville voters on Thursday had rejected a proposal to require that all government business be done in English.
But she says she's "saddened that this has been brought up again in the state capital."
The proposal sends the message "that we're not welcoming," said Perez, director of Knoxville's Catholic Hispanic Ministry.
"This is a country made up of immigrants. (The proposal) says that we're closing the door, and that there's no acceptance or tolerance. It makes people feel like if they don't speak the language, then they're breaking the law."
The "English First" proposal, which would have made Nashville the largest city in the country with an English-only rule in its charter, failed 41,752 to 32,144 in a special election Thursday.
Other Knoxville Hispanic community leaders, such as Luis Velazquez, executive director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of East Tennessee, regard the proposal as a step in the wrong direction.
"We were very glad when we heard," Velazquez said. "We support the decision that was made, because we thought it was unnecessary for Nashville to try to pass a law that, instead of expanding communication with people from other countries, would close it down."
Perez said it takes on average 10 years for someone to fully learn English, and the ability to obtain information and documents in multiple languages aids people during the transition period of learning English.
"It's a very difficult process," she said. "We certainly encourage people to learn English, and we would like for their priority to be learning the language, but that's not always possible. Many of these people are in survival mode - getting the kids to school, putting food on the table - and going to class to learn English isn't always a priority."
Community leaders in Nashville had worried the "English First" proposal could hurt Music City's reputation and harm federal funding, business recruitment and tourism.
"Nashville voters have voiced their opinion at the polls and spoke loudly in support of moving Nashville forward in important areas like new business recruiting and tourist development," Gov. Phil Bredesen said in a statement. "When Andrea and I came to Nashville as a young couple, we found an open and accepting community that made us feel at home. Nashville has affirmed it is still that kind of place."
Nashville City Councilman Eric Crafton spearheaded the amendment and has been pushing the initiative since 2006. Crafton and his Nashville English First group said the proposal would save money in translation services and unite the city.
Crafton said it took two petition drives and two lawsuits to put the measure on the ballot. While he was glad Nashvillians had the opportunity to vote on the issue, he said the decision is the "wrong vision."
"Yesterday, the majority of the people decided that Nashville's government should move toward a multilingual system, and while I feel this is the wrong vision for Nashville's future, this issue has been decided by the voters and it is time to move forward together to tackle other important challenges facing our city, like a failing public education system and high unemployment," Crafton said in a statement Friday.
In Knoxville, no English-only measures are on the table in Knoxville, said William Lyons, senior director of policy and communications.
"The administration has not considered advancing an 'English only' requirement for Knoxville city government," Lyons said. "We have no plans to do so."
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 4,803 Hispanics in Knox County and 2,751 in Knoxville. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2003 American Community Survey estimates the Knoxville metropolitan statistical area has 7,190 Hispanics or Latinos, and Knox County has 5,278.
For Velazquez, the decision made by Nashville citizens sends a powerful message.
"People have realized we need to be open and friendly to people who are here and welcome those who are looking for opportunities to become citizens," he said.
Chloe White may be reached at 865-342-6341.
Texas Latino voters may be influenced by Bushes return
Editorial: Bushes' return can be civic benefit
Dallas Morning News January 23, 2009
Fifteen years of politics ended for George W. and Laura Bush on Tuesday with a flight home and fitting welcome-back ceremony in Midland, the town where they were schoolmates and later a young couple. While we quarreled with some of our fellow Texan's decisions as president, he and his wife departed Washington with a grace that sets a standard for future ex-presidents.
As Americans have learned over the years, presidents don't become bygone figures once out of office. We fully expect – and hope – the former first couple will play a new role in Dallas, Texas and the world. Bush already has said he won't be lounging around in Hawaiian shirts, so after a deserved breather, he and Laura will get back to work in Dallas, where they last lived in 1994.
Their mission won't be political. Bush made clear in a recent interview with this newspaper that he doesn't plan on running a campaign school in his post-White House life. That's good by us, as ex-presidents succeed best in other ways, such as by building our civic culture.
What we anticipate is the way the Bushes lived before they headed to Austin and then Washington. Here in Dallas, they were involved in civic efforts like the Wesley-Rankin Community Center in West Dallas. Once they get readjusted, numerous public efforts would fit. Championing successful schools certainly would go well with their intense interest in education.
The Bushes also could play a positive role beyond their home city. As a president and governor, he rightly championed the assimilation of immigrants. With Texas' population changing rapidly, the state's progress depends upon Latinos fully engaging. In a non-political way, Bush could help bridge the gaps between Latinos, Anglos and African-Americans in Texas.
Africa also will occupy the Bushes' attention, given how significant the AIDS campaign they spearheaded has become in countries like Ghana. Mexico's progress is another likely cause, given Bush's passion for our southern neighbor since his days as governor. Fittingly, one of his last presidential calls was to former Mexican President Vicente Fox, his onetime partner across the border.
Figuring into all of this work will be the new Bush presidential library and policy center at Southern Methodist University. Laura Bush already has taken a lead role in planning and developing the facility. Critics have fiercely questioned it, but Bush couldn't have been more explicit in his exit interview that he won't run a partisan palace on the Hilltop.
Instead, he and his wife envision scholars working on significant public problems and dignitaries visiting to lecture, study and write. As with the Lyndon Johnson library at the University of Texas, the Bush library and institute stands to add a valuable intellectual dimension to SMU and Dallas. While we strongly encourage them to make the operations transparent, we look forward to the impact this will have on our city and region.
George W. Bush's presidency was far from perfect, but that doesn't mean his post-presidential life cannot be consequential. We look forward to seeing that next chapter unfold as he and the former first lady settle back in as neighbors.
Dallas Morning News January 23, 2009
Fifteen years of politics ended for George W. and Laura Bush on Tuesday with a flight home and fitting welcome-back ceremony in Midland, the town where they were schoolmates and later a young couple. While we quarreled with some of our fellow Texan's decisions as president, he and his wife departed Washington with a grace that sets a standard for future ex-presidents.
As Americans have learned over the years, presidents don't become bygone figures once out of office. We fully expect – and hope – the former first couple will play a new role in Dallas, Texas and the world. Bush already has said he won't be lounging around in Hawaiian shirts, so after a deserved breather, he and Laura will get back to work in Dallas, where they last lived in 1994.
Their mission won't be political. Bush made clear in a recent interview with this newspaper that he doesn't plan on running a campaign school in his post-White House life. That's good by us, as ex-presidents succeed best in other ways, such as by building our civic culture.
What we anticipate is the way the Bushes lived before they headed to Austin and then Washington. Here in Dallas, they were involved in civic efforts like the Wesley-Rankin Community Center in West Dallas. Once they get readjusted, numerous public efforts would fit. Championing successful schools certainly would go well with their intense interest in education.
The Bushes also could play a positive role beyond their home city. As a president and governor, he rightly championed the assimilation of immigrants. With Texas' population changing rapidly, the state's progress depends upon Latinos fully engaging. In a non-political way, Bush could help bridge the gaps between Latinos, Anglos and African-Americans in Texas.
Africa also will occupy the Bushes' attention, given how significant the AIDS campaign they spearheaded has become in countries like Ghana. Mexico's progress is another likely cause, given Bush's passion for our southern neighbor since his days as governor. Fittingly, one of his last presidential calls was to former Mexican President Vicente Fox, his onetime partner across the border.
Figuring into all of this work will be the new Bush presidential library and policy center at Southern Methodist University. Laura Bush already has taken a lead role in planning and developing the facility. Critics have fiercely questioned it, but Bush couldn't have been more explicit in his exit interview that he won't run a partisan palace on the Hilltop.
Instead, he and his wife envision scholars working on significant public problems and dignitaries visiting to lecture, study and write. As with the Lyndon Johnson library at the University of Texas, the Bush library and institute stands to add a valuable intellectual dimension to SMU and Dallas. While we strongly encourage them to make the operations transparent, we look forward to the impact this will have on our city and region.
George W. Bush's presidency was far from perfect, but that doesn't mean his post-presidential life cannot be consequential. We look forward to seeing that next chapter unfold as he and the former first lady settle back in as neighbors.
Obama's Latino appeal examined at lecture
Lecture examines Obama's Latino appeal
Paresh Jha 1/23/09
One would be hard pressed to flip through the channels on television and not find something Obama-related these days. The newly sworn in president may have a symbolic importance to the black community, but what about Obama's effect on other cultural groups? Last evening, UConn Political Science Professor, Venator Santiago spoke about Obama's impact on Latinos around the country, Latino involvement in the election and more at the Puerto Rican and Latin-American Cultural Center.
Santiago arrived at the center still reeling from his trip to Washington to witness the inauguration. He started off with a tidbit about attending one of the inaugural balls, where he got to see a lot of interesting people. "I hung out with J.Lo and her husband," he said, beaming. After that jovial anecdote, he addressed the matters that the listeners were anticipating. The first noteworthy point was about the Latino vote across the nation in comparison to the last election.
"The Latino vote was still at about eight percent of the population. That means there was no change from the amount of people who voted last time." He continued to say the difference that Latinos made had to do with the proportions that voted differently. Certain demographics of the population were swayed to the Democratic ticket and proved to be instrumental in helping President Obama win certain states. The states that Santiago mentioned in particular were New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and even California.
The next point he addressed was the number of Latinos that were selected for Obama's cabinet and staff. Aside from Bill Richardson's withdrawal from consideration for secretary of commerce, Santiago stressed that Latinos still have a notable presence in Obama's team.
The appointment of Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as secretary of the interior and Hilda Solís as secretary of labor is definitely a point of pride for the Latino community.
"The problem arises in the Senate since these individuals have moved up out of the Senate," he said, meaning that the Latino presence in the Senate has dwindled.
The rest of the discussion was more of a casual talk about other Latino politicians, the state of Cuba and Puerto Rico's statehood. The modest but extremely interested crowd participated enthusiastically when it came to the many different facets of Latino culture and were definitely drawn to the professor's charismatic and informal speech. Some of Santiago's final remarks on Obama's future were interesting as well. "Expect a more tolerant and less corrupt administration that should keep the door open for more punitive positions. In other words, he will move away from the Bush administration but keep the door open for [some of the previous institution's] stricter policies."
Angie Logreno, a 4th-semester music major, had this to say on the evening: "He was very knowledgeable and insightful. It is very important to be aware of what our [Latino] politics are and keeping track of the government."
Paresh Jha 1/23/09
One would be hard pressed to flip through the channels on television and not find something Obama-related these days. The newly sworn in president may have a symbolic importance to the black community, but what about Obama's effect on other cultural groups? Last evening, UConn Political Science Professor, Venator Santiago spoke about Obama's impact on Latinos around the country, Latino involvement in the election and more at the Puerto Rican and Latin-American Cultural Center.
Santiago arrived at the center still reeling from his trip to Washington to witness the inauguration. He started off with a tidbit about attending one of the inaugural balls, where he got to see a lot of interesting people. "I hung out with J.Lo and her husband," he said, beaming. After that jovial anecdote, he addressed the matters that the listeners were anticipating. The first noteworthy point was about the Latino vote across the nation in comparison to the last election.
"The Latino vote was still at about eight percent of the population. That means there was no change from the amount of people who voted last time." He continued to say the difference that Latinos made had to do with the proportions that voted differently. Certain demographics of the population were swayed to the Democratic ticket and proved to be instrumental in helping President Obama win certain states. The states that Santiago mentioned in particular were New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and even California.
The next point he addressed was the number of Latinos that were selected for Obama's cabinet and staff. Aside from Bill Richardson's withdrawal from consideration for secretary of commerce, Santiago stressed that Latinos still have a notable presence in Obama's team.
The appointment of Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as secretary of the interior and Hilda Solís as secretary of labor is definitely a point of pride for the Latino community.
"The problem arises in the Senate since these individuals have moved up out of the Senate," he said, meaning that the Latino presence in the Senate has dwindled.
The rest of the discussion was more of a casual talk about other Latino politicians, the state of Cuba and Puerto Rico's statehood. The modest but extremely interested crowd participated enthusiastically when it came to the many different facets of Latino culture and were definitely drawn to the professor's charismatic and informal speech. Some of Santiago's final remarks on Obama's future were interesting as well. "Expect a more tolerant and less corrupt administration that should keep the door open for more punitive positions. In other words, he will move away from the Bush administration but keep the door open for [some of the previous institution's] stricter policies."
Angie Logreno, a 4th-semester music major, had this to say on the evening: "He was very knowledgeable and insightful. It is very important to be aware of what our [Latino] politics are and keeping track of the government."
Latino student applications up, but slots are down
UC applicants increase despite plans to cut enrollment
Numbers for freshman and transfer admission at the system's nine campuses have hit record highs. Regents recently decided to reduce freshman enrollment by 2,300.
By Larry Gordon January 24, 2009
The number of applicants for both freshman and transfer admission to the University of California for fall 2009 has hit record highs, even as UC prepares to reduce freshman enrollment, officials announced Friday.
Applications for freshman admission to at least one UC campus for the fall totaled 98,002, up 2.9% from last year. The number of California residents seeking entrance as freshmen rose 1.6% to 80,730, while out-of-state and international applicants increased 10% to 17,272.
Meanwhile, undergraduate transfer applications grew by 11.2% from last year, to 28,699.
Susan Wilbur, the UC system's director of undergraduate admissions, said it was too soon to say whether the recession will influence more students to seek spots at state universities instead of higher-priced private colleges. But she noted that the number of freshman applications to UC from California residents rose slightly even though the population of high school graduates in the state is expected to decline this spring.
In addition, application patterns suggest that more applicants may be considering living at home and commuting to a UC to save money, she said. That may be one reason the Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz campuses, which are not in large metropolitan areas, saw slight declines in overall applications while Riverside, Davis and Irvine saw the biggest percentage gains.
UCLA continued to be the most popular UC campus, with 55,610 young people seeking a spot in the freshman class. UC Berkeley was next, with 48,616 freshman applicants, and UC San Diego was third with 47,032. Next were UC Santa Barbara's 44,673; UC Irvine, 44,072; UC Davis, 42,344; UC Santa Cruz, 27,231; UC Riverside, 22,682; and UC Merced, 9,034. On average, prospective freshmen applied to 3.5 UC campuses each.
Freshman applications from African American and Latino students, groups that are considered underrepresented at UC, rose this year; they were up 5.8% for blacks and 9% for Latinos. Transfer applications saw larger gains from those groups, up 20.2% for blacks and 18.2% for Latinos.
The release of application statistics followed a recent decision by the UC Board of Regents to reduce enrollment of California freshmen for the fall by 2,300, or about 6%, because of expected cuts in state funding. The regents, however, increased the number of transfer student slots by 500, or about 4%.
Under the plan, six of UC's nine undergraduate campuses will see significant cuts to their ranks of California freshmen, while UCLA and Berkeley will stay close to current levels and UC Merced will grow.
Wilbur said all qualified students still will be guaranteed a spot somewhere in the UC system, but not necessarily at their top-choice campuses, and most students will receive offers from fewer campuses than they did last year.
Admissions decisions are to be announced in February and March.
larry.gordon@latimes.com
Numbers for freshman and transfer admission at the system's nine campuses have hit record highs. Regents recently decided to reduce freshman enrollment by 2,300.
By Larry Gordon January 24, 2009
The number of applicants for both freshman and transfer admission to the University of California for fall 2009 has hit record highs, even as UC prepares to reduce freshman enrollment, officials announced Friday.
Applications for freshman admission to at least one UC campus for the fall totaled 98,002, up 2.9% from last year. The number of California residents seeking entrance as freshmen rose 1.6% to 80,730, while out-of-state and international applicants increased 10% to 17,272.
Meanwhile, undergraduate transfer applications grew by 11.2% from last year, to 28,699.
Susan Wilbur, the UC system's director of undergraduate admissions, said it was too soon to say whether the recession will influence more students to seek spots at state universities instead of higher-priced private colleges. But she noted that the number of freshman applications to UC from California residents rose slightly even though the population of high school graduates in the state is expected to decline this spring.
In addition, application patterns suggest that more applicants may be considering living at home and commuting to a UC to save money, she said. That may be one reason the Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz campuses, which are not in large metropolitan areas, saw slight declines in overall applications while Riverside, Davis and Irvine saw the biggest percentage gains.
UCLA continued to be the most popular UC campus, with 55,610 young people seeking a spot in the freshman class. UC Berkeley was next, with 48,616 freshman applicants, and UC San Diego was third with 47,032. Next were UC Santa Barbara's 44,673; UC Irvine, 44,072; UC Davis, 42,344; UC Santa Cruz, 27,231; UC Riverside, 22,682; and UC Merced, 9,034. On average, prospective freshmen applied to 3.5 UC campuses each.
Freshman applications from African American and Latino students, groups that are considered underrepresented at UC, rose this year; they were up 5.8% for blacks and 9% for Latinos. Transfer applications saw larger gains from those groups, up 20.2% for blacks and 18.2% for Latinos.
The release of application statistics followed a recent decision by the UC Board of Regents to reduce enrollment of California freshmen for the fall by 2,300, or about 6%, because of expected cuts in state funding. The regents, however, increased the number of transfer student slots by 500, or about 4%.
Under the plan, six of UC's nine undergraduate campuses will see significant cuts to their ranks of California freshmen, while UCLA and Berkeley will stay close to current levels and UC Merced will grow.
Wilbur said all qualified students still will be guaranteed a spot somewhere in the UC system, but not necessarily at their top-choice campuses, and most students will receive offers from fewer campuses than they did last year.
Admissions decisions are to be announced in February and March.
larry.gordon@latimes.com
Latino leaders urged to think big
Latino leaders urged to think big in their roles
Minority population growing » They should be at the state's decision-making tables, official declares.
By Tom Harvey The Salt Lake Tribune 01/23/2009
Prominent Utah Latinos were told Friday they should adopt a larger perspective in their roles as leaders of a growing minority population.
Latino leaders from business, government and community groups gathered in Salt Lake City for a summit that included speeches, panels and workshops on leadership principles.
Silvia Castro Thomas, director of the Utah Office of Hispanic-Latino Affairs, told the gathering that as the number of Latinos increases, leaders must expand their thinking about their roles.
"As the Hispanic population grows in the state, I think we need to not limit ourselves and think of ourselves only as Hispanic leaders," Castro Thomas told the summit, which had 150 people registered to attend. "We need to think of ourselves as community leaders. We need to be part of the general state makeup, to be at the tables where decisions are made at all levels."
Castro Thomas pointed to the expectation of change brought about by the election of President Barack Obama, due in part to the support of Latino voters.
"The question is, with all this change in the air, with all these new possibilities, are we taking advantage of this time?" she said. "Are we setting ourselves up to be part of the change? There's opportunity there."
She pointed out that minorities will make up 50 percent of the U.S. population by 2020.
"We are the future of this country," she said. "We are the future of this state."
The summit also heard from three successful officers in business: CTI Construction CEO Don Salazar, DPR Communications managing partner Vanessa Di Palma and e-LeaderTech Inc. CEO David Ibarra.
Speakers at the daylong event included M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Deborah Bayle, president and CEO of United Way of Salt Lake; LeeAnne Linderman, executive vice president at Zions Bank and chairwoman of the Utah Bankers Association; Joe Reyna, regional president of Zions Bank; and Sylvia Haro, senior vice president of Zions.
Zions Bank hosted the event at its downtown Salt Lake City headquarters.
tharvey@sltrib.com
Minority population growing » They should be at the state's decision-making tables, official declares.
By Tom Harvey The Salt Lake Tribune 01/23/2009
Prominent Utah Latinos were told Friday they should adopt a larger perspective in their roles as leaders of a growing minority population.
Latino leaders from business, government and community groups gathered in Salt Lake City for a summit that included speeches, panels and workshops on leadership principles.
Silvia Castro Thomas, director of the Utah Office of Hispanic-Latino Affairs, told the gathering that as the number of Latinos increases, leaders must expand their thinking about their roles.
"As the Hispanic population grows in the state, I think we need to not limit ourselves and think of ourselves only as Hispanic leaders," Castro Thomas told the summit, which had 150 people registered to attend. "We need to think of ourselves as community leaders. We need to be part of the general state makeup, to be at the tables where decisions are made at all levels."
Castro Thomas pointed to the expectation of change brought about by the election of President Barack Obama, due in part to the support of Latino voters.
"The question is, with all this change in the air, with all these new possibilities, are we taking advantage of this time?" she said. "Are we setting ourselves up to be part of the change? There's opportunity there."
She pointed out that minorities will make up 50 percent of the U.S. population by 2020.
"We are the future of this country," she said. "We are the future of this state."
The summit also heard from three successful officers in business: CTI Construction CEO Don Salazar, DPR Communications managing partner Vanessa Di Palma and e-LeaderTech Inc. CEO David Ibarra.
Speakers at the daylong event included M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Deborah Bayle, president and CEO of United Way of Salt Lake; LeeAnne Linderman, executive vice president at Zions Bank and chairwoman of the Utah Bankers Association; Joe Reyna, regional president of Zions Bank; and Sylvia Haro, senior vice president of Zions.
Zions Bank hosted the event at its downtown Salt Lake City headquarters.
tharvey@sltrib.com
Hispanic and Anglo churches join for healing
Hispanic and Anglo churches join to offer healing for body & soul
By George Henson, Staff Writer January 23, 2009
HOUSTON—A partnership between two Houston congregations—one Anglo, the other Hispanic—provides healing of bodies and souls through Casa El Buen Samaritano, a clinic that ministers to Hispanics who have little access to other medical care.
Jessica Henriquez, a member of Iglesia Horeb in Houston and a community college student, greets patients every Tuesday night at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic
West University Baptist Church provides medical and administrative assistance, as well as some clerical help. Iglesia Horeb members interpret, provide spiritual counseling and share the plan of salvation with patients and their families, along with filling clerical roles.
While the clinic only opened last May, West University had been looking for a way to minister to Hispanics since it bought the property for its current location more than four years ago, Pastor Barry Landrum said.
“I was asked at that time by someone: ‘100,000 Salvadorans are living within a stone’s throw of your church. What are you going to do to reach them?’ So, we started thinking about that,” Landrum said.
Six months later, Landrum asked Steve Spann, a physician in his church, what it would take to set up a clinic.
“And he just lit up,” Landrum said.
Royce Hassell, a member of a committee trying to determine the best way to reach out to the Hispanic community, said it seemed obvious to combine outreach with the clinic.
Sarah Shearer examines the ears of a young patient at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic in Houston.
For the next 18 months, the team made visits and phone calls to other clinics sponsored by churches and Christian organizations around the state to put together an operational model. In the process, Hassell met Iglesia Horeb Pastor Campo Londono.
“Our thought almost immediately was: ‘Why reinvent the wheel? He already has a ministry,’” Hassell recalled.
After looking at several locations, the team decided to investigate using a trailer on the Horeb property to house the clinic.
“The first trailer website we went to, there it was—‘discounted medical trailer for lease.’ Another organization made the down payment for it to be built but then went bankrupt before it was completed. It was perfect for us,” Hassell said.
Walter Hassell, a premed student at Rice University and English/Spanish interpreter, checks the blood pressure of a patient at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic in Houston.
The trailer provides space for four exam rooms, a lab area for blood work, and office area and restrooms, a break room for volunteers and room for spiritual counseling. A play area for children is located nearby at Iglesia Horeb.
The clinic is open each Tuesday evening, staffed by two doctors, a medical practioner or physician’s assistant, a nurse or two, usually one or two medical or pre-medical students and a clerical staff of about five. In addition, four or five people provide interpretation and spiritual counseling.
The doctors see a variety of ailments. “We see all sorts of things—women for checkups; diabetes, a lot of times totally out of control; joint pain and orthopedic problems; infectious diseases; abcesses; respiratory problems,” said Spann, the clinic’s medical director. “It’s just sort of a broad spectrum.”
The doctors all are related to the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Medical Center, and some are department heads.
“The standard of care the people who come here are getting is incredible,” Hassell said.
Attending physicians make referrals for patients whose conditions overreach the clinic’s capabilities.
Jessica Henriquez, a member of Iglesia Horeb, sets up the appointments. Many of the patients have a hard time believing the medical care is free of charge. Still, many insist on paying something, she said.
“It might be $5 or $30, but they want to help,” Henriquez said.
A business management student at Houston Community College, she is pleased to assist in the ministry. “I’ve always had my heart set on working in God’s ministry, and coming on Tuesday nights and serving God by serving the Hispanic community is wonderful,” Henriquez said.
Lydia Eckhoff recently joined the clinic’s team as executive director and the venture’s first paid employee.
Eckhoff, a recent University of Texas graduate with a degree in foreign language education, said knowledge of the opening was of immediate interest to her because her parents worked during her childhood years as medical missionaries in Haiti and now serve in Central Asia.
In the past, Eckhoff worked with a number of nonprofit groups in their work with impoverished children.
“Those were all secular groups, and they were doing good work, but it was leaving out the main thing. Here I get to share the gospel,” she explained.
And those who come with a variety of pains and illnesses are finding solace for their souls, as well. More than 50 have made professions of faith in Christ through the work of the clinic. One Tuesday evening, five of the 28 patients made professions of faith.
“We really early on came to the conclusion that we wanted it to be unashamedly Christian and share the gospel,” Hassell said.
Iglesia Horeb was having trouble reaching the neighborhood surrounding the church prior to the clinic’s opening, Pastor Londono said.
“We were dreaming about how to minister to the community, and we were thinking about activities, not something continuous. I thank the Lord he gave us this opportunity,” he said.
“Our challenge now is to build a bridge between the clinic and the church. For us it is very significant that we have this partnership between two churches of different ethnicities.”
Last fall, the two churches met together for a fellowship event that drew more than 400.
For the last several months, every appointment time at the clinic has been filled, with several people showing up without appointments.
“I really believe if we opened every night, we would be full every night, but we can’t do that without more medical volunteers,” Hassell said.
By George Henson, Staff Writer January 23, 2009
HOUSTON—A partnership between two Houston congregations—one Anglo, the other Hispanic—provides healing of bodies and souls through Casa El Buen Samaritano, a clinic that ministers to Hispanics who have little access to other medical care.
Jessica Henriquez, a member of Iglesia Horeb in Houston and a community college student, greets patients every Tuesday night at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic
West University Baptist Church provides medical and administrative assistance, as well as some clerical help. Iglesia Horeb members interpret, provide spiritual counseling and share the plan of salvation with patients and their families, along with filling clerical roles.
While the clinic only opened last May, West University had been looking for a way to minister to Hispanics since it bought the property for its current location more than four years ago, Pastor Barry Landrum said.
“I was asked at that time by someone: ‘100,000 Salvadorans are living within a stone’s throw of your church. What are you going to do to reach them?’ So, we started thinking about that,” Landrum said.
Six months later, Landrum asked Steve Spann, a physician in his church, what it would take to set up a clinic.
“And he just lit up,” Landrum said.
Royce Hassell, a member of a committee trying to determine the best way to reach out to the Hispanic community, said it seemed obvious to combine outreach with the clinic.
Sarah Shearer examines the ears of a young patient at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic in Houston.
For the next 18 months, the team made visits and phone calls to other clinics sponsored by churches and Christian organizations around the state to put together an operational model. In the process, Hassell met Iglesia Horeb Pastor Campo Londono.
“Our thought almost immediately was: ‘Why reinvent the wheel? He already has a ministry,’” Hassell recalled.
After looking at several locations, the team decided to investigate using a trailer on the Horeb property to house the clinic.
“The first trailer website we went to, there it was—‘discounted medical trailer for lease.’ Another organization made the down payment for it to be built but then went bankrupt before it was completed. It was perfect for us,” Hassell said.
Walter Hassell, a premed student at Rice University and English/Spanish interpreter, checks the blood pressure of a patient at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic in Houston.
The trailer provides space for four exam rooms, a lab area for blood work, and office area and restrooms, a break room for volunteers and room for spiritual counseling. A play area for children is located nearby at Iglesia Horeb.
The clinic is open each Tuesday evening, staffed by two doctors, a medical practioner or physician’s assistant, a nurse or two, usually one or two medical or pre-medical students and a clerical staff of about five. In addition, four or five people provide interpretation and spiritual counseling.
The doctors see a variety of ailments. “We see all sorts of things—women for checkups; diabetes, a lot of times totally out of control; joint pain and orthopedic problems; infectious diseases; abcesses; respiratory problems,” said Spann, the clinic’s medical director. “It’s just sort of a broad spectrum.”
The doctors all are related to the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Medical Center, and some are department heads.
“The standard of care the people who come here are getting is incredible,” Hassell said.
Attending physicians make referrals for patients whose conditions overreach the clinic’s capabilities.
Jessica Henriquez, a member of Iglesia Horeb, sets up the appointments. Many of the patients have a hard time believing the medical care is free of charge. Still, many insist on paying something, she said.
“It might be $5 or $30, but they want to help,” Henriquez said.
A business management student at Houston Community College, she is pleased to assist in the ministry. “I’ve always had my heart set on working in God’s ministry, and coming on Tuesday nights and serving God by serving the Hispanic community is wonderful,” Henriquez said.
Lydia Eckhoff recently joined the clinic’s team as executive director and the venture’s first paid employee.
Eckhoff, a recent University of Texas graduate with a degree in foreign language education, said knowledge of the opening was of immediate interest to her because her parents worked during her childhood years as medical missionaries in Haiti and now serve in Central Asia.
In the past, Eckhoff worked with a number of nonprofit groups in their work with impoverished children.
“Those were all secular groups, and they were doing good work, but it was leaving out the main thing. Here I get to share the gospel,” she explained.
And those who come with a variety of pains and illnesses are finding solace for their souls, as well. More than 50 have made professions of faith in Christ through the work of the clinic. One Tuesday evening, five of the 28 patients made professions of faith.
“We really early on came to the conclusion that we wanted it to be unashamedly Christian and share the gospel,” Hassell said.
Iglesia Horeb was having trouble reaching the neighborhood surrounding the church prior to the clinic’s opening, Pastor Londono said.
“We were dreaming about how to minister to the community, and we were thinking about activities, not something continuous. I thank the Lord he gave us this opportunity,” he said.
“Our challenge now is to build a bridge between the clinic and the church. For us it is very significant that we have this partnership between two churches of different ethnicities.”
Last fall, the two churches met together for a fellowship event that drew more than 400.
For the last several months, every appointment time at the clinic has been filled, with several people showing up without appointments.
“I really believe if we opened every night, we would be full every night, but we can’t do that without more medical volunteers,” Hassell said.
