Feb. 12, 2010 - School of Journalism

EL
1976 ~ 34 Years of Service ~ 2010
INDEPENDIENTE
www.elindenews.com
Free/gratis
February 11 / 11 de febrero 2010
Day Laborers Face Chilly Economy
By Nohemi Ramirez
It is 6:30 a.m. and 10 men stand
shivering outside the Southside
Presbyterian Church in the dark
on a cold Tucson morning.
For many of them, this is a
daily routine. Their only way to
earn a little money is to join the
Day Laborers Program at the
church in hopes that someone
will need to hire a few men for
landscaping, construction or
moving for the day.
But Rigoberto Polanco, a day
laborer for five years, says that it
has recently become a more difficult way for him and the others to
earn a few dollars.
Polanco, originally from
Sinaloa, Mexico, said that he has
been a day laborer for so long
because it’s hard to find a fulltime job.
“The economy is really hard,”
says Rigoberto Polanco in
Spanish. “That is why we have to
come here.”
But as the economy tanked,
new housing started to dry up and
fewer homeowners started remodeling jobs, there became less
demand for day laborers.
This was the case for Ramon
Manuel, who lives in Tucson during the winter and in California
the rest of the year. He said that
every winter he comes back to
Tucson with his family and tries
to find a temporary job in the
construction industry, but this
year he has had no luck and has
had to go to the church.
The Southside Church has been
helping day laborers since the
mid 1980s, but in September
2006, the church, at 317 W. 23rd
St., formally began offering a day
laborers program that allows the
workers to stand on church property instead of in the streets.
Also, on Mondays and Fridays
the church offers free breakfast,
hot showers and clothes for those
who need it.
Coordinator Aaron Banas says
that the program has evolved
over the years. The workers enter
a raffle each morning to determine the order in which they will
be hired for the day – assuming
anyone is looking for workers.
It’s 7 a.m. and there are now 30
men waiting for the church doors
to open so they can line up single
file and place their numbers in a
bowl. Then all they can do is wait
for their number to be called.
But these days, most of the
workers go home empty-handed.
Employers have not been
showing up like before, Banas
says. It used to be that every day
about 10 laborers would be hired.
Recently, the average number has
gone down to two.
“The economy has definitely
played a huge role in the day
laborer field,” he says. “It has
been pretty difficult for a lot of
the day laborers.”
It is 8:30 a.m. and there is no
sign of an employer.
The men, mostly from Mexico
and Central America, can hang out
on church property until 11 a.m.,
Monday through Friday, looking
for work. Many are skilled and are
ready to do just about anything.
Carlos Macias, 53, said that he
has worked in landscaping,
plumbing and carpet installation.
Originally
from
Aguascalientes, in central Mexico, he
lives alone “with his mother, La
Virgen de Guadalupe.” The rest of
his family is in Mexico.
There is a large number of men
like Macias, just trying to get by
far from home.
“We come to see if we get some
work, but we don’t find it,” says
Oscar Vega, 34, who has been
going to the church since 2000.
Vega, originally from Sinaloa,
said that if things do not get bet-
Spring Training
The Diamondbacks
and the Rockies start
their last spring training
season in Tucson.
...see page 3
Tucson Gem Show
The gem show visits
Tucson for the 56th
year until Feb. 14.
...see page 4
Photo by otto Ross
A day laborer volunteer directs people interested in hiring day laborers at the
Southside Presbyterian Church.
ter he will have to go back to
Mexico, where he worked in agriculture.
“I’ll go back to my land as
soon as I save up for the ticket,”
he says. “There is more work
there than here.”
It is 11 a.m. and only two
employers came by.
The situation for the day labor-
ers is not good, but Banas hopes
that now that the weather is nicer
there will be more work.
“A lot of these guys are just
family guys as well and are having a hard time in the economy
too,” Banas said. “It is good to
support them while they support
the community.”
Por Zach Simon
Traducido por Dina Tyrrell
Photo
by
Kaite Flynn
Darlene Burkett, especialista de la sociedad de Arizona para el Centro Regional
del Censo Denver, trabaja en una casilla del Censo 2010 con miembros de la
comunidad que asistieron al evento Tucson Urban League MLK.
comunidades hispanas que son
muy difíciles de contar.
A vísperas del censo 2010, la
Oficina del Censo está tomando
varias iniciativas para promover
la educación acerca del censo en la
comunidad hispana, como los
anuncios en la radio bilingüe, en
la televisión, y en el internet. La
meta es fomentar la participación
South Side
Librarian
Wins Award
By Victoria Blute
completa en Tucsón y alrededor
del país.
“La cuenta exacta de la
población hispana del país y de
cualquier otro grupo ayudará a asegurar el reparto justo y equitativo
de la representación política y
también ayudará que las comunidades reciban una distribución
justa de fondos”, dijo Melanie
Deal de la Oficina de Información
Pública de la Oficina del Censo.
La información es usada para
asignar a los estados escaños en
el congreso, distribuir fondos federales anuales a los gobiernos
estatales, locales y tribales, y
para decidir qué servicios comunitarios se van a proveer en las
áreas que el censo indica que son
las más necesitadas. Eso significa, que mientras menos residentes
del Sur de Tucsón participen en el
censo, el gobierno local recibe
menos fondos para construir carreteras, parques y escuelas.
“The city of South Tucson could
probably throw a rock and hit
someone that Sol knows,” says
Aaron Valdivia, branch manager
of the El Pueblo Library. “He’s a
man of the people. It sounds
cliché and corny, but that’s Sol.”
Sol Gómez, 32, is the branch
manager of the Sam Lena Library
and the winner of the 2009 “I
Love My Librarian” award. The
award recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding librarians
nationwide.
Though Gómez was surprised
to win, Valdivia explains that
there are several factors that led to
Gómez being honored by the
American Library Association.
“He’s easily approachable.
You can talk to him about anything,” he says. “If you know
anything about the way the
library field works, it’s that it’s
really important to connect with
the youth.” Valdivia notes that
while Gómez is laid back, he also
takes his job very seriously.
“When the time comes and
[kids] are having trouble in
school, he’s all about helping
them. He uses his own personali-
‘El censo’/vea página 6
‘Librarian’/see page 6
Programa para la involucración hispana en el censo
Los programas para la involucración en el censo alrededor del
país, incluyendo los de Tucsón,
están tratando de encontrar la
mejor manera de persuadir a la
gente que se quiere alejar del radar
del gobierno a participar en el
venidero Censo de los EE.UU. del
2010.
La población hispana en los
EE.UU. ha sido históricamente
difícil de contar a causa de los
conceptos comunes falsos acerca
de cómo el gobierno usa los datos
coleccionados, dijo Magdalena
Barajas, una asociada especialista
para la Oficina del Censo de los
EE.UU. que trabaja en Tucsón. Los
programas asociados trabajan a
nivel local para informar a la
gente que el censo es rápido y
seguro.
Barajas dijo que hay lugares
con poblaciones minoritarias
muy grandes, incluyendo a las
INSIDE
El INDEPENDIENTE
Page / Página 2
February 11 / 11 de febrero 2010
I-19 Checkpoint Construction Begins
By Jessica Befort
Construction began Jan. 4 on an
interim U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 19 and should
be completed in early April,
according to the U. S. Border
Patrol. But as of yet, there is no
timeline for the construction of a
permanent facility.
The $1. 5 million interim
facility will include a third lane
for semitrailers, a secondary
area for vehicles requiring further inspection and a canopy to
cover the entire facility, said
Omar Candelaria, a Border
Patrol spokesman.
The interim checkpoint –
located between the Agua Linda
and Chavez Siding exits – will
be less than one mile south of
the current temporary checkpoint, north of Tubac, he said.
Currently two lanes run north
and south along I-19. One lane
in the northbound direction was
closed for a week when construction first began. Aside
from this early closure, there are
no plans to close parts of the
interstate, except perhaps when
the canopy is constructed,
Candelaria said.
The contractors are trying to
figure out the best way to build
the canopy while minimizing
the impact on traffic, Candelaria
said. If the highway is closed, it
will be for an hour or less and
will be at times when the highway is least busy.
Photo by Kaite Flynn
A U.S. Border Patrol officer inspects underneath a vehicle at the current I-19
checkpoint near Tubac.
But this is the worst-case
scenario, he said. The contractors have not yet come up with a
complete plan for the canopy’s
construction, and traffic might
be deferred to a detour.
Those heading south of
Tucson for the Tubac Festival of
EL
INDEPENDIENTE
the Arts from Feb. 10-14 will not
encounter construction as it will
halt from Feb. 7-17 to accommodate the influx of traffic.
But has construction affected
traffic for those who frequently
pass through the checkpoint?
Chelsea Robling, a Tucson
resident who grew up in Tubac permanent checkpoints. The Iand returns to visit her family, 19 checkpoint is the first being
said that since construction has upgraded to a permanent facilistarted she hasn’t experienced ty, with this interim checkpoint
being a step toward that goal.
any extra delays.
A permanent facility is needThe current
temporary
checkpoint gets backed up ed to accommodate the anticidepending on what time of the pated increased traffic as the
day it is, Robling said, an issue Mariposa port of entry in
that could be alleviated by the Nogales, Ariz., upgrades, Candinterim and then permanent elaria said.
