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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Science

Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists

MAES was founded in Los Angeles in 1974 to increase the number of Mexican Americans and other Hispanics in the technical and scientific fields.

The idea to establish a professional society for Mexican American engineers originated with Robert Von Hatten, an aerospace electronics engineer with TRW Defense Space Systems in Redondo Beach, California. Mr. Von Hatten had for several years served as volunteer for programs directed at combating the alarming number of high school dropouts. He envisioned a national organization that would serve as a source for role models, address of the needs of its members, and become a resource for industry
Link to article

Cilantro: A Natural Water Purifier?

Cilantro — the spicy ingredient common to many fiery Mexican and Southeast Asian foods — may offer a natural, inexpensive new way to purifying drink water, new research shows.

In a presentation at an American Chemical Society meeting Indianapolis this week, scientists from Ivy Tech Community College and the Universidad Politécnica de Francisco I. Madero in Hidalgo said laboratory studies have determined the herb — also known as coriander and Thai parsley — has significant “biosorbent” properties that allow it to effectively remove lead and other potentially toxic heavy metals from contaminated water.
Link to article

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, BODY FAT, AND ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION IN MEXICAN AMERICAN MALE ADOLESCENTS

EJ Winokur – 2012
Page 1. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, BODY FAT, AND ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION IN MEXICAN
AMERICAN MALE ADOLESCENTS by … prepared by Elizabeth J. Winokur entitled Physical Activity,
Body Fat, and Endothelial Function in Mexican American Male Adolescents …
Link to dissertation

Viewing globalization in transnational, Mexican American Spaces

GAM Esparza
… Nine primary diary keepers – including one second and one third generation Mexican-American
(born in the US) – lived by themselves. … His professional background is in journalism, which he
practiced for 13 years in different news outlets in Mexico, including Siglo 21 in his …
Link to Article

RESULTS OF THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY FOR 2011: a comparison of the results for the years 2010 and 2011 contrasting the total population of the United States and Mexican American professionals

By HUMBERTO (TITO) GUTIERREZ
Edited by Corrie Cripps

Mexican American women have been making slow but steady gains in business, science and art management jobs over the past few years, according to statistics from the 2011 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, Mexican American professionals continue to be underrepresented among the total U.S. professional population. This brief identifies areas of interest in the 2011 American Community Survey to Mexican American professionals.

Note: The statistics in this brief refer to the population who reported themselves as Mexican Americans on the American Community Survey.

According to the Survey, the total population of the U.S. is 311,591,919.

The Mexican American population is 33,557,922, roughly 10.8% of the total U.S. population.

College and/or Graduate School Enrollment

  • 28.3% of the total population was enrolled in college or graduate school in 2010. In 2011, this number increased to 28.7%.
  • 16.8% of the Mexican American population was enrolled in college or graduate school in 2010. In 2011, this number increased to 17.6%.

Charts: Total population enrolled in college and/or graduate school, Total U.S. population vs. Total Mexican American population

Enrollment in college and-or graduate school - U.S. Population vs. Mexican American

Educational Attainment:

  • 17.7% of the total population earned bachelor degrees in 2010. In 2011, this number increased to 17.9%.
  • 6.7% of the Mexican American population earned bachelor degrees in 2010. In 2011, this number increased to 6.9%.
  • 10.4% of the total population earned graduate and professional degrees in 2010. In 2011, this number increased to 10.6%.
  • 2.6% of the Mexican American population earned graduate and professional degrees in 2010, and this percentage remained the same in 2011.

Table: Educational attainment, bachelor degrees or higher

Note: In the following chart, each statistic stands for itself, i.e. do not add the male percentage to the female percentage to get a total.

Persons with a bachelor’s degree or higher are those who have received a bachelor’s degree from a college or university, or a master’s, professional, or doctorate degree.

  2010 2011
  Total Population Mexican American Total Population Mexican American
Graduate or professional degree 10.4% 2.6% 10.6% 2.6%
Bachelor’s degree or higher 28.3% 16.8% 28.7% 17.6%
Males with bachelor’s degree or higher 28.5% 8.4% 28.7% 8.6%
Females with bachelor’s degree or higher 27.9% 10.4% 28.3% 10.6%

 

OCCUPATIONS

Note: this data in this section includes only persons 25 years of age and older. The percentages are obtained by dividing the counts of graduates by the total number of persons 25 years old and over.

Occupations: Female employed civilians, age 25 and older:

  • 39.4% of the total population of women in 2011 were employed in management, business, science, and arts occupations. Mexican American women represent 22.1% of the Mexican Americans employed in management, business, science, and arts occupations.
  • Between 2007 and 2011, there has been a 1.7% increase (20.4% to 22.1%) in the number of Mexican American women employed in management professional and related occupations. In this area, the female general population figure has increased from 37.9% in 2007 to 39.5% in 2011, a 1.6% increase.

