November 2019
Volume 15 No. 12
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Our
15th
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Our
Anniversary 2004-2019
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
El Sol Latino is a Puerto Ricanowned monthly publication. It is the longest-running, Spanish/English bilingual newspaper printed in Western Massachusetts.
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Editorial / Editorial
contents
2 Editorial / Editorial Celebrating our 15th year!
Celebrating our 15th year! With this edition, we celebrate our 15th anniversary. El Sol Latino, a Puerto Rican-owned monthly publication, has come a long way – our first edition was printed in 2004 at Star Press in Holyoke. In 2019, we are now the longest-running, Spanish/English bilingual newspaper printed in Western Massachusetts. As a different kind of newspaper we have maintained our commitment to publishing and bringing news and stories on important issues for the Latinx community, especially Puerto Rican, to the forefront. Our focus on stories not always covered in depth by other media outlets have included the campaign for the release of ex-political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, and the long standing political, economic and fiscal crisis that had been affecting Puerto Rico prior to the disastrous hurricanes Irma and María that hit the island in 2017. The resulting humanitarian crisis and the increased migration to the mainland highlighted the islands colonial status. Throughout the years, El Sol Latino has published news and articles on the topic of US colonialism
and its relationship to the island’s current economic nightmare. In a multicultural society, and particularly in a region where that minority is the majority in two of our cities (Holyoke and Springfield), we believe that having various points of view when presenting news and stories is essential. As we move forward, we will continue to adhere to our initial commitment to engage in this social justice journalism. Our work would not have been possible without the valuable support and contribution of our team members. Three important collaborators have been instrumental in helping us reach our goals: our talented graphic artist, Tennessee Media Design, has been an essential part of this journey since the beginning; the multi-faceted artist Gaddier Rosario has designed several of our most iconic front pages, and Cathleen Robinson has written our book reviews since our first editions. We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Cathleen for her work and to wish her a quick recovery and good health.
Cita del Mes/ Quote of the Month
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” MARCUS MOSIAH GARVEY Jr., was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association.
Foto del Mes/Photo of the Month
Reconocimiento a Blanca Osorio-Castillo El pasado 6 de octubre de 2019, en una ceremonia celebrada en el Valentine Hall de Amherst College, Blanca Osorio-Castillo recibió el Roger L. Wallace Excellence in Teaching Award. El premio honra a una maestra sobresaliente de escuela elemental de Amherst o Pelham y celebra la carrera profesional de Roger Wallace quien se retiró luego de 39 años como maestro. Blanca, natural de Colombia, actualmente es maestra de ELL en la escuela Crocker Farm. Este es su 10º año trabajado en las escuelas públicas de Amherst.
3 Portada / Front Page La Migración Puertorriqueña sigue en Aumento tras María 4 A Third of Movers From Puerto Rico to the Mainland United States Relocated to Florida in 2018 5 One Year After Hurricane María, Childhood Poverty Hits All-Time High in Puerto Rico 6 Publican Nuevo Estudio sobre Muertes Ocasionadas por María 7 Opinión / Opinion Understanding development and poverty alleviation 8 Organización de Madres exige Acción contra Armas de Fuegos 9 Does Latinidad include multiracials? 10 Libros / Books When the Sky Fell
Medios / Media El CPI en Nueva York 11 Educación / Education Bilingual Education in Puerto Rico: An Interview with Dr. Kevin S. Carroll 12 S TCC, Commerce form partnership for early college initiative 13 Universidad de Puerto Rico entre Las Mejores instituciones de Latinoamérica 14 Salud / Health Baystate Health and Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni Announce Infant Safe Sleep Initiative Personalized Nutrition 15 Deportes / Sports Repiten los Legends – Campeones 2019
Founded in 2004
n
Volume 15, No. 12 n November 2019
Editor Manuel Frau Ramos manuelfrau@gmail.com 413-320-3826 Assistant Editor Ingrid Estrany-Frau Managing Editor Diosdado López Art Director Tennessee Media Design Business Address El Sol Latino P.O Box 572 Amherst, MA 01004-0572
Editorial Policy
El Sol Latino acepta colaboraciones tanto en español como en inglés. Nos comprometemos a examinarlas, pero no necesariamente a publicarlas. Nos reservamos el derecho de editar los textos y hacer correcciones por razones de espacio y/o estilo. Las colaboraciones pueden ser enviadas a nuestra dirección postal o a través de correo electrónico a: info@elsollatino.net. El Sol Latino welcomes submissions in either English or Spanish. We consider and review all submissions but reserve the right to not publish them. We reserve the right to edit texts and make corrections for reasons of space and/or style. Submissions may be sent to our postal address or via electronic mail to: info@elsollatino.net. El Sol Latino is published monthly by Coquí Media Group. El Sol Latino es publicado mensualmente por Coquí Media Group, P.O Box 572, Amherst, MA 01004-0572.
Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino November 2019
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La Migración Puertorriqueña sigue en Aumento tras María NEW YORK, NY | CENTRO: THE CENTER FOR PUERTO RICAN STUDIES | Septiembre 27, 2019 - Los residentes de Puerto Rico continuaron abandonando el territorio estadounidense a gran volumen durante el año 2018. Se estima que 133,000 personas que residían en Puerto Rico en el año 2017, residían en uno de los cincuenta estados de los Estado Unidos y el Distrito de Columbia en 2018, de acuerdo a datos expedidos por la Oficina del Censo de los Estados Unidos. Con este continuo éxodo de personas de Puerto Rico, la población de la isla continúa decreciendo, como ha ocurrido desde el inicio de la crisis económica en el año 2006. La Oficina del Censo estima la población de la isla en menos de 3.2 millones de personas en 2018, un descenso de un 4 por ciento en comparación al año anterior. “El nivel de emigración de la isla supera por mucho cualquier otro ocurrido en algún otro momento de la historia de Puerto Rico, declaró Edwin Meléndez, director del Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños y profesor de asuntos urbanos y planificación de Hunter College. “El huracán María ha magnificado las tendencias existentes antes de que la tormenta azotara a la isla. Sus efectos no auguran nada bueno para el futuro de la isla,” añadió Meléndez. Por otro lado, y en contraste al descenso poblacional de Puerto Rico, la población puertorriqueña en los EE.UU. continúa aumentando. Durante el mismo lapso de un año, los puertorriqueños en los EE.UU. aumentaron en un 3.6 por ciento, de 5.5 millones and 5.8 millones. Esta tasa de
crecimiento poblacional es superior a la tasa de crecimiento de la población de los Estados Unidos en general (0.4%), la población negra, no hispana (0.4%), la población hispana en general (1.3%), y la población blanca, no hispana (-0.1%). La emigración de la isla es el fenómeno que propulsa este crecimiento poblacional, que conduce a que los puertorriqueños se vayan asentando en todas las regiones del país. El sur de los Estados Unidos continúa siendo la región del país preferida por las personas recién llegadas de Puerto Rico, así como la de puertorriqueños procedentes de otros estados de los EE.UU. El crecimiento de puertorriqueños en esta región sureña fue de 7 porciento entre 2017 y 2018. La Florida en especial continúa siendo de gran atractivo para puertorriqueños procedentes de Puerto Rico y de otros estados. La Florida vió un aumento de la población puertorriqueña de 5 por ciento, a igual que Tejas (16%) y Arizona (39%). Estados en los que se han radicado los puertorriqueños tradicionalmente, como Pennsylvania y New Jersey, también han reflejado un aumento en su población puertorriqueña. Por otra parte, algunos de los principales estados en los que tradicionalmente se han radicado los puertorriqueños, como New York y Massachusetts, han visto sus números de puertorriqueños decaer del 2017 al 2018. “El descenso de la población puertorriqueña de estos estados de asentamiento tradicional es lo que propulsa la dispersión de la población puertorriqueña a través de todo el país,” indicó el Dr. Meléndez.