Hispanics hope for immigration reform
Hope for Change on Immigration
Carin Zissis January 23, 2009
With President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, the fate of comprehensive immigration reform hangs in the balance. Judging by comments made by Mexican President Felipe Calderón after he met with Obama, it may not be advisable to hold one’s breath in expectation of a quick fix; during the meeting, he warned Calderón that such reforms face barriers in Washington. And while immigration was a hot topic early in the long race for the White House, the faltering U.S. economy eventually cast a long shadow. A new Pew Hispanic Center survey shows that, for Latinos, the economy overtook immigration as an “extremely” important issue in expectations for a new administration. Out of seven issues covered in the report, immigration took the number six spot.
Still, a Minnesota Public Radio report points out that the Pew Hispanic Center survey came out after the unemployment rate for Latinos hit 9.6 percent in December, higher than the 7.2 percent for the country as a whole. Furthermore, the survey showed that 75 percent of Latinos said immigration remained a “very important” issue. Thus, while concerns about the economy may take precedent, the report found that hope for immigration reform continues to run high.
Immigrant advocacy groups have already begun pressing the new administration for change. In the days after Obama assumed the presidency, demonstrators rallied in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, demanding an end to the immigration raids that have resulted in hundreds of arrests. Some 1,200 advocacy groups submitted a letter to the new president, pushing for a reform that “strengthens our economy, reduces the black market, and gets immigrants and employers playing by one set of enforceable rules.”
Despite concerns that immigration reform will be relegated to the backburner, there are signs the new administration may breathe life into the long-delayed revisions for the immigration system in the near future. Obama has called immigration raids “ineffective” and made pledges to seek reform within his first year in office. As Americas Quarterly Senior Editor Jason Marczak recently blogged, incoming Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano has indicated that immigration reform stands among her chief priorities. Moreover, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has counted immigration among top legislative issues to tackle.
What shape reform should take remains a question. ImmigrationWorks USA’s Tamar Jacoby advises in Americas Quarterly that a revised visa system should take specific U.S. labor needs into account. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, the New America Foundation’s Tomás R. Jiménez says that Washington needs to adopt “an immigrant policy that stands alongside our immigration policy” as a means to foster integration. He argues that the Office of Citizenship should assist immigrants with learning English, gaining access to jobs that make use of their skills and education, and avoiding scams through legal rights training.
Learn more about AS/COA’s Hispanic Integration Initiative and access the working group’s white paper, U.S. Business and Hispanic Integration: Expanding the Economic Contributions of Immigrants.
Carin Zissis January 23, 2009
With President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, the fate of comprehensive immigration reform hangs in the balance. Judging by comments made by Mexican President Felipe Calderón after he met with Obama, it may not be advisable to hold one’s breath in expectation of a quick fix; during the meeting, he warned Calderón that such reforms face barriers in Washington. And while immigration was a hot topic early in the long race for the White House, the faltering U.S. economy eventually cast a long shadow. A new Pew Hispanic Center survey shows that, for Latinos, the economy overtook immigration as an “extremely” important issue in expectations for a new administration. Out of seven issues covered in the report, immigration took the number six spot.
Still, a Minnesota Public Radio report points out that the Pew Hispanic Center survey came out after the unemployment rate for Latinos hit 9.6 percent in December, higher than the 7.2 percent for the country as a whole. Furthermore, the survey showed that 75 percent of Latinos said immigration remained a “very important” issue. Thus, while concerns about the economy may take precedent, the report found that hope for immigration reform continues to run high.
Immigrant advocacy groups have already begun pressing the new administration for change. In the days after Obama assumed the presidency, demonstrators rallied in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, demanding an end to the immigration raids that have resulted in hundreds of arrests. Some 1,200 advocacy groups submitted a letter to the new president, pushing for a reform that “strengthens our economy, reduces the black market, and gets immigrants and employers playing by one set of enforceable rules.”
Despite concerns that immigration reform will be relegated to the backburner, there are signs the new administration may breathe life into the long-delayed revisions for the immigration system in the near future. Obama has called immigration raids “ineffective” and made pledges to seek reform within his first year in office. As Americas Quarterly Senior Editor Jason Marczak recently blogged, incoming Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano has indicated that immigration reform stands among her chief priorities. Moreover, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has counted immigration among top legislative issues to tackle.
What shape reform should take remains a question. ImmigrationWorks USA’s Tamar Jacoby advises in Americas Quarterly that a revised visa system should take specific U.S. labor needs into account. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, the New America Foundation’s Tomás R. Jiménez says that Washington needs to adopt “an immigrant policy that stands alongside our immigration policy” as a means to foster integration. He argues that the Office of Citizenship should assist immigrants with learning English, gaining access to jobs that make use of their skills and education, and avoiding scams through legal rights training.
Learn more about AS/COA’s Hispanic Integration Initiative and access the working group’s white paper, U.S. Business and Hispanic Integration: Expanding the Economic Contributions of Immigrants.
Hispanic immigrants not fired like White worker
Fired worker: Neb. plant hired illegal immigrants
By JEAN ORTIZ , 01.23.09
A David City, Neb., egg processing plant is facing allegations from a former employee that it knowingly hired illegal immigrants and gave them preferential treatment.
The claims were made in a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed on behalf of Amy Schrader of Ulysses, who was fired from the Henningsen Foods plant in 2007.
Lincoln attorney Paul Boross filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court, naming as defendants Henningsen Foods and its owner, Tokyo-based Q.P. Corp. (other-otc: QPCPY.PK - news - people )
Henningsen is an Omaha-based food supplier specializing in egg products and dehydrated meat and poultry products. It has plants in David City, Ravenna and Norfolk.
In recent years, the company has said about 130 people work at the David City plant.
Schrader said the company said or implied she had missed or was late for work too often when she was fired.
But Schrader, who is white, alleges that Hispanic employees who were absent or late just as often or more and didn't lose their jobs.
By JEAN ORTIZ , 01.23.09
A David City, Neb., egg processing plant is facing allegations from a former employee that it knowingly hired illegal immigrants and gave them preferential treatment.
The claims were made in a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed on behalf of Amy Schrader of Ulysses, who was fired from the Henningsen Foods plant in 2007.
Lincoln attorney Paul Boross filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court, naming as defendants Henningsen Foods and its owner, Tokyo-based Q.P. Corp. (other-otc: QPCPY.PK - news - people )
Henningsen is an Omaha-based food supplier specializing in egg products and dehydrated meat and poultry products. It has plants in David City, Ravenna and Norfolk.
In recent years, the company has said about 130 people work at the David City plant.
Schrader said the company said or implied she had missed or was late for work too often when she was fired.
But Schrader, who is white, alleges that Hispanic employees who were absent or late just as often or more and didn't lose their jobs.
Hispanic kids will be impacted by lunch program cuts
More kids seek subsidized school lunches as funds run short
By Melissa Nix mnix@sacbee.com Jan. 24, 2009
The San Juan Unified School District could see it coming.
Four hundred more students on average have been applying each month for free and reduced-price meals this school year.
In better economic times, Food Service Director Susan Stewart said she sees a flurry of applications at the beginning of the year, and a few here and there as the year progresses.
Not so this year.
"There's story after story of hardship," said Stewart, who reviews families' applications for the program. She was surveying Edison Elementary's cafeteria at lunchtime on Friday.
Stewart said eligibility for the program has increased from 28 percent of the district's students in October 2007 to 36 percent as of last October. At Edison, 80 percent of the students receive free or reduced-price meals, she said.
But this isn't simply a San Juan Unified story; it's a California story.
As the economy worsens, and more California schoolchildren qualify – and apply – for free and reduced-price meals, state officials are warning the program could run out of state dollars by spring.
It happened last year. State funds dried up in April as the demand for such meals increased. Districts dipped into reserves and general funds, or scaled back on the quality of offerings to make up the difference.
To address this year's gap, Assemblyman Tom Torlakson and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced on Friday emergency legislation to boost state funding by $19.5 million, enough to maintain the quality of the program for the rest of the academic year.
Neither O'Connell nor Torlakson, an Antioch Democrat, specified where the $19.5 million would come from.
The program, which provides breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks to low-income children, won't shut down if the state comes up short. The federal government covers the majority of its costs, up to $2.57 per meal, and some $1.7 billion for the program across the state this fiscal year.
California kicks in 22 cents per meal, which comes to $126 million across the state.
That 22 cents matters, the program's proponents say.
"That 22 cents buys a lot," said Phyllis Savage, manager of child development and nutritional fiscal services with the state's Department of Education. "That 22 cents can be the difference between a fresh piece of fruit and something canned."
California school meal standards exceed federal standards. State school meals include more fresh fruit, more meat alternatives and more whole grain per week, comparatively.
Savage said every district would likely address the state funding shortfall differently, and they'll still have to meet all the basic nutritional requirements of the federal meal program, but she had a few predictions about where they might cut corners.
Districts that have invested in salad bars and local fresh produce may review their affordability, she said. Or they could cut back on staffing, and it'll take longer for children to get through cafeteria lines.
"For some kids, 10 more minutes in that line means they won't have lunch at all," said Savage.
According to the state Department of Education, California's subsidized school lunch program provided 28 million more meals last year than in 2007 – a 4.5 percent surge. The trend has only accelerated as the economy worsens.
Since the beginning of the 2008-09 school year, schools have seen a 12 percent increase in subsidized meal demand, according to Department of Education surveys. Historically, the state has experienced a 1 percent increase per year.
Nearly 51 percent of California's public school children are enrolled in the free or reduced-price program – some 3.1 million students.
Delois Davis-McDuffie, director of food and nutrition services for Elk Grove Unified School District, said student eligibility is up from 45.9 percent in 2007-08 to 49.6 percent so far this year.
"And I am sure after this month, that (number) will probably even be higher," said Davis-McDuffie. (The district has roughly 62,000 students.) "I've heard a lot of companies in the area are closing down. They waited until after the holidays."
Like Stewart in San Juan, Davis-McDuffie said her office is getting new applications weekly. Similarly, Jill Van Dyke, Twin Rivers Unified's director of nutrition services, said her office has received 500 new applications in the last three weeks.
"Very unusual," said Van Dyke.
Davis-McDuffie said some Elk Grove parents are asking for help, even if they don't qualify.
"Every day, more and more parents are attaching letters, asking us to take certain things into consideration – their housing costs, the fact gas is up and cost of food," she said.
Davis-McDuffie said Elk Grove Unified lost $42,000 when the state funding fell short last year. The district still had to feed kids in May and June, she said.
"The state money is vital. That's a container of milk or an entree or a piece of fresh fruit not on that tray," she said.
O'Connell said he and Torlakson are acutely aware of the state's budget situation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting $5.2 billion from public education over the next 18 months.
"The $19.5 million (in increased funding) is our best estimate of costs for the remainder of the school year," he said.
As an emergency proposal, the legislation could go into effect immediately, upon the governor's signature, said Shannan Velayas, Torlakson's spokeswoman.
Velayas said the bill, Assembly Bill 95, has yet to be heard by the Assembly, but that Torlakson and O'Connell are working to move it forward quickly.
Call The Bee's Melissa Nix, (916) 321-1090.
By Melissa Nix mnix@sacbee.com Jan. 24, 2009
The San Juan Unified School District could see it coming.
Four hundred more students on average have been applying each month for free and reduced-price meals this school year.
In better economic times, Food Service Director Susan Stewart said she sees a flurry of applications at the beginning of the year, and a few here and there as the year progresses.
Not so this year.
"There's story after story of hardship," said Stewart, who reviews families' applications for the program. She was surveying Edison Elementary's cafeteria at lunchtime on Friday.
Stewart said eligibility for the program has increased from 28 percent of the district's students in October 2007 to 36 percent as of last October. At Edison, 80 percent of the students receive free or reduced-price meals, she said.
But this isn't simply a San Juan Unified story; it's a California story.
As the economy worsens, and more California schoolchildren qualify – and apply – for free and reduced-price meals, state officials are warning the program could run out of state dollars by spring.
It happened last year. State funds dried up in April as the demand for such meals increased. Districts dipped into reserves and general funds, or scaled back on the quality of offerings to make up the difference.
To address this year's gap, Assemblyman Tom Torlakson and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced on Friday emergency legislation to boost state funding by $19.5 million, enough to maintain the quality of the program for the rest of the academic year.
Neither O'Connell nor Torlakson, an Antioch Democrat, specified where the $19.5 million would come from.
The program, which provides breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks to low-income children, won't shut down if the state comes up short. The federal government covers the majority of its costs, up to $2.57 per meal, and some $1.7 billion for the program across the state this fiscal year.
California kicks in 22 cents per meal, which comes to $126 million across the state.
That 22 cents matters, the program's proponents say.
"That 22 cents buys a lot," said Phyllis Savage, manager of child development and nutritional fiscal services with the state's Department of Education. "That 22 cents can be the difference between a fresh piece of fruit and something canned."
California school meal standards exceed federal standards. State school meals include more fresh fruit, more meat alternatives and more whole grain per week, comparatively.
Savage said every district would likely address the state funding shortfall differently, and they'll still have to meet all the basic nutritional requirements of the federal meal program, but she had a few predictions about where they might cut corners.
Districts that have invested in salad bars and local fresh produce may review their affordability, she said. Or they could cut back on staffing, and it'll take longer for children to get through cafeteria lines.
"For some kids, 10 more minutes in that line means they won't have lunch at all," said Savage.
According to the state Department of Education, California's subsidized school lunch program provided 28 million more meals last year than in 2007 – a 4.5 percent surge. The trend has only accelerated as the economy worsens.
Since the beginning of the 2008-09 school year, schools have seen a 12 percent increase in subsidized meal demand, according to Department of Education surveys. Historically, the state has experienced a 1 percent increase per year.
Nearly 51 percent of California's public school children are enrolled in the free or reduced-price program – some 3.1 million students.
Delois Davis-McDuffie, director of food and nutrition services for Elk Grove Unified School District, said student eligibility is up from 45.9 percent in 2007-08 to 49.6 percent so far this year.
"And I am sure after this month, that (number) will probably even be higher," said Davis-McDuffie. (The district has roughly 62,000 students.) "I've heard a lot of companies in the area are closing down. They waited until after the holidays."
Like Stewart in San Juan, Davis-McDuffie said her office is getting new applications weekly. Similarly, Jill Van Dyke, Twin Rivers Unified's director of nutrition services, said her office has received 500 new applications in the last three weeks.
"Very unusual," said Van Dyke.
Davis-McDuffie said some Elk Grove parents are asking for help, even if they don't qualify.
"Every day, more and more parents are attaching letters, asking us to take certain things into consideration – their housing costs, the fact gas is up and cost of food," she said.
Davis-McDuffie said Elk Grove Unified lost $42,000 when the state funding fell short last year. The district still had to feed kids in May and June, she said.
"The state money is vital. That's a container of milk or an entree or a piece of fresh fruit not on that tray," she said.
O'Connell said he and Torlakson are acutely aware of the state's budget situation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting $5.2 billion from public education over the next 18 months.
"The $19.5 million (in increased funding) is our best estimate of costs for the remainder of the school year," he said.
As an emergency proposal, the legislation could go into effect immediately, upon the governor's signature, said Shannan Velayas, Torlakson's spokeswoman.
Velayas said the bill, Assembly Bill 95, has yet to be heard by the Assembly, but that Torlakson and O'Connell are working to move it forward quickly.
Call The Bee's Melissa Nix, (916) 321-1090.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Chicago Latino group wants desegregation order to stay
Latino Civil Rights Group Fights to Keep Desegregation Order on the Books
by Linda Lutton, January 22, 2009
One 2007 court-ordered report found that 86 bilingual education students weren't getting services they were entitled to at Kelly High School.
A hearing begins today to determine whether Chicago’s 29-year-old school desegregation case should be thrown out. The consent decree orders Chicago Public Schools to create as many integrated schools as possible. A lesser-known provision also spells out services the district must provide to students who don’t speak English proficiently. That’s the main reason some are fighting to keep the decree in place.
One of the groups that’s pushing hardest to keep the consent decree around is the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a Latino civil rights organization.
Maldef attorney Ricardo Meza says the consent decree requires CPS to do this:
MEZA: to basically treat English language learners in the same way that they treat the other students.
That means students learning English are to be taught in equivalent facilities, with similar student-teacher ratios. And students are supposed to get materials and assistance in their native language until they make the transition to English.
But Meza says that despite nearly three decades under the consent decree,
MEZA: There are still problems with the program. We still have children that are taught on auditorium stages. We still have children taught in the hallways. We have children who don’t have any reading material in the Spanish language. We have children taught by teachers who are not certified in bilingual education.
People debate whether the consent decree has produced more equitable schools. But one thing is clear: it’s created a lot of reports. A number of them document conditions Meza refers to.
Kelly High School comes up regularly.
There are about 52,000 English language learners in Chicago Public Schools—330 are here at Kelly, a school so overcrowded students come in three shifts.
From a basement office, in what used to be the bomb shelter, Efrain Gonzalez runs Kelly’s bilingual education program—one of the biggest high school programs in the city. Reports have found that Kelly’s failed to provide kids the bilingual services they’re entitled to.
But Gonzalez says the reports don’t take into account the sort of in-the-trenches decisions teachers have to make. Take a kid who needs an Information Technology class to graduate, Gonzalez says. Maybe the class meets at the same time as the bilingual American Literature class.
GONZALEZ: So I need to decide—what will be better for the kid? To graduate from high school? Or to take this class? And sometimes what’s better for the kid does not always agree with policy.
Gonzalez says he has to think about the consent decree every day.
GONZALEZ: It’s like part of my job description to sit with lawyers from the federal government and sit here for hours and answer the same questions I answered last year.
Gonzalez says he can’t wait for the consent decree to come to an end, so teachers can determine what’s right for kids, rather than lawyers. That’s an opinion echoed by CPS’s top attorneys.
Meza, the Maldef attorney, counters that everybody has a boss they’ve got to answer to. Schools that provide services required under the consent decree have nothing to worry about. And the consent decree only reiterates state and federal bilingual education laws already on the books. It just provides one more place for civil rights groups like Maldef to take a complaint.
MEZA: If the bilingual program has been so dismal while under the watchful eye of a federal judge, what will happen when we don’t have it?
Meza is concerned about losing another provision of the consent decree as well—the one that sets aside seats for minority students at the district’s best schools.
The federal judge who oversees the desegregation case asked for public comment on whether the decree should continue. Written testimony already submitted falls strongly on the side of keeping the decree.
One concerned citizen offered this spin on an old adage: “If it ain’t fixed, don’t break it.”
by Linda Lutton, January 22, 2009
One 2007 court-ordered report found that 86 bilingual education students weren't getting services they were entitled to at Kelly High School.
A hearing begins today to determine whether Chicago’s 29-year-old school desegregation case should be thrown out. The consent decree orders Chicago Public Schools to create as many integrated schools as possible. A lesser-known provision also spells out services the district must provide to students who don’t speak English proficiently. That’s the main reason some are fighting to keep the decree in place.
One of the groups that’s pushing hardest to keep the consent decree around is the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a Latino civil rights organization.
Maldef attorney Ricardo Meza says the consent decree requires CPS to do this:
MEZA: to basically treat English language learners in the same way that they treat the other students.
That means students learning English are to be taught in equivalent facilities, with similar student-teacher ratios. And students are supposed to get materials and assistance in their native language until they make the transition to English.
But Meza says that despite nearly three decades under the consent decree,
MEZA: There are still problems with the program. We still have children that are taught on auditorium stages. We still have children taught in the hallways. We have children who don’t have any reading material in the Spanish language. We have children taught by teachers who are not certified in bilingual education.
People debate whether the consent decree has produced more equitable schools. But one thing is clear: it’s created a lot of reports. A number of them document conditions Meza refers to.
Kelly High School comes up regularly.
There are about 52,000 English language learners in Chicago Public Schools—330 are here at Kelly, a school so overcrowded students come in three shifts.
From a basement office, in what used to be the bomb shelter, Efrain Gonzalez runs Kelly’s bilingual education program—one of the biggest high school programs in the city. Reports have found that Kelly’s failed to provide kids the bilingual services they’re entitled to.
But Gonzalez says the reports don’t take into account the sort of in-the-trenches decisions teachers have to make. Take a kid who needs an Information Technology class to graduate, Gonzalez says. Maybe the class meets at the same time as the bilingual American Literature class.
GONZALEZ: So I need to decide—what will be better for the kid? To graduate from high school? Or to take this class? And sometimes what’s better for the kid does not always agree with policy.
Gonzalez says he has to think about the consent decree every day.
GONZALEZ: It’s like part of my job description to sit with lawyers from the federal government and sit here for hours and answer the same questions I answered last year.
Gonzalez says he can’t wait for the consent decree to come to an end, so teachers can determine what’s right for kids, rather than lawyers. That’s an opinion echoed by CPS’s top attorneys.
Meza, the Maldef attorney, counters that everybody has a boss they’ve got to answer to. Schools that provide services required under the consent decree have nothing to worry about. And the consent decree only reiterates state and federal bilingual education laws already on the books. It just provides one more place for civil rights groups like Maldef to take a complaint.
MEZA: If the bilingual program has been so dismal while under the watchful eye of a federal judge, what will happen when we don’t have it?
Meza is concerned about losing another provision of the consent decree as well—the one that sets aside seats for minority students at the district’s best schools.
The federal judge who oversees the desegregation case asked for public comment on whether the decree should continue. Written testimony already submitted falls strongly on the side of keeping the decree.
One concerned citizen offered this spin on an old adage: “If it ain’t fixed, don’t break it.”
Hispanic immigrant group holding Obama accountable for reform
Comité Latino wants to remind Obama of vow
Demonstration by Comité Latino part of national effort for immigration reform
Nicole C. Brambila • The Desert Sun • January 22, 2009
A day after President Barack Obama officially took office, about 100 demonstrators marched Wednesday in Indio as a friendly reminder of a pledge Obama made during his campaign for the presidency to reform immigration laws.
“We want him to comply with his promise of legalization for everybody,” said Sylvia Cardona, a Comité Latino member.
“Latinos are putting their hopes in Obama.”
Organized by Comité Latino, the Indio march was part of a larger national demonstration by immigration advocates.
Miguel Araujo of Thermal was among those who participated in the 1.3-mile walk from Kmart, 81-691 Highway 111, to the Larson Justice Center, 46-200 Oasis St.
He wrapped himself in an American flag.
Others carried signs that stretched for about a block down Highway 111 that read: “Stop the raids,” “No human being is illegal” and shouting familiar chants, “Que queremos? Justicia! Cuando? Ahora! What do we want? Justice! When? Now!”
Before dispersing, Comité Latino members circulated a petition asking Obama to stop the raids and sign an immigration reform act.
Formed in January 2006, the group has organized several marches and protests to press for immigration reform and a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented who live in the United States.
For many, immigration was a top issue in the past election.
Nationally, Latinos voted for Obama, a Democrat, 2-to-1 over his Republican rival, John McCain, according to an exit poll analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” that gathers information.
The Pew Hispanic Center seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation, according to its Web site.
Immigration advocates have long been critical of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement employment raids widely seen as an attempt to appear tough on immigration.
Congress failed to pass immigration reform in 2007, which would have created a pathway to citizenship.
As a result, many Latinos who want immigration reform are calling for Obama to make good on his campaign promise.
“We understand the economy is the primary issue, but the economy also needs immigrant workers,” said Mario Lazcano, the founder of Comité Latino.
“If he wants our vote again he has to solve our problem: legalization.”
Several community and civic leaders spoke after the march, including Coachella Mayor Eduardo Garcia; Carlos Gonzalez, field representative for Assemblyman Manuel Perez, D-Coachella; and Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron.
“This issue is not a city issue, it's a valleywide issue when it comes to immigration,” Garcia said.
“We're very hopeful that the new administration will take it (immigration reform) on in his first 60 days.”
Demonstration by Comité Latino part of national effort for immigration reform
Nicole C. Brambila • The Desert Sun • January 22, 2009
A day after President Barack Obama officially took office, about 100 demonstrators marched Wednesday in Indio as a friendly reminder of a pledge Obama made during his campaign for the presidency to reform immigration laws.
“We want him to comply with his promise of legalization for everybody,” said Sylvia Cardona, a Comité Latino member.
“Latinos are putting their hopes in Obama.”
Organized by Comité Latino, the Indio march was part of a larger national demonstration by immigration advocates.
Miguel Araujo of Thermal was among those who participated in the 1.3-mile walk from Kmart, 81-691 Highway 111, to the Larson Justice Center, 46-200 Oasis St.
He wrapped himself in an American flag.
Others carried signs that stretched for about a block down Highway 111 that read: “Stop the raids,” “No human being is illegal” and shouting familiar chants, “Que queremos? Justicia! Cuando? Ahora! What do we want? Justice! When? Now!”
Before dispersing, Comité Latino members circulated a petition asking Obama to stop the raids and sign an immigration reform act.
Formed in January 2006, the group has organized several marches and protests to press for immigration reform and a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented who live in the United States.
For many, immigration was a top issue in the past election.
Nationally, Latinos voted for Obama, a Democrat, 2-to-1 over his Republican rival, John McCain, according to an exit poll analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” that gathers information.
The Pew Hispanic Center seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation, according to its Web site.
Immigration advocates have long been critical of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement employment raids widely seen as an attempt to appear tough on immigration.
Congress failed to pass immigration reform in 2007, which would have created a pathway to citizenship.
As a result, many Latinos who want immigration reform are calling for Obama to make good on his campaign promise.
“We understand the economy is the primary issue, but the economy also needs immigrant workers,” said Mario Lazcano, the founder of Comité Latino.
“If he wants our vote again he has to solve our problem: legalization.”
Several community and civic leaders spoke after the march, including Coachella Mayor Eduardo Garcia; Carlos Gonzalez, field representative for Assemblyman Manuel Perez, D-Coachella; and Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron.
“This issue is not a city issue, it's a valleywide issue when it comes to immigration,” Garcia said.
“We're very hopeful that the new administration will take it (immigration reform) on in his first 60 days.”
Hispanic immigrants offered education program
King’s outreach targets Hispanics
Immigrants to benefit from education program, which also is sponsored by Mexican gov’t.
By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – Immigrants who move here from Mexico and elsewhere will be able to continue their education through a new Hispanic outreach program at King’s College.
Enrique Ruiz Sanchez, Mexican consul in Philadelphia, addresses those attending the announcement of a new program offered at King’s College called, "The Plaza Comunitaria.” The initiative is an educational outreach for the local Hispanic population.
Sitting between Minerva and Carmen Flores, 4-year-old Jonathan Flores claps at the announcement of a new outreach program for Hispanic immigrants being offered at King’s College.
The unique program fits in well with the school’s founding mission, according to the Rev. Thomas O’Hara, King’s president.
He said serving the working class, including immigrants and their children, was important to the school’s founders in 1946. He said it’s still important to college leaders today as a new wave of immigrants settles in Luzerne County.
In conjunction with the Mexican government’s Institute for Mexicans Living Abroad, King’s McGowan Hispanic Outreach Program will begin a free, on-campus program for members of the region’s burgeoning Hispanic community. During an event Thursday celebrating the partnership, college and Mexican government officials gathered on campus to detail the program and its benefits.
Using laptops and educational computer programs, local Hispanic residents who were unable to complete their education in their home countries are now able to catch up and receive equivalency diplomas issued by Mexico. The program, called “Plaza Comunitaria,” includes elementary and high school courses.
Among the 14 who have already signed up for the program that starts in mid-February is 53-year-old Gelacio Tlatenchi of Wilkes-Barre.
He received an education at the sixth-grade level in his native Puebla, Mexico, and saw this program as an opportunity to “higher my education to get a better job with it.” His daughter, Noemi, is a freshman elementary education major at King’s and a 2008 Coughlin High School graduate.
She said she’s proud of her father and his initiative to sign up for the program. Translating for her father, Neomi said her father believes that those who enroll in the program are not only bettering their own life but setting a good example for the children.
Isabel Balsamo, who coordinates the school’s Hispanic Outreach Program, agreed.
“You teach by example,” Balsamo said. “If the kids see their parents educating themselves, they will see how valuable an education is.” She said the program is open to ages 16 and older but those who have signed up are all in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
Enrique Ruiz Sanchez, the Mexican consul based in Philadelphia, said the community and the college should be proud of the program and classified the partnership as unique.
Brother George C. Schmitz, the college’s coordinator of after-school partnerships, said King’s and New York University are the only eastern U.S. colleges permitted to offer the program by the Mexican government.
He said the program is needed here and the early response shows it. There is room for up to 30 students at a time, though that number could increase.
Immigrants to benefit from education program, which also is sponsored by Mexican gov’t.
By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – Immigrants who move here from Mexico and elsewhere will be able to continue their education through a new Hispanic outreach program at King’s College.
Enrique Ruiz Sanchez, Mexican consul in Philadelphia, addresses those attending the announcement of a new program offered at King’s College called, "The Plaza Comunitaria.” The initiative is an educational outreach for the local Hispanic population.
Sitting between Minerva and Carmen Flores, 4-year-old Jonathan Flores claps at the announcement of a new outreach program for Hispanic immigrants being offered at King’s College.
The unique program fits in well with the school’s founding mission, according to the Rev. Thomas O’Hara, King’s president.
He said serving the working class, including immigrants and their children, was important to the school’s founders in 1946. He said it’s still important to college leaders today as a new wave of immigrants settles in Luzerne County.
In conjunction with the Mexican government’s Institute for Mexicans Living Abroad, King’s McGowan Hispanic Outreach Program will begin a free, on-campus program for members of the region’s burgeoning Hispanic community. During an event Thursday celebrating the partnership, college and Mexican government officials gathered on campus to detail the program and its benefits.
Using laptops and educational computer programs, local Hispanic residents who were unable to complete their education in their home countries are now able to catch up and receive equivalency diplomas issued by Mexico. The program, called “Plaza Comunitaria,” includes elementary and high school courses.
Among the 14 who have already signed up for the program that starts in mid-February is 53-year-old Gelacio Tlatenchi of Wilkes-Barre.
He received an education at the sixth-grade level in his native Puebla, Mexico, and saw this program as an opportunity to “higher my education to get a better job with it.” His daughter, Noemi, is a freshman elementary education major at King’s and a 2008 Coughlin High School graduate.
She said she’s proud of her father and his initiative to sign up for the program. Translating for her father, Neomi said her father believes that those who enroll in the program are not only bettering their own life but setting a good example for the children.
Isabel Balsamo, who coordinates the school’s Hispanic Outreach Program, agreed.
“You teach by example,” Balsamo said. “If the kids see their parents educating themselves, they will see how valuable an education is.” She said the program is open to ages 16 and older but those who have signed up are all in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
Enrique Ruiz Sanchez, the Mexican consul based in Philadelphia, said the community and the college should be proud of the program and classified the partnership as unique.
