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Some time ago I decided, for your convenience and for future reference, to gather in one place all the books that I consider relevant for anyone who is really trying to put their arms around the Latino Market; from Hispanic Marketing to Latino Fiction to magazines, I handpicked my favorites. Here is a small sampler of the titles you will find on Hispanic Trending's Book Store:
May 15, 2008
By Leslie Berestein
A growing number of Latino consumers in San Diego County own computers and connect to the Internet, and the majority absorb media and advertising in a half-and-half mix of English and Spanish, according to a survey of Latinos in 18 ZIP codes in the county.
However, home ownership in the region's still-costly real estate market remained out of reach for many respondents.
The San Diego “Ask Hispanics” survey was conducted this spring by Meneses Research & Associates, a San Diego-based firm that does market research in cities with large Latino populations. The firm conducted similar studies in San Diego in 2006 and 2004.
This year's survey is based on a small sample, 643 individuals ages 18 and older who identified themselves as Latino or Hispanic and lived in 18 of the county's more than 110 ZIP codes. About 29 percent of the county's population is Hispanic, or about 900,000 people.
Among those interviewed this year, 81 percent said they owned computers, as opposed to 58 percent in 2004. Seventy-three percent said they connect to the Internet compared with 53 percent four years ago.
While in 2004, 17 percent said they intended to soon purchase a computer in 2004, this year 35 percent said they planned to buy a computer in the coming months.
While more respondents said they watched television primarily in Spanish, most radio listeners and print-media readers said they consumed media in equal amounts of English and Spanish. Eighty-two percent said they preferred to receive advertising in both languages.
Forty-four percent this year identified themselves as U.S. citizens, an additional 39 percent as legal residents and 4 percent as other visa holders; 13 percent identified themselves as undocumented.
The respondents were likely to be renters. Seventy-six percent this year said they rented; in 2004, 71 percent said they were renters. Still, when asked if they would consider buying property in less-expensive Baja California, the majority said they were not interested.
Forty-six percent were born in the United States, 28 percent of those in the San Diego region. Of the respondents born abroad, the vast majority were Mexican by birth; 24 percent were born in Tijuana.
Close cross-border ties set San Diego's Latino community apart from those in other large cities, said Walter Meneses, who runs the research firm. Nearly half the respondents this year said they had a relative in Tijuana or elsewhere in Baja California, and ties like these help fuel San Diego's retail economy, he said.
“Residents from Tijuana, most who have the means, will cross to go shopping,” he said. “Go to Macy's (in Fashion Valley) and see the Baja California license plates.”
San Diego residents also go south on a regular basis. Out of the sample, 22 percent said they crossed into Tijuana at least once a week – and when coming back to the United States, 80 percent said they waited one to four hours.
Such long waits are indeed the norm, said Jason Wells, executive director of the chamber of commerce in San Ysidro, an area whose retail businesses have been hit hard by reduced cross-border shopping traffic.
“That is exactly right,” he said of the waits reported in the survey. “You are praying for one hour.”
Source: The San Diego Union Tribune
May 14, 2008
By Sue Kirchhoff
Unemployment is rising faster among Hispanics than the rest of the U.S. population as the economy slows, a development that has ripple effects across the nation and into Latin America.
The steep, continuing U.S. housing downturn has had a disproportionate impact on the Hispanic workforce, which is highly concentrated in construction. Because homeownership is also the major source of wealth for Latino families, falling house prices have made it harder for small-business owners to use their residences as collateral for needed loans to run or expand their firms.
Further, the weakening job market, and state and federal crackdowns on illegal immigrants, have reduced the number of Hispanics wiring money to Latin America. Millions of families who depend on so-called remittance payments could be pushed into poverty if current trends continue, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.
The U.S. Hispanic unemployment rate jumped to 6.9% in April from 5.5% in April 2007. The African-American unemployment rate is higher, at 8.6%, but has risen less sharply in the past year. The white jobless rate was 4.4% in April.
Housing market implosion takes a toll
The impact of rising unemployment is being felt at the Southern Nevada Hispanic Employment Program in Las Vegas, which offers about 150 scholarships annually for higher education, along with other job-related assistance.
About 60% of those seeking scholarships through the program are older students who have been in the workforce, many in real estate jobs that have disappeared.
"We're out there trying to hustle" for additional funding, says Leslie Valdez, president of the program. "Because of the economic situation, a lot of people got laid off from work. Everybody was a Realtor; everybody was a loan officer."