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino November 2019
A Third of Movers From Puerto Rico to the Mainland United States Relocated to Florida in 2018 by BRIAN GLASSMAN Economist - Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division US CENSUS Bureau Originally posted on Census.gov/America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers | September 26, 2019 A year following Hurricane Maria, both the population and poverty rate declined in Puerto Rico. These findings released today come from the 2017 and 2018 American Community Surveys (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Surveys (PRCS). The number of people living in Puerto Rico decreased by 142,000 (4.4%) from 3,337,000 in 2017 to 3,195,000 in 2018. The number of movers from the territory to the mainland United States increased by more than a third in 2018. About 133,500 people moved, up 36.9% from 97,500 movers the year before. More than half moved to the South and more than a quarter moved to the Northeast. Their destinations across the United States shifted from 2017 with higher growth rates in the West and South than in the Northeast or Midwest.
Poverty in Puerto Rico The poverty rate in Puerto Rico decreased by 1.3 percentage points, from 44.4% in 2017 to 43.1% in 2018. State Destinations More people moved from Puerto Rico to Florida, Indiana, New York, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington in 2018 than in the prior year. Figure 2 shows states with at least 2,000 people who moved from Puerto Rico in 2017 and 2018, along with states that had a significant change in the number of people moving from Puerto Rico.
However, poverty in Puerto Rico is still much higher than the U.S. national rate of 13.1% and is more than double the poverty rate of 19.7% in Mississippi, which had among the highest state poverty rates in 2018. Figure 3 provides some historical perspective on the poverty rate in Puerto Rico.
One-third (33.5%) of all Puerto Ricans who moved to the mainland United States in 2018 moved to Florida. Popular destinations in previous years, Michigan and Georgia, experienced a decline in the number of Puerto Ricans moving there. How do we know where people moving from Puerto Rico settled? The ACS asks respondents whether they lived in the same residence 1 year ago. For respondents who moved within the previous year, the address of their previous residence is collected. Information about current and previous residence locations are coupled to produce a domestic migration flow.
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While the 2018 rate is a decrease from the 2017 estimate, it is not statistically different from the 2016 estimate. Use caution when making year-to-year comparisons. Here’s why: • The 2017 estimate was based on only nine months of data since data collection was suspended from October to December 2017 following continued on page 8
Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino November 2019
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One Year After Hurricane María, Childhood Poverty Hits All-Time High in Puerto Rico WASHINGTON, DC | INSTITUTO DEL DESARROLLO DE LA JUVENTUD (IDJ) | September 18, 2019 –Prior to hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico had the highest level of childhood poverty in the nation at 57 percent. A new study finds that increased economic hardship and uncertainty, combined with inadequate access to health and education, threatens the ability of children – already traumatized by the hurricane – to thrive. Economic precarity will also hinder the island’s ability to recover for the foreseeable future. A new study commissioned by the Youth Development Institute of Puerto Rico finds that, several months after the hurricane swept through the island, Puerto Rico’s poorest children are living in conditions not seen in the United States in over half a century.
much needed economic boost, making work pay, and helping them get back on their feet. This is a common-sense policy that has bipartisan support, is good for kids, and promotes work in an island where poverty and the lack of opportunities is pushing people to leave,” said Dr. Maria Enchautegui, Economist and Acting Dean of the Department of Economics, University of Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras. The findings were based on interviews of more than 700 families throughout the island during the months of July, August, and September of this year. The study is not yet final but authors of the study were compelled to release preliminary findings to sound the alarm about the conditions faced by the poorest children of Puerto Rico. Instituto del Desarrollo de la Juventud (IDJ) is a nonprofit organization working to advance public policies at the federal and local level to improve the lives of children and youth in Puerto Rico, with a focus on the 56% of children in Puerto Rico who live in poverty. IDJ’s work includes collection and dissemination of data; development of research-driven public policy recommendations; and advocacy work that is informed by both data and the voices of the people IDJ represents. IDJ is the only organization focused on policy and advocacy around children’s issues in Puerto Rico. Learn more at: www.juventudpr.org
“This study shows that families with children, who were facing significant challenges before the hurricane, are facing even more bleak conditions today. This type of economic insecurity is what has led to families leaving in droves over the last decade, and what will continue to drive it if comprehensive policies are not put into place immediately” said Anitza Cox, Director of Analysis and Social Policy, Estudios Técnicos. The findings along with recommendations to address the urgent situation were presented during an event co-sponsored by Congresswoman Jenniffer González Colón (R-PR) and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and feature a panel of social policy experts today on Capitol Hill. After the hurricane, one-third of households had reduced monthly income due to loss of employment and fewer work hours. This loss of income disproportionately impacted low-income families. According to the study, as a result of the economic impact of the hurricane, low-income families in Puerto Rico had difficulty accessing the most basic needs, including paying utilities (40%), purchasing food (38%), buying clothing (24%) and securing school materials for children’s education (21%). “Our initial findings indicate that Puerto Rico’s poorest families will not have the financial resources to recover. Not addressing the needs of the vulnerable household will have negative repercussions not only on the individual children who live in them but also for the long-term economic recovery of the Island,” said Amanda Rivera, Executive Director of the Youth Development Institute. This issue of poverty combined with a rapidly shrinking population of children – Puerto Rico’s child population was reduced by 35% between 2007 and 2017 – already poses a threat to Puerto Rico’s economic development. The Youth Development Institute is calling for measures like the extension of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for families of 1 and 2 children in Puerto Rico, which would provide direct relief to working for low-income families. The CTC “will provide working low-income families in Puerto Rico with a
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino November 2019
Publican Nuevo Estudio sobre Muertes Ocasionadas por María por MARIAM LUDIM ROSA VÉLEZ | mariam.ludim@upr.edu MAYAQÜEZ, PR | Prensa RUM | 16 de agosto de 2019 - La revista arbitrada Statistics in Medicine, de la prestigiosa casa editorial John Wiley & Sons Ltd, publicó, recientemente, la investigación de dos catedráticos del Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM), quienes estimaron que las muertes asociadas al Huracán María, fluctúan entre 1,069 a 1,568. Los doctores Roberto Rivera Santiago y Wolfgang A. Rolke, catedráticos de Estadísticas en el Colegio de Administración de Empresas, y el Departamento Ciencias Matemáticas, respectivamente, han desarrollado dos métodos para estimar decesos relacionados con fenómenos naturales. “En muchos lugares, los patrones de mortalidad en la población tienen un comportamiento predecible. Por ejemplo, en Puerto Rico el número de personas que mueren por día se mantiene relativamente constante en todos los meses; excepto diciembre y enero, cuando la cifra es mayor. Según este hecho, desarrollamos dos métodos para estimar decesos debido a un desastre natural. El primero, simplemente compara las muertes totales antes de un desastre natural, versus las que ocurren luego de una catástrofe para determinar el exceso, y atribuirlo al desastre. El método es sencillo y no requiere peritaje. En diciembre de 2017, lo utilizamos para estimar que en las primeras seis semanas, luego del azote del huracán María, entre 605 y 1039 personas fallecieron debido al evento atmosférico. Ese resultado se publicó en la revista Significance en febrero de 2018, siendo así uno de los primeros estimados científicos de las muertes debido al huracán María”, explicó Rivera Santiago.