Brother George C. Schmitz, the college’s coordinator of after-school partnerships, said King’s and New York University are the only eastern U.S. colleges permitted to offer the program by the Mexican government.
He said the program is needed here and the early response shows it. There is room for up to 30 students at a time, though that number could increase.
Latinos benefit from recluse donation
Reclusive businessman donates hats to needy
The Associated Press 1/22/2009
DETROIT (AP) — Reclusive billionaire businessman and Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun says he is donating 4,000 winter hats to needy Detroiters.
Moroun says in a release that his Detroit International Bridge Co.'s donation to the Hispanic Business Alliance and several other community organizations is in response the city's harsh economic crisis and recent weeks of severe winter weather.
Moroun has a number of business interests on Detroit's southwest side. He plans to build a second span from that area across the Detroit River to Windsor in Canada.
His company says the aging Ambassador Bridge costs too much to maintain. Moroun wants to close it to daily car and truck traffic.
The Associated Press 1/22/2009
DETROIT (AP) — Reclusive billionaire businessman and Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun says he is donating 4,000 winter hats to needy Detroiters.
Moroun says in a release that his Detroit International Bridge Co.'s donation to the Hispanic Business Alliance and several other community organizations is in response the city's harsh economic crisis and recent weeks of severe winter weather.
Moroun has a number of business interests on Detroit's southwest side. He plans to build a second span from that area across the Detroit River to Windsor in Canada.
His company says the aging Ambassador Bridge costs too much to maintain. Moroun wants to close it to daily car and truck traffic.
Latino legislator blames partisan politics to budget problems
Latino Legislator says impasse to blame for budget problems
Somber State of the State Focuses on Budget Shortfall
PRESS RELEASE
Sacramento, CA - On Thursday, January 15, California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered his annual State of the State address. Later and shorter than usual, the governor focused on the ongoing budget shortfall and its devastating impacts on the state.
While most years the governor lays out his ambition agenda, this year’s somber and stoic event was more of a scolding than a speech.
The governor places much of the blame for the current stalemate on the partisan bickering that has divided Sacramento. Legislators are no longer defined by their districts and constituents, but by their political party alone. This gulf between parties only seems to grow each day as we drag out another round of budget negotiations.
Bipartisanship, which used to define the progressive measures passed in California, has become synonymous with failure and both sides of the aisle seem to be more interested in representing their political parties than their constituents.
“I have been in Sacramento for ten years and every year I see more partisan politics, less compromise, and more problems for the state,” says Senator Abel Maldonado. “Unless and until we can put aside ideology and take a good look at real solutions we will not be able to solve this budget impasse.”
Every day Maldonado hears from constituents who are on the verge of losing their jobs, from teachers who are facing substantial cuts and health care professionals. Everyone in this state is affected by this budget impasse. A solution is needed that will help everyone. All options must be on the table. And instead of asking, “What is best for my party?” legislators need to start asking, “What is best for my constituents?”
“I think we can all agree that closing a $40 billion deficit is no small feat,” says Maldonado. “This is not an easy task, but it is one that we were elected to do. We have to make sure that every dollar we have is spend effectively. We have to make sure we fix this problem once and for all. We need to end this cycle of boom and bust budgets.”
California faces insolvency in February, which is just a few days away. Maldonado and other legislators hope that they can come together and pass a budget that does the least amount of damage to the state while at the same time fixing the problems inherent in California’s budget system.
Somber State of the State Focuses on Budget Shortfall
PRESS RELEASE
Sacramento, CA - On Thursday, January 15, California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered his annual State of the State address. Later and shorter than usual, the governor focused on the ongoing budget shortfall and its devastating impacts on the state.
While most years the governor lays out his ambition agenda, this year’s somber and stoic event was more of a scolding than a speech.
The governor places much of the blame for the current stalemate on the partisan bickering that has divided Sacramento. Legislators are no longer defined by their districts and constituents, but by their political party alone. This gulf between parties only seems to grow each day as we drag out another round of budget negotiations.
Bipartisanship, which used to define the progressive measures passed in California, has become synonymous with failure and both sides of the aisle seem to be more interested in representing their political parties than their constituents.
“I have been in Sacramento for ten years and every year I see more partisan politics, less compromise, and more problems for the state,” says Senator Abel Maldonado. “Unless and until we can put aside ideology and take a good look at real solutions we will not be able to solve this budget impasse.”
Every day Maldonado hears from constituents who are on the verge of losing their jobs, from teachers who are facing substantial cuts and health care professionals. Everyone in this state is affected by this budget impasse. A solution is needed that will help everyone. All options must be on the table. And instead of asking, “What is best for my party?” legislators need to start asking, “What is best for my constituents?”
“I think we can all agree that closing a $40 billion deficit is no small feat,” says Maldonado. “This is not an easy task, but it is one that we were elected to do. We have to make sure that every dollar we have is spend effectively. We have to make sure we fix this problem once and for all. We need to end this cycle of boom and bust budgets.”
California faces insolvency in February, which is just a few days away. Maldonado and other legislators hope that they can come together and pass a budget that does the least amount of damage to the state while at the same time fixing the problems inherent in California’s budget system.
Democrats punish Hispanic legislator
Only Hispanic Republican legislator ousted from committee for being vocal
PRESS RELEASE
Sacramento, CA - California State Senator Abel Maldonado, who for the past two years has served as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee was ousted from the committee for criticizing the Democratic leadership. Other legislators and the public have criticized the California state legislature for being bipartisanship while trying to address an impeding budget solution. The Senate President Pro Tem’s approach to legislative management has included petty posturing and punishment while the state’s budget crisis grows deeper each day.
“Unfortunately, the new Senate President Pro Tem ousted me as Chairman from the committee because I criticized him for allowing legislators to continue taking per diem during this ongoing budget crisis,” said Maldonado, the lone Hispanic Republican. “Since the Pro Tem determines when members receive per diem and who serves as Chairpersons of committees, it is no surprise that I was ousted for my criticisms.”
In addition to punishing Maldonado, the President Pro Tem gave the Agriculture Committee a makeover and is now called the Food and Agriculture Committee. According to the Pro Tem and the new Chairman, this new committee will focus on food safety and environmental issues related to the agriculture community as well. During Maldonado’s tenure as Chairman, the committee held hearings on a variety of important issues, including food labeling, biofuels, carbon credits for farmers and a wide range of other issues.
“While these are all issues addressed in the old committee, I am concerned that this new focus is an attempt to vilify the agriculture community, over-regulate the industry, and serve as a political platform rather than a vehicle of policy reform,” says Maldonado.
PRESS RELEASE
Sacramento, CA - California State Senator Abel Maldonado, who for the past two years has served as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee was ousted from the committee for criticizing the Democratic leadership. Other legislators and the public have criticized the California state legislature for being bipartisanship while trying to address an impeding budget solution. The Senate President Pro Tem’s approach to legislative management has included petty posturing and punishment while the state’s budget crisis grows deeper each day.
“Unfortunately, the new Senate President Pro Tem ousted me as Chairman from the committee because I criticized him for allowing legislators to continue taking per diem during this ongoing budget crisis,” said Maldonado, the lone Hispanic Republican. “Since the Pro Tem determines when members receive per diem and who serves as Chairpersons of committees, it is no surprise that I was ousted for my criticisms.”
In addition to punishing Maldonado, the President Pro Tem gave the Agriculture Committee a makeover and is now called the Food and Agriculture Committee. According to the Pro Tem and the new Chairman, this new committee will focus on food safety and environmental issues related to the agriculture community as well. During Maldonado’s tenure as Chairman, the committee held hearings on a variety of important issues, including food labeling, biofuels, carbon credits for farmers and a wide range of other issues.
“While these are all issues addressed in the old committee, I am concerned that this new focus is an attempt to vilify the agriculture community, over-regulate the industry, and serve as a political platform rather than a vehicle of policy reform,” says Maldonado.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Latinos take issues to state capitol in Minnesota
Latinos make themselves heard at State Capitol
KARE 11 NEWS
As Minnesota's fastest growing ethnic group, Latinos want to make their presence known with state lawmakers.
That was the point of the Latino Legislative Day at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, sponsored by the Chicano Latino Affairs Council. After a formal program in the Rotunda the crowd broke into smaller groups to go visit legislators.
"We're all in this boat together," explained council member Mario Vargas, "When we address the needs of the Latino community we're helping all Minnesotans."
The Council's legislative agenda will focus on health care and education, and the point of meetings with those who will make the laws and craft budgets this this.
"We're really promoting a flat tuition rate for the state's colleges and universities," council member Antonio Lizano explained, "It's worked well at several community colleges and we'd like to see that concept expanded."
Another aim of the people who gathered under the dome today was to project a positive story of the contributions Latinos make to Minnesota's economy, both inside cities and in rural areas.
"We have been in this state for decades and decades," Vargas said, "We've been working hard and building communities."
KARE 11 NEWS
As Minnesota's fastest growing ethnic group, Latinos want to make their presence known with state lawmakers.
That was the point of the Latino Legislative Day at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, sponsored by the Chicano Latino Affairs Council. After a formal program in the Rotunda the crowd broke into smaller groups to go visit legislators.
"We're all in this boat together," explained council member Mario Vargas, "When we address the needs of the Latino community we're helping all Minnesotans."
The Council's legislative agenda will focus on health care and education, and the point of meetings with those who will make the laws and craft budgets this this.
"We're really promoting a flat tuition rate for the state's colleges and universities," council member Antonio Lizano explained, "It's worked well at several community colleges and we'd like to see that concept expanded."
Another aim of the people who gathered under the dome today was to project a positive story of the contributions Latinos make to Minnesota's economy, both inside cities and in rural areas.
"We have been in this state for decades and decades," Vargas said, "We've been working hard and building communities."
Latino hate crime worry community leaders
Hate crime, vandalism worry Mountain View leaders
By Jessie Mangaliman Mercury News 01/21/2009
A spate of seemingly unrelated incidents in Mountain View — a vandalized school sign; middle school students chased down a street by BB gun wielding teens; a neighbor unhappy about Latino day laborers; and more recently, an e-mail peppered with racial insults directed at the new mayor — has rattled officials and leaders of a city that views itself as a model of diversity.
Days before she was sworn in to office, Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga, the city's first Asian-American female mayor, received e-mail through her public City Hall address. "I can't believe this city elected a stupid Asian-American like you," Abe-Koga quoted from the unsigned e-mail, which went on to blame undocumented immigrants for the country's economic woes.
"It didn't surprise me," said the Harvard University graduate Abe-Koga. "But I was angry."
The day she took office Jan. 6, Abe-Koga, 38, condemned the recent incidents that occurred weeks apart late last year, and referred to the e-mail she received.
"To remain silent was something I couldn't do," Abe-Koga said. "This is not what we're about. We need to come together."
Abe-Koga has joined a growing chorus of city leaders and community groups who say the incidents may be isolated, but a forceful, vocal response is the best defense against a worrisome trend that "something is brewing" in Mountain View.
"It's happening to middle school students. It's happening to the mayor," said Oscar Garcia, president and co-founder of Mesa de la Comunidad, a local education and advocacy group for Latinos. "The community needs to know it's happening at all levels."
Garcia is teaming up with Alicia Crank, a former city human relations commissioner, the police department and other community leaders to plan a "Not In Our Town" gathering, an event named after a 1995 film documentary about the unequivocal response by residents of Billings, Mont., against white supremacists. A similar gathering was held in Newark in 2003, a year after the killing of a transgender teenager.
"We need to ask where this is coming from," Crank said. "There's something there that needs to be exposed so we can move past it." The event has not been scheduled.
The first incident was reported the day after the November election. Garcia's wife was driving past an empty lot festooned with all sorts of candidate campaign signs. One sign stood out. "No More Aliens" was stenciled in red across a Spanish sign about school registration.
"To me it was a deliberate attempt to intimidate the Latino community," Garcia said. "To me, the message was, 'Anyone who speaks Spanish, you're not welcome here.' "
Also sometime in November, day laborers at the Mountain View Day Worker Center's old office on Escuela Avenue were confronted and reportedly intimidated by an apparently disgruntled neighbor unhappy about the immigrant workers.
"There's a lot fear," said Maria Marroquin, executive director the day worker center, which is now located near downtown Mountain View. "There's a lot of ignorance."
On Dec. 5, three white teens, ages 14 and 15, were arrested by police and charged with hate crimes, making criminal threats, brandishing a replica firearm and conspiracy to commit a felony. One of the 15-year-olds was also charged with possession of marijuana. The cases are pending in juvenile court and the identities of the teens were not released by police.
According to police, four 11-year-old Latino students were walking home from school. As they walked, the teens shouted racial comments from the open window of a house and threatened to kill the students. Then the teens chased the students down the street.
In an interview with the Mercury News, Abe-Koga, the daughter of Japanese immigrants, disclosed another incident in December. As she and her 7-year-old daughter were walking from Castro Elementary School, a group of Latino boys began talking. She said she realized later that the boys were doing a racial taunt, speaking mock Chinese.
"I just felt sadness," she said. "Maybe there's no connection between these incidents, but I want people to be aware of this problem."
Contact Jessie Mangaliman at jmangaliman@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5794.
By Jessie Mangaliman Mercury News 01/21/2009
A spate of seemingly unrelated incidents in Mountain View — a vandalized school sign; middle school students chased down a street by BB gun wielding teens; a neighbor unhappy about Latino day laborers; and more recently, an e-mail peppered with racial insults directed at the new mayor — has rattled officials and leaders of a city that views itself as a model of diversity.
Days before she was sworn in to office, Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga, the city's first Asian-American female mayor, received e-mail through her public City Hall address. "I can't believe this city elected a stupid Asian-American like you," Abe-Koga quoted from the unsigned e-mail, which went on to blame undocumented immigrants for the country's economic woes.
"It didn't surprise me," said the Harvard University graduate Abe-Koga. "But I was angry."
The day she took office Jan. 6, Abe-Koga, 38, condemned the recent incidents that occurred weeks apart late last year, and referred to the e-mail she received.
"To remain silent was something I couldn't do," Abe-Koga said. "This is not what we're about. We need to come together."
Abe-Koga has joined a growing chorus of city leaders and community groups who say the incidents may be isolated, but a forceful, vocal response is the best defense against a worrisome trend that "something is brewing" in Mountain View.
"It's happening to middle school students. It's happening to the mayor," said Oscar Garcia, president and co-founder of Mesa de la Comunidad, a local education and advocacy group for Latinos. "The community needs to know it's happening at all levels."
Garcia is teaming up with Alicia Crank, a former city human relations commissioner, the police department and other community leaders to plan a "Not In Our Town" gathering, an event named after a 1995 film documentary about the unequivocal response by residents of Billings, Mont., against white supremacists. A similar gathering was held in Newark in 2003, a year after the killing of a transgender teenager.
"We need to ask where this is coming from," Crank said. "There's something there that needs to be exposed so we can move past it." The event has not been scheduled.
The first incident was reported the day after the November election. Garcia's wife was driving past an empty lot festooned with all sorts of candidate campaign signs. One sign stood out. "No More Aliens" was stenciled in red across a Spanish sign about school registration.
"To me it was a deliberate attempt to intimidate the Latino community," Garcia said. "To me, the message was, 'Anyone who speaks Spanish, you're not welcome here.' "
Also sometime in November, day laborers at the Mountain View Day Worker Center's old office on Escuela Avenue were confronted and reportedly intimidated by an apparently disgruntled neighbor unhappy about the immigrant workers.
"There's a lot fear," said Maria Marroquin, executive director the day worker center, which is now located near downtown Mountain View. "There's a lot of ignorance."
On Dec. 5, three white teens, ages 14 and 15, were arrested by police and charged with hate crimes, making criminal threats, brandishing a replica firearm and conspiracy to commit a felony. One of the 15-year-olds was also charged with possession of marijuana. The cases are pending in juvenile court and the identities of the teens were not released by police.
According to police, four 11-year-old Latino students were walking home from school. As they walked, the teens shouted racial comments from the open window of a house and threatened to kill the students. Then the teens chased the students down the street.
In an interview with the Mercury News, Abe-Koga, the daughter of Japanese immigrants, disclosed another incident in December. As she and her 7-year-old daughter were walking from Castro Elementary School, a group of Latino boys began talking. She said she realized later that the boys were doing a racial taunt, speaking mock Chinese.
"I just felt sadness," she said. "Maybe there's no connection between these incidents, but I want people to be aware of this problem."
Contact Jessie Mangaliman at jmangaliman@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5794.
Latinas take oath for Commission post
Local Latino Leaders Take Oath of Office
WFMZ
Two local women have been sworn in to the Governor's Commission on Latino Affairs. Erlinda Aguiar and Teresa Donate took their oaths tonight in front of Judge Nancy Matos. Both Aguiar and Donate are serving their second terms on the commission. Aguir represents Lehigh County and Donate represents Northampton County. They say they can't wait to tackle issues in the Latino community like education, leadership and the economy. We know that information, knowledge is power and so that is one of the missions we have, to promote the important things in the Latino community.
Aguiar says she hopes to hold a public forum in the near future to hear from Latinos in the Lehigh Valley.
WFMZ
Two local women have been sworn in to the Governor's Commission on Latino Affairs. Erlinda Aguiar and Teresa Donate took their oaths tonight in front of Judge Nancy Matos. Both Aguiar and Donate are serving their second terms on the commission. Aguir represents Lehigh County and Donate represents Northampton County. They say they can't wait to tackle issues in the Latino community like education, leadership and the economy. We know that information, knowledge is power and so that is one of the missions we have, to promote the important things in the Latino community.
Aguiar says she hopes to hold a public forum in the near future to hear from Latinos in the Lehigh Valley.
Hispanic students facing approaching scholarship deadline
RMHC(R)/HACER(R) Scholarship Deadline Approaching for Hispanic High School Seniors
PRESS RELEASE
OAK BROOK, Ill., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Hispanic high school students graduating in 2009 are encouraged to apply for the Ronald McDonald House Charities(R)/Hispanic American Commitment to Education Resources (RMHC/HACER) Scholarship by the February 16, 2009 deadline. The application can be downloaded at www.MeEncanta.com or by visiting www.rmhc.org. High school counselors or college placement advisors can request applications by calling 1-866-851-3994.
Since 1985, RMHC/HACER has awarded more than $19.1 million in scholarships to nearly 13,000 Hispanic students in the U.S., becoming one of the nation's largest programs providing financial support for college-bound Hispanic high school seniors. Recipients are selected on the basis of academic achievement, financial need and community involvement and awards range from $1,000 up to $100,000.
In the latest expansion of the program, four RMHC/HACER national scholarships of $100,000 each were established to be awarded to deserving high school graduates starting in 2008.
"The RMHC/HACER scholarship has given me peace of mind that allows me to focus on my studies, not having to worry whether I will be able to afford a college education or not," said Brian Campos, winner of one of the 2008 national RMHC/HACER scholarships. "It is also a testament to my hard work during high school, one that I carry with pride everywhere I go. I am honored to be an RMHC/HACER scholar at Harvard University."
RMHC/HACER is a program of Ronald McDonald House Charities and its local chapters, which provide scholarships in several regions of the country. The program is supported through the efforts of McDonald's(R) owner/operators, local and national community leaders and individual donors.
In addition to supporting the scholarship program, McDonald's collaborates with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund to present an annual series of free, bilingual college workshops to provide students and their families with essential college preparation information to help students achieve their educational goals. The free workshops provide parents and students with extensive information regarding the college application process, including financial aid and how to apply for scholarships, including the RMHC/HACER scholarship. More information about the workshops is available at www.MeEncanta.com.
PRESS RELEASE
OAK BROOK, Ill., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Hispanic high school students graduating in 2009 are encouraged to apply for the Ronald McDonald House Charities(R)/Hispanic American Commitment to Education Resources (RMHC/HACER) Scholarship by the February 16, 2009 deadline. The application can be downloaded at www.MeEncanta.com or by visiting www.rmhc.org. High school counselors or college placement advisors can request applications by calling 1-866-851-3994.
Since 1985, RMHC/HACER has awarded more than $19.1 million in scholarships to nearly 13,000 Hispanic students in the U.S., becoming one of the nation's largest programs providing financial support for college-bound Hispanic high school seniors. Recipients are selected on the basis of academic achievement, financial need and community involvement and awards range from $1,000 up to $100,000.
In the latest expansion of the program, four RMHC/HACER national scholarships of $100,000 each were established to be awarded to deserving high school graduates starting in 2008.
"The RMHC/HACER scholarship has given me peace of mind that allows me to focus on my studies, not having to worry whether I will be able to afford a college education or not," said Brian Campos, winner of one of the 2008 national RMHC/HACER scholarships. "It is also a testament to my hard work during high school, one that I carry with pride everywhere I go. I am honored to be an RMHC/HACER scholar at Harvard University."
RMHC/HACER is a program of Ronald McDonald House Charities and its local chapters, which provide scholarships in several regions of the country. The program is supported through the efforts of McDonald's(R) owner/operators, local and national community leaders and individual donors.
In addition to supporting the scholarship program, McDonald's collaborates with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund to present an annual series of free, bilingual college workshops to provide students and their families with essential college preparation information to help students achieve their educational goals. The free workshops provide parents and students with extensive information regarding the college application process, including financial aid and how to apply for scholarships, including the RMHC/HACER scholarship. More information about the workshops is available at www.MeEncanta.com.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Hispanic trustee joins community college board
MVCC names first Hispanic trustee
By SARAH HAASE and JENNIFER EDWARDS Observer-Dispatch Jan 20, 2009
The Mohawk Valley Community College board of trustees officially welcomed its first Hispanic trustee this week.
Anthony J. Colòn, who was appointed to the post Dec. 30 by Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, now fills the last vacant seat on the board.
MVCC spokeswoman Joan Andrek said that to the best of her knowledge and according to college records dating to 1946, Colòn is the first Hispanic to serve as a trustee on the board.
“We are very delighted to welcome Mr. Colon to the board of trustees,” she said. “He is a trustee who represents diversity in his personal background that is very valuable to us.”
In an interview, Colòn pointed out that a student representative already on the board is also of Hispanic descent. But he said he was “very thrilled to be asked to serve.
“With that, just like President Obama, there is quite a challenge that now I face,” he said.
Colòn has been the president and owner of Techno-Logic Solutions since 1999, according to a college news release. The company provides bilingual interpreting and consulting services to a variety of business and community organizations.
Picente said that Colòn’s public involvement would be an asset in his new post.
“Colòn’s background of working in the community with youth is a benefit,” Picente said. “He is a great resource in the community.”
Colòn has held many leadership positions with organizations such as Oneida County Workforce Development, United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica, the Mohawk Valley Latino Association and Revolutionary Trails Council of Boy Scouts of America, according to the release.
Sonia Martinez, former president and a founder of the Mohawk Valley Latino Association, said Colòn also founded the association and “always thinks of the community.”
“It definitely shows that the community is showing the inclusiveness of all cultures,” Martinez said of the appointment. “I think it’s well-deserved.”
Colòn has been a resident of Utica for more than 20 years.
By SARAH HAASE and JENNIFER EDWARDS Observer-Dispatch Jan 20, 2009
The Mohawk Valley Community College board of trustees officially welcomed its first Hispanic trustee this week.
Anthony J. Colòn, who was appointed to the post Dec. 30 by Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, now fills the last vacant seat on the board.
MVCC spokeswoman Joan Andrek said that to the best of her knowledge and according to college records dating to 1946, Colòn is the first Hispanic to serve as a trustee on the board.
“We are very delighted to welcome Mr. Colon to the board of trustees,” she said. “He is a trustee who represents diversity in his personal background that is very valuable to us.”
In an interview, Colòn pointed out that a student representative already on the board is also of Hispanic descent. But he said he was “very thrilled to be asked to serve.
“With that, just like President Obama, there is quite a challenge that now I face,” he said.
Colòn has been the president and owner of Techno-Logic Solutions since 1999, according to a college news release. The company provides bilingual interpreting and consulting services to a variety of business and community organizations.
Picente said that Colòn’s public involvement would be an asset in his new post.
“Colòn’s background of working in the community with youth is a benefit,” Picente said. “He is a great resource in the community.”
Colòn has held many leadership positions with organizations such as Oneida County Workforce Development, United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica, the Mohawk Valley Latino Association and Revolutionary Trails Council of Boy Scouts of America, according to the release.
Sonia Martinez, former president and a founder of the Mohawk Valley Latino Association, said Colòn also founded the association and “always thinks of the community.”
“It definitely shows that the community is showing the inclusiveness of all cultures,” Martinez said of the appointment. “I think it’s well-deserved.”
Colòn has been a resident of Utica for more than 20 years.
Young Latino activists recognized
A salute to a younger generation of Latino activists
By Beth Young Jan 20
Six years after activist Isabel Sepulveda de Scanlon started the Organizacion Latino Americana, a support group for Latino residents, she’s hoping a younger generation of activists who’ve grown up in East Hampton will succeed in creating an affiliated support group for Latino youth.
OLA YG—the YG stands for Younger Generation—will hold a kickoff party this coming Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Town Line BBQ on Montauk Highway in Sagaponack. The $15 entry fee includes food from La Fondita, soft drinks and music.
Ms. Sepulveda de Scanlon said this week that she was thrilled that a core group of five talented young people—all of whom are either leaders in their high schools or are embarking on promising careers in the United States—have stepped up to work on Latino issues here.
The group’s founders include Isabel and Natalia Saavedra. Isabel is a 2006 graduate of East Hampton High School, now in her junior year at SUNY Westbury, who just began an internship with Amnesty International in Washington, D.C. She plans to become an immigration and human rights lawyer. Her sister Natalia is a senior at East Hampton High School and hopes to study international relations or political science.
Another founder, Ross School senior Johanna Saldana, just went to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration with the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. Arlette Flores, a 2006 graduate of East Hampton High School, who is working in order to save money for college, and Cornell student and East Hampton High School graduate Paul Munez round out the group.
Natalia Saavedra, whose parents came to the United States from Colombia legally 10 and a half years ago, spent most of her teenage years watching her parents struggle to become residents after losing their visas. She said that their struggle led her to want to work to help other Latinos on the East End.
“There were so many injustices along the way,” she said. “In high school, I would see Latinos not getting along with whites, and the relationship they had made me want to help out.”
She and her sister met Isabel Sepulveda de Scanlon while volunteering at events for presidential candidate Barack Obama last year, and, shortly thereafter, proposed the idea for an OLA group for younger people.
“There are so many things we want to do want to get the Latino population excited about something so they can join the community a lot more,” said Ms. Saavedra, who is working both on the kick-off party as well as an immigration forum. she’s working on that with State Assemblyman Fred Thiele and Congressman Tim Bishop and it will be held next Tuesday, January 27, at 6 p.m. at the meeting room in the Bridgehampton National Bank headquarters on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton.
She said that one of the biggest challenges that she sees younger Latinos face is their parents’ inability to offer help with college preparations. She said that many parents are too busy working and may be frightened because they didn’t come to the country legally.
“Most immigrants come here for a better education or leave their country because they’re having trouble back in their country,” she said. “They get here and are so overwhelmed with work that they don’t have time for their kids or to help out with the next step of going on to college.”
Arlette Flores agreed. “A lot of immigrants are scared to go to college, being here illegally. But they can go,” she said.
“These are just ideas. We would love to have some type of meeting place. The only real meeting place is the YMCA. I would love to have a place where people can talk and hang out and share cultures,” said Ms. Saavedra.
Their first chance to do that will happen this Sunday afternoon.
By Beth Young Jan 20
Six years after activist Isabel Sepulveda de Scanlon started the Organizacion Latino Americana, a support group for Latino residents, she’s hoping a younger generation of activists who’ve grown up in East Hampton will succeed in creating an affiliated support group for Latino youth.
OLA YG—the YG stands for Younger Generation—will hold a kickoff party this coming Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Town Line BBQ on Montauk Highway in Sagaponack. The $15 entry fee includes food from La Fondita, soft drinks and music.
Ms. Sepulveda de Scanlon said this week that she was thrilled that a core group of five talented young people—all of whom are either leaders in their high schools or are embarking on promising careers in the United States—have stepped up to work on Latino issues here.
The group’s founders include Isabel and Natalia Saavedra. Isabel is a 2006 graduate of East Hampton High School, now in her junior year at SUNY Westbury, who just began an internship with Amnesty International in Washington, D.C. She plans to become an immigration and human rights lawyer. Her sister Natalia is a senior at East Hampton High School and hopes to study international relations or political science.
Another founder, Ross School senior Johanna Saldana, just went to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration with the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. Arlette Flores, a 2006 graduate of East Hampton High School, who is working in order to save money for college, and Cornell student and East Hampton High School graduate Paul Munez round out the group.
Natalia Saavedra, whose parents came to the United States from Colombia legally 10 and a half years ago, spent most of her teenage years watching her parents struggle to become residents after losing their visas. She said that their struggle led her to want to work to help other Latinos on the East End.
“There were so many injustices along the way,” she said. “In high school, I would see Latinos not getting along with whites, and the relationship they had made me want to help out.”
She and her sister met Isabel Sepulveda de Scanlon while volunteering at events for presidential candidate Barack Obama last year, and, shortly thereafter, proposed the idea for an OLA group for younger people.
“There are so many things we want to do want to get the Latino population excited about something so they can join the community a lot more,” said Ms. Saavedra, who is working both on the kick-off party as well as an immigration forum. she’s working on that with State Assemblyman Fred Thiele and Congressman Tim Bishop and it will be held next Tuesday, January 27, at 6 p.m. at the meeting room in the Bridgehampton National Bank headquarters on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton.
She said that one of the biggest challenges that she sees younger Latinos face is their parents’ inability to offer help with college preparations. She said that many parents are too busy working and may be frightened because they didn’t come to the country legally.
“Most immigrants come here for a better education or leave their country because they’re having trouble back in their country,” she said. “They get here and are so overwhelmed with work that they don’t have time for their kids or to help out with the next step of going on to college.”
Arlette Flores agreed. “A lot of immigrants are scared to go to college, being here illegally. But they can go,” she said.
“These are just ideas. We would love to have some type of meeting place. The only real meeting place is the YMCA. I would love to have a place where people can talk and hang out and share cultures,” said Ms. Saavedra.
Their first chance to do that will happen this Sunday afternoon.
Hispanic program shares immigrant plight
Hispanic program travels immigration road
By Sharon Roznik • The Reporter • January 20, 2009
Fond du Lac is a far cry from Houston, Texas, said Gabriela Delatorre.
