Higher Education

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) will be awarding approximately 15 $3,000 scholarships this fall to graduating high school seniors and undergraduate students from the State of Delaware. They will be awarded to Hispanic students who will enroll full time at a four year university in the Fall of 2008.

The application deadline is May 30, 2008, so please get this information to your students as soon as possible.

Requirements for this scholarship are as follows:

• Be of Hispanic heritage
• Must have a parent address or current address in the state of Delaware
• Be a U.S. Citizen or legal permanent resident
• Minimum 3.00 GPA
• Must apply for federal financial aid using the FAFSA
• Have plans to enroll full time in the 2008-2009 academic year

Students can apply to the HSF/ Delaware College Scholarship through the following link: https://apply.hsf.net/

N.C. community colleges are the first statewide system to bar illegal immigrants from seeking college degrees, according to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

The move has shaken up the academic world by going beyond the nationwide debate over whether undocumented students should pay lower in-state tuition.

“This has really caught the attention and caused a lot of alarm,” said Dan Hurley, the association’s director of State Relations and Policy Analysis. “Charging them out-of-state tuition is one thing, but barring them entirely is another.”*

Two Latinos who are the first in their families to attend college have taken student leadership roles at Harper College.

Miguel Hernandez, 25, of Hoffman Estates, was elected student senate president, while Alaine Garcia, 32, of Wheeling, is the Harper board’s latest student trustee.

Both said they’re excited to give Latinos, who make up 18 percent of Harper’s 25,300 students, proper representation within the college’s bodies of government.”*

Four UNM faculty and staff members will spend their summer learning how to write research grants for proposals funded by the National Institutes of Health. In turn they will act as a resource for faculty and staff members who are seeking grants from NIH.

It’s part of a joint Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program to improve grant awards to Hispanic serving institutions like UNM.”*

Nearly 14 years ago, when Hartnell College was in the process of selecting a new president-superintendent, Latino leaders in Salinas raised their voices and asked that a Latino candidate be chosen.

Now, as the process to select a new leader for the community college is coming to an end, several of those same leaders are raising their voices again. This time they assert the process has been tainted and is favoring Phoebe Helm, the interim superintendent and the only non-Latina among the three finalists.

Santos Martinez Jr., vice president of student services at Coastal Bend College in Texas, was interviewed Monday, and Cecilia Cervantes, president of the College of Alameda, was interviewed Tuesday. Helm is scheduled for today.”*

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.”*

Mills College will present its 120th Commencement on Saturday, May 17, 2008 with an address given by award-winning actress Rita Moreno. During the ceremony, honorary doctorates will be conferred upon Moreno, Renel Brooks-Moon, a Mills alumna (Class of 1981) who is the public address announcer for the San Francisco Giants, and Glenn Voyles, a Mills Trustee and investment management expert.

Mills’ graduating class includes 245 undergraduate women and 220 graduate women and men, as well as students receiving certificates and credentials in a variety of fields. The College’s 120th graduation begins at 9:45 am on the campus’ Toyon Meadow.

Rita Moreno is an extraordinary actress with more than six decades of achievement including appearances in nearly 50 films. Born Rosita Dolores Alverío in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Moreno began her acting career with a Broadway debut in Skydrift at the age of 13. She has crossed racial barriers ever since as a singer, dancer, and actress.

She is renowned for her performance as Anita in the film version of West Side Story, for which she won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 1961. Moreno was the first actress and the first Hispanic to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy.

Renel Brooks-Moon is a pioneering sports announcer and media personality who has broken through formidable gender and racial barriers throughout her multifaceted career.

The only female public address announcer in major league baseball, the exuberant Brooks-Moon is known as “the voice of the San Francisco Giants” at AT&T Park. This year marks her ninth season with the Giants. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown recognized Brooks-Moon as the first female announcer of a championship game in professional sports for her role in the 2002 World Series.

Completing more than two decades as a Bay Area radio personality, she is the host of the “Renel in the Morning Show” on KISS FM 98.1. Brooks-Moon has also been an entertainment reporter for CBS TV 5 since 1998.

