Volume XXVIII Number 6 February 13, 2004

FrontPage Stories

City Attorney Race Raises Questions of Change

By Raymond R. Beltrán

In attempting to stray from the common political rhetoric that we’ve seen in the recent campaigns leading to the March 2 Primary Elections, how far will candidates go with their visions of ideological change in local government before they ultimately scare away the votes that they’re chasing?

For instance, let’s take into account the San Diego County City Attorney’s race approaching March 2, and one of its candidates, Michael J. Aguirre. Aguirre ran for DA (District Attorney) back in 2002 and lost to Bonnie Dumanis, the first openly homosexual person to become DA, which could possibly be seen as a sign in voters’ expanding mentality. But is sexual preference easier to accept than alternative ideologies? What about when a candidate, like Aguirre, says, “[The 3 Strikes Law] is not applied to white collar crimes, which I think it should be?” Or how about when he says, “I think that obviously we shouldn’t be spending more public funds on the Chargers?” What about, “I think the ballpark will be good, … but there has to be the sharing of economics, [the] sharing of the burden, and it all can’t be dumped on the neighborhoods?”

With Aguirre having lost the DA race in 2002, it seems that political and ideological change is what worries San Diego voters. But even now, in his City Attorney campaign, he has not yet changed his voice or perspective on social issues, nor the way he says he detests the obscure boundaries between corporations and the City Council.

Within his professional repertoire as a lawyer, Aguirre had co-counseled and represented more than 2,000 investors in an investment fraud lawsuit against American Principals Holdings, Inc., where four defendant companies agreed to settle by paying the investors over $10 million each, a very small sum of money compared to what they had allegedly misused. Aguirre has pursued other related lawsuits, which to this day have recovered an approximate $250 million for pension and security-fraud victims from such companies as First Pension Corporation and J. David & Company. Having tried such fraudulent cases, he’s attempting to head into the local government in San Diego, where checks are being written as fast as lawsuits are surfacing.

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Pilar Arballo Says She’s Nobody’s Girl
By Raymond R. Beltrán
For those living in the barrio and who are directly affected by the state of education, the San Diego School Board’s Primary Elections for District D on March 2 are very critical and have been a highlighted topic in not only the battle for getting candidates’ names on the ballot, but also in recognizing a candidate that would begin to focus on student education.


To Spread Democracy, Bush Needs World’s Hearts and Minds
By Alejandro Eggers Moreno
Analysis
During Sunday’s hour-long interview with Tim Russert of “Meet the Press,” President Bush emphasized his determination to spread freedom and democracy throughout the Middle East, and the world at large. He maintained that “freedom is etched in everybody’s heart,” and painted political self-determination as the key to securing American interests worldwide.


Southwestern College’s Diana Avila Named Secretary of National Governing Board of Women Work! The National Network for Women’s Employment
SWC Alumna Receives Women of Triumph Award from Women Work!
Chula Vista—Southwestern College (SWC) is proud to announce that Diana Avila, Counselor and Coordinator of the College’s Women’s Resource Center (WRC) and Center for Technical Education and Career Success (CTECS), was recently selected as Secretary to the National Governing Board of Women Work! The National Network for Women’s Employment.

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Stories

Mexican Consulate Urges Immigrants to Join in California Supermarket Lawsuit
By Loretta Kalb
The Mexican Consulate in Sacramento put its weight Tuesday behind efforts to encourage janitors — mainly Mexican immigrants — to join a class-action lawsuit against several California supermarket chains over wages.

Latinos y Latinas en Accion
By Patricia Hodge
Comprising for 29 percent of the population living in the Mid-City section of San Diego, Latinos account for a significant portion of people who live in that area. Although the percentage is growing, only a small number of Latino individuals serve as community leaders and few participate in the decision-making process on issues that specifically affect them.