The housing bust and rising foreclosures have other economic impacts. Hard-hit lenders are setting tougher terms for products from home-equity to business loans. That's especially hard on the Hispanic population, where workers may have sporadic work histories and often don't have traditional credit scores.
"Rising credit constraints have had an impact on small businesses," says David Ferreira, vice president for government relations at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "Hispanics have a higher rate of using home equity or credit cards for financing a business or expanding a business."
The Hispanic homeownership rate had risen to nearly 50% before the housing bubble burst.
Still, the picture isn't uniformly bleak. Latino workers with professional degrees, particularly in professions such as nursing, are in high demand. Companies want bilingual workers in order to reach out to the rapidly growing Hispanic market, as well as to meet internal needs.
"We haven't seen a decline in companies recruiting; there hasn't been a decline in the number of job positions," says Rob Steward, sales director at LatPro, an online employment site for Hispanic professionals. LatPro is working with the National Society for Hispanic Professionals to put together nine job fairs around the country this year.
"Major (companies), small and everyone in between (are) still recruiting for the skill set these workers provide," Steward says.
At the same time, official employment statistics may not fully reflect conditions in the Hispanic community. Because millions of Latino workers are in the country illegally, they may not show up in government data. They also have a smaller safety net during economic downturns.
Eligible Hispanics collect federal benefits such as food stamps at lower rates than other population groups, and are more likely than whites to lack health coverage. States that are forced to pare back budgets often cut health care to legal immigrants before trimming other health care programs, says Catherine Singley of the National Council of La Raza, a non-profit advocacy group.
Many not eligible for benefits
Political efforts to aid the unemployed are not always well tailored to the Hispanic community. One such case: Congress will soon debate a measure to extend unemployment benefits for laid-off workers who have already exhausted their initial six months of coverage.
"For the Latino community, (an extension) is not very effective because not many are eligible for unemployment" assistances, Singley says.
Many states require a certain level of wages or "consistent work history, and that just isn't a reality for a lot of workers who are either working on a contractual basis or taking odd jobs, day laborers. That describes a lot of Hispanic workers."
An Inter-American Development Bank poll of 5,000 Latin Americans living in the USA earlier this year found just 50% were sending regular payments back home to their families, down from 73% in 2006. Those sending money are sending greater amounts, but it's reaching fewer families.
"The economic downturn after Sept. 11 was more pronounced and yet remittances were not adversely affected," says Don Terry, a senior official at the bank.
"When you combine the economic slowdown with an increasing sense of uncertainty and, in some cases, fear about your future … you sort of hunker down, even though the higher priority that you have is to send money home after you pay the rent."
Source: USA Today
MAY 15, 2008
Via eMarketer.com
But they still trail in Internet access
In February 2008 the average Hispanic-American over the age of 11 spent more time online than watching television, according to the Terra Networks-sponsored "Hispanic Syndicated Study," conducted by comScore Media Metrix.
"In general, online Hispanics—independent of their language preferences and acculturation levels—are heavily engaged in technology," wrote the report's authors.
Every day, more than half (56%) of Hispanic-Americans surveyed said they spent at least an hour online, which was slightly more than the 50% who spent an hour or more watching TV.
On a weekly basis, Terra reported that more Hispanic-American Internet users spent 13 or more hours online (30%) than watched TV for the same amount of time (23%).
Hispanic-Americans ages 12 to 34 were on the Internet more than those 35 and older, who tended to spend more time watching TV than online.
Three-quarters of respondents multitasked, saying they always or very frequently used the Internet and TV together. Of those, 44% e-mailed or instant messaged about the shows they were watching and 40% researched products being advertised on TV. More than one-third went to the Web site for the show being watched.
The Terra study results agree with other studies of Hispanic-American media consumption. A Burson-Marsteller study conducted by MSI International revealed influential online Hispanic-American adults consumed more media across the board than the general population of influential Internet users. Hispanic-American influentials also spent an average of about five hours more online per week than online influentials in general.
The trend has held true in recent years. Hispanic-Americans consumed more media than the general population in a Yahoo! Telemundo study conducted by Experian Simmons in November through December 2006.
Although Hispanic-American Internet usage is greater than that of the general US population, the group is still under-represented online, especially in broadband access. Only American Indians and Alaska Natives have a smaller proportion of households with broadband access, according to the US Census Bureau.
