October 2020
Volume 16 No.11
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Tu Voto es tu Voz 3 de noviembre de 2020 Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
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Editorial / Editorial
Cómo, dónde y cuándo votar en Massachuetts Solo faltan menos de cuatro cuantas semanas para la elección presidencial 2020. Si es residente de Massachusetts, lo primero que debe hacer es asegurarse de que tiene todo en orden para participar del proceso eleccionario. A continuación enumeramos la información necesaria para poder ejercer su derecho al voto. 1. Averigüe si está inscrito para votar. Para confirmar que ya está registrado o para actualizar su información personal, revise el estado de su registro de votante. Si aún no está registrado, lo puede hacer en línea, en persona o por correo. Para verificar si está registrado y/o cómo registrarse, visite la página del Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts - Elections Division (www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/)
Los votantes en Massachusetts deben registrarse antes de las siguientes fechas: • Inscripción por internet: sábado, 24 de octubre de 2020 • Inscripción por correo postal: debe tener el sello del correo con fecha de en o antes del sábado, 24 de octubre de 2020 • Inscripción en persona: sábado, 24 de octubre de 2020 2. Infórmese sobre la votación ausente y por adelantado. En Massachusetts, la votación por adelantado (early voting) está disponible en persona o por correo a todos los votantes registrados. No se requiere dar una excusa o explicación. La votación por adelantado por correo empezará una vez las papeletas continued on next page
contents
2 Editorial / Editorial Cómo, dónde y cuándo votar en Massachuetts 3 Portada / Front Page Far and away: Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rican communities in the United States 4 New Study of Deaths in Puerto Rico Due to Hurricane María 5 Report: Puerto Rico’s Mass Closures of Public Schools Eroding Communities 6 Puerto Rican Families Reporting Food Insecurity Due to COVID-19 7 Allies in Action: A Speaker Series in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month 8 Clark University and Centro receive a Knowledge Challenge grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation 9 Libros/ Books The Time Has Come for Progressives To Support Self-Determination for Puerto Rico Medios / Media WTCC radio returns to live, in-studio broadcasting 10 New Research Finds Eye-Opening Gaps in Latino Media News Coverage 11 Finanzas / Finances Lemonade or Lemon Aid? - (Final series) Educación / Education Education Equity Focus of Grant to HCC 12 New Research Finds Eye-Opening Gaps in Latino Media News Coverage 13 Salud / Health Children use both brain hemispheres to understand language, unlike adults 14 Ciencias / Science ¿Tendremos un vacuna contra el Coronavirus antes que termine el 2020? 15 Deportes / Sports
Founded in 2004
n
Volume 16, No. 11 n October 2020
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 October 2020
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Far and away: Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rican communities in the United States Published in Centro Voices e-Magazine - Center for Puerto Rican Studies | September 2020. We are in the midst of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, and September tends to be the month with the most frequent and most destructive hurricanes. This week there have been five tropical cyclonic disturbances in the Atlantic, with hurricane Sally battering the Gulf of Mexico coast. The destructiveness of tropical cyclones derives from a combination of high winds, storm surges and copious rainfall that lead to structural damage, flooding, landslides and other forms of erosion. Hurricanes also traverse vast expanses of water and land. With increase mobility of people across countries, however, the effects of temporales are felt not only in the communities they directly hit, but also in communities to which residents of those communities turn seeking help. Hurricane Maria is an example of how a weather event that takes place in the Caribbean affects communities not just there, but also far and away. With the dispersion of Puerto Ricans far and wide, when hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico three years ago, its effects were also felt one-thousand miles in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Holyoke is a community with the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the United States; nearly half its population is of Puerto Rican origin or descent. It is also a community with great economic needs given by the fact that Puerto Ricans in New England generally, and Massachusetts specifically, have the highest rates of poverty and lowest household income in the country. Yet, in spite of great economic disadvantages, the Puerto Rican community in Holyoke rallied to respond, first, by providing material assistance to friends, family, and entire communities in Puerto Rico, and, then, by opening their homes to relatives and friends displaced in the aftermath of the storm.
The experiences of those displaced to the United States by the hurricane, the relatives who provided them with safe haven in the United States, and the civic and government sectors that supported both groups in Holyoke in the weeks, months, and now years since the storm hit, are collected in Anticipated Vulnerabilities: Displacement and Migration in the Age of Climate Change, a report jointly produced by Centro and El Instituto. Among the major findings of the report are: The majority of displaced Puerto Ricans arriving to the City of Holyoke relied on kin networks, that is family and friends who provided support in addressing their needs. Given the socioeconomic standing of Puerto Ricans residing in Holyoke, we conclude that working-class and Puerto Ricans living in or near poverty assumed a disproportionate burden in support of displaced Puerto Ricans migrating to the city of Holyoke. Communal solidarity and standing issue-based coalitions were a key dimension of the positive responses to the disaster in Puerto Rico and in the City of Holyoke. A sense of solidarity among Puerto Ricans is a resource for future responses to a crisis. A sense of commitment also exists among the not-for-profit organizations and other civic sector continued on next page
In the Pioneer Valley …
is the Latinx political force awakening? Adam Gómez and Orlando Ramos appear to be the new State Senator and Representative, respectively. E CALIENTAU It is likely that Gómez will replace incumbent 5-term state OS M RA FR por MANUEL senator James Welch while Ramos will succeed retiring state represenative José Tosado. If both are elected in the November 3 general election, they will be joining Representative Carlos González at the state level.
OT TINTA H INK
Foto del Mes/Photo of the Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month in Holyoke 2020
Cómo, dónde y cuándo continued from page 3
de votación estén listas. La votación por adelantado en persona se llevarán a cabo del 17 al 30 de octubre. Los centros de votación y los horarios de la votación por adelantado en persona de cada pueblo y ciudad los puede encontrar en www.MassEarlyVote.com en o antes del 9 de octubre. 3. Si planea votar en persona, verifique la ubicación de su centro de votación. Asegúrese de conocer la ubicación y el horario de su centro de votación antes de salir a votar el día de las elecciones. Si necesita ayuda en las urnas debido a una discapacidad o dificultades con el idioma, verifique que su lugar de votación esté listo para llenar estas necesidades. 4. Planifique bien el día de las elecciones. Debido a la crisis causada por el COVID-19, el proceso de votación en persona puede tardar más de lo habitual. Cuando haga sus planes para ir a votar, considere el tiempo adicional que probablemente va a necesitar.
The 7th Kickoff of the Celebration in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month was held at Holyoke City Hall on Tuesday, September 15th, 4:00 - 5:30pm. The event included a Proclamation of the Month, by Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse as well as a recognition of the life and work of Manuel Frau-Ramos, Publisher of El Sol Latino newspaper. Live music featured Joshua Levine and his Cuarteto Guataca, with Roman Lajara - tres cubano, Jeremy Bosch - flute, Jainaro Batista - percussion, and Joshua Levine - bass. This event is annually organized by Teresita Castaño.