"Here, people lead simple lives with many values. They are easy-going and family-oriented," said the owner, along with her husband, Paco, of Contorno Surfaces on North Main Street.
The couple moved from the Southwest to Wisconsin in 2004 despite protests from their three children, who balked at leaving school and friends.
"Now, they tell me they love it here and never want to go back," Delatorre said. "Everyone has, truthfully, been welcoming and friendly."
The couple joined with other Hispanics in sharing their personal stories with the community this month at "Hola!," a four-part discussion series on Hispanic/Latino experiences. This Thursday's topic, "Traveling the Road to Fond du Lac," will delve into the complexities of the immigration process and how people from other countries come to live in Fond du Lac.
The programs begin at 7 p.m. at the Fond du Lac Public Library, 32 Sheboygan St.
As a U.S. citizen, Delatorre said she has taken it upon herself to share her knowledge with others and set a good example.
"We feel blessed, but not all Hispanics can come here and open a business like we did. They may not have the same experience," she pointed out.
Many among the Hispanic population in Fond du Lac work long hours, with time left only for sleeping and eating, she said. They flee Mexico in search of employment and gladly take on local jobs that nobody else wants.
She shares a story told to her by a Hispanic friend who is employed on a nearby farm.
"He got into an accident and couldn't work anymore, and his boss told him he had to hire three people just to do his job," Delatorre said.
The promise of work draws Mexican citizens into participation in the U.S. Guest Worker Program. Through their country's consulate, interested persons can sign up to work at companies in the United States that are looking for laborers. Initiated in 2004 by President Bush, the program was designed as a means of bringing much-needed labor into the country. Locally, Quad/Graphics in Lomira is an example of a business utilizing the program.
Once foreign-born people are in the country, it may be easier for them to become immigrants if they can retain employment, but the process is fraught with legalities, said Diana Tscheschlok, community development educator at the University of Wisconsin-Extension in Fond du Lac. She is also one of Thursday's presenters.
"It can take several years for a person to work their way from having a visa to becoming a legal, permanent resident and finally a citizen," she said. "A lot of time people think if you get hired here by a company or marry a citizen, it's straightforward, but it's very complicated."
Statistics
Tscheschlok provided the following local Hispanic statistics:
# According to 2007 population figures, 1,864 people living in Fond du Lac County were foreign-born and of that number, 1,069 were U.S. citizens.
# Out of the 1,069, 493 entered the community sometime after 2000.
# The 2000 census indicates 35.7 percent of Fond du Lac County's foreign-born population comes from Latin American countries.
# Out of 1,954 people living in Spanish-speaking households, 760 spoke English less than "very well."
# Statewide, 4.4 percent of the population is foreign-born (compared to 12.5 percent nationally).
# Top countries of origin for Wisconsin immigrants are Mexico, Laos and Germany.
The availability of immigration to an individual can depend on factors that include country of origin, family members and reasons for coming to the United States, Tscheschlok noted.
"People always ask, 'Why can't people just come here legally?' but it's by no means simple or clear cut," she explained.
In Gabriela Delatorre's case, her father moved the family from Mexico City to Texas decades ago. He operated an import/export business, bringing in groceries from Mexico.
"My dad wanted us to learn English, and we were supposed to only go for a year, but it turned into 20 years," she said.
Active in the Hispanic community at Holy Family Catholic Parish, Delatorre helps others become residents of the county and aids in various necessities like translating, making doctor appointments, job searching and learning how to open a bank account.
"I tell them that this country is full of opportunity if they are willing to learn how to live here. I am grateful I was able to become a citizen," Delatorre said.
By Sharon Roznik • The Reporter • January 20, 2009
Fond du Lac is a far cry from Houston, Texas, said Gabriela Delatorre.
"Here, people lead simple lives with many values. They are easy-going and family-oriented," said the owner, along with her husband, Paco, of Contorno Surfaces on North Main Street.
The couple moved from the Southwest to Wisconsin in 2004 despite protests from their three children, who balked at leaving school and friends.
"Now, they tell me they love it here and never want to go back," Delatorre said. "Everyone has, truthfully, been welcoming and friendly."
The couple joined with other Hispanics in sharing their personal stories with the community this month at "Hola!," a four-part discussion series on Hispanic/Latino experiences. This Thursday's topic, "Traveling the Road to Fond du Lac," will delve into the complexities of the immigration process and how people from other countries come to live in Fond du Lac.
The programs begin at 7 p.m. at the Fond du Lac Public Library, 32 Sheboygan St.
As a U.S. citizen, Delatorre said she has taken it upon herself to share her knowledge with others and set a good example.
"We feel blessed, but not all Hispanics can come here and open a business like we did. They may not have the same experience," she pointed out.
Many among the Hispanic population in Fond du Lac work long hours, with time left only for sleeping and eating, she said. They flee Mexico in search of employment and gladly take on local jobs that nobody else wants.
She shares a story told to her by a Hispanic friend who is employed on a nearby farm.
"He got into an accident and couldn't work anymore, and his boss told him he had to hire three people just to do his job," Delatorre said.
The promise of work draws Mexican citizens into participation in the U.S. Guest Worker Program. Through their country's consulate, interested persons can sign up to work at companies in the United States that are looking for laborers. Initiated in 2004 by President Bush, the program was designed as a means of bringing much-needed labor into the country. Locally, Quad/Graphics in Lomira is an example of a business utilizing the program.
Once foreign-born people are in the country, it may be easier for them to become immigrants if they can retain employment, but the process is fraught with legalities, said Diana Tscheschlok, community development educator at the University of Wisconsin-Extension in Fond du Lac. She is also one of Thursday's presenters.
"It can take several years for a person to work their way from having a visa to becoming a legal, permanent resident and finally a citizen," she said. "A lot of time people think if you get hired here by a company or marry a citizen, it's straightforward, but it's very complicated."
Statistics
Tscheschlok provided the following local Hispanic statistics:
# According to 2007 population figures, 1,864 people living in Fond du Lac County were foreign-born and of that number, 1,069 were U.S. citizens.
# Out of the 1,069, 493 entered the community sometime after 2000.
# The 2000 census indicates 35.7 percent of Fond du Lac County's foreign-born population comes from Latin American countries.
# Out of 1,954 people living in Spanish-speaking households, 760 spoke English less than "very well."
# Statewide, 4.4 percent of the population is foreign-born (compared to 12.5 percent nationally).
# Top countries of origin for Wisconsin immigrants are Mexico, Laos and Germany.
The availability of immigration to an individual can depend on factors that include country of origin, family members and reasons for coming to the United States, Tscheschlok noted.
"People always ask, 'Why can't people just come here legally?' but it's by no means simple or clear cut," she explained.
In Gabriela Delatorre's case, her father moved the family from Mexico City to Texas decades ago. He operated an import/export business, bringing in groceries from Mexico.
"My dad wanted us to learn English, and we were supposed to only go for a year, but it turned into 20 years," she said.
Active in the Hispanic community at Holy Family Catholic Parish, Delatorre helps others become residents of the county and aids in various necessities like translating, making doctor appointments, job searching and learning how to open a bank account.
"I tell them that this country is full of opportunity if they are willing to learn how to live here. I am grateful I was able to become a citizen," Delatorre said.
Hispanic perspective: Obama opens a door
A Hispanic perspective: Obama opens a door
by Victor Manuel Ramos Jan 20, 2009
I found a small gathering of Latinos who would be watching the Obama inauguration. They met today at Sazón 436, a Puerto Rican restaurant near Winter Park that is co-owned by activist Marytza Sanz and her husband Carlos Guzmán.
There weren't a lot of these events to go around among the area's Latinos. The Democratic Hispanic Caucus did not host any inaugural gathering and several owners of popular Latino restaurants along Semoran Boulevard wondered what I meant when I asked if they would be showing the inauguration.
The pause some took before answering seemed to be a way of saying: It's not like it's a soccer game or a boxing match.
Sanz and Guzmán were watching it with their daughters anyway. Word got out and a few more arrived.
About ten people had gathered to watch the live stream, which after some technical difficulties they projected from a laptop onto a larger screen in the restaurant. The chef cooked red snapper.
"This is the kind of event that you want to watch in a group," said Omar Cestero, a 32-year-old entrepreneur from east Orlando who was there. "It's like you want to be part of history because there will be a new way of thinking" in the White House.
They applauded every time Obama hit the high points in his speech. They commented in English and Spanish. They stood at the end of the address, as if to give a standing ovation.
At one point, Sanz turned to Elías 'Rico' Piccard, another local activist at the gathering, and told him that Obama had just "opened the path for us Latinos" to aspire to high political office.
Then she doubted. "Right, Rico?"
Piccard did not hesitate: "Yeah, he did, pa' los nietos."
Yes, he was saying, Obama opened the door -- for their grandchildren's generation.
by Victor Manuel Ramos Jan 20, 2009
I found a small gathering of Latinos who would be watching the Obama inauguration. They met today at Sazón 436, a Puerto Rican restaurant near Winter Park that is co-owned by activist Marytza Sanz and her husband Carlos Guzmán.
There weren't a lot of these events to go around among the area's Latinos. The Democratic Hispanic Caucus did not host any inaugural gathering and several owners of popular Latino restaurants along Semoran Boulevard wondered what I meant when I asked if they would be showing the inauguration.
The pause some took before answering seemed to be a way of saying: It's not like it's a soccer game or a boxing match.
Sanz and Guzmán were watching it with their daughters anyway. Word got out and a few more arrived.
About ten people had gathered to watch the live stream, which after some technical difficulties they projected from a laptop onto a larger screen in the restaurant. The chef cooked red snapper.
"This is the kind of event that you want to watch in a group," said Omar Cestero, a 32-year-old entrepreneur from east Orlando who was there. "It's like you want to be part of history because there will be a new way of thinking" in the White House.
They applauded every time Obama hit the high points in his speech. They commented in English and Spanish. They stood at the end of the address, as if to give a standing ovation.
At one point, Sanz turned to Elías 'Rico' Piccard, another local activist at the gathering, and told him that Obama had just "opened the path for us Latinos" to aspire to high political office.
Then she doubted. "Right, Rico?"
Piccard did not hesitate: "Yeah, he did, pa' los nietos."
Yes, he was saying, Obama opened the door -- for their grandchildren's generation.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Latinos optimistic about Obama
Latino optimism guarded
Avenue of access crucial to getting Hispanic issues on Obama agenda
by James E. Garcia - Jan. 20, 2009 The Arizona Republic
A local bilingual publication recently featured a cover illustration of Barack Obama with a headline that posed a provocative if indelicate question: "Could he be a Santa Claus for us?"
The "us" referred to the American Latino community.
The short answer to that question is "no." Latinos will not wake up Wednesday and find a pile of shimmering, gift-wrapped public-policy initiatives that will suddenly make everything all right. Politics, like life, doesn't work that way.
The question that we should ask ourselves is whether Obama will routinely take into account the needs and interests of Latinos as he pursues his administration's already-crowded agenda.
To that question, I offer an enthusiastic if indelicate "probably."
I don't mean to sound cynical, but these times demand a certain guarded optimism. For one thing - and I hope you're sitting down - politicians don't always keep their promises.
For the record, here's some of what Obama pledged to Latino voters during the campaign: more jobs; economic stability; middle class tax cuts; worker protections; a quick end to the Iraq War; greater access to affordable health care; more investment in public education; broader access to higher education; and an immigration reform plan that penalizes employers who hire illegal immigrants and provides millions of undocumented immigrants with a path to citizenship.
If a lot of that sounds like the pledges he made to most of the nation's voters, there's a good reason for that: most American Latinos are not unlike most Americans. We tend to care about the same basic issues. We just happen to care in slightly different ways.
Consider the following: Latinos are among the least likely to have health insurance. Our young people quit high school at alarmingly high rates. During economic downturns, Latinos often are the first to lose their jobs and the last to be rehired. The rate of foreclosures among Latino homeowners since 2006 was 6.7 per 1,000 homes, compared with the national average of 4.5 per 1,000, according to a recent report published in the Wall Street Journal.
The key to ensuring that the so-called American Latino agenda is part of the Obama's White House agenda will depend on our ability to gain and maintain access to the new president. Obama's announced nominations to his cabinet were a good start. U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis and Gov. Bill Richardson were picked to lead the Interior, Labor and Commerce departments respectively, though Richardson withdrew his name in the wake of an investigation into improper business dealings in in New Mexico.
Other key appointments include the selection of Cecilia Munoz, one of the smartest policy wonks in Washington, as White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Our access to the president also is secured by the fact that the Obama team will not soon forget the important role Latinos played in electing the new president. In Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico - states that all went for George Bush in 2004 - Latino voters helped decide the win for Obama. Nationwide, two-thirds of Latino voters picked Obama. And experts say Latino voters will account for a growing percentage of overall voter turnout nationwide in the years to come.
American Latinos have earned a role in the White House decisions that determine our nation's future. In 2010, will Latino voters look back and say that Obama kept his promises?
To that question, I offer an enthusiastic if indelicate "I hope so."
James E. Garcia is a journalist and senior research fellow at the ASU Center for Community Development and Civil Rights. Reach Garcia at james.garcia@asu.edu.
Avenue of access crucial to getting Hispanic issues on Obama agenda
by James E. Garcia - Jan. 20, 2009 The Arizona Republic
A local bilingual publication recently featured a cover illustration of Barack Obama with a headline that posed a provocative if indelicate question: "Could he be a Santa Claus for us?"
The "us" referred to the American Latino community.
The short answer to that question is "no." Latinos will not wake up Wednesday and find a pile of shimmering, gift-wrapped public-policy initiatives that will suddenly make everything all right. Politics, like life, doesn't work that way.
The question that we should ask ourselves is whether Obama will routinely take into account the needs and interests of Latinos as he pursues his administration's already-crowded agenda.
To that question, I offer an enthusiastic if indelicate "probably."
I don't mean to sound cynical, but these times demand a certain guarded optimism. For one thing - and I hope you're sitting down - politicians don't always keep their promises.
For the record, here's some of what Obama pledged to Latino voters during the campaign: more jobs; economic stability; middle class tax cuts; worker protections; a quick end to the Iraq War; greater access to affordable health care; more investment in public education; broader access to higher education; and an immigration reform plan that penalizes employers who hire illegal immigrants and provides millions of undocumented immigrants with a path to citizenship.
If a lot of that sounds like the pledges he made to most of the nation's voters, there's a good reason for that: most American Latinos are not unlike most Americans. We tend to care about the same basic issues. We just happen to care in slightly different ways.
Consider the following: Latinos are among the least likely to have health insurance. Our young people quit high school at alarmingly high rates. During economic downturns, Latinos often are the first to lose their jobs and the last to be rehired. The rate of foreclosures among Latino homeowners since 2006 was 6.7 per 1,000 homes, compared with the national average of 4.5 per 1,000, according to a recent report published in the Wall Street Journal.
The key to ensuring that the so-called American Latino agenda is part of the Obama's White House agenda will depend on our ability to gain and maintain access to the new president. Obama's announced nominations to his cabinet were a good start. U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis and Gov. Bill Richardson were picked to lead the Interior, Labor and Commerce departments respectively, though Richardson withdrew his name in the wake of an investigation into improper business dealings in in New Mexico.
Other key appointments include the selection of Cecilia Munoz, one of the smartest policy wonks in Washington, as White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Our access to the president also is secured by the fact that the Obama team will not soon forget the important role Latinos played in electing the new president. In Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico - states that all went for George Bush in 2004 - Latino voters helped decide the win for Obama. Nationwide, two-thirds of Latino voters picked Obama. And experts say Latino voters will account for a growing percentage of overall voter turnout nationwide in the years to come.
American Latinos have earned a role in the White House decisions that determine our nation's future. In 2010, will Latino voters look back and say that Obama kept his promises?
To that question, I offer an enthusiastic if indelicate "I hope so."
James E. Garcia is a journalist and senior research fellow at the ASU Center for Community Development and Civil Rights. Reach Garcia at james.garcia@asu.edu.
Hispanic, White acceptance of Obama grows
In McCain Country, Acceptance of Obama Grows
Brandi Simons for The New York Times January 19, 2009
TULSA, Okla. — “I voted for John McCain and still would,” said Tim Driskill, in a flatly drawled declaration of certainty that still speaks for many in this place underwhelmed last November by the charms of Barack Obama, then the Democratic nominee for president.
Not a single county in Oklahoma stirred from the orderly phalanx marching behind Mr. McCain, the senator from Arizona who was the Republican nominee, and Mr. Driskill, the owner of an insurance agency in downtown Tulsa, said he was proud to be in those ranks. Statewide, two out of three voters supported Mr. McCain, the highest percentage in the nation.
But that staunchly Republican, conservative Oklahoma is harder to find now. While there are countless Mr. Driskills here — and hardly anyone doubts that Mr. McCain would easily win again in a redo of the vote — there are also new fractures and fault lines as some voters have shifted toward accepting what the rest of the country wrought in giving Mr. Obama a lopsided victory.
In interviews in the week leading up to Mr. Obama’s inauguration, many people here said a tolerant spirit toward his presidency has been hastened, paradoxically, by some of the same groups that voted mostly Republican in the election. Those include active or former military personnel, and people who identify themselves as evangelical Christians, two groups with traditions of respecting hierarchical order and strong leadership.
“Oklahomans understand and respect the elections process,” said Chris Benge, a Republican from Tulsa who serves as speaker of the Oklahoma House. “Once the president has been determined, the vast majority of people are willing to get behind him.”
That does not mean, Mr. Benge said, that Mr. Obama has won Oklahomans over, but only that the campaign season has ended. Do not look for Mr. Benge at any inaugural parties. He said he would be watching what he could of the ceremonies on television in his office between meetings.
But some people have, in fact, changed their minds. Leonard Nelson, 63, a 23-year veteran of both the Army and the Navy, said he had voted for Mr. McCain mainly through military fealty, believing that Mr. McCain’s own military record would make him a better commander in chief.
“But I’ve come to think the better man won,” said Mr. Nelson, owner of the Humidor Cigar Shop, an aromatic haven of pipes, blended tobaccos and customers on a first-name basis. Mr. Nelson said that Mr. Obama, through his cabinet selections, sent a signal of centrist government intention that feels all right to him.
Mr. Nelson’s customers like Cliff A. Stark, a lawyer and pipe smoker, were more representative of the spirit of pained resignation that is common here. “It’s just something you can’t do anything about,” Mr. Stark said.
At one of the city’s biggest evangelical megachurches, Victory Christian Center, with 17,000 members, there were also mixed messages of enthusiasm.
The church’s pastor and founder, Billy Joe Daugherty, said that the selection of the Rev. Rick Warren, a prominent evangelical minister from California, to give the inaugural invocation went a long way to easing fears in Mr. Daugherty’s mostly conservative congregation about a liberal social agenda. Mr. Obama’s selection of Mr. Warren has been denounced by many gay rights advocates and other liberal groups.
“What I’m sensing from Obama in making the choice he did — he’s saying to all groups, ‘Why don’t we come together?’ ” Mr. Daugherty said in an interview.
Inauguration Day, though, will be mostly business as usual. The 5th through 12th graders at Victory Christian Center will watch the ceremony on a big screen, but Mr. Daugherty said he would be traveling. Church staff members might watch in their offices, he said.
To be sure, Oklahoma remains subtly distinct from the national pattern. The state unemployment rate, while up almost a percentage point from where it stood in the fall, is still well below the national average. And the state budget, for the moment, is running a surplus.
Gun sellers have also prospered, marketing the notion that the Obama administration might try to tighten rules on gun ownership. What had been a monthly gun show near downtown has been held twice a month since November.
But an economy that looked solid enough two months ago to feel insulated — or at least not shaky enough to nudge many voters toward the idea of changing party control of the White House — has also shivered since then in the chill breeze of recession.
Ron Green saw a change in mid-November. Sales at the downtown deli owned by his wife, Susan, called The Greens on Boulder, dropped 30 percent in one week, compared with the previous year. “Business fell off a cliff,” said Mr. Green, who pitches in at lunch.
In conservations with customers, he said he had heard more business people agree lately that an Obama stimulus plan was sounding pretty good for the city.
Some black people here say their racial anxiety has heightened since the election, an ill-defined uneasiness they feel in mixed-race situations. With 380,000 residents, Tulsa is 70 percent white, 15 percent black and 7 percent Hispanic.
Princetta Rudd-Newman is living through that mix of hope and anxiety. She exults one minute over Mr. Obama’s election, she said, and frets the next over the future of the city she loves.
Her family has a long history here — an uncle began one of Tulsa’s oldest black-owned businesses, a funeral home, in 1917 — and Ms. Rudd-Newman has been trying this month to organize an inauguration party in the city’s historically black north end. But the money has not been coming in, especially at the $150-a-ticket Patriot level, pitched to local white-dominated corporations.
Ms. Rudd-Newman said she did not think it was about race. “It’s financial, in my perception,” she said. “It’s hard times.”
But it is also a time, for many people, to wait and see. The political debate over what might be has developed into more practical considerations about what can be done with the world as it is.
“Nothing’s changed,” said John Rittenoure, a software developer for Tulsa’s electric utility company, referring to his opinion of Mr. Obama. “But you’ve got to give the guy a chance, see what he can do.”
Brandi Simons for The New York Times January 19, 2009
TULSA, Okla. — “I voted for John McCain and still would,” said Tim Driskill, in a flatly drawled declaration of certainty that still speaks for many in this place underwhelmed last November by the charms of Barack Obama, then the Democratic nominee for president.
Not a single county in Oklahoma stirred from the orderly phalanx marching behind Mr. McCain, the senator from Arizona who was the Republican nominee, and Mr. Driskill, the owner of an insurance agency in downtown Tulsa, said he was proud to be in those ranks. Statewide, two out of three voters supported Mr. McCain, the highest percentage in the nation.
But that staunchly Republican, conservative Oklahoma is harder to find now. While there are countless Mr. Driskills here — and hardly anyone doubts that Mr. McCain would easily win again in a redo of the vote — there are also new fractures and fault lines as some voters have shifted toward accepting what the rest of the country wrought in giving Mr. Obama a lopsided victory.
In interviews in the week leading up to Mr. Obama’s inauguration, many people here said a tolerant spirit toward his presidency has been hastened, paradoxically, by some of the same groups that voted mostly Republican in the election. Those include active or former military personnel, and people who identify themselves as evangelical Christians, two groups with traditions of respecting hierarchical order and strong leadership.
“Oklahomans understand and respect the elections process,” said Chris Benge, a Republican from Tulsa who serves as speaker of the Oklahoma House. “Once the president has been determined, the vast majority of people are willing to get behind him.”
That does not mean, Mr. Benge said, that Mr. Obama has won Oklahomans over, but only that the campaign season has ended. Do not look for Mr. Benge at any inaugural parties. He said he would be watching what he could of the ceremonies on television in his office between meetings.
But some people have, in fact, changed their minds. Leonard Nelson, 63, a 23-year veteran of both the Army and the Navy, said he had voted for Mr. McCain mainly through military fealty, believing that Mr. McCain’s own military record would make him a better commander in chief.
“But I’ve come to think the better man won,” said Mr. Nelson, owner of the Humidor Cigar Shop, an aromatic haven of pipes, blended tobaccos and customers on a first-name basis. Mr. Nelson said that Mr. Obama, through his cabinet selections, sent a signal of centrist government intention that feels all right to him.
Mr. Nelson’s customers like Cliff A. Stark, a lawyer and pipe smoker, were more representative of the spirit of pained resignation that is common here. “It’s just something you can’t do anything about,” Mr. Stark said.
At one of the city’s biggest evangelical megachurches, Victory Christian Center, with 17,000 members, there were also mixed messages of enthusiasm.
The church’s pastor and founder, Billy Joe Daugherty, said that the selection of the Rev. Rick Warren, a prominent evangelical minister from California, to give the inaugural invocation went a long way to easing fears in Mr. Daugherty’s mostly conservative congregation about a liberal social agenda. Mr. Obama’s selection of Mr. Warren has been denounced by many gay rights advocates and other liberal groups.
“What I’m sensing from Obama in making the choice he did — he’s saying to all groups, ‘Why don’t we come together?’ ” Mr. Daugherty said in an interview.
Inauguration Day, though, will be mostly business as usual. The 5th through 12th graders at Victory Christian Center will watch the ceremony on a big screen, but Mr. Daugherty said he would be traveling. Church staff members might watch in their offices, he said.
To be sure, Oklahoma remains subtly distinct from the national pattern. The state unemployment rate, while up almost a percentage point from where it stood in the fall, is still well below the national average. And the state budget, for the moment, is running a surplus.
Gun sellers have also prospered, marketing the notion that the Obama administration might try to tighten rules on gun ownership. What had been a monthly gun show near downtown has been held twice a month since November.
But an economy that looked solid enough two months ago to feel insulated — or at least not shaky enough to nudge many voters toward the idea of changing party control of the White House — has also shivered since then in the chill breeze of recession.
Ron Green saw a change in mid-November. Sales at the downtown deli owned by his wife, Susan, called The Greens on Boulder, dropped 30 percent in one week, compared with the previous year. “Business fell off a cliff,” said Mr. Green, who pitches in at lunch.
In conservations with customers, he said he had heard more business people agree lately that an Obama stimulus plan was sounding pretty good for the city.
Some black people here say their racial anxiety has heightened since the election, an ill-defined uneasiness they feel in mixed-race situations. With 380,000 residents, Tulsa is 70 percent white, 15 percent black and 7 percent Hispanic.
Princetta Rudd-Newman is living through that mix of hope and anxiety. She exults one minute over Mr. Obama’s election, she said, and frets the next over the future of the city she loves.
Her family has a long history here — an uncle began one of Tulsa’s oldest black-owned businesses, a funeral home, in 1917 — and Ms. Rudd-Newman has been trying this month to organize an inauguration party in the city’s historically black north end. But the money has not been coming in, especially at the $150-a-ticket Patriot level, pitched to local white-dominated corporations.
Ms. Rudd-Newman said she did not think it was about race. “It’s financial, in my perception,” she said. “It’s hard times.”
But it is also a time, for many people, to wait and see. The political debate over what might be has developed into more practical considerations about what can be done with the world as it is.
“Nothing’s changed,” said John Rittenoure, a software developer for Tulsa’s electric utility company, referring to his opinion of Mr. Obama. “But you’ve got to give the guy a chance, see what he can do.”
Texas GOP alienates Latino Voters, again
Republicans' move to avoid Texas Senate rule upsets chamber's dynamics
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News tstutz@dallasnews.com January 16, 2009
AUSTIN – Was it worth it?
Senate GOP leaders may not have an answer to that question until the end of the legislative session, but it's clear their raw exercise of power this week to ensure passage of a new voter ID law – an issue close to the hearts of Republicans – has upset the dynamics in the usually staid chamber.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and other Republican leaders predicted that cooperation between the two parties would be quickly restored. But Democrats said their scars will probably stretch even into the 2011 session, when another politically charged issue comes into play: redrawing of House and Senate districts.
Democrats predicted that the Republican majority will again be tempted to set aside a long-standing Senate rule, that at least two-thirds of the members concur before any legislation can be taken up.
That's what happened Wednesday when the GOP majority – after heated debate with Democrats – exempted itself from the Senate rule to assure passage of a bill that would require Texans to show a photo ID before being allowed to vote. The bill has been killed in the past by Democrats relying on the Senate's two-thirds rule.
"When you can't win fairly, you manipulate the rules," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a San Antonio Democrat who leads the Senate Democratic Caucus.
"We have poisoned the well and set a tone ... that will do harm to our deliberations for the rest of the session – and for what?" she asked, referring to the belief of many lawmakers that a voter ID bill won't pass this year in the more evenly divided House.
The Republican who devised the maneuver, Sen. Tommy Williams of The Woodlands, played down the long-term effects of the hardball play.
Williams also denied Democratic complaints that he was acting at the behest of the Texas Republican Party and GOP activists.
"I have been under absolutely no pressure whatsoever from any Republican group to do this," said Williams, who easily won his primary contest last year.
The senator said he decided to bypass his Democratic colleagues because he saw no other way to get the proposal through.
"They said there was nothing we could do to make a voter ID bill acceptable to them," he said.
Williams and most Republicans contend that the voter ID law is needed to prevent fraud, while Democrats counter that it would discourage voting by senior citizens and minorities who tend to vote Democratic. Further, Democrats say, there is little evidence of illegal voting in Texas.
Approval of the voter ID bill could be a boost for Dewhurst, who fought hard for its passage two years ago. Dewhurst is expected to either run for re-election or seek Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison's U.S. Senate seat if she resigns to run for governor.
Dewhurst insisted that he had nothing to do with the Senate GOP initiative.
"I've been very, very careful to stay out of this process," he said. "These are the senators' rules, and I did not want to get involved."
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News tstutz@dallasnews.com January 16, 2009
AUSTIN – Was it worth it?
Senate GOP leaders may not have an answer to that question until the end of the legislative session, but it's clear their raw exercise of power this week to ensure passage of a new voter ID law – an issue close to the hearts of Republicans – has upset the dynamics in the usually staid chamber.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and other Republican leaders predicted that cooperation between the two parties would be quickly restored. But Democrats said their scars will probably stretch even into the 2011 session, when another politically charged issue comes into play: redrawing of House and Senate districts.
Democrats predicted that the Republican majority will again be tempted to set aside a long-standing Senate rule, that at least two-thirds of the members concur before any legislation can be taken up.
That's what happened Wednesday when the GOP majority – after heated debate with Democrats – exempted itself from the Senate rule to assure passage of a bill that would require Texans to show a photo ID before being allowed to vote. The bill has been killed in the past by Democrats relying on the Senate's two-thirds rule.
"When you can't win fairly, you manipulate the rules," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a San Antonio Democrat who leads the Senate Democratic Caucus.
"We have poisoned the well and set a tone ... that will do harm to our deliberations for the rest of the session – and for what?" she asked, referring to the belief of many lawmakers that a voter ID bill won't pass this year in the more evenly divided House.
The Republican who devised the maneuver, Sen. Tommy Williams of The Woodlands, played down the long-term effects of the hardball play.
Williams also denied Democratic complaints that he was acting at the behest of the Texas Republican Party and GOP activists.
"I have been under absolutely no pressure whatsoever from any Republican group to do this," said Williams, who easily won his primary contest last year.
The senator said he decided to bypass his Democratic colleagues because he saw no other way to get the proposal through.
"They said there was nothing we could do to make a voter ID bill acceptable to them," he said.
Williams and most Republicans contend that the voter ID law is needed to prevent fraud, while Democrats counter that it would discourage voting by senior citizens and minorities who tend to vote Democratic. Further, Democrats say, there is little evidence of illegal voting in Texas.
