By Yvette tenBerge
It is just after 11:30 p.m. on
Saturday, December 29 and the dance floor of the Catamaran Hotel's
Cannibal Bar on Mission Boulevard is hopping. A spectrum of couples
- sleek professional dancers, trendy twenty-something's and even
those fresh from their first salsa class - glide, strut and count
their way across the parquet floor. Racial and age differences
seem to disappear as the crowd moves to the rhythm of Orquesta
Un Solo Son, San Diego's newest salsa band.
Mention their effect to Ivan Torres, the 31 year-old Puerto
Rican-born Director and Lead Singer of the band, and his face
lights up at the obvious parallel between what happens on the
dance floor and the significance of his band's name.
"The crowds who come to hear us play are from different places. Our goal is to bring them together. `Son' is the most essential element of salsa music; it's the rhythm," says Mr. Torres, who points out that salsa dancing in California has a big following of Anglos, Filipinos and Asians, as well as of Latinos from an array of countries. "Out of this, we are trying to make `un solo son,' with everyone thinking, dancing and playing into that same goal ­ that same `son.'"
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San Diego School Board Members on the Same Channel?
By Yvette tenBerge
The San Diego school board rang in the new year with one obvious
change. A lone television screen positioned outside of the auditorium
and two cameramen filming the January 8 meeting served to remind
community members that, for the next six months, they could now
observe each biweekly meeting from the privacy of their own homes.
Baja Battle — Indigenous Mexicans Fight For
Housing
By David Bacon
ENSENADA, BAJA CALIFORNIA—Mexican President Vicente Fox
won election in part because he promised, in the wake of the Zapatista
rebellion, a new era of respect for the rights of indigenous communities.
But his own National Action Party, which has governed the Mexican
state of Baja California for almost two decades, stands accused
of treating indigenous communities as a source of cheap labor
for the state's big ranchers and arresting activists when they
demand basic housing and government services.
Danger and Grace - Sept. 11 and America's Religious
Moment
By Richard Rodriguez
SAN FRANCISCO—After the names and the utterances of prime
ministers and secretaries of war are forgotten, after the madmen
in the desert have been hunted and killed, after the capable youth
of today's soldiers has been undermined by the blessing of a long
life, history will, I think, remember this time — our lifetime
— as a religious moment, both dangerous and capable of great
grace.
INS makeover finds few fans on Hill
By August Gribbin
The Immigration and Naturalization Service is trying to remake
itself, but its reorganization plan has drawn criticism as it
struggles with more far-reaching congressional proposals to reshape
or dismantle the agency.
Inequality - And Uncle Sam - At The Root of Argentinean
Crisis
By Andrew Reding
Secure in the belief that Argentina's economic collapse will
not spill over to the rest of the hemisphere, the Bush administration
has chosen to stand aside. That may be a fair assessment of the
immediate economic risk to other countries. But there is a lot
more to Argentina's free fall than economics.
First
Person
Kidnapped!
By Lisa Marguet
(Editor's Note: Lisa Marguet came to La Prensa San
Diego seeking a position as an intern; she wanted to learn how
to become a news reporter. After completing one story, we didn't
hear from her for a couple of weeks. When we did, Lisa informed
us that her brother had been kidnapped! After making sure that
her brother was okay, we asked her to share her brother's story
with our readers.
Presidente Bush Suscribe Importantes Reformas
Educativas Que Beneficiaran A Los Estudiantes Hispanos
El Presidente Bush promulgó la "Ley para que
Ningún Niño Se Quede Atrás de 2001",
instaurando reformas educativas que responsabilizarán a
las escuelas por los resultados, darán a los distritos
escolares locales mayor flexibilidad y control, ofrecerán
más opciones a los padres, y pondrán énfasis
en los métodos de enseñanza efectivos. "Hoy
se inicia una nueva era en la educación pública",
dijo el Presidente. "A partir de ahora, las escuelas de los
Estados Unidos se encuentran en un nuevo camino de reformas y
resultados. Nuestras escuelas tendrán expectativas más
altas y más recursos para ayudar a los estudiantes a cumplirlas".
La ley firmada hoy refleja el compromiso del Presidente a hacer
de la educación de todos los niños su primera prioridad,
mejorar el rendimiento de los estudiantes y disminuir la disparidad
entre los estudiantes ricos y pobres por todo Estados Unidos.