“If we have more commercial
checkpoint.
traffic coming
While Rob north from Mexling said she is in
For more information:
ico and we don’t
favor of the perhave the app ro manent checkU.S. Customs and
priate facilities
point,
some
Border Protection
to accommodate
Tubac residents
www.cbp.gov
the traffic, there
don’t support the
Tucson Sector: 748-3000 will be back up.”
idea.
The primary
“I think it’s a
reason
for
waste
of
money, ” said Jane Lowder, upgrading the temporary I-19
checkpoint is to increase safety
owner of Jane’s Attic in Tubac.
Lowder said that she thinks for Border Patrol agents and the
the interstate is not an appro- public, he said.
“We believe that it’s very
priate place for the checkpoint.
“They should be securing the likely that if you’re a smuggler
and you’re looking for a place to
border at the border,” she said.
The I-19 checkpoint is part bring in your stuff and all the
of the U. S. Border Patrol’s other places have permanent
Tucson Sector, which runs from checkpoints and the Tucson
the New Mexico state line to the Sector does not, that’s where
to
enter, ”
Yuma County line. It’s the you’re going
busiest sector in the nation, Candelaria said. “It’s an obviaccording
to
Candelaria. ous choice.”
Between 46 to 48 percent of
marijuana seizures occur in the
Para leer este artículo en
Tucson sector.
español visita:
Though this sector is the
www.elindenews.com
busiest, it is the only one along
the Southwest border without
Sunnyside Looking to Double
Enrollment at Alt. High School
By Brett Booen
South Tucson’s Bilingual Newspaper
El Independiente encourages letters from all its readers, but reserves the
right to edit correspondence for grammar, style, clarity and length.
www.elindenews.com
UA Journalism
P.O. Box 210158B
Tucson, AZ 85721
Phone: 621-3618
[email protected]
Adviser
Maggy Zanger
Graphics and Layout Advisers
John deDios
Gawain Douglas
Managing Editor
Copy Editors
Shelby Hill
Anthony Hasan
Brett Booen
Heather Riss
Zach Simon
Jeff Feld
Spanish Editor
Photographers
Nohemi Ramariz
Otto Ross
Tammara Crawford
Victoria (Tory) Blute
News Editor
Design Chief
Amy Kissinger
Designers
Photo Editor
Marissa Hopkins
Natalie Boras
Kaite Flynn
Community Events Editor
Reporters
Nathan Mitchell
Erica Nannini
News Room Manager
Translators
Ashley Ralston-Alverez
Angélica Pozo-DesPortes
Dina Tyrrell
Lizette M. Pérez
Copy Chief
Jessica Befort
Web Manager
Josh Saunders
Translation and Interpretation
Department
of Spanish and Portuguese
and Mexican American Studies
Between an ongoing concern to tighten the budget
and a $12,000 spending fiasco involving Sunnyside
High School’s superintendent, an unsuspected
source of hope emerged at Sunnyside Unified School
District’s Governing Board meeting Jan. 26.
While the primary concern for many in attendance was answers from the board regarding
Superintendent Manuel L. Isquierdo’s personal
use of a district credit card, a band of students and
faculty from STAR Academic Center gathered for a
different cause.
The STAR supporters, which included about 40
of the high school’s students and faculty, took
over the board room during the first hour of the
meeting to voice concerns surrounding a proposed redesign plan for the alternative high
school. The plan was set to increase STAR’s
enrollment and force current faculty members to
reapply for their jobs before the next school year.
With fellow district high schools Sunnyside
and Desert View bursting at the seams, the board
went forward with its recommendation to increase
STAR’s enrollment to 500. But because of the outcry from students, the board will not require the
faculty to reapply for their jobs next fall.
STAR is a smaller, second-chance school for
students to learn in non-traditional ways and
spend more time with teachers compared to a regular high school. It is also for students who may
not be able to attend regularly.
With an enrollment of 260 students, the proposed redesign represents a 92 percent enrollment increase.
But for the students, it wasn’t so much about
the population expansion as it was about keeping
their teachers on board.
“We wanted to keep the teachers (and) the staff,”
said Tony Fierro, a senior at STAR. “We’ve built such
good relationships with them over our time there.”
Fierro said the students’ goal at the board meeting was to make sure their teachers remained.
The teachers echoed their sentiments as well.
“This is a place where (the students) feel comfortable,” said Michael Olguin, a government
and history teacher at STAR. “We understand the
problems that the district is facing. We just
wanted to come here and make sure this was a collaborative effort between the students, the teachers and the district.”
Photo
by
tammaRa CRawFoRd
Michael Olguin, a STAR Academic Center teacher, said
“This is a place where (the students) feel comfortable.”
That collaborative process, Olguin said, was to
ensure that the district wasn’t going to force
STAR to become a large high school like
Sunnyside or Desert View, which have student
enrollments of 2,264 and 2,002, respectively.
However, SUSD is under the constant stress to
become more cost-effective. The board says adding
students at STAR is a necessity at this point.
“If I could have and we could afford 10 STAR
(high schools), then it would be on the table right
now,” said SUSD Board President Louie Gonzales.
“Small schools are great, but it’s all about cost.”
Gonzales said before the economic downturn,
the district was in line to build a third high school
to relieve some of the pressure on the district’s
other two high schools.
With no funding for construction, the district
wants to relieve the number of students at
Sunnyside and Desert View by increasing the
enrollment at STAR. The hope is that the secondchance school can be a success for at-risk students
on a larger scale.
“We need to expand for those at-risk students
in this district (who) also need help,” said SUSD
Board Member Eva Dong. “We want them to experience what all of the STAR students have been
able to experience.”
STAR teachers have an optimistic view of the
board’s decision.
“You know, great things are happening here,”
Olguin said. “As long as it’s collaborative
between us and the district, and not just them
imposing rules and regulations on us, even
greater things can happen.”
El INDEPENDIENTE
February 11 / 11 de febrero 2010
Page / Página 3
Rodeo Parade Route Cut by Half Mile
By heather Rissi
EL INDEPENDIENTE
ARChIVAL PhOTO OF
hI CORBETT FIELD
The 85th annual Tucson Rodeo Parade will
begin at its usual time, 9 a. m. , on
Thursday, Feb. 25, but there is a new
change that visitors should be aware of
before they put on their boots and head
down to watch the country’s longest nonmotorized parade.
This year the parade will be a half mile
shorter than usual. Instead of starting at
Ajo Way and Park Avenue, the parade will
begin at Park Avenue and Fair Street, eight
blocks south of Ajo Way. From there, the
parade will travel south on Park Avenue,
turn west on Irvington Road and then turn
north to Sixth Avenue, ending at the rodeo
grounds, 4823 S. Sixth Ave.
The parade route was shortened this
year because of Tucson Police budget cuts,
said Herb Wagner, Tucson Rodeo Parade
Committee spokesman.
Wagner said city police are in charge
of traffic and crowd control and reassigned
to help with the parade during the event.
But this year the city police could only
afford to spare 120 officers to aid the Parade
Committee, about 80 fewer than last year.
Wagner said the decision to begin at
Fair Street instead of Ajo Way was made to
maximize the availability of the officers
to cover the parade.
“It takes a lot of officers to close Ajo
Way,” he said. “By keeping Ajo open, it
frees up a lot of officers.”
They also chose that area because in
past years, it has been the least populated
by parade-goers since it is harder to reach,
Wagner said.
Wagner doesn’t believe the change will
affect the outcome of the parade, which
showcases America’s western history by
using old-fashioned wagons and buggies.
“The parade reflects different heritages,”
Wagner said. “It is a mixture of Native
American, Mexican American and Anglo
cultures all coming together. So I believe it
will be as colorful and exciting as ever.”
The last time the parade route experienced any changes was in 1991, when it
was moved from downtown to its current
location.
About 200,000 people are estimated to
attend the parade every year, the single
largest spectator event in Arizona,
Wagner said.
Golf tournaments and other events
draw large crowds over days, he said, but
the parade draws the largest during a single
two-and-a-half hour event.
Por heather Rissi
Traducido por Dina Tyrrell
MAP
COURTESY OF
TUCSON RODEO PARADE COMMITTEE
If you go
Transportation: Sun Tran pick up at Tucson Mall and
Park Place Mall; drop off walking distance to parade.
Grandstand seating: Irvington Road. Tickets bought
before event are $6 for adults and $4 for children
under 12. $1 increase on parade day.
Diamondbacks, Rockies
Begin Last Season in Tucson
with american teams leaving tucson,
Japanese baseball teams could take their place
By Anthony hasan
For more information
This spring, Tucson Electric Park and the
Kino Sports Complex will be the host to a
Major League Baseball team’s training
headquarters for the last time.
March 4 will be the first game of the
last year of the Arizona Diamondbacks’
spring training in Tucson when they host
the Colorado Rockies at Tucson Electric
Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way.
The Diamondbacks will play 16 games
at the park during March. All games start at
1:05 p.m.
Next season, the Diamondbacks and
Rockies will move to a new spring training complex east of Scottsdale. The move
comes two years after the Chicago White
Sox ended their 11-year stint sharing the
Kino Sports complex with the
Diamondbacks. The White Sox moved to a
new complex with the Los Angeles
Dodgers in Glendale, Ariz.
