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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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…”
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Volunteers step in to keep asylum seekers healthy on border
“TIJUANA, Mexico — When the Honduran boy complained of a toothache, Dr. Psyche Calderon asked the obvious question: “When did the pain start?”
The answer broke her heart.”When La Mara broke all my teeth and killed all my family,” the 14-year-old said.
He said little else about the attack by the infamous Central American gang, La Mara Salvatrucha. Just: “I was the only one that survived.”
Calderon is not a therapist, nor a lawyer or a dentist. She is a general practitioner volunteering her time to provide care for Central Americans stuck in Mexico while they try to obtain asylum in the United States. There was little she could do for this teenager…”
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House Praised For Passing Bill Giving Undocumented Farm Workers Pathway To Citizenship: ‘Bipartisanship Lives’
“House representatives are receiving praise for passing a bipartisan bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for thousands of undocumented farm workers in the U.S.
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed in a 260-165 vote, gaining support from 34 Republicans and succeeding where other efforts to see a significant number of undocumented immigrants have failed.
While the bill could be shot down in the Republican-controlled Senate, immigration advocates have hailed its success among House Republicans as a positive sign…”
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Updated U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement maintains NAFTA’s labour mobility rules
“The rules for professional work visas will remain unchanged under Canada’s new free trade deal with the United States and Mexico.
The three countries approved updates to the agreement’s original text on Tuesday, December 10, paving the way for its ratification.
Under the new agreement, the chapter that deals with temporary entry for business persons and professionals, Chapter 16, remains essentially unchanged from the original North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
Chapter 16 allows employers in Canada, the United States and Mexico to access professional labour from all three countries…”
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Chicago group shows Hispanic medical students a path to medicine
“Growing up in Miami, Florida, Pilar Ortega, MD, had a Latino doctor and grew up in a community that included her family that emigrated from Spain and neighbors from Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Central America.
Advocacy in Action
It wasn’t until she was in college—and then even more so in medical school and residency—that she learned how unusual her situation had been and how acute the shortage of Hispanic physicians and health professionals is in the rest of the country.
While Hispanics make up the largest minority group in the U.S. with between 17% and 20% of the total population, they make up only about 5% of the physician workforce…”
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American farms recruit Mexican veterinarians for jobs as animal scientists — but the real work is milking cows and cleaning pens for low pay
“Leslie Ortiz had just graduated when a recruiter arrived at her Mexico City university looking for veterinarians to work on an Idaho dairy farm.
It appeared to be an opportunity to gain experience, learn English, pay down credit card debt from her time as a student and even start to save.
The offer came with a visa — one issued through a special program for professionals from Mexico and Canada who are needed for high-skilled jobs in the U.S.
When Ortiz, then 26, learned she got the job — an animal scientist at Funk Dairy — she was thrilled. To pay for her flight to Idaho, she borrowed $150 from family and pawned her jewelry, including a gold chainlet with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe she received on her 15th birthday…”
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Agent of Change, Adela Sloss Vento by Cynthia E. Orozco
“… Sister Irma, a professional Spanish-language translator ix … me with historical
research, identifying contacts and thereby suggesting her support of young
Chicana professionals..
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Dr. Fernando Mendoza MD Los Alamitos, CA
“…Dr. Fernando Mendoza is a cardiologist in Los Alamitos, California and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Los Alamitos Medical Center and MemorialCare Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. He received his medical degree from David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and has been in practice between 11-20 years. Dr. Mendoza accepts several types of health insurance, listed below. He also speaks multiple languages, including Spanish…”
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La Nochebuena Opera Outreach Program
“…Ever wonder how the poinsettia became a symbol of the holiday season? Composer, librettist and pianist Evan Mack answers that question in “Lucinda y las Flores de la Nochebuena,” a children’s opera based on a Mexican folk tale.
Students from Hollister, La Patera and Isla Vista elementary schools will have an opportunity to hear the story when the Department of Music’s Opera Outreach Program performs the children’s opera in Karl Geiringer Hall, Tuesday through Sunday, Dec. 3-6…”
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Chicana/o studies department votes on adding Central American Studies to name
“…e Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies voted Nov. 15 to expand its name to include Central American studies.
Expanding the name had been a subject of conversation for years among faculty and students, said department chair Eric Avila. The faculty of the newly named César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies voted overwhelming in favor of the expansion, with 15 votes for, one against, and one abstention.
“I do not see this vote as a victory for one group of people, but rather for our entire department, which retains its roots in Chicana/o student activism, but adapts to a changing set of social, political, and demographic circumstances,” said Avila in a department-wide email sent Monday. “It is also a victory for UCLA, which continues to strive towards full equity, diversity and inclusion.”…”
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Helping Hands Destination College Advising Corps program puts recent college graduates to work as advisers in underserved high schools
“…Who better to guide aspiring college students on their path toward higher education than someone who has recently made that journey himself?