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino October 2020
New Study of Deaths in Puerto Rico Due to Hurricane María WASHINGTON, D.C.| THE MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH - George Washington University | September 23, 2020 — The Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University (GW) today announced receiving nearly $1 million in a contract award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to identify deaths in Puerto Rico directly and indirectly tied to Hurricane Maria – especially those associated with building failures. In 2018, Milken Institute SPH researchers published a report finding an estimated 2,975 excess deaths in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria. The new project, which is part of a National Construction Safety Team (NCST) investigation, aims to cast light on how damaged buildings and infrastructure played a role in the injuries and deaths associated with Hurricane Maria, a category four storm that hit the island on September 20, 2017. The goal of the Hurricane Maria NCST investigation is to make recommendations to improve building codes, standards and practices to make communities across the United States more resilient to hurricanes and other disasters. This specific project seeks to improve death certification and surveillance performance during disasters and improve building standards to minimize casualties in future events. “This in-depth and detailed analysis goes beyond our 2018 study and will provide insight that could be used to accurately and rapidly identify deaths associated with hurricanes and natural disasters,” said Carlos SantosBurgoa, MD, MPH, PhD, the principal investigator for the project and a professor of global health at Milken Institute SPH. The new project will focus on identifying specific causes of death, including indirect deaths that might have been missed in the past. “We hope the findings will pave the way toward solutions, including improved building codes and standards aimed at keeping communities safe.” This project is a collaboration between teams at the Milken Institute SPH, the University of Puerto Rico-Graduate School of Public Health, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, and NIST.
The project aims to: • Identify all direct deaths and other deaths associated with building failures during the first two weeks after the hurricane. • Find clusters of deaths associated with building systems failures of critical facilities (e.g., hospitals and schools). • Identify factors associated with both direct and indirect deaths in the two weeks following Hurricane Maria. The team will create an integrated database of existing administrative records from the government of Puerto Rico, hospitals and others to identify and classify deaths related to Hurricane Maria. The project hopes to improve the process of counting deaths after a natural disaster, Santos-Burgoa said. Death tolls help the public understand the scope of such disasters and they can influence the resources allocated to help communities heal and re-build, he said. Disaster deaths are counted as direct, which are easily counted, and indirect, which can seem unconnected to the disaster and thus are often misclassified. For example, indirect deaths can be caused by disasterrelated conditions like the widespread power outages after Hurricane Maria. By all accounts, Hurricane Maria damaged buildings that people rely on for safety, communications or health care. This project’s findings could lead to recommendations that would help improve building standards and practices to make communities more resilient in the face of extreme weather, SantosBurgoa said. In addition to Santos-Burgoa, the team of contractors includes scientists from the Departments of Global Health and Epidemiology, Diane Uschner at the GW Biostatistics Center; Pablo Méndez-Lázaro from the University of Puerto Rico-Graduate School of Public Health as well as Bernardo Hernández Prado and Abraham Flaxman from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
Far and away: Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rican communities in the US continued from page 3 associations provides a similar resource. However, these sources of capital may be of limited duration, and dependent on the existing stock of material resources.
for any single entity. Insufficient resources before and during the response to the arrival of displaced persons hampered the effective response and assistance of entities recruited or volunteered to provide assistance.
Displaced Puerto Ricans residing in the Holyoke and in Western Massachusetts view the City of Holyoke as a resource.
The report is the result of an initiative by the government of the state of Massachusetts to help municipalities throughout the state prepare for weather events caused and exacerbate by climate change. The City of Holyoke responded to this initiative—the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program—to learn lessons provided by the response to the sudden and massive influx of Puerto Ricans displaced by the Hurricane Maria. El Instituto: the Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies (University of Connecticut-Storrs) and Centro, joined forces and resources in order to undertake the study, which revealed, among other things, how local resources, whether from individuals, community groups or governmental agencies, are often insufficient to tend to the needs of victims of catastrophic events, and which without the assistance of state and federal governments such assistance does not provide apt relief. One of the most important practical lessons learned was the effectiveness of the creation of a “one-stop-shop,” that gathered under one roof all the groups and agencies providing services, resources and information to displaced persons.
Access to affordable housing became the key to stabilizing displaced Puerto Ricans. Displaced Puerto Ricans overwhelmingly indicated that Holyoke’s Family Resource Center—Enlace de Familias—provided the most effective support to their address their needs. Central to the success of the response to the sudden and large arrival of persons displaced by Hurricane Maria was the creation of a central hub or resource center that provided access to various federal, state and local agencies and resources for an extended period of time. This “one-stop-shopping” approach was effective and efficient. Regular meetings (i.e., conference calls) among responding entities to share information, coordinate response and request resources were also seen as instrumental in facilitating the delivery of services under circumstances of great uncertainty and limited surplus of resources. Central to the success of the response to the post-Maria migration of Puerto Ricans to the City of Holyoke was the solidarity, collaboration and synergy of culturally-competent civic leaders and leaders of agencies who were committed to offering a collective response. Extant patterns of cooperation, coordination and communication paved the way for a focused response once the arrival of displaced persons reached unmanageable proportions
The increased frequency and intensity of catastrophic weather events in the context of a changing climate, whether it is in Puerto Rico or in the United States, makes it imperative to assess collective efforts that can provide stakeholders with best practices that may be shared and replicated in communities affected by anticipated vulnerabilities.
ered what the community needs and how to plan the reuse,” reported one leader. A Pew Charitable Trust study of closed school buildings in US states revealed that the longer schools are closed, the more difficult they are to repurpose; it also explained that school buildings in general are challenging to turn into any other use given their size and layout, including wide hallways and shared bathrooms.54
Portada / Front Page
The Dr. Martin Grove Brumbaugh school in San Juan lies abandoned though structurally intact. TheOctober large inventory of empty schools El Sol Latino 2020 has led some to demand that they be reopened in order to relocate students affected by schools left damaged by the earthquakes of January 2020.
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Report: Puerto Rico’s Mass ClosuresMost ofclosed Public Schools Communities school buildings in Puerto Eroding Rico are still RESEARCH REPORT
unused and have become blighted. In many cases, While the school closures the closing of a school means more than financial the closing Puerto Rico’s generated meager Public School Closures of a number of classrooms, a public library, or a cafegains, they dramatically teria, but also the loss of theatres, playing fields, and disrupted the lives of other recreational and sport facilities. For example, students andclosed theirsince families. out of the 673 schools that have 2007, As the distance to one’s only 123 (18%) were formally contracted for reuse increases, so domay costs between 2014 andschool 2019. While some schools intransferred travel timeprior andtoexpense, have been leased or the public records being available beginning in 2014, the maas well as disrupt access to jority likely remainand abandoned or without official use. continuity in education. BELONGING.BERKELEY.EDU |
CRHPR.ORG
Community Effects and Future Paths
FIGURE 7
Majority of Closed Schools Still Vacant Out of 144 visited school buildings, most (82) are vacant and have yet to be re-used.
AUGUST 2020
BERKELEY, CA | OTHERING & BELONGING INSTITUTE - UC BERKELEY | September 3, 2020 Public schools in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have been shuttered at a higher rate than any region 1.the Introduction in U.S. over the last decade and a half, presenting a serious harm to the students and communities who rely on them, while failing to deliver the financial savings used to justify their closure, a new report shows.