Jack Camper, president of the Tucson
Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said
he can see why some Tucsonans are disheartened by the prospect of no more
spring training. For more than 60 years,
baseball teams and their fans enjoyed
For a complete schedule and ticket
information visit the Arizona
Diamondback website at
arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com
Se acorta
el Desfile
del Rodeo
Tucson’s weather. The departure of the
Diamondbacks and Rockies will have an
economic effect on Tucson as well.
Each team brings about $10 million a
year to Tucson’s economy, Camper said.
When Tucson was hosting all three teams,
the city could rely on about $30 million in
tourism and other sources of revenue.
The revenue loss from the departure of
spring training hurts local businesses, said
Francisco Valdez, manager of Las
Cazuelitas de Tucson, 2615 S. Sixth Ave.
Valdez said events like spring training
are great for restaurants.
“Anything that brings people to Tucson
and creates an atmosphere that brings people out with their families, their kids, really helps business,” he said.
Camper said there is still hope for professional baseball in Tucson, as negotia-
tions are taking place between Major
League Baseball and professional teams in
Japan to bring their stars to train in
Tucson.
“It works out because their spring training starts right around the same time as
ours,” Camper said.
Ideally, he said, there will be two or
three professional Japanese teams moving
their spring training operations to Tucson
as early as next season, and Tucson would
see benefits almost immediately.
Seeing the top players from Japan take
on American baseball stars would be exciting for many fans, Camper said, especially
those from Japan, making spring training
in Tucson a must-see for Japanese tourists
and baseball fans alike.
While those negotiations are far from
complete, Camper said he is still optimistic about the future of professional
baseball in Tucson.
“The Japanese are rabid baseball fans,”
he said.
“I can see Japanese (tourists) landing in
Vegas, driving to the Grand Canyon on
their way to Tucson to watch their own
teams play, then heading off to Los
Angeles.”
El 85º Desfile Anual del Rodeo de
Tucsón empezará a la hora usual de
las 9 a.m. el jueves, 25 de feb.
pero hay un nuevo cambio que los
visitantes tienen que saber antes
de ponerse las botas e ir a ver el
desfile no-motorizado más largo
del país.
Este año el desfile será una
milla más corta que de costumbre.
En lugar de comenzar en Ajo Way
y Park Avenue, comenzará en Park
Avenue y Fair Street, ocho cuadras
al sur de Ajo Way. De allí, el desfile se dirigirá hacia el sur por
Park Avenue, virará al oeste en
Irvington Road y luego al norte
en Sixth Street, para terminar en
la arena del rodeo, 4823 S. Sixth
Ave.
La ruta del desfile fue acortada
este año a causa de los recortes en
el presupuesto de la Policía de
Tucsón, dijo Herb Wagner, vocero
del Comité del Desfile del Rodeo
de Tucsón.
Wagner dijo que la policía está
a cargo de controlar el tráfico y la
muchedumbre y son reasignados
para ayudar con el desfile durante
el evento.
Pero este año la policía de la
ciudad solo podía aportar 120 oficiales para apoyar al Comité del
Desfile, unos 80 menos que el año
pasado.
Wagner dijo que la decisión de
comenzar en Fair Street en lugar
de Ajo Way fue tomada para maximizar la disponibilidad de agentes
para cubrir el desfile.
“Se requiere muchos agentes
para cerrar Ajo Way”, dijo él. “Si
no se cierra Ajo, se desocupan
muchos agentes”.
También se escogió esa área
porque en años pasados ha sido la
menos poblada con visitantes ya
que es más difícil llegar allí, dijo
Wagner.
Wagner no considera que el
cambio afectará el resultado del
desfile, el cual muestra la historia
del oeste de América usando carretas y calesas antiguas.
“El desfile refleja varias herencias”, dijo Wagner. “Es una mezcla de culturas nativo-americanas,
mexicano-americanas y anglo sajonas que se unen entre sí. Así
que yo pienso que será tan colorido y tan emocionante como siempre”.
La última vez que la ruta del
desfile experimentó cambios fue
en 1991, cuando se movió del
centro de la ciudad a donde está
ahora.
Se estima que cerca de 200,000
personas asistirán al desfile este
año, el único evento con más
espectadores en Arizona, dijo
Wagner.
El desfile atrae a la mayoría
multitudes durante un evento de
sólo dos horas y media.
Si va
Transporte: Sun Tran recoge en
Tucson Mall y Park Place Mall;
bajada a corta distacia del desfile.
Asiento en gradas: aI lado de
Irvington Road. Boletos el día
antes del desfile cuestan $6 para
adultos y $4 para niños menores
de 12. $1 más el día del evento.
Para más información: llame al
294-1280 o visite la Oficina del
Desfile del Rodeo en Tucsón,
4823 S. Sixth Ave.
El INDEPENDIENTE
Page / Página 4
February 11 / 11 de febrero 2010
Journey to the Center of the World
By Nathan Mitchell
Oregon-based Sue Liebetrau has
been coming to the Tucson Gem
and Mineral Show since 1982.
She is a “well-aged” collector of
gems and minerals with a particular interest in petrified woods,
though her fascination began at
an early age. Her collection has
grown into a full-time hobby.
“You know that little kid going
around picking up rocks and
sticks? That was me,” she says.
The 56th annual show has
brought together vendors, collectors and buyers from India to
Argentina to create another year
of the reputed world’s largest gem
show.
Shoppers and spectators are
welcomed into hotels and tent
cities to see the natural wonders
of the world. Objects for sale can
be extravagant: a crystal chunk of
purple and clear Kunzite for
$34,000; a nest of 25 red and gray
fossilized eggs set in a lit case
with a note that reads “DO NOT
TOUCH
DINOSAUR
NEST,
$37,500.” But for the more frugal
shoppers, there are beads,
singing bowls, moon rocks and
even a $25 stone tissue box.
Walking the halls of the
hotels-turned-strip-malls is something like spinning a globe. At
Hotel Tucson signs posted on the
doors read: Austria, Russia,
Tucson, Morocco, Peru, Tunisia,
France, China and Czech
Republic. The doors are open, and
the beds are removed. Vendors
invite shoppers in using sparse
English to take a look at the products set up in cases and on folding
tables they cart around the world.
Visitors in the ballroom can walk
among the towering skeletons of
an Albertosaurus and Giant Ground
Sloth casted from the bones of the
ancient creatures. Raw materials
used to make beads and jewelry sit
beside stone jewelry set in gold,
silver and wire. Price tags mark
the material, $25 for a kilo of
quartz and $2 for stromatolite.
“For you I make a special price.
Only $5,” says Manik B.S. to a
customer holding up a bead from a
bulk bin at the Riverpark Inn.
Shayna Dimond, a vendor and
Fast Facts:
• Sept. 30 through Feb. 14
• The show began 56 years ago
at the Helen Keeling
Elementary School and was
started by the Tucson Gem
and Mineral Society.
• The TGMS show remains the
main event and is held at the
TCC Feb. 11 to Feb. 14
• Ticket prices are $9.25 with
discounts available
• The American Gem Trade
Associations GemFair, wholesale only, is Feb. 2 through
Feb. 7.
• For a complete listing of the
shows visit
www.visittucson.org/gemshow
Photos
jeweler from the east coast, has
been working at the show for the
last six years selling rough
quartz, topaz and dolomite from
Brazil. She sits beside the stones
in a room at the La Quinta Inn,
reference books on crystal energy
at an arm’s reach. Every crystal
has energy. Energy work is using
those vibrations through meditation, she says.
Vendors and customers who
have been to similar shows in
Munich or Bangkok agree: This
is the biggest show in the world.
“It’s like going to Mecca,
where everyone has to go at least
once in their lives,” Liebetrau
says, Oregon-based collector.
“The variety and quality of minerals here is better than you can find
in a museum.”
The show attracted about
50,000 people and $100 million
in 2007, according to the most
recent survey conducted by the
Tucson Convention and Visitor
Bureau, says Kimberly Schmitz,
their director of public relations.
The event, which is 40 percent
Tucson-based businesses, consists of 44 shows in 42 different
Ashley Bruno plays a signing bowl as
Bill Duran watches at Riverpark Inn
during the gem show.
locations.
“Those are inaccurate representations of the gem show,” she
says. “It’s the Tucson Gem
show!”
While the gem show attracts
new vendors and new shoppers
every year, it also has its loyalists. This is the second year for
Chen Hou-Xi and his wife from
Costco Could Boost South Side Economy
By Erica Nannini
A south side Costco store could
go up as early as March 2011 if
the city approves plans that have
been submitted by developers
Eastbourne Investments Ltd. and
Retail West.
The store is part of the longterm, 350-acre Bridges Project,
which will include retail and residential developments, as well as a
University of Arizona biosciences park. The project is
located on the southwest corner
of Kino Boulevard and 36th
Street.
Eric Davis, president of Retail
West Properties, said that the
company owns the property and
Costco is interested in it.
Mark Kerr, aide to Tucson
Councilman Richard Fimbres of
Ward 5, said that the new store
would mean an “economic boom”
for the south side and all of
Tucson.
“Costco, even during these
economic times, has a sound
business model, ” Kerr said.
“They offer jobs with great pay
and great benefits — 401Ks.”
