Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón

In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.

 

But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.

As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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Engineering

SWE’s Second Virtual Event in Mexico: Fostering Women’s Professional Development

“SWE Mexico held a “Strengthening the Network” virtual event series which took place on 14, 21, and 28 Sept. 2023, consisting of two-hour sessions each day. A testament to the growth of networking in Mexico, there were 577 registrants from industries all over Latin America.

Five companies participated in the event: Cummins, PepsiCo, John Deere, Honeywell, and ABB. Two leading universities, La Salle University and UACJ (Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez), also participated. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about SWE, create connections, acquire significant knowledge and share experiences across various STEM fields with fellow Spanish-speaking participants…”

https://alltogether.swe.org/2024/01/swe-mexico-virtual-event/

Thunderbird at ASU announces regional Center of Excellence in Mexico

“November 29, 2023

In a move that signaled a significant step forward in its commitment to fostering innovation and global, digital leadership in Latin America, the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, in partnership with Cintana Education and the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG), has announced a new regional Center of Excellence in Mexico…”

https://news.asu.edu/20231128-thunderbird-asu-announces-regional-center-excellence-mexico-advancing-access-education

Graduating Electrical and Computer Engineering Major Receives the USC Viterbi Community Impact Award

“…Now, Rodriguez, an electrical and computer engineering major in the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is being recognized for his community-driven leadership. He’s the 2023 recipient of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Community Impact Award, which recognizes the student who has provided the highest quality service to the Viterbi School and gone above and beyond their area of responsibility within a student organization…”

https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2023/05/graduating-electrical-and-computer-engineering-major-receives-the-usc-viterbi-community-impact-award/

Tesla to build new factory in Mexico

“Tesla is planning to build a new factory in Mexico, joining other carmakers bulking up their presence south of the US border.Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the plant for the electric car firm would be in Monterrey, which is about a three-hour drive from Texas…”

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64803467

TUROMAS is back at Glasstech, the professional Glass Technology EXPO in Mexico City

“…Glasstech Mexico is the perfect platform where the glass, door and window industries communicate and meet with suppliers from all over the world and Latin American buyers…”

https://www.glassonweb.com/news/turomas-back-glasstech-professional-glass-technology-expo-mexico-city

Hispanics in Leadership: Meet Two Students at the Helm of CU Denver’s Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Chapte

“From the classroom to the workforce, student organizations at CU Denver help guide people into careers where they can make a difference. And the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) is no exception: In November, 11 CU Denver students travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina to participate in the organization’s national conference—and two even walked away with job offers. Here, we sat down with some members of SHPE’s leadership team to learn more about how the group helps develop leadership skills, builds a sense of belonging, and allows them to engage more with their campus…”

https://news.ucdenver.edu/hispanics-in-leadership-meet-two-students-at-the-helm-of-cu-denvers-society-of-hispanic-professional-engineers-chapter/

Mexican marketing company sets out to take over the American construction market

‘Taking advantage of high-quality work at low prices has been a privilege reserved just to the big corporations until now thanks to this innovative and adventurous company that proposes a simple but effective solution similar to the one big corporations have found. Many factories have optimized their profits since many years ago by moving their operations to other countries with highly qualified workers and lower costs of living. Some of the most common industries that have adopted this model are maquiladoras, customer service and software development.

Cliknow knows it’s time to expand the catalog of services Mexico can export to the world. “Mexicans, besides being hard workers, are highly talented, smart, and eager to grow and to create better opportunities for themselves and their people” says Cesar Silva, director of Cliknow Marketing n’Stuff…”

https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/mexican-marketing-company-sets-out-to-take-over-the-american-construction-market-with-high-quality-professionals-at-less-than-half-the-price

Attention Georgia Companies: How NOT to Recruit a Foreign Workforce

“…A recent case involved Mexican engineers who were brought to Georgia on non-immigrant NAFTA Professional (TN) visas by a staffing agency promising them high-level technical jobs. They wound up doing manual labor at parts suppliers for Kia and Hyundai. They could not leave their roles, however, because their legal permission to work in the United States depended on the TN visas sponsored by that employer...