NUMBER OF OPEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
“Puerto Rico’s Public School Closures: Community 25% Effects and Future Paths,” co-produced by UC Berkeley’s Othering & is especially truevisited in rural For the been purpose ofThis this report, researchers neighborhoods is profound, yet it has THE PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Belonging Institute and San Juan-based Centro para la Reconstrucción dellargely areas whichschools have seen as collateral damageaof a necessary re- of (DE) has closed nearly half of the public schools in random sample 144 closed (out of65 673 Hábitat, reveals that more than two-thirdsregarded of the closed schools still remain structuring.2 This report analyzes Puerto Rico since 2007 (figure 1). Puerto Rico is not the human impact percent of the school closed since 2007). The sample wastotal selected from 69% 6% vacant, and of those that have been sold or rented, less than half are being alone; there is a broader trend of school closures of the closures, the current state of the schools that both official lists and press reports order to assess closures since in2006. in districts the United States, from Philadelhave been closed, the response by affected comused for across the purposes described in their contract. 55 condition. these, 119 had been closed.56 phia to Oakland to Washington, DC. But Puerto Rico munities, and strategies for a their pathway forward. Of But the impact of these cuts Since 2007, Puerto Rico’s Department shuttered an unprecedented 673 schools (44%) in of Education (DE) has closed 673 In total, only a quarter of the beyond closed schools (30 Schools in Puerto Rico carry particular meaning reaches education eleven years, far outpacing the rate of change and of the Commonwealth’s total. The public schools, comprising 44 percent related to the archipelago’s environmental and his-because schools) have been reused for some new purpose. “schools play the number of closuresaccelerated in Chicago (figure 2)—the the government dramatic decline following debt serve crisis torical context.3 Schools as which essential for 82 (69%) of the remaining Vacant Reused Undetermined On the othersites hand, US school district with the second-largest number emergency response and recovery during and afteressential roles in the social, began 20141 The andimpact the subsequent of schoolin closures. of Puerto Rico’s hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. hurricanes. They also serve as central locations to economic, and cultural life of a community,” the report notes. Puerto The DEonannounced in May 2018 that it would close 263 more schools, the closures students, families, and surrounding Rican schools double as emergency shelters, free clinics, food distribution report notes. locations, polling places, recreation centers, and community spaces. Puerto Rico’s Public School Closures 16 FIGURE 1 “A closure can rupture intergenerational shared experiences, reduce Puerto Rico has closed 673 public schools (44%) since 2007 parental and community involvement both at school and with their children’s education, and disperse the influence of the community in the 1,523 1,509 1,473 1,466 1,464 1,451 governance of their school,” the authors write. Ultimately, “these impacts 1500 1,386 1,292 alienate communities and erode belonging.” 1,113 1000
850
The authors warn that the school closures risk amplifying race and class inequalities, undermine government accountability, and potentially violate constitutional rights. The report urges that measures be taken to keep “public assets in the public sphere, ensuring they serve public needs and remain accountable to the public.” The authors recommend the following:
500
0
2006 – 07
2009 – 10
2010– 11
2011 –12
2012 – 13
2013 – 14
2014 – 15
2016 – 17
2017 – 18
2018– 19
Source: Comprehensive directories of public schools 2007 and 2019 from Open Data Puerto Rico Government Portal; accessed January 2020, https://data.pr.gov/en/widgets/gb92-58gc.
GRAFICA According to the report, the DE consistently cited declines in student population and the need | for public revenue as the primary reasons for 1 belonging.berkeley.edu crhpr.org school closures. Proponents of free-market solutions pushed for privatization as a means to “reform” struggling schools and cut spending. The closures occurred with little public information or consultation with students, parents, or teachers, in a process described as unilateral and “antidemocratic.” Ultimately, most school buildings were never repurposed after closing, and the financial benefits of the closures have been minuscule. Researchers conducted site visits to a randomly selected sample of 144 closed school buildings to find that 69 percent remained vacant. Researchers also reviewed the 123 contracts related to the closed schools, finding that only 8 percent of the facilities had been sold and the rest rented. Of those rented, 80 percent were leased for the symbolic amount of $1. In total, sales and rental contracts produced less than $4.3 million in revenue, a meager amount compared to forecasted government savings. Visits to the schools revealed that only 44 percent of those sold or rented were being used for the purpose described in their contract. Thus, the report argues that austerity measures were ineffective in saving funds, consequently undermining the “government’s obligation to its people” in favor of “its obligations on the debt flowing to investors.”
• Stop the closure of public schools until a clear decision-making criterion and public process are established and publicly disclosed • Incorporate the full range of community benefits provided by schools into the decision-making process • If a school is to be closed, require that a reuse plan be created that is accountable to the community • Launch an independent audit of the Department of Education to identify true savings or losses resulting from school closures • Provide public access to data and records regarding school closures, leases, and sales so as to enable informed decision-making • Remove the power to order school closings from the hands of the Financial Oversight and Management Board, and place it in the exclusive control of the Commonwealth and local communities served by those schools • Conduct a new assessment of all public schools so the Department of Education can develop a more thorough plan moving forward Puerto Rico has also developed an innovative model for public Montessori schools, which has grown to 45 schools serving 14,000 students in Puerto Rico, the largest and fastest-growing public Montessori project in the US. This is one example of “Transforming schools into high-quality, communitycontrolled public schools,” the report states, “a key strategy for healthy, resilient communities and equitable economic development.”
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino October 2020
Puerto Rican Families Reporting Food Insecurity Due to COVID-19 WASHINGTON, D.C. | THE MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH - George Washington University | September 23, 2020 — The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted food distribution chains and triggered record high levels of unemployment in the United States and around the world. At the same time, media reports suggest that the pandemic may be taking a toll on food access in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that has been struggling with a long-term economic decline and the damage left over from Hurricane Maria. To find out how COVID-19 has affected food security on the archipelago in the first few months of the pandemic, Uriyoán Colón-Ramos, ScD, MPA, an associate professor of global health at the George Washington University (GW) Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH), teamed up with colleagues at the Instituto Nueva Escuela to conduct an online food and nutrition survey. Nearly 1,400 households in Puerto Rico participated in the survey, which the researchers sent out in June through social media, non-profit organizations, schools and community partners.
Although the survey was not representative of the population in Puerto Rico, the researchers found a number of troubling trends in unemployment, food access and nutritional deficits that could have long-term implications for participating families--and especially children--living in Puerto Rico.
designed and disseminated the survey. In Puerto Rico, the majority of children rely on school meals, typically getting breakfast and lunch at school, Colón-Ramos said. If school food programs are not being used, the researchers are concerned that schoolaged children will not get enough food to grow and develop properly. “In Puerto Rico, there has been a lot of misperception about what poverty looks like and whether there is food insecurity on the island,” said Cesar Ostolaza at the Instituto Nueva Escuela. “We know that poverty and food insecurity have gotten worse after other disasters and our survey shows that both are on the rise now due to the pandemic.” Having data from the survey can help experts better understand this problem and begin to design programs and policies to address food insecurity in Puerto Rico. “It is impossible to speak about school and a good education without addressing the issue of nutrition,” said Ana Maria Garcia Blanco, the executive director of Instituto Nueva Escuela. “Our school breakfast and lunch programs have to integrate the best nutrition practices, design ways of being accessible to all under any circumstances and share with its personnel safe and healthy methodologies. This research is the first step in the transformation of our public school food service program.”