Nearly two thirds own four electronic media devices
May 13, 2008
By Diego Vasquez
When we think of heavy technology users, we tend to imagine young white males. Perhaps instead we should be thinking of Hispanics. A new study from Terra Networks USA, the Miami-based digital content producer aimed at Hispanics, finds that the online Hispanic population is highly engaged with new technology, often moreso than with traditional media. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they spend at least an hour per day online compared with 50 percent for TV. Ninety-four percent of online Hispanics own cell phones, and 86 percent text-message. Sixty percent own at least four new media electronic devices, including 68 percent with a Palm Pilot or Blackberry. Interestingly, the most heavily engaged online Hispanics tend to be young males who speak Spanish at home and were born abroad, while the lightest internet users are more likely to speak English at home and have the lowest level of Hispanic pride. Fernando Rodriguez, CEO of Terra Networks USA, talks to Media Life about Hispanics’ usage of TV versus internet, how Latinos’ online time compares with the rest of the U.S. population, and what this demographic does when it's not online.
What did you find most surprising or most interesting about this study?
One of the most interesting things is the online media usage and engagement with technology. It’s surprising that online is still seeing less than five percent of overall ad budgets, and it’s creating a significant gap.
The second thing is, one of the things that’s unique is we’re able to do segmentation into strong or weak Latino heritage groups. It was interesting to see the differences are not so much demographics, but behaviors, and that’s unique about this study.
Is this the first time that Hispanic internet usage has outpaced TV? What's driving that rise in web levels?
Internet usage has been growing for years, and both complement each other very well. I think the key here is for marketers to align their media mix with the media consumption, be more in line with what consumers are actually doing.
Then there’s the technological component, meaning there’s improvement in technology. And then there’s the consumer perspective. Generally speaking, media consumption is changing, people are moving more toward a digital environment, and the combination of those two are driving this.
How does this compare with other minority/ethnic groups? Are Hispanics spending more time online than others?
We didn’t analyze other groups in this study. The only reference would be the overall U.S. online population. Online Latinos spend about 10 percent more time online than the general U.S. online population.
Why do we see such heavy usage of cell phones among Hispanics, especially text messaging? Is it above the norm for the general population?
Well, the heavy usage was a bit of a surprise for us. The key here is that the population is younger, and we know younger generations are more likely to use cell phones.
Compared to the general population, the study doesn’t look at that, but other sources have shown that the Hispanic audience has higher penetration per household versus the general market.
What are the most common offline activities that online Hispanics engage in?
Well, again, Hispanics participate in a lot of different activities. One of the top is dining out, and also reading books and going to the movies at a theater. Also, 87 percent of online Hispanics engage in at least one recreational sport or activity.
Do you see any differences in technology usage between primarily Spanish and primarily English-speaking Hispanics? Why or why not?
There was not a very significant difference, but if anything, again going back to the segmentation, the surprising thing is the strong Latino heritage group is the one more engaged in online activities.
They’re more likely to own electronic devices, and so they could be a more advanced consumer.
What common demographic traits do heavy online engagement segments (OES) share?
There’s a skew toward being younger, male and less likely than the other groups to speak English at home. They’re more likely to be foreign-born, and they have the highest level of ethnic pride. And they’re also more likely to live in a big city like New York or Miami, and less likely to live in smaller markets.
Source: Media Life Magazine
May 14, 2008
Via MarketingCharts.com
Targeting advertising toward African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Whites requires distinct media plans, because these groups use traditional media differently - and their new-media adoption patterns also vary, according to an analysis by BIGresearch.
“Understanding how media consumption behaviors differ by race is fundamental for marketers wishing to increase ROI for advertising,” said Gary Drenik, president of BIGresearch.
Below, some of the findings from BIGresearch’s most recent Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM 11, Dec. ‘07) of 15,727 participants.
Television
The types of TV shows watched most often differ by racial group:
Although movies are the most watched type of TV show among all categories, African Americans (66%) and Hispanics (63.6%) are more likely to regularly watch them than Asians (52.5%) and Whites (51.4%).
Dramas and police/detective shows round out the top three for types of shows watched most often - except for Asians who would rather catch a sporting event or a cartoon.
Radio
Radio formats listened to by the various groups vary even more than their TV watching:
New Media
Although cell phones are the form of new media used most for all segments, with 57% of Hispanics, 53% of African Americans, 53.9% of Asians and 49.4% of Whites regularly using, the similarities stop there.
