The BC Scoop

    An award-winning Hispanic communications firm in the U.S. specializing in public relations, government affairs and political communications.

[prweek]

By needing to retract on Friday their earlier assurances to customers that PIN numbers had not been stolen, Target effectively has morphed in the eyes of the public from a victim of crime to a co-conspirator. Not a good move brand-wise, trust-wise, reputation-wise, or business-wise.

Davia Temin, “Target’s Worst PR Nightmare: 7 Lessons from Target’s Well-Meant but Flawed Crisis Response” (via Forbes)

[thebcscoop-blog]

Nuevo reporte de America's Health Rankings nota mejorías de salud en la población hispana americana

El Informe America’s Health Rankings de United Health Foundation Revela que los Estadounidenses Están Haciendo un Progreso Notable en las Principales Medidas de Salud

Hawaii es el estado más saludable

A nivel nacional, los estadounidenses hicieron mejoras en más de dos tercios de las medidas de salud

Las mejoras abarcan las medidas clave del comportamiento, como el consumo de tabaco y la inactividad física

Por primera vez desde 1998, la crisis de la obesidad de Estados Unidos no empeoró en el 2013

Aún quedan desafíos importantes, pero mantener el ímpetu es fundamental

MINNETONKA, MINN. (11 de diciembre de 2013) – Los estadounidenses están haciendo un progreso notable en su salud general, según el informe America’s Health Rankings® (Clasificación de la Salud en los Estados Unidos) 2013 de United Health Foundation. Un Llamado a la Acciónpara las Personas y Sus Comunidades.

A nivel nacional, los estadounidenses mejoraron en más de dos tercios de las medidas captadas por el informe. Los logros más notables se produjeron en las medidas clave del comportamiento, incluido el consumo de tabaco, que descendió del 21.2 por ciento de la población adulta al 19.6 por ciento. Diecisiete estados tuvieron reducciones importantes en el consumo de tabaco, y los mayores descensos se registraron en Nevada, Maryland, Oklahoma, Kansas y Vermont.

La inactividad física descendió del 26.2 por ciento de la población adulta al 22.9 por ciento, y la tasa de obesidad de Estados Unidos sigue siendo aproximadamente la misma que la informada en el 2012 (27.6 por ciento de la población adulta en el 2013 en comparación con el 27.8 por ciento en el 2012). Esto constituye la primera vez desde 1998 que las tasas de obesidad no han empeorado. 

Clasificaciones de los estados

Hawaii se ha coronado como el estado más saludable. Vermont, el estado que ocupó el puesto N.º 1 el año pasado, clasifica en segundo lugar este año y se ha mantenido entre los primeros cinco estados durante la última década. Minnesota ocupa el tercer lugar, seguido de Massachusetts y New Hampshire. Mississippi ocupa el lugar 50 este año, y Arkansas (49), Louisiana (48), Alabama (47) y West Virginia (46) completan la lista de los cinco estados menos saludables.

En el primer puesto, Hawaii obtuvo buenas puntuaciones en la mayoría de las medidas, especialmente por tener bajas tasas de personas sin seguro de salud, altas tasas de vacunación infantil y bajas tasas de obesidad, consumo de tabaco y hospitalizaciones prevenibles. Al igual que todos los estados, Hawaii también tiene áreas donde puede mejorar: tiene tasas más altas que el promedio de consumo excesivo de alcohol y muertes por accidentes laborales, y tasas más bajas que el promedio de graduación de la escuela secundaria.

Para ver las clasificaciones completas, visite: www.americashealthrankings.org.

A pesar del progreso, quedan desafíos importantes

Cuando se trata de mejorar la salud del país, aún resta mucho por hacer. La obesidad se ha estabilizado; sin embargo, debe seguir siendo una máxima prioridad, ya que el 27.6 por ciento de los adultos del país afirman ser obesos. Con tasas de inactividad física, consumo de tabaco y diabetes del 22.9 por ciento, 19.6 por ciento y 9.7 por ciento, respectivamente, aún se puede mejorar mucho en las medidas clave de salud.

“Me alienta el progreso que hemos hecho este año y espero que la estabilización que notamos en la obesidad de Estados Unidos sea un indicio de futuras mejoras”, expresó el Dr. Reed Tuckson, asesor médico sénior externo de United Health Foundation. “Sin duda debemos celebrar estos logros. Nos alientan a seguir identificando e implementando eficazmente las mejores prácticas en estas áreas así como en el manejo de la diabetes, las enfermedades cardíacas y otras condiciones de salud crónicas que afectan la salud y vitalidad de los estadounidenses”.

El Dr. Georges Benjamin, director ejecutivo de la American Public Health Association, comentó: “Todos los años, el informe America’s Health Rankings detalla, estado por estado, los éxitos y desafíos del país en materia de salud, detectando las áreas específicas en las que los ciudadanos y los estados por igual pueden concentrarse para continuar mejorando la salud de nuestra nación. Me complace ver el progreso que hemos logrado y espero que podamos seguir así”.

United Health Foundation llama a mantener el ímpetu

“United Health Foundation tiene el compromiso de seguir identificando estrategias para mejorar la salud estatal de forma mensurable y significativa”, comentó la Dra. Rhonda Randall, asesora sénior de United Health Foundation y jefa médica de UnitedHealthcare Retiree Solutions. “Espero que pronto podamos festejar las mejoras año tras año en la obesidad, y espero ver que el porcentaje de fumadores del país siga en descenso”.

“Quienes dedicamos nuestras carreras profesionales a la salud pública sabemos que no podemos mejorar lo que no podemos medir”, explicó el Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, presidente de Partnership for Prevention. “El informe America’s Health Rankings y las herramientas en línea nos muestran en qué aspectos hemos hecho grandes avances en la misión de promover una mejor salud y, lo más importante, en qué áreas nos queda trabajo por hacer”.

El informe America’s Health Rankings y sus herramientas —incluido el análisis no sólo de las poblaciones estatales, sino también de las subpoblaciones dentro de los estados— están diseñados para identificar oportunidades de salud en las comunidades así como enfoques multidisciplinarios y de múltiples colaboradores para aprovechar dichas oportunidades. A través de sus programas y subvenciones, United Health Foundation pone la mira en la salud de los Estados Unidos y, a su vez, promueve soluciones basadas en evidencia. Como parte de este compromiso, United Health Foundation se ha asociado con la Association of State and Territorial Health Officials y la National Business Coalition on Health para crear laboratorios de aprendizaje que identifiquen y promuevan las mejores prácticas e innovaciones en salud pública. Para conocer mejor America’s Health Rankings y para obtener información sobre cómo ayudar a mejorar la salud de la comunidad, visite www.americashealthrankings.org.