Consider Javier Evangelista. Growing up a first-generation Mexican American in Boyle Heights, a low-income neighborhood in Los Angeles, he had a rocky transition to college, he said, because he hadn’t yet learned “the importance of developing yourself.”…”
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Graduate enrollment, as a share of UC’s total undergraduate and graduate enrollment, has remained relatively steady since 2000.
“…With 21 percent graduate enrollment in 2018, including health science students, UC was lower than the average for non-UC AAU1 public institutions, at 27 percent, and the average for AAU private institutions, at 55 percent.
In fall 2018, the proportion of academic doctoral students varied across UC’s general campuses, from seven percent at Merced and Santa Cruz to 13 percent at Berkeley. At San Francisco, an exclusively graduate health-sciences campus, academic doctoral students made up 27 percent of fall 2018 enrollments. Since 2008, the share of academic doctoral students has declined at most campuses due to more rapid growth in the undergraduate, master’s, and professional populations.
UC awards 20 percent of California’s graduate academic master’s degrees, 62 percent of its academic doctoral degrees, and 21 percent of its graduate professional practice degrees…”
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Student’s short film champions putting self first over societal pressures
“Nicole Corona Diaz said she doesn’t think it’s ever too late for someone to change their career path.
Filmed over the weekend, the fourth-year film student’s untitled 12-minute short film tells the story of a rising college senior who suddenly decides not to take the LSAT despite having prepared her entire academic career for it. The film explores the main character Nicole’s stress as she juggles notions of success while struggling to provide for her mother and sister. She said she wants viewers to sympathize with Nicole, who ultimately learns to put herself first. Although they share the same name, Corona Diaz said Nicole is not necessarily based on herself…”
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UC admits all-time record number of freshmen, transfer students
“…The composition of the freshman class is similar to that of last year. Chicano/Latino students increased slightly as a proportion of admitted students from 33 percent to 34 percent, while Asian American students remained the largest ethnic group of admitted students at 35 percent. The proportion of white students stayed flat at 22 percent. The proportion of African American students also stayed flat at 5 percent, while American Indian students remained at 0.5 percent…”
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California top draw for fewer foreign students
“…California remains the top U.S. destination for foreign students, who primarily come from China and India, with enrollment dipping slightly in the 2018-19 school year for the first time in at least a decade, according to a survey released Monday.
Nationally, new enrollments of international students declined for the third year in a row although overall numbers are at a record high of nearly 1.1 million, according to a survey of 2,800 U.S. colleges and universities released by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. State Department…”
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Jenny S. Martinez
“Jenny S. Martinez is the Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and Dean of Stanford Law School and the law school’s 14th dean. Professor Martinez is a leading expert on international law and constitutional law, including comparative constitutional law. She is the author of The Slave Trade and the Origins of International Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2012) and numerous articles in leading academic journals. She teaches courses on constitutional law, civil procedure, international law, and international business transactions. She is a Senior Fellow (by courtesy) of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a faculty affiliate of Stanford’s Center on International Security and Cooperation and Stanford’s Center on Democracy Development and the Rule of Law…”
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Student reaches for stars while supporting family with personal business
“The stars aligned when Mariella Solano first got the idea of owning an astrology-themed jewelry business.
The second-year political science student launched her jewelry business, Soluna Jewelry Co., on Instagram last month to help pay for her college expenses and has already garnered over 100 sales. Although Solano loves jewelry, she said she mainly sees her business as a way to help her family.
“My parents are both undocumented. It’s hard for them to get jobs,” Solano said. “That leads into why I tried to become self-reliant, so they don’t have to worry about providing for me too.” ‘
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Regina Romero winner in Tucson mayoral race
“…Romero will be Tucson’s first female and first Latina mayor.
The Democrat won 55.7 percent of the vote in initial results, handily beating independent candidate Ed Ackerley with 39.69 percent and Green Party candidate Mike Cease with 3.9 percent…”
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France A. Córdova
“…The Honorable France A. Córdova is an astrophysicist and the 14th director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Córdova was nominated to this position by the President of the United States in 2013 and subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate. NSF is a $8.1B independent federal agency; it is the only government agency charged with advancing all fields of scientific discovery, technological innovation, and STEM education…”
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Postelection survey headed by UCLA professors receives $1 million grant
“…Edward Vargas, another co-principal investigator and assistant professor in the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University, overlooks the Latin American population data in the CMPS. Vargas said he hopes to make academia more inclusive to first-generation scholars and scholars of color with the CMPS.
“I want to be a support and I want to help propel and uplift other folks who are coming, and to bring folks along to make academia more inclusive,” Vargas said…”
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