“Entendemos que nuestros resultados están más cerca a la realidad. Hemos colocado nuestros datos y códigos disponibles a la comunidad científica. Los resultados científicos implican que muchas personas fallecieron indirectamente debido al ciclón María. Por ejemplo, es posible que personas que sufrían de diabetes, fallecieron al no poder mantener su insulina refrigerada, o al no poder usar sus máquinas de oxígeno. Pero no se ha cuantificado un aumento de muertes, según causas específicas. Nuestra metodología nos permite incorporarlas. Actualmente, un estudiante graduado evalúa los excesos de muertes, según esas determinantes”, puntualizó. Destacó que los estimados de otros estudios como, por ejemplo, Harvard University y George Washington University se hicieron de manera indirecta, según muertes certificadas y sin considerar si una examinación forénsica determinó que se debió al evento atmosférico. “A consecuencia de esto, es crucial reconocer el margen de error en el estimado. Por dicha razón, los resultados siempre deben ser presentados a través de un intervalo, y no solo un número exacto. De ahí, es que surge nuestra preferencia en proveer un intervalo de muertes del huracán María, en vez de un número exacto”, enfatizó. Según opinó, la limitación del estudio de Harvard, que estimó 4,645 muertes, es que utilizó una muestra que resultó en un margen de error grandísimo para su estimado. “Los autores incluyeron en su artículo un intervalo entre 800 a 8,000 que murieron debido al huracán María. Sin embargo, esta parte no se reseñó”, indicó el catedrático de Estadísticas. Mientras, según expresó, los resultados de George Washington University, que estiman las muertes en 2,675, sufren de dos errores. “El primero surge de los datos de viajeros que ellos utilizaron para estimar desplazamiento poblacional. Como los mismos autores reconocen en el material suplementario, eso ocasionó que su estimado aumentara un 10 por ciento. El segundo error es metodológico y se detecta justo de los resultados que ellos comparten en su artículo. Y es que estimaron muertes por el huracán María como la diferencia entre las muertes totales y lo que ellos predecían, según su modelo. No obstante, su modelo estaba prediciendo muertes demasiado bajas para diciembre, enero, y febrero. De tal manera, que pudo resultar en estimar unas 1,000 muertes de más. Dichas predicciones no pueden ser explicadas por el error en los datos, por tanto es metodológico”, aseveró.
Agregó que el segundo método es más sofisticado porque permite incorporar patrones de tiempo en las muertes, cambios poblacionales, y hasta estimar la duración del efecto en fallecimientos por el desastre natural. “Este método requiere de datos históricos de defunciones diarias, que no estuvieron disponibles hasta el verano de 2018, luego de que un juez ordenó que el Gobierno compartiera dicha información. Este proceso nos permitió encontrar evidencia de que el huracán María causó entre 1,069 a 1,568 muertes del 20 de septiembre hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2017 “, afirmó. A juicio de los investigadores, los métodos adoptados por ellos, con relación a otros estudios, son los que más se acercan a un estimado real.
Los investigadores se sienten muy honrados de que su estudio fuese publicado en Statistics in Medicine, renombrada revista en el ámbito científico y académico. “El cambio climático ha aumentado el interés en desastres naturales. El estimar a tiempo real el exceso de muertes debido a un evento como una ola de calor, o un huracán podría salvar vidas al servir como herramienta para el desarrollo de estrategias de manejo de la emergencia”, subrayó. “Por último, el problema que hemos atendido sirve de ejemplo de cómo podemos tomar decisiones basadas en datos. En estos momentos de incertidumbre en Puerto Rico, es fundamental que adoptemos dicho paradigma para la toma de decisiones pertinentes en nuestra Isla del Encanto”, concluyó Rivera Santiago.
Opinión / Opinion
El Sol Latino November 2019
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Understanding development and poverty alleviation by MIGUEL ARCE and WALTER MULLIN
DR. WALTER MULLIN, Professor of Social Work and MIGUEL ARCE, Associate Professor of Social Work at Springfield College
The Nobel Prizes were initiated in 1901. Alfred Nobel, probably history’s most famous prize-giver, wanted his awards to have an altruistic influence on human endeavor by recognizing those who have brought the “greatest benefit to mankind”. The emphasis was and still is on humanity. There are numerous Nobel Laureates who have won the prestigious Nobel Prize in recognition of academic, cultural or scientific advances. There are Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and the well-known Peace Prize. In 1968, Sweden’s central bank established the Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences through the Royal Swedish Academy in memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded according to the same principles as for the Nobel Prizes that have been awarded since 1901. This year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Science was awarded to three individuals for their research on the most cost-effective ways to fight poverty. The Laureates are from Massachusetts’ Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Royal Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences to Drs. Michael Kremer, Abhijit Banerjee, and Esther Duflo “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”. Global poverty impact 3.4 billon people across the globe who grapple daily to meet their most basic needs. The Economist indicates “The most important question in economics is also the hardest: why do some countries stay poor while others grow rich”. Working together, Doctors Kremer, Banerjee and Duflo joined forces to use reliable and valid research methods, informed by scientific evidence, to uncover underlying factors that lift people out of poverty. They focused their initial work on poverty in Kenya and India; both countries with high rates of poverty. They called their approach “developmental economics” to connect with the efforts in those countries to spend money on “developing” and assisting those people who live in poverty. Kramer, Banerjee, and Duflo’s work connects with several questions including: Are the efforts to assist people living in poverty effective in making
a difference in the daily lives of people in poverty? Do certain governmental programs and policies have a stronger effect than others? What motivates people in poverty to be willing to utilize the programs intended to benefit themselves? Does spending money on a program bring the desired result? To answer these questions, Kramer, Banerjee, and Duflo focused on government policies and programs in education, health care, and financial credit among others. They compared the benefits of taking different approaches to the same problem. They decided that a policy or program would be effective if there were improvements in the daily lives of those in poverty. Kramer, Banerjee, and Duflo’s work can be best understood with an example. Following simple logic, it appears to make sense that children will perform better in school when they have textbooks and other learning tools available. It also is common wisdom that achieving a good education is one way to escape poverty. In order to test if spending money on textbooks and other learning tools makes a difference, Kramer, Banerjee, and Duflo decided to compare the results of making more textbooks available, using flipcharts as a teaching tool, addressing student health needs, offering meals or giving financial rewards to teachers who help students perform better on school tests. They took a large number of schools that needed considerable support and randomly divided them into different groups. The schools all received extra resources but in different forms and at different times. After their research, it was clear that the financial reward to teachers had the greatest impact. In all their work, Kramer, Banerjee, and Duflo became aware that policies and programs can only reach their target goals when people access them. For example, it makes sense to vaccinate children against malaria when a person lives in an area with a high incidence of it. In spite of this, many parents in these areas do not access these vaccinations even when they are free and accessible. To understand this, Kramer, Banerjee, and Duflo decided to study the effect of offering incentives to people and found that offering a tangible reward improved the rates of vaccination, and therefore, the health of the community as a whole. Based on this, they conclude that sustainable improvements require an understanding of human motivation and the tangible benefits that drive human behavior. Global poverty remains a massive challenge. In just two decades, their new experiment-based approach has transformed development economics, which is now a flourishing field of research. There is a straight line from research to policy. New policies to alleviate poverty can use the results about research methods to establish effective programs. That is, sustainable improvements require understanding why people make decisions with a focus on whether an intervention achieves its desired effect. Drs. Michael Kremer, Abhijit Banerjee, and Esther Duflo are transforming the world through development economics. Their field studies are combating global poverty. They analyze the determinants of poverty and channels of poverty alleviations. By bringing the theory of incentives closer to direct applicability, the three Economic Laureates have profoundly impacted hundreds of nongovernmental organizations and millions of people. This guest opinion is one in a series on living in poverty. DR. WALTER MULLIN (wmullin@springfieldcollege.edu), Professor of Social Work and MIGUEL ARCE (marce@springfieldcollege.edu), Associate Professor of Social Work at Springfield College.