Acerca de America’s Health Rankings®

America’s Health Rankings es la evaluación integral anual de la salud del país estado por estado. Este informe es publicado conjuntamente por United Health Foundation, American Public Health Association y Partnership for Prevention.

Los datos del informe provienen de fuentes externas muy reconocidas, como los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC), la Asociación Médica Estadounidense (AMA), el FBI, el Proyecto Dartmouth Atlas, el Departamento de Educación y la Oficina del Censo de los Estados Unidos. El informe es revisado y supervisado por un Comité Asesor de Científicos, con miembros de destacadas instituciones académicas, agencias del gobierno y del sector privado.

America’s Health Rankings es el informe de mayor trayectoria de su tipo. Durante 24 años, el informe ha brindado un análisis de la salud nacional estado por estado al evaluar un conjunto de datos socioeconómicos, ambientales y de salud históricos e integrales para determinar puntos de referencia de salud nacionales y clasificaciones estatales. Además, emplea una metodología única, desarrollada y revisada anualmente por un Comité Asesor de Científicos integrado por académicos reconocidos de salud pública. Para obtener más información, visite www.americashealthrankings.org.

Acerca de United Health Foundation

Guiada por la pasión de ayudar a que las personas lleven vidas más saludables, United Health Foundation proporciona información útil para respaldar decisiones que lleven a mejores resultados de salud y comunidades más saludables. La Fundación también apoya actividades que amplían el acceso a los servicios de atención de la salud de calidad para quienes atraviesan situaciones difíciles y se asocia con otros para mejorar el bienestar de las comunidades. Desde que fue creada por UnitedHealth Group [NYSE: UNH] en 1999 como fundación privada sin fines de lucro, la Fundación ha invertido más de $210 millones para mejorar la salud y la atención de la salud. Para obtener más información, visite www.unitedhealthfoundation.org.

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[thebcscoop-blog]

Balsera Communications Named Finalist for PRWeek Awards 2014

Agency shortlisted for Multicultural Campaign of the Year

By Balsera Communications

MIAMI, Florida - December 5, 2013 – Balsera Communications, a leading U.S. Hispanic public affairs agency, has been named a finalist for PRWeek’s Multicultural Campaign of the Year by PRWeek for its innovative work with the National Hispanic Landscape Alliance (NHLA). The winners will be announced March 20, 2014 during the 15th annual PRWeek Awards in New York City.

This nomination gives credence to the exceptional work that Balsera Communications has come to be known for – mobilizing and empowering Hispanic audiences while simultaneously engaging policy makers and industry leaders.

“We are extremely pleased to be nominated as a finalist for this award,” said Balsera Communications President David Duckenfield. “At Balsera we pride ourselves on developing out-of-the-box ideas that translate into compelling campaigns.”

Since 1999, Balsera Communications has developed a reputation for being a forward-thinking agency that understands the multifaceted nature of the Hispanic market and its needs. Balsera has led Hispanic communications efforts for Fortune 100 companies and non-profits including UnitedHealthcare, Catholic Relief Services, the National Museum of the American Latino Commission, Obama 2008, and Vme Television, among others.

The PRWeek Awards recognize the best corporate, nonprofit, agency and education teams, and the work they produce. The awards will be handed out at the 2013 ceremony and will be determined by a panel of judges consisting of senior professionals from across agency, corporate, nonprofit, education and government ranks. For a complete list of the finalists, click here.

About Balsera Communications

Balsera Communications is an award-winning, boutique public affairs and public relations agency with expertise in U.S. Hispanic issues and messaging. Its team of experts provides full-service strategic communications to clients in the U.S. and around the world who are targeting the fast growing and dynamic U.S. Hispanic market. Their clients hail from a broad range of industries including Fortune 100 companies, non-profits, elected officials and government entities. Balsera Communications is based in Miami, Florida.

[thebcscoop-blog]

By NBC Latino

In an excerpt from an exclusive Vme interview, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton speaks to Vme’s Marian de la Fuente. Among the issues discussed was his agency’s 2010 directive urging prosecutorial discretion on deportations, as well as his view of whether immigration reform will take place. “I would say it’s 50-50,” he said, adding it’s the best chance he has seen in a long time.  Morton said the agency was shifting its resources on deportations of recent border crossers or those with criminal convictions.  ”There is no way ICE can remove 11 million people – this is impossible.”

[thebcscoop-blog]

Vme Television and ASPIRA Announce Partnership to Improve the Educational Development of U.S. Hispanics

  Programs will focus on youth, finance, business

development, health, and student retention

  By Balsera Communications

  MIAMI, Florida (August 15, 2013) Vme TV, the country’s first and only Spanish-language public network station, and ASPIRA, the nation’s leader in the educational development of Hispanic youth, announced today that they have joined forces to enhance Spanish-language educational programming in the United States. As part of this partnership, the organizations will work together to design, develop, and produce the content that will be broadcast on Vme Television and cross promoted by both organizations.

  The strategic alliance will allow ASPIRA and Vme to create programming for the Vme and Vme Kids television channels to elevate the educational development of Latino students and provide parents with resources to support their child’s educational future and improve their household finances in anticipation of higher education costs.

  “Vme is proud of its historical role as the nation’s Spanish public television network and its long-standing commitment of providing entertaining educational programming to the emerging U.S. Hispanic audience,” said Eligio Cedeño, CEO of Vme Television. “While Latino graduation rates in the U.S. are at an all-time high, we as a community have much more to achieve.  A partnership with ASPIRA is ideal for Vme and one that we are very proud of entering.”

  As leaders in educating and empowering the U.S. Hispanic population, ASPIRA and Vme TV seek to provide this growing demographic with the tools needed to have successful youth development, improve parent and family engagement with child education, increase literacy about entrepreneurship, business planning and finances, and encourage the retention of Latino students in schools.

  “ASPIRA is very proud to join forces with Vme to reach thousands of Latino young people and families through high quality educational programming based on ASPIRA’s highly successful programs,” said ASPIRA CEO Ronald Blackburn-Moreno. “We are very thrilled about the opportunities this partnership provides both organizations to attain our mission of ensuring the success of our youth and of our community. We look forward to a strong, lasting and productive relationship with Vme.”

