December 17, 1999
European Union and Mexico reach free trade pact
After a year of negotiation, officials from the European Union and Mexico have agreed on the terms of a free trade pact. European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy told Reuters news service; "It is the most comprehensive free-trade agreement ever negotiated by the EU and the first such agreement with a Latin American partner." The accord must be ratified by the 15 EU nations. Concerned that its companies were losing out in Latin America's second biggest market, the EU had sought to gain benefits similar to those enjoyed by the United States and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Mexican Workers sent home $16 million a day
Mexicans living in the United States send about $16 million a day to relatives back home, according to a report issued by Mexico's National Population Council About 95 percent of the money sent to Mexico, about $6 billion a year, is spent on such basic necessities as food, clothing, health services and housing, according to the study conducted for the University of Zacatecas. The report estimates that about 5.5 million people in Mexico depend directly on the money. Money sent to some Mexican states, such as Guanajuato, exceeded State budget items such as education. For instance, the total amount of money sent to Guanajuato from the United States is more than $652 million dollars a year, while the state's education budget is $312 million, according to the study. The Mexican Foreign Ministry reported that in some states such as Michoacan, Zacatecas, Guanajuato and Jalisco - 50 percent of the families there have at least one family member in the United States.
Hispanic bar points "finger of shame"
The Hispanic National Bar Association has released its 13th annual "Dirty Dozen'' list of universities that still have law school faculties that lack Hispanic representation. The "Dirty Dozen'' roster includes Harvard, Yale and New York University. All in all, HNBA said there are 105 law schools in the nation that still have no Hispanic Faculty in tenure-track positions. Michael Olivas, HNBA Lat-ino Law Professor committee chair, compiled the list and said that he found 135 Hispanic faculty teaching at 75 of the country's 180 law schools. The total number of Latino professors increased by just two this year, he said.
HNBA President Alice Velezquez, an attorney in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, said "It is inexcusable for national universities to operate without any Latino or Latina law professors and vowed to continue pointing the "finger of shame" at the institutions. The "Dirty Dozen'' list is based on national rankings, classifications, location and size of the Hispanic population in the university area, said Olivas. The list does not include foreign-born Hispanic faculties or the 100 Latino faculties in Puerto Rico's law schools.
HNBA said that since it began compiling the list, 22 universities have added Hispanics to their law school faculties. The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California, South Texas College of Law in Houston and the University of Miami are among those schools that have been taken off the list.
HNBA said "St. Mary's University in San Antonio, with seven Hispanic Faculty
Members, and the University of New Mexico, with six Latinos, are the institutions with the best records.
Baylor University, Cornell University, DePaul University, University of Washington, Harvard University, New York University, Northwestern University Ohio State University, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, State University of New York at Buffalo and Duke University.
Hispanic workers From Massachusetts Sue State Alleging Racism
Hispanic employees of the Department of Transitional Assistance (formerly the Dept. of Welfare) have filed a class action lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Mass.
Alleging racial discrimination. The lawsuit alleges that almost 300 Hispanic workers were discriminated against, when the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) hired bilingual workers of other nationalities (Russian, South Asian, languages etc). at a higher rate back in 1991 when the refugee Resettlement Program was disbanded and were no longer under the auspices of the Federal Government.
The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination has determined probable cause and now a Certified Class Action. The case is currently under Discovery with final date of 31 December 1999 for completion. Interested parties that may wish to communicate on this are urged to communicate with Angelina Romero at e-mail <romeropeart@yahoo.com>
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