The Tucson City Council
expects that the convenience of
the superstore will attract people
to the south side who would not
by
nathan mitChell
helga and Gunter Pottinger examine quartz formations at the hotel Tucson.
“
We’ve got a lot of
work to do in a short
amount of time, but
our engineers are in
the middle of it and
we feel good about it.
–Eric Davis
President of Retail West
Properties
”
otherwise think of going there,
Kerr said.
Kerr said that he has not heard
of any opposition to the project.
However, in March 2007,
Councilwoman Karin Uhlich
voted against the development,
voicing her opposition to a “bigbox” store, which was once predicted to be a Wal-Mart. The council ultimately voted 6-1 to allow
the developers to move forward.
Small retailers, such as Jose
Gonzalez who runs a fruit and nut
stand on the corner of Campbell
Avenue and Irvington Road,
worry the proposed store will
draw customers away. Gonzalez
said he thinks the new store will
benefit the community but might
take away from his business as a
private seller.
News of the development has
managers of neighborhood groceries fretting as well.
“Of course, no one’s happy
with bringing in any competitor
of any kind,” said Ramon Lopez,
the store director at Food City,
2950 S. Sixth Ave. “I would
rather they all stay away.”
However, Lopez said that he is
unfamiliar with a big package
competitor like Costco. He said
that Food City’s business might
not suffer because the chain deals
with smaller, lower-volume items
whereas Costco tends to sell
items in bulk.
Davis said that the Bridges
Project as a whole will increase
tax revenues and generate traffic
in the area.
The proposed Costco would be
the third location in Tucson.
Davis said that depending on
how long it takes to get approval
to start construction, on top of
the basic infrastructure, March
2011 is the earliest date that the
store could open.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do
in a short amount of time, but our
engineers are in the middle of it
and we feel good about it,” he
said.
Hunan, China. Pedro Jimenez and
Ana de Los Santos are SouthAmerican vendors who have been
trekking to Tucson, stones in
tow, for many years. Though they
both now work from the United
States, their products carry an
inherent sense of their cultures.
Jimenez is a Peruvian-born
stone worker who specializes in
handcrafted Kachinas, figures that
represent supernatural beings. The
Kachinas take on the shapes of
animals and deities, like sun
dancers and corn maidens. The
eagle dancer Kachinas have the
bodies of men with pitch-black
wings attached to the arms and a
feather in each hand. The turquoise
heads are topped with feathered
headdresses. He also crafts different figurines like “Ancient
Peruvian Natives,” warriors
dressed in golden robes and helmets with daggers in their hands.
Jimenez relocated from Peru to
Santa Fe, N.M., 20 years ago. He
was taken in by local Apache
Indians who gave him the name
Blue Elk, now the moniker of his
business.
“It’s such an honor,” he says
about the name that once
belonged to their medicine man.
Jimenez has been showing his
work at the Tucson Convention
Center for the past 10 years. He
enjoys seeing the other exhibits
as much as showing his own. It is
all the natural beauty the world
has to offer put into one place, he
says.
“People love what I do,” he
says. “That’s the best part.
People enjoy seeing your dream
come true.”
De Los Santos, or “The Condor
Lady” as she is known, is a mine
owner from Buenos Aires,
Argentina, who exports agate
minerals, mostly condor agates.
Condors are minerals with a
glass-like surface with red, gray
and sky-blue rings that resemble
the rings in a tree trunk when cut
and polished. Like many of the
vendors, her life consists of constant traveling.
“I don’t live there,” she says
of her house in California. “ I live
on the road.”
De Los Santos travels to
Argentina twice a year to collect
the materials. From there she
travels to different shows around
the world. Compared to shows
she has been to in Germany and
France, Tucson outranks them all,
she says.
“I love to come here,” she
says. “For the gem world, this is
the center of the world.”
Mobile Meals ayuda a la comunidad
Por Marissa hopkins
Traducido por Dina Tyrrell
Mobile Meals of Tucson celebra
su 40 aniversario este año. Desde
1970, la organización basada en
voluntarios ha estado entregando
dos comidas al día, cinco días a la
semana a las personas de Tucsón
que están confinadas al hogar y
que necesitan dietas especiales.
Jean Miller, voluntaria y coordinadora de relaciones públicas,
dijo que Mobile Meals entrega
comida de lunes a viernes a más
de 200 personas entre las edades
de 21 hasta 101 años.
Miller dijo que las comidas son
preparadas en hospitales locales
de acuerdo a las instrucciones de
dieta del doctor específicas para
cada
necesidad
individual.
Algunas de estas dietas especiales
son bajas en sal, saludables para
el corazón, o incluyen comidas
blandas para aquellos que tienen
dificultad para masticar.
Choferes voluntarios entregan
las comidas a los mismos ocho
clientes cada día, para que así se
forme una relación con las personas, dijo Miller. Ella dijo que
es importante para ambos, el
cliente y sus familias que ellos
hagan “chequeos de bienestar”.
Los voluntarios están entrena-
dos para reconocer señales de
peligro vitales para el bienestar
de los clientes. Miller dijo que los
voluntarios ya han salvado las
vidas de los clientes, cuando se
dan cuenta que se han caído, o
reconociendo las señales de
depresión, o cuando se dan cuenta
que los clientes no están comiendo sus comidas.
Muchos de los clientes viven
solos, dijo Miller, y el servicio de
Mobile Meals les ayuda a mantenerse independientes.
“Estamos tratando de darles esa
dignidad y ayudarles para que se
queden en sus casas,” dijo Miller.
La organización también les
da a sus clientes una lista de
comidas saludables para mantenerlos en sus casas los fines de
semana y para el desayuno, dijo
Miller.
Para más información
Para saber si sus seres queridos califican para el programa
de Mobile Meals of Tucson,
visite el sitio de internet en
mobilemealsoftucson.org o
contacte a la organización al
622-1600.
El INDEPENDIENTE
February 11 / 11 de febrero 2010
Census Offering Jobs
By Kaite Flynn
Keeping tabs on all U.S. residents is a tricky job that census
workers undertake every 10 years,
and it’s time to start counting.
The U. S. Census Bureau is
gearing up for Census 2010 and
one of the first orders of business
is hiring census workers.
There are hundreds of positions available in Tucson, said
Gilbert Mejias, a local census
office manager in Tucson.
Partnership specialists are
working with businesses and city
government to get the word out
about these jobs. The biggest
contributor for Tucson is the Pima
Association of Governments,
Mejias said. Recruiting assistants
are also signing people up for job
testing throughout the city.
“The primary source is to have
assistants out there doing the
recruiting,” Mejias said.
The jobs being offered are
part-time, temporary positions.
The most common are census takers and office clerks. The average
worker will hold their position
through the end of June 2010,
Mejias said.
The wages for these jobs are
competitive, Mejias said. The
pay is above minimum wage,
which is $7.25 an hour, according
to the Industrial Commission of
Arizona. A census taker makes
$13.75 an hour and office and
questionnaire assistance clerks
typically make $10.50 an hour,
Mejias said. Those hired can
expect to work anywhere from 15
to 20 hours a week, depending on
the workload, he said.
Applicants must be at least 18
years old, have a valid Social
Security number or work permit
and pass a background check.
Fast Facts:
•The phone number to contact
the Jobs Line is 1-866-8612010
•To find out more about jobs,
www.2010censusjobs.gov.
•To download an application,
visit
www.2010.census.gov/2010cen
susjobs/applicationmaterial/index.php.
•To contact the local recruiting
line call (520) 918-1800
Though citizenship is preferred, it is not always necessary
for these positions. There are
instances where hiring a non-citizen could help with possible language barriers when working with
hard-to-count areas of town,
Mejias said.
Those interested must first call
a local recruitment center, the
2010 Census Jobs Line or go
online to download an application. Applicants must then schedule an aptitude test at a testing
site. Recruiters will determine
which site is closest to the applicants’ neighborhoods and reserve
them a spot.
There are currently three testing sites in South Tucson, plus
nearby facilities in adjacent
areas, said Caryn Walker, assistant manager of recruiting.
Upon reaching the site, an
application must be filled out,
and then the test will be given.
The test measures skills and
knowledge to determine which
job will be offered.
The entire process can take up
to two hours, Walker said.
The application deadline is the
end of April, when the recruitment
process ends. At that point, the
bureau should not have a need for
any additional resources, Mejias
said.
“Just because the recruitment
process terminates at that point
and you have not gotten a call
doesn’t mean that you’re not
going to get a call,” Mejias said.
“It’s still a possibility since the
actual operation goes on through
June.”
There are numerous testing
sites for jobs throughout Tucson
and the number will increase
weekly, Walker said.
Census employees are emphasizing the importance of taking
advantage of these opportunities.
“There’s just so much that has
hurt this economy, the census is
stepping in. They’re offering a
very competitive wage for a temporary position so you can earn a
little extra cash,” Mejias said.
Application Requirements
R Call ahead to schedule a
test location and time.
R Must be 18 years or older.
R Must have a valid Social
Security number or work
permit.
R All applicants must pass a
background check.
R All applicants must pass
the 30-minute aptitude test.
Kaite Flynn
Statue Unveiling at Quincie Douglas
Photo
by
Quin Davis, artist of a new bronze
statue in Quincie Douglas Library
titled "Two Women Who Did," discusses his piece with Styne Davis,
a woman who attended the unveiling ceremony.