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Opinión / Opinion
El Sol Latino November 2019
Organización de Madres exige Acción contra Armas de Fuegos by DORIS MADSEN traducción por El Sol Latino La violencia doméstica ataca a todas la comunidades en los Estados Unidos sin importar edad, género, etnicidad o clase social. De acuerdo a Everytown for Gun Safety, mas de tres de cinco homicidios a mujeres hispanas son cometidos por sus parejas. El tener acceso a armas de fuego aumenta la posibilidad de que la pareja abusadora mate a la víctima femenina. En Massachusetts somos afortunados de tener un proyecto de ley Red Flag titulado el Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) (Orden de Protección en caso de Riesgo Extremo). ERPO se firmó en ley en 2018. Bajo la ley, la familia de una persona o miembro del hogar puede presentar una petición para removerle un arma de fuego a un ser querido. El dueño del arma deberá ir a la corte el próximo día y comparecer ante un juez. Se define familiar o miembro del hogar como: • esposo/a ó prometido/a actual o previo • alguien relacionado/a por sangre o matrimonio • alguien que tiene un hijo/a en común con la persona • la pareja con la que está saliendo (dating partner) • co-habitante actual o previo
Esta es una gran oportunidad para ser un buen vecino. Soy voluntaria con MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA, un movimiento que lucha por medidas de seguridad pública que protejan a las personas de la violencia por armas de fuego. Participo en el grupo del Pioneer Valley y en el Capítulo de Massachusetts. Moms Demand Action hace campaña a favor de nuevas y mejores soluciones a las leyes que regulan la posesión y el uso de armas de fuego y los resquicios legales que ponen en peligro la seguridad de nuestras familias. Moms Demand Action ha establecido un capítulo en cada estado y, junto a Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Students Demand Action, y Everytown Survivor Network, es parte de Everytown for Gun Safety, la organización mas grande en la nación en contra de la violencia por armas de fuego con mas de 5 millones de seguidores y mas de 350,000 donantes. Permítame sugerirle que llame o visite su departamento de policía local para presentar un mandato judicial. Puede leer las instrucciones en https://www.mass.gov/extreme-risk-protectionorders. Los voluntarios del grupo Massachusetts Moms están disponibles para hablar o distribuir información a su grupo de la iglesia, organizaciones comunitarias, centro de envejecientes o escuelas. Favor de ponerse en contacto con nosotros en https://momsdemandaction.org/contact
A Third of Movers From Puerto Rico to the Mainland United States Relocated Hurricane Maria. • Since the survey is continuous, adjacent ACS years have income reference months in common. Therefore, comparing the 2017 ACS with the 2018 ACS is not an exact comparison of economic conditions across years. (Respondents are asked to report their income in the previous 12 months. Those interviewed in January 2018 were reporting income from January 2017 to December 2017 while those interviewed in September 2017 were reporting income for October 2016 to September 2017.) Next year, when data from 2019 are available, we will be able to compare those poverty rates to the 2016 estimates to get a better sense of the impact of the storm on poverty.
continued from page 4
The age composition of the Puerto Rican population has changed, with a 1.1 percentage point decline in the share of children under age 18 and a 1.0 percentage point increase in the share of the older population age 65 or older. Since children generally have higher poverty rates than those age 65 or older, 56.9% compared to 38.2% for 2018, these changes also impact the overall poverty rate. Finally, the percentage of people living in rural areas of Puerto Rico decreased as a percentage of the overall population. People in rural areas have higher poverty rates than people in urban areas (52.8% compared to 42.5% in 2018).
How Compositional Changes in the Population Affect Poverty Data from the ACS can help to explain changes in the poverty rate across 2017 and 2018 as a result of changes in both the composition of the population as well as economic changes within population groups. While the overall poverty rate decreased from 2017 to 2018, the only age group (Figure 4) to experience a statistically significant decrease in poverty rates in 2018 was the population ages 18 to 64. Their poverty rate fell from 41.9% to 40.5%. • This age group experienced a 2.1 percentage point increase in their employment rate from 47.6% to 49.7%. Since the employed have lower poverty rates than either the unemployed or those not in the labor force, this shift decreases overall poverty rates. • Within the population ages 18 to 64, there was a statistically significant decrease in poverty rates for those not in the labor force. Their poverty rate fell from 58.4% to 56.3%. • There was a 1.6 percentage point decline in this group’s share of the population ages 18 to 64, from 42.9% to 41.3%. The decrease in poverty rates for those not in the labor force along with the decrease in their share of the population from 2017 to 2018 decreases overall poverty rates.
The PRCS is part of the ACS, but is customized for Puerto Rico. Due to Hurricane Maria, the 2017 PRCS was suspended from September 2017 through the end of the year, and data for 2017 reflect characteristics of Puerto Rico prior to Hurricane Maria.
Opinión / Opinion
El Sol Latino November 2019
9
Does Latinidad include multiracials?
by JOSE R. SANCHEZ The National Institute for Latino Policy Report (NiLP) | October 13, 2019 NiLP Board Member Tanya K. Hernandez just wrote a book that, among other things, raises questions about the Latino/Latinix identity that so many of us take for granted. Tanya is the author of Multiracials and Civil Rights as well as a professor at Fordham Law. Professor Hernandez’ book argues against recent claims that the growth of multiracial people, including Latinos, requires a re-writing of existing civil rights laws. Multiracial people, she says, face the same discrimination as other racial groups. Existing civil rights laws simply need to be applied to all non-white groups who are targeted for discrimination. A broader issue is whether the Latino label is still a good and accurate umbrella for all the white and non-white people that it claims to include. Many multiracial people in the Latino community think not. Tanya has offered her own views on this matter. In one interview with Felice Leon, a The Roots commentator, Professor Hernandez discussed her views on the historical experience of Multiracials in Latin America. She makes the case that Latin American countries made concerted efforts, throughout their history, to establish unequal economic, social, and political boundaries between the races. These boundaries have not eroded today. These unequal structures continue to affect the lives of multiracial people in Latin America and in the United States. Ms. Leon added that there is a growing movement of millennial who are not happy with the discrimination that persists in Latino identity politics and media. Multiracial people are not only uncomfortable with the Latino identity, they are actively abandoning it Leon claims. A similar argument was recently made in another article about Latinx. Aurora Ellis argues in an article written for HuffPost, titled Amara La Negra Speaks Out Against Colorism in Latinx Communities, that many millennial, multiracial people are abandoning a Latino/Latinx identity. She supports this argument with interviews conducted with Amara La Negra, the DominicanAmerican singer and actress as well as quotes from Puerto Rican author Emeralda Santiago. There is some empirical support for this argument. But the data also raises other questions. PEW Hispanic, for instance, reports “About two-thirds of Hispanics with darker skin colors (64%) report they have experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly regularly or from time to time, compared with half of those with a lighter skin tone.” What’s interesting, however, is that the PEW data also shows that the differences between dark and light Latinos is not as great as some have assumed. As can be noted next table, the differences between light and dark Latino experiences with regular discrimination is only 3 percent points. The difference between light and dark Latino experiencing discrimination from time to time, however, is greater at 11 percent. These differences are meaningful. They support the common experience of many Latinos as well as the argument offered above. But yet these differences between light and dark Latinos are not comparable to the vast differences in discriminatory experiences reported between American blacks and whites in the United States. This would suggest that light skin Latinos believe that they have experiences with racism that are similar to those of dark skin Latinos. The chart below shows the vast difference that exists in group experience with discrimination between whites and blacks. There is a net 43 percentagepoint difference in discriminatory experiences between whites and blacks and only 18 points between Hispanics and blacks! Interestingly, dark skin Hispanics claim that they experience discriminatory behavior at a rate that is lower than is experienced by blacks. Hispanics with darker skin report discrimination at 64 percent. This is 12 percentage-points lower than what blacks claim to experience. This finding raises a number of important questions about