  According to a recent study released by the Pew Hispanic Research Center, the Hispanic high school dropout rate is at an all-time low while Hispanic college enrollment is higher than ever, even surpassing that of whites. Nevertheless, Hispanics continue to fall behind when it comes to other higher education measures, including being less likely to be enrolled in college full time or to complete a Bachelor’s degree.

  “We believe that by providing educational tools on Vme’s nationwide television platform, we will dramatically increase our outreach efforts and secure our future with a highly educated Latino community in the United States,” said Cedeño.

  Under the partnership, Vme and ASPIRA will focus on designing and producing programs for television broadcasts and their digital platforms that will focus on:

  ·       Educational financing

·       Adult continuing education

·       Health and nutrition advice

·       Stay in school initiatives

·       Financial education

·       Entrepreneurship, business planning and development

·       Utilization of federal, state, and local grants and support opportunities for financial independence and small businesses 

·       Personal finances, management, and planning

       The organizations will design and develop these programs and, in conjunction with sponsors, will be produced for broadcast during the 2014 Vme broadcast year.

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  ABOUT VME TELEVISION

Vme (pronounced veh-meh), is the first national Spanish-language television network presented by public television stations. The 24-hour digital broadcast service is dedicated to entertain, educate and inspire families in Spanish with a contemporary mix of original productions, exclusive premieres, acquisitions, and popular public television programs specially adapted for American Latinos. Vme provides a clear programming alternative to mainstream Spanish-language media, and a unique uncluttered environment for corporations and organizations looking to connect with the national Hispanic community through sophisticated TV and web content, educational programs, and grassroots events.

  ABOUT THE ASPIRA ASSOCIATION

The ASPIRA Association is the largest national Latino organization in the country and the only one dedicated exclusively to the education of Latin youth. Founded in 1961, ASPIRA’s core program has been the ASPIRA Leadership Clubs in schools. In addition, ASPIRA provides a host of after-school programs including tutoring, mentoring, math and science enrichment programs, financial literacy, parental engagement and access and training in technology. Over the past ten years, ASPIRA has operated charter schools across the country and now has over 7,500 students in nine elementary, middle and high school charter schools. Over the past four decades, ASPIRA has been recognized as a leader in the education of Latino youth. Almost every Latino leader in government, business and the community in the states served by ASPIRA have been Aspirantes or have been affiliated with ASPIRA. At the national level, ASPIRA is a major voice and advocate for the education of Latino youth.

[thebcscoop-blog]

El Regreso al Colegio y las Vacunas: Inmunizarse No Es Un Privilegio

By Balsera Communications

Aprovechando que los niños estaránregresandopronto al colegio, agosto es el mes ideal para promover la vacunación y recordar lo importante que es mantenerse al día con su salud. Por esta razón, este mesha sido designado como el Mes Nacional del Reconocimiento de la Inmunización (NIAM, por sus siglas en inglés).Se puede hacermucho para prevenir las enfermedades infecciosas antes de que sus hijos regresen a las aulas y existen opciones para cada presupuesto.

Bajos records de inmunización en Estados Unidos          

De acuerdo a los Centros de Control y Prevención de Enfermedades  (CDC), los índices de inmunización de los niños en EEUU se mantienen por encima del 90 por ciento, pero en algunos lugares del país esta cifra ha ido disminuyendo por casi una década. Gracias a las vacunasmuchas enfermedades infantiles ya no son comunes. Sin embargo, los gérmenes que causan la mayoría de estas enfermedades no han desaparecido.

Los cientos de niños que no reciben la protección adecuada a esta edad contribuyen a los 60,000 adultos americanos que mueren anualmente por causa de enfermedades prevenibles. Por ejemplo, de acuerdo a los CDC, entre 3,000 y 49,000 personas mueren cada año por cause de la gripe desde el 1976 hasta el 2007. En lo que va del 2013, la influenza ha cobrado la vida de 29 niños alrededor del país.

Los hispanos se quedan atrás

Esta tendencia  noes igual para todo el mundo, sino que existen disparidades de acuerdo al grupo racial y el nivel socioeconómico de la población. Diversos reportes por la Oficina de Salud de las Minorías (OMH) indican que los hispanos reciben un menor número de vacunas que los blancos no hispanos.

Para los latinos, la inmunización es especialmente importante porque este grupo está más propenso a sufrir de condiciones pre-existentes como la diabetes, obesidad y enfermedades cardiovasculares que pueden empeorar otros males prevenibles como la gripe, infecciones de pulmón o de garganta.

Sin embargo, pareciera existir una relación entre las disparidades raciales y los recursos culturales y socioeconómicos de esta población. “Las razones por las que los latinos podríamos estar menos inclinados a vacunarnos tienen mucho que ver con que un gran número de hispanos enfrenta las barreras del lenguaje y tienen menos acceso al sistema de salud”, dijo el Dr. Roberto Madrid, Director Médico de UnitedHealthcare. “Otras razones pueden responder a la desinformación sobre los beneficios de las vacunas o simplemente a un desconocimiento de las  medidas preventivas.”

La inmunización y personas de la tercera edad

Es un mito común que la inmunización es importante sólo en las primeras etapas de la vida. De hecho, la mayoría de enfermedades prevenibles por vacuna ocurren entre los adultos en EEUU. Mantenerse al día con su salud requiere que las personas mayores también se vacunen, ya que son otra población con récords de baja inmunización.

De acuerdo a un reporte que salió a la luz este año enfocado en las personas de tercera edad, el America’sHealth Rankings SeniorReport, menos de la mitad de los adultos mayores de 65 años en EEUU están al día con un conjunto básico de servicios médicos preventivos como la vacunación y detección del cáncer.Entre las vacunas que recomienda el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos para la personas mayores están las de influenza, herpes, tétano, tos ferina y neumonía. 

El reto para los hispanos

Uno de los impedimentos para que las  minorías obtengan las vacunas necesarias para proteger a sus familias  es el costo.  Afortunadamente, existen recursos que ofrecen los servicios médicos necesarios libres de precio para las personas sin seguro o con seguros que no cubren ciertas vacunas. Uno de estos recursos es el Programa de Vacunación para Niños (VFC). En esta página puede encontrar información acerca de a dónde puede llevar a sus hijos a vacunarse este verano sin ningún costo y verificar que el médico que le atienda sea certificado: http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/especialesCDC/ProgramaVacunas/

¡Después de todo, un poco de prevención  vale más que un gran arrepentimiento!