Approval of the voter ID bill could be a boost for Dewhurst, who fought hard for its passage two years ago. Dewhurst is expected to either run for re-election or seek Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison's U.S. Senate seat if she resigns to run for governor.
Dewhurst insisted that he had nothing to do with the Senate GOP initiative.
"I've been very, very careful to stay out of this process," he said. "These are the senators' rules, and I did not want to get involved."
Monday, January 19, 2009
Texas Latinos benefited more from Bush the Governor, not the President
Bush returns to Texas, his legacy in low esteem
Associated Press January 18, 2009
What might have been. This is the great tragedy of the presidency of George W. Bush, which comes to an end at noon on Tuesday with historically low approval ratings.
Most Texans who witnessed the meteoric rise of Bush as owner of the Texas Rangers, who defeated Ann Richards, the star of the Texas Democratic party, and became one of the most respected governors in the state's history likely did not expect he would return to the state with such a tarnished presidential legacy.
He went to Washington, D.C., eight years ago with a gubernatorial record that made his claim that he was "a uniter, not a divider" more than a slogan. His tenure in Austin was marked by a close working relationship with the late Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, a Democratic lion. It gave little hint that he would lead one of the most bitterly partisan administrations in American history, counseled by his political guru, Karl Rove, to govern solely through his Republican majority.
That he went to Washington as the "compassionate conservative" is now largely forgotten. While in Austin, he had steered clear of the state party's religious right, but in Washington he had embraced the religious conservatives, sharing their intent to view government policy through the prism of spiritual certainty.
As he acknowledged in his farewell speech on Thursday night, Sept. 11 was not only a shocking attack on the nation, but also a turning point in his view of his role as president. "As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did." This is the core of the defense mounted by Bush defenders: he kept us safe.
The price of that protection is Guantanamo, an affront to the principle that we are a nation of laws. The price is warrantless surveillance that purports that the bedrock civil protections can be easily cast aside in time of war. The price is a presidency that decides that it is beyond the courts and above the Constitution. Protecting us from further attack also meant that the government engaged in practices that the world calls torture but that the administration defines as enhanced interrogation techniques.
President Bush, in the first days after Sept. 11, rose to the occasion. Bullhorn in hand, with his arm around the steel-hatted workers in the rubble of the World Trade Center, he rallied them and the nation to arms. "I can hear you," Bush said. "The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon," And he led the nation in mourning and inspired it with a magnificent address in the National Cathedral: "Our unity is a kinship of grief and a steadfast resolve to prevail against our enemies. And this unity against terror is now extending across the world."
But that national unity and world support for the United States was lost as he and his administration chose to enter a war with Iraq on the basis of intelligence that it wanted to believe while ignoring information that was inconveniently at odds with its aims. Six years and more than 4,000 American casualties later, the United States is now returning its focus to Afghanistan, the war from which it was distracted by Iraq and which it cannot lose.
As governor, Bush had visited Mexico often and his two gubernatorial campaigns, unlike other Republicans, had not written off the state's Hispanic vote. Instead, he set out to win the largest portion of the historically Democratic Hispanic vote any Republican governor had ever garnered. His first foreign visit as president was to Mexico. Like so much else that was lost in his presidency, his goal of enacting a humane, comprehensive immigration policy was defeated, overrun by a bitter, fear-mongering nativism. But he deserved better for the effort.
Now its benefits are hotly disputed, but the No Child Left Behind Act was an extension of Bush's success in Texas with school accountability. It's often been remarked that Bush speaks with more conviction and knowledge on education than almost any other subject. The law's concern for the educational progress of minorities has been its chief saving grace, even as the law wound up stigmatizing and punishing minority schools when they under-performed. His other significant domestic triumph, the Medicare drug prescription act, was the largest expansion of a government entitlement program since the Great Society.
Bush's skills as an executive in Texas belied the incompetency that marked his presidential administration. It was the slow and uncoordinated response to the disaster of Katrina that defined just how badly run his government had come to be. He chose people based on loyalty and ideology, a measurement that produced Alberto Gonzales, the now-disgraced attorney general. Gonzales ran the Justice Department in the same manner and, as a result, politicized the department charged with defending the Constitution. And it produced political appointees who dismissed science for political favors to contributors.
He is leaving amidst the greatest national economic crisis since the Great Depression. Every president gets more praise for a good economy than he deserves and more blame for a bad one than is warranted. But Bush's belief that the markets know best and that government regulation hampers the smooth working of that mechanism allowed greed and reckless dealings to go unchecked and unmonitored until Wall Street was on the brink of bankruptcy.
George W. Bush will return to Texas on Tuesday with his standing in the polls at abysmal levels. But he remains popular to many Texans, though not as many as once supported him, crossing party lines to send him to Washington eight years ago. Like another Texas president more than 40 years ago, he returns burdened with the legacy of an unpopular war and a failed administration. Bush is confident that history will reassess his legacy. But for now, many Texans can only think of what might have been.
Associated Press January 18, 2009
What might have been. This is the great tragedy of the presidency of George W. Bush, which comes to an end at noon on Tuesday with historically low approval ratings.
Most Texans who witnessed the meteoric rise of Bush as owner of the Texas Rangers, who defeated Ann Richards, the star of the Texas Democratic party, and became one of the most respected governors in the state's history likely did not expect he would return to the state with such a tarnished presidential legacy.
He went to Washington, D.C., eight years ago with a gubernatorial record that made his claim that he was "a uniter, not a divider" more than a slogan. His tenure in Austin was marked by a close working relationship with the late Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, a Democratic lion. It gave little hint that he would lead one of the most bitterly partisan administrations in American history, counseled by his political guru, Karl Rove, to govern solely through his Republican majority.
That he went to Washington as the "compassionate conservative" is now largely forgotten. While in Austin, he had steered clear of the state party's religious right, but in Washington he had embraced the religious conservatives, sharing their intent to view government policy through the prism of spiritual certainty.
As he acknowledged in his farewell speech on Thursday night, Sept. 11 was not only a shocking attack on the nation, but also a turning point in his view of his role as president. "As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did." This is the core of the defense mounted by Bush defenders: he kept us safe.
The price of that protection is Guantanamo, an affront to the principle that we are a nation of laws. The price is warrantless surveillance that purports that the bedrock civil protections can be easily cast aside in time of war. The price is a presidency that decides that it is beyond the courts and above the Constitution. Protecting us from further attack also meant that the government engaged in practices that the world calls torture but that the administration defines as enhanced interrogation techniques.
President Bush, in the first days after Sept. 11, rose to the occasion. Bullhorn in hand, with his arm around the steel-hatted workers in the rubble of the World Trade Center, he rallied them and the nation to arms. "I can hear you," Bush said. "The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon," And he led the nation in mourning and inspired it with a magnificent address in the National Cathedral: "Our unity is a kinship of grief and a steadfast resolve to prevail against our enemies. And this unity against terror is now extending across the world."
But that national unity and world support for the United States was lost as he and his administration chose to enter a war with Iraq on the basis of intelligence that it wanted to believe while ignoring information that was inconveniently at odds with its aims. Six years and more than 4,000 American casualties later, the United States is now returning its focus to Afghanistan, the war from which it was distracted by Iraq and which it cannot lose.
As governor, Bush had visited Mexico often and his two gubernatorial campaigns, unlike other Republicans, had not written off the state's Hispanic vote. Instead, he set out to win the largest portion of the historically Democratic Hispanic vote any Republican governor had ever garnered. His first foreign visit as president was to Mexico. Like so much else that was lost in his presidency, his goal of enacting a humane, comprehensive immigration policy was defeated, overrun by a bitter, fear-mongering nativism. But he deserved better for the effort.
Now its benefits are hotly disputed, but the No Child Left Behind Act was an extension of Bush's success in Texas with school accountability. It's often been remarked that Bush speaks with more conviction and knowledge on education than almost any other subject. The law's concern for the educational progress of minorities has been its chief saving grace, even as the law wound up stigmatizing and punishing minority schools when they under-performed. His other significant domestic triumph, the Medicare drug prescription act, was the largest expansion of a government entitlement program since the Great Society.
Bush's skills as an executive in Texas belied the incompetency that marked his presidential administration. It was the slow and uncoordinated response to the disaster of Katrina that defined just how badly run his government had come to be. He chose people based on loyalty and ideology, a measurement that produced Alberto Gonzales, the now-disgraced attorney general. Gonzales ran the Justice Department in the same manner and, as a result, politicized the department charged with defending the Constitution. And it produced political appointees who dismissed science for political favors to contributors.
He is leaving amidst the greatest national economic crisis since the Great Depression. Every president gets more praise for a good economy than he deserves and more blame for a bad one than is warranted. But Bush's belief that the markets know best and that government regulation hampers the smooth working of that mechanism allowed greed and reckless dealings to go unchecked and unmonitored until Wall Street was on the brink of bankruptcy.
George W. Bush will return to Texas on Tuesday with his standing in the polls at abysmal levels. But he remains popular to many Texans, though not as many as once supported him, crossing party lines to send him to Washington eight years ago. Like another Texas president more than 40 years ago, he returns burdened with the legacy of an unpopular war and a failed administration. Bush is confident that history will reassess his legacy. But for now, many Texans can only think of what might have been.
Latino, White Evangelicals no longer viewed as just Republican
Obama, Warren and the new evangelicals
Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer January 18, 2009
In addition to knowing President-elect Barack Obama for a decade, the Rev. Jim Wallis would seem like the type of nationally known, centrist, evangelical pastor chosen to give the inaugural invocation. Instead, Obama is still hearing criticism for inviting the Rev. Rick Warren, a conservative Orange County pastor who opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights, to take that marquee inaugural position.
But choosing Warren makes long-term political sense, say Wallis and others. Even though Warren's support of California's Proposition 8 and comments made in a Beliefnet.com interview last month equating gay marriage to pedophilia drew widespread criticism from some of Obama's core supporters, analysts say Warren is symbolic of a new political reality.
"White evangelicals are no longer an extension of the Republican Party," said the Rev. Sam Rodriguez, president of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and pastor at a Sacramento church.
Plus, the choice is philosophically consistent with how Obama has been reaching out to opposing constituencies during his transition period. On Tuesday night, he dined at the home of conservative columnist George Will at a party attended by conservative commentators like William Kristol, Charles Krauthammer and David Brooks. The next day, the Democrat hosted a meeting at his transition office with centrist and left-wing commentators ranging from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow to TheAtlantic.com's Andrew Sullivan to Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.
And Obama has invited V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay man to be a consecrated bishop in the Episcopal Church, to pray at an inaugural ceremony today. Meanwhile, gay rights supporters planned to demonstrate this morning outside Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest to protest his opposition to same-sex marriage.
"The issue isn't Rick Warren per se," said Wallis, who co-hosted a 2006 conference where Obama made one of his first major speeches on politics and his faith. "It is very Obama-like to reach out to conservative evangelicals who didn't vote for him. Whether people like Rick Warren or not is not the issue."
Instead, the Warren pick is post-election evidence that one political trend will continue: Both parties will actively pursue evangelicals younger than 40 - and particularly those under 30. Warren, author of the 30 million-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life" and pastor of a 20,000-member Orange County megachurch, is a nationally recognized avatar of this new generation of conservative evangelicals.
That pursuit paid dividends in November for Obama, who won votes from 32 percent of white evangelicals between 18 and 31 years old. In 2004, Democrat John Kerry had support from 16 percent of that demographic slice. Obama won more of them by talking about how he came to his Christian faith, analysts said, and his campaign and other liberal organizations increased outreach to conservative Christians. In states like Colorado, where supportive organizations like the Matthew 25 Network purchased TV ads promoting liberal religious themes, Obama improved his share of white evangelical votes by 14 percent, according to Steven Waldman, the Beliefnet.com editor in chief who conducted the interview in which Warren made his controversial statement.
While young evangelicals may oppose abortion rights and same-sex marriage, they are not defined by those issues, as was their parents' generation, which was shepherded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson.
"Rick Warren is not Jerry Falwell," said Bill McKinney, president of the progressive-leaning Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. "He does not demonize people who disagree with him. Warren at least gives the impression that he isn't like that."
"On balance it is a smart pick," Waldman said. "Obama is doing something dramatic to reach out across ideological lines."
But others, like Rob Boston of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, described Warren as "Jerry Falwell in a Hawaiian shirt." While Obama's team has cited Warren's support for combatting AIDS and poverty in Africa, a DailyBeast.com story this month showed Warren's tight connection to a Ugandan pastor named Martin Ssempa. Ssempa has been linked with crusading against homosexuals in Uganda and lobbying against condom use in the promotion of a safe-sex message there. (Warren declined an interview request from The Chronicle.)
But Obama is banking on the belief that politically attuned conservative evangelicals in the under-40 generation are more interested in issues like human trafficking, genocide in Darfur, the environment, and crime and education in their own communities than the previous generation's issues of abortion and same-sex marriage. Like their secular peers, they are Internet-savvy and "more globalized than their parents," Wallis said. "They care what's going on around the world, and they want to do something about it."
That generation is also much more ethnically and racially diverse, including 16 million Hispanic born-again Christians, according to the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
But others wonder how much conservative evangelicals have actually changed politically. Last month, Richard Cizik - who has strongly encouraged evangelicals to embrace global warming as a top issue and a spiritual calling - resigned from his position as vice president of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. His transgression: On National Public Radio he said, "I would willingly say that I believe in civil unions." That is contrary to what his now-former organization believes.
"When they fired Rich Cizik, they fired the future," Wallis said. "He was speaking to a new generation about issues like climate change."
So did the Obama camp not do its homework on Warren? Did it underestimate the passion of gay-rights supporters, particularly after the passage of Prop. 8 to outlaw same-sex marriage in California? Geoff Kors, executive director of the civil rights organization Equality California, declined an invitation to the inauguration, saying he "cannot be part of a celebration that highlights and gives voice to someone who advocated repealing rights from me and millions of other Californians."
In a letter to Obama, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a large national gay-rights organization, said that "by inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table." On Thursday, Faith in America, an organization that works with religious groups and others to expose what it calls "religion-based bigotry against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people," released a project called "Can You Understand the Harm?" - a collection of videos and letters to Warren about his comments.
The Courage Campaign, an online liberal organizing hub, has invited Warren to debate Prop. 8 and same-sex marriage with the Rev. Eric Lee of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On Monday, they will keep heat on the issue with an event in Washington to highlight their challenge.
When Obama invited Warren, "was it a misstep? No. Both short term and long term, it is smart," said the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference's Rodriguez. "Politically, Obama is looking at 2010 and 2012. It's a win-win-win."
But any positive feelings Obama generates among evangelicals by picking Warren won't last if he pushes policies that evangelicals find offensive.
One example: Obama wants legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Rodriguez said evangelicals want religious organizations to be exempt from its provisions. If that doesn't happen, he predicted that Obama would lose a lot of goodwill - and, eventually, support.
"This is a very fluid group," said Rodriguez, who described himself as an "independent moderate," but declined to state who he voted for; his wife led a prayer at the Republican National Convention. "This group is not going to be like white evangelicals, which was part of the Republican Party. This group is more interested in issues."
Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer January 18, 2009
In addition to knowing President-elect Barack Obama for a decade, the Rev. Jim Wallis would seem like the type of nationally known, centrist, evangelical pastor chosen to give the inaugural invocation. Instead, Obama is still hearing criticism for inviting the Rev. Rick Warren, a conservative Orange County pastor who opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights, to take that marquee inaugural position.
But choosing Warren makes long-term political sense, say Wallis and others. Even though Warren's support of California's Proposition 8 and comments made in a Beliefnet.com interview last month equating gay marriage to pedophilia drew widespread criticism from some of Obama's core supporters, analysts say Warren is symbolic of a new political reality.
"White evangelicals are no longer an extension of the Republican Party," said the Rev. Sam Rodriguez, president of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and pastor at a Sacramento church.
Plus, the choice is philosophically consistent with how Obama has been reaching out to opposing constituencies during his transition period. On Tuesday night, he dined at the home of conservative columnist George Will at a party attended by conservative commentators like William Kristol, Charles Krauthammer and David Brooks. The next day, the Democrat hosted a meeting at his transition office with centrist and left-wing commentators ranging from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow to TheAtlantic.com's Andrew Sullivan to Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.
And Obama has invited V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay man to be a consecrated bishop in the Episcopal Church, to pray at an inaugural ceremony today. Meanwhile, gay rights supporters planned to demonstrate this morning outside Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest to protest his opposition to same-sex marriage.
"The issue isn't Rick Warren per se," said Wallis, who co-hosted a 2006 conference where Obama made one of his first major speeches on politics and his faith. "It is very Obama-like to reach out to conservative evangelicals who didn't vote for him. Whether people like Rick Warren or not is not the issue."
Instead, the Warren pick is post-election evidence that one political trend will continue: Both parties will actively pursue evangelicals younger than 40 - and particularly those under 30. Warren, author of the 30 million-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life" and pastor of a 20,000-member Orange County megachurch, is a nationally recognized avatar of this new generation of conservative evangelicals.
That pursuit paid dividends in November for Obama, who won votes from 32 percent of white evangelicals between 18 and 31 years old. In 2004, Democrat John Kerry had support from 16 percent of that demographic slice. Obama won more of them by talking about how he came to his Christian faith, analysts said, and his campaign and other liberal organizations increased outreach to conservative Christians. In states like Colorado, where supportive organizations like the Matthew 25 Network purchased TV ads promoting liberal religious themes, Obama improved his share of white evangelical votes by 14 percent, according to Steven Waldman, the Beliefnet.com editor in chief who conducted the interview in which Warren made his controversial statement.
While young evangelicals may oppose abortion rights and same-sex marriage, they are not defined by those issues, as was their parents' generation, which was shepherded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson.
"Rick Warren is not Jerry Falwell," said Bill McKinney, president of the progressive-leaning Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. "He does not demonize people who disagree with him. Warren at least gives the impression that he isn't like that."
"On balance it is a smart pick," Waldman said. "Obama is doing something dramatic to reach out across ideological lines."
But others, like Rob Boston of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, described Warren as "Jerry Falwell in a Hawaiian shirt." While Obama's team has cited Warren's support for combatting AIDS and poverty in Africa, a DailyBeast.com story this month showed Warren's tight connection to a Ugandan pastor named Martin Ssempa. Ssempa has been linked with crusading against homosexuals in Uganda and lobbying against condom use in the promotion of a safe-sex message there. (Warren declined an interview request from The Chronicle.)
But Obama is banking on the belief that politically attuned conservative evangelicals in the under-40 generation are more interested in issues like human trafficking, genocide in Darfur, the environment, and crime and education in their own communities than the previous generation's issues of abortion and same-sex marriage. Like their secular peers, they are Internet-savvy and "more globalized than their parents," Wallis said. "They care what's going on around the world, and they want to do something about it."
That generation is also much more ethnically and racially diverse, including 16 million Hispanic born-again Christians, according to the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
But others wonder how much conservative evangelicals have actually changed politically. Last month, Richard Cizik - who has strongly encouraged evangelicals to embrace global warming as a top issue and a spiritual calling - resigned from his position as vice president of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. His transgression: On National Public Radio he said, "I would willingly say that I believe in civil unions." That is contrary to what his now-former organization believes.
"When they fired Rich Cizik, they fired the future," Wallis said. "He was speaking to a new generation about issues like climate change."
So did the Obama camp not do its homework on Warren? Did it underestimate the passion of gay-rights supporters, particularly after the passage of Prop. 8 to outlaw same-sex marriage in California? Geoff Kors, executive director of the civil rights organization Equality California, declined an invitation to the inauguration, saying he "cannot be part of a celebration that highlights and gives voice to someone who advocated repealing rights from me and millions of other Californians."
In a letter to Obama, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a large national gay-rights organization, said that "by inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table." On Thursday, Faith in America, an organization that works with religious groups and others to expose what it calls "religion-based bigotry against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people," released a project called "Can You Understand the Harm?" - a collection of videos and letters to Warren about his comments.
The Courage Campaign, an online liberal organizing hub, has invited Warren to debate Prop. 8 and same-sex marriage with the Rev. Eric Lee of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On Monday, they will keep heat on the issue with an event in Washington to highlight their challenge.
When Obama invited Warren, "was it a misstep? No. Both short term and long term, it is smart," said the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference's Rodriguez. "Politically, Obama is looking at 2010 and 2012. It's a win-win-win."
But any positive feelings Obama generates among evangelicals by picking Warren won't last if he pushes policies that evangelicals find offensive.
One example: Obama wants legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Rodriguez said evangelicals want religious organizations to be exempt from its provisions. If that doesn't happen, he predicted that Obama would lose a lot of goodwill - and, eventually, support.
"This is a very fluid group," said Rodriguez, who described himself as an "independent moderate," but declined to state who he voted for; his wife led a prayer at the Republican National Convention. "This group is not going to be like white evangelicals, which was part of the Republican Party. This group is more interested in issues."
Only Latino Governor of Arizona reflects
Arizona's only Latino governor reflects on career
by Associated Press January 18th, 2009
He lives not far from where it all began. Raul H. Castro, former judge, governor and ambassador, lives in a 102-year-old house in Nogales, Ariz., just footsteps from the Mexican border. On the other side lies the country where he was born. But it is in this country where he would make his mark.
Prevailing against often stifling racism, he would rise to serve two U.S. presidents, as well as the people of Arizona.
The second-youngest of 14 children born to Francisco and Rosario Castro, Castro, now 92, moved with his family at a young age from Cananea, Sonora, to Pirtleville, Ariz., near Douglas.
His father, who worked for Phelps Dodge in Douglas, died when Raul was 12.
He persevered, enrolling at what was then Arizona State Teachers College in Flagstaff on a football scholarship. He also served as captain of the track team and was the undefeated Border Conference boxing champ.
The same year he graduated - 1939 - he became an American citizen. But when he returned to Douglas hoping for a teaching job, he was turned down. The schools, he says, would not hire a Mexican-American.
Disheartened, Castro took to riding the rails.
``I was boxing on the road for a couple of years _ New Orleans, Pennsylvania, New York. I would fight at carnivals, wherever, get $50 or $100.''
And so it might have ended there.
But then fate intervened in the form of Castro's youngest brother.
``He was in school in Flagstaff,'' says Castro. ``He said, 'I'm going to drop out. You got a degree and you're nothing but a hobo and a boxer.' ``
Castro told him to stay in school, returned to Arizona and soon went to work with the U.S. State Department as a foreign service clerk in Agua Prieta, Sonora.
Five years later, fate intervened yet again.
``The consulate-general of Juarez came there on an inspection and said I was doing a great job but I was wasting my time because I could never go any farther there,'' says Castro. ``I hadn't gone to an Ivy League college.''
In 1946, he enrolled in law school at the University of Arizona, working his way through school by teaching Spanish.
Not that it was easy getting into law school. ``The dean told me no, that Mexican-Americans just did not graduate.''
So he called the president of the university and told him to cancel his contract as a Spanish teacher, something the university desperately needed. Castro got into law school.
``If I get offended, I am motivated,'' he says.
After passing the bar in 1949, Castro, a Democrat, went into private practice, then became deputy Pima County attorney. In 1954, he was elected Pima County attorney. Four years later he was elected as a judge of the Pima County Superior Court, serving until 1964, when he became a U.S. ambassador, first to El Salvador, then to Bolivia.
After resuming his law practice in Tucson, he was elected governor of Arizona in 1974, resigning in 1977 to serve as ambassador to Argentina.
He quit the ambassadorship in 1980 to work for Jimmy Carter's failed re-election campaign, then returned to Arizona, practicing law in Phoenix.
In 1993, he and wife, Pat, moved to Nogales. ``I couldn't stand living in Phoenix,'' says Pat, now 84. ``I wanted something cooler with less traffic.''
Her husband was less than thrilled. ``I did not want to go to Nogales,'' he says. ``I was born near the border.''
But he relented, opening a law office across the street and helping Pat fill the house with furniture and antiques from their many travels.
Today, he no longer practices law. Even so, his calendar is filled with appointments and speaking dates, many of them at schools throughout the state.
``I talk to kids at low-income schools who feel they don't have a chance,'' says Castro.
His life says otherwise.
A little over 34 years ago, Raul H. Castro was elected governor of Arizona, the first Mexican-American to do so. He was 58 years old.
Local newspapers hailed the achievement while dutifully chronicling his rise from poor Mexican immigrant to successful attorney, judge and ambassador.
In 1964, Castro was appointed ambassador to El Salvador.
In 1965, the country was hit with an earthquake that killed more than 100 people.
Even more earthshaking, perhaps, was the phone call Pat Castro later received while visiting in Tucson.
``It was the State Department telling me, 'Mrs. Castro, you must return to El Salvador at once. President and Mrs. Johnson are staying with you for a week.' ``
When she returned, she learned that there would be a conference of the presidents of several Central American countries.
``There were Secret Service men all around and a destroyer off the coast. We had to move out of the house so the Johnsons could move in,'' says Pat, who remembers Lady Bird as ``the nicest person.''
Not so, perhaps, for LBJ.
``We had a reception at a hotel and were lined up perfectly,'' says Castro. ``I was first in line, then the president, then my wife and his wife. He told me to give him the name of every person and what they did.
``There were 300 people there. I was talking to all of them until the president gave me a kick and said, 'What are you doing? They came here to see me, not you.' ``
During the visit, Pat also had a little face-off with Liz Carpenter, Lady Bird's press secretary.
``I had five presidents' wives. We had a bus coming to take us to see various sites and get lunch. Liz Carpenter gave me a whistle and told me, 'I want you to blow the whistle to get the ladies on the bus.'
``I said, 'Look, I've got presidents' wives here and I'm not blowing a whistle to get them on the bus.' `` And she didn't. ``I stood patiently and waited until they got in.''
In 1968, Castro was appointed as ambassador to Bolivia.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Castro U.S. ambassador to Argentina, where he served for three years.
``I loved it,'' says Pat. ``We had a staff of 20 and two Italian chefs.''
Even so, she is adamant when she says today, ``I don't ever want to go to another cocktail party in my life.''
by Associated Press January 18th, 2009
He lives not far from where it all began. Raul H. Castro, former judge, governor and ambassador, lives in a 102-year-old house in Nogales, Ariz., just footsteps from the Mexican border. On the other side lies the country where he was born. But it is in this country where he would make his mark.
Prevailing against often stifling racism, he would rise to serve two U.S. presidents, as well as the people of Arizona.
The second-youngest of 14 children born to Francisco and Rosario Castro, Castro, now 92, moved with his family at a young age from Cananea, Sonora, to Pirtleville, Ariz., near Douglas.
His father, who worked for Phelps Dodge in Douglas, died when Raul was 12.
He persevered, enrolling at what was then Arizona State Teachers College in Flagstaff on a football scholarship. He also served as captain of the track team and was the undefeated Border Conference boxing champ.
The same year he graduated - 1939 - he became an American citizen. But when he returned to Douglas hoping for a teaching job, he was turned down. The schools, he says, would not hire a Mexican-American.
Disheartened, Castro took to riding the rails.
``I was boxing on the road for a couple of years _ New Orleans, Pennsylvania, New York. I would fight at carnivals, wherever, get $50 or $100.''
And so it might have ended there.
But then fate intervened in the form of Castro's youngest brother.
``He was in school in Flagstaff,'' says Castro. ``He said, 'I'm going to drop out. You got a degree and you're nothing but a hobo and a boxer.' ``
Castro told him to stay in school, returned to Arizona and soon went to work with the U.S. State Department as a foreign service clerk in Agua Prieta, Sonora.
Five years later, fate intervened yet again.
``The consulate-general of Juarez came there on an inspection and said I was doing a great job but I was wasting my time because I could never go any farther there,'' says Castro. ``I hadn't gone to an Ivy League college.''
In 1946, he enrolled in law school at the University of Arizona, working his way through school by teaching Spanish.
Not that it was easy getting into law school. ``The dean told me no, that Mexican-Americans just did not graduate.''
So he called the president of the university and told him to cancel his contract as a Spanish teacher, something the university desperately needed. Castro got into law school.
``If I get offended, I am motivated,'' he says.
After passing the bar in 1949, Castro, a Democrat, went into private practice, then became deputy Pima County attorney. In 1954, he was elected Pima County attorney. Four years later he was elected as a judge of the Pima County Superior Court, serving until 1964, when he became a U.S. ambassador, first to El Salvador, then to Bolivia.
After resuming his law practice in Tucson, he was elected governor of Arizona in 1974, resigning in 1977 to serve as ambassador to Argentina.
He quit the ambassadorship in 1980 to work for Jimmy Carter's failed re-election campaign, then returned to Arizona, practicing law in Phoenix.
In 1993, he and wife, Pat, moved to Nogales. ``I couldn't stand living in Phoenix,'' says Pat, now 84. ``I wanted something cooler with less traffic.''
Her husband was less than thrilled. ``I did not want to go to Nogales,'' he says. ``I was born near the border.''
But he relented, opening a law office across the street and helping Pat fill the house with furniture and antiques from their many travels.
Today, he no longer practices law. Even so, his calendar is filled with appointments and speaking dates, many of them at schools throughout the state.
``I talk to kids at low-income schools who feel they don't have a chance,'' says Castro.
His life says otherwise.
A little over 34 years ago, Raul H. Castro was elected governor of Arizona, the first Mexican-American to do so. He was 58 years old.
Local newspapers hailed the achievement while dutifully chronicling his rise from poor Mexican immigrant to successful attorney, judge and ambassador.
In 1964, Castro was appointed ambassador to El Salvador.
In 1965, the country was hit with an earthquake that killed more than 100 people.
Even more earthshaking, perhaps, was the phone call Pat Castro later received while visiting in Tucson.
``It was the State Department telling me, 'Mrs. Castro, you must return to El Salvador at once. President and Mrs. Johnson are staying with you for a week.' ``
When she returned, she learned that there would be a conference of the presidents of several Central American countries.
``There were Secret Service men all around and a destroyer off the coast. We had to move out of the house so the Johnsons could move in,'' says Pat, who remembers Lady Bird as ``the nicest person.''
Not so, perhaps, for LBJ.
``We had a reception at a hotel and were lined up perfectly,'' says Castro. ``I was first in line, then the president, then my wife and his wife. He told me to give him the name of every person and what they did.
``There were 300 people there. I was talking to all of them until the president gave me a kick and said, 'What are you doing? They came here to see me, not you.' ``
During the visit, Pat also had a little face-off with Liz Carpenter, Lady Bird's press secretary.