LA COLUMNA VERTEBRAL
Por Ellen Alderton
Podrías Ser VIH-Positivo, ¿Y Ahora Qué?
El Virus de Inmunodeficiencia Humana (VIH) ha afectado fuertemente a la comunidad Latina en los Estados Unidos. Para el año 2001 ya se habían reportado 20,000 casos de Latinos infectados a lo largo del país. Hoy día, los Latinos conforman una quinta parte de todos los casos de VIH en el país. Hace 20 años el tener un resultado positivo de VIH significaba una sentencia de muerte acele-rada. Hoy en día si bien sigue siendo una muy mala noticia, el SIDA es una enfermedad  mucho más manejable y tratable que antes. Sin embargo, lo primero es hacerse una prueba y obtener los resultados.


HIV Infection Higher Than Expected Among Pregnant Tijuana Women
UCSD Study Includes Counseling & Rapid HIV Testing
HIV infection among pregnant women in labor at Tijuana General Hospital in Mexico is 14 times higher than previously reported by CONASIDA, the Mexican organization that tracks AIDS cases, according to a study conducted by physicians at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.


Se Advierte Cautela a los Consumidores al Hacer Reparaciones por los Desastres
Los contratistas juegan un papel importante en la reconstrucción de las comunidades del sur de California que fueron afectadas por los incendios silvestres. Ellos también ayudan a la economía local a medida que construyan casas y negocios nuevos. Sin embargo, en algunos casos después de un desastre, timadores se hacen pasar por contratistas legítimos. Ellos utilizan una variedad de técnicas sutiles. Por ejemplo, algunos ofrecen ayudar con la limpieza de escombros, transportándolos a una corta distancia y, al recibir pago, dejan al dueño de la casa con la responsabilidad de eliminar esos escombros. Otros piden un depósito sustancial para reconstruir una casa y luego desaparacen con el dinero.

Senators Seek Latina Business Leaders for Groundbreaking Mexican Trade Mission
Center for International Trade Development Calls All-Women Mission “Historic”
SACRAMENTO — Senators Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) and Martha Escutia (D-Whittier) announced the first-known trade mission to Mexico targeting Latina entrepreneurs and featuring a 100 percent delegation of women. From March 11-17, 2004, the Senators will co-lead the “Latinas Partnership in Economic Development” Trade Mission to Mexico City and Guadalajara in cooperation with the Center for International Trade Development (CITD).


Pardee Homes donates $40,000 to repair Cedar fire damage to Mission Trails Regional Park
Funds allocated to repair fencing and signage
Mission Trails Regional Park will benefit from a $40,000 donation by Pardee Homes and the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation through the efforts of San Diego City Council-member Jim Madaffer.


Community Notes:
City Committee Solicits Input on el Corazón Planning
The El Corazon Planning Committee will be hosting two open houses on February 26, from 4:00-6:00 p.m., in the Community Rooms adjacent to the Civic Center Library, and March 18, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at Martin Luther King Middle School in the multi-purpose room for the purpose of soliciting input on what the residents of Oceanside would like to see on this unique site. Open space, recreational, commercial and cultural uses, and public facilities… come and tell us what you think!

Editorials

Editorial
The City of San Diego Needs a Leader Who Knows How to Lead
 A little over three years ago, San Diego residents had enough of the back room deals and moral and ethical corruption at City Hall under the leadership of former Mayor Susan Golding, and they were looking to bring ethics and honesty back. At that time, Judge Dick Murphy fit the bill. He was a judge and he was, at that time, a political outsider. He represented a breath of fresh air and a strong sense of ethics which resonated with the voters.


Editorial
Prop. C is more about Marketing than Emergency Services
Proposition C. City of San Diego. EMERGENCY SERVICES, ROADS, PARKS, TOURISM AND OTHER SPECIFIED USES ORDINANCE. This proposition requires approval by two-thirds of the voters.


