Latino Daily News: Bringing You the Latest Hispanic Current Events and News Stories 24/7

The number of Hispanic-serving institutions, (HSIs) nationwide has increased by 24 percent since 2004 and could grow by another 40 percent if “emerging” HSIs in 18 states and Puerto Rico continue to grow, a new study says.

The data from Washington, D.C.-based Excelencia in Education found 293 nonprofit higher education institutions in 2010 with 25 percent or more total undergraduate Hispanic enrollment, qualifying them as HSIs. Another 204 higher education institutions are “emerging HSIs,” with undergraduate Hispanic enrollment that soon may reach the 25 percent threshold.

Over half of all Latino undergraduate students in higher education (54%) are enrolled in less than 10 percent of institutions in the United States. This concentration of Latino enrollment in higher education was first recognized by educators and policy makers in the 1980s and contributed to the invention of a new construct, which came to be known as Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).

The defining characteristic of HSIs is their Hispanic enrollment, not their mission. HSIs are defined in federal law as accredited and degree-granting public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education with 25 percent or more total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent student enrollment.

New York, New Jersey and Florida account for over 50 of the up and coming Hispanic-serving institutions.

Read more at Diverse Education →

Two people, dubbed the ‘Twitter Terrorists’, caused widespread panic in Veracruz, Mexico through twitter messages insinuating drug cartels were kidnapping children out of local schools, so much so that they are both facing 30 year prison sentences.

“There were 26 car accidents, or people left their cars in the middle of the streets to run and pick up their children, because they thought these things were occurring at their kids’ schools,”  said Gerardo Buganza interior secretary for the state of Veracruz.

Mexican authorities allege, Gilberto Martinez Vera, and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola, both teachers, took advantage of the fact that fear was at all time high in Veracruz from recent gunbattles involving drug traffickers and a grenade attack at a local aquarium.  So when they sent messages like “For each Zeta killed a child will die,” and “They mowed down six kids between 13 and 15 in the Hidalgo neighborhood” everyone believed them.

The pairs defense thus far has been to say they were just relaying messages from their own Twitter followers.  This is the first known case of anyone being charged with a serious crime for use of their Twitter account. 

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This week Ricky Martin met with Uruguay’s President, Jose Mujica wearing his child-advocacy hat to promote awareness of child slavery and children in the sex trade.

The Puerto Rican singer was in the country as part of his ‘Musica+Alma+Sexo” 2011 tour.  From here the singer is heading to Argentina, the longest leg of his tour, for 7 days of performances.

The Ricky Martin Foundation advocates for the well being of children around the globe in critical areas of social justice, education and health while its principal mission is to bring attention to trafficking of children. Martin is the single father of twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, born via surrogacy.  Last year the ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’ singer came out as a gay man ending years of speculation.

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The President has a long list of things to worry about, topped by his approval to disapproval ratio in the general electorate. Among Latinos the downward trend in approval is reflected, but less severe. The big worry for the administration regarding Latinos is not that their disapproval will push them into the arms of the GOP but rather that they will not have the same ganas that they did in 2008.

The Latino Decisions tracking poll has shown Obama’s approval numbers take a steady and continuous tumble. In the February tracking poll Latino approval of the president was 70%, in June that support slipped to 68% and most recently stands at 63%. From June to August there was a five percentage point drop.

The most worrisome numbers are not the aggregate approval numbers, but the slide from “Strongly Approve” to “Somewhat Approve.” In the June 2011 tracking poll 41% of Latinos “Strongly Approved” and 27% “Somewhat Approved” of the job the President was doing. This month, the “Strongly Approved” category has plummeted to 28% while the “Somewhat Approved” category stood at 35%. In other words, the shift in approval has gone from enthusiastic to lukewarm. In the world of political participation it is the “Strongly Approve” that are going to have the ganas to go through the effort of registering and turning out to vote.