``I had five presidents' wives. We had a bus coming to take us to see various sites and get lunch. Liz Carpenter gave me a whistle and told me, 'I want you to blow the whistle to get the ladies on the bus.'
``I said, 'Look, I've got presidents' wives here and I'm not blowing a whistle to get them on the bus.' `` And she didn't. ``I stood patiently and waited until they got in.''
In 1968, Castro was appointed as ambassador to Bolivia.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Castro U.S. ambassador to Argentina, where he served for three years.
``I loved it,'' says Pat. ``We had a staff of 20 and two Italian chefs.''
Even so, she is adamant when she says today, ``I don't ever want to go to another cocktail party in my life.''
Hispanic immigration no longer major focus of community
A new direction
A fiscal crisis and a new face on the Escondido City Council could lead officials to drop focus on illegal immigration
By Angela Lau January 18, 2009
When Olga Diaz took her seat on the Escondido City Council last month, she vowed to work on attracting “positive regional attention” to the city and to represent the needs of residents, “all 140,000 of them.”
Diaz, the first self-described Latino elected to the council in Escondido's 120-year history, concluded her address in Spanish – likely another first in a city where nearly half the population is Latino.
“I hope to show that to have a bilingual and bicultural person in a position of responsibility can calm the tension that has developed in our city,” she said. “I invite you to support me in my effort to extend a hand to anyone who has reservations recognizing our contributions. Together and little by little we can change hearts. Together, yes we can.”
She got a standing ovation.
It was a symbolic moment, to be sure. But Diaz's election and a budget crisis seem likely to mark an end to Escondido's focus on illegal immigration, which some say has given the city an anti-Latino reputation.
Fair or not, the label stems mostly from efforts by a majority on the previous City Council to drive out illegal immigrants. The most prominent example was a 2006 ordinance that called for fining landlords who rented to illegal immigrants.
The ordinance attracted national attention to the county's fourth largest city, and it turned council meetings into stormy events with supporters and opponents separated by police officers.
No one knows how many illegal immigrants live in Escondido, but the number is substantial, police and city officials say. The council majority and supporters of the ordinance – of which there were many – said the law was intended only to deal with those in the country illegally.
Opponents said the ordinance resulted in all Latinos – some of them third-and fourth-generation city residents – being treated with suspicion.
The council eventually rescinded the ordinance and paid the legal fees of the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups that had challenged the law in federal court.
Diaz, who criticized the ordinance as divisive and misguided, defeated one of its champions, incumbent Ed Gallo. The two remaining council members who supported it, Sam Abed and Marie Waldron, have been parting ways, at least semantically.
Abed, 57, who received the most votes in the November election, has softened his immigration comments since the ordinance controversy, when he often railed against an invasion of illegal immigrants afflicting the city.
Abed, who declined to comment for this story, has always maintained that as a Lebanese immigrant he is neither anti-immigrant nor anti-Latino. Now he talks only about reducing “overcrowding” and maintaining the city's “quality of life.”
Diaz, 32, who was born in the Central Coast city of Salinas to Mexican parents, didn't talk much about illegal immigration during her campaign, except to say that it is a matter best left to the federal government. She emphasized attracting jobs and repairing the city's infrastructure.
But Diaz knows she may become the point person for Latinos who feel misunderstood or slighted by City Hall.
“I happen to be fluent in Spanish and understand the culture,” said Diaz, who owns two coffee shops in the city. “Naturally, I will be somebody to entertain those requests more attentively. We all have concerns we understand better. But we all have a duty to represent everybody.”
Policies enacted during the Abed-Gallo-Waldron era remain and are likely to come up again, including regular driver's license checkpoints.
Six to 12 police officers conduct checkpoints twice a month. All vehicles are stopped, and motorists who cannot produce proper identification are taken to the police station and checked for warrants and criminal history. If they have a criminal past and are believed to be in the country illegally, they are turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation, Police Chief Jim Maher said.
The checkpoints began in 2004.
“No one at that time said it was directed at immigrants,” Maher said.
He said the checkpoints have helped reduce the number of hit-and-run accidents, from 675 in 2006 to fewer than 450 in 2008. After the rental ordinance was passed, some people began linking the checkpoints to immigration enforcement, Maher said.
Opponents of the checkpoints say they are intrusive and probably unconstitutional, and have resulted in some vehicles being seized improperly.
“Just because the chief of police wants to do them, it doesn't mean they are the best way to use our resources,” said Diaz, who is married to a police lieutenant.
Escondido faces a $7.4 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, which has prompted city leaders to focus more on spending priorities than illegal immigration.
“It's all about the economy. It's survival time,” said Tom Hogarty, chairman of the Escondido Chamber of Commerce.
Councilman Dick Daniels, a public relations professional, favored some of the council's illegal immigration policies but also warned that repeatedly focusing on the topic was hurting the city's image.
“I was never part of that majority,” said Daniels, 66. “I look at issues one by one.”
He said his emphasis is on balancing the budget and attracting new businesses.
Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, 51, said her agenda is similar.
“I had a problem with our focus before,” Pfeiler said. “Olga will help change the tone of the council.”
But that tone could change in two years. Pfeiler, who has been on the council for 16 years, announced Thursday that she would not seek re-election in 2010, and endorsed Daniels as her replacement. Both Waldron and Abed also have indicated they may run against Daniels.
And Waldron, 48, vowed to continue to “make sure illegal immigrants are not getting benefits they are not entitled to.”
Even so, she lost a round in July, when the council voted to pay legal residents and illegal immigrants the same relocation benefits when an inner-city neighborhood is redeveloped.
Acknowledging that “my closest ally is not on the council anymore,” Waldron said she still will try to revive Gallo's proposal to restrict day laborers who solicit work on city streets.
Jon Hudson, who co-chairs the East Valley Association, a business group, said Gallo will be missed. Gallo supported “very important activities, such as police checkpoints, code enforcement,” Hudson said. Diaz's agenda is different, he said.
Hogarty, the chamber chairman, agreed that Gallo's departure is a loss.
“But I have a lot of faith in Olga,” Hogarty said. “Here is a person who runs two, not one, businesses.”
Bill Flores, an activist and frequent critic of the old majority, said Diaz will help reverse the “extensive damage” to the city's reputation.
Scott Peck, a local businessman who supported Diaz, said the new councilwoman may finally put to rest years of acrimony.
“We all agree that illegal immigration is a huge problem, but getting people from the Minutemen to come up here and creating that animosity and bad will and negative publicity is not the right way to go,” Peck said. “It will change because Olga is on board.”
Former Mayor Jerry Harmon, 57, said Daniels, Pfeiler and Diaz may form a new majority of moderates.
“Frankly, I don't think the council will take on immigration again,” Harmon said. “They saw the folly of their ways.”
Staff writer Leonel Sanchez contributed to this report.
A fiscal crisis and a new face on the Escondido City Council could lead officials to drop focus on illegal immigration
By Angela Lau January 18, 2009
When Olga Diaz took her seat on the Escondido City Council last month, she vowed to work on attracting “positive regional attention” to the city and to represent the needs of residents, “all 140,000 of them.”
Diaz, the first self-described Latino elected to the council in Escondido's 120-year history, concluded her address in Spanish – likely another first in a city where nearly half the population is Latino.
“I hope to show that to have a bilingual and bicultural person in a position of responsibility can calm the tension that has developed in our city,” she said. “I invite you to support me in my effort to extend a hand to anyone who has reservations recognizing our contributions. Together and little by little we can change hearts. Together, yes we can.”
She got a standing ovation.
It was a symbolic moment, to be sure. But Diaz's election and a budget crisis seem likely to mark an end to Escondido's focus on illegal immigration, which some say has given the city an anti-Latino reputation.
Fair or not, the label stems mostly from efforts by a majority on the previous City Council to drive out illegal immigrants. The most prominent example was a 2006 ordinance that called for fining landlords who rented to illegal immigrants.
The ordinance attracted national attention to the county's fourth largest city, and it turned council meetings into stormy events with supporters and opponents separated by police officers.
No one knows how many illegal immigrants live in Escondido, but the number is substantial, police and city officials say. The council majority and supporters of the ordinance – of which there were many – said the law was intended only to deal with those in the country illegally.
Opponents said the ordinance resulted in all Latinos – some of them third-and fourth-generation city residents – being treated with suspicion.
The council eventually rescinded the ordinance and paid the legal fees of the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups that had challenged the law in federal court.
Diaz, who criticized the ordinance as divisive and misguided, defeated one of its champions, incumbent Ed Gallo. The two remaining council members who supported it, Sam Abed and Marie Waldron, have been parting ways, at least semantically.
Abed, 57, who received the most votes in the November election, has softened his immigration comments since the ordinance controversy, when he often railed against an invasion of illegal immigrants afflicting the city.
Abed, who declined to comment for this story, has always maintained that as a Lebanese immigrant he is neither anti-immigrant nor anti-Latino. Now he talks only about reducing “overcrowding” and maintaining the city's “quality of life.”
Diaz, 32, who was born in the Central Coast city of Salinas to Mexican parents, didn't talk much about illegal immigration during her campaign, except to say that it is a matter best left to the federal government. She emphasized attracting jobs and repairing the city's infrastructure.
But Diaz knows she may become the point person for Latinos who feel misunderstood or slighted by City Hall.
“I happen to be fluent in Spanish and understand the culture,” said Diaz, who owns two coffee shops in the city. “Naturally, I will be somebody to entertain those requests more attentively. We all have concerns we understand better. But we all have a duty to represent everybody.”
Policies enacted during the Abed-Gallo-Waldron era remain and are likely to come up again, including regular driver's license checkpoints.
Six to 12 police officers conduct checkpoints twice a month. All vehicles are stopped, and motorists who cannot produce proper identification are taken to the police station and checked for warrants and criminal history. If they have a criminal past and are believed to be in the country illegally, they are turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation, Police Chief Jim Maher said.
The checkpoints began in 2004.
“No one at that time said it was directed at immigrants,” Maher said.
He said the checkpoints have helped reduce the number of hit-and-run accidents, from 675 in 2006 to fewer than 450 in 2008. After the rental ordinance was passed, some people began linking the checkpoints to immigration enforcement, Maher said.
Opponents of the checkpoints say they are intrusive and probably unconstitutional, and have resulted in some vehicles being seized improperly.
“Just because the chief of police wants to do them, it doesn't mean they are the best way to use our resources,” said Diaz, who is married to a police lieutenant.
Escondido faces a $7.4 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, which has prompted city leaders to focus more on spending priorities than illegal immigration.
“It's all about the economy. It's survival time,” said Tom Hogarty, chairman of the Escondido Chamber of Commerce.
Councilman Dick Daniels, a public relations professional, favored some of the council's illegal immigration policies but also warned that repeatedly focusing on the topic was hurting the city's image.
“I was never part of that majority,” said Daniels, 66. “I look at issues one by one.”
He said his emphasis is on balancing the budget and attracting new businesses.
Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, 51, said her agenda is similar.
“I had a problem with our focus before,” Pfeiler said. “Olga will help change the tone of the council.”
But that tone could change in two years. Pfeiler, who has been on the council for 16 years, announced Thursday that she would not seek re-election in 2010, and endorsed Daniels as her replacement. Both Waldron and Abed also have indicated they may run against Daniels.
And Waldron, 48, vowed to continue to “make sure illegal immigrants are not getting benefits they are not entitled to.”
Even so, she lost a round in July, when the council voted to pay legal residents and illegal immigrants the same relocation benefits when an inner-city neighborhood is redeveloped.
Acknowledging that “my closest ally is not on the council anymore,” Waldron said she still will try to revive Gallo's proposal to restrict day laborers who solicit work on city streets.
Jon Hudson, who co-chairs the East Valley Association, a business group, said Gallo will be missed. Gallo supported “very important activities, such as police checkpoints, code enforcement,” Hudson said. Diaz's agenda is different, he said.
Hogarty, the chamber chairman, agreed that Gallo's departure is a loss.
“But I have a lot of faith in Olga,” Hogarty said. “Here is a person who runs two, not one, businesses.”
Bill Flores, an activist and frequent critic of the old majority, said Diaz will help reverse the “extensive damage” to the city's reputation.
Scott Peck, a local businessman who supported Diaz, said the new councilwoman may finally put to rest years of acrimony.
“We all agree that illegal immigration is a huge problem, but getting people from the Minutemen to come up here and creating that animosity and bad will and negative publicity is not the right way to go,” Peck said. “It will change because Olga is on board.”
Former Mayor Jerry Harmon, 57, said Daniels, Pfeiler and Diaz may form a new majority of moderates.
“Frankly, I don't think the council will take on immigration again,” Harmon said. “They saw the folly of their ways.”
Staff writer Leonel Sanchez contributed to this report.
Texas Latino Voters targeted by Senate GOP with ID law
Disenfranchising the Elderly and the Minorities of Texas
SVREP and WCVI Call on the Texas Senate to Reverse 2/3 Rule
PRESS RELEASE
Rule Change Made to Allow Partisans to Pass Disenfranchising Voter ID Law San Antonio, Texas - Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP) and the William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI) call on the Texas State Senate to reverse the 2/3 rule it passed to move the Voter ID legislation. The Senate, in its first act, voted to deny the minority legislative opinion, a rule suspended only when applied to the voting of the Voter ID legislation.
"The Texas State Senate is acting counter to America's principles by adjusting their voting rules," said Antonio Gonzalez, SVREP and WCVI President. "The Senate is changing its rules to blatantly disenfranchise citizens with the discriminatory Voter ID legislation and silencing minority opinions in the legislative process."
The Senate majority has made its main focus of this legislature the passage of the Voter ID bill. SVREP, WCVI, and many other national and statewide civil rights organizations, oppose Voter ID laws as they create extra barriers for citizens to participate in elections, and would disproportionately affect minority voters. SVREP and WCVI further oppose the rule change as it creates dangerous precedent for future Senate deliberations. Any Texas State Senate majority could use this example to override the rules on important legislation rather than force Senators to work together, compromise, and form laws that are inclusive of more Texan representatives.
"Today's action by the Texas State Senate is a mockery to democracy", said SVREP Vice President Lydia Camarillo.
"The Senate sent a message to Texas and the nation that it planned to play dirty-partisan politics by voting to suspend the 2/3 rule to promote the Voter ID legislation, which dilutes the voting rights of Latino and other communities of color. SVREP calls on the Senate to reverse the rule and work towards representing all Texas citizens."
SVREP is a national, nonpartisan organization committed solely to the political empowerment of Latino communities. SVREP was established in 1974 by the late Willie Velásquez to encourage civic and political participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities. Since its inception, over 2.3 million Latino voters throughout the southwest and Florida have been registered.
The William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) is a tax-exempt, non-profit, non-partisan public policy analysis organization chartered in 1985. The purpose of WCVI is to: conduct research aimed at improving the level of political and economic participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities; To provide information to Latino leaders relevant to the needs of their constituents; To inform the Latino leadership and public about the impact of public policies on Latinos; To inform the Latino leadership and public about political opinions and behavior of Latinos.
SVREP and WCVI Call on the Texas Senate to Reverse 2/3 Rule
PRESS RELEASE
Rule Change Made to Allow Partisans to Pass Disenfranchising Voter ID Law San Antonio, Texas - Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP) and the William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI) call on the Texas State Senate to reverse the 2/3 rule it passed to move the Voter ID legislation. The Senate, in its first act, voted to deny the minority legislative opinion, a rule suspended only when applied to the voting of the Voter ID legislation.
"The Texas State Senate is acting counter to America's principles by adjusting their voting rules," said Antonio Gonzalez, SVREP and WCVI President. "The Senate is changing its rules to blatantly disenfranchise citizens with the discriminatory Voter ID legislation and silencing minority opinions in the legislative process."
The Senate majority has made its main focus of this legislature the passage of the Voter ID bill. SVREP, WCVI, and many other national and statewide civil rights organizations, oppose Voter ID laws as they create extra barriers for citizens to participate in elections, and would disproportionately affect minority voters. SVREP and WCVI further oppose the rule change as it creates dangerous precedent for future Senate deliberations. Any Texas State Senate majority could use this example to override the rules on important legislation rather than force Senators to work together, compromise, and form laws that are inclusive of more Texan representatives.
"Today's action by the Texas State Senate is a mockery to democracy", said SVREP Vice President Lydia Camarillo.
"The Senate sent a message to Texas and the nation that it planned to play dirty-partisan politics by voting to suspend the 2/3 rule to promote the Voter ID legislation, which dilutes the voting rights of Latino and other communities of color. SVREP calls on the Senate to reverse the rule and work towards representing all Texas citizens."
SVREP is a national, nonpartisan organization committed solely to the political empowerment of Latino communities. SVREP was established in 1974 by the late Willie Velásquez to encourage civic and political participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities. Since its inception, over 2.3 million Latino voters throughout the southwest and Florida have been registered.
The William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) is a tax-exempt, non-profit, non-partisan public policy analysis organization chartered in 1985. The purpose of WCVI is to: conduct research aimed at improving the level of political and economic participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities; To provide information to Latino leaders relevant to the needs of their constituents; To inform the Latino leadership and public about the impact of public policies on Latinos; To inform the Latino leadership and public about political opinions and behavior of Latinos.
Latino voter growth will change politics
Not Even Gerrymandering Will Save Some Candidates from Ethnic Shifts
by David Mark 01/19/2009
California’s 32nd congressional district, stretching from East Los Angeles to the eastern San Gabriel Valley, would seem like friendly territory for a Hispanic candidate. Labor Secretary-designate Hilda Solis’s district is more than 60 percent Latino, and there is no shortage of Hispanic local and state lawmakers eager to replace her in Congress.
But rapidly shifting demographics suggest an Asian-American candidate – State Board of Equalization Chairwoman Judy Chu – has a shot at winning the urban-suburban district. Asians make up nearly 20 percent of the district, whom statistics suggest are better-organized politically, wealthier and have generally attained a higher level of citizenship (voting power) than Latino residents.
The 32nd is one of several congressional districts that could soon trigger new leadership in ways that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. The city where Chu long served as mayor, Monterey Park, is one of the only majority Asian-American municipalities in the nation.
The increasingly mobile nature of American society means that no district – no matter how carefully gerrymandered – can be considered permanently safe. So while Solis’s district could slip away, Latinos can look west down the I-10 freeway to a swath of potential pick-up opportunities among seats held by African-American lawmakers.
Consider the South Los Angeles-based 35th Congressional District, long represented by firebrand liberal Maxine Waters. The area won national attention – and infamy – as the epicenter of L.A.’s two postwar riots: in Watts in 1965 and at the corner of Florence and Normandie in 1992.
But the district is no longer majority black. Inglewood – once all white, later mostly black – is now about 46 percent Hispanic, though city statistics suggest African Americans still vote in higher numbers. Hawthorne now has more Hispanics than blacks. And South Los Angeles, an almost entirely black neighborhood at the time of the Watts riots, now is home to more Hispanics. A small shift in district boundaries in the post-2010 Census redistricting process could provide a Hispanic lawmaker a decent shot at beating Waters in a Democratic primary.
Rep. Diane Watson faces a similar political predicament in the neighboring 33rd District. Watson was a pioneering African-American lawmaker in her long state Senate career before serving as ambassador to Micronesia in the Clinton administration. She won a 2001 special election to Congress in the demographically diverse district, which begins about one mile inland from Venice Beach, runs through Culver City and ends up in South Los Angeles. The district also includes Koreatown, the Miracle Mile district, and Hollywood – all areas with both an influx of immigrants from various countries and a growing cadre of young professionals.
Though once solidly African-American, the district is now 35 percent Hispanic, 30 percent black and 12 percent Asian. Lower citizenship rates among Latinos have deflated their political clout. But small shifts in new redistricting could have a considerable impact on Watson, altering the district’s racial and ethnic balance of power and possibly generating serious primary competition from a Latino challenger.
This drama was already played out in the Long Beach area 37th Congressional District during a 2007 special election. The seat takes in Compton and Carson, which went from predominately black through the 1980s to heavily Latino. When Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald passed away in early 2007 the open seat special election quickly came down to another African-American Assemblywoman – Laura Richardson – and Hispanic state senator Jenny Oropeza. Richardson edged out Oropeza in the special election primary, a temporary setback for Hispanic political ambitions. But the district could change considerably in redistricting within two years, providing another Hispanic pickup opportunity.
The story is similar in other demographically shifting districts around the nation. In 2008 once-Republican Virginia, Democrats took over three U.S. House seats. The suburban district of long-time Republican Rep. Tom Davis fell to Democrat Gerry Connolly in an area filled with professional transplants from across the Potomac in Washington, D.C. Though technically part of the South, Northern Virginia votes more like affluent parts of New Jersey.
Michigan, Pennsylvania and other large states with relatively static populations are projected to lose seats in the post-2010 redistricting process. Meanwhile rapidly growing Sunbelt states like Arizona, Florida and Texas will make big gains. All these states are seeing rapid demographic shifts, particularly from Latinos.
Members of Congress have grown expert in tailoring district lines to their own political advantage. But given the rapidly shifting demography of the nation, the redistricting process of 2011 could result in even the craftiest lawmakers and political consultants losing control of their electorate.
David Mark is a senior editor at Politico.com and author of Going Dirty: The Art of Negative Campaigning.
by David Mark 01/19/2009
California’s 32nd congressional district, stretching from East Los Angeles to the eastern San Gabriel Valley, would seem like friendly territory for a Hispanic candidate. Labor Secretary-designate Hilda Solis’s district is more than 60 percent Latino, and there is no shortage of Hispanic local and state lawmakers eager to replace her in Congress.
But rapidly shifting demographics suggest an Asian-American candidate – State Board of Equalization Chairwoman Judy Chu – has a shot at winning the urban-suburban district. Asians make up nearly 20 percent of the district, whom statistics suggest are better-organized politically, wealthier and have generally attained a higher level of citizenship (voting power) than Latino residents.
The 32nd is one of several congressional districts that could soon trigger new leadership in ways that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. The city where Chu long served as mayor, Monterey Park, is one of the only majority Asian-American municipalities in the nation.
The increasingly mobile nature of American society means that no district – no matter how carefully gerrymandered – can be considered permanently safe. So while Solis’s district could slip away, Latinos can look west down the I-10 freeway to a swath of potential pick-up opportunities among seats held by African-American lawmakers.
Consider the South Los Angeles-based 35th Congressional District, long represented by firebrand liberal Maxine Waters. The area won national attention – and infamy – as the epicenter of L.A.’s two postwar riots: in Watts in 1965 and at the corner of Florence and Normandie in 1992.
But the district is no longer majority black. Inglewood – once all white, later mostly black – is now about 46 percent Hispanic, though city statistics suggest African Americans still vote in higher numbers. Hawthorne now has more Hispanics than blacks. And South Los Angeles, an almost entirely black neighborhood at the time of the Watts riots, now is home to more Hispanics. A small shift in district boundaries in the post-2010 Census redistricting process could provide a Hispanic lawmaker a decent shot at beating Waters in a Democratic primary.
Rep. Diane Watson faces a similar political predicament in the neighboring 33rd District. Watson was a pioneering African-American lawmaker in her long state Senate career before serving as ambassador to Micronesia in the Clinton administration. She won a 2001 special election to Congress in the demographically diverse district, which begins about one mile inland from Venice Beach, runs through Culver City and ends up in South Los Angeles. The district also includes Koreatown, the Miracle Mile district, and Hollywood – all areas with both an influx of immigrants from various countries and a growing cadre of young professionals.
Though once solidly African-American, the district is now 35 percent Hispanic, 30 percent black and 12 percent Asian. Lower citizenship rates among Latinos have deflated their political clout. But small shifts in new redistricting could have a considerable impact on Watson, altering the district’s racial and ethnic balance of power and possibly generating serious primary competition from a Latino challenger.
This drama was already played out in the Long Beach area 37th Congressional District during a 2007 special election. The seat takes in Compton and Carson, which went from predominately black through the 1980s to heavily Latino. When Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald passed away in early 2007 the open seat special election quickly came down to another African-American Assemblywoman – Laura Richardson – and Hispanic state senator Jenny Oropeza. Richardson edged out Oropeza in the special election primary, a temporary setback for Hispanic political ambitions. But the district could change considerably in redistricting within two years, providing another Hispanic pickup opportunity.
The story is similar in other demographically shifting districts around the nation. In 2008 once-Republican Virginia, Democrats took over three U.S. House seats. The suburban district of long-time Republican Rep. Tom Davis fell to Democrat Gerry Connolly in an area filled with professional transplants from across the Potomac in Washington, D.C. Though technically part of the South, Northern Virginia votes more like affluent parts of New Jersey.
Michigan, Pennsylvania and other large states with relatively static populations are projected to lose seats in the post-2010 redistricting process. Meanwhile rapidly growing Sunbelt states like Arizona, Florida and Texas will make big gains. All these states are seeing rapid demographic shifts, particularly from Latinos.
Members of Congress have grown expert in tailoring district lines to their own political advantage. But given the rapidly shifting demography of the nation, the redistricting process of 2011 could result in even the craftiest lawmakers and political consultants losing control of their electorate.
David Mark is a senior editor at Politico.com and author of Going Dirty: The Art of Negative Campaigning.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Hispanic student goes from immigrant to Capitol
Fast-rising Hispanic student is congressional page
1/17/2009 The Associated Press
CORNELIUS, Ore. (AP) — When Glance High School student Jose Echevarria arrived in Oregon at age 9 he spoke no English and had no political favors to call in.
At 16 he has a resume that should put him on an Ivy League track, and he left this weekend for Washington, D.C., as one of the few Latinos from Oregon to serve as a U.S. congressional page.
Echevarria won over the three judges with his straight-A grades, school leadership positions and acceptance to a Latino law camp at Georgetown University. He was one of 18 Oregon a-applicants.
It was his character and the trust others have in him, said Susan Marcus, one of the judges and a retired teacher.
U.S. Rep. David Wu sponsored Echevarria, but the teenager will serve all 435 House members, delivering messages, preparing the House chambers and raising the flag at the Capitol, among other duties. He will join 71 other House pages.
Page appointments rotate among the members of Congress. Wu has sponsored three pages during his 10 years in office.
"This is the most stressful thing I've ever done," Echevarria said from his home in Cornelius. "It took a lot of thinking."
He was most worried about being unable to take his Advanced Placement exams at the end of the school year. the page boarding school in Washington, D.C., doesn't offer them.
Echevarria sought the advice of counselors at the University of Portland, his top college choice in Oregon. They said the page job would stand out. Echevarria also has designs on Georgetown and Harvard.
Echevarria was born in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, to parents with little education. His father, a nursery manager, taught himself to read and write. Echevarria said his mother, a hotel housekeeper, is illiterate.
"Mexico gave me life, and this country has given me the opportunity to use that life," said Echevarria, who has a green card.
"I'm smart in the sense that I always try to do better," he said.
He has such a respect and value for education, said Michelle Shigemasa, Echevarria's freshman language arts teacher, now retired.
"He had this calm assuredness about himself," she said. "Taking a risk is not a fear for him. It's just a logical step to see if it's workable."
That impressed Marcus when she judged Echevarria's application and essay. "He could handle adversity and prosper," she said.
In addition to academics and strong letters of reference, the judges looked for mature students who could adapt to working away from their families, got along with others and had something to offer the other pages.
"I think he could teach them how to go after personal goals and achieve them but not by pushing people aside," Marcus said. "I have the sense that he brings other people along."
Echevarria will start his day in school at 6:45 a.m. and end usually before noon when the House of Representatives meets. Then, his job begins.
He"ll receive about $20,200 for his five months of work, but he must pay $400 a month for room and board. His room will be inspected weekly, and he'll have a 10 p.m. curfew most days. He probably will have two roommates.
His dream is to meet Obama, whom he described as his hero after his parents.
"If I met him it would be like getting accepted to Harvard."
1/17/2009 The Associated Press
CORNELIUS, Ore. (AP) — When Glance High School student Jose Echevarria arrived in Oregon at age 9 he spoke no English and had no political favors to call in.
At 16 he has a resume that should put him on an Ivy League track, and he left this weekend for Washington, D.C., as one of the few Latinos from Oregon to serve as a U.S. congressional page.
Echevarria won over the three judges with his straight-A grades, school leadership positions and acceptance to a Latino law camp at Georgetown University. He was one of 18 Oregon a-applicants.
It was his character and the trust others have in him, said Susan Marcus, one of the judges and a retired teacher.
U.S. Rep. David Wu sponsored Echevarria, but the teenager will serve all 435 House members, delivering messages, preparing the House chambers and raising the flag at the Capitol, among other duties. He will join 71 other House pages.
Page appointments rotate among the members of Congress. Wu has sponsored three pages during his 10 years in office.
"This is the most stressful thing I've ever done," Echevarria said from his home in Cornelius. "It took a lot of thinking."
He was most worried about being unable to take his Advanced Placement exams at the end of the school year. the page boarding school in Washington, D.C., doesn't offer them.
Echevarria sought the advice of counselors at the University of Portland, his top college choice in Oregon. They said the page job would stand out. Echevarria also has designs on Georgetown and Harvard.
Echevarria was born in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, to parents with little education. His father, a nursery manager, taught himself to read and write. Echevarria said his mother, a hotel housekeeper, is illiterate.
"Mexico gave me life, and this country has given me the opportunity to use that life," said Echevarria, who has a green card.
"I'm smart in the sense that I always try to do better," he said.
He has such a respect and value for education, said Michelle Shigemasa, Echevarria's freshman language arts teacher, now retired.
"He had this calm assuredness about himself," she said. "Taking a risk is not a fear for him. It's just a logical step to see if it's workable."
That impressed Marcus when she judged Echevarria's application and essay. "He could handle adversity and prosper," she said.
In addition to academics and strong letters of reference, the judges looked for mature students who could adapt to working away from their families, got along with others and had something to offer the other pages.
"I think he could teach them how to go after personal goals and achieve them but not by pushing people aside," Marcus said. "I have the sense that he brings other people along."
Echevarria will start his day in school at 6:45 a.m. and end usually before noon when the House of Representatives meets. Then, his job begins.
He"ll receive about $20,200 for his five months of work, but he must pay $400 a month for room and board. His room will be inspected weekly, and he'll have a 10 p.m. curfew most days. He probably will have two roommates.
His dream is to meet Obama, whom he described as his hero after his parents.
"If I met him it would be like getting accepted to Harvard."
Hispanic growth in Texas doesn't change it to Blue
The Lone Star State Stays Red
Don't get carried away by the demographics: Texas isn't flipping blue.
