Volume XXVIII Number 19 May 14, 2004

FrontPage Stories

Barrio Logan Maps Released for Suggestions

By Raymond R. Beltrán

Tuesday night, May 11, Barrio Logan residents were given an hour to evaluate three maps, produced by the City of San Diego, that will act as future references if investors ever begin the redevelopment process of their neighborhood.

The target “redevelopment area,” stretches along the 32nd Street Naval Base and the port community to the I-5 freeway, from the boundary of National City to 16th Street, Sigsbee Street and Beardsley Street.

City planners met with Barrio Logan residents Tuesday to discuss visionary maps about redevelopment issues.Photo by Raymond R. Beltran.

The alternative maps were constructed by Estrada Land Planning and were supposed to have reflected numerous concerns that Barrio Logan residents addressed in two previous community development workshops titled El Futuro del Barrio. The primary issues dealt with diesel truck trafficking, the mixed use of industrial and residential neighborhoods and affordable housing.

The three maps, Options A, B and C, differed somewhat in the arrangement of parks, mixed use of land and the commercial and residential zoning, although, they equally reflect a character similar to the Gaslamp District and suggest a connection between Logan and Downtown San Diego, the crux of the connection being, of course, Petco Park.

For the rest of the story:

KKSM, Palomar’s student run radio station, reaches a broader audience
SAN MARCOS — Changes are happening so fast at Palomar’s student-run radio station, KKSM, AM 1320, that it’s hard to keep up with the tempo! As of April 26, people across the globe can tune in to the station’s new “adult alternative” mix of music now that the station is streamed live through the KKSM website. Listeners also have the option of tuning in to the station by television through Cox Communications.


A Mother’s Plea: Help, Don’t Break My Son in Youth Prison
By Laura Talkington
FRESNO, Calif.—I have not been able to be a mother ever since my son went to the California Youth Authority (CYA), the state’s system of youth prisons. I have spent the last four years watching him appear in the CYA visiting room with cuts, choke marks and bruises. He has been attacked by other youth or staff more than 40 times. I have seen him lose confidence in himself, become cold and depressed and fearful for his life. And the whole time, I have not been able to do one thing about it. Except lose sleep. What the CYA calls rehabilitation, the rest of us call tortuous abuse.


Una Madre Ruega: Socorro, No Destruyan A Mi Hijo En Una Cárcel Juvenil
Por Laura Talkington
FRESNO, Calif.—No he podido ser madre desde que mi hijo está en el sistema de prisiones juveniles, la Autoridad Juvenil de California (CYA). He pasado los últimos cuatro años viéndolo aparecer en la sala de visitas de la CYA con cortes, moretones y rayones, Ha sido atacado por otros jóvenes o por el personal más de 40 veces. Lo he visto perder confianza en él mismo, volverse frío, deprimido y temeroso por su vida. Y todo el tiempo, no he podido hacer nada al respecto. Excepto perder el sueño. Lo que CYA llama rehabilitación, los demás denominamos tortuosos abusos.


The College Assistance Migrant Program: Getting Migrant Farm Workers’ Children to College and Helping Them Stay
By Greg Bloom
Despite having been a teacher in his home state of Zacatecas, Cesario Morán knew that his family would never get far in one of Mexico’s poorest states. This led to a decision in 1983 to go to Salem, New Mexico where he and his family started a life of hard farm work along side others from Zacatecas. Now, over twenty years later, the family still labors in the area’s onion, chile and produce fields. Life has never been easy.


The Baldenegro and Rivas Case:  Incarceration of Indigenous Tarahumara Forest Activists Continues in Chihuahua
Greenpeace has joined with other international and Mexican organizations that are demanding the release of indigenous environmental and community activists Isidro Baldenegro and Hermenegildo Rivas. Baldenegro and Rivas, Rarámuri men from the embattled Sierra Tarahumara community of Coloradas de la Virgen, were arrested in their home town on March 29, 2003.


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Stories

Girl Scouts Names San Diego’s 10 Coolest Women for 2004
San Ysidro teacher Zenaida Rosario among those honored for achievements
Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council, Inc. unveiled the fourth consecutive list of San Diego’s 10 Coolest Women and honored its top volunteers last week at the council’s 2004 Annual Meeting and Volunteer Recognition Event at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center.