Glenn Voyles is an expert in investment markets with more than four decades of experience in his field. During his career, he provided three investment management firms with executive leadership: Loomis, Sayles & Company (vice president, 2003-07), Jurika & Voyles (chair, 1981-2003), and Scudder, Stevens & Clark (vice president, 1965-1981).

Voyles has been a vital member of the Mills College community since 1996, serving as a Trustee, mentor, advisor, fundraiser, and donor. A four-term member of the Mills College Board of Trustees, he is instrumental in stewarding Mills resources to ensure the College’s vibrant future.

Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity to approximately 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Since 2000, applications to Mills College have more than doubled. The College ranks as one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review. For more information, visit http://www.mills.edu/.”*

A two-year study released Tuesday shows older Arkansans, the young and Hispanics making up larger parts of the state population 12 years from now.

The Arkansas 2020 study, released by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, projects demographic changes over a 20-year period, including shifts in age, gender, race, ethnic, rural and urban populations.

Click here (Word doc) to see a summary of the study. Click here (PDF) to see the full study.”*

North Carolina’s community colleges will no longer admit illegal immigrants, returning to more restrictive policy on the advice of the state Attorney General’s Office.”*

Nurturing the desire for college and keeping it on track is the purpose of Comienza con un Sueño ( It Begins with a Dream ), a major college outreach event taking place this month at UCSD. Aimed at Latino and Mexican American students, parents and families, this free event will be held Saturday, May 31 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in various stages on Library Walk, Center Hall and Geisel Library terrace.

More than 700 attendees from San Diego and Imperial counties are expected.

In a cultural atmosphere replete with keynote addresses and presentations by Latino role models, the event will center on empowering 6th through 12th grade students and their parents with key information on academic preparation, how to succeed in college and how to prepare for the hot careers of today, say Comienza’s organizers.

“Like other major ethnic minority groups, the college-going rate of Latinos and Mexican Americans remains significantly low,” says Rafael Hernandez, director of UCSD’s Early Academic Outreach Program ( EAOP ) who is spearheading the coordination of the event with Carri Fierro, director of UCSD’s TRIO Outreach Programs under Student Educational Advancement. “Many students at the event will be the first in their family to attend college upon high school graduation,” Hernandez continues, “so it is important that students learn early what it takes to develop good study skills, excel and graduate once admitted to college.”

Adds Fierro: “Another goal of Comienza is to let students know about life beyond college graduation – such as tips on succeeding in their careers, pursuing an advanced degree, and how students can return to the community from which they came to serve as role models to others.” This is the first of what will be an annual event, Hernandez and
Fierro say.

Comienza—a collaboration between UCSD and a host of community partners—will also feature interactive sessions specifically for parents, including bilingual workshops on finding money for college, help with the college application process, and how parents can be strong advocates for their children’s education. Latino and Mexican American art, dancing and music will add a genuine flair to the day.

“We want this event to be a special one both educationally and culturally,” says Fierro. “It’s a golden opportunity for us to showcase the many hallmarks of UCSD, including its academic opportunities, and to let students know we want them to succeed here.”

Comienza is a joint partnership between UC San Diego’s Office of the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence ( CREATE ), Chicano/Latino/Arts & Humanities Minor, TRIO Outreach Programs, Early Academic Outreach Program ( EAOP ),Office of Academic Support & Instructional Services ( OASIS ), Academic Enrichment Programs ( AEP ), Student Educational Advancement ( SEA ), SHAPES, Cross-Cultural Center, and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers; and community partners, including the Price Charities; the Parent Institute for Educational Equity; Fidelity/ScholarShare; the Lemon Grove School District; and the San Diego County Office of Education.

The event evolved from the success of other major UCSD-sponsored outreach events to underrepresented populations. These include the Dare to Dream College event ( held for the first time last November for the African American community ), and I’m Going to College ( held for the American Indian reservation communities ). Both are annual events.

For more information on Comienza and to register, visit: http://sea.ucsd.edu/comienza”*

The faces of Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney and Tomas Villanueva were added to Centralia College Clocktower Diversity Project on Thursday.