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Early findings from the survey indicate that: • Sixty-two percent of people participating in the survey said they had used a nutritional assistance program to help them buy food in June, an increase of about 18 percent pre-pandemic. • Nearly 60 percent of participants reported a reduction in their income as a result of the pandemic. • Sixty-four percent accumulated more food because of COVID-19 and nearly 60 percent said they consumed more food because the pandemic had triggered fear or anxiety about the future. • Forty percent of those surveyed experienced food insecurity during the pandemic--up from 38 percent before the pandemic. • Before the pandemic, only 14 percent of participants said an adult in the family had to skip meals due to a lack of money, a percentage that increased to 20 percent during the pandemic. • Of the adults skipping meals to make sure their family had enough to eat, 66 percent said they skipped meals between one and two days a week. “We found forty percent of those surveyed had experienced food insecurity, including hunger, during the first few months of the pandemic,” ColónRamos said. “Those participants said their food supply ran out sometimes or frequently and they did not have the money to buy more food.” The government of Puerto Rico delayed food distribution in school cafeterias in Puerto Rico until May 5, 2020, a decision that led to controversy. The survey ran from June 9 to June 30, 2020; only 27 percent of participants reported that they were using school food services during that time. “Of the 78 percent of participants that did not use this service, we found the main reason for staying away from take-out school meals was a fear of getting COVID-19,” said Carla Rosas, an evaluation officer at the Instituto Nueva Escuela, a non-profit organization based in San Juan that co-
Estudiarás: • Raza y Sociedad • Problemas Sociales • Salud, Enfermedad y Sociedad • Sociología Urbana • La Ciudad Inmigrante • La Ciudad en la Literatura • Desarrollo Urbano Histórico • Historia de Springfield • Español para el Servicio Público • Sociología de la Familia (ofrecido en español)
Estudios Urbanos
¡Resuelve problemas y haz crecer tu comunidad! Los estudiantes aplicarán estudios técnicos y teóricos en sus proyectos, destacados por el tema de la sostenibilidad para ayudar a mejorar el paisaje urbano.
Los estudiantes pueden transferirse a programas de 4 años en Estudios Urbanos, Planificación Regional, Sociología y más a través de MassTransfer. Programas de maestría acelerada en Westfield State y Worcester State.
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino October 2020
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Allies in Action: A Speaker Series in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month HOLYOKE, MA | WOMANSHELTER/COMPAÑERAS | September 14, 2020 - Womanshelter/Compañeras is virtually hosting dynamic speakers and conversations about domestic violence in recognition of October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “Allies in Action: A Speaker Series” will be on the first four Thursdays in October at 4 p.m.
Executive Director Isa Woldeguiorguis, Casa Myrna CEO Stephanie Brown, and New Realm Coaching and Consulting Founder Elizabeth Solomon will be moderating the event.
“As an agency we use these events to bring awareness that intimate partner violence can happen to anyone,” Carmen Nieves, executive director of Womanshelter/Compañeras, said. “Family members, neighbors and employers are bystanders who can make a difference to a survivor’s life.” Opening the series on Oct. 1, Kristen Faith – an expert in the field of trauma resilience and domestic violence – will spark dialogue using her experience as a survivor and thriver after an abusive relationship. On Oct. 8, one of the most sought after educators on healthy relationships, Terry Josiah Sharpe is sharing his story about perpetuating and overcoming abuse. On Oct. 15, Break The Silence Against Domestic Violence Board President Tara Woodlee will speak about starting her advocacy after her daughter Ashleigh and her unborn baby were killed by Ashleigh’s boyfriend.
The events are free. The public can register to participate in any of the presentations at womanshelter.org/events-2. Those attending the event that would like to make a donation to Womanshelter/Compañeras, can make their donation at https://www.womanshelter.org/support-us/. Womanshelter/Compañeras is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. For 40 years, Womanshelter/Compañeras has been dedicated to assisting, supporting and empowering those whose lives are affected by battering and abuse. We strive to reduce and prevent domestic violence through public awareness efforts. Womanshelter/Compañeras is dedicated to assisting, supporting, and empowering those whose lives are affected by battering and abuse. Founded in 1980 as a grassroots collective, the organization has sheltered more than 3,000 women and children and assisted 35,000 others through community-based support programs. Central to Womanshelter/Compañeras’ mission is the reduction and prevention of domestic violence. Domestic violence is a pattern of coercive behaviors that involves physical abuse or the threat of physical abuse. It also may include repeated psychological abuse, sexual assault, isolation, intimidation, or economic and/or medical deprivation. Domestic violence is violence perpetrated by adults or adolescents against their intimate partners in current or former dating, married, or cohabitating relations. Domestic violence can be perpetrated against victims of any race, ethnicity, economic level, educational background, faith, or sexual orientation.
Tara Woodlee
A roundtable of leaders from Massachusetts domestic violence services and prevention organizations will wrap up the speaker series on October 22. The highly-engaging and informed panel includes Womanshelter/Compañeras Executive Director Carmen Nieves, The Center of Hope and Healing
Everyone has the right to live without fear of abuse – physical, verbal, mental, sexual or emotional. Billingual/bicultural services available. All services are confidential and free of charge. Please explore our site and learn more. For more information about Womanshelter/Compañeras and domestic violence services, please call Carmen Nieves at 413-538-9717 or email cnieves@womanshelter.org.
Cita del Mes/Quote of the Month “Funders and investors working to build Latino power must understand that information is essential community infrastructure. They should invest in independent Latino journalism like Futuro Media Group, L.A. Taco, Revista Étnica, Conecta Arizona, 80grados, Radio Ambulante and Latino Rebels instead of bankrolling perennially “diversifying” but never “diverse” organizations.”
Elizabeth Méndez Berry and Mónica Ramírez Opinion piece How Latinos Can Win the Culture War in New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/opinion/sunday/latinos-trump-election.html Ms. Méndez Berry is a journalist, cultural critic and editor. Ms. Ramírez is the founder of the Latinx House, and the author of the “Dear Sisters” letter that helped inspire the Time’s Up movement.
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino October 2020
Clark University and Centro receive a Knowledge Challenge grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Published in Centro Voices e-Magazine - Center for Puerto Rican Studies | September 2020. Clark University and the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Centro) received a Knowledge Challenge grant for $224,000 from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to study how local ecosystems drive entrepreneurial outcomes in Puerto Rico after recent disasters devastated the island. Professor Ramón Borges-Méndez, Principal Investigator for the project, asserted “this study intents to address systemic challenges that affect entrepreneurs’ ability to start and grow businesses as a key component of economic recovery in Puerto Rico.” Specifically, this 20-month research project, will examine how ongoing collaborations between Puerto Rican and stateside community development corporations (CDCs), private and nonprofit financial intermediaries, investors, and housing professionals can lead to the creation of a predevelopment fund to support affordable housing and other local economic development projects. Centro will provide the ReBuildPR digital platform for enhancing the design and implementation of the fund and support the project’s effort to training Puerto Rican CDCs staff on housing project development (capacity building) and cooperation among these CDCs. In Puerto Rico, there is a unique window of opportunity to capitalize on federal reconstruction funding to support the development of a more robust community development ecosystem and industry. To take advantage of such window of opportunity, seven CDCs in Puerto Rico will participate in and benefit from the project: (1) Programa de Educación Comunal de Entrega y Servicio (PECES-Humacao); (2) Corporación Desarrollo Económico, Vivienda y Salud (CODEVyS-Arecibo); (3) Corporación para el Desarrollo Económico de Trujillo Alto (CDETA-Trujillo); (4) Corporación para el Desarrollo Económico de Ceiba (CDEC-Ceiba; (5) Ponce Neighborhood Housing Services/NeighborWorks (PNHS-Ponce); (6) Instituto para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico y de Vivienda de Puerto Rico (INDESOVI-Mayagüez); (7) Lucha Contra el SIDA, Inc. (LUCHA-San Juan).