Page / Página 5
El Censo de 2010
ofrece trabajos
Por Kaite Flynn
Traducido por Dina Tyrrell
Contar a todos los residentes de
los EE.UU. es un trabajo muy delicado que toman los trabajadores
del censo cada 10 años, y es hora
de empezar a contar.
El Buró del Censo de los
EE.UU. se está preparando para el
Censo 2010 y uno de los primeros
puntos de la agenda es reclutar a
trabajadores para el censo.
Hay cientos de posiciones
disponibles en Tucsón, dijo
Gilbert Mejias, el gerente local de
la oficina del censo en Tucsón.
Los especialistas asociados
están trabajando con negocios y
el gobierno de la ciudad para correr la voz acerca de estos trabajos.
El contribuidor más grande para
Tucsón es la Asociación de
Gobiernos de Pima, dijo Mejias.
Los asistentes reclutas también
están apuntando a gente para que
tomen el examen a lo largo de la
ciudad.
“La fuente primordial es tener
asistentes allá afuera para que
recluten”, dijo Mejias.
Los trabajos que se están ofreciendo son de medio tiempo y
posiciones temporales. Los más
comunes son los trabajadores del
censo y recepcionistas en las
oficinas. El trabajador promedio
tendrá la posición hasta el final
del mes de junio de 2010, dijo
Mejia.
La paga de estos trabajos es
competitiva, dijo Mejias. La paga
es más alta que el salario mínimo,
el cual es $7.25 la hora, de acuerdo a la Comisión Industrial de
Arizona. Un trabajador del censo
gana $13.75 la hora y los recepcionistas de oficina y de cuestionarios típicamente ganan
$10. 50 la hora, dijo Mejias.
Aquellos que sean contratados
pueden esperar trabajar de 15 a 20
horas por semana, dependiendo
del volumen de trabajo, dijo.
Los solicitantes deben tener
por lo menos 18 años, un seguro
social válido y permiso para trabajar y pasar una investigación de
antecedentes penales.
Aunque se prefiere la ciudadanía, no es siempre necesaria
para estas posiciones. Hay situaciones donde contratar a un nociudadano podría ayudar con las
barreras del lenguaje cuando se
trabaje en áreas de la ciudad de
difícil conteo, dijo Mejias.
Los interesados deben llamar
primero a una agencia de contratación, a la Línea de Trabajos del
Censo 2010 o ir a la página de
internet y descargar la solicitud.
Los solicitantes deberán entonces
Notas De Al lado:
•El teléfono para comunicarse
con Jobs Line es 1-866-8612010
•Para obtener más información acerca de estos trabajos,
vaya al www.2010censusjobs.gov
•Para descargar una solicitud,
visite
http://2010.census.gov/2010c
ensusjobs/application-material/index.php
•Para contactar a la oficina
local de contratación marque
al 918-1800
poner una cita para tomar el examen de aptitud en un centro de evaluaciones. Los reclutas determinarán cual sitio es el más cercano
al hogar del solicitante para reservarles un lugar.
Por ahora hay tres sitios de
evaluación en el Sur de Tucsón,
además de instalaciones cercanas
a las áreas adyacentes, dijo Caryn
Walker, asistente a la gerencia de
contratación.
Se tiene que llenar una solicitud cuando se llegue al sitio y
después se tomará el examen. La
prueba mide las habilidades y el
conocimiento para determinar
cual trabajo se va a ofrecer. El
proceso total puede tomar hasta
dos horas, dijo Walker.
La fecha última para solicitar
es a los finales de abril, cuando el
proceso de contratación termine.
Para ese entonces, el buró ya no
necesitara más recursos adicionales, dijo Mejias.
“Sólo porque el proceso de
contratación termina en esa
fecha, y usted todavía no recibe
una llamada, no quiere decir que no
le van a llamar”, dijo Mejias.
“Todavía queda una posibilidad,
siendo que las operaciones reales
siguen hasta junio”.
Hay varios sitios de evaluación para estos trabajos alrededor de Tucsón y el número se va a
incrementar semanalmente, dijo
Walker.
Los trabajadores del censo
están enfatizando la importancia
de tomar ventaja de estas oportunidades.
“Ya ha sido mucho lo que ha
lastimado esta economía, el
censo se está acercando. Están
ofreciendo una paga muy competitiva por un puesto temporal para
que pueda ganar dinero extra”,
dijo Mejias.
South Park Neighborhood Culture Boosted by Grant Money
By Steve Ivanovics
The cultural vibe of the neighborhoods surrounding South Park
Avenue recently received an economic boost.
Two grants were awarded to the
South Park community by People,
Resources and Organizations in
Support of Neighborhoods. A
$5,000 grant was given to the
South Park Arts and Culture Center
and a $4,850 grant to the South
Park Neighbors.
The South Park Arts and
Culture Center will use its grant as
seed money for three educational
“carnivals” called “Where We
Come From – Visual Literacy in
Dance, Art and Games.”
The carnivals will focus on
Mexican, Aztec and African cultures, especially the African presence in Mexico, said Barbea
Williams, South Park Arts and
Culture Center President.
Williams said they aim to educate everyone in the Tucson community, which will hopefully
unite different generations.
“I see so many missed opportunities for parents to educate and be
involved with their children in a
fun, positive way,” Williams said.
Dance lessons will be available for all ages, but the main
goal is to teach through a variety
of games.
“Instead of tug-of-war, we’ll
have tug-of-knowledge, as well as
a rainforest basketball hoop, ”
Williams said. “I know kids want
to be the next LeBron James…
We’ll teach them about the different (tree) levels of the rainforest,
and how life is sustained.”
Williams plans on hosting
another carnival later in the year
at the Dunbar African American
Museum and Cultural Center, 325
W. Second St., a once segregated
school that is now a museum dedicated to the impact AfricanAmericans had on the Southwest.
The first event is scheduled for
Feb. 28 at the Quincie Douglas
Branch Library.
The other grant will go to the
Pima County Indian Culture project, which focuses on the Tohono
O’odham and Yaqui cultures, said
Denise Antone, group leader of
the South Park Neighbors.
Antone, who meets with a
Native American beading group at
the Quincie Douglas Library, said
that Tucsonans do not know much
about contemporary Native
American culture.
“I grew up in Tucson and knew
all about my peers and their cultures,” Antone said. “But I always
got questions about who I was. A
lot of people can’t identify with
Native Americans in modern society.”
Antone said the grant from
PRO Neighborhoods will mostly
go toward supplies, demonstrators, snacks and beverages.
However, she said that the
project is in its inception and permanent details haven’t been
decided.
According to Linda Duran, senior community organizer for PRO
Neighborhoods, both groups fulfilled the “grass roots” criteria in
order to be awarded the grants.
PRO Neighborhoods was created in 1994 by a collaboration of
City of Tucson, Pima County,
Community Foundation for
Southern Arizona, and United
Way of Tucson and Southern
Arizona.
PRO Neighborhoods advocates local problem solving and
revitalization through small
grants and technical support.
El INDEPENDIENTE
Page / Página 6
February 11 / 11 de febrero 2010
Unlikely Path Leads Librarian to Award
‘Librarian’ Continued from page 1
ty to keep kids coming into the
library.”
Valdivia, who first worked for
Gómez after moving from
Phoenix to Tucson, says Gómez
is responsible for showing him
the ropes in the South Tucson
community.
“South Tucson can sometimes
get a bad rap,” he says. “But I like
working here. Sol was the first
librarian that I worked for, and he
showed me what South Tucson
needs and wants. He lives in this
area. It’s not like this is just his
job and he commutes. He lives
down here and works down here.”
Gómez is responsible for a
variety of programs at his library
and assists with information on
citizenship, taxes and school.
With his focus on youth, Gómez
is also working on a health-related cooking program for teens that
will model the show “Iron Chef.”
However, Gómez’s road to
becoming a librarian was unexpected.
Gómez was born in Tucson but
raised in Sierra Vista.
“We lived out in the boonies,
so we did a lot of outdoor activities,” he says. He and his sister,
Azul, didn’t have many toys and
subsequently spent a lot of time
developing their imaginations.
Gómez says that his family
owned a television but didn’t
have cable, so he spent a lot of
time reading.
Despite his early reading
habits, Gómez says it never once
crossed his mind to be a librarian.
In fact, “I was actually kicked out
of the U of A,” he says.
“I didn’t do so well, and they
told me, ‘You need to pick a major
and stick to it’.” Gómez thought
Spanish literature was a good
choice and would be esay as a
native speaker.
“It wasn’t,” he says. “But I
really, really enjoyed it. I got
lucky.”
After graduating from the
University of Arizona with a
bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature, Gómez worked for Pima
County supervisor Richard Elías.
While working on the campaign,
he met his wife, whose mother is
a librarian.
“She said to me, ‘It’s not just
about reading, Sol’,” he says.
Through
his
librarianship,
Gómez learned that librarians
stay current by providing the best
technology that the public
library can afford, particularly for
communities that struggle to
bridge the “digital gap.”
“We offer computers, Internet,
and help people develop skills
necessary to survive in today’s
fast-paced world,” he says.
He explained that he earned his
degree through a program called
Knowledge River, a Tucson-based
program run by the UA School of
Information Resources and Library
Science. The program recruits
Latinos and Native Americans, and
also focuses on serving lowincome communities.