Minorities have a higher regular usage of new media than Whites across all media types. They are more likely to use iPods, text on cell phones, play videogames, use video/picture phones, instant messaging online and watch videos on cell phones.
“Minorities are using new media in higher percentages, providing marketers with unique opportunities to create specific marketing plans that integrate non-traditional media options into their digital ad strategy,” Drenik said.
Internet Use
Differences among the various ethnic groups are apparent in how they use the internet for fun and entertainment:
Shopping tops the list for African Americans (40%), Asians (43.7%) and Whites (43.1%) - whereas Hispanics would rather check out movie news (42.7%).
May 14, 2008
Ruben Navarette Jr.
For many conservatives, John McCain is not their favorite Republican. They think he's built a career at their expense, painting them as fools and bigots. They resent his holier-than-thou attitude. And they're not inclined to trust anyone who has been so fawned over by the national media.
Curiously, a lot of liberal Democrats feel the same way about McCain. He isn't their favorite Republican either - but it's because they know he'll be tough to beat in November. They would have preferred to run against someone more extreme and easier to demonize. That's not John McCain.
I first met McCain 10 years ago when I was a working at the Arizona Republic. What I remember is that, in a political climate where so many elected officials - Republican and Democrat alike - were wearing themselves out pandering to racists who demanded action on illegal immigration, McCain was one of the few who didn't play that game. In 1998, while Texas Gov. George W. Bush made headlines for earning an impressive 49 percent of the Latino vote in his re-election, McCain walked off with an unheard-of 65 percent in his Senate re-election bid. Six years later, he did even better, earning around 70 percent of the Latino vote.
Most political observers don't expect McCain to match those numbers in a national election, but half of that - 35 percent - is a definite possibility. With that kind of support among Latinos, McCain could win the White House.
And so Democrats are doing everything they can to distort McCain's record. Some are actually accusing McCain of not doing enough for immigration reform. In fact, they might even try to compare McCain to nativists such as Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who competed with the Arizona senator for the GOP nomination.
Good luck. The two men seem to detest one another. They even tangled last summer when McCain dismissed Tancredo's views on what makes someone an American as "beyond my realm of thinking."
Latinos in Arizona who have known McCain for years weren't surprised by that exchange. When I ask them to explain what draws Latinos to McCain, I hear the same things: his independence, his convictions, his courage and his moderate stance on issues. Then, of course, there is his military service and his heroic suffering as a prisoner of war.
"If you look at Latino families, we've all got someone who has been in the military," said Ruben Alvarez, a McCain supporter and principal at the Molera Alvarez Group, a public affairs firm in Phoenix. "The fact that McCain is so patriotic is a draw for many Latinos."
Another Latino Republican called McCain the original compassionate conservative, someone who wore that label before there ever was a label. And, she said, as someone who has faced his share of challenges in life, McCain's compassion bleeds over to anyone picked on or preyed upon. At the moment, Latinos are under fire thanks to an immigration debate that doesn't bother to distinguish between recent immigrants and U.S. citizens - as long as they have Spanish surnames.
But there's another factor that helps explain McCain's appeal to Latinos - he's spent 20 years quietly recruiting them into his campaigns and building up personal relationships in that Arizona community.
Bettina Nava met McCain more than 15 years ago, and served as state director for his Senate office in Arizona for three years. Now based at a consulting firm in Phoenix, Nava was recently named one of 11 campaign managers for McCain. She's in charge of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.
"What initially drew me to McCain was that I have never met anyone who loved his country more," Nava told me. "He honors his commitments. For Latinos, I don't know that we've always viewed government that way. There is always a lot of lip service. But at least with this guy, we get a straight shooter."
McCain marked Cinco de Mayo by launching his Latino outreach effort, which includes a Spanish-language Web site. Those gimmicks don't hurt. But what is really going to help McCain win Latino support in November is the same thing that has earned him so much of it up to now.
It's called character, and Latinos - like many other Americans - may not always be able to define it. But they know it when they see it.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Elmer Huerta Teaches Latino Women to See the Doctor While They're Well
May 13, 2008
By Sylvia Moreno
Emilia Uriarte and Mariluz Garcia are just the types of patients that Elmer Huerta loves to see. The first hasn't been to a doctor in 10 years; the second has been a faithful patient of the cancer prevention specialist for the past seven.