Saturdays 10 AM Domingo 7 PM WHMP radio 1400 AM
biingüe arte, cultura, media politics Natalia Muñoz
Professor Ramón Borges-Méndez, Principal Investigator for the project.
Samee Desai, director of Knowledge Creation and Research at the Kauffman Foundation, remarked the following about this project and the Knowledge Challenge initiative: “The grants under this Knowledge Challenge are focused on inclusion and the importance of answering questions about the relationship between entrepreneurship, economic opportunity and mobility. We’re excited to learn from the research collaborations that are investigating this nexus, as well as to a more inclusive research pipeline that will continue to push us forward. As we all struggle with the very serious effects of COVID-19, we need research that informs our way forward, not to go back to how things were, but to achieve a more resilient and inclusive economic system that serves all of us in the future.” The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to increase opportunities that allow all people to learn, to take risks, and to own their success. The Kauffman Foundation is based in Kansas City, Missouri, and uses its $2 billion in assets to collaboratively help people be selfsufficient, productive citizens. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org. The research team will be led by Prof. Ramón Borges-Méndez, PhD, and Prof. Edwin Meléndez, PhD. Prof. Borges-Méndez is Associate Professor in the Community Development and Planning Program of the International Development, Community and Environment Department at Clark University. Founded in 1887, Clark University is a small, liberal arts research university renowned for excellence in scholarship and teaching, especially in geography, international relations, and international development and social change. The University Park Partnership (UPP) is a nationally recognized partnership that connects Clark with neighborhood residents and organizations, local churches, government officials, the business community, and Worcester public schools. Together, these groups are organized around the Main South Community Development Corporation (CDC). Community engagement has long been a priority at Clark and they seek to bring that expertise to support economic recovery in Puerto Rico. During the last three years since Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit the island, CENTRO has devoted substantial resources to celebrate six major conferences and symposia on the impact of the hurricanes on the island and its reconstruction. They have attracted over 5,000 people in Puerto Rico, Washington DC, Florida, and New York City. In addition, CENTRO has produced ten publications (for diverse audiences), which analyze the impact of the natural hazards and the economic crisis of the island, and organized a support and relief platform to maintain close ties between Puerto Rico and the diaspora community in the mainland. CENTRO has facilitated policy dialogue between public, private, non-profit stakeholders to support reconstruction efforts.
Libros/ Books
El Sol Latino October 2020
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La danza de la insurrección: para una sociología de la música latinoamericana por ANGEL G. QUINTERO RIVERA • Buenos Aires, Argentina | CLASCO | Agosto 2020 | 528 páginas
“La danza de la insurrección. Para una sociología de la música latinoamericana” que reúne texto de Ángel G. «Chuco» Quintero Rivera “estudia la salsa porque a su autor le gusta bailarla, y ese gusto es el que empuja desde los adentros una experimentada inteligencia dedicada a destrabar, a quitar las trabas que impiden a los latinoamericanos sentirse-en-casa cuando necesitan pensar con su cabeza», dice Jesús Martín Barbero en el estudio preliminar. Ángel G. «Chuco» Quintero Rivera es un referente indiscutido de la sociología de la música caribeña y latinoamericana. Sus textos recuperan y ponen de relieve de un modo original una de las cualidades
más potentes de la música salsera: una estrategia sonora de variaciones, compleja por donde se la mire, abierta y comunitaria. El Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLASCO) presenta un nuevo tomo de la “Colección Legados”, poniendo a disposición una obra que se pregunta por las formas musicales a través de las que se comunican en el Caribe los sentidos de pertenencia social, se entrecruza la comunicación identitaria con las expresiones emergentes de ciudadanía y la comunicación mediática con modos ancestrales de interrelaciones comunales. Ángel G. «Chuco» Quintero Rivera - Sociólogo e historiador con una extensa obra sobre clases sociales, política y música popular. Es autor o coautor principal de trece libros, entre ellos ¡Salsa, sabor y control! Sociología de la música “tropical”, publicado por la editorial Siglo XXI en México en 1998 (tercera edición, 2005). Este libro recibió el Premio Casa de las Américas, en el género de ensayo histórico social, y el Premio Iberoamericano de la Latin American Studies Association (LASA) en los Estados Unidos. Profesor invitado en Barcelona, Chicago, Sao Palo y Boston. Catedrático de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Centro de Investigaciones Sociales, Recinto de Río Piedras.
Medios / Media WTCC radio returns to live, in-studio broadcasting SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | August 24, 2020 – WTCC, 90.7 FM, which has operated remotely since the spring, on Sunday started broadcasting live in the studio on the campus of Springfield Technical Community College. DJs and talk show hosts are broadcasting from the WTCC studio between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., seven days a week. The station will broadcast live on a condensed schedule to limit the number of people who come in and out of the studio. In addition, WTCC has adopted social distancing protocols. No more than two people are allowed in the studio at one time, no visitors are allowed and additional cleaning procedures will be in place.
focused on area Latino, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Polish, Muslim, Native American and Caribbean communities. Listeners across Western Massachusetts and in Northern Connecticut can hear live talk shows as well as programs featuring an eclectic mix of musical styles. Programs can also be heard worldwide on the Internet by visiting wtccfm.org. “WTCC has been a resource and strong voice for the college and the Greater Springfield community,” said STCC President John B. Cook. “The volunteer staff has done a fantastic job with remote broadcasting. I know they’re looking forward to producing segments and broadcasting from the studios, and I know listeners are going to be thrilled to hear them live.”
Prior to the pandemic, WTCC operated live, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The radio station closed its studios in the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the safety of the staff, WTCC began operating remotely, offering a mixture of pre-recorded shows, audio from program hosts’ Facebook Live broadcasts and phone announcements and archived programming. Andrew Cade, WTCC business manager, said DJs and hosts are looking forward to returning. “We’re excited to bring back live broadcasts and get back in the studio,” Cade said. “The hosts have done a wonderful job creating remote broadcasts but we have missed being in the studio and providing listeners with the immediate and intimate experience that people love about radio. We are ready to get back in front of the microphones, and feel confident we can do this safely now. “I want to give a tremendous thank you to our remote broadcast engineer Jim Malaquias, who has brought us from March 13 through now,” Cade said. The station, which officially went on the air via closed circuit in 1969, today offers a diverse mix of programs
Andrew Cade, WTCC business manager
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Medios / Media
El Sol Latino October 2020
New Research Finds Eye-Opening Gaps in Latino Media News Coverage NEW YORK, NY | CENTER FOR COMMUNITY MEDIA | August 18, 2020 - A research report released on Tuesday, August 18th, 2020 by the Center for Community Media (CCM) shows surprising gaps and biases in news coverage by the Spanishlanguage media in the United States. The report is based on an analysis of almost 700,000 Spanish-language news stories in the 41 primary outlets, published during the first three years of the Trump presidency. CCM, which is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, will translate the report from Spanish to English in the coming weeks.
their families. But it accounted for just 6% of the monthly news output in 2019.