Winning the nationwide award
has opened other doors for
Gómez. He has been asked to
serve as the legislative chair of
REFORMA, an organization that
serves to promote library services to Spanish-language communities
across
the
country.
Additionally, he is working on a
project with the New York Public
Library to update their Web site
for the upcoming year.
Gómez explains that he likes
what he does because he is a people
Photo
person. As the branch manager, he
has a large part in deciding what
programs are available to the community, such as Nuestras Raíces, a
festival that celebrates MexicanAmerican literature and culture.
Gómez has also helped decide on
events that promote the importance of the upcoming census.
El censo 2010 para el bien de todos
‘El censo’ Continúa de página 1
También hay menos representación en el gobierno.
De cualquier modo, mucha gente que vive ilegalmente en el país no participa porque tiene miedo de
ser reportados al gobierno.
Sin embargo, esto no es posible que ocurra, de
acuerdo a Deal, el Título 13 del Código de los EE.UU.
estrictamente protege la confidencialidad de
cualquiera que llene la forma. Todos los empleados de
la Oficina del Censo toman un juramento de por vida
de proteger esta privacidad.
Además, es ilegal para la Oficina del Censo el
compartir esta información con cualquier otra agencia del gobierno, como el Servicio de Recaudación
de Impuestos o el Buró de Servicios de Ciudadanía e
Inmigración, dijo Deal.
¿Pero cuántos en Tucsón realmente saben esto?
“Si me mandan uno (un formulario de censo),
probablemente lo llenaría, pero realmente no sé
mucho de eso”, dijo Chris Hurtado, de 31 años, del
Sur de Tucsón.
Ron Strickle, asistente del gerente ejecutivo de la
Walgreens en South Tucson, 1900 S. Sixth Ave.,
expresó un sentimiento parecido acerca de sus
clientes.
“Sé que (la Oficina del Censo está bajo juramento
de mantener la confidencialidad), pero no estoy muy
seguro que la mayoría de los inmigrantes ilegales
aquí en Tucsón lo sepan”, dijo Strickle. “Si ellos no
tienen documentos, les da miedo informar al gobierno, aunque sea así, como ellos (el Censo de los
EE.UU.) determinan la distribución de ayuda gubernamental”.
Aun si a los inmigrantes ilegales se les informara, podrían no creerlo o no arriesgarse, él dijo.
La Oficina del Censo está trabajando para promover conciencia, educación y participación entre
gente como Hurtado en Tucsón, dijo Laura
Cummings, una asociada especialista para dicha
oficina de los EE.UU. que trabaja con el equipo para
la involucración del Tucsón hispano.
“La gran pregunta para mucha gente es, ¿a dónde va
esa información y qué se hace con ella?” ella dijo.
“Tratamos de ayudar a contestar esas preguntas”.
Las estaciones de radio 102.1FM “La Caliente” y
1030 AM “La Raza” también tuvieron algunos programas de media hora acerca del censo con entrevis-
by
otto Ross
Sol Gómez, branch manager of the Sam Lena Library, takes a break to catch
up on his weight lifting.
Información estadística
• Cerca de 34 millones de gente habla español en
sus casas en los EE.UU.
• Los trabajadores de la Oficina del Censo
pueden recibir seis años en prisión y multas de
hasta $200,000 por romper el voto de confidencialidad.
• Más de $400 billones en fondos federales se
han distribuido cada año a áreas basándose en
el censo de la población.
• La Oficina del Censo empezará a mandar más
de 120 millones de formularios por correo en
Marzo—por primera vez, 13 millones de esos
formularios serán bilingües, español/inglés.
• La campaña de publicidad será ofrecida en 28
idiomas—17 en el 2000.
• El cuestionario 2010 es ofrecido en 6 idiomas
— 5 en el 2000.
• El censo del 2000: Tucsón: 486,699 personas—
35.7% de origen hispano o latino.
tas de representantes que explicaron los programas
de confidencialidad y los caminos y carreteras que se
pueden construir porque el gobierno distribuye fondos a ciertas áreas dependiendo de la población.
“El censo es fácil, importante y seguro”, dijo
Barajas. “Ése es un mensaje importante de difundir a
muchas personas, las cuales no quieren dar información a las agencias gubernamentales”.
Barajas dijo que ella utiliza “voces de confianza”
en el Sur de Tucsón para diseminar una conciencia
hacia el censo a través de asociaciones con varias
organizaciones, como las estaciones de radio hispanas, autoridades de vivienda y agentes locales.
A nivel nacional, la estación de TV “Telemundo”
emprendió una campaña de conciencia nacional el
pasado abril del 2009 llamada “Make Yourself
Count” o “Hazte Contar”. Parte de la campaña
incluyó el ondeo de un anuncio del censo en su telenovela más popular, “Más sabe el diablo”.
La estación de televisión “Univisión” también
estará ofreciendo casillas telefónicas una vez al mes
en marzo y abril, por algunas horas la estación se
concentrará solamente en tomar llamadas acerca del
censo y contestarlas al aire, dijo Cummings.
“Everything has to do with
learning, ” he says. “I mean,
they’re fun programs, but you
also learn.”
His path to success may have
been challenging, but choosing a
location to put his skills to use
wasn’t difficult.
“I said, ‘I’ll work anywhere on
the south side.’ I knew I wanted to
work with the Spanish-speaking
community. I could have worked
anywhere, but I wanted to work
here,” he says.
One thing Gómez hopes to
change as a librarian is the stereotype associated with his career.
Gómez says that a majority of
librarians are female and of a particular age bracket.
Gómez says that Knowledge
River is currently accepting
applications and is a good choice
for those who meet the criteria of
the program.
“The thing is, you have your
school pretty much paid for
through that program. I even convinced my sister, Azul, to go to
library school,” he says.
Gómez also likes to spend time
with his wife and two children. He
also enjoys lifting weights, and—
of course—reading.
“We have two kids now. We
don’t read as much as we used to.
My favorite book used to be ‘The
Count of Monte Cristo,’ but I’ve
read a lot more since then,” he
says. “It’s hard to pick one. As
long as I can get a couple pages in
a day, I’m good.”
Valdivia says that despite winning the “I Love My Librarian”
award, Gómez will remain humble.
“He doesn’t flaunt that kind of
stuff. It’s not going to change the
way he does his job,” he says,
noting that Gómez will still
know his community members by
first name and continue to work
hard on programs that serve
South Tucson. “He likes his job,
he likes his community and
they’re both interconnected. He’s
giving people the resources that
they need, he says.
“That’s what a public librarianship’s all about.”
Controversial Bill Pushes for
Stricter Immigration Laws
By Jeff Feld
A controversial state Senate bill
moved forward in January that
would allow police to stop and
arrest anyone “reasonably” suspected of being in the country
illegally.
Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa,
introduced the bill, which passed
4-3, with Republicans in the
majority. The vote sends the bill
to the full Senate.
Some of the provisions within
the bill allow law enforcement to
target individuals and businesses
responsible for knowingly
employing, housing or transporting illegal immigrants.
The bill would also make it a
crime to pick up people and hire
them for a “day labor” job.
Anyone found to be here illegally or responsible for employing, housing or transporting illegal immigrants faces fines of
$500 to $5,000 and jail time.
As of 2009, the Center for
Immigration Studies reports that
10.8 million people are living in
the country illegally.
Within Arizona, 15 percent of
convicted felons are illegal immigrants, according to December
statistics from The Arizona
Department of Corrections.
Further, the Pew Hispanic
Center reports that as of 2008,
one in seven Arizona students is
here illegally.
Those opposed to the bill say
that it would increase racial profiling because law enforcement
officers will be able to arrest
someone based solely on “suspicion” of being in the country ille-
gally. The bill would not require
special training for officers to
identify such people.
The American Civil Liberties
Union of Arizona released a statement on its Web site opposing
the bill.
“This bill goes beyond just
enlisting the help of local police
agencies to enforce immigration
laws, ” said Alessandra Soler
Meetze of ACLU of Arizona the
day after the bill advanced.
“The legislation would also
lead to the unjustified detention
of many citizens and legal residents and encourage law enforcement to place a discriminatory
focus of their investigations on
Latino residents,” Meetze said.
“This would expose municipalities to additional civil litigation.”
SB 1070 at a Glance:
• Bill advanced 4-3 along
party lines with Republicans
in the majority.
• Under new law, it would be
illegal to pick up and hire
“day laborers” off the street.
• Intended to put more pressure on local communities to
do more about illegal immigration.
• Police would be required to
make a “reasonable attempt”
to determine the immigration
status of a suspect; however, no additional training
would be required for police
to make those decisions.
El INDEPENDIENTE
February 11 / 11 de febrero 2010
Page / Página 7
Census Reaches out to Hispanic Community
By Zach Simon
Census outreach programs around
the country, including those in
Tucson, are trying to figure out
the best way to persuade people
trying to stay off the government’s radar to participate in the
upcoming 2010 U.S. Census.
The Hispanic population in the
United States has historically been
difficult to tally because of common misconceptions about how
the government uses the collected
data, said Magdalena Barajas, a
partnership specialist for the U.S.
Census Bureau working in Tucson.