[thebcscoop-blog]

Vme Television Names Balsera Communications Agency of Record

  By Hispanic PR Blog

  Balsera Communications has been named the agency of record by Vme Television, the first national Spanish-language public television network in the United States. Balsera will be leading public relations and public affairs strategies for Vme in the United States.

Balsera is known for its award winning campaigns for engaging the U.S. Hispanic market and has worked with a vast range of clients including NCLR, the UnitedHealth Foundation, the National Museum American Latino Commission (NMALC) and the Hispanic messaging for the Obama 2008 campaign. Additionally, the agency’s Managing Partner (Freddy Balsera) and President (David Duckenfield), served as surrogates for Spanish language media during the Obama 2012 campaign.

“Over the past ten years the U.S. Hispanic demographic has not only grown in numbers, but it has also become more sophisticated,” said President and Partner, David Duckenfield, Balsera Communications. “We believe Vme is uniquely positioned to provide this new, up and coming Hispanic market the unique and educational programming that it is craving while also catering to the bilingual lifestyle that they are now embracing.”

“We have never been more aggressive in our endeavors to enhance the value of Hispanics in professions and academia through our programming” said Eligio Cedeño, one of the new owners of Vme Media, Inc. “Our alliance with Balsera Communications is yet another example of how are working to strategically amplify our audience while maintaining the direction of the network.”

Currently, Vme is the fourth largest Spanish-language network in the U.S. and reaches over 75 percent of all U.S. Hispanic homes. It is the only Spanish language network that focuses on providing this growing demographic with thoughtful and educational, yet entertaining programming that enriches families and helps to improve their lives.

[thebcscoop-blog]

S.A.'s collective girth getting smaller

By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje

The adult obesity rate in San Antonio and Bexar County dropped from 35.1 percent to 28.5 percent from 2010 to 2012, which means around 70,000 residents no longer qualify as obese, according to Metro Health.

Mayor Julián Castro announced the results Wednesday of a survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and said San Antonio is now fitter than most of Texas, which has an adult obesity rate of 29.3 percent.

“People are getting more active and living healthier in San Antonio, whether it's walking, cycling or using our parks,” Castro said at a basketball court in Collins Gardens Park, nestled in a Southwest Side neighborhood.

“We now have concrete evidence that our investments are paying off and positively impacting the health of our families and the overall quality of life in San Antonio,” he said.

The obesity rate was derived from a CDC telephone survey of 1,500 city and county residents.

According to Metro Health, the percentage of local people who are overweight, though not obese, increased from 34 percent in 2010 to 36 percent two years later, bringing the combined obese and overweight total to 65 percent.

Castro credited the drop in the obesity rate to a host of community partners that banded together two years ago to deploy a $15.6 million federal obesity prevention grant awarded to Metro Health, the city's health department.

The wide-ranging collaborative includes city agencies and local schools and community-led efforts like bicycle programs and healthy-eating initiatives sponsored by local restaurants, as well as groups like the YMCA, which puts on Siclovia, when Broadway is closed to traffic and open for recreation.

Dr. Thomas Schlenker, head of Metro Health, said the survey found the greatest improvement among middle-class Hispanics who have some education beyond high school.

Together, Hispanics and African-Americans in San Antonio saw their adult obesity rate shrink from 40 percent to 29 percent. There was no significant change either way in the white population, he noted.

“Hispanics and blacks are particularly at risk of being obese, and there's been this sense of fatalism that it can never change,” he said. “People say, 'Maybe it's a cultural thing, or a genetic difference.' That's not the case, and this study shows that.”

The only cluster that showed no progress involved those over 65; that rate went up from 31.1 percent to 34.7 percent.

“Perhaps we've not paid enough attention” to seniors, he said.

Castro pointed to Cesar Canizalez, 17, as a role model for change. During his freshman year at Churchill High School, Canizalez struggled to keep up with the marching band because of his excess weight.

So he got motivated and shed 60 pounds over two years.

Now a junior, Canizalez told the assembled group about the pride he felt when he received a “Healthy Hero” award from his school last year.

Castro and others acknowledged that the key will be sustaining the improvement and building on it.

Residents are “still at risk of all the things that drag down the quality of life, like diabetes and stroke,” Castro said. “But this drop means more people are leading a healthier lifestyle, and more San Antonians have the opportunity to live out their golden years with a great quality of life.”

[thebcscoop-blog]

NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATES WOO LATINO VOTERS

From the AP - Claudia Torrens

Hispanics could make up nearly a quarter of potential voters in the city's mayoral election, and polls suggest their vote is still very much up for grabs.

"This is the great X-factor in this election," said Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio, among the candidates who have been making frequent forays into Latino neighborhoods, shaking hands with voters and often greeting them in Spanish.

"This is a community that is politically independent in the sense of being open minded, and a big, big piece of the vote," de Blasio said. "And we are making it very central to our strategy."

The latest poll that tracked Latino voters found them virtually split between two Democratic candidates, with 20 percent saying they would vote for former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner and 19 percent for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. De Blasio followed with 12 percent.

That NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll was taken last week after the latest sexting scandal involving Weiner. Another post-scandal poll, a Quinnipiac University survey that didn't break out Hispanics, had Quinn on top and Weiner falling to fourth place among Democrats.

Of the city's 2.4 million Latinos, half are citizens over 18, according to 2011 U.S. Census data. While the city's elections board does not track voter registrations by ethnicity, Hispanics are expected to have a significant impact on the November election.

"Even though many people are not eligible to vote because they are not citizens, or they are younger or poor and they do not get involved, the Latino community is so big in the city that even with all these obstacles that exclude Latinos from the electorate, Latinos represent a big bloc of voters," said Angelo Falcon, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy.

In the last mayoral election in 2009, former comptroller and current candidate Bill Thompson won the biggest share of the Latino vote — 55 percent, according to exit polls by Edison Research. Yet that was not enough to beat Michael Bloomberg, who received 43 percent of the Latino vote. Latinos made up about one-fifth of the electorate that year.

Candidates this year are frequently seen at events targeted to Latinos. Some attended the National Puerto Rican Day Parade that every June runs along Fifth Avenue. And some rushed to the podium to speak during a ceremony in May to name a portion of Broadway as Juan Rodriguez Way, in honor of a Dominican man who is thought to have been New York's first non-Indian settler.