With Uriarte, he patiently explains in Spanish the value of a yearly Pap test as an early detection tool for cervical cancer and the importance of an annual mammogram and monthly breast self-exam -- especially now that she is three months past her 40th birthday. Huerta uses one of his favorite analogies to drive home the point that she needs to make this a yearly visit: You maintain your car to keep it running, don't you?
"So why not take ourselves in for our own tuneup?" says Uriarte, repeating the lesson that Huerta just imparted.
Garcia, meanwhile, can recite Huerta's advice by heart: The most important visit to the doctor is the one when you are well.
"I'm not sick. I just want to do prevention because you never know," says Garcia, 49.
Uriarte, of Frederick, and Garcia, of Rockville, are both patients of the Cancer Preventorium, a one-of-a-kind clinic that is part of the cancer institute at Washington Hospital Center. It is aimed at drawing in low-income Latino women, not for treatment but for prevention.
Huerta, the president this year of the American Cancer Society, used to be an oncologist in his native Peru. But he changed his focus in the late 1980s after seeing women with cancerous tumors bulging out of their breasts. "They didn't know anything about health," he said, "because they were ashamed to show anyone what was wrong and because they thought the absence of pain is the absence of anything wrong."
Many of these patients, however, knew the latest celebrity gossip, the subplots of every TV soap opera and the scores of every big soccer match. If radio and television were that powerful, Huerta recalls thinking, "would it be possible to sell health to the public through the media?"
In 1986, he began producing and then starring in a health education TV show in Lima; he discontinued the show in 1987 when he moved to the United States to complete a fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. He began a medical residency program in Baltimore and started recording five-minute health-care spots on a Spanish-language radio station in Laurel. In 1994, the same year the Cancer Preventorium opened, Huerta created a live weekly television program on health promotion and disease prevention.
Today, Huerta's radio spots, called "Cuidando Su Salud" ("Taking Care of Your Health"), air daily on more than 120 stations in the United States and more than 350 in Latin America. His television program, "Hablemos de Salud" ("Let's Talk About Health"), is distributed nationally.
Three months ago, Huerta's local call-in program expanded to two hours after being syndicated nationally. Now called "Cita Con el Doctor" ("Appointment With the Doctor"), it reaches Latinos in 14 states five days a week.
Broadcasting from his cramped office at the Washington Cancer Institute one recent afternoon, "el doctor" fielded almost 20 inquiries, ranging from vertigo to cancer metastasis, from callers nationwide.
Isabel of Maryland cried as she described the diagnosis of juvenile diabetes her 4-year-old daughter had just received. She wanted to know what caused this disease. And two callers, including Socorro in California, were awarded rousing "applause," a sound effect that Huerta plays on a digital sound board. Socorro said she is 39, has a 12-year-old child and is ready to have her intrauterine device removed so she can have a second child next year. "¿Doctor," she asked, "qué debo de hacer para preparar" for pregnancy? ("Doctor, what do I need to do to prepare?")
"¡Aplausos, aplausos para Socorro y su excelente pregunta!" Huerta said. ("Applause, applause for Socorro and her excellent question!") His advice: See an obstetrician as soon as possible; eat a healthful diet that includes lots of fruit and vegetables; walk or exercise at least 30 minutes a day; and take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily.
"Y ahora necesitas insistir que tu esposo se ponga a trabajar bien duro," he said with a laugh, as if he were speaking with a friend or relative. ("And now you need to insist that your husband work very hard.")
Broadcasting Prevention
Huerta, 55, doesn't diagnose over the air, but he advises, reassures and comforts. Most important, he promotes good health practices in simple language: Don't smoke. Try to get a job that offers health insurance. Get a primary care doctor. Cancer in its earliest stage is silent, so get an annual checkup. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Most folkloric remedies are fine, but don't forsake traditional medicine.
"He explains things in a way that really gets to people," said Eduardo Armenta, a College Park pediatrician, "especially those not well educated in the medical field."
Armenta, who listens to "Cita Con el Doctor" three or four times a week, calls Huerta's media campaign "one of the best things" that has happened in terms of preventive medicine in the Latino immigrant community. "He urges people to see doctors ahead of time, before disease gets to the point of no return," Armenta said.
Since 1994, the Cancer Preventorium has seen almost 15,400 women and 6,000 men, and a recent survey of patients showed that 70 percent found the clinic after hearing Huerta on either radio or television, said Washington Hospital Center spokeswoman So Young Pak.