The certainty of intending to vote for President Obama has also sharply decreased. The Latino Decisions poll includes a question that asks how likely one is to vote for the President or for the Republican candidate. In the poll from earlier this summer, 49% stated that they were certain to vote for the incumbent President. Today, only 38% of Latinos state with certainty that they will vote for President Obama. These vote intention statistics are grim, especially when you consider that in this last election (admittedly a midterm) only 31% of eligible Latinos voted, as compared to 48% and 44% for whites and blacks respectively.

Read more at Latino Decisions →

Top business publication, Bloomberg, has come out with its list of the most useful foreign languages for business and Spanish was not in the top three.

Coming in at number one with 845 million people speaking it was Mandarin, the official language of China.  Mandarin was followed by French then Arabic with Spanish coming in fourth.  Approximately 329 million people speak Spanish in over 20 countries.

Nonetheless, Spanish is the foreign language most studied in the U.S. with over 860,000 students enrolled in Spanish classes.  The next favorite foreign language to study is French, coming in a distant second,  with over 200,000 students studying it. 

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GALA opens its 36th Season with the United States Premiere of ¡Ay, Carmela! by José Sanchis Sinisterra, one of Spain’s most acclaimed contemporary playwrights. Directed by José Luis Arellano-García from Madrid, ¡Ay, Carmela! runs September 15 to October 9, 2011 at GALA Theatre, 3333 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20010.

“I am thrilled that we are producing ¡Ay, Carmela! as part of our binational cultural collaboration with Acción Sur from Madrid,” states Hugo Medrano, GALA’s Producing Artistic Director. “Last year, we initiated this multi-year program with Acción Sur with a classic of Spain’s Golden Age, “El caballero de Olmedo” by Lope de Vega. This year we are working across the Atlantic to explore together one of Spain’s most important contemporary playwrights, whose mournful plea against armed conflict has touched audiences throughout Europe and Latin America.”

“We chose to stage ¡Ay, Carmela!,” adds director José Luis Arellano-García, “because it speaks to the tragedy of the Spanish people under the fascists’ tyranny, which spread throughout Europe in the 1930s. This play is an endearing chronicle of remembrance, and an homage to the dignity of an artist and to human sensibility. Sinisterra reminds us, with great humor, of the importance of memory and the complexity of human behavior in compromising situations.”

When Carmela and Paulino, a vaudeville comedy duo, accidentally fall into the hands of Franco’s fascists troops during the Spanish Civil War, they witness an execution and then are forced to perform for other captives and soldiers. But as heels and castanets clatter, their own intriguing story unfolds in a riot of black humor and ghostly passion. In a world still riddled with conflict, this heartbreaking portrayal of love and loss is a poignant testimony to the inhumanity of war.

¡Ay, Carmela! premiered in Zaragoza, Spain in 1987 and became one of the Spanish-speaking world’s most spectacular successes of the past 20 years. This award-winning play has been produced throughout Latin America and Europe, and translated into seven languages. In 1990, the acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura premiered his own film version of the play, and in the same year Sinisterra was awarded the National Theatre Prize.

¡Ay, Carmela! is performed in Spanish with English surtitles Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 3 pm. The Noche de GALA and Press opening is Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 8 pm, followed by a reception under the honorary patronage of the Ambassador of Spain Jorge Dezcallar.

This co-production is the second international project between GALA and the dynamic Spanish company Acción Sur that involves artists from the United States and Spain. As part of the collaboration, one of the actors traveled to Madrid in August 2011 for rehearsals with the director and other cast member who are from Spain. The co-production is made possible with support from the Embassy of Spain in Washington, DC, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, INEAM, Asociación Cultural Mundos del Teatro, the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and U.S. Universities, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