First Annual Barrio BookFest 2004 Begins This Weekend
The First Annual Barrio BookFest 2004 Liberation through Media and Cultural Expression has been in the making for months now, and since the inception of the idea, artists, activists and literature fanatics have been calling, emailing and faxing telephones and computers to be part of this one of a kind event that attempts to introduce progressive literature to barrio residents, and vice versa.


El Plan de Kerry Hace Que El Cuidado de Salud Sea Más Costeable Para los Hispanos
Washington, DC - El can-didato presidencial demócrata John Kerry anunció un plan completo para hacer que el cuidado de salud sea mas costeable para todos los americanos, incluídos los hispanos. Su plan ayuda a controlar los costos dándole alivio a los negocios, asegurando que las drogas por receta médica sean más costeables, y reduciendo costos administrativos con la eliminación del gasto, fraude, y abuso. La propuesta de Kerry para hacer mas costeable el cuidado de salud es un elemento importante de su plan para construír una América mas fuerte.


Southwestern College Architecture Students Win Design Village Award
CHULA VISTA — Seven Southwestern College (SWC) architecture students spent spring break at a very special place, a village they built and perfected themselves using bamboo, dowels, and twine. Their homemade project ended up winning them a “Best Use of Materials” award and became one of the people’s favorites at the California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo’s annual Design Village Competition.


TALENTED LATINA WINS HIGH SCHOOL ROTARY SPEECH CONTEST
Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotarian, Gaylen Freeman, Speech Contest Chairman, and Carlsbad High School Deputy Superintendent, chaired the first round of Rotary’s Annual 4-Way Speech Contest. Carlsbad High School contestants who were accompanied by their advisor, Minnia Curtis, received awards in this order: Ken Gram, 11th grade, $25.00, Dirk Williamson, 9th grade, $50.00, Daniel Gram, $75.00, and First Place winner was Sindia Zamarripa who received $100.00.


LA COLUMNA VERTEBRAL
Por Christina Cepero
¡Ponte las Pilas! Acción para el verano
A través de los años los avances médicos han logrado que vivamos vidas más largas. Hoy en día, las personas en Estados Unidos están viviendo un promedio de 77.2 años, según el Departamento de Salud. A principios del siglo XX, la expectativa de vida era de unos 48 años.


Cambio Positivo en el Planeta
Por Diana Gomez
Increíble, después de oir y ver tanta publicidad al terrorismo, a la muerte, castigos, etc., etc., ya no quiero ni mencionar esas palabras que traen tanta negatividad y stress a los seres humanos.

Editorials

Editorial
Ewell Proposes That Minorities and Working Class Pay for the City’s Mistakes
New City Mananger P. Lamont Ewell proposed budget cuts last Monday, May 3, to begin to rectify damage that was done long before he took office last month. He preceded the city management escapee Michael Uberuaga, who jumped ship during a U.S. Attorney and Securities Exchange Commission investigation pertaining to the illegal sale of San Diego pension fund bonds, which supposedly trail back seven years.


Commentary
The Hip-Hop Generation and Brown v. Board of Education
By Farai Chideya
May 17th marks the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, which was designed to desegregate schools. But despite the fact that the Hip-Hop Generation is the most diverse this nation has ever seen and that Hip-Hop culture itself has been a force for desegregation since its inception, schools have actually been resegregated.


Commentary
Republicans’ Chase of Latino Vote Benefits Immigrants
By Juan Esparza Loera
FRESNO, Calif., May 12, 2004 — There’s a new savior for Latino immigrants in California, but you probably won’t find this hero speaking Spanish or invited to dinner by community activists.


Commentary:
The Latinization of America
By Jorge Ramos and Adam J. Segal
The United States is being transformed by Hispanic influence, and there is no turning back.


Comentario:
Abu Garib, Crimen Individual y Sistémico
Por Humberto Caspa, Ph.D
El polémico asunto de los abusos cometidos por soldados estadounidenses en Abu Garib en contra de algunos detenidos Iraqueses apenas está en su parte incipiente. El problema da para más, considerando que existen, todavía, videos por verse y hay un gran número de fotos inéditas que observar. Las imágenes desnudas de efectivos iraqueses evidentemente generaron críticas a nivel mundial, especialmente porque el gobierno norteamericano se “jacta” por su presunta ecuanimidad con los derechos humanos y respeto a los derechos civiles. El suceso en sí, por un lado, tiene implicaciones individuales; es decir fue resultado de las acciones de personas, quienes son claramente identificados en las fotos. Por otro lado, la situación en Abu Garib tiene raíces sistémicas, dado que los actos criminales no se detienen con los individuos captados infragantemente, sino que fueron cometidos tácita o textualmente con la venia de algunos superiores.