About 50 onlookers dodged light raindrops Thursday afternoon around the clock tower at the center of campus for the unveiling ceremony.”*

Northern Arizona University continues to be ranked as one of the nation’s top institutions for Latinos, according to the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine.

In its May 5 edition, Hispanic Outlook ranks NAU 19th in the nation for graduating Latinos with master’s degrees and 65th for undergraduates—similar to last year’s rankings.

For granting doctoral degrees to Latinos, NAU ranks 55 in the nation, up 17 spots over 2007.”*

Appropriating a gringo icon to celebrate Chicano culture is just one of the many over-the-top quirks of El Vez, The Mexican Elvis.

There’s also the flashy wardrobe and greasy pompadour, channeling The Elvis Presley’s Las Vegas-era lounge act.

There are the female back-up dancers, the El Vettes, appropriately named Priscilita, Gladysita, Lisa Maria and Que Linda Thompson.”*

Francie Chassen-Lopez of the Department of History has been named the 2008-09 College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor. Each year the college selects a faculty member to serve in the Distinguished Professor position and deliver a lecture on the topic of their choice. Chassen-Lopez’s lecture will take place in fall of 2009.

Chassen-Lopez arrived in Lexington in 1988, having previously taught for 10 years in Mexico City, first at the National University and later at the Metropolitan University where she became an associate professor with tenure. Since that time she has served as former director of the Latin American Studies Program at UK, as a proponent of university-community relations and as the present chair of the history department.”*

Ray Suarez, the senior correspondent for The NewsHour, who has spent more than a quarter century in journalism covering local, national, and international stories, will address UMass Dartmouth’s 2008 undergraduate commencement exercises.

Due to the rapid enrollment growth of the campus undergraduate and graduate students will be receiving their degrees at different ceremonies for the first time. Approximately 350 graduate students will receive their degrees on Saturday, May 24 and 1,200 undergraduates will receive degrees on Sunday, May 25.

During the undergraduate ceremony in the Vietnam Veterans Peace Memorial Amphitheater honorary degrees will be awarded to:

* New Bedford native and Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs and wife Joan Jacobs, who have been generous supporters of college scholarships for New Bedford students and supporters of numerous other educational and arts-related causes.

* Southcoast Hospitals Group CEO Ronald Goodspeed, who recently co-authored What If…? A Survival Guide for Physicians, a book intended to help medical students, residents and physicians successfully handle situations traditionally not covered by medical education and training.

* Retired UMass Dartmouth Dean of Students Donald Howard who spent more than 40 years at the university and was instrumental in building student government and leadership structures, student publications, the student judiciary system, student-run activity fee disbursement systems, the theater company, and the lecture series.

The graduate student ceremony will be built around three speakers: an innovator external to the campus, a graduate alumnus/a innovator, and a graduate student.

The address by the external innovator will be delivered by Dr.Onesky Aupont, a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who is a key leader of the Massachusetts arm of the National Children’s Study, the largest study to be conducted in the United States to assess the effects of environmental and genetic factors on child and human health.

Also speaking at the graduate commencement will be Yong Zhang, chief operating officer of Salary.com, a Massachusetts-based company that provides companies with the tools to “manage and inspire their most important asset - their people.” Mr. Zhang received graduate degrees in engineering and physics from UMass Dartmouth.

Speaking from a graduate student perspective will be Master of Fine Arts candidate Jennifer Ling Datchuk.

“Commencement 2008 at UMass Dartmouth is going to feature a diverse array of people who have had, and continue to have, an enormous impact on the lives of others,” Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack said. “This will be a celebration of the power of education and innovation to strengthen our Commonwealth, nation, and world; and a challenge to the Class of 2008 to set a new and even higher standard of global engagement.”