Lawrence Lessin, former medical director of the cancer institute, said Huerta's proposal to promote cancer prevention among the area's growing Spanish-speaking community met stiff opposition in 1994 from some Washington Hospital Center administrators. Nonetheless, Lessin hired him to open the clinic.
"There was a concern about getting a lot of uninsured people to the hospital and then diagnosing a cancer and being obligated to take care of it," Lessin said. "But that's never really been the case, because Elmer developed relationships with other physicians who were willing to take care of these patients every time he detected cancer or other disease."
Huerta's two requisites for taking patients are that they have no apparent symptoms and that they pay upfront. In 1994, the fee for an initial exam was $55. Today it costs $120 for a physical, blood work, consultation and a Pap test for women or a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test for men. If patients have health insurance (only about 30 percent do), they file their own claims.
Huerta's female patients outnumber males by three to one, and the women remain his priority. American Cancer Society data show that breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Latino women. The five-year survival rate of Latinas is only 83 percent , compared with 87.5 percent for white women.
"Why?" Huerta asks. "They tend to have no insurance, they're fatalistic, they're poorer, they're linguistically isolated and there are few centers that are culturally sensitive."
The preventorium also has a Spanish-speaking nurse and a "patient navigator," Diana P. Garcia, who guides patients to clinics that provide screening mammograms for free or very low cost. Garcia refers patients who need follow-up care to physicians who take low-income, uninsured patients. If needed, she tries to get them enrolled in cancer treatment trials at the National Institutes of Health or into cancer clinics or hospitals that readily accept low-income patients. (To date, the clinic has discovered 71 cancers, almost half of them breast cancer.) Garcia also guides patients to health coverage they may be able to receive, and Huerta helps connect them to primary care physicians.
"But the main thing is to teach them about prevention, because as a culture we don't think we need to see a doctor until we're sick," Garcia said.
Vote of Confidence
Mariluz Garcia said she was drawn to the Cancer Preventorium seven years ago after visiting a Silver Spring clinic because she was concerned about abnormal menstrual cycles; she was given a blood test. She said she had to initiate the follow-up and was told only that her bloodwork was normal. A month later, she heard Huerta's radio show and the next year went to see him. It took her two or three weeks to get an appointment then; now there is a four-month waiting list, but she keeps returning for her annual checkup.
Garcia, who is from Colombia, has no health insurance and pays her $120 out of pocket. Is it worth the money? "Oh, yes!" she said. "Thank God, nothing has happened to me -- yet."
Emilia Uriarte arrived at the Cancer Preventorium at the insistence of a friend, who made an appointment for her as a 40th birthday present. Her friend is a fan of Huerta's shows and is a patient herself.
"I came, but I didn't think it was necessary for me because I never feel bad," said Uriarte, who is from Honduras. As is customary in her country, she admitted, she thought that "older people" like her 60-year-old mother are candidates for doctor visits. Besides, in her country, most people depend on a pharmacist to recommend medicine or on grandparents or other elders to prescribe folkloric remedies.
When Uriarte left Honduras at the age of 27, she said, she had never seen a doctor. Here, she saw one 10 years ago, when she gave birth to her daughter.
Now that she has seen Huerta, she understands "that every April I need to get checked," Uriarte said. "The doctor was very nice . . . and I liked the way he educated me."
Source: Washington Post
May 14, 2008
By Cornelia Hall
The University is currently reviewing a proposal to offer a Latino studies program, an issue that has been on the administration’s table for more than 10 years.
If approved, the Latino studies program may be available to students as soon as two years from now. The program, which will now focus on the experience of Latinos in the United States, would be different from the existing program in Latin American studies.
A Latino studies curriculum has become a necessary academic offering as the country’s Hispanic population continues to grow, said sociology professor Marta Tienda, who is chairing the ad hoc committee initiating the proposal. As the largest minority in the United States, Latinos comprise more than 15 percent of the national population.
Princeton lags behind other schools in the creation of a program devoted to Latino studies. “We’re one of the few universities of high stature that doesn’t have a program,” Tienda said.
The recent push for the program’s recognition has been fueled by stronger student support and stemmed from the Latino Coalition Report published last fall by a number of Hispanic student groups.
The current ad hoc committee is composed of Tienda, a graduate student, an undergraduate and various faculty members and has been working on the program’s official proposal since December.
Though Tienda said the proposal serves primarily as a “preliminary talking document,” she is optimistic that it will be well-received by the parties reviewing it.