Comentario
Un Aviso Oportuno Para Bush
Por Andrés Lozano
Sin importar el origen, los americanos respetan y apoyan las reglas del juego. De cualquier juego, ya sean deportes, contiendas políticas o competencia comercial. El fútbol, el béisbol y el baloncesto son deportes y pasatiempos nacionales favoritos porque tienen reglas sencillas, comprensibles, justas, que reducen a casi nada o a nada, de plano, la discrecionalidad de los árbitros. Como efecto de esta disposición natural a las reglas claras, los americanos detestan los etiquetados fraudulentos. Les molesta el contenido de un empaque que sea distinto a la descripción del marbete. No aceptan que se modifiquen las reglas del juego durante el desenlace; vaya: ¡no cambian de caballo a la mitad del río! Estos rasgos podrían calificarse como derecho de primogenitura americana; su éxito y prosperidad están íntimamente vinculados con esta virtud, con esta adherencia a las reglas. Aunque estas características son compartidas en algunas pocas naciones, lo común de la mayoría es la opuesto: Se cambian las reglas en forma caprichosa conforme se desarrollan los sucesos. Una regla de oro para medir la prosperidad de los inmigrantes es qué tan rápido se sintonizan con el respeto americano a las reglas.


Commentary
An Early Warning for Bush
By Andrés Lozano
Regardless of origin, Americans respect and support the rules of the game. Of all games: sports, political matches, and business competition alike, you name them. Football, baseball and basketball are our favorite sports and national pastimes because the three have simple, easily understandable fair rules, reducing to almost nil discretionary close calls rullings from umpires. Because of a natural leaning towards unambiguous regulations, Americans abhor misbranding. We become flabbergasted when contents differ from the label’s description. We do not accept amending rules during the match; in sum, we do not change horses at midstream! These features are our American birthright; our success and prosperity intimately linked with such traits. While a handful of countries share with us these values, the majority’s policies are precisely the opposite: Referees amend rules rashly as things happen. A rule of thumb to measure immigrants’ prosperity is gauging how fast they attune themselves with the American respect for rulings.


Commentary
Are We Electing a Military Ruler or a President?
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Amidst all the hubbub among the Democratic Party candidates for president over who supported President Bush’s invasion of Iraq and who didn’t, have you noticed that not one of them has brought up the Constitution and, specifically, the constitutional requirement that the president secure a congressional declaration of war as a prerequisite to waging war?

Opinion
SD City School Board Races: Déjà Vu All Over Again
By Mike MacCarthy
In a recent local news story “Superintendent is leading issue” (1/31/04), San Diego’s only daily newspaper reminded us all of the truth of the old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same”? The pure facts are that for the upcoming March 2nd primary and the fall elections for the three open school board seats for San Diego City Schools (SDCS), a new Bersin majority now paces in the wings ready, willing, and eager to “rubber stamp” his every whim and self-aggrandizing policy “recommendation,” beginning December 2004. Listed below you will find the power politics reality of how things have been setup by the Bersin forces (as witnessed by the candidates the San Diego Chamber of Commerce endorsed within the past week). The only thing that would frustrate Mr. Bersin’s elaborate plans is if a significant, grassroots number of San Diego residents were willing to get off their complacency couches and do what they haven’t been willing to do for the past six years—i.e., fight with every fiber of their being to regain control of their own city schools on behalf of ALL local children and grandchildren.

Etc. Etc. Etc.
Entertainment, Reviews, Sporting news, and other tid bits

Vamos al Cine:
Reimaginando el cine, para Adultos
The Dreamers funciona con la clasificación NC-17
By Jose Daniel Bort
Llegando apropiadamente a las carteleras justo después de la hipócrita revolución moralista sobre lo acontecido en la mitad del “Super Bowl”, Los Soñadores de Bertolucci es una honesta y sincera depicción del despertar de la sexualidad de un joven americano en el París de 1968. Ganó la clasificación NC-17 por las escenas gráficas de sexo en su contenido y por primeros planos de genitalia masculina y femenina.