More on Ray Suarez

Mr. Suarez, also known for his work as host of NPR’s Talk of the Nation, wrote the book The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration ( Free Press ), and has contributed to several others, including Brooklyn ( Workman, 2001 ), Saving America’s Treasures ( National Geographic, 2000 ), Las Christmas ( Knopf, 1998 ), and About Men ( Poseidon, 1986 ). His latest work is The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America, an examination of the tightening relationship between religion and politics. His essays and criticism have been published in The News York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, among other publications.

Mr. Suarez shared in NPR’s 1993-94 and 1994-95 duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Awards for on-site coverage of the first all-race elections in South Africa and the first 100 days of the 104th Congress, respectively. He has been honored with the 1996 Ruben Salazar Award from the National Council of La Raza, Current History Magazine’s 1995 Global Awareness Award, and a Chicago Emmy Award.

A life member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Mr. Suarez was a founding member of the Chicago Association of Hispanic Journalists. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three children.

Mr. Suarez holds a B.A. in African History from New York University and an M.A. in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.
Contact Info:
Email: kbeals@umassd.edu Kathy Beals, UMass Dartmouth Office of Public Affairs”*

Antioch University Los Angeles ( AULA ) today announced that they have joined the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities ( HACU ). Antioch University has been honored to serve the diverse communities of the greater Los Angeles area for the last 35 years, and is proud to Hispanic support student success within higher education.

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities was established in 1986 with a founding membership of eighteen institutions. Because of HACU’s exemplary leadership on behalf of the nation’s youngest and fastest-growing population, the Association rapidly grew in numbers and national impact. Today, HACU represents more than 450 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

“The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities has served as the champion of Hispanic success in higher education for over 20 years” said Dr. Neal King, President of Antioch University Los Angeles. “AULA’s new membership in HACU allows us to join forces with other institutions who seek to better and more fully serve the higher education needs of the Hispanic communities of Southern California.”

HACU is the only national educational association that represents Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Each year, thousands of young Hispanics benefit from HACU with internships, scholarships, college retention and advancement programs, precollegiate support, and career development opportunities and programs.

Antioch University Los Angeles will be a featured institution on the HACU website, www.hacu.net , in June, 2008.

For more information, please contact Joanna Gerber, Director of Public Relations for Antioch University Los Angeles at Joanna_Gerber@antiochla.eduThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or at ( 310 ) 578-1080 x119.

Additional information on Antioch University Los Angeles can be found online at www.AntiochLA.edu “*

At the 39th annual La Raza Cultural Days fiesta on the UC Davis campus, author Donna Del Oro appeared to do a booksigning for her new novel, OPERATION FAMILIA, which is receiving rave notices from critics and readers alike. The Latina sorority, Sigma Lambda Gamma, sponsored the author’s appearance with the author donating proceeds from the sale of her humorous “chica lit” novel to a new scholarship program begun by Sigma Lambda Gamma.

UC Davis is dear to Donna Del Oro’s heart, for her daughter graduated from there in 1994. Having worked her way through college the hard way, the author knows the importance of having a support network for young Latinas, such as Sigma Lambda Gamma and the Puente programs. Most Latino and Latina college students rely on scholarships, grants and loans to get through college. What Sigma Lambda Gamma and other Latino and Latina fraternities and sororities are doing to help their fellow students is a very worthwhile enterprise and the author commends them. The author has pledged to donate a percentage of her novel’s sales to Sigma Lambda Gamma’s scholarship program.

OPERATION FAMILIA, available to order through Floricanto Press, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com, is a humorous story with romantic and suspense elements. The main character, Dina Salazar nearly has it all-a career she loves in Silicon Valley and a boyfriend with prospects. Still, her ex-fiance has come back to drive her crazy and although she wants to continue hating him, he’s hard to resist. Dina’s Mexican-born grandmother reveals the dark secrets from her youthful past — a baby son she had to abandon when she immigrated to the States. Now, her grown son, who followed in his father’s footsteps and became a drug cartel boss, has been murdered and Dina’s Mexican cousin, whom she’s never met, is on the run in Mexico with cartel secrets, fleeing her father’s killers. Grandma Gomez wants Dina, the smart one in the family, to rescue her cousin before the cartel finds her. Dina, a schoolteacher, hasn’t a clue how to become her family’s savior. But when “la familia” calls, what’s a girl to do?