Overall coverage of the major political parties remains less than 10%. The Democratic party received slightly more attention with 7.61% in the first three months of 2020 than the Republican party, which was mentioned in Using a tool to search for specific terms and phrases, Ronny Rojas, an S TR ATEGIC PL AN investigative journalist and Newmark J-School faculty member, analyzed the 6.56% of reports.
2018-2022 news coverage by the Latino media at a time when Spanish-speaking communities have been the target of government and political leaders in U.S. There are 60 million Latinos in this country, and 40 million people speak Spanish.
While multiple surveys show that Spanish-speaking Latinx audiences are most interested in U.S. news about the economy, healthcare costs, immigration, and, increasingly, race and race relations, these topics comprised a remarkably small and declining share of Spanish-language news coverage during the three years studied. Rojas found that news on jobs and healthcare accounted for just one percent of all stories published or broadcast in Spanish each month, a decrease of 50% between 2017 and 2019. Major national surveys reveal that Spanish-speaking Latinx voters are most interested in topics around immigration. But the research shows that immigration makes up a small and declining share of the stories published. Coverage of immigration peaked at a monthly average of 9.6% of reporting published in 2017 and spiked again in June 2018, when many outlets covered the release of a recording of crying migrant children separated from
Rojas’s findings also suggest that racial and gender biases persist in Spanish-language media. For example, women are frequently labeled as “the woman of” or “wife of” a man, and incidents of domestic and genderbased violence are characterized as “crimes of passion” in 75 articles published in Spanish. He also finds that immigrants are predominantly discussed in terms of their citizenship status, whether they’re documented or undocumented. The term “illegal immigrant,” jettisoned from the English-language AP style guide as dehumanizing in 2013, appears in 358 articles published in 26 of the 41 Spanish-language publications. Invariably, when the term “immigrant” is used, it’s associated with something negative, such as crime or deportation. The words “Hispanic” and “Latino/a” are usually featured in positive stories about students, artists, and workers; Latinx is rarely used. If the Spanish-language media are not concentrating enough on the topics most relevant to Latinx audiences, it’s difficult to say what they are covering regularly instead, according to Rojas’s analysis. The subjects seem to change constantly based on the news of the moment. For example, the report found that coverage related to the notorious drug cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán doubled during the three-year period analyzed, even as the percentage of news about drug trafficking and drug cartels stayed roughly the same. The new research is the second part of the State of the Latino Media report issued last year by CCM’s Latino Media Initiative. The findings and strategies to address them were discussed on August 20 in a public forum with Spanishlanguage media executives and journalists. The mission of CENTER FOR COMMUNITY MEDIA - Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York is to serve news organizations that provide essential local coverage for populations whose voices and issues are underrepresented in mainstream media. The Center serves as a hub of information, resources, and training aimed at increasing the sustainability of this news media sector. The LATINO MEDIA INITIATIVE launched in 2016 is dedicated to producing research, organizing conferences and meetings, and advocating for new leadership in newsrooms and the creation of more outlets serving Latino communities.
Finanzas / Finances
Educación / Education
October 2020
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Lemonade or Lemon Aid? - (Final series)
Education Equity Focus of Grant to HCC
by MILAGROS S. JOHNSON
HOLYOKE, MA | HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE | September 15, 2020 – When Holyoke Community College unveiled its four-year, Strategic Plan in 2018, one of its top priorities was increasing success rates of students of color. That aligned with goals established by the Massachusetts Dept. of Higher Education, which in the same year made equity the top policy and performance objective for the entire state public higher education system.
In this third and final series of “Lemon Aid or Lemonade?”, I will provide you with a simple breakdown, if the vehicle you recently purchased is a lemon. The Massachusetts Lemon Aid Law (MLAL) protects you when the vehicle you purchased in Massachusetts does not pass state inspection, or has defects that impair its use and/or safety. Most consumers confuse this with the Used Vehicle Warranty Law (UVWL). Let me explain the difference.
To support those ongoing efforts, the Lumina Foundation last week awarded the Mass. DHE grants worth $1.2 million, with half the money earmarked for six state colleges and universities, including HCC.
Every vehicle sold in Massachusetts by a dealer or private party must pass inspection. The consumer has seven (7) days from the date of purchase to have the vehicle inspected. If the vehicle fails inspection for safety or emissions related defects and the repairs are estimated to cost more than 10% of the purchase price, or the vehicle cannot be inspected because it does not run, this entitles you to a refund. Beware: 1) A dealer is not allowed to sell a vehicle in an “as is” condition; 2) The dealer must have possession of the title when the vehicle is sold. Within 14 days of purchase, you must send a certified letter to the dealer along with a copy of the inspection report and estimate, demanding a refund under the MLAL. An attempt to return the vehicle to the dealer must be made (bring a witness with you) within that time period. Under the UVWL, every vehicle sold in Massachusetts has an express or implied warranty based on the mileage on the car at the time of purchase: Fewer than 40,000 miles 40,000 to 79,999 80,000 to 124,999 miles Over 125,000 miles
90 days or 3,750 miles 60 days or 2,500 miles 30 days or 1,250 miles Implied Warranty Only (must pass inspection and be fit for the particular purpose)
The dealer must repair any defect that impairs the vehicle’s use and/or safety, even if it passed inspection. Note: 1) Many dealers tell consumers that it only covers the power train or drive train however this is inaccurate; 2) The dealer can charge you a one-time deductible of $100 (if stated on the written warranty); 3) Do not attempt to repair the vehicle yourself, or have an independent mechanic do the repair work. You must notify the dealer and allow the dealer three (3) opportunities to repair the defect. You may qualify for a refund under the UVWL, if the defect continues to exist after the third attempt, or the vehicle has been out of service for more than ten (10) business days. If the dealer agrees to “buy back” the vehicle for the full purchase price, be sure it adheres to the guidelines in the UVWL which you can find in the Massachusetts Guide to Used Vehicle Warranty Law. Note: Under the UVWL, the dealer may charge you $.15 cents per mile driven since purchase. Note: This does not apply when the vehicle is deemed a lemon under the MLAL. If the dealer is unwilling to resolve the matter after being made aware of your rights, you may want to contact your Local Consumer Program for further guidance, or file a formal complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office for assistance.
Students and staff gather for a weekly meeting of HCC’s ALANA program in pre-COVID days. As part of a $100,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation, HCC will be expanding mentorship programs like ALANA that focus on students of color.
HCC’s $100,000 award will be used to further the work of its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion task force and expand mentorship programs that focus on students of color. “We have the distinct pleasure of residing in a diverse community where 50 percent of the residents are Latinx,” President Christina Royal said during a Sept. 10 virtual panel discussion that coincided with the announcement of the Lumina grants. “At Holyoke Community College, our mission to educate, inspire and connect is grounded in the idea that we are of and exist for the communities we serve. Leveraging that cultural wealth is pivotal to moving the equity agenda forward.” Through its Talent, Innovation, Equity and Equity Institution grants, the Lumina Foundation seeks to dismantle systemic barriers to student success and degree attainment, particularly for Black and Latinx students. Massachusetts was only the fifth state to receive grants from the Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation based in Indianapolis. “Access to quality higher education can help set students up for a lifetime of success, but systemic inequities in our higher education system prevent far too many Black and brown students from achieving their full potential,” said Mass. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who joined the Sept. 10 virtual gathering along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “It’s critical that our campuses reflect the diversity of our communities and that our colleges and universities are equipped with the resources, data, and cultural competency to support students of every background.”