https://www.globalatlanta.com/attention-georgia-companies-how-not-to-recruit-a-foreign-workforce/

 

Celebrating National Hispanic American Heritage Month: A Q&A with Seven Transportation Leaders

“…What began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week expanded in 1988 to become National Hispanic American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Spain. In honor of this important month, seven Latinx leaders share how they are making a mark on the industry and their perspectives on the importance of National Hispanic American Heritage Month…”

https://www.railwayage.com/freight/class-i/celebrating-national-hispanic-american-heritage-month-a-qa-with-seven-transportation-leaders/

 

WWC Americas: Nearly 300 passionate Wi-Fi professionals converge on Cancún, Mexico

“…The event above all reflected the huge amount of innovation and not least business opportunities being developed across the industry right now. We’re particularly delighted that so many Mexican and other Latin American delegates decided to join the event as well as for the support of many of our new Latin American sponsors such as SamaWiFi, Datawifi, Arara, SitWiFi, i-Free, and not least our Brazilian partners Mambo. Broad participation from Latin America is a testament to the importance of Wi-Fi across the region including a thriving ecosystem of vendors and service providers…”

https://wifinowglobal.com/news-and-blog/wwc-americas-nearly-300-passionate-wi-fi-professionals-converge-on-cancun-mexico/

 

Q&A l “I Wanted to Create the School I Would Have Liked to Attend” – Christian Patiño, Coderhouse

“Latin American talent is becoming quite appealing. Increasingly more companies are looking to hire Argentinian, Colombian or Mexican professionals. This is partly because regional unicorns are in need of qualified talent, and partly because tech hubs like the U.S. are facing a talent shortage that LatAm workers are willing and able to fill…”

https://contxto.com/en/startups/qa-l-i-wanted-to-create-the-school-i-would-have-liked-to-attend-christian-patino-coderhouse/

How to Fix Big Tech’s Diversity Problem

“After years of big promises and little change, Silicon Valley experienced a tiny breakthrough in raising diversity among its workforce, where women, Black, and Hispanic workers have long been underrepresented. On Jan. 12, Twitter said that it had boosted the proportion of Black employees at its U.S. locations to 9.4 percent from 6.9 percent in only one year and the share of Hispanic workers to 8.0 percent from 5.5 percent. Even if the company hasn’t revealed the seniority levels and functional areas where the hiring took place, the numbers attest to substantial changes, especially considering the lack of progress on diversity at other tech companies. How did it pull it off? Can others do the same? And can Twitter do even better? The answer is yes to all…”

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/30/big-tech-diversity-recruiting-silicon-valley/

Proteum Energy and Istmo Energy Sign MOU For Production of Low Cost, Clean Hydrogen in the Permian Basin

“…”Istmo Energy is pleased to have the option to leverage our onsite de-ethanizers to produce hydrogen from ethane for our hydrotreaters, while at the same time offer additional clean hydrogen sales in the Permian region,” said Alex Gutierrez, Principal and Co-Founder of Istmo Energy…”

https://www.yahoo.com/now/proteum-energy-istmo-energy-sign-120000729.html

Silicon Valley pledged to become more diverse. A year later, has anything changed?

“Minorities remain underrepresented

Category Tech Overall Difference
Black 5.0% 15.3%
−10.3
Hispanic and Indigenous 11.1% 18.6%
−7.5
White 58.0% 59.3%
−1.3
Asian 25.1% 6.8%

 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/Silicon-Valley-pledged-to-become-more-diverse-A-16414178.php

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tidjane Thiam’s Spac pursues $1.5bn Latin American fintech target

“…The special purpose acquisition company of former Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam is in talks to acquire two companies in Latin America, as part of plans to capitalise on rapid growth in the region’s fintech sector.