José Sanchis Sinisterra is a theater director, educator and scholar. He has written numerous plays, including Tú, no importa quién, La Edad Media va a empezar, La leyenda de Gilgamesh, Historias de tiempos revueltos, La noche de Molly Bloom, Ñaque o de piojos y actores, El gran teatro natural de Oklahoma, Bajo el signo de cáncer, Crímenes y locuras del traidor Lope de Aguirre, Los figurantes, Pervertimiento y otros gestos para nada, Bartle by el escribiente, Perdida en los Apalaches, Mísero Próspero, Bienvenidas, Dos tristes tigres, Marsal, Marsal, and ¡Ay, Carmela!, which was made into an award-winning film by Carlos Saura. Among the theaters and theater organizations he has founded or co-founded are Aula de Teatro de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de Valencia, Seminario de Teatro, Teatro Fronterizo, Sala Beckett, and the Association of Independent Experimental Theaters. His awards include Premio Carlos Arniches (1968), Premio Federico García Lorca (Theater, 1991), and Premio Max for Best Playwright (1999 for ¡Ay, Carmela! and 2004 for El lector por horas). He was also a finalist for the Premio Max in 2005 for El cerco de Leningrad.

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Indiana residents we are sure have never witnessed anything like this before on their news broadcast.  What from fleeing anchors to screeches of fear to a large black tarantula holding court on the news.  It all happened when the news was hosting an animal expert and the smart-ass anchor Ray Cortopassi decided to play around with his fellow cast mates not realizing the extent of their spider fear.  Apparently when weatherman Jim O’Brien was presenting the weather you could hear his screeching and alarm when the spider came to him.

When the broadcast goes live you see him fleeing the studio and the weather broadcast stops.  Fellow anchor Angela Ganote takes over the weather until her ass co-anchor Cortopassi brings her the tarantula.  She then proceeds to flee the studio also.  All the while the camera crew continues to film all the craziness. 

We are not sure if this is the famous Mexican tarantula from its black and white strips it is probably the Costa Rican Zebra tarantula.  Fear not amigos in Indiana these creatures from Latin America are not deadly just very scary looking.  Watch the show its unbelievable.

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Check out the new music video by Nickelodoen’s Victoria Justice and her “Victorious” cast titled “All I Want is Everything”.  The Puerto Rican beauty and star of Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” show released her last music video “Best Friend’s Brother” to great success.  The music video’s star Justice but feature the entire cast of her TV show.  Earlier in the year the group premiered with the music video “Begging on Your Knees”. 

Watch the video and let us know what you think.

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The New Mexico Department of Public Safety has decided after all to fire the amorous Bert Lopez after he got filmed enjoying some afternoon delight on top of a car.

After reassurances from New Mexico police authorities that the officer did not commit any crime with his actions and therefore would not be punished, they apparently changed their mind.  It could have been the fact that he embarrassed the department by wearing his uniform while fornicating and have a Chihuahua watch in horror.

Santa Fe’s ‘Officer of the Year’ Lopez did not survive the attention his romp caused on the internet and social media when photos of his encounter went viral.  He has 30 days to appeal his firing, he is an eight year veteran of the state police force.  It is still not known if Lopez was on duty (we mean official duty not sex duty) when the incident occurred.

Read more by HS News Staff →

President Calderón delivered the Fifth State of the Union Address at the National Museum of Anthropology this week.

During his address, the president listed some of the most outstanding achievements of his administration, adding that despite the violence due to organized crime, the country has achieved goals such as universal health coverage. Many of these are “very ambitious goals, among the highest aspirations of any nation.”

The president began his speech by pointing out that this year has been one of contrasts, marked by economic recovery and the achievement of social policy goals but also one of the saddest events.

The president’s announcements included hastening the process of purging and strengthening the Attorney General’s office and creating a Social Attorney’s Office for Dealing with the Victims of Violence.  He assured the citizens that the rule of law has been strengthened in the country and that 21 out of 37 of the country’s most wanted cartel members have been captured or killed.

He also confirmed the fact that Mexico will achieve universal health coverage in 2011. In the economic field, he said that “thanks to the efforts of all Mexicans, we have healthy public finances, a solid financial system and a competitive economy.”

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More than eight million Mexican adults and young people who are part of the lay movements and organizations grouped in the Association for Episcopal Laity (DELAI), celebrated their first national meeting earlier this week.  They are proposing as their central theme the defense of the family as a basic social value, that is also able to generate real wealth for the country.