Stay safe, be well…and continue to stay informed! You can now listen to The Consumer Toolbox podcast on your favorite platform (iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, etc).
During the panel discussion, Royal noted that Latinx students participating in HCC’s ALANA Men in Motion program show a fall-to-fall retention rate of 75 percent, compared to 45 percent for Latinx students not participating in ALANA, an academic support, mentoring, and counseling program for African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American men.
MILAGROS S. JOHNSON is the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Information in Springfield, a Local Consumer Program funded by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
“There’s a great deal of research to show that mentorship has positive academic benefits for students of color,” Royal said, “so we want to build on continued on next page
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Literatura / Literature
El Sol Latino October 2020
STCC Medical Assistant Program Ranked Top for Affordability and Quality SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | September 24, 2020 - Two websites have ranked Springfield Technical Community College‘s medical assistant program the top in Massachusetts for quality and value.
“And thanks to its comprehensive curriculum that includes valuable handson learning through laboratory and simulation experiences, you’ll feel confident knowing you have everything you need to succeed as a trusted member of the healthcare team.”
Medicalassistantadvice.com listed STCC as having the best medical assistant program in Massachusetts. STCC was listed as No. 1, beating out other community college and training programs in the state. Another website, MedAssistantEDU.org, rated the program as the most affordable in the Commonwealth.
MedAssistantEDU.org writes, “Becoming a medical assistant is one of the quickest routes to a career that offers a big return on a relatively small investment of time and money.”
“One of the top medical assistant schools in Massachusetts, Springfield Technical Community College prepares you for a rewarding career in the allied healthcare field by combining practical learning with didactic classes,” Medicalassistantadvice.com wrote about STCC.
Professional medical assistants perform administrative duties such as word processing, recordkeeping, billing, electronic medical records and scheduling procedures. Clinical responsibilities include assisting the physician with patient care, performing electrocardiograms, assisting with physical examinations, performing phlebotomy, obtaining and processing specimens. Graduates are qualified to accept positions in medical offices, clinics, health maintenance organizations, insurance companies, hospitals, ambulatory care centers, or any other area where their broad basic skills are needed. Karolyn Ryan, program director and associate professor in the medical assisting department, said she was delighted to find out the program made two separate lists of top schools. “Our program offers value and quality for our students who are well prepared to sit for the national certification exam offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants,” Ryan said. “We’re proud of the work we do to train students and help fill the demand for skilled workers in the healthcare field. Christopher Scott, dean of the School of Health and Patient Simulation, applauded the faculty and staff in the medical assistant program. “We have talented and dedicated faculty and staff who go out of their way to help the students succeed,” Scott said. “These rankings are a reflection of the quality of instruction our community has come to expect from STCC, which is the most affordable college in the region.”
STCC medical assistant students train on campus in this photo from fall 2019.
The medical assistant program at STCC offers a “one-plus-one” option, which means students in the program obtain a certificate after one year of successful coursework. They can either enter the workforce or continue another year in the program to pursue an associate degree. In naming STCC among the most affordable medical assistant associate degree programs of 2020-21, MedAssistantEDU.org wrote, “At more than $1,800 less than the state average for public medial assistant associate degrees, the Springfield Technical Community College AS-Medical Assistant offers unmatched quality without breaking the bank.
Education Equity Focus of Grant to HCC
The STCC medical assistant certificate program is accredited by Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education programs (CAAHEP) upon recommendation of the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB). Not all programs in the state have received accreditation. STCC has a long list of top rankings in health and other programs. Earlier this year, it was named a top college for dental hygiene and nursing. For more information about the medical assistant program and to apply visit stcc.edu/explore/programs/mast.as/ or call STCC Admissions at (413) 755-3333. For more information about STCC, visit www.stcc.edu. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@S_T_C_C) and Instagram (@stccpics).
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the successes of HCC programs like ALANA to provide students of color more vehicles to be connected with students, alumni and others like them.”
Hill Community College, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the University of Massachusetts Boston, and the Boston Foundation.
HCC’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion group focuses on making sure students of color succeed at the same rate as their white peers, using benchmarks such as retention and college completion rates.
“We have been impressed and energized by the commitment to racial equity demonstrated at all levels of the Commonwealth,” said Danette Howard, Lumina’s senior vice president and chief strategy officer. “We believe the work ahead will catalyze structural improvements for equity within Massachusetts institutions and communities throughout the state.”
“Through the EDI group, we will be training a team of professionals on campus who know how to talk about equity, preach its importance and execute changes so that equity comes embedded in our culture, so it is what we live and breathe,” Royal said. In addition to the $500,000 Talent, Innovation, Equity partnership grant awarded to the DHE, $100,000 Equity Institution grants were awarded to HCC, Greenfield Community College, Bridgewater State University, Bunker
“COVID-19 has exposed inequities across our state,” said Carlos E. Santiago, Mass. Commissioner of Higher Education. “With Lumina’s support, we will be able to accelerate our work to ensure that students of color from underserved communities feel welcome on campus and have the resources they need to complete their degrees and enter the workforce in a timely fashion.”
Salud / Health
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El Sol Latino October 2020
Children use both brain hemispheres to understand language, unlike adults by GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER WASHINGTON, D.C. | GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | September 7, 2020 - Infants and young children have brains with a superpower, of sorts, say Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientists. Whereas adults process most discrete neural tasks in specific areas in one or the other of their brain’s two hemispheres, youngsters use both the right and left hemispheres to do the same task. The finding suggests a possible reason why children appear to recover from neural injury much easier than adults. The study published Sept. 7, 2020 in PNAS focuses on one task, language, and finds that to understand language (more specifically, processing spoken sentences), children use both hemispheres. This finding fits with previous and ongoing research, led by Georgetown neurology professor Elissa L. Newport, Ph.D., a former postdoctoral fellow Olumide Olulade, MD, Ph.D., and neurology assistant professor Anna Greenwald, Ph.D.
overall lateralization in group averages. Investigators then compared the language activation maps for four age groups: 4-6, 7-9, 10-13, and 18-29. Penetrance maps revealed the percentage of subjects in each age group with significant language activation in each voxel of each hemisphere. (A voxel is a tiny point in the brain image, like a pixel on a television monitor.) Investigators also performed a whole-brain analysis across all participants to identify brain areas in which language activation was correlated with age. Researchers found that, at the group level, even young children show leftlateralized language activation. However, a large proportion of the youngest children also show significant activation in the corresponding right-hemisphere areas. (In adults, the corresponding area in the right hemisphere is activated in quite different tasks, for example, processing emotions expressed with the voice. In young children, areas in both hemispheres are each engaged in comprehending the meaning of sentences as well as recognizing the emotional affect.) Newport believes that the “higher levels of right hemisphere activation in a sentence processing task and the slow decline in this activation over development are reflections of changes in the neural distribution of language functions and not merely developmental changes in sentence comprehension strategies.” She also says that, if the team were able to do the same analysis in even younger children, “it is likely we would see even greater functional involvement of the right hemisphere in language processing than we see in our youngest participants (ages 4-6 years old). “Our findings suggest that the normal involvement of the right hemisphere in language processing during very early childhood may permit the maintenance and enhancement of right hemisphere development if the left hemisphere is injured,” Newport says.