Cuba 40 years later
By Richard Ybarra
Sunday, Dec. 16 marked the first direct trade between Cuba
and the United States. The first shipment of 500 tons of U.S.
chickens and 24,000 tons of corn arrived as part of what was called
a "one-time" cash deal for these products.
Se rinde homenaje a Julio Torri
Por Paco Zavala
Al ilustre escritor mexicano coahuilense Julio Torri se le
rinde un merecidísimo homenaje al convocar a todos los
escritores mexicanos por nacimiento menores de 35 años
para participar en el Premio Nacional de Cuento Joven "Julio
Torri 2001".
Tijuana NGOs Build Homes and Children's Emergency
Room
Low-Income Housing
In 2001, Tijuana's Fundación Esperanza (the Hope Foundation)
supported the building of 40 homes for low-income families. The
construction of the 40 homes cost just 1,440,000 pesos (approximately
US$157,000) or 36,000 pesos (US$3,900) each, according to technical
director Apolonio Rodríguez Barba.
Community Page ~ ~ Pagina de la Gente
LULAC Brightens the Holidays for 250 Families
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) San Diego
Council #2842 members, National Guardsmen and volunteers put their
Christmas spirit to work for two days as they assembled food baskets
for families of their community. On Friday December 21st Santa’s
elves filled baskets with canned good, apples, oranges, celery,
bananas, cereal and much more, enough goodies to make Christmas
brighter for 250 families.
LA
COLUMNA VERTEBRAL
Por Diego Alvarez
Es hora de dar
Todos estamos seguros de que jamás olvidaremos
lo acontecido el 11 de septiembre en Nueva York.
State Farm Insurance Donates 50 Computers to the
San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
The San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was
the recipient of fifty Pentium II computers, donated by State
Farm Insurance. Ed Reyes, Agency Field Executive with State Farm,
was key in getting the computers donated to the SDCHCC.
USC Annenberg's Getty Arts Journalism Fellowships
Available
The USC Annenberg Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship program
is accepting applications from mid-career journalists to attend
this unique subsidized opportunity to improve arts journalism
by bringing together artists, museum curators, theater directors,
arts administrators, funders, and journalism colleagues, against
a background of investigating Los Angeles's vast and complex cultural
life.
$4,500 Scholarships Available for Military
Sons and Daughters
Time is running out to apply for the 2002 Cmdr. William
S. Stuhr Scholarship Fund for Military Sons and Daughters, according
to Joseph LaRiviere, the fund's executive director. These scholarships
will be awarded in late May or June to high school seniors of
active duty or retired military members of the Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marines, and Coast Guard stationed worldwide.
Encienda
Una Vela
Mons. Jim Lisante
Nuestra Fe
Un día vino a mi oficina una mujer joven con una
gran necesidad de conversar. Se encontraba profundamente afectada
por la muerte de su padre. Hablamos sobre el significado de la
vida y de la muerte. Y ella quería hablar especialmente
sobre la inmortalidad. Me preguntó sobre el paraíso,
y cómo podemos tener la seguridad de que existe. ¿Cómo
puede una persona disfrutar de una vida feliz, después
de su vida terrenal? ¿Qué clase de pecados pueden
impedir que una persona disfrute de la bondad y misericordia de
Dios? Ahora que un ser muy querido falleció, Marianne necesita
saber. Y quiere, más que nunca, ser una persona de fe.
Ella quiere creer en una vida más allá de nuestra
experiencia terrenal. Pero a veces la esperanza le falla y cae
en las dudas que la paralizan. A veces es difícil creer
en una realidad que no podemos ver.
Editorial
State of City Address Holds No Surprises
The State of the City address given by Mayor Dick Murphy
this week was underwhelming. Those of us who are long-time city
hall watchers or who are required by our professions to cover
these yearly performances, have noted how irrelevant the State
of the City yearly message has become. Some mayors in the past,
knowing how insignificant these yearly gigs are, have at times
tried to be entertaining or to use the occasion to make an effort
to be visionary, even though they knew it was all hyperbole.
Commentary
A California Town Without Hispanics???
By Steve Rodriguez
Latino critics of Hollywood have vigorously noted the absence
of brown faces on this country's movie and television screens.