“The administration has been very encouraging, but there’s a lot of work to do,” Tienda explained.
Bob Hernandez ’69, a Hispanic lawyer living and working in the Boston area, began his own efforts to get discussions of a Latino studies program off the ground. After teaching a seminar on Hispanics and the law at the College of the Holy Cross last fall, Hernandez sought out interested Princeton Latino alumni at Alumni Day last February.
He has been in touch with about 18 other alumni who have joined him in discussions about the best way to move forward with a Latino studies program. While Hernandez was pleased to hear that the proposal has been submitted to the committee, he said he believes “the creation of a full-fledged Latino studies program of the kind we’re talking about is going to take years.”
“My preliminary impression is that [the proposal is] a great first step, but it is a relatively small step and far short of what we’ve been discussing as necessary to have an excellent Latino studies program at Princeton,” he added.
As discussions continue, however, the University will have an advantage in terms of planning a strong program, Tienda said. By creating such a curriculum late in the game, “you get to cherry-pick the best of all possibilities,” she explained.
Tienda said that students involved in planning have been studying the curricula and formats of the Latino studies programs at other institutions, examining curricular specifics such as the best format for the program, the courses offered and sources of faculty to teach the new classes.
The committee is also currently identifying existing faculty and courses that could form part of the new program.
The parties involved cite a number of reasons for the delay in Princeton’s creation of a program. “We’re a small institution, and Princeton put a lot of emphasis on developing the Program in African-American Studies,” Tienda said, adding that the lack of a “critical mass” of interested students had prevented a faster start.
Hernandez noted that “the driving force [behind such curricular changes] has tended to be enrollment, and as the presence of Latino students has increased, the need for this kind of program has increased.”
Though no formal decisions have been made, conversations addressing the relevant issues are in the works. Committee members have determined that the new curriculum would likely take shape as an interdisciplinary certificate program, drawing courses from several different departments with a focus on the humanities and social sciences.
Tienda pointed out that the program ought not to become its own department due to its naturally eclectic subject matter. She said that offering Latino studies as a major is a “bad idea because it has to be rooted in a [particular] discipline.”
Though the certificate is not yet officially established, new courses focusing on Latino studies are already planned for next fall, including one exploring Latino/a sexualities and another focusing on Latino/a performance art.
Source: The Daily Princetonian
May 14, 2008
By Ed Morales
The general election campaign hasn't even started, and already Sen. John McCain is flip-flopping.
He recently launched a sleek Spanish-language Web site, announcing "Estamos Unidos Con John McCain" ("We Are United With John McCain").
But almost two years ago, McCain voted for an amendment to declare English the official national language. And last March, he skipped a vote on an amendment that sought to block lawsuits by employees challenging English-only workplace rules.
Like most Republican politicians, McCain faces a dilemma when it comes to pursuing the Latino vote. If he courts them too strongly by maintaining a moderate stance on immigration, he may be seen as not being a "true" conservative. But if he neglects them, he may have trouble in certain key states.
The Latino vote, particularly in Florida, was crucial to President Bush's victories in 2000 and 2004. But it was also a barometer of flagging support for Republicans in the 2006 midterm elections. This drop-off was due in part to the hard line taken by the anti-illegal-immigration wing of the party, which called for massive arrests and deportation.
That wing keeps flapping about the need to make English the official language, even though the vast majority of Spanish speakers in the United States are U.S. citizens, born or naturalized.
What's more, there is nothing in the Constitution that mentions the need for an official language, and there is nothing inherent in democracy that requires the use of English. The availability of government services in different languages is justified by the 14th Amendment, which requires that citizens not be denied "equal protection of the laws." McCain's Spanish-language Web site is part of a good old- fashioned American effort to market his campaign to millions of law-abiding citizens. These are the same citizens for whom the world's biggest multinational corporations spend millions of dollars to market their products in Spanish.
Supporters of making English the official language should consider this: If we apply the rule literally, we must rename states like Colorado (Red) and Florida (Filled With Flowers).
Strict enforcement of such a law might mean taxpayers would have to pay for the cost of redubbing all of John Wayne's movies, making sure he says "guy" instead of "hombre." Or it might require California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to change his signature line to "Till I See You Again, Baby!" Let's hope McCain's Web site means he understands that the use of Spanish, and many other languages in America, is here to stay, and the idea of declaring an official language is officially defunct.
Source: Austin American-Statesman
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