By Evan Smith | NEWSWEEK Jan 17, 2009
Even the sunniest Texas Democrats would tell you that 2008 was a rebuilding year. They didn't manage to make George W. Bush's home state competitive at the presidential level—though Barack Obama did rack up 43.8 percent of the vote, more than 5 points better than John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000. They couldn't claim victory in more than 28 of Texas's 254 counties—though Obama did pick off the three largest urban counties (Dallas, Harris and Bexar), a hat trick that no Democrat has made since LBJ in 1964. They didn't reclaim the historic majority in the Texas House that they lost in 2003—though they did come close, and headed into the 2009 legislative session only one seat down, at 76-74. Progress to be sure, but modest at best.
Not long after Election Day, soothsayers suggested that just as Colorado and Virginia (along with seven other states) flipped from red to blue this cycle, Texas was on the verge of political transformation, too. The reasoning went like this: as with those states (and, to a lesser degree, newly blue North Carolina), Texas has a growing Latino population that remains untapped; it's got younger, more-progressive transplants from other states moving into urban areas, while older, more-conservative rurals are dying off; and it's undergoing a migration of base Democratic types (civil servants, union workers, ethnic minorities) into the once blood-red suburbs, turning some purple or even light blue.
All true. The only thing wrong is the conclusion. Texas isn't poised to flip—yet—for three reasons:
Demographics aren't destiny. Texas Democrats do indeed hang their hopes on that rapidly growing Hispanic population: the state is already minority-majority, and a Hispanic majority is coming, perhaps within 10 years. It is assumed that an overwhelming number of non-Anglos will vote Democratic, and that that will be the engine of change. Trouble is, in Texas, as across the country, the Hispanic vote is no more monolithically Democratic than the Anglo vote. Bush and his Republican successor, Rick Perry, have regularly won a third or more of Texas Hispanics, who tend to be socially conservative and less reflexively antiwar, since so many of their sons and daughters are in Afghanistan and Iraq. And although young people are flocking here, they tend be Alex P. Keatons: John McCain beat Obama 74 to 25 percent among white Texas college students, while Obama fought him to a draw elsewhere. In the suburbs, Obama won nationally, but McCain won in Texas 61-37.
All politics is local. Before a state can be in play at the presidential level, it has to be in play at the state level. (The party infrastructure is too valuable a tool; little surprise that six of the nine states that switched from red to blue in 2008 had Democratic governors.) Texas simply isn't. No Democrat has won statewide since 1994—the party's highest-ranking elected official today is a district-court judge—and the prospects are bleak in the short term. The main reason is that the Democrats have a historic deficit of plausible candidates. The biggest Brand "D's" of this generation remain the late Ann Richards and Henry Cisneros, who is out of politics for good. The biggest of the moment, former state comptroller John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White, have opted to join a crowded field in seeking the Senate seat soon to be vacated by incumbent Kay Bailey Hutchison, leaving the party without a standard-bearer in the 2010 governor's race. No strong candidate at the top of the ticket will make it harder to recruit strong down-ballot candidates, generate turnout at the polls and build the kind of momentum necessary going forward.
Less red is still red. McCain's percentage of the Texas vote in '08 lagged behind Bush's in '00 and '04—but he still topped 55 percent and beat Obama by 950,000 votes. NBC News noted that in '08 exit polls, 46 percent of Texans identified themselves as "conservative," compared with only 34 percent nationally. (In Virginia and North Carolina it was 37 and 33 percent, respectively.) Bush's approval rating in Texas was 41 percent versus 27 percent elsewhere; Republican pollster Mike Baselice observes that the worst-performing Republican statewide candidate in '08 still won with more than 51 percent of the vote.
The unthinkable is not the impossible, Democrats are quick to argue. Matt Angle, executive director of the Lone Star Project, a federal PAC that supports Democratic comeback efforts in Texas, says that $7 million to $10 million from the state party stacked on top of a $20 million gubernatorial campaign could make Democrats competitive at the state level in 2010; another $6 million to $10 million from Democratic donors outside Texas could do the trick in 2012. But that's a pretty big provisional bet. It also bears noting that Tom DeLay's congressional district, a knot of aspirational Houston suburbs that are among the most conservative in Texas, had been represented the last two years by a Democrat—a byproduct of the ethically questionable doings that led DeLay to resign his seat in 2006. Of course, this Election Day, DeLay's taint having faded into memory, the district flipped back into GOP hands.
This is still a Republican state, and it will remain so for at least the next presidential cycle. Texas Democrats can dream, but the only thing likely to be blue in 2012 is their mood.
Smith is the editor in chief of Texas Monthly.
Don't get carried away by the demographics: Texas isn't flipping blue.
By Evan Smith | NEWSWEEK Jan 17, 2009
Even the sunniest Texas Democrats would tell you that 2008 was a rebuilding year. They didn't manage to make George W. Bush's home state competitive at the presidential level—though Barack Obama did rack up 43.8 percent of the vote, more than 5 points better than John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000. They couldn't claim victory in more than 28 of Texas's 254 counties—though Obama did pick off the three largest urban counties (Dallas, Harris and Bexar), a hat trick that no Democrat has made since LBJ in 1964. They didn't reclaim the historic majority in the Texas House that they lost in 2003—though they did come close, and headed into the 2009 legislative session only one seat down, at 76-74. Progress to be sure, but modest at best.
Not long after Election Day, soothsayers suggested that just as Colorado and Virginia (along with seven other states) flipped from red to blue this cycle, Texas was on the verge of political transformation, too. The reasoning went like this: as with those states (and, to a lesser degree, newly blue North Carolina), Texas has a growing Latino population that remains untapped; it's got younger, more-progressive transplants from other states moving into urban areas, while older, more-conservative rurals are dying off; and it's undergoing a migration of base Democratic types (civil servants, union workers, ethnic minorities) into the once blood-red suburbs, turning some purple or even light blue.
All true. The only thing wrong is the conclusion. Texas isn't poised to flip—yet—for three reasons:
Demographics aren't destiny. Texas Democrats do indeed hang their hopes on that rapidly growing Hispanic population: the state is already minority-majority, and a Hispanic majority is coming, perhaps within 10 years. It is assumed that an overwhelming number of non-Anglos will vote Democratic, and that that will be the engine of change. Trouble is, in Texas, as across the country, the Hispanic vote is no more monolithically Democratic than the Anglo vote. Bush and his Republican successor, Rick Perry, have regularly won a third or more of Texas Hispanics, who tend to be socially conservative and less reflexively antiwar, since so many of their sons and daughters are in Afghanistan and Iraq. And although young people are flocking here, they tend be Alex P. Keatons: John McCain beat Obama 74 to 25 percent among white Texas college students, while Obama fought him to a draw elsewhere. In the suburbs, Obama won nationally, but McCain won in Texas 61-37.
All politics is local. Before a state can be in play at the presidential level, it has to be in play at the state level. (The party infrastructure is too valuable a tool; little surprise that six of the nine states that switched from red to blue in 2008 had Democratic governors.) Texas simply isn't. No Democrat has won statewide since 1994—the party's highest-ranking elected official today is a district-court judge—and the prospects are bleak in the short term. The main reason is that the Democrats have a historic deficit of plausible candidates. The biggest Brand "D's" of this generation remain the late Ann Richards and Henry Cisneros, who is out of politics for good. The biggest of the moment, former state comptroller John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White, have opted to join a crowded field in seeking the Senate seat soon to be vacated by incumbent Kay Bailey Hutchison, leaving the party without a standard-bearer in the 2010 governor's race. No strong candidate at the top of the ticket will make it harder to recruit strong down-ballot candidates, generate turnout at the polls and build the kind of momentum necessary going forward.
Less red is still red. McCain's percentage of the Texas vote in '08 lagged behind Bush's in '00 and '04—but he still topped 55 percent and beat Obama by 950,000 votes. NBC News noted that in '08 exit polls, 46 percent of Texans identified themselves as "conservative," compared with only 34 percent nationally. (In Virginia and North Carolina it was 37 and 33 percent, respectively.) Bush's approval rating in Texas was 41 percent versus 27 percent elsewhere; Republican pollster Mike Baselice observes that the worst-performing Republican statewide candidate in '08 still won with more than 51 percent of the vote.
The unthinkable is not the impossible, Democrats are quick to argue. Matt Angle, executive director of the Lone Star Project, a federal PAC that supports Democratic comeback efforts in Texas, says that $7 million to $10 million from the state party stacked on top of a $20 million gubernatorial campaign could make Democrats competitive at the state level in 2010; another $6 million to $10 million from Democratic donors outside Texas could do the trick in 2012. But that's a pretty big provisional bet. It also bears noting that Tom DeLay's congressional district, a knot of aspirational Houston suburbs that are among the most conservative in Texas, had been represented the last two years by a Democrat—a byproduct of the ethically questionable doings that led DeLay to resign his seat in 2006. Of course, this Election Day, DeLay's taint having faded into memory, the district flipped back into GOP hands.
This is still a Republican state, and it will remain so for at least the next presidential cycle. Texas Democrats can dream, but the only thing likely to be blue in 2012 is their mood.
Smith is the editor in chief of Texas Monthly.
Hispanics receive training from Mormons
Hispanics receive training in their own tongue
By Scott Taylor LDS Church News Jan. 17, 2009
Auxiliary leaders of the church's 100-plus Hispanic units in the state of Utah supplement the stake auxiliary leadership training they receive by attending area-wide training conducted in their native Spanish language.
Dating back to 2003, Hispanic auxiliary leadership training meetings have become an annual offering in the Utah Salt Lake, Utah North and Utah South areas.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband, the member of the Presidency of the Seventy who presides over the three Utah areas, cites church statistics as showing approximately 70,000 Hispanic members residing in the state and more than 120 Spanish-language wards and branches.
See the rest of this story at ldschurchnews.com
By Scott Taylor LDS Church News Jan. 17, 2009
Auxiliary leaders of the church's 100-plus Hispanic units in the state of Utah supplement the stake auxiliary leadership training they receive by attending area-wide training conducted in their native Spanish language.
Dating back to 2003, Hispanic auxiliary leadership training meetings have become an annual offering in the Utah Salt Lake, Utah North and Utah South areas.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband, the member of the Presidency of the Seventy who presides over the three Utah areas, cites church statistics as showing approximately 70,000 Hispanic members residing in the state and more than 120 Spanish-language wards and branches.
See the rest of this story at ldschurchnews.com
Obama may help change Latino's image
Hail to the reader in chief: Barack Obama
Ishmael Reed January 18, 2009
Barack Obama, a Celtic African American with a golden tongue and a golden pen, will not be the first literary president.
John Quincy Adams wrote an essay about Hamlet. Franklin Pierce palled around with Nathaniel Hawthorne. High school graduate Harry Truman might have been the most well read of all of the presidents. John F. Kennedy could quote the Greeks and entertained James Baldwin and Langston Hughes at the White House.
But to see a black man who is literary and is the president sends a powerful message to young people who are abandoning books for the iPod and other gadgets that a curmudgeon like me has given up trying to keep up with.
Once in a while, the black boys on my block stop by the house to get autographed copies of my youngest daughter's books. One day I stopped them and challenged them to read some passages. They zipped right through. I promised them cash incentives if they would write a poem for me. They weren't able to do it. When I asked one of the boys, a kid who should be in a classroom for the gifted, why, he said that it was "football season."
They probably go to schools where there exists no black male writer on their reading lists. The people who have defined what black men are insist that they be athletes, entertainers or criminals, or misogynists and absent fathers in a country where half the marriages end in divorce and the nuclear family is in the minority.
The election of a cerebral black president could indicate that whites, yellows and browns might want more from the black experience than that made available by the middlepersons, the television and Hollywood executives and book publishers and the newspapers that are in trouble because they turn off black and brown consumers. We read about Latino rapists, but seldom about great Latino painters, astronauts, scientists, architects and authors who receive recognition in South America, Europe and Asia, but not here.
Playwright Wajahat Ali has compared Barack Obama to Superman. He has a point. On his way to the White House, Obama shattered a whole bunch of stereotypes and cliches about black life and, like a cool man of steel, deflected the outpouring of racist bile aimed at him. (My favorite was a banner put up by the Republican Party in New Jersey: "Obama loves America like O.J. loved Nicole.") Maybe young people will learn from his campaign that words and a cool demeanor can be as effective as an Uzi. Don't riot, get a blog.
Though black kids are singled out as those who believe that intellectual life is a white thing, another media hoax, anyone who is acquainted with the facts understands that the decline of literacy is a national problem. Why else are bookstores closing and book reviews becoming obsolete, and why is affirmative action extended to white men to keep them in college?
I always say that I have never seen a movie that was as good as the best book that I've read. One comes close. "The Reader," a superbly acted movie, is about a previously illiterate woman who actually reads and writes her way into accepting responsibility for a terrible crime that she has committed. Books can make you better. Obama knows this and will perhaps help lead the nation back to literacy. By choosing Elizabeth Alexander as his inaugural poet, he's off to a good start.
Ishmael Reed, who lives in Oakland, is the author, most recently, of "Mixing It Up: Taking on the Media Bullies and Other Reflections" (Da Capo Press). He received the 2008 blues songwriter of the year award from the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame for his song "The Prophet of Doom," recorded by Cassandra Wilson. E-mail him at books@sfchronicle.com.
Ishmael Reed January 18, 2009
Barack Obama, a Celtic African American with a golden tongue and a golden pen, will not be the first literary president.
John Quincy Adams wrote an essay about Hamlet. Franklin Pierce palled around with Nathaniel Hawthorne. High school graduate Harry Truman might have been the most well read of all of the presidents. John F. Kennedy could quote the Greeks and entertained James Baldwin and Langston Hughes at the White House.
But to see a black man who is literary and is the president sends a powerful message to young people who are abandoning books for the iPod and other gadgets that a curmudgeon like me has given up trying to keep up with.
Once in a while, the black boys on my block stop by the house to get autographed copies of my youngest daughter's books. One day I stopped them and challenged them to read some passages. They zipped right through. I promised them cash incentives if they would write a poem for me. They weren't able to do it. When I asked one of the boys, a kid who should be in a classroom for the gifted, why, he said that it was "football season."
They probably go to schools where there exists no black male writer on their reading lists. The people who have defined what black men are insist that they be athletes, entertainers or criminals, or misogynists and absent fathers in a country where half the marriages end in divorce and the nuclear family is in the minority.
The election of a cerebral black president could indicate that whites, yellows and browns might want more from the black experience than that made available by the middlepersons, the television and Hollywood executives and book publishers and the newspapers that are in trouble because they turn off black and brown consumers. We read about Latino rapists, but seldom about great Latino painters, astronauts, scientists, architects and authors who receive recognition in South America, Europe and Asia, but not here.
Playwright Wajahat Ali has compared Barack Obama to Superman. He has a point. On his way to the White House, Obama shattered a whole bunch of stereotypes and cliches about black life and, like a cool man of steel, deflected the outpouring of racist bile aimed at him. (My favorite was a banner put up by the Republican Party in New Jersey: "Obama loves America like O.J. loved Nicole.") Maybe young people will learn from his campaign that words and a cool demeanor can be as effective as an Uzi. Don't riot, get a blog.
Though black kids are singled out as those who believe that intellectual life is a white thing, another media hoax, anyone who is acquainted with the facts understands that the decline of literacy is a national problem. Why else are bookstores closing and book reviews becoming obsolete, and why is affirmative action extended to white men to keep them in college?
I always say that I have never seen a movie that was as good as the best book that I've read. One comes close. "The Reader," a superbly acted movie, is about a previously illiterate woman who actually reads and writes her way into accepting responsibility for a terrible crime that she has committed. Books can make you better. Obama knows this and will perhaps help lead the nation back to literacy. By choosing Elizabeth Alexander as his inaugural poet, he's off to a good start.
Ishmael Reed, who lives in Oakland, is the author, most recently, of "Mixing It Up: Taking on the Media Bullies and Other Reflections" (Da Capo Press). He received the 2008 blues songwriter of the year award from the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame for his song "The Prophet of Doom," recorded by Cassandra Wilson. E-mail him at books@sfchronicle.com.
Latino population growth challenges US future
A Fence Can’t Stop the Future
America can either flourish or fade in the new global economy. It all depends on what we do about the fastest-growing segment of the country's population.
By Henry Cisneros | NEWSWEEK Jan 17, 2009
America has long been the envy of the rest of the world, and for good reason. Over the past century, the United States has harnessed its economic, scientific, cultural and educational resources to produce remarkable achievements in every field of human endeavor. But with nations like China and India emerging as major powers, many argue that U.S. dominance will soon be eclipsed, and what is known as the American Century will soon be over. Our fate is far from sealed, though. Whether America surmounts its challenges or slides to the middle of the pack will likely depend on its fastest-growing segment: the Latino community.
If demographics is destiny, consider this: there are roughly eight Latino births for every death, whereas white births and deaths are nearly even. While more-homogenous developed countries like Japan, Italy, France and Germany are aging rapidly, this Latino baby boom could be a major engine of growth for the United States. Young Latinos could bolster our workforce, increase the size of our markets, support Social Security and revitalize our communities. According to the most recent Census Bureau projections, about 60 percent of total U.S. growth will come from the Latino population — that's almost 100 million additional people. One in four Americans will be Latino. This holds true even if the border fence that Congress and the Bush administration authorized proves impenetrable—which is highly unlikely.
The law of large numbers guarantees that Latinos will move the national averages in almost every measurable area of American life. The question is how. If current trends continue, Latino growthcould actually speed our national decline. Need a cautionary tale? In California, the underperformance of Latino students has pushed the state to the bottom of the heap—45th among 50 states in educational attainment. On the other hand, if we investin services that lift Latinos into the middle class, they could become the dynamic heart of a continuing American success story.
Even during the 1950s, when U.S. industry was a powerhouse, progressive policies were what spurred the expansion of the middle class—through the GI Bill, commitment to homeownership and the passage of the minimum wage. Those same initiatives created a more just society, which in turn helped foster the civil-rights movement, the women's movement and the environmental movement. America's future vibrancy depends on renewing those commitments for Latinos.
There's much work to be done. Adult Latinos often wait years to be admitted to English classes. Services in America's cities—where the bulk of Latinos live, work and spend their money—have deteriorated over the past eight years. Local governments will be even more hamstrung by the current economic crisis. The new administration will need to focus on chipping away at these roadblocks to the middle class.
Of course, Latinos must also take advantage of the opportunities that do exist, and invest in American society. Immigrants must do whatever they can to master English. They must prepare themselves to succeed in the workplace, and to guide their children through the school system. They must save to buy their own homes, and work to provide their families with a health plan, retirement plan and savings account. They should participate enthusiastically in civic, community and religious activities. And they should strive for full citizenship.
It's important to remember we can do all this without losing our heritage. We can learn English without forgetting Spanish, adopt American social practices in the workplace without having to denigrate our native traditions, and follow American laws without ignoring our obligations to family and community. In fact, being bilingual and bicultural are competitive advantages that will only be more important in the future.
America's Latinos on the whole are a community of strivers. We understand that striving is at the core of American culture. And we know that the American Dream, while far from foolproof, represents the right to strive with the best chance of reward. This is the basis for a hopeful America whose best days are still ahead. If Latinos succeed, so will America.
Cisneros, Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development and mayor of San Antonio, is editor of “Latinos and the Nation’s Future,” published this month by Arte Público Press of the University of Houston.
America can either flourish or fade in the new global economy. It all depends on what we do about the fastest-growing segment of the country's population.
By Henry Cisneros | NEWSWEEK Jan 17, 2009
America has long been the envy of the rest of the world, and for good reason. Over the past century, the United States has harnessed its economic, scientific, cultural and educational resources to produce remarkable achievements in every field of human endeavor. But with nations like China and India emerging as major powers, many argue that U.S. dominance will soon be eclipsed, and what is known as the American Century will soon be over. Our fate is far from sealed, though. Whether America surmounts its challenges or slides to the middle of the pack will likely depend on its fastest-growing segment: the Latino community.
If demographics is destiny, consider this: there are roughly eight Latino births for every death, whereas white births and deaths are nearly even. While more-homogenous developed countries like Japan, Italy, France and Germany are aging rapidly, this Latino baby boom could be a major engine of growth for the United States. Young Latinos could bolster our workforce, increase the size of our markets, support Social Security and revitalize our communities. According to the most recent Census Bureau projections, about 60 percent of total U.S. growth will come from the Latino population — that's almost 100 million additional people. One in four Americans will be Latino. This holds true even if the border fence that Congress and the Bush administration authorized proves impenetrable—which is highly unlikely.
The law of large numbers guarantees that Latinos will move the national averages in almost every measurable area of American life. The question is how. If current trends continue, Latino growthcould actually speed our national decline. Need a cautionary tale? In California, the underperformance of Latino students has pushed the state to the bottom of the heap—45th among 50 states in educational attainment. On the other hand, if we investin services that lift Latinos into the middle class, they could become the dynamic heart of a continuing American success story.
Even during the 1950s, when U.S. industry was a powerhouse, progressive policies were what spurred the expansion of the middle class—through the GI Bill, commitment to homeownership and the passage of the minimum wage. Those same initiatives created a more just society, which in turn helped foster the civil-rights movement, the women's movement and the environmental movement. America's future vibrancy depends on renewing those commitments for Latinos.
There's much work to be done. Adult Latinos often wait years to be admitted to English classes. Services in America's cities—where the bulk of Latinos live, work and spend their money—have deteriorated over the past eight years. Local governments will be even more hamstrung by the current economic crisis. The new administration will need to focus on chipping away at these roadblocks to the middle class.
Of course, Latinos must also take advantage of the opportunities that do exist, and invest in American society. Immigrants must do whatever they can to master English. They must prepare themselves to succeed in the workplace, and to guide their children through the school system. They must save to buy their own homes, and work to provide their families with a health plan, retirement plan and savings account. They should participate enthusiastically in civic, community and religious activities. And they should strive for full citizenship.
It's important to remember we can do all this without losing our heritage. We can learn English without forgetting Spanish, adopt American social practices in the workplace without having to denigrate our native traditions, and follow American laws without ignoring our obligations to family and community. In fact, being bilingual and bicultural are competitive advantages that will only be more important in the future.
America's Latinos on the whole are a community of strivers. We understand that striving is at the core of American culture. And we know that the American Dream, while far from foolproof, represents the right to strive with the best chance of reward. This is the basis for a hopeful America whose best days are still ahead. If Latinos succeed, so will America.
Cisneros, Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development and mayor of San Antonio, is editor of “Latinos and the Nation’s Future,” published this month by Arte Público Press of the University of Houston.
Texas Latino says goodbye to Embassy, politics
Texan says goodbye to embassy, politics
By DUDLEY ALTHAUS MEXICO CITY BUREAU Jan. 17, 2009
MEXICO CITY — After six years managing one of Washington’s more important relationships as its ambassador to Mexico, Texas lawyer and politician Tony Garza is heading home.
But for Garza, a native of Brownsville and a once-rising star in the Texas Republican Party, the journey will entail a short drive across Mexico’s sprawling capital — from the ambassador’s residence to his wife’s.
Married four years ago to Mexican beer heiress and business titan Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala, Garza, 49, says he plans to spend much of his time with her in Mexico City, where she maintains a palatial home. Business deals, philanthropy and other projects beckon, he says, adding: “You’re not going to see my name on a ballot.”
Appointed ambassador in 2002 by President George W. Bush — a longtime political ally and friend — the then-43-year-old Garza was the youngest head of a U.S. diplomatic mission and in charge of one of the largest embassies. He will leave his post at noon on Tuesday, when Barack Obama replaces Bush.
Garza served as ambassador during some of the most raucous times in U.S.-Mexico relations and the most desperate time for Mexican national security in decades.
The U.S. invasion of Iraq and the Bush administration’s failure to persuade the Senate to approve a sweeping immigration overhaul bill angered many Mexican leaders in the early part of Garza’s term. Sharply escalating criminal violence — and the growing U.S. concern about it — defined the past two years.
‘A good job’
While criticizing what they view as the Bush administration’s retreat from Mexico and Latin America since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mexican analysts give Garza high marks for his management of the relationship.
“He did a good job,” said Jorge Castañeda, an expert on U.S.-Mexico relations who served as foreign minister under former President Vicente Fox.
“He was effective in communicating the U.S. government point of view in Mexico and was a good channel to the White House.
“He will be leaving amid a situation which is perhaps the most difficult and delicate that the U.S. and Mexico have faced in a very long time.”
The “situation” of which Castañeda speaks is the violence on the streets that has followed President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on the country’s powerful drug trafficking syndicates.
The security forces’ battles with the mobsters and the wars between their gangs killed more than 5,400 people last year, according to Mexico’s attorney general.
A third of those slayings were tallied in Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso.
Lack of action
While praising Garza as a plain-spoken and effective diplomat, analyst Jose Luis Valdes, an authority on the U.S.-Mexico relationship, lamented the outgoing ambassador’s inability to attract more action from Washington.
“What’s unfortunate,” said Valdes, “is that (Garza) hasn’t been able to persuade or push President Bush to keep the relationship from degrading.
“It’s been a policy of abandonment.”
Still, U.S. and Mexican cooperation on the drug war ramped up during Garza’s watch.
The first funds from a three-year, $1.4 billion U.S. aid program to bolster Mexican security forces have begun flowing. Calderon’s government has extradited a record number of mobsters to the United States, including some of the country’s leading gang bosses.
“This is a profound and strategic partnership focused on security,” Garza said of the aid, called the Merida Initiative.
Garza’s decision to leave Texas electoral politics behind will likely surprise and disappoint some who saw him as an ideal Republican candidate in a state whose Hispanic population is growing quickly and is overwhelmingly voting for Democrats.
“I’m a little disappointed. He’s a tremendous talent,” said Reggie Bashur, a Republican political consultant in Austin who has worked with Garza. “He would be very competitive for any statewide seat.
“If he doesn’t want to run, he doesn’t want to run.”
And though Garza is renouncing politicking, at least for now, he still sounds intrigued by the possibilities.
“At some point in the not too distant future, Texas is going to be a swing state,” Garza said, “And the single most important demographic in determining which way the state goes is the Latino one.
“Latinos are decidedly independent and neither party can afford to take us for granted.”
A stalwart in a political party with few Mexican-American faithful, Garza began his political career in 1988 at age 29 with his election as Cameron County judge in Brownsville.
He was the second youngest person ever elected county judge — just behind former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen — and was the first Republican ever elected to a county-wide seat in heavily Democratic South Texas.
Then-Gov. Bush appointed Garza as his secretary of state and special envoy to Mexico in 1994. And Garza won an election to the Texas Railroad Commission in 1998, marking it the first time a Hispanic Republican won statewide office. He served as the commission’s chairman for three years before being named ambassador.
Acceptance from elite
But Garza, who grew up on the border as the son of a gas-station owner and grandson of Mexican immigrants, said he has felt little lasting hostility from Mexico’s political elite, the type that has greeted previous Mexican-American ambassadors.
“I’ve been accepted here,” he said.
Whatever he does here will almost certainly build upon the connections he’s developed. His wife, known to nearly everyone by her nickname, Mariasun, is the wealthy granddaughter of a founder of the Modelo beer empire, maker of Corona and other brews.
Aramburuzabala, her mother and sister rank among the wealthiest people in Latin America, with a fortune Forbes magazine recently estimated at $2 billion.
They manage investments in a wide range of companies, and Garza’s wife sits on several corporate boards and charities.
“I’ll keep focused on the road ahead,” Garza said. “Being ambassador to Mexico at this time in our countries’ history has had the two things that really motivate: it’s urgent and it’s relevant.
“So, at some point, if I haven’t found that same sense of purpose in what I do next, first I’ll look some more; second, that’s what I’ll miss.”
dudley.althaus@chron.com
By DUDLEY ALTHAUS MEXICO CITY BUREAU Jan. 17, 2009
MEXICO CITY — After six years managing one of Washington’s more important relationships as its ambassador to Mexico, Texas lawyer and politician Tony Garza is heading home.
But for Garza, a native of Brownsville and a once-rising star in the Texas Republican Party, the journey will entail a short drive across Mexico’s sprawling capital — from the ambassador’s residence to his wife’s.
Married four years ago to Mexican beer heiress and business titan Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala, Garza, 49, says he plans to spend much of his time with her in Mexico City, where she maintains a palatial home. Business deals, philanthropy and other projects beckon, he says, adding: “You’re not going to see my name on a ballot.”
Appointed ambassador in 2002 by President George W. Bush — a longtime political ally and friend — the then-43-year-old Garza was the youngest head of a U.S. diplomatic mission and in charge of one of the largest embassies. He will leave his post at noon on Tuesday, when Barack Obama replaces Bush.
Garza served as ambassador during some of the most raucous times in U.S.-Mexico relations and the most desperate time for Mexican national security in decades.
The U.S. invasion of Iraq and the Bush administration’s failure to persuade the Senate to approve a sweeping immigration overhaul bill angered many Mexican leaders in the early part of Garza’s term. Sharply escalating criminal violence — and the growing U.S. concern about it — defined the past two years.
‘A good job’
While criticizing what they view as the Bush administration’s retreat from Mexico and Latin America since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mexican analysts give Garza high marks for his management of the relationship.
“He did a good job,” said Jorge Castañeda, an expert on U.S.-Mexico relations who served as foreign minister under former President Vicente Fox.
“He was effective in communicating the U.S. government point of view in Mexico and was a good channel to the White House.
“He will be leaving amid a situation which is perhaps the most difficult and delicate that the U.S. and Mexico have faced in a very long time.”
The “situation” of which Castañeda speaks is the violence on the streets that has followed President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on the country’s powerful drug trafficking syndicates.
The security forces’ battles with the mobsters and the wars between their gangs killed more than 5,400 people last year, according to Mexico’s attorney general.
A third of those slayings were tallied in Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso.
Lack of action
While praising Garza as a plain-spoken and effective diplomat, analyst Jose Luis Valdes, an authority on the U.S.-Mexico relationship, lamented the outgoing ambassador’s inability to attract more action from Washington.
“What’s unfortunate,” said Valdes, “is that (Garza) hasn’t been able to persuade or push President Bush to keep the relationship from degrading.
“It’s been a policy of abandonment.”
Still, U.S. and Mexican cooperation on the drug war ramped up during Garza’s watch.
The first funds from a three-year, $1.4 billion U.S. aid program to bolster Mexican security forces have begun flowing. Calderon’s government has extradited a record number of mobsters to the United States, including some of the country’s leading gang bosses.
“This is a profound and strategic partnership focused on security,” Garza said of the aid, called the Merida Initiative.
Garza’s decision to leave Texas electoral politics behind will likely surprise and disappoint some who saw him as an ideal Republican candidate in a state whose Hispanic population is growing quickly and is overwhelmingly voting for Democrats.