Partnership programs work on a
local level to inform people the
census is fast and safe.
Barajas said that places with
large minority populations,
including Hispanic communities,
are hard to count.
With the 2010 census about to
start, the Census Bureau is taking
several initiatives to promote
census education in the Hispanic
community, such as using bilingual radio, television and Internet
advertisements. The goal is to
encourage full participation in
Tucson and around the country.
“The accurate count of the
Hispanic population or any other
group will help ensure the fair and
equitable apportionment of political representation and will help
ensure that communities will
receive a fair distribution of
funds,” said Melanie Deal of the
U. S. Census Bureau Public
Information Office.
The data is used to assign congressional seats to states, distribute annual federal funds to state,
local and tribal governments, and
decide what community services to
PhOTO
BY
KAITE FLYNN
Darlene Burkett (left), an Arizona partnership specialist for the Denver Regional Census Center, and Daniel Polo (far right), a recruiting assistant, discuss Census 2010 with community members who attended the Tucson Urban League MLK event.
provide the areas that the census
indicates are in most need. That
means that if fewer South Tucson
residents participate in the census,
the local government receives less
money to build roads, parks and
schools. There is also less representation in the government.
However, many people residing illegally in the country don’t
participate out of fear of being
reported to the government.
This isn’t a possibility
though, according to Deal, and
Title 13 of the U.S. Code strictly
protects the confidentiality of
anyone who fills out a form. All
Census Bureau employees take an
oath and are sworn for life to protect that privacy.
Further, it is illegal for the
Census Bureau to share the infor-
mation with any other government agency, such as the Internal
Revenue Service or the Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration
Services, Deal said.
But how many in South Tucson
actually know this?
“If they send me one [a census
form], I’ll probably fill it out, but
I really don’t know much about
it,” said Chris Hurtado, 31, of
South Tucson.
Ron Strickle, executive assistant manager at the South Tucson
Walgreens, 1900 S. Sixth Ave.,
expressed similar sentiments
about his customers.
“I know that [the Census Bureau
is sworn to confidentiality], but
I’m not so sure the majority of illegal immigrants here in Tucson
do,” Strickle said. “If they don’t
have documentation, they’re afraid
of reporting to the government,
even though that’s how they [the
U.S. Census] determine appropriation of government aid.”
Even if illegal immigrants were
informed, they might not believe
it or want to risk getting caught,
he said.
The Census Bureau is working
to promote awareness, education
and participation among people
like Hurtado in Tucson, said Laura
Cummings, a partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau
involved with a Tucson Hispanic
outreach team.
La Estrella de Tucson ran a twopage spread giving information
about confidentiality and safety,
Cummings said.
“The big question for so many
By Josh T. Saunders
A recent study found that immigration reform is capable of
reviving the nation’s struggling
economy.
With a comprehensive reform
model, the report shows that
alternative immigration policies
could “yield at least $1.5 trillion
in added U. S. gross domestic
product over 10 years.”
By legalizing unauthorized
workers and basing immigration
limits on the U.S. labor demand,
comprehensive reform would
“raise the ‘wage floor’ for the
entire U.S. economy - to the benefit of both immigrant and nativeborn workers,” according to
“Raising the Floor for American
Workers: The Economic Benefits
of Comprehensive Immigration
Reform,” conducted by UCLA professor Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda and
released through the Center for
American Progress and the
Immigration Policy Center.
For more than 20 years, the
U. S. has utilized an “enforcement-only”
policy,
which
Hinojosa-Ojeda said isn’t cost
effective and does little to deter
immigrants from crossing the
border and finding work. Instead,
the study said these policies have
caused more deaths along the border, increased the market for
immigrant smuggling, encouraged permanent
settlement
among unauthorized immigrants
and lowered wages.
In the last two decades, the
number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. has increased
dramatically despite greatly
increased federal funding for border enforcement. The study points
out that since 1992, the U.S.
Border Patrol’s annual budget has
increased by 714 percent. Further,
the number of Border Patrol agents
located along the U.S.-Mexico
border has grown by 390 percent
to more than 17,000 agents.
Despite
these
efforts,
Hinojosa-Ojeda said the unauthorized immigrant population has
nearly tripled over the last decade,
from an estimated 3.5 million in
1990 to 11.9 million in 2008.
His research examined three
different immigration-policy scenarios, which he said are the three
basic choices for the federal government.
Comprehensive immigration
reform would simplify the
process of obtaining legal status
in the U. S. for unauthorized
immigrants and establish fluid
immigration limits that react to
the labor needs.
The second scenario involves
a temporary-worker program for
illegal immigrants, without permanent status or permanent
immigration legislation.
Third is a mass-deportation
policy, in which the U.S. banishes all unauthorized immigrants
and permanently seals the border.
Hinojosa-Ojeda admits this scenario is unrealistic but used it for
comparison purposes.
The mass-deportation policy
“amounts to a cumulative $2.6 trillion in lost gross domestic product
over 10 years,” which doesn’t take
into account the associated costs
of the actual deportation process,
according to the report.
The widespread job losses and
wage fluctuations resulting from
this deportation would create yet
another expense for the national
economy.
On the contrary, the economic
benefits of the comprehensive
reform model would come from the
“virtuous cycle” of worker empow-
Millions
Immigration Reform Could Stimulate Economy
people is, where does the information go and what is done with
it?” she said. “We are trying to
help answer those questions.”
Radio stations 102.1 FM “La
Caliente” and 1030 AM “La Raza”
also had a few half-hour programs
on the census with interviews from
representatives who explained the
confidentiality programs and that
roads, highways and schools get
built because of the government
funds allocated to certain areas
depending on population.
“The census is easy, important
and safe,” Barajas said. “That’s an
important message to get across
to a lot of folks who don’t want to
share information with a government agency.”
Barajas said she uses “trusted
voices” in South Tucson to spread
census awareness through partnerships with various organizations, such as Hispanic media
radio stations, housing authorities and local officials.
On a national level, the TV
channel “Telemundo” launched a
national awareness campaign in
April 2009 called “Hazte
Contar, ” or “Make Yourself
Count. ” Part of the campaign
included weaving a census plotline into its most popular telenovela, “Más Sabe el Diablo,” or
“The Devil Knows Best.”
The TV channel “Univision”
will also be featuring call-in
phone banks once a month in
March and April, where for a few
hours the station is completely
devoted to taking census questions and answering them on air,
Cummings said.
The 2010 Census website is
now available in Spanish at
www.2010census.gov/espanol.
Mobile Meals
Celebrates 40
Years of Aid
By Marissa hopkins
14
7
1990
2000
2008
VALUES COURTESY OF “RAISING ThE FLOOR FOR AMERICAN WORKERS: ThE ECONOMIC BENEFITS
COMPREhENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM,” & CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS
erment, said Hinojosa-Ojeda, “in
which legal status and labor rights
exert upward pressure on wages,
for both native-born and newly
legalized immigrant workers.”
The comprehensive reform
model would generate billions in
tax revenue and consumer spending, as well as support hundreds
of thousands of jobs, according
to the report.
This reform is meant to counter the current policy, the “vicious
cycle where enforcement-only
policies perpetuate unauthorized
migration and exert downward
pressure on already-low wages,”
the report says.
With the revitalization of the
U.S. economy at the forefront of
the federal government’s concerns, this study is a timely
example of how an immigration
strategy can turn profitable for
the nation.
Vanessa Cárdenas, immigration
expert from the Center for
American Progress, said “immigration reform is essential, not only
for the immigrant community but
for the U.S. economy as well.”
Cárdenas said the Obama
administration has promised
immigration reform to the Latino
community and that polls show it
OF
to be a priority of the American
people as well.
“This administration needs to
deliver on promises they’ve
made,” Cárdenas said. “We need a
comprehensive approach that
includes legalization and a realistic program to support labor
needs.”
Cárdenas recognizes the issue
and said a comprehensive change
is necessary to address the 12
million people without papers in
the country.
“Immigrants are settled in our
communities, ” Cárdenas said.
“They are part of our economy.
We’re not going to be able to
deport 12 million people, and
they’re not going to leave.”
Ultimately, the study says, if
the reform provides the opportunity for unauthorized immigrants
to invest in the U.S., the nation’s
economy and work force will see
the profits of change.
Para leer este artículo
en español visite:
www.elindenews.com
Mobile Meals of Tucson celebrates its 40th birthday this year.
Since 1970, the volunteer-based
organization has delivered two
meals a day, five days a week to
Tucson’s homebound in need of
special diets.
Jeanne Miller, volunteer and
public relations coordinator, said
Mobile Meals delivers food
Monday through Friday to more
than 200 people between the
ages of 21 and 101.
Miller said all meals are prepared at local hospitals in accordance with a doctor-prescribed
diet specific to each individual’s
needs. Some of the special diets
may be low in salt, heart healthy
or include soft foods for those
who have difficulty chewing.
Volunteer drivers deliver
meals to the same eight clients a
day to form a relationship with
the people, Miller said. She said
it is important for both the
clients and their families that
they do “well checks.”
The volunteers are trained to
recognize warning signs vital to
clients’ well-being. Miller said
volunteers have saved clients’
lives before by finding that a
client has fallen, recognizing
signs of depression or noticing
that clients are not eating their
meals.
Many of their clients live
alone, Miller said, and the
Mobile Meals service allows
them to maintain independence.