the future viability of Latinidad as an inclusive identity. 1. Is it possible that dark skin Latinos experience higher rates of discrimination than lighter skin Latinos, but that they view discrimination in complex terms, possibly because they hold onto a Latino identity? Anyone who experiences negative macro or microaggressive treatment is likely to feel some ambiguity about what they experienced and why. Was that racism...was it about my skin color? Was it because of my name and culture? Did I instigate that treatment somehow? Racism is so debilitating and damaging an experience precisely because of it’s often insidious ambiguity to its victims. Proving discrimination in the work place, after all, requires direct evidence of discriminatory motive. This is often hard to find. That ambiguity about what people actually experienced could explain why dark Latinos claim less discrimination than black Americans. The ambiguity of Latinidad as a flawed racial identity, as the thought leaders above claim, may also create interpretive slippage for dark skin Latinos. Latinidad may stifle a more objective reckoning, on their part, of the discrimination that dark Latinos actually face. 2. It’s also possible that Latinos remain tied to a Latino identity for more complex reasons than the light and dark racial divide among Latinos may suggest. Like African Americans, Latinos come in all kinds of colors and racial identifiers. More than African Americans, Latinos often find that racial spectrum not only among those who identify as Latino. They often find a wide range of skin colors and racial identifiers within their own immediate or extended family. This often makes Latinos, no matter their skin color, “feel” connected both to their dark and their light skin relatives. As a result, this connection might make dark skin Latinos interpret discrimination as having a less negative impact on them. It could also make light skin Latinos report more discrimination than they actually experience because of their close emotional and blood connection to their dark skin brethren. 3. Finally, as many commentators have observed over the years, dark skin Latinos may hold onto a Latino identity, even though it minimizes their discriminatory experiences, because it also gives them other benefits? Racial/ ethnic identities are fluid and unstable, especially for those who experience economic and educational mobility. Latinos in the U.S. tend to see their identity in racial terms, precisely because the non-Latino society has racialized Latino identity. This has become especially more prevalent during the Trump administration. At the same time, U.S. society has a long history of viewing political and economic issues in a binary white/black model. Both white and black skin Latinos, for that reason, often bind themselves more closely to their Latino identity in order to separate themselves from whatever negative or positive benefits may come from identifying with either whites or blacks. It was for that reason that Juan Flores once argued that Latinos frequently fall between “the cracks of prevailing classifications.” Given these realities, individual Latinos may in fact, as the thought leaders above argue, be moving from a Latinidad identity. But I suspect that the question of Latino identity will remain far more complex than these current personal and cultural movements may suggest. JOSE R. SANCHEZ is Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP) as well as Editor in Chief of the new Latino Affairs Journal. He can be reached at jose.sanchez@liu.edu. THE NILP REPORT ON LATINO POLICY & POLITICS is an online information service provided by the NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LATINO POLICY. For further information, visit www.latinopolicy. org.
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Libros / Books
El Sol Latino November 2019
When the Sky Fell Hurricane Maria and the United States in Puerto Rico by MICHAEL DEIBERT • New York: Apollo Publishers | September 17, 2019 | 216 pages When Hurricane Maria roared across Puerto Rico in September 2017, it devastated the island. It was an unprecedented natural disaster, a Category 5 major hurricane, and ultimately responsible for the deaths of more than 3,000 people. It also ripped away the facade that had dominated discussions of the island’s relationship with the United States for over a century. This is the first book to comprehensively expose what happened during Hurricane Maria, why Puerto Rico was so poorly prepared, and why a US territory, an island of American citizens, was largely ignored by the federal government in the wake of a catastrophic natural disaster. Using a blend of history and on-the-ground reportage, Michael Deibert pulls back the veil of the island known for its powdery beaches, rainforests, and apricot-and-lavender sunsets to reveal the trajectory for the decisions that set it on the path to the disaster that came during and in the wake of the storm, when its entire power grid and much of its water supply was knocked out. In doing so, he also reveals the stories of everyday heroism, compassion, and unexpected joy that have defined the island before and after Hurricane Maria. Reviews • “An impassioned analysis [that] explores the role of the U.S.’s territorial relationship with Puerto Rico in the context of the damage wrought on the island by Hurricane Maria in 2017.” —Publishers Weekly • “[Deibert’s] account of the weeks and months following September 2017, when the hurricane hit, accompanies a thoroughly researched history of Puerto Rico, both presented with the goal of helping readers better understand the ongoing impact of colonialism, and how the U.S. mainland responded to the hurricane’s impact.” —Library Journal • “In perhaps the greatest opus of a multi-decade career that illuminates the darkest of circumstances for the most underrepresented of people on the planet, author and investigative journalist Michael Deibert delivers a gripping, must-read account of Puerto Rico’s pain in the preamble and
Medios / Media
aftermath to Hurricane Maria. In When the Sky Fell, through exquisite prose and rigorous reporting, Deibert transports us to the core of the carnage with him. He delves into the physical and financial destruction experienced by Puerto Rico and reveals a history of economic plundering by the US government and its hedge fund moguls. He describes how this backdrop makes the hellish wreckage caused by Mother Nature so much more devastating. This book is exceptionally timely and critical.” —Nomi Prins, Author of Collusion and All the Presidents’ Bankers • “In his devastating examination of the US government’s inadequate and hostile response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Michael Deibert delivers a much-needed account of the island’s history, bringing into sharp focus the long and often tortured relationship between the United States and its territory. This is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the post-Maria landscape in Puerto Rico and Washington, DC.” —Carrie Gibson, author of El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America and Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day Michael Deibert is a journalist, author, and Visiting Fellow at Franklin and Marshall College. A widely recognized authority on the Caribbean, his articles have been published in The Guardian, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, Le Monde Diplomatique, Folha de S.Paulo, and World Policy Journal, among other outlets. He has been a regularly featured commentator on international affairs for the BBC, NPR, France 24, and KPFK Pacifica Radio. Heis the author of Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti; The Democratic Republic of Congo: Between Hope and Despair; In the Shadow of Saint Death: The Gulf Cartel and the Price of America’s Drug War in Mexico; and Haiti Will Not Perish: A Recent History.