Any study of feature length films or prime time TV will substantiate
this pathetic phenomenon. Based on the minuscule number of Latino
stars and themes present on both the big and small screen the
typical American movie fan and T.V. couch potato cannot be blamed
for possessing the impression that Latinos play no role in American
culture. How extensive is this problem? One has to only view one
of the recent films released during this latest holiday period—The
Majestic— to see that Hollywood will go to great lengths
to ensure Latinos remain an invisible people. This movie goes
so far as to alter historically valid demographics, effectively
choosing to delete the presence of Latinos in California, while
at the same time expressing the point of view that a "cinematic"
town cannot have any Latino citizens order to possess so-called
All-American values.
Commentary
AB 800 Attempts to Justify English-Only
Policy
By Lisa Marguet
I'm sure we agree that language is an expression of culture
and national origin. Language is an immutable characteristic.
Yet laws, such as the recently chaptered AB 800 Workplace Language
Policy, continue to pass. Because Spanish speaking is often necessary
and has an apparently permanent status, its elimination in any
area of communication (intra-employee or with the public) cannot
be termed essential to the efficient operation of a business.
Commentary
If you have any three-cent postage stamps
lying around, you might want to keep them handy
By Tom Mitsoff
Last Sept. 11, the U.S. Postal Service announced it would
be increasing postal rates again in 2002, on the heels of the
one-cent increase in 2001. That announcement came just minutes
before something else that happened that day, and understandably
got lost in the shuffle.
The Public Forum ... El Foro Publico
New Outbreak in the Spanish American War
The bitter war between the Official English proponents and
the bilingual educators has once again shifted to the workplace
over the concept of using broken Spanish as a practical solution
to communication barriers.
TEZOZOMOC SPEAKS...
En Pasando
Two weeks into el Nuevo Year so Wazz-up? Or ¿Qué
está pasando? ¿Qué tal gente? The Feast
of the Three Kings pasó and no bad mouthing of the
three middle Eastern Kings that came to visit el Niño
Jesus! Bible is not clear whether they were from Afghanistan,
Iran, Jordan or what. Don't forget Gente, HISPANOS and their
descendants all have Middle Eastern blood. Remember, Spain was
conquered and occupied for 800 years by the Caliphs of the Middle
Eastern tribes. Remember "El Cid"?
Mosaico...
de Actividades Culturales en Tijuana
Por Paco Zavala
Comenzamos un nuevo año con muchas ilusionesy proyectos,
ojalá que todo lo que se desea se haga realidad. Iniciamos
un nuevo año con muchas espectativas, para enfrentar los
retos, las circunstancias, las determinaciones, las situaciones
que poco a poco se vayan presentando y sortear todo esto es un
poco severo pero satisfactorio.
Calendar of Events...
Club Ritmo, UCSD's Nightclub Premiers January 12
The Associated Students at the University of California, San
Diego presents the second season of UCSD's night/dance club, Club
Rítmo. Club Rítmo runs from 8:30 p.m.-midnight,
on selected nights. After the first show (in the Ballroom), Club
Rítmo will resume at the Stage at Porter's Pub.
Goalie Quinones trying out for WUSA spot on
national TV
By John Philip Wyllie
When Mexico squares off against the United States on January
12 in women's soccer, the Tricolores American-born goalie, Linnea
Quinones will be playing in one of the most important games of
her career. For the 21 year old SDSU student, that is quite a
statement. Especially considering that she once played before
a packed house in Giants Stadium during the '99 Women's World
Cup.
U.S. Women Arrive in Chilly Charleston to Open
2002
The U.S. Women's National Team players arrived in Charleston,
S.C. on Tuesday, January 8, in preparation for their match vs.
Mexico on Saturday, January 12 at 7 p.m. ET (live on ESPN2) and
hit the practice field that night at Blackbaud Stadium, site of
Saturday's game, for a 7 p.m. training.
Fox Sports World To Televise FC Gold Cup 2002
Fox Sports World has acquired the English-language telecast
rights to the FC Gold Cup 2002 with network telecasts set to commence
on Friday, January 18, 2002. The opening match, between Martinique
and Costa Rica, will kick-off at 7:00 PM ET, live from Miami's
Orange Bowl. The 20-game tournament event sites will alternate
between Miami, Florida's Orange Bowl and Pasadena, California's
Rose Bowl.
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