Other candidates walk every week in Latino areas of Queens and the Bronx to greet voters. Some have met in private with the Hispanic Federation, an umbrella organization for Latino nonprofit agencies. And most were forced to reveal whether they eat "cuchifritos," Puerto Rican fried foods, during a recent debate.

Candidates also are publicizing their stances on issues that concern Latinos. Quinn has published a booklet, Nueva York 2014, which lists her accomplishments as City Council speaker and explains her positions on issues. She also uses the literature to propose that bus and trains announcements also be made in Spanish and that a scholarship be created for bilingual students who provide translation services for the city.

De Blasio, the city's public advocate, speaks Spanish and has proposed a universal city identification card for residents, including immigrants who live illegally in the U.S. He also has proposed allowing immigrants living illegally to apply for a driver's license.

Weiner, who resigned from Congress two years ago after a sexting scandal that resurfaced last week, has proposed a city health care system similar to Medicare that would include immigrants excluded from federal coverage.

Two Latinos are among more than a dozen candidates in the race. Erick Salgado is running as a Democrat, and Adolfo Carrion is running as an Independent. Carrion, a former Bronx borough president, is more well-known, but his campaign has picked up little traction. He said his Puerto Rican ancestry will help him attract Latino voters.

"Any Latino has an advantage with the Latino community simply because they become a rallying point for their dreams and aspirations," Carrion said.

Jorge Ayala, owner of La Fonda restaurant in Spanish Harlem, follows the campaign. He said he personally knows two of the candidates — Thompson and Carrion — but hasn't decided who gets his vote.

Victor Hernandez isn't fazed by the attention from candidates. He doesn't plan to vote — a tradition he started after casting his last ballot, for John Kennedy for president.

"There are too many candidates for mayor now. ... How many are there? Ten?" asked Hernandez, who is 70.

Lucia Gomez, who has been going through neighborhoods registering Latinos to vote, said candidates have made a lot of promises to Latinos. Voters should hold them accountable once they're in office, said Gomez, executive director of the nonprofit organization La Fuente, a group that works on immigrant and worker rights issues.

"I think we will see then if Latinos really have the power to accomplish something," she said.

[thebcscoop-blog]

Latina Bloggers Launch Program To Fight 'Summer Slide' With Reading Contests

By Meleena Loseke

Reading typically isn’t at the top of a kid’s summer to-do list, but one organization is trying to push against the literate-lazy summer wave.

Latinas For Latino Literature, an online initiative conceived by four Latina bloggers to promote Hispanic authors, has partnered with Google to create fun and engaging summer reading programs for people of all ages. The titles in the book list are mostly in English, but include some bilingual choices as well.

They created three different programs, for three different types of audiences: kids, young adults and reading groups. The program involves a contest, with projects and prizes for each audience.

The L4LL, as it is also called, was designed for kids ages 0-18 but with the whole family in mind. Children are encouraged to read a total of eight books and write reports throughout the 10 weeks of the program. "Parents are involved every step of the way,” said L4LL co-founder Viviana Hurtado. Involvement ranges from reading to babies, taking a 'reading pledge' and monitoring daily reading logs for the little ones.

“Technology allows us to take our content, to take our mission and magnify it.”

- Viviana Hurtado, Co-founder of L4LL

“When parents are involved by modeling and participating,” Hurtado said, “it maximizes the opportunity for educational success.”

L4LL has provided a recommended reading list, but Hurtado said that it is simply that: recommended. Children can read whatever they want to read, but the list is there to provide motivation. The list is divided by age as well as reading level.

 “My hope of course is that you get them reading, I don’t know, House on Mango Street today,” Hurtado said, “and tomorrow, you spark a love of reading, and they’re going to be hungry to read whatever they can get their hands on, whether it’s Shakespeare, whether it’s The Iliad or whether it’s Cervantes. The point is to get kids reading.”

The main purpose of the reading list, however, is to promote U.S.-Latino literature ― it is comprised 100 percent of works by U.S.-Latino authors. L4LL addresses the lack of this type of literature within the Latino community in order to create a better reading and learning experience for Latino children. According to Hurtado and a number of experts, when children see themselves in books, it creates a better connection and reading experience.

“We also know that during the summer, some kids obviously want to take a break from studying,” Hurtado said. “So how do you respect the rest that they need – the break that they need and want – but also keep them reading and learning so that you don’t hit what’s called the ‘summer slide.’”

Almost 500 families from the United States, a couple Latin American countries and even Germany have signed up for the little kids program and the number is growing, Hurtado said. 

Officially, families have until the day before the contest ends on August 12 to register, but in order to compete for the prize packs, backpacks stuffed with school necessities, families must register by July 4. The first 100 families to have read the eight books and done the book reports by August 12 will be eligible to win the prize packs.

Alternatively, the L4LL Young Adult Challenge is designed for kids ages 12-18. They also have to read eight books by August 12, but they are also given the task of doing a video book report. They are competing to win one of 20 tablets, seven of which are chromebooks.

The last division of competition is the L4LL Latino Children Summer Reading Program Group Challenge. The group challenge, explains Hurtado, was created to address the library book clubs and summer reading programs all across the country that wanted to join L4LL in summer challenges. 

They are competing to meet and chat with a famous Latina author/illustrator via a Google Hangout. Younger kids ages 4-8 will get a chance to talk with Puerto Rican award-winning author and illustrator Lulu Delacre, and older kids could chat with Margarita Engle, an award-winning Latina poet.

L4LL was founded in December 2012 in response to an article published by The New York Times that described the lack of Latino characters in children’s books.

The summer reading programs come on the heels of a few other initiatives since L4LL’s inception only half a year ago, which Hurtado described as “wildly successful.” They have hosted a couple of Twitter parties with Las Comadres and Junot Diaz, as well as a “Dia Blog Hop,” for which L4LL featured 20 Latina authors on 20 Latina blogs over the course of 20 days.

What sets L4LL’s reading programs apart from other summer reading initiatives are the facts that they involve the entire family, it’s nationwide, and everything is online. According to Hurtado, it is the “first ever online nationwide Latino children’s summer reading program.”

Technology is involved in almost all aspects of L4LL’s summer reading programs. Registration is online, families receive email newsletters, young adults must create video book reports, and computer tablets are offered as prizes.