El CPI en Nueva York
por CENTRO DE PERIODISMO INVESTIGATIVO Este artículo apareció originalmente en periodismoinvestigativo.com | 25 de octubre 2019 Minet, directora ejecutiva del Centro. Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) conversará en la ciudad de Nueva York sobre sus investigaciones más recientes: el chat de Telegram, que fue “Invitamos a toda la comunidad de acompañado de la historia sobre la corrupción sistémica en la Nueva York, a todas las organizaciones administración del exgobernador Ricardo Rosselló, y la iniciativa de aliadas, como las universidades de la fiscalización del proceso de recuperación de Puerto Rico tras los huracanes ciudad, y muy en especial a los boricuas de 2017, que se accede en la página web loschavosdemaria.com. que quieran apoyar el periodismo El evento será el sábado, 26 de octubre a las 6:00 pm en el Julia de Burgos Performance and Arts Center, en el 1680 de Lexington Avenue e incluirá música del galardonado saxofonista puertorriqueño Miguel Zenón y la pieza Bravata, de la actriz y performera puertorriqueña Teresa Hernández. Los periodistas del CPI conversarán con la antropóloga Rima Brusi y el periodista Juan González, ambos puertorriqueños radicados en Nueva York. “Para el CPI es importante este contacto con la comunidad puertorriqueña en Nueva York, que ha seguido muy de cerca los temas de la deuda pública, y que tanto ha tenido que ver con el proceso de recuperación tras el paso del huracán María, no sólo por los vínculos naturales que existen, sino también por la forma tan extraordinaria en que esta comunidad se ha involucrado históricamente en ayudar de diversas maneras para que nuestro país, que es el de ellos también, salga adelante”, expresó Carla
independiente y sin fines de lucro del CPI, a que nos acompañen este día para compartir nuestro trabajo y nuestros planes”, concluyó Carla Minet. El donativo sugerido para el evento es de $50.00. El Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) es una entidad sin fines de lucro creada en 2007 por los periodistas Omaya Sosa Pascual y Oscar J. Serrano, para fomentar el acceso a la información del pueblo de Puerto Rico mediante tres vías: el periodismo de investigación, la litigación y la formación periodística. Está ubicado en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, donde una clínica legal especializada en derecho a la información le apoya en los tribunales. Para más información vea www.periodismoinvestigativo.com
Educación / Education
El Sol Latino November 2019
11
Bilingual Education in Puerto Rico: An Interview with Dr. Kevin S. Carroll by INGRID T. COLÓN Originally posted on newamerica.org | August 12, 2019 Dr. Kevin S. Carroll is Associate Professor in the Department of Graduate Studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras where he coordinates the graduate programs related to teaching English as a second language. Dr. Carroll has been a member of Puerto Rico Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (PRTESOL) organization since 2004 and is known around the island and internationally for his over 20 peer reviewed articles related to language policy, translanguaging and bilingual education in K-16 contexts. In 2018, Dr. Carroll led a team of researchers to complete a program evaluation of the 17 bilingual and language schools overseen by the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE). At this year’s National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE) Dual Language Symposium in Puerto Rico, I spoke with Dr. Carroll to learn about bilingual education on the island. The Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) oversees over 900 public elementary and secondary schools. Both Spanish and English are the official languages of Puerto Rico, but Spanish is the dominant language. *This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. What are the major education challenges in Puerto Rico? I think it’s important to understand that teachers in the States have major issues, but teachers in Puerto Rico have even larger issues. So, for instance, while pay increases and safety in schools are common concerns that teachers in the States and on the island have, most schools in the States have substitute teacher programs and funding to purchase textbooks for each student, both aspects that the PRDE lacks. That is to say, when a teacher is sick or when a teacher goes on maternity leave, there is no official substitute teacher program that will pay to cover those teachers’ classes. Therefore, colleagues and peers are forced to cover the courses of the absent teacher, which sometimes happens and sometimes does not. Lack of technology and school infrastructure are also themes that make PRDE schools stand apart from the majority of public schools in the States. Technology tools, such as ELMOs and Smartboards and even a complete set of textbooks for all students are things that most Puerto Rican teachers can only dream of. Tell me about the bilingual schools in Puerto Rico. Bilingual education on the island is common, but mostly in the private sector. Private schools serve mostly middle class and elite families, which make up only about 20 percent of the population; the other 80 percent send their kids to public schools. These private schools vary greatly in their bilingual education offerings. They provide very different Spanish/English curricula, largely depending on their mission, their teaching personnel, and the students enrolled in their school. The common models are 50/50 and 90/10 English/Spanish. One thing that is important to remember is that in Puerto Rico the vast majority of residents speak Spanish as their first language and, as a result, one-way dual language programs are all that are offered. In other words, two-way dual language programs are not offered because, for the most part, Puerto Rico lacks a sizeable, concentrated population that speaks a language other than Spanish, which would allow for a successful two-way model. Unfortunately, public schools in Puerto Rico are very different from their private school counterparts when it comes to bilingual education. A very small percentage of public schools are bilingual. As of 2018, there were 14 public schools on the island that offer bilingual education. I had the pleasure of doing a program evaluation of these schools at the end of the 2017-2018 school year with Dr. Aníbal Muñoz Claudio, who is an associate professor at UPR Humacao and who recently served as the director of the English and Bilingual Education Programs for PRDE.
In our evaluation, we found that bilingual public schools receive minimal oversight from PRDE. They lack expectations, especially in curricular direction and requirements for standardized exams in English. PRDE has a lack of qualified personnel to teach in bilingual schools. And many regions do not have bilingual course offerings at the secondary level. Not having [continuity between] elementary and secondary schools leaves students and teachers alike questioning the utility of developing bilingual skills in the early grades if they are just going to be neglected after students finish primary school. At the institutional classroom level, we really need to be revisiting the language policies of our institutions, questioning and pushing back on strict boundaries. We need to rethink how we use language in our classrooms and schools and we need to foster collaboration between language and content teachers. Tell me about bilingual teacher preparation in Puerto Rico. There are no institutions in Puerto Rico that offer a bachelor’s degree in bilingual education. Currently, there are a few universities, Ana G. Méndez, Universidad Adventista de las Antillas, Sagrado Corazón, among others, that offer bilingual education coursework and allow teachers or future teachers to gain a bilingual education endorsement by PRDE. For the most part, coursework related to bilingual education is relegated to courses taken as electives for students interested in teaching English as a second language. In terms of bilingual teacher preparation, we want to build programs that foster advanced biliteracy, meaning that we really need [teachers] who can read and write at high levels in Spanish and English. We want to really harness and build on the linguistic resources of our students. Therefore, translanguaging needs to be modeled in teacher preparation programs. Unfortunately, we can’t just expect that because in multilingual communities translanguaging happens naturally, that teachers who have grown up in relatively bilingual environments themselves know how to strategically translanguage. This is because though many teachers have great multilingual repertoires, their own formal education has been largely monolingual. Therefore, we need to really work with teachers to get them to understand that formal education can be more multilingual than they themselves experienced. What are your recommendations to help create and maintain successful bilingual schools in Puerto Rico? In Puerto Rico there are bilingual schools (e.g., schools focused on bilingualism and biliteracy) or language schools (e.g., schools that teach foreign languages but do not have the goal of bilingualism and biliteracy). However, there is not a policy that clearly and concisely describes what it means to be a bilingual school versus a language school. Having a clear policy on what a bilingual school is and what its goals should be would allow schools and teachers to work toward a similar goal. Such a policy would also inform decisions about textbooks and hiring of teachers. Furthermore, a clearly articulated policy could potentially lead to creating a curriculum that is the same across the different bilingual schools on the island. The creation of curricula or high quality textbooks and materials for teachers and students in bilingual programs is a very important issue that needs to be addressed by PRDE as well as local stakeholders. In addition, instructional coaches and regional supervisors need to be knowledgeable of the latest trends in bilingual education, such as translanguaging practices, which challenge the strict separation of languages in bilingual classrooms. This is extremely important because everyone needs to be on the same page regarding how language(s) are continued on page 13
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Educación / Education
El Sol Latino November 2019
STCC, Commerce form partnership for early college initiative SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | October 1, 2019 – Under a new agreement with Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), students at Springfield High School of Commerce will be able to take courses at STCC and earn up to 20 college credits at no cost to them.
certificates from STCC will also make certificate progress while in high school.
The Early College initiative allows high school students to explore high-need career pathways, avoid student loan debt and ultimately complete a college degree more quickly.
Massachusetts Secretary of Education James Peyser said early college requires intense partnerships between a school district and a college.