Mexican fintech group Credijusto and continental corporate data provider CIAL Dun & Bradstreet would be merged and listed in New York later this year under the plans, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times…”

https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/tidjane-thiams-spac-pursues-1-5bn-latin-american-fintech-target-20210806

 

By the numbers: Who’s going to chemistry and chemical engineering graduate school in the US

“…The average annual enrollment increases were higher across the board for chemical engineering, with an overall percent change of 3.6% in first-time enrollment and 3.2% in total enrollment. First-time enrollment of Hispanic students was particularly high, at an average annual increase of 17.3%, followed by first-time enrollment of Asian and Pacific Islander students at 6.0%…”

https://cen.acs.org/education/graduate-education/numbers-s-chemistry-chemical-engineering/97/i30

 

Cordoba Corporation Welcomes Jacqueline L. Reynoso as Director of Programs and Policy

“I’m delighted to have Jacqueline join our team,” stated Cordoba Corporation Founder & CEO George L. Pla. “She brings tremendous public policy experience and an in depth understanding of diverse community needs and binational dynamics, which will assist our sectors in developing well planned, innovative, and equitable project solutions.”..”

https://www.streetinsider.com/Business+Wire/Cordoba+Corporation+Welcomes+Jacqueline+L.+Reynoso+as+Director+of+Programs+and+Policy/17637221.html

 

Skilled Workers and Professionals Keep Visa Rights under New USMCA Trade Deal

“After months of negotiations following US President Donald Trump’s pledge to scrap NAFTA, the 24 year old trade agreement between Canada, the USA and Mexico, a new deal was reached minutes before a midnight deadline on September 30, 2018. Despite a number of changes, the new agreement – rechristened the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – leaves NAFTA provisions for work visas untouched. The retention of the visa program is significant for workers in over 60 professional categories, and for employers across the continent, who will continue to have access to labor from all three countries..”

https://www.canadianimmigration.net/news-articles/skilled-workers-and-professionals-keep-visa-rights-under-new-usmca-trade-deal/

 

President Trump signs executive order temporarily suspending work visas for H-1B holders

“…“Whether his administration realizes it or not, they creating a significant handicap for US innovation. Our most innovative and impactful portfolio companies and many of their employees started as H-1b holders,” wrote Stonly Baptiste, the co-founder of technology investment fund, Urban.us. “We literally couldn’t have built our portfolio in an environment without H-1B. And we’re not even an immigrant focused fund.”

Also on the chopping block are H-2B visas, which are used to let short-term seasonal workers in landscaping and non-farm jobs into the country, J-1 jobs for short-term workers like camp counselors and au pairs and L-1 visas for corporate company transfers…”

https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/22/president-trump-reportedly-will-sign-executive-order-temporarily-suspending-work-visas-for-h-1b-holders/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJGWczsqQ6cPZBPOhMSVlffn9Cjfxruj1unFrgZSyR9BhbrzKk2SFyywlm2WUNJUQPTPkyQBMVw7aEb1zSJKAdNV7rkE24kic8pfLUivtBDJUJI9SK3DYUV9igkyLpOprdncbPbK7-suVbvI_VQVDWYfe75J33wjVKnUoAf4m8r8

 

 

Astronaut José M. Hernández

“NASA engineer José M. Hernández wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American had been chosen to travel into space. “I was hoeing a row of sugar beets in a field near Stockton, Calif., and I heard on my transistor radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps,” says Hernandez, who was a senior in high school at the time. “I was already interested in science and engineering,” Hernandez remembers, “but that was the moment I said, ‘I want to fly in space.’ And that’s something I’ve been striving for each day since then.” That hard work paid off when was selected to begin training as a mission specialist as part of the 2004 astronaut candidate class…”
Link to article


  

Poem
“…And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while…”

T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Mexican American Proarchive Annual Report for 2022

The American Community Survey is an annual survey administered by the federal government to help local officials and community leaders and businesses understand the changes that take place in their communities. It includes percentages of our population’s graduate school attainment and the employment of Mexican Americans in various occupations.  These important factors influence the allocation of federal resources. Mexican American Proarchives uses the data provided by the American Community Survey to better understand how Mexican Americans compare to the general population.

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