“I’m a little disappointed. He’s a tremendous talent,” said Reggie Bashur, a Republican political consultant in Austin who has worked with Garza. “He would be very competitive for any statewide seat.
“If he doesn’t want to run, he doesn’t want to run.”
And though Garza is renouncing politicking, at least for now, he still sounds intrigued by the possibilities.
“At some point in the not too distant future, Texas is going to be a swing state,” Garza said, “And the single most important demographic in determining which way the state goes is the Latino one.
“Latinos are decidedly independent and neither party can afford to take us for granted.”
A stalwart in a political party with few Mexican-American faithful, Garza began his political career in 1988 at age 29 with his election as Cameron County judge in Brownsville.
He was the second youngest person ever elected county judge — just behind former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen — and was the first Republican ever elected to a county-wide seat in heavily Democratic South Texas.
Then-Gov. Bush appointed Garza as his secretary of state and special envoy to Mexico in 1994. And Garza won an election to the Texas Railroad Commission in 1998, marking it the first time a Hispanic Republican won statewide office. He served as the commission’s chairman for three years before being named ambassador.
Acceptance from elite
But Garza, who grew up on the border as the son of a gas-station owner and grandson of Mexican immigrants, said he has felt little lasting hostility from Mexico’s political elite, the type that has greeted previous Mexican-American ambassadors.
“I’ve been accepted here,” he said.
Whatever he does here will almost certainly build upon the connections he’s developed. His wife, known to nearly everyone by her nickname, Mariasun, is the wealthy granddaughter of a founder of the Modelo beer empire, maker of Corona and other brews.
Aramburuzabala, her mother and sister rank among the wealthiest people in Latin America, with a fortune Forbes magazine recently estimated at $2 billion.
They manage investments in a wide range of companies, and Garza’s wife sits on several corporate boards and charities.
“I’ll keep focused on the road ahead,” Garza said. “Being ambassador to Mexico at this time in our countries’ history has had the two things that really motivate: it’s urgent and it’s relevant.
“So, at some point, if I haven’t found that same sense of purpose in what I do next, first I’ll look some more; second, that’s what I’ll miss.”
dudley.althaus@chron.com
Latino legislator pushes "no pay" until budget is approved
Maldonado Introduces "No Budget, No Pay or Per Diem" Bill
Commends governor for supporting idea in State of the State address
PRESS RELEASE
Senator Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) today introduced two constitutional amendments related to legislators’ pay and per diem.
The first bill, SCA 7, which the governor alluded to in his annual State of the State address earlier in the day, would prohibit legislators from receiving their salaries or per diem if the budget has not been passed by the constitutional deadline.
“This is just common sense at its core,” Maldonado stated after introducing the bills. “Legislators are financially rewarded for not doing their jobs! How does that make sense? The longer we drag on the budget debate, the more per diem members receive. We need to stop incentivizing failure. It’s almost embarrassing to have to introduce this legislation. You would think members would be able to get things done on time, but as long as we have a system in place that rewards their stubbornness, we will never achieve real reform in this state.”
The second bill, SCA 8, would require the Citizens Compensation Commission, the body responsible for setting legislators’ salaries, to freeze or reduce members’ salaries during a budget deficit. This bill is identical to SCA 23, which the senator introduced in 2008.
“When I introduced this bill last year, it was defeated with bipartisan opposition. It seems like the only thing both sides of the aisle agree on is that they don’t want their own salaries tied to our state’s budget. For a building that boasts to have so many fiscal conservatives, I was surprised to see last year’s bill be so handily defeated,” Maldonado continued.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today criticized legislators for receiving their salary and per diem during budget standoffs.
“I’m glad that the governor and I see eye-to-eye on this. I’ve been working on this issue for a while and have been planning to introduce these bills for some time. I hope the governor’s remarks today, and the dire situation all Californians are facing, will prompt more members to give up their per diem and part of their salary.
“Unfortunately, it seems that lately all you hear in this building is, ‘No to this, no to that.’ But when it comes to per diem, all you hear is, ‘Yes!’ We need to change that mentality and if members won’t do it themselves, I will force them to with these bills.
“But really these bills don’t go far enough. I have never taken a pay increase and therefore I’ve decreased my salary by ten percent. Members shouldn’t have to wait for the budget deadline to not receive pay and per diem. They should take it upon themselves and stop taking per diem right now, when we’re about to run out of money. They shouldn’t have to wait for a constitutional amendment. They should show strength of character right now and stand with the governor and me in telling the people of California that we’re fighting for them, not our own self interest,” Maldonado concluded.
SCA 7 and SCA 8 were both introduced today and will be set for a committee hearing at a date to be later determined.
Commends governor for supporting idea in State of the State address
PRESS RELEASE
Senator Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) today introduced two constitutional amendments related to legislators’ pay and per diem.
The first bill, SCA 7, which the governor alluded to in his annual State of the State address earlier in the day, would prohibit legislators from receiving their salaries or per diem if the budget has not been passed by the constitutional deadline.
“This is just common sense at its core,” Maldonado stated after introducing the bills. “Legislators are financially rewarded for not doing their jobs! How does that make sense? The longer we drag on the budget debate, the more per diem members receive. We need to stop incentivizing failure. It’s almost embarrassing to have to introduce this legislation. You would think members would be able to get things done on time, but as long as we have a system in place that rewards their stubbornness, we will never achieve real reform in this state.”
The second bill, SCA 8, would require the Citizens Compensation Commission, the body responsible for setting legislators’ salaries, to freeze or reduce members’ salaries during a budget deficit. This bill is identical to SCA 23, which the senator introduced in 2008.
“When I introduced this bill last year, it was defeated with bipartisan opposition. It seems like the only thing both sides of the aisle agree on is that they don’t want their own salaries tied to our state’s budget. For a building that boasts to have so many fiscal conservatives, I was surprised to see last year’s bill be so handily defeated,” Maldonado continued.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today criticized legislators for receiving their salary and per diem during budget standoffs.
“I’m glad that the governor and I see eye-to-eye on this. I’ve been working on this issue for a while and have been planning to introduce these bills for some time. I hope the governor’s remarks today, and the dire situation all Californians are facing, will prompt more members to give up their per diem and part of their salary.
“Unfortunately, it seems that lately all you hear in this building is, ‘No to this, no to that.’ But when it comes to per diem, all you hear is, ‘Yes!’ We need to change that mentality and if members won’t do it themselves, I will force them to with these bills.
“But really these bills don’t go far enough. I have never taken a pay increase and therefore I’ve decreased my salary by ten percent. Members shouldn’t have to wait for the budget deadline to not receive pay and per diem. They should take it upon themselves and stop taking per diem right now, when we’re about to run out of money. They shouldn’t have to wait for a constitutional amendment. They should show strength of character right now and stand with the governor and me in telling the people of California that we’re fighting for them, not our own self interest,” Maldonado concluded.
SCA 7 and SCA 8 were both introduced today and will be set for a committee hearing at a date to be later determined.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
First Hispanic Police Chief in Wilton Manors
Wilton Manors' first Hispanic police chief
By Gregory Lewis | South Florida Sun-Sentinel January 15, 2009
Richard Perez has established a few firsts in his career in law enforcement. Becoming the first Hispanic chief of police in Wilton Manors in 2005 came after he retired from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. There, he was the department's first Hispanic sergeant and, in 1998, its first captain.
"I helped break that little line," said Perez. "But I got promoted because I did the job. Law enforcement in the early '80s was male, predominantly white non-Hispanic."
Citizens accustomed to a mostly white police force weren't always kind to police officers of color. Perez rememberd a white citizen in a wide straw hat and cowboy boots driving his vehicle into the back of what he called a "car full of coloreds." He had been drinking and was giving a woman Fort lauderdale police officer difficulty when Perez arrived as back up.
The citizen groaned. "Doesn't Fort Lauderdale have any white officers?" Perez recalls him asking.
Perez never believed he would see an African-American elected president. But he's excited about what his election means for women, Hispanics and other minority groups.
"I think it's wide open now," Perez said. "Women, Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans °V if they can do the job, give them a shot."
Perez said he would advise President-elect Barack Obama to "be our president, and a black man second. He's my president, too."
By Gregory Lewis | South Florida Sun-Sentinel January 15, 2009
Richard Perez has established a few firsts in his career in law enforcement. Becoming the first Hispanic chief of police in Wilton Manors in 2005 came after he retired from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. There, he was the department's first Hispanic sergeant and, in 1998, its first captain.
"I helped break that little line," said Perez. "But I got promoted because I did the job. Law enforcement in the early '80s was male, predominantly white non-Hispanic."
Citizens accustomed to a mostly white police force weren't always kind to police officers of color. Perez rememberd a white citizen in a wide straw hat and cowboy boots driving his vehicle into the back of what he called a "car full of coloreds." He had been drinking and was giving a woman Fort lauderdale police officer difficulty when Perez arrived as back up.
The citizen groaned. "Doesn't Fort Lauderdale have any white officers?" Perez recalls him asking.
Perez never believed he would see an African-American elected president. But he's excited about what his election means for women, Hispanics and other minority groups.
"I think it's wide open now," Perez said. "Women, Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans °V if they can do the job, give them a shot."
Perez said he would advise President-elect Barack Obama to "be our president, and a black man second. He's my president, too."
Hispanic cops claim unfair treatment in Newark
Newark's black and hispanic cops claim unfair treatment
by Sharon Adarlo/The Star-Ledger January 15, 2009
The Newark City Council launched an investigation Wednesday into the police department's disciplinary procedure after African-American and Hispanic officers complained supervisors were disproportionally punishing them.
"This is not a witch hunt," said Councilman Ronald C. Rice, who heads the council committee looking into the complaint. "We hope the allegations are proven to be untrue."
Over the years, Rice said there has been discontent among police officers that the process was unfair to African-American and Hispanic officers. Rice and Councilman-at-large Donald Payne Jr. said they have been approached many times by officers who felt discriminated against.
"We want to get the true nature of the discipline process and put in a transparent procedure," Rice said.
Police Director Garry McCarthy yesterday said he welcomed the council's look into the workings of the department, adding the disciplinary process is part of his continuing review of the force.
"I strive to create a transparent agency," McCarthy said.
Last year, there were 915 total complaints issued against police officers, McCarthy said. Of those, African-American officers drew 41 percent, or 380 complaints, Caucasian officers garnered 27 percent, or 250 complaints, and Hispanic officers got 31 percent, or 285 complaints.
Compared with the 1,312-member police department, McCarthy said the proportion of complaints are similar to the makeup of the force.
The department is 36.2 percent African-American, 26.5 percent Caucasian and 36.9 percent Hispanic.
Rice said the committee wants to look at trends over time, reaching as far back as 1970.
Black, Hispanic cops in Newark claim unfair treatment
"We can't just look at one year in isolation," he said.
During the meeting, McCarthy, who was appointed police director in 2006, outlined the disciplinary procedure for officers when a supervisor or Newark resident files a complaint. If there is enough evidence to back up the complaint, McCarthy said it is assigned a complaint against personnel, or CAP, number and the police officer is charged.
If an accusation is minor, such as tardiness or not wearing a hat, the police officer's commander can either dismiss it or suspend the officer for up to five days without pay, McCarthy said.
But if a charge is more serious, such as theft or drug intoxication, the officer's case is heard before a trial board of three captains. That panel can dismiss the charge, issue a suspension or fire the police officer. A fired police officer has the opportunity to appeal the ruling, McCarthy said.
Yesterday, the committee subpoenaed Capt. Ronald Kinder, Deputy Chief Keith Rubel and Deputy Chief Niles Wilson to appear during the panel's executive session, which was not open to the public. A public portion preceded the closed session.
Rice said this was the first time in 40 years that the council has exercised its investigatory power over a city administration.
The committee's next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11.
by Sharon Adarlo/The Star-Ledger January 15, 2009
The Newark City Council launched an investigation Wednesday into the police department's disciplinary procedure after African-American and Hispanic officers complained supervisors were disproportionally punishing them.
"This is not a witch hunt," said Councilman Ronald C. Rice, who heads the council committee looking into the complaint. "We hope the allegations are proven to be untrue."
Over the years, Rice said there has been discontent among police officers that the process was unfair to African-American and Hispanic officers. Rice and Councilman-at-large Donald Payne Jr. said they have been approached many times by officers who felt discriminated against.
"We want to get the true nature of the discipline process and put in a transparent procedure," Rice said.
Police Director Garry McCarthy yesterday said he welcomed the council's look into the workings of the department, adding the disciplinary process is part of his continuing review of the force.
"I strive to create a transparent agency," McCarthy said.
Last year, there were 915 total complaints issued against police officers, McCarthy said. Of those, African-American officers drew 41 percent, or 380 complaints, Caucasian officers garnered 27 percent, or 250 complaints, and Hispanic officers got 31 percent, or 285 complaints.
Compared with the 1,312-member police department, McCarthy said the proportion of complaints are similar to the makeup of the force.
The department is 36.2 percent African-American, 26.5 percent Caucasian and 36.9 percent Hispanic.
Rice said the committee wants to look at trends over time, reaching as far back as 1970.
Black, Hispanic cops in Newark claim unfair treatment
"We can't just look at one year in isolation," he said.
During the meeting, McCarthy, who was appointed police director in 2006, outlined the disciplinary procedure for officers when a supervisor or Newark resident files a complaint. If there is enough evidence to back up the complaint, McCarthy said it is assigned a complaint against personnel, or CAP, number and the police officer is charged.
If an accusation is minor, such as tardiness or not wearing a hat, the police officer's commander can either dismiss it or suspend the officer for up to five days without pay, McCarthy said.
But if a charge is more serious, such as theft or drug intoxication, the officer's case is heard before a trial board of three captains. That panel can dismiss the charge, issue a suspension or fire the police officer. A fired police officer has the opportunity to appeal the ruling, McCarthy said.
Yesterday, the committee subpoenaed Capt. Ronald Kinder, Deputy Chief Keith Rubel and Deputy Chief Niles Wilson to appear during the panel's executive session, which was not open to the public. A public portion preceded the closed session.
Rice said this was the first time in 40 years that the council has exercised its investigatory power over a city administration.
The committee's next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11.
Hispanic blood donors wanted
Center recruiting more Hispanic blood donors
Marissa Villa - Conexión
The potential that Hispanics have in saving lives may not be widely known, which could be why only a third of South Texas Blood and Tissue Center donors are Hispanic.
More than half of all Hispanics may carry what is known as the universal blood type, O negative, according to research by the University of Texas at Galveston. However, because of many misconceptions among Latinos, nationwide less than 6 percent of Hispanics who are eligible to donate actually do.
Because these numbers are so low, STBTC has launched a campaign called Mi Sangre Es Tu Sangre in order to recruit more Hispanics for blood donation.
“We really just want to open up the dialog (about donation),” said Aleida Fuentes, spokeswoman for STBTC.
In addition to a general marketing campaign that promotes unity, health and action among the Hispanic community, STBTC provides tools that help donors keep track of health information.
“We want to plant that seed that blood donation is needed,” Fuentes said.
The local center serves more than 100 hospitals and clinics in 43 counties, which are primarily Hispanic.
But the typical donors are repeat donors who started giving at a young age. So, while the Hispanic population grows, so does the need for blood. However, the number of donors tends to stay the same.
For each pint of blood that is donated, three lives have the potential of being impacted, Fuentes said.
Some recipients of blood donations include trauma victims, diabetics, premature infants and cancer patients.
However, because of misconceptions about blood donation many don't see the potential saving benefits.
“The biggest (myth) is ‘I'm going to gain weight if I donate blood,'” Fuentes said. “The other is ‘I'm going to get sick.'”
But like receiving blood, giving blood is safe, she said.
“Within our community there's a big mistrust of (health providers) in general,” Fuentes said.
Other myths that hold Hispanics back from donating blood also include “Since I have diabetes, I can't donate blood” and “I am too old to donate blood.”
Diabetics can donate as long as they haven't switched medication within the last two weeks. Donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health.
The campaign will aim to calm any doubts, and further health education, including cholesterol and hemoglobin level education.
Anyone interested in learning more about Mi Sangre Es Tu Sangre can log on to www.southtexasblood.org/MiSangreEsTuSangre.asp for more information.
Marissa Villa - Conexión
The potential that Hispanics have in saving lives may not be widely known, which could be why only a third of South Texas Blood and Tissue Center donors are Hispanic.
More than half of all Hispanics may carry what is known as the universal blood type, O negative, according to research by the University of Texas at Galveston. However, because of many misconceptions among Latinos, nationwide less than 6 percent of Hispanics who are eligible to donate actually do.
Because these numbers are so low, STBTC has launched a campaign called Mi Sangre Es Tu Sangre in order to recruit more Hispanics for blood donation.
“We really just want to open up the dialog (about donation),” said Aleida Fuentes, spokeswoman for STBTC.
In addition to a general marketing campaign that promotes unity, health and action among the Hispanic community, STBTC provides tools that help donors keep track of health information.
“We want to plant that seed that blood donation is needed,” Fuentes said.
The local center serves more than 100 hospitals and clinics in 43 counties, which are primarily Hispanic.
But the typical donors are repeat donors who started giving at a young age. So, while the Hispanic population grows, so does the need for blood. However, the number of donors tends to stay the same.
For each pint of blood that is donated, three lives have the potential of being impacted, Fuentes said.
Some recipients of blood donations include trauma victims, diabetics, premature infants and cancer patients.
However, because of misconceptions about blood donation many don't see the potential saving benefits.
“The biggest (myth) is ‘I'm going to gain weight if I donate blood,'” Fuentes said. “The other is ‘I'm going to get sick.'”
But like receiving blood, giving blood is safe, she said.
“Within our community there's a big mistrust of (health providers) in general,” Fuentes said.
Other myths that hold Hispanics back from donating blood also include “Since I have diabetes, I can't donate blood” and “I am too old to donate blood.”
Diabetics can donate as long as they haven't switched medication within the last two weeks. Donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health.
The campaign will aim to calm any doubts, and further health education, including cholesterol and hemoglobin level education.
Anyone interested in learning more about Mi Sangre Es Tu Sangre can log on to www.southtexasblood.org/MiSangreEsTuSangre.asp for more information.
Latino students among least prepared for college
Citizens' group gives Wash. education a C
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE -- A citizens' group called the League of Education Voters says Washington state deserves a C average grade for the way it educates children.
The report card released Thursday says the state has improved in many areas, such as better access to quality preschool and all-day kindergarten, and more kids meeting state education standards.
The group said it was worried, however, about student preparation for college and declining college enrollment rates among Latino and Native American youth.
"The report card is nothing to brag about. It's not the kind of report card a kid would want to bring home," said Chris Korsmo, executive director of the League of Education Voters.
The "2009 Citizens' Report Card," the group's third such assessment, gave the state of Washington:
-A C plus for investment in early learning to ensure every child reads by third grade.
-A C plus for raising expectations for all students.
-A C for the state's focus on math, science and engineering.
-A C minus for preparing students for college, work and life.
-A D plus for investing in the future and for holding the system accountable.
At a news conference at the New School, a Seattle public school Korsmo called a model of success, she commended the state Board of Education for raising graduation requirements and student learning goals.
Korsmo also praised the legislative task force exploring ways to change the way the state pays for education. She said the Basic Education Task Force had a lot of good ideas, some of which won't cost the cash-strapped government any money.
One idea she mentioned was giving school districts given more flexibility about how they spend their money.
"Let's not hamstring these people when we're asking them to do a million things on $1.87," Korsmo said.
Korsmo said she hoped lawmakers would be able to move the task force's ideas forward because people are looking for something positive to come out of the legislative session, which is expected to focus on the state's budget crisis.
The report noted an overall increase in college participation rates, including significant improvement among African American youth. It also mentioned, however, that Washington businesses are still having trouble finding qualified workers and annual student debt has increased by 20 percent, compared to two years ago.
The report mentioned a slight increase in high school dropout rates for all minority and low income groups. The number of licensed child care facilities has decreased by nearly 1,000 since 2005.
Third grade reading levels are up among low-income kids and those in all minority groups.
Korsmo said the key to future improvement includes: adopting the Basic Education Task Force's proposals, adopting the state Board of Education's plan to require 24 credits to graduate, phasing in all-day kindergarten across the state, including preschool in the state's definition of basic education, and adding more spaces at colleges and professional training programs.
If the state doesn't adopt some or all of these ideas, Korsmo predicted Washington's education system would continue to get a mediocre report card.
And as a fifth grader named Myla Hightower pointed out at Thursday's news conference: "We should spend a lot of time working on those grades."
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE -- A citizens' group called the League of Education Voters says Washington state deserves a C average grade for the way it educates children.
The report card released Thursday says the state has improved in many areas, such as better access to quality preschool and all-day kindergarten, and more kids meeting state education standards.
The group said it was worried, however, about student preparation for college and declining college enrollment rates among Latino and Native American youth.
"The report card is nothing to brag about. It's not the kind of report card a kid would want to bring home," said Chris Korsmo, executive director of the League of Education Voters.
The "2009 Citizens' Report Card," the group's third such assessment, gave the state of Washington:
-A C plus for investment in early learning to ensure every child reads by third grade.
-A C plus for raising expectations for all students.
-A C for the state's focus on math, science and engineering.
-A C minus for preparing students for college, work and life.
-A D plus for investing in the future and for holding the system accountable.
At a news conference at the New School, a Seattle public school Korsmo called a model of success, she commended the state Board of Education for raising graduation requirements and student learning goals.
Korsmo also praised the legislative task force exploring ways to change the way the state pays for education. She said the Basic Education Task Force had a lot of good ideas, some of which won't cost the cash-strapped government any money.
One idea she mentioned was giving school districts given more flexibility about how they spend their money.
"Let's not hamstring these people when we're asking them to do a million things on $1.87," Korsmo said.
Korsmo said she hoped lawmakers would be able to move the task force's ideas forward because people are looking for something positive to come out of the legislative session, which is expected to focus on the state's budget crisis.
The report noted an overall increase in college participation rates, including significant improvement among African American youth. It also mentioned, however, that Washington businesses are still having trouble finding qualified workers and annual student debt has increased by 20 percent, compared to two years ago.
The report mentioned a slight increase in high school dropout rates for all minority and low income groups. The number of licensed child care facilities has decreased by nearly 1,000 since 2005.
Third grade reading levels are up among low-income kids and those in all minority groups.
Korsmo said the key to future improvement includes: adopting the Basic Education Task Force's proposals, adopting the state Board of Education's plan to require 24 credits to graduate, phasing in all-day kindergarten across the state, including preschool in the state's definition of basic education, and adding more spaces at colleges and professional training programs.
If the state doesn't adopt some or all of these ideas, Korsmo predicted Washington's education system would continue to get a mediocre report card.
And as a fifth grader named Myla Hightower pointed out at Thursday's news conference: "We should spend a lot of time working on those grades."
Latino students helped by program to enroll in University
LB aid program aims to raise Latino enrollment
EDUCATION: Students, parents can get help filing for financial assistance.
By Kevin Butler, Staff Writer 01/14/2009
LONG BEACH - Hoping to boost Latino college enrollment, a federal education agency has partnered with local community organizations to create six centers offering students help in completing financial aid applications.
Federal Student Aid, part of the U.S. Department of Education, has selected Long Beach as one of three cities nationally to take part in a pilot program to boost aid to underserved youth.
Starting this week, Latino and other students can go to one of six "trusted centers" in the Long Beach area to receive help from volunteers in filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, which is required to get state and federal financial aid.
Volunteers are being trained as part of the program to help students and parents to complete the form online on computers located at the centers.
The program's goal is to have at least 3,000 high school seniors next school year complete the form. High school seniors are facing a March 2 deadline to apply for Cal Grants.
Eloy Oakley, superintendent-president of Long Beach City College, said that making students aware of financial aid opportunities will help bring more Latino students to higher education.
"This is money on the table for them," Oakley said at a press event Wednesday afternoon spotlighting the new program. "We want to make sure that we get it to them."
Some Latino parents have trouble completing the form because they don't want to share personal financial information with institutions, said Jessica Quintana, executive director of Centro CHA, a community organization that is hosting one of the centers.
Others may be unaware of financial aid opportunities, she said.
Mayor Bob Foster said he welcomed the effort.
"This is about providing opportunity," Foster said at the event at Centro CHA.
Although targeted at Latinos, the service is available to all students.
The federal agency has started two other pilot programs aiming to increase minority enrollment. Programs in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C., are primarily focused on helping African-American high school seniors.
The center locations and weekly hours are:
Avalon High School, 200 Falls Canyon Road, Catalina Island. Wednesday and Thursday, 3:30 to
5 p.m. 310-510-0790.
Centro CHA, 727 Pine Ave., Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, Saturday workshop to be announced, 562-570-4722.
Jordan High School Career Center, 6500 Atlantic Ave., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., 562-423-1471, Ext. 2255.
Long Beach City College Extended Opportunity Program and Services, 4901 E. Carson St., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday by appointment, 562-938-3951.
Poly High School Library (Hicks Gallery), 1600 Atlantic Ave., Monday and Tuesday, 1:45 to
3:45 p.m., 562-997-8000, Ext. 5188.
Second Samoan UCC, 655 Cedar Ave., Tuesday and Thursday by appointment, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 562-628-9282.
kevin.butler@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1308
EDUCATION: Students, parents can get help filing for financial assistance.
By Kevin Butler, Staff Writer 01/14/2009
LONG BEACH - Hoping to boost Latino college enrollment, a federal education agency has partnered with local community organizations to create six centers offering students help in completing financial aid applications.
Federal Student Aid, part of the U.S. Department of Education, has selected Long Beach as one of three cities nationally to take part in a pilot program to boost aid to underserved youth.
Starting this week, Latino and other students can go to one of six "trusted centers" in the Long Beach area to receive help from volunteers in filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, which is required to get state and federal financial aid.
Volunteers are being trained as part of the program to help students and parents to complete the form online on computers located at the centers.
The program's goal is to have at least 3,000 high school seniors next school year complete the form. High school seniors are facing a March 2 deadline to apply for Cal Grants.
Eloy Oakley, superintendent-president of Long Beach City College, said that making students aware of financial aid opportunities will help bring more Latino students to higher education.
"This is money on the table for them," Oakley said at a press event Wednesday afternoon spotlighting the new program. "We want to make sure that we get it to them."
Some Latino parents have trouble completing the form because they don't want to share personal financial information with institutions, said Jessica Quintana, executive director of Centro CHA, a community organization that is hosting one of the centers.
Others may be unaware of financial aid opportunities, she said.
Mayor Bob Foster said he welcomed the effort.
"This is about providing opportunity," Foster said at the event at Centro CHA.
Although targeted at Latinos, the service is available to all students.
The federal agency has started two other pilot programs aiming to increase minority enrollment. Programs in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C., are primarily focused on helping African-American high school seniors.
The center locations and weekly hours are:
Avalon High School, 200 Falls Canyon Road, Catalina Island. Wednesday and Thursday, 3:30 to
5 p.m. 310-510-0790.
Centro CHA, 727 Pine Ave., Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, Saturday workshop to be announced, 562-570-4722.
Jordan High School Career Center, 6500 Atlantic Ave., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., 562-423-1471, Ext. 2255.
Long Beach City College Extended Opportunity Program and Services, 4901 E. Carson St., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday by appointment, 562-938-3951.
Poly High School Library (Hicks Gallery), 1600 Atlantic Ave., Monday and Tuesday, 1:45 to
3:45 p.m., 562-997-8000, Ext. 5188.
Second Samoan UCC, 655 Cedar Ave., Tuesday and Thursday by appointment, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 562-628-9282.
kevin.butler@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1308
Hispanics respond poortly to Hep C therapy
Hispanics Respond Poorly to Standard Hepatitis C Therapy
They and blacks still share outcome disparities in treatment of liver disease, study says
US News
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The standard treatment for hepatitis C does not appear to help Hispanic whites with the liver disease as much as it helps non-Hispanic whites, a new study suggests.
This is second major ethnic group -- the other being blacks -- found not to respond well to the therapy, consisting of pegylated interferon with ribavirin, in recent years.
"Hispanics and African-Americans have a higher prevalence of hepatitis C than other groups, so it is imperative that we figure out what is behind the poor response rate, and continue to do clinical trials on new forms of therapies," study second author Dr. Lennox Jeffers, a professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said in a news release issued by the university.
Jeffers served as principal investigator of the 2006 study that found blacks responded poorly to treatment for hepatitis C.
The new study, published in the Jan. 15 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, looked at 269 Hispanic and 300 non-Hispanic white hepatitis C patients from across the country.
"This clearly tells us there may be factors that impact liver disease in Hispanics that we do not yet understand," senior author Dr. Paul Martin, chief of hepatology at the Miller School, said in the news release.
The researchers noted that the Hispanic population has been underrepresented in past hepatitis C studies, and more research into how the disease affects this ethnic group is necessary.
The hepatitis C virus, which is contracted through exposure to blood already tainted with the virus, can lead to liver cancer, liver failure or cirrhosis. Liver transplant can sometimes be the only option for survival.
Protease inhibitors, which are used in combination therapy to treat HIV, are being explored by some researchers as an additional treatment for hepatitis C.
They and blacks still share outcome disparities in treatment of liver disease, study says
US News
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The standard treatment for hepatitis C does not appear to help Hispanic whites with the liver disease as much as it helps non-Hispanic whites, a new study suggests.
This is second major ethnic group -- the other being blacks -- found not to respond well to the therapy, consisting of pegylated interferon with ribavirin, in recent years.
"Hispanics and African-Americans have a higher prevalence of hepatitis C than other groups, so it is imperative that we figure out what is behind the poor response rate, and continue to do clinical trials on new forms of therapies," study second author Dr. Lennox Jeffers, a professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said in a news release issued by the university.
Jeffers served as principal investigator of the 2006 study that found blacks responded poorly to treatment for hepatitis C.
The new study, published in the Jan. 15 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, looked at 269 Hispanic and 300 non-Hispanic white hepatitis C patients from across the country.
"This clearly tells us there may be factors that impact liver disease in Hispanics that we do not yet understand," senior author Dr. Paul Martin, chief of hepatology at the Miller School, said in the news release.
The researchers noted that the Hispanic population has been underrepresented in past hepatitis C studies, and more research into how the disease affects this ethnic group is necessary.
The hepatitis C virus, which is contracted through exposure to blood already tainted with the virus, can lead to liver cancer, liver failure or cirrhosis. Liver transplant can sometimes be the only option for survival.
Protease inhibitors, which are used in combination therapy to treat HIV, are being explored by some researchers as an additional treatment for hepatitis C.