STCC President John B. Cook said the innovative initiative will further empower students to transform their lives. “Our vision at STCC, and the opportunity from Early College, is to be a dynamic, multicultural learning community where students grow in character, intellect and self-confidence,” Cook said. “Early College Commerce provides a significant contribution to education innovation.” Commerce is across the street from STCC, which means high school students can easily get to the campus for college classes. Cook said Early College is more than a dual enrollment program: It’s an opportunity for Commerce students to see themselves as STCC students. High school students can choose career pathways that mirror labor needs in the region. They include the following programs at STCC: • Computer and IT security • Human services/social work • Health science • Digital/graphic/multimedia design • Business administration • Criminal justice
Students will need to take the courses, training and programs on the STCC campus. STCC faculty will teach the classes. Currently 35 high schools and 18 colleges have created early college programs together, according to the Executive Office of Education (EOE).
“We appreciate the hard work and commitment that STCC and Springfield Commerce High School have shown to students by creating an early college program. As Early College expands, the commonwealth will see stronger pipelines of students ready to enroll and succeed in college,” Peyser said. “With the credits they earn while still in high school, students will be able to reduce the overall burden of college costs.” Board of Higher Education Chair Chris Gabrieli said Early College is a top initiative. “We don’t yet do well enough in helping those who grow up here, especially those who are in our most challenged communities, to get the kind of opportunities they need to succeed,” he said. “Early College represents a way to think of this problem in a different way.”
The early college initiative also includes “noncredit” workforce training options. “In redesigning Commerce, we heard from the Springfield community – loud and clear – a desire for our high school to ready students for a future of purpose and promise. Aligned with that same vision, STCC will be a tremendous help to our students in realizing that future,” said Matt Brunell, co-executive director of SEZP. “We are deeply grateful for President Cook’s leadership and the entire STCC team’s commitment to turning this possibility of deep partnership into a reality.” Students in the program will begin with career exploration activities in the ninth grade at Commerce to get ready for 10th-grade opportunities on the STCC campus. Early College-Commerce at STCC starts with a 1-credit course for students in 10th grade. Called First Year Experience, the course is designed to provide clarity about college success while also allowing students to consider available programs that direct them to specific careers. The first group of Commerce students will begin this spring. In 11th grade, students will take six credits (two courses over two semesters) and begin to focus on program pathways. In 12th grade, students will pursue additional pathway coursework at STCC by taking up to 12 credits during the academic year (four courses over two semesters). Students can earn up to 20 credits, which represents about one-third of the credits needed to earn an associate degree at STCC. Students seeking
From left, Matthew Brunell and Colleen Beaudoin, co-executive directors, Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership; John B. Cook, STCC president; Chris Gabrieli, chair, Massachusetts Board of Higher Education; Daniel J. Warwick, Springfield Public Schools superintendent; and Paul Neal, executive principal, High School of Commerce.
Early College programs boosts college completion rates for low-income students, minority and first-generation college-goers. These programs serve more than 2,400 students, 55 percent of whom are low-income, according to EOE. The American Institutes for Research found that early college significantly reduces the opportunity gap between low-income and higher income students and closes the achievement gap between minority students and non-minority students.
Educación / Education
El Sol Latino November 2019
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Universidad de Puerto Rico entre Las Mejores instituciones de Latinoamérica SAN JUAN, PR | WASHINGTON, DC | UNIVERSADAD DE PUERTO RICO | SEPTIEMBRE 24, 2019— – En menos de un año, la Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR) incrementó su posicionamiento entre las universidades de Latinoamérica, según la más reciente edición de QS World University Rankings. De 1,000 universidades, el primer centro docente de Puerto Rico obtuvo la posición número 40 en el importante listado que prepara la encuestadora de rendimiento global Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), donde el año pasado la institución ocupó la 45.
validada por esta prestigiosa encuestadora. Hemos diseñado una estrategia para documentar y publicar nuestros rangos institucionales (rankings) a base de los criterios de rendimiento establecidos. Esto nos permitirá atraer a estudiantes locales e internacionales, desarrollar nuevos programas de intercambio, acceder a nuevos fondos y recaudar donativos de entidades filantrópicas”, expresó el presidente de la UPR, Dr. Jorge Haddock. Por su parte, la arquitecta Wilma Santiago Gabrielini, directora de Rangos Institucionales y Posicionamiento Global de la UPR, explicó que “QS ubica a la Universidad en un nivel de rangos institucionales competitivos a nivel nacional e internacional y nos posiciona entre las mejores universidades latinoamericanas, superando a instituciones de países como Argentina, Colombia y México. Dentro de la metodología de rankings hemos avanzado en 4 indicadores que miden el desempeño de la institución a nivel global de acuerdo con su misión; estos son: reputación académica, la opinión de los empleadores o patronos sobre nuestros estudiantes, las publicaciones de la facultad y la preparación académica de nuestros profesores, ya que la mayoría posee un grado doctoral”. “Las encuestas de rendimiento son mecanismos para medirnos ante un ente externo y nos permiten apreciar como universidades pares, investigadores y comunidad externa en general nos están percibiendo. Es importante conocer que en los rankings se refleja el resultado de las áreas positivas que nuestra institución y la comunidad universitaria están realizando. Es una herramienta que evidencia la competitividad, el liderato, la investigación y academia de la Universidad de Puerto Rico en el sector de educación superior a nivel local e internacional”, añadió Santiago. Quacquarelli Symonds realiza una publicación anual de rankings universitarios mediante la cual reconoce a las mejores instituciones del mundo a base de la calidad de sus programas académicos, facultad y estudiantes, así como estándares de admisión. El sistema QS comprende diferentes clasificaciones globales en cinco regiones independientes (Asia, América Latina, Europa emergente y Asia Central). QS se considera una de las tres plataformas de medición más observadas a nivel mundial.
“Hemos comenzado a ver los frutos de nuestro enfoque en aumentar la competitividad y posicionar a la Universidad de Puerto Rico en el sitial que le corresponde como una de las universidades más importantes del mundo. En tan solo meses aumentamos cinco posiciones, lo que demuestra la excelencia académica de nuestros programas, facultad y estudiantado,
“Continuamos renovando nuestros currículos, implementando mayor tecnología e incrementando la competitividad de la institución, al tiempo que desarrollamos una estructura más ágil y eficiente que la fortalecerá y beneficiará principalmente a nuestros estudiantes”, concluyó Haddock.
Bilingual Education in Puerto Rico: An Interview with Dr. Kevin S. Carroll going to be used in the classroom. Coaches and administrators need to be able to identify when a teacher is using Spanish strategically in an English medium classroom or when they are just using Spanish too much. Where does most funding come from to support bilingual education in public schools? And what are your recommendations for increasing public access or funding for bilingual education given that the majority of programs are serving upper income kids? Support for bilingual public schools comes from the general public school fund. Private schools all run their own curriculum, which is based on the individual school’s mission and approach to education. There is very little overlap or collaboration between the public and private educational sectors in Puerto Rico. One of the most important things that is needed to improve public education on the island is to get more middle class families to enroll their kids in public schools. At the moment, the education system in Puerto Rico is so stratified that it is difficult to envision a policy change that would quickly work to reverse it. Those who champion charter schools and vouchers argue that such policies will work toward this goal. I am skeptical that it will have the impact that they are hoping for. My suggestion to make public schools
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more attractive would be to create more bilingual schools that prepare students well. Ideally, this initiative would start small and slowly gain popularity. Unfortunately, in Puerto Rico, politicians never like projects that are slow or low impact, but stemming the tide of educational stratification will take multiple decades so it is best to start sooner rather than later. Many bilingual teachers are being recruited from Puerto Rico to work in dual language programs in the US. What are your thoughts on this trend? I think that bilingual teachers need to do what is best for themselves and for their family. Obviously, we would love to see our best and brightest bilingual teachers stay on the island, but given the current political and economic climate, I can’t fault anyone for leaving. It is my hope that at some point in the near future, those who have left will return and share all of the things that they learned while living abroad and work to positively impact the island. INGRID T. COLÓN is a researcher in the area of English learner education with the Education Policy program at New America. As a proud immigrant from El Salvador and an English learner herself, Colón’s research focuses on the experiences of recently-arrived immigrant families and their children in public schools, English learners, culturally- and linguistically-responsive classrooms, and dual language education.