Perspective:
Workers Don’t Want Comps for Their Labor, it’s more about Their Dignity
By Joe Ortiz
Juan is a dedicated husband with a wife and five kids, active in his church and spends much of his spare time in community affairs such as coaching young kids in the local soccer league. He has worked throughout his entire life at various occupations, ranging from grape picker, dishwasher, and gardener and most recently as an assembler in factory. He is usually the first one at work and oftentimes works an hour or so of overtime when called upon. He’s extremely polite and a team player. Juan never complains about any aches and pains he acquires throughout an arduous week of sweat and toil.

The Public Forum . . . El Foro Publico
In our name!
Millions of witnesses were shocked and appalled by graphic photographs of American soldiers reveling the vicious inhumane torture and sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners in “Abu Ghraib.” But for the heroic resolve of Specialist Joseph M. Darby to put an end to the torture, the world would not have known the nature of the “liberation” we are imposing on Iraq.

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

Año Internacional 2004, dedicado a Julio Cortázar, escritor argentino
Por: Paco Zavala
Las letras hispanoamericanas se enorgullecen al contar entre sus elementos a valores inconmensurables como Julio Cortázar (1914-1984).


Con un pie en la consagración
Banderas enfrenta sus miedos y se siente en paz con su mente y cuerpo
Por Jose Daniel Bort
-¿Te importa si fumo?, exclamó Banderas, haciendo amigos.


VAMOS AL CINE:
La tarea épica de disectar La Iliada
Troy goza de buenas decisiones en su rodaje
Por Jose Daniel Bort
Homero escribió dos poemas monumentales: La Ilíada y La Odisea. La estructura del segundo es fácil de convertir en drama moderno ya que es un viaje de aventuras, donde Ulises se enfrenta a sus enemigos uno a uno. De hecho, es una de las fuentes de inspiración de muchas historias modernas. La Ilíada es otra cosa.


Macuilxochitl's Kiva
 Ozomatli, a band born out of strife
By Francisco Ciriza
With wartime headlines forcing cringes, inward shame and disgust, and a rare, if ever, so deep a sorrow in our hearts, it is difficult to even imagine finding something positive coming from the Allied forces presence in Iraq and other Arab territories.

Mosaico de Actividades Culturales en Tijuana
Por Paco Zavala
Comienza la lucha por conseguir un espacio para los estudiantes de nivel medio superior, porque aparentemente hasta un 50 % de los aspi-rantes a tener una colocación en este nivel escolar, quedarán sin la oportunidad de continuar con sus estudios, por la falta de espacios, para el próximo ciclo lectivo. El sistema Educativo Estatal, asegura contar con quince mil espacios y posiblemente cinco mil más estén disponibles en las diferentes escuelas pre-paratorianas como son: CBTis, CBAtis, Ciceti, Conalep y Cobach. Esperemos al 11 de junio fecha de la prueba de admisión a estos planteles.


Valderrama Returns to Battle for an Olympic Berth
By John Philip Wyllie
The Olympic-bound women’s national soccer teams of the United States and Mexico squared off in a friendly in Albuquerque last Sunday. It was the thirteenth meeting of the two familiar foes and the thirteenth consecutive victory for the powerful Americans, but it was a lucky outing for a Mexican midfielder Lina Valderrama. Valderrama, a Chula Vista resident with dual citizenship, has had her share of bad luck recently.


Bullfight World
By Lyn Sherwood
Tijuana Season Opens on a Triumphant Note
The 2004 Tijuana bullfight season was inaugurated, last Sunday, on a triumphant, if not somewhat liberal note. Under warm skies, matadores Eloy Cavazos, Jorge Gutierrez, Alejandro Amaya, and rejoneador Gaston Santos Jr. faced six bulls of Fernando de La Mora and one from San Marcos. According to Tijuana correspondent Gary Sloan, here’s how the afternoon went.


Judges Split In World Featherweight Championship
By Fiona Manning
In one of the most extraordinary displays of courage, IBF/WBA featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (42-2-1, 33 KOs) rose from the canvas after three knockdowns to retain his titles in a breathtaking non-stop battle which resulted in a split decision draw against so-called “The People’s Champion” Manny Pacquiao (38-2-2, 29 KOs) on Saturday night.