¿Y dónde fue la fiesta?
La celebración del Grammy reflejó el actual estado de la industria
Por Jose Daniel Bort
La sombra del pecho derecho de Janet Jackson eclipsó la diversión en la mayor parte de la anual ceremonia de la asociación de profesionales de la música celebrada en Los Angeles. Otrora conocida por sus excesos y creatividad, la industria prefirió no repartir canapés de langosta rosados con papeles rosados de despido y cortó las celebraciones alrededor del Grammy al mínimo absoluto.


La Perspectiva de la Extraordinaria Obra Pictórica de Dionisio Millan Mata, en Exhibición
Por: Paco Zavala
Como dicen por el pueblo, la gracia de Dios regó sus bendiciones en fulano de tal, ¡Fíjense, que bien baila!, ¡Fíjense, que bonito canta!, ¡Fíjense, que bien pinta!, y la verdad, no podemos hacer alusión a en cuantas actividades destaca el sujeto del que se hace mención, ni como, en muchas veces puede ser concebible.


¿El Crimen Como una de las Bellas Artes?
Por: Paco Zavala
La decadencia de la humanidad se ha manifestado, tal vez, por la falta de observación de las reglas elementales de convivencia. Posiblemente haya una equivocación, porque hay quien dice: que todo es del color de acuerdo con el cristal con el que se mire o que cada quien es el arquitecto de su propio destino. ¡Vaya Ud. a saber!, unos dicen, llevan o traen, a lo mejor la realidad es otra y la mentira no existe.


Mosaico de Actividades Culturales en Tijuana
Por: Paco Zavala
Por fín ha arribado a los contornos de la comunidad el Día del Amor y la Amistad y para celebrar este día dedicado a promover, fortalecer y estrechar los lazos de amistad, de concordia y de amor entre los seres humanos en todo el mundo, no importando raza, credo o idioma, en los contornos de Tijuana, se han organizado una serie de festividades que en algunos sitios iniciarán desde el viernes y seguramente finalizarán el domingo.


Calendar of Events .....
By Berenice Cisneros
Comedy Women Who Steal
** Women Who Steal is a comedy loaded with wit and wisdom about a wild mid-life joy ride of revenge and renewal in search of the truth about love and marriage. Performances began January 24 and will continue through February 22 at the Lyceum Stage in Horton Plaza. Tickets are available by calling (619) 544-1000 or online www.sandiego.rep.com.


Basketball Season Winding Down, both teams in contention
Baseball Looks For Return Trip To Playoffs
By Jaime Cárdenas
Jaguar Baseball Is In Full Swing This Week At Southwestern College… After dropping their first game of the Jaguar Classic, the Jags (1-2) have a full slate of games on the schedule for this weekend.


Santillan Strives for Hilltop
By John Philip Wyllie
Having battled to first place finishes this season in the Mira Mesa, El Cajon, Holtville and the San Diego Classic wrestling tournaments, Hilltop High School’s Sergio Santillan is off to another promising start. This 112 pound two-time CIF champion and 2003 Master’s champ is setting his sights however, on even loftier goals this season.


Nuñez Leads Hilltop High to League Title
By John Philip Wyllie
Hilltop High School’s David Nuñez proved to be just about unstoppable as he went over, around and through the Marian High School defense last Friday to record a hat trick in what turned into a 5-1 blowout. The win provided the Lancers (11-2-5) (5-0-1) with at least a share of the South Bay Soccer League title and put them in the driver’s seat to take sole possession of the banner. For Nuñez, the Lancers leading scorer (12 goals), it was just the latest demonstration of his crafty ball skills and lethal finishing ability. With the CIF section playoffs now on the horizon, his coaches are hoping Nuñez will save the best for last.


Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero: Boxing’s Child Prodigy
By Fiona Manning
Joel Casamayor might have ruled the roost once at Joe Goossen’s hard-boiled Ten Goose Boxing Gym in Van Nuys, California, but there’s a new kid in town and he’s running all his sparring partners out of the gym.

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