“Technology is so important for L4LL,” Hurtado said, “because that’s where we are as bloggers and how we found each other as bloggers, but also because that’s where our community is.”

In order to better connect the old-fashioned literature with new, innovative technology and make reading a more fun experience, Hurtado said that it was a “no-brainer” to reach out to Google. The web search engine has hosted Google Hangouts for L4LL and will also provide some of the titles on the recommended reading lists as e-books. A YouTube channel is also being developed as an additional way to connect with their audience.

“Technology allows us to take our content, to take our mission and magnify it,” Hurtado said. “There’s just a lot of really terrific platforms that Google has that completely, organically, seamlessly syncs with us and gives us an opportunity to reach people even more.”

[thebcscoop-blog]

Goodbye Candy! All Junk Food Cut From Schools To New Rules

FOX News Latino

Kids looking to get a sweet treat at school will soon be out of luck.

School vending machines and cafeteria lines will no longer offer high-calorie sports drinks and candy bars — diet drinks, granola bars and other healthier items will be put in their place.

For the first time the Agriculture Department will make sure all foods sold in the nation's 100,000 schools are healthier by expanding fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits to almost everything.

That includes snacks sold around the school and foods on the "a la carte" line in cafeterias, which never have been regulated before. The new rules, proposed in February and made final this week, also would allow states to regulate student bake sales.

The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. The rules have the potential to transform what many children eat atschool.

While some schools already have made improvements in their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods. Current standards already regulate the nutritional content of free and low-cost school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government, but most lunchrooms also have the "a la carte" lines that sell other foods — often greasy foods like mozzarella sticks and nachos.

Under the rules, those lines could offer healthier pizzas, low-fat hamburgers, fruit cups or yogurt, among other foods that meet the standards.

One of the biggest changes under the rules will be a near-ban on high-calorie sports drinks, which many beverage companies added to school vending machines to replace high-calorie sodas that they pulled in response to criticism from the public health community.

The rule would only allow sales in high schools of sodas and sports drinks that contain 60 calories or less in a 12-ounce serving, banning the highest-calorie versions of those beverages.

Many companies already have developed low-calorie sports drinks — Gatorade's G2, for example — and many diet teas and diet sodas are also available for sale.

Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, carbonated water, 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, and low fat and fat-free milk, including nonfat flavored milks.

One principle of the new rules is not just to cut down on unhealthy foods but to increase the number of healthier foods sold. The standards encourage more whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.

"It's not enough for it to be low in problem nutrients, it also has to provide positive nutritional benefits," says Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest who has lobbied for thenew rules. "There has to be some food in the food."

The new rules are the latest in a long list of changes designed to make foods served in schools more healthful and accessible. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be served to hungry kids.

Last year's rules making main lunch fare more nutritious faced criticism from some conservatives, including some Republicans in Congress, who said the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat. Mindful of that backlash, the Agriculture Department left one of the more controversial parts of the rule, the regulation of in-school fundraisers like bake sales, up to the states.

The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.

The USDA so far has shown a willingness to work with schools to resolve complaints that some new requirements are hard to meet. Last year, for example, the government temporarily relaxed some limits on meats and grains in subsidized lunches after school nutritionists said they weren't working.

The food industry has been onboard with many of the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law three years ago.

Based on reporting by The Associated Press.

[thebcscoop-blog]

Rafael Correa’s defence of human rights full of contradictions

By John Paul Rathbone in London and Andres Schipani in Bogotá

Should Edward Snowden successfully find political asylum in Quito, he will find warmer weather than in Moscow, better food than in Havana and more security than in Caracas – three other locales mentioned as potential hideaways for the former US intelligence official now on the lam.

But in Quito, nestled in a high Andean valley under snow-capped volcanoes, Mr Snowden will also no doubt meet Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, a leftist strongman full of contradictions.

Mr Correa often berates the US – even though the Ecuadorean economy is pegged to the US dollar.

He is often linked to the region’s Hugo Chávez-Evo Morales-Daniel Ortega trio of muscular leftist leaders, although anyone who has met Mr Correa acknowledges he has a quick mind, and a solid training as an economist (he received his PhD in economics from the University of Illinois).

More significantly, Mr Correa has made the defence of human rights part of his international rallying cry – by, for example, offering WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy in London – even as he has curbed press freedoms at home with a new media bill, called a “gag law” by press freedom groups and opposition lawmakers.

The irony escapes no one – except perhaps for Mr Assange and Mr Correa himself. In an interview with the Financial Times in February, while Mr Correa was still aglow after winning presidential elections by a landslide, he described the Ecuadorean press (and not wholly without good reason) as “less a case of communication media like in the UK . . . and more a case of opposition media defending its own very particular interests”.

Nonetheless, one provision in the new bill allows Ecuador’s new and Orwellian-sounding “Council of Content Regulation” to sanction media outlets for not reporting news the government believes should be reported. Others allow for fines over content that the council finds critical or untrue (according to the council’s own definition).

“From the point of view of human rights, the attitude of the Ecuadorean government with Assange and now with Snowden does not survive the acid test,” said César Ricaurte, head of Fundamedios, a Quito-based watchdog. It is a “marketing exercise”.

Be that as it may, who or what is the market that Mr Correa is trying to convince?

First, there is his national audience – or at least an attempt to rhetorically silence his domestic opponents.

Second, there are Ecuador’s fellow members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, or Alba, a Cuban and Venezuelan-led group that likes little more than to tweak the nose of the US but has somewhat lost its compass since the death, this March, of its de facto leader, Hugo Chávez.

Mr Correa may now be trying to step into Chávez’s shoes. “One gets the impression from Mr Correa’s behaviour that sometimes he wants to out-Chávez Chávez,” said a Latin American diplomat.

Although Ecuador lacks the oil revenues that Venezuela used to buy influence around the region, it now has instead a loftier (and cheaper) cause with which to advance itself: human rights.

Preaching from that pulpit may come at a cost, however.

The Ecuadorean embassy in the US is lobbying Washington to keep alive a series of Andean trade preferences designed by the US in 2002 to foster economic development by providing alternatives to cocaine production.

Ecuador is now the only member of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, after Colombia and Peru negotiated free trade pacts with the US, and Washington expelled Bolivia in 2008 arguing it had failed to co-operate with the US on staunching the flow of illegal drugs. But the act is due to expire this summer.