Check out: OPERATION FAMILIA
ISBN# 9780915745968

http://www..donnadeloro.com
http://www..floricantopress.com
http://www..barnesandnoble.com
http://www..amazon.com “*

The State Farm Companies Foundation increased its investment and involvement in the Latino community today with a major, annual contribution of $285,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. The latest financial support from the State Farm Companies Foundation will create additional scholarships and community education programs for Latinos this year.

“We are excited about expanding our long-established partnership with the State Farm Companies Foundation,” said Frank D. Alvarez, HSF President and CEO. “This grant demonstrates the foundation’s commitment to improving access to higher education for everyone.”

State Farm and the State Farm Companies Foundation are working with HSF to provide more scholarships, to present more informational and educational events, and, in general, to promote higher education among Hispanics through more community involvement. First, this grant creates the HSF/State Farm Companies Foundation Scholarship Program, which awards scholarships to Latinos, in their junior and senior years enrolled in four-year institutions, pursuing careers in education.

In addition to scholarships, State Farm’s investment further expands HSF’s capacity to engage and support Latino students seeking the education they need to become future professionals. As the leader in this field, HSF knows college-going promotion, conditioning and outreach efforts in the Latino community are also critical. The expanded partnership will include a series of seven Town Hall Meetings in selected areas of California. These two-hour, completely bilingual sessions introduce students and their families to HSF and explain the basic steps necessary to prepare for college.

In an endeavor to begin conditioning Latino and families and promote discussion of going to college, the State Farm Corporation is sponsoring with HSF a student essay contest in California. The theme of the essays is “Education - A Gift That Lasts a Lifetime,” and 18 winning students, ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade, will each receive an award of $1,000.

Since 1989, the State Farm Companies Foundation has contributed more than $750,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

“This increased level of commitment to the remarkable students and families that HSF supports is just one of the many ways in which State Farm seeks to improve the vibrancy and strength of the communities in which we live and work,” said Rand Harbert, Senior Vice President for State Farm in California. He added, “we hope this contribution will make an impact in the lives of these students, their families and ultimately our state.”

HSF President Alvarez said, “We sincerely appreciate State Farm Companies Foundation’s willingness to invest in Hispanic youth through HSF, as we work to double the rate of Hispanics earning a college degree. Working together with companies and foundations like these, we will positively impact the future and move closer to our goal of strengthening America by generating more Latino college graduates.”

About Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Founded in 1975 as a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization, HSF’s vision is to strengthen the country by advancing college education among Hispanic Americans. In support of its mission to double the rate of Hispanics earning college degrees, HSF provides the Latino community more college scholarships and educational outreach support than any other organization in the country. During the 2006-2007 academic year, HSF awarded nearly 4,200 scholarships exceeding $26.5 million. In its 32-year history, HSF has awarded more than 82,000 scholarships worth over $221 million to Latinos attending nearly 2,000 colleges and universities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information about the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, please visit www.hsf.net.

About State Farm Companies Foundation
The State Farm Companies Foundation was established in 1963 as an independent private foundation and is primarily committed to education, helping to raise the level of student achievement in our elementary and secondary schools. The State Farm Companies Foundation provides funding for its education initiatives in the following areas: K-12 public schools, service learning and teacher excellence. For more information about the State Farm Companies Foundation, please visit www.statefarm.com/about/part_spos/part_spos.asp.

About State Farm
State Farm(R) insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. State Farm’s 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees serve over 76 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.7 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 31 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com(R) or in Canada statefarm.ca(R).”*

More than 700 students from northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan are expected to attend the University of Toledo’s Latino Youth Summit tomorrow.”*

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today convened an inaugural summit titled “America’s Competitiveness: Hispanic Participation in Technology Careers,” an effort to bring together leaders in business, education, government, and community organizations to find ways to increase the number of Hispanic students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math in the United States.