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Salud / Health
El Sol Latino November 2019
Baystate Health and Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni Announce Infant Safe Sleep Initiative SPRINGFIELD, MA | Hampden District Attorney’s Office | October 16, 2019 - Creating a safe sleep environment for infants is the focus of a new community initiative headed by Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni and Baystate Health. Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni stated, “Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to my office have the very difficult job of investigating infant deaths throughout the county. Many of these deaths are avoidable if a baby is kept safe while he or she sleeps.” According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 2017 mortality rate for sudden unexpected infant death syndrome (SUIDS), was 93.4 deaths per 100,000 live births. This includes accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.
“We don’t know for certain what causes SIDS. Evidence suggests brain abnormalities may be to blame along with other factors that often combine to put an infant at risk,” said pediatrician Dr. Andrew Balder, medical director, Baystate Mason Square Neighborhood Health Center. “To help create a safe sleep environment and reduce the risk of SIDS, place your infant in the proper sleep position and only allow appropriate items in the crib.” A video showing the proper way to put an infant to sleep has been coproduced by the Hampden District Attorney’s Office and Baystate Health. The video will be shown to all new parents prior to bringing their new baby home from Baystate. The Hampden District Attorney’s Community Outreach Unit will partner with Baystate Health and grassroots community organizations. They will seek to educate new parents and their families on creating a safe sleep environment for infants. “We recommend keeping baby in your bedroom at night. Do not share a bed with an infant. Room sharing will make it easier for you to feed, comfort, and watch your baby. It can reduce the risk of SIDS by 50%.” said Emily Osborne, LCCE, CLC, lead parent educator, Baystate’s New Beginnings/ Parent Education. Safe sleep tips: • Always put infants to sleep on their backs. • Not considered safe for sleep: car seats, loungers, and inclined baby seats. • Keep your baby in your bedroom at night. • Do not share a bed with an infant. • Use infant sleep clothing such as a wearable blanket
Link to Safe Sleep Video - baystatehealth.org/services/pediatrics/familysupport-services/infant-safe-sleep.
• Keep the crib free of fluffy blankets, pillows, bumpers, and stuffed animals. For more information on creating a safe sleep environment please visit: baystatehealth.org/safe-sleep
Personalized Nutrition by JORGE L. MURIEL MUNDO When it comes to nutrition matters, I bet we can all relate to this pyramid nutrition guide whenever we have a conversation that involves the term nutrition. Moreover, when we are in the process of deciding to start following a diet or improve our daily food consumption and/or if we have visited a nutritionist, we indeed have encountered this pyramid. The pyramid enforces very structured recommendations about how we should control our daily food portions in order to achieve a healthier dietetic lifestyle. However, it has been recently found that standard universal dietary recommendations cannot be effective for each individual person as each individual has different religious beliefs, genetic factors predisposition, microbiome (good bacterias) and even a different immunological system (e.g. food allergies). Indirectly, recommending a general standard diet to a huge population has resulted in a total failure in the past recent years. For this reason, personalized nutrition promises to be a more cost-effective diet approach in the next coming years. Adjusting a diet to an individual’s specific needs provides the enhancing nutrients than each person can digest. First, this can be scientifically assessed by taking a fecal/stool sample for each patient and
then determine which nutrients he/she was able to absorb and/or which components this person has problems digesting. Moreover, this could also give you an idea as to which which microbes are usually involved in the digestion process of the person (the nature of a bacteria living in a person can be analyzed using stool samples). Secondly, analyzing the genetic material of an individual would indeed provide very useful information. Either by determining genetics metabolites (product produced by genetic metabolism) and/or by the genetic information you can trace the individual ancestors, and you can recreate a diet for the person based on this. Indeed, all this information together can potentially and strategically be used for developing personalized nutrition. Overall this is a promising and new way to impact the lifestyle of individuals in a population. These still are very initial and crucial steps that need to be developed. Moreover, technological advancements would favor this futuristically personalized nutrition concept.
Source – North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
JORGE L. MURIEL MUNDO (Murielmundojorge@ gmail.com or jmurielmundo@umass.edu) is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Food Science - UMass Amherst.
Deportes / Sports
El Sol Latino November 2019
25° Aniversario de Los Jibaritos • Holyoke / 19 de octubre de 2019
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El Sol Latino November 2019
AVERY SHARPE SEXTET: 400
Fine Arts Center
¡Guitarra!
Jueves, Noviembre 21, 7:30 p.m. Bowker Auditorium
Temporada 2019-2020
BRASIL GUITAR DUO
Sábado, Noviembre 9, 7:30 p.m. Bowker Auditorium
João Luiz y Douglas Lora combinan la música tradicional de Brasil con composiciones originales y nuevos arreglos. Luiz y Lora han estado presentándose juntos por más de veinte años luego de conocerse en São Paulo como adolescentes cuando eran estudiantes de guitarra. Charla a las 7 p.m., en el auditorio, antes de la presentación.
Ronna Erickson
RUBBERBANDance GROUP: EVER SO SLIGHTLY Martes, Noviembre 19, 7:30 p.m. Fine Arts Center Concert Hall
El explosivo grupo de Montreal RUBBERBANDance Group hace su debut en UMass Amherst con su trabajo Ever So Slightly. Combinando músicos con una distintiva mezcla RBDG de contemporáneo, ballet y hip-hop, el trabajo transmite toda la energía contenida en urgencia, revolución, caos y fuga. Charla a las 6:30 p.m., antes de la presentación, en el vestíbulo.
Billy Taylor Residency & Concert
MELISSA ALDANA QUARTET Jueves, Noviembre 14, 7:30 p.m. Bowker Auditorium
La saxofonista Melissa Aldana llamó la atención en el 2013 cuando se convirtió en la primera artista de música instrumental y la primera suramericana en ganar la prestigiosa Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. La artista, natura de Chile, es una de las mas prodigiosas saxofonistas hoy en día en escena, y su sonido energético posee una ambición y una tenacidad que sobrepasan sus años. Charla a las 6:30 p.m., antes de l a presentación, en el auditorio.
Para boletos llamar al: 413-545-2511 ó al 800-999-UMAS ó en línea fineartscenter.com
Un retrato musical afro-americano como respuesta al 400vo aniversario de los primeros esclavos africanos traídos a Virginia. La música está influenciada por spirituals, gospel, blues, jazz y modismos clásicos, con la participación del Extended Family Choir dirigido por Kevin Sharpe.
NATALIE MACMASTER & DONNELL LEAHY PRESENT: A CELTIC FAMILY CHRISTMAS Miércoles, Deciembre 4, 7 p.m. Fine Arts Center Concert Hall
Esta temporada festiva, únase a los galardonados virtuosos del violín, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, mientras ellos le dan la bienvenida al maravilloso mundo de su celebración familiar de Navidad. El dúo estará acompañado de una increíble participación de amigos y familiares.