And if comments on Monday by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, about how Russia might pay a price for allowing Mr Snowden safe passage also hold true for Ecuador, then APTDEA may not be renewed.

For Mr Correa, this could provide fodder for a David v Goliath type of narrative, although how successfully it will go down is another matter.

“It is ever less credible that a government that has shut and punished critical voices at home, is now erecting itself as a paladin of transparency and home of the free circulation of ideas,” said Mr Ricaurte.

[thebcscoop-blog]

Ecuador Does Not Deserve U.S. Trade Preferences

By: José R. Cárdenas

This week marked the one-year anniversary of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's finding refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to avoid questioning on sexual misconduct charges in Sweden. In an irony no doubt lost on the self-styled transparency champion, his Ecuadorean patron, President Rafael Correa, commemorated the occasion by ramming through his latest assault on the Ecuadorean media that criminalizes, among other journalistic activity, the very type of leaks for which Assange is best known.

Correa, whose tenure in power has been characterized as one of "widespread repression of the media, pre-empting private news broadcasts, enacting restrictive legal measures, smearing critics, and filing debilitating defamation lawsuits," has capped it off with a new restrictive communications law that has been widely condemned by NGOs and human rights organizations.

The Inter American Press Association called it "the most serious setback for freedom of the press and of expression in the recent history of Latin America." Human Rights Watch described it as "clear attempts to silence criticism." Even the U.S. State Department was compelled to weigh in with a statement of concern.

This is only the latest example of Correa's bullying and heavy-handed rule, and it comes right before the U.S. Congress and Barack Obama's administration must decide by the end of July whether to renew trade preferences for Ecuador under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), an issue I have written on before.

Now, the extent to which freedom of expression is honored in a country may not be an explicit criterion for renewal of ATPDEA benefits, but it certainly cannot be ignored. Unsurprisingly, however, the Correa government doesn't fare any better when considering the criteria on which renewal is based: counternarcotics cooperation and treatment of U.S. businesses.

As I have written, Ecuador's commitment to counternarcotics cooperation has been lackluster and minimalist. After a poor report on Ecuador in 2012, the State Department's 2013 international narcotics report"strongly encourages Ecuador to place a higher priority on the interdiction of illicit drugs, chemical precursors, eradication of coca and poppy, and destruction of cocaine labs." That is diplospeak for the fact that the Correa government places no priority on those activities.

The treatment of U.S. companies in Ecuador under Correa has hardly been stellar either. Several business and trade associations have already weighed in against or expressed reservations about ATPDEA renewal (summaries can be found here) due to Correa's sketchy commitment to rule of law. Others have brought claims against Ecuador at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Reviewing the entirety of the record, it is clear that the Correa government has made a mockery of U.S. attempts to build a mutually beneficial relationship that addresses U.S. concerns about narcotics trafficking while seeking to provide opportunities for Ecuadorean exporters in order to undercut the lure of illicit enterprises.

That is too bad. But it is time that the Rafael Correas of the world understand that they cannot have it both ways: You cannot grandly spurn U.S. interests for political effect on the one hand and then expect to receive concessions on the other. It's time these leaders learned there is a cost to their antagonistic behavior. Congress and the administration can start by sending such an unmistakable message and end undeserved trade concessions to Ecuador.

[thebcscoop-blog]

ADHD In Kids: Fewer Minority Children Diagnosed With The Disorder (STUDY)

By: Genevra Pittman

(Reuters Health) - Black and Hispanic children are half as likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as their white peers, according to a new study that followed U.S. kindergarteners through middle school.

"We're seeing that the disparities occur as early as kindergarten and then remain and continue until the end of eighth grade," said Paul Morgan, who led the study at Pennsylvania State University in University Park.

"It's a consistent pattern of what we're interpreting as comparative underdiagnosis for minority populations," he told Reuters Health.

That's a concern, Morgan said, because it means some kids who could benefit from treatment - including medication or talk therapy - and extra help in the classroom may be missing out.

The researchers also found that compared to white children with the condition, minority kids who were diagnosed with ADHD were less likely to be prescribed medications, which include the stimulants Vyvanse, Ritalin and Concerta.

They tracked 15,100 kids from the kindergarten class of 1998-1999 using regular parent surveys.

At each survey point - kindergarten and first, third, fifth and eighth grades - white children were most likely to have ADHD. All races followed a similar trend over time, with new diagnoses peaking around third grade.

By the spring of eighth grade, 7 percent of white kids had received an ADHD diagnosis, their parents reported. In comparison, 3 percent of black kids and just over 4 percent of Hispanic children had been diagnosed.

Factors such as a mother's age at birth and family income didn't explain those differences, nor did teacher reports of each child's behavior and learning, Morgan's team wrote on Monday in Pediatrics. Their study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"There just seems to be more wariness and concern in African American groups," both about being diagnosed with ADHD and the medications used to treat the condition, said Dr. Tanya Froehlich, an ADHD researcher at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

"A lot of people are very concerned about their child being labeled and their child being stigmatized both in the school and socially," Froehlich, who wasn't involved in the new research, told Reuters Health.

Morgan noted that children with ADHD are allowed certain adaptations and extra help in the classroom.

"If you've got certain groups of kids with a disorder who are not being picked up … they might not be accessing treatment that can help in terms of their school-based functioning," he said. That, in turn, can lead to poor self-esteem and acting out.

Untreated ADHD has also been linked to substance abuse, anxiety and depression as children grow older.

Talk therapy and parent training are options for families that don't want to use medication, Morgan said.

"For someone who truly has ADHD, there's so much that can be done to help that child and to help prevent some of these negative consequences," Froehlich said.

Morgan said evidence suggests minority children are exposed to more of the risk factors for ADHD, such as being born small. So if anything, researchers would expect them to be diagnosed with the disorder more often.

The new study can't prove the findings represent underdiagnosis of minorities, rather than overdiagnosis of white children, according to Froehlich. But if kids are having problems at school or at home and aren't seeing a doctor, that's a concern, she added.

"It's really important if parents feel their child might have a problem to get them evaluated by a trained medical professional," she said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/cxXOG Pediatrics, online June 24, 2013.

[thebcscoop-blog]

Mexican Roots for Majority of Latino Americans

Jim Avila & Serena Marshall

Mexican Latinos make up more than two thirds of all Latinos in the United States, according to a new Pew Hispanic report.

Of the 51.9 million Latinos living in the United States in 2011, more than 33.5 million trace their family back to Mexico.