The effort is aimed at a looming problem resulting from the significant decline in the numbers of Hispanic students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM). This decline could affect America’s competitiveness in the increasingly global market. Demographic data show that the Hispanic community is expected to constitute 25 percent of the overall U.S. population by mid-century, making the U.S. home to the largest Hispanic population in the world. Meanwhile, Hispanic students dropping out of high school are at a 24 percent rate.

To address the issue, IBM along with ExxonMobil, Lockheed Martin and Univision, and 150 other leaders will meet on May 5 and 6 in New York, to examine the ways the Hispanic community can improve their participation in STEM.

“The Hispanic community is one of the fastest growing in the country and young Latinos are rapidly joining our workforce,” said U.S. Senator Robert Menendez. “It is important that they have the option to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, not only so they can fully develop their potential, but also so they can become professionals in areas that are vital to our economy, our security, our future as a nation. I salute IBM for this important initiative and hope this summit will open up new roads to success for our Hispanic youth.”

The magnitude of the nation’s STEM career gap is most apparent in the field of engineering where the need for talent is increasing at three times the rate of other professions. This demand is countered by trends that demonstrate few American students are entering STEM-related studies.

“IBM is deeply committed to galvanizing the U.S. corporate sector and other stakeholders in addressing the serious shortage of professionals in STEM careers, particularly in the Hispanic community,” stated Nicholas M. Donofrio, Executive Vice President, Innovation and Technology. “This summit is a call to action to challenge business leaders to address an issue that could undermine the country’s leadership in today’s global economy.”

Participants of this strategic gathering will be presented with newly released reports commissioned by the IBM International Foundation from respected research organizations like The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute and Public Agenda, which outline the challenges and opportunities to the nation’s Hispanic community and their partners as regards the pursuit of STEM careers.

Among the key findings of The Public Agenda study, “A Matter of Trust,” released today in conjunction with the conference, reveals a deep-seated anxiety within the Hispanic Community about attaining a college education despite it being a requirement for a decent job and middle-class life in nine of ten young Hispanic adult households. The reasons identified in the study are:

• Nearly half of Hispanic parents say it is a serious problem that students are not taught enough math and science.
• Hispanic parents are more likely to support making sure U.S. standards match those in Europe and Japan.
• Less than half of Hispanic young adults believe that qualified students can find a way to pay for college.

“Education and higher education in particular are even more highly-prized and respected among Hispanic parents than among parents in general, despite some erroneous conventional wisdom to the contrary,” state authors Paul Gasbarra and Jean Johnson, of the Public Agenda. “Overall… far too many Hispanic families are underserved by public education — and to a significantly greater degree than the general population.”

As a means of enabling Spanish-language-only parents to better communicate with teachers — one of the needs outlined in the Public Agenda study — IBM is today announcing that it will provide its automatic two-way, English-Spanish, e-mail translation and web translation software called ¡TradúceloAhora! to all U.S. schools at no cost to them.

Additionally, schools and nonprofit organizations will be given unlimited use of the ¡TradúceloAhora! software. And Hispanic older adults and those with disabilities can access the free translation software along with other free software called AccessibilityWorks that helps them view web pages in a customized format for easier and more effective reading and navigation on the web.

And, according to The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI), which also today released the report, “STEM Professions: Opportunities and Challenges for Latinos,” the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. also suffers from a worse gender gap in STEM careers compared with Asians and African Americans.

The TRPI report, however, noted some signs of optimism: “As the youngest and fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. today,” state the authors, Maria Teresa V. Taningco, Ann Bessie Mathew and Harry Pachon. “Latinos have a unique opportunity to aim high and to strive for STEM careers, given the high demand in these fields.”

In response to the need to provide mentors for Hispanic students, IBM commits to expanding the MentorPlace program to focus on school districts in the U.S. with a significant number of Hispanic students, and matching them with IBM employees who can serve as their online mentors.

• Additionally, IBM will expand its cascade mentoring program - currently at the University of Arizona at Tucson - to at least 3 universities in California, New York and Texas.
• The cascading mentoring program is an internet based system that enables professional mentors, university students, and K-12 students to engage in a three-way mentoring relationship through secure online discussions. These discussions focus on past academic experiences and exploration of what could be in terms of future goals and opportunities.
• This program completed its third year in Tucson, Arizona and involved IBM employees, the University of Arizona SHPE (Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers) Student Chapter, and students from two high schools.