“We’re trying to give them
that dignity and enable them to
stay in their homes,” she said.
By Erica Nannini
Traducido Por Lizette M.
Pérez
?
Page / Página 8
El INDEPENDIENTE
February 11 / 11 de febrero 2010
qué PASA?
Community Marches for MLK
Feb. 1 – 12
Artes Picadiente
Bring the little tykes to the
Tucson Children’s Museum for a
day of Valentine crafts. Parents
and kids can use tissue paper to
decorate holiday hearts. The
activity is included in the price
of admission to the museum, 200
S. Sixth Ave., and begins at 3
p.m. Admission is $6 for children up to 18, $8 for adults and
$6 for seniors. Children must be
accompanied by an adult. For
more information, visit www.tucsonchildrensmuseum.org or call
792-9985.
Kaite Flynn
Valentine Workshop
Rodeo de Tucsón
by
Feb. 9 - 12, Feb. 14
20 - 28 de febrero
Photos
Jose Robles is a Tucson attorney
and artist who paints using a
toothpick (and the occasional
cactus thorn) as his only tool. He
refers to his wood and ceramic
works as “Artes Picadiente,” or
“Toothpick Art.” A collection of
about 15 pieces of his work will
be on display at La Pilita
Museum, 420 S. Main Ave.,
which is open Tuesday through
Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Admission to the exhibit is free.
Contact 882-7454 or visit
www.lapilita.com for details.
Tucsonans met at the University
of Arizona Jan. 18 for the 25th
annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day
March.
above: Martin Luther King Jr.
Day marchers gather at the
University of Arizona Mall.
left: Community members join
together in prayer and celebration before the march got underway.
Feb. 10
Urban Murals
Murals are often seen as vandalism. The Sam Lena-South Tucson
Branch Library, 1607 S. Sixth
Ave., is offering a free seminar to
dispel this notion and show
murals as urban art with a valuable history. The program is part
of the library’s Nuestras Raices:
Celebrating Mexican-American
Authors, Arts and Culture, and
will be presented by the Social
Justice Education Project. The
educational program will run from
4 to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.library.pima.gov
or call 592-5265.
Feb. 17
Laptop Award
Celebration
Come support the nearly 500
freshmen students from Desert
View and Sunnyside high schools
who will receive laptops in an
open award ceremony at
University of Arizona Centennial
Hall, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. The
students have earned the laptops
by meeting the GPA and attendance requirements of the district’s Project Graduation: The
Digital Advantage. The ceremony
is free and will run from 5:30 to
8:30 p.m. Visit www.sunnysideud.k12.az.us or call 5452000 for more information.
Feb. 20 – 28
Tucson Rodeo
See current and former
Professional Rodeo Cowboys
Association world champions
rope and ride at the 85th annual
La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, which
takes place over the course of
nine days at the Tucson Rodeo
Grounds, 4823 S. Sixth Ave.
Tickets range from $5 to $26,
and proceeds benefit causes
de Arizona Centennial Hall, 1501
N. Campbell Ave. Los estudiantes han ganado las computadoras portátiles al reunir los requisitos de promedio del Proyecto
del distrito de graduación: la ventaja digital. La ceremonia es
gratis y se llevará a cabo de
5:30-8:30 p.m. Para más información visite www.sunnysideud.k12.az.us o llame al
545-2000.
For more photos from the Martin
Luther King Jr. Day March visit
www.elindenews.com
including University of Arizona
scholarship funds. Tickets can
be purchased at the gate or in
advance at www.tucsonrodeo.com
or call 741-2233.
Feb. 21
Fords on Fourth
Three blocks of North Fourth
Avenue near the Six Street intersection will be blocked off to
normal traffic and dedicated to
rows of Ford cars for the 46th
Anniversary of the Ford
Mustang. The free, familyfriendly show is put on by the
Southern Arizona Mustang Club
and will run from 8 a.m. to 3
p.m. In order to register your
own car, visit www.southernarizonamustangclub.com or call
622-6118.
Feb. 23 – 28
Fiddler on The Roof
The Broadway musical, starring
Harvey Fierstein as the iconic
milkman struggling to maintain
his family’s morals in czarist
Russia, is coming to the Tucson
Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.
General Admission seats start at
$27, and there is a limit of eight
tickets per household. Tickets
can be purchased at the Tucson
Convention Center Ticket Office,
online at www.ticketmaster.com,
or at 800-745-3000.
Mexican Fiction is a collection
of stories that appear in English
for the first time, featuring 16
prominent Mexican writers born
after 1945. University of Arizona
Prose series presents a reading
co-sponsored by the Consulate
of Mexico in Tucson and UA
BookStores. Editor Alvaro Uribe
and three of the authors will
attend. Admission is free and the
reading begins at 8 p.m. at the
UA Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen
St. Visit www.poetrycenter.arizona.edu or call 626-3765 for
more information.
pueden usar un klínex para decorar los corazones festivos. La
actividad está incluida en el precio de entrada al museo, 200 S.
Sixth Ave., y comienza a las 3
p.m. El precio de admisión es $6
para niños hasta 18, $8 para
adultos y $6 para personas mayores. Los niños deben estar
acompañados por un adulto. Para
más información, visite
www.tucsonchildrensmuseum.org
o llame 792-9985.
1-12 de febrero
Los murales son a menudo vistos
como vandalismo. La Sam LenaSouth Tucson Branch Library,
1607 S. Sixth Ave., está ofreciendo un seminario gratuito para
disipar esta noción y mostrar los
murales como arte urbano con
una valiosa historia. El programa
es parte de la biblioteca Nuestras
Raíces: celebrando a los autores,
el arte, y la cultura mexicanaamericana, y será presentado por
el proyecto de Educación de
Justicia Social. El programa
educativo se desarrollará de 4 a 5
p.m. Para más información, visite a www.library.pima.gov o
llame 592-5265.
Artes Picadiente
José Robles es un abogado de
Tucsón y un pintor que utiliza un
picadiente como su única herramienta para pintar (y de vez en
cuando la espina del cactus). Al
hablar de su arte llama a su
madera y obras de cerámica
“Artes picadiente”, o “Toothpick
Art.” Una colección que incluye
15 piezas de su trabajo se exhibe
en La Pilita Museum, 420 S.
Main Ave., el cual está abierto de
martes a sábado de 11 a.m. hasta
2 p.m. La entrada a la exhibición
es gratuita. Para más detalles
llame al 882-7454 o visite
www.lapilita.com.
9-12 de febrero, 14 de
febrero
March 11
Taller de San Valentín
The Best of Contemporary
Lleve a los pequeños pícaros al
Tucson Children’s Museum para
un día de artesanías de San
Valentín. Los padres y los niños
Contemporary Mexican
Fiction
10 de febrero
Murales Urbanos
17 de febrero
Otorgación de computadoras portátiles
Venga a apoyar a los casi 500
estudiantes de primer año de las
escuelas secundarias Desert View
y Sunnyside que recibirán computadoras portátiles en una ceremonia abierta en la Universidad
Vea a los actuales y ex campeones vaqueros de la Asociación
de Rodeo Profesional mundial de
cuerda y monte en la 85º anual de
la Fiesta de los vaqueros, que se
lleva a cabo durante nueve días en
los terrenos del rodeo de Tucsón,
4823 S. Sixth Ave. Los boletos
cuestan de $5 a $26, y los ingresos benefician a diferentes
causas, incluyendo el fondo para
becas de la Universidad de
Arizona. Los boletos se pueden
comprar en la puerta o por adelantado en www.tucsonrodeo.com
o llame al 741-2233.
21 de febrero
Ford en la Cuatro
Tres cuadras de la avenida North
Fourth Avenue, cerca de la intersección de la calle Sixth Street
estarán cerradas para el paso del
tráfico y serán dedicadas a filas de
autos Ford para celebrar el 46º
aniversario del Ford mustang. El
show es gratuito y para toda la
familia. Es llevado a cabo por
Southern Arizona Mustang Club,
y durará de 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Para
registrar su auto, visite
www.southernarizonamustangclub.com o llame al 622-6118.
23 a 28 de febrero
Fiddler on the Roof
El musical de Broadway, protagonizado por Harvey Fierstein
como el icónico lechero que
lucha por mantener la moral de su
familia durante la Rusia zarista,
viene al Tucson Musical Hall,
260 S. Church Ave.
Los asientos de admisión general empiezan a vender por $27,
y hay un límite de ocho entradas
por hogar. Los boletos se pueden
comprar en las taquillas del
Tucson Convention Center, por
internet en
www.ticketmaster.com, o llamando al 800-745-3000.
11 de marzo
Ficción contemporánea mexicana
Lo mejor de la Ficción contemporánea mexicana es una colección de historias que aparecen
por primera vez en inglés, con
16 destacados escritores mexicanos nacidos después de 1945.
La serie por University of
Arizona Prose presenta una lectura co-patrocinada por el
Consulado de México en Tucsón
y las librerías de la misma universidad. El editor Álvaro Uribe,
y tres de los autores asistirán.
La entrada es gratuita y el evento empieza a las 8 p.m. en el
Poetry Center de la universidad,
1508 E. Santa Elena. Para más
información visite www.poetrycenter.arizona.edu o llame al
626-3765.