The report looked at demographic data collected from the 2011 American Community Survey. The report also examined U.S. citizenship, education levels and median income among U.S. Hispanics.

Puerto Ricans make up the second largest group, accounting for 9.5 percent or about 5 million people.

Salvadoran, Cuban and Dominican come in next with 1.9 million, 1.8 million and 1.5 million, respectively – although Salvadoran and Cuban numbers have been statistically equal and alternating yearly.

Mexican Latinos have always represented the largest segment of the U.S. Latino population.

“One of the things we’ve done for the first time is shown the long view of the share of Mexican Americans,” Mark Lopez, associate director for the Pew Hispanic Center, told ABC News. “Since 1860, the community has diversified. In 1860, they were 81 percent, but today’s numbers reflects the diversification of immigration in the U.S. … There are Hispanics from every part of Latin America and Spain in the U.S.”

The report also found Mexican-Americans to be of the lowest average age (25), while Cuban Americans were the oldest, at 40.

When looking solely at foreign born Latinos in the United States, as of the 2011 data, Venezuelans and Peruvians accounted for the majority at 69 percent and 68 percent, respectively. Those two groups ranked 13th and 11th when looking at the total Latino population.

“South Americans are some of the more recent arrivals to the U.S., and the people who are coming from South America are more likely to have college degrees, more likely to be in high-paying occupations, and their family income numbers are higher,” Lopez said.

Argentineans had the highest average household income in 2011, at $55,000 and Hondurans the lowest at $31,000 also giving Hondurans the highest poverty rate among U.S. Hispanics, at 33 percent. Mexicans averaged $38,000, with a poverty rate of 28 percent.

The poverty rate for Hispanics is higher than it is for the general U.S. population. According to the 2011 census, the nation’s median income was $50,054 and poverty rate was 15 percent.

“Part of that is the level of education,” Lopez said. “On the whole, the Hispanic community is less likely to hold a college degree than the general U.S. population. … There is still a substantial difference in educational attainment.”

But Lopez said many Mexican-Americans have not “quite entered adulthood” yet, and recent years have seen a surge in the number going to college.

“Hispanics are now the largest minority group on college campuses,” Lopez said. “Looking forward, its likely we are going to see the number with a college degree rise, but that is still going to be a decade or more down the road because we are just starting to see this increase among Hispanics in college enrollments.”

Just over 50 percent of Venezuelans, the report found, have a college degree, while Guatemalans and Salvadorans were the least likely (7 percent).

Together, United States Latinos trace their heritage to more than 20 Spanish-speaking nations worldwide, but 14 countries represented the majority of U.S. Latinos.

As of the 2013 census, the Hispanic population is the nation’s largest and fastest growing immigrant group. It stood at 53 million in 2012, making up 17 percent of the U.S. population.

[thebcscoop-blog]

Immigrants Today Learning English Much Faster Than Europeans Did: Study

By: Ryan Rainey

Today's immigrants are learning English more quickly than the throngs of German-Americans who migrated to the United States more than 100 years ago, a new study concludes.

The report from the Journal of Transnational American Studies, first noted by Fusion, analyzes communities of German-Americans who lived in Wisconsin in the 1910s. Politicians have for years painted a mirror image of the study's findings, insisting that the prevalence of the Spanish language in American life is irregular and dangerous.

Researchers James Salmon of the University of Wisconsin and Miranda Wilkerson of Columbia University selected early German-speaking communities in Wisconsin and compared them to today's immigrant communities.

"[Today's rhetoric] seeks to portray non-English speakers in the U.S. as profoundly marginal along demographic, economic, geographic and social parameters," the study says. "In fact, many communities, including prototypical 'good old immigrants,' lived here for decades -- and in fact generations -- without learning English, like the Wisconsin German communities treated here."

Thirteen percent of residents exclusively spoke German in Hutisford, a small southern Wisconsin town. As late as the early 1930s, teachers in the region "could hardly speak English or spoke it grudgingly."

Today's immigrants are outperforming the communities Salmon and Wilkerson studied. According to Fusion, 92 percent of second generation Latinos living in the U.S. speak English "very well," and nearly all third-generation Latinos speak the language.

The findings come as Republicans call for an English proficiency requirement to be included in comprehensive immigration reform. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) proposed an amendment last week that would toughen requirements for prospective legal permanent residents to "demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language." The "gang of eight" bill already has such a requirement, but Rubio proposed cutting out a loophole for those enrolled in English courses.

Spanish's prominence in American culture is a relatively new phenomenon--The Miami Herald only established its own Spanish-language daily, El Nuevo Herald, in 1976. But German once held a similarly dominant role as a second language; Joseph Pulitzer, for whom the famous prize is named, began his writing career working for a German paper in St. Louis. It was one among hundreds of German-language papers across the United States.

[thebcscoop-blog]

Sergio Romo Ice Cream With Pro-Immigration Reform Message To Be Launched

Huffington Post Latino Voices

The immigration debate has inspired an ice cream flavor.

Three Twins Ice Cream announced this month on its Facebook page that it will begin producing a “Sergio Romo Mexican Chocolate” flavor, inspired by the “I just look illegal” shirt that the Mexican-American pitcher wore during the Giants’ World Series victory parade in October.

The mock up of the label for the ice cream features an image of Romo wearing a baseball cap, flanked by two white faces wearing sombreros. Below it appears a baseball with the colors and emblem of the Mexican flag and the slogan “it only tastes illegal.”

The company appeared to pass on making a pun using Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement’s acronym “ICE.”

Three Twins founder Neal Gottlieb elaborated on the concept behind the Romo ice cream in comments published by Haighteration:

The inspiration of course came from the shirt that he wore at the World Series parade, which got a lot of people talking and thinking about immigration policy in the United States. Mexicans and Mexican Americans play such an important role in Major League Baseball and Three Twins Ice Cream that it seemed like a natural fit. While some claim to be offended by the logo and artwork, we think that it is topical, quirky and fun.

The company put out a call on its Facebook page in December saying it wanted to team up with Romo to raise money for immigration reform.

Romo, a first-generation American raised by immigrants from Mexico, has emerged as one a prominent pro-immigrant voice in sports, mocking anti-immigrant legislation with his “I just look illegal shirt” and getting behind the pro-reform “Dream Is Now” campaign.

“Sergio Romo’s Mexican Chocolate” ice cream hits stores in September, the company said on its Facebook page.