In addition, IBM is making further commitments aimed at bolstering early education resources with innovative technology tools for the classroom:

• IBM also will make a donation of 1,000 KidSmart units at early childhood centers in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and New York - in neighborhoods that support the Hispanic community.
• IBM commits to expanding the Reading Companion grant program - a web- based, voice recognition technology that helps adults and children gain literacy skills - to any school district in the U.S. that is interested, with a special focus on school districts with a significant number of Hispanics.

Key moderators and facilitators will lead attendees in highly focused work groups designed to encourage dialogue and develop actionable strategies to increase Hispanic participation in STEM-related curriculum. Confirmed moderators include Tom Luce, Chief Executive Officer, National Math and Science Initiative, Inc. (former Assistant Secretary, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development); Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Chairman Emeritus, IBM Academy of Technology and Visiting Professor of Engineering Systems, MIT; Stanley Litow, President of the IBM International Foundation and Vice President, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM Corporation; and Adalio Sanchez, Vice President of Corporate Strategy, IBM Corporation.

The issue of skills and the need for America to produce more graduates with degrees in math, science, engineering and technology also will be addressed.

“The shift to a digital economy in the last 10 years requires that young people be prepared to enter the workforce with ’21st Century skills,’” said AMD Chairman and CEO Hector Ruiz. “Fostering STEM skills is critically important in developing an adept workforce to fill the jobs of this expanding digital economy.”

In keeping with its commitment to the development of STEM professionals for the future, IBM has been in collaboration with over 5,000 premier universities and over 100,000 business partners globally to prepare students with 21st century skills for jobs in the new IT workforce.

In the U.S. alone, IBM has trained faculty at over 3,150 institutions on software skills and over 150 on mainframe skills. Students and future STEM professionals can also access the IBM Academic Initiative which includes an online portal that provides access to FREE software and hardware as well as training and course materials. Also through the web, IBM offers hundreds of resources for integration into college curricula to help teach students how to master the fast-growing market of open technologies. Perhaps most significantly, IBM is working with more than 150 leading universities to promote the global adoption of a new academic discipline, Service Science Management and Engineering (SSME).”*

In what is becoming a national trend, leading businesses and education groups are launching new initiatives aimed at increasing the number of minorities–and Hispanics in particular–in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

For instance, IBM held an international summit May 5-6 that brought together business, education, government, and community leaders to discuss ways to increase the number of Hispanic students pursuing careers in STEM fields across the United States.”*

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students participated in the “Day Without Latinos” immigrant rights march, which took place on Milwaukee’s south side at 11 a.m. on May 1.

The march of 30,000 people, organized by Voces de la Frontera, included the help of The Progressive Students of Milwaukee and the Latino Student Union at UWM, whom organized a bus from the student union, of which 50 students attended.

“I’m excited so many student organizations were involved and more students were involved in this year’s march,” said Veronica Sotelo, Vice President of the Latino Student Union at UWM.”*

Anthony “Tony” Guerrero’s eyes grew large as he listened to Sonia Reising rattle off his new responsibilities.

Laid out, they could seem a little daunting: Develop expectations and goals for his other team members; determine the dates and times of a year’s worth of meetings; establish monthly goals for the coming year; participate in at least one community service activity.

But Guerrero took a deep breath, glanced around at his hand-selected teammates on the new McHenry County College Student Senate executive board, and squared his shoulders.”*

At ritzy receptions in the nation’s capital, Tomas Resendiz has been mistaken for a waiter. Other guests have handed him empty glasses and turned to him for more cocktails. Despite his suit and tie. Despite his impressive title: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Liaison for U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

“Sometimes people don’t look (at what a person is wearing). They just look up here,” said Resendiz, circling his face.

Even if they had looked at his outfit or asked his title, they’d only have a small part of his story.”*