With the aim of reflecting on the real participation in the construction of a freer, responsible and fair society, over 60 movements and associations of lay Catholics around the country gathered to confirm their willingness to work “Juntos por Mexico” (Together for Mexico).

During this meeting, the lay groups decided to commit themselves in order to propose the family as a custodian of values and virtues needed to build “healthy, happy, free, responsible and caring people, to continue to build the civilization of love”. They also signed a manifesto stressing their commitment in the training, education, social and communication field, to build a better Mexico.

The meeting was attended by the presidents of the movement, businessmen, social leaders, university professors, married couples, priests and young people who expressed their point of view regarding the current situation of the country and underlined their commitment to “work together for Mexico “.  For more than ten hours the auditorium of “Centro Universitario Mexico” was the scene of a major Catholic feast, in which testimonies, readings, thoughts, proposals, suggestions and actions were alternated, all proposals to try to create a positive change in Mexican society.

At the end of the meeting Mgr. Javier Navarro Rodríguez, Bishop of Zamora and president of the Episcopal Commission for the Laity, presided the celebration of the Eucharist.

Read more at Fides Services →

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs today filed a complaint with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges against federal contractor Leprino Foods Co. for discriminating against qualified African-American, Asian and Hispanic applicants for on-call laborer positions at the company’s Lemoore West facility.

The administrative complaint seeks back wages and interest for at least 270 class members, as well as job offers for at least 17 of the original applicants. OFCCP also is requesting that Leprino Foods’ existing federal contracts be canceled and the company be debarred from entering into any future contracts until the violations are resolved and the company corrects its discriminatory employment practices.

“Leprino Foods’ hiring process simply doesn’t pass the sniff test,” said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. “When workers are denied employment because of factors that have nothing to do with their ability to perform the job, something is not right. Our message to the company is clear: Correct your discriminatory practices and make restitution to the victims or lose your lucrative federal contracts.”

Under Executive Order 11246, federal contractors cannot discriminate in employment practices with regard to race and national origin. Data collected from Leprino Foods showed that the company’s use of a job skills assessment called the WorkKeys exam adversely impacted minority applicants. During OFCCP’s review, which examined hiring practices for a 22-month period, the agency found that only 49 percent of otherwise qualified minority applicants passed the exam, compared with more than 72 percent of non-minority applicants. OFCCP could not substantiate the employer’s claim that the exam measured applied math, workplace observation and information location skills related to the essential functions of on-call laborers. On-call laborers perform a variety of entry-level tasks, including inspecting products, monitoring equipment and maintaining sanitation at the facility.

Denver-based Leprino Foods is the nation’s largest producer of mozzarella cheese. The company has contracts totaling $5 million with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide mozzarella and whey products to the Farm Services Agency.

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The United Nations human rights chief welcomed the decision by Bolivia’s top court to convict several high-level officials for their part in the deaths of over 60 people during anti-government protests in 2003, calling it an important step in the fight against impunity.

In what became known as “Black October,” 69 people were left dead and over 400 injured when, over a period of several days, soldiers repeatedly fired on crowds demonstrating against a government plan to build a gas pipeline through El Alto, near La Paz.

After a trial that lasted two years, five senior military officers this week received prison sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years, while the former Ministers of Sustainable Development and of Employment were sentenced to three years each.

“I commend the Bolivian Supreme Court for its decision, which is an important step in the fight against impunity,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a news release.

“I also urge the Government to take all necessary steps to ensure victims and their relatives receive suitable reparations and redress.”

Ms. Pillay noted that a number of Latin American countries have been demonstrating to the rest of the world that it is possible not just to move from dictatorship to democracy, but also to bring justice – no matter how powerful or influential those responsible for human rights violations may be, and irrespective of their civilian or military status.

“I hope this trend continues and gathers even more momentum,” she said, citing recent developments such as the in Argentina, Uruguay, Guatemala and Colombia.

“Those who carry out torture, extrajudicial killings and other such crimes on other continents would do well to reflect on this very healthy and accelerating trend towards combating long-standing impunity in Latin America,” she stated.

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