Occupations: Male employed civilians, age 25 and older:

  • Between 2007 and 2011, there has been a 1.7% increase in the number of Mexican-American males in management and professional occupations.

Table: Occupations, Civilian employed population, age 25 and older

  2010 2011
  Total Population Mexican American Total Population Mexican American
Management, business, science, and arts occupations 35.9% 16.2% 36.0% 16.4%
Males in management, business, science, and arts occupations 32.8% 12.4% 32.7% 12.5%
Females in management, business, science and arts occupations 39.4% 21.7% 39.5% 22.1%

Industry: Civilian employed population 16 years and older:

  • 10.6% of the general population was employed in the professional, scientific, management, administrative and waste management services in 2010. In 2011, this number only increased by .1% to 10.7%.
  • 10.1% of Mexican Americans were employed in the professional, scientific, management, administrative and waste management services in 2010. In 2011, this percentage remained the same.

Public Administration:

  • In 2010, the total population was 5.2% in public administration and 3.5% for Mexican Americans.
  • In 2011, the total population was 5.1% in public administration and 3.4% for Mexican Americans. As with the Industry statistics, there was virtually no change from 2010 to 2011 in this area.

 

SUMMARY

Comparison of the 2010 and 2011 ratios of professionals in the general population and in the Mexican American population shows little change. In general, graduate and professional degrees among the total population are more than triple when compared with Mexican Americans who have earned graduate or professional degrees. On the bright side, there is at least one area where the ratio is almost equal; women have, again, gained ground in business, science and art management.

Reference Documents from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

Mother-Child Dyadic Synchrony and its Association with Children’s Socio-Emotional Competence in Mexican American Families

P Velez-Gomez – 2012
… Page 11. Texas Tech University, Paulina Velez-Gomez, August 2012 4 with only a small
percentage that has achieved a college level education and professional occupations (Martinez,
2001) Taking into account the growing rates of Mexican American families in the …
Link to thesis

Mexican-American Experiences of Vocational Training and Adult Learning after a Layoff Event in San Antonio, Texas

DP Mena, GN McLean
… Given the dearth of literature on Mexican-American displaced workers, it is essential to find
successful interventions that assist this group of … HRD professionals will directly benefit from this
study for this knowledge will minimize emotional impact and prepare employees by …
Link to article-slow in loading

Mexican Americans and Environmental Justice Change and Continuity in American Politics

B Marquez – Latino Urbanism: The Politics of Planning, Policy, and …, 2012
Some Mexican American environmental justice organizations are now a mainstay in local politics
As Rhodes (2003) observed, the EPA is still “dominated, regardless of the par- ty in power in
the White House, by professionals who come from a culture that is wanting in sensitivity

Link to chapter

Cardiovascular reactivity during stressful speaking tasks in Mexican American Women: effects of language use and interaction partner ethnicity

JJ MacKenzie, TW Smith, BN Uchino – Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2012
… Two Caucasian and two Mexican–American women served as video-recorded part-
ners. … Measures Questionnaires that were not available initially in Spanish were forward
and back translated by professional bilingual translators. …
Link to abstract

The Mexican American Health Paradox: The Collective Influence of Sociocultural Factors on Hispanic Health Outcomes

MP George – Student Pulse, 2012
… professional behavior for lack of interest or when a physician, unfamiliar with Hispanic patients,
perceives Hispanics to be superstitious, present-oriented, or uninterested in preventive exams”
(p. 487). As a result of this disconnect between doctors and their Mexican American …
Link to article

Experience of Mexican-American Elders with Diabetes: A Phenomenological Study

EP Haltiwanger – Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 2012
… Complicating matters is the fact that health professionals may not feel comfortable
dealing with the psychosocial issues. … (2007) found that levels of distress were higher
than clinical depression in Mexican-American adults age 18–65.
Link to abstract

Cultural Adaptation of a Cognitive Behavior Therapy Guided Self-Help Program for Mexican American Women With Binge Eating Disorders

M Shea, F Cachelin, L Uribe, RH Striegel… – Journal of Counseling & …, 2012
… Mexican American women who suffer from binge-eating-related disorders often report wanting
help for their eating problems, yet they rarely seek professional treatment because of personal
and institutional barriers (Cachelin & Striegel-Moore, 2006). …
Link to abstract

Thomson Reuters Recognizes Leading Mexican Researchers for Their Contributions to Science and Innovation

Reuters
Research in Science and Social Sciences/Arts & Humanities further progress in food technology, health and psychology MEXICO CITY, MEXICO, March 16, 2012 – The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters recognized the most highly cited
Link to article

Conference helps UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON’S MEXICAN AMERICAN ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS become stronger chapter

The Venture
… where five members from the Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists chapter at the University of Houston had the exciting opportunity to compete against other chapters across the nation. What seemed to be a professional networking opportunity …
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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