Examples of individual activation maps in each of the age groups. Strong activation in righthemisphere homologs of the left-hemisphere language areas is evident in the youngest children, declines over age, and is entirely absent in most adults. Credit: Elissa Newport
“This is very good news for young children who experience a neural injury,” says Newport, director of the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, a joint enterprise of Georgetown University and MedStar National Rehabilitation Network. “Use of both hemispheres provides a mechanism to compensate after a neural injury. For example, if the left hemisphere is damaged from a perinatal stroke—one that occurs right after birth—a child will learn language using the right hemisphere. A child born with cerebral palsy that damages only one hemisphere can develop needed cognitive abilities in the other hemisphere. Our study demonstrates how that is possible.” Their study solves a mystery that has puzzled clinicians and neuroscientists for a long time, says Newport. In almost all adults, sentence processing is possible only in the left hemisphere, according to both brain scanning research and clinical findings of language loss in patients who suffered a left hemisphere stroke. But in very young children, damage to either hemisphere is unlikely to result in language deficits; language can be recovered in many patients even if the left hemisphere is severely damaged. These facts suggest that language is distributed to both hemispheres early in life, Newport says. However, traditional scanning had not revealed the details of these phenomena until now. “It was unclear whether strong left dominance for language is present at birth or appears gradually during development,” explains Newport. Now, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyzed in a more complex way, the researchers have shown that the adult lateralization pattern is not established in young children and that both hemispheres participate in language during early development. Brain networks that localize specific tasks to one or the other hemisphere start during childhood but are not complete until a child is about 10 or 11, she says. “We now have a better platform upon which to understand brain injury and recovery.” The study, originally run by collaborators William D. Gaillard, MD, and Madison M. Berl, Ph.D., of Children’s National Medical Center, enrolled 39 healthy children, ages 4-13; Newport’s lab added 14 adults, ages 18-29, and conducted a series of new analyses of both groups. The participants were given a wellstudied sentence comprehension task. The analyses examined fMRI activation patterns in each hemisphere of the individual participants, rather than looking at
The investigators are now examining language activation in teenagers and young adults who have had a major left hemisphere stroke at birth. More information: Olumide A. Olulade el al., “The neural basis of language development: Changes in lateralization over age,” PNAS (2020). www.pnas.org/ cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1905590117
Breathing Space Yoga of Holyoke ofrece:
Yoga en Español con Angélica Martes de 5:30 pm a 6:30 pm Comienza el 1 de septiembre Transmisión en vivo - por donación
Esta clase incluye secuencias de flujo y poses individuales, seguidas de descanso. Esta clase es para aquellos que buscan una práctica clásica de yoga para apoyar el equilibrio, la flexibilidad, la integración mente / cuerpo y la fuerza. Alguna experiencia con yoga útil. Aunque Angélica es puertorriqueña, no es una hablante nativa de español. Ella está aprendiendo activamente el idioma y agradece cualquier comentario. This class includes flow sequences and individual poses, followed by rest. This class is for those looking for a classic yoga practice to support balance, flexibility, mind / body integration, and strength. Some yoga experience useful. Although Angelica is Puerto Rican, she is not a native Spanish speaker. She is actively learning the language and welcomes any feedback. This class is livestream, by donation.
Regístrate aquí: breathingspaceholyoke.com Para mas Información: 413 437-0747 breathingspaceholyoke@gmail.com
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Ciencias / Science
El Sol Latino October 2020
¿Tendremos un vacuna contra el Coronavirus antes que termine el 2020? por ANA PAMELA TORRES OCAMPO El rol de una vacuna es proveer inmunidad a una persona para que tenga una ventaja en reducir la infección en el cuerpo. La manera de hacer esto es encontrar una pequeña parte del virus/bacteria o un virus inactivado (no puede enfermarte) e introducirla al cuerpo. Generalmente, la dosis es suficiente para que tu cuerpo no se enferme pero sí aprenda a cómo pelear la infección. De esta manera, tu cuerpo desarrolla inmunidad, es decir, tu cuerpo aprende a cómo pelear la infección con mas especificidad. Por lo tanto, desarrollar una vacuna para el COVID-19 es ideal ya que es muy fácil contagiarse. También, en teoría, podríamos evitar que el número de gente contagiada y la que ha fallecido, siga subiendo. Todavía hay mucha incertidumbre debido a que aun no sabemos cómo funciona la infección y cómo es que enferma a algunos mínimamente mientras que a otros los enferma severamente. Nosotros los humanos hemos usado vacunas desde 1796. A pesar de que es una práctica que lleva muchos años, no significa que sea fácil encontrar una vacuna. Actualmente, hay un sin número de infecciones virales y bacterianas que aun no tienen vacuna debido a varios factores. Infecciones como la HHS.Gov – Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos tuberculosis por ejemplo, tenemos una gran cantidad de literatura científica de cómo enferma a su hospedero. Sin embargo, aun no se a encontrado ese pedazo ideal que solo enferme sutilmente sin causar una infección para así crear inmunidad en contra de la tuberculosis. Con esto en mente, la tuberculosis es una infección que ha estado presente desde hace mucho tiempo. De COVID-19 sabemos muy poco debido a que apenas se supo de su existencia en diciembre del año pasado. Todavía existen muchas preguntas de las cuales no sabemos la respuesta. No obstante, en un
intento global, hay muchos laboratorios científicos que están intentando encontrar una vacuna para el COVID-19. Debido a presiones políticas, nuestro actual presidente está prometiendo que habrá una vacuna pronto. El desarrollo de una vacuna se hace bajo mucho rigor científico ya que si no se hace con el máximo cuidado, puede llegar a afectar negativamente al humano en vez de protegerlo efectivamente contra la enfermedad. Generalmente, hacer todos los exámenes y pruebas se tarda unos 2 años o más. Debido a la gran colaboración internacional, este tiempo se está acortando masivamente. Todos los científicos que están participando en este proyecto están devotos a la efectividad sin embargo, puede que no sea la vacuna mas efectiva ya que podría brindar inmunidad con varias dosis o no crear una respuesta eficiente en contra del COVID-19. Por lo tanto debemos seguir con nuestros cuidados que ya están implementados a nuestras rutinas diarias. Usar máscara en lugares cerrados, lavarse las manos seguido y reducir interactuar sin máscara a burbujas de amigos y familiares. Con esas medidas hemos visto como por lo menos en Massachusetts, Nueva York y el área de New England hemos logrado mantener un número bajo de infecciones. Todos deseamos que una vez mas podamos volver a la normalidad y la vacuna va a ser parte fundamental de ese proceso. Sin embargo, aun tenemos que mantener vigilancia. Aun no sabemos la efectividad de la vacuna que estará disponible a finales de año. Mientas tantos hay que cuidar de los nuestros, sobretodo los mas susceptibles como nuestros abuelos y niños. Sobre todo cuidar y ayudar a los doctores y enfermeras que están trabajando incansablemente para cuidar a los enfermos. Entre mas sigamos cuidándonos unos a otros, mas pronto saldremos de esta fase y podremos disfrutar de la normalidad una vez más. ANA PAMELA TORRES OCAMPO (a.torres.ocampo@gmail.com) is a PhD student at the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) Program - UMass Amherst.
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Deportes / Sports Finaliza Temporada 2020 - Springfield Old Timers Softball League
El Sol Latino October 2020
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Deportes / Sports
El Sol Latino October 2020
Finaliza Temporada 2020
Springfield Old Timers Softball League