FrontPage Stories

National City Students Dominate Science Competition

Seventh and eighth graders nab 25 awards

National City Middle School students have made history at the San Diego County Fair. Walking away with 25 awards in the Exploring Technology Division of the 2004 San Diego County Fair, these students earned more awards for their school than any other had garnered in the last 22 years.

Trio of Awards: Top winner Samantha Pantaleon holds her first place, Best of Class and Best of Show ribbons for her dragster race car entry.

Seventh and eighth graders in Henry Gutierrez’s Exploring Technology classes competed against high school and even college students in General Technology and Drafting categories. Competitors were not subdivided by age or by grade level. National City Middle students took home 15 first-place finishes, three second places, six Best of Class awards and one Best of Show honor. And this was the first time the school had ever entered students in the competition.

In the General Technology division, students could enter their designs into “Electro/Mechanical/Engineering Science” or “Energy/Power/Transportation” showcases. Their creations included dragster race cars, cranes, planes and rockets. Students competed in groups and as individuals. Drafting showcase entries included bridges and a variety of houses.

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Centro Cultural de la Raza Speaks Out!
This commentary was submitted by Aida Mancillas, President of the Centro Cultural de la Raza.
The current Board of Trustees of the Centro Cultural de la Raza would like to respond to David Avalos’ article of July 30 from our point of view with the hope that it will engender dialogue. We sincerely appreciate Mr. Avalos’ perspective and insight into art and community issues and applaud La Prensa for encouraging all of us to rethink how we can work together for the betterment of the entire community.

SEPT. 11— AN ANGEL NAMED BETTY ONG
By Steven Knipp
“I think we might have lost her.”

Popular Latino ‘Reality Show’ Offers Chance for Citizenship
By Selene Rivera
In their desperation to become legal residents, many people make the impossible look easy. Such is the case of the participants in the television show/contest “Gana la Verde” (“Win the Green”), who accomplish inconceivable goals — eat live insects or jump from moving vehicles — in order to obtain their “green” permanent residency card. Many human rights groups see the contests in this show as humiliating, leading them to ask for the show’s cancellation, but the creators of the “reality show” think differently.

Rising Power of the Immigrant Vote
By Carolina Gonzalez
With the number of Hispanic, Asian and immigrant voters growing across the United States, those who choreographed the public face of the Republican National Convention worked hard to shed the party’s image as a bastion of white, conservative America. For the first time ever, the convention featured daily press briefings in Spanish and Spanish translation of all the convention proceedings on its website.

Stories

No Unions Please, You Are Baggage Screeners
By David Bacon
OAKLAND, CA — In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, President Bush portrayed himself as a defender of working people and labor rights. But the Federal government, which is responsible for enforcing the union rights of the nation’s workers, has just fired a worker for the crime of joining one.

An Opec For South America?
By Raul Vasquez
LA PAZ, Bolivia — President Hugo Chávez’s recent election victory in Venezuela also gave momentum to one of his favorite ideas — an alliance of regional state-run energy firms that would run like a South American version of OPEC.

Día del Migrante
Por Luis Alonso Pérez
Cuando alguien muere, su familia le lleva una cruz con su nombre a la tumba. Si fallece lejos de casa y su familia no lo sabe, no hay nadie que llore por él, no hay nadie que le lleve una cruz. Si existieron testigos de su muerte con el tiempo lo borrarán de su memoria. Su muerte y su nombre habrán quedado en el olvido.

Immigrant Day
By Luis Alonso Perez
When someone dies, their family puts a cross with their name on their grave.

Notas de la Ciudad de Tijuana
Por: Paco Zavala
Una excelente noticia transmite el alcalde de Tijuana Jesús González Reyes, al anunciar que ya se está convocando a cada uno de los gabinetes que conforman el Ayuntamiento para afinar y analizar detalles de cara a la transición de gobierno que se realizará el próximo 1 de diciembre. Para ésta ocasión se espera que por primera vez en 20 años se entregue una administración sin déficit.

LA COLUMNA VERTEBRAL
por Daniel Kaufman; traducida al español por Karina Hurley
Movilizándonos Para Ayudar a Los Niños de las Escuelas Públicas
Maestros, padres y miembros de comunidades a través de toda la nación ven la educación de nuestros niños como prioridad número uno. Actualmente, muchos de ellos están trabajando juntos para asegurar que sus voces sean escuchadas por los votantes, los líderes políticos y los medios de comunicación, pues buscan lograr que todos los niños tengan acceso a la excelencia en sus escuelas públicas.

Back to school: heavy packs endanger kids’ health
A joint study by UC Riverside researchers and the Inland Empire Spine Center has found that parents would be wise to pay attention to their child’s backpack in this back-to-school shopping season, as a significant percentage of local middle school students suffer lasting pain related to the weight on their backs.

Pregunte a la Doctora Alice - ¿Necesito un intérprete profesional si mi familia habla inglés?
La primera vez que la Sra. Khoury vino a verme, su esposo sirvió como nuestro intérprete. Ya que la mayoría de mis pacientes no habla mucho inglés, generalmente mi rutina es entrar al cuarto, presentarme y preguntar qué idioma habla el paciente. Luego, muy a menudo, salgo a buscar a un intérprete.

CUANTIOSA DONACION DE NISSAN
La Fundación Nissan, una agrupación con fines caritativos y que forma parte de la compañía automotriz Nissan North America Inc. (NNA por sus siglas en inglés) ha otorgado un total de $322,000 dólares en becas a 17 organizaciones sin afán de lucro del sur de California, noroeste de Texas, parte central de Tennessee y parte surcentro de Mississippi, y el pasado viernes se llevó a cabo una ceremonia de entrega en la oficina matriz de NNA en Gardena, California.

Community Notes:
Hispanic Heritage Month at Lincoln Acres Library
Children Invited to Participate in Active and Interactive Cultural Programs
The Lincoln Acres Branch of the San Diego County Library, 2725 Granger Ave. National City, announces a series of programs in the month of September in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month:

Editorials

Editorial:
Black/Chicano Politicians Ape Mexican Politicos
In a strange switch from the normal Black/Chicano political tactics, some pseudo African American Blacks and Mexican Americans are attempting to use political tactics more akin to the way politics are played in Tijuana! It has been startling to hear so-called “leaders”, from the Black and Mexican American Community, in the manner of the Mexican PRI’istas, attempt to dictate who or whom can and will be a candidate to replace the recently deceased, Fourth District City Councilman, Charles Lewis! Either, old age or senility has overcome Mr. George Stevens (among others, such as Luis Natividad) or they are in a state of denial. To demand control of the normal electoral process and attempt to limit who can or cannot run for the vacant seat and what color he must be, is ludicrous.

Commentary:
The Hijacking of the Republican Party
By James Muhm
The traditional principles of the Republican Party have in the past several years been subordinated to a more intrusive domestic policy and an imperialistic foreign policy. Whereas a policy of less federal government intrusion into domestic personal affairs once held together most party adherents, now the party machinery has more recently been redirected to a more pragmatic policy of winning and keeping political control, attendant to philosophic principles only insofar as “practical politics” demands it.

Commentary:
Another Perspective on the State of Chicano Arts and the Centro
By Adrián Arancibia
I came to San Diego twenty years ago. My family settled on the border of National City and Bonita. We have straddled Sweetwater road for over the past two decades and we have all become active members of the Chican@/Latin@ community here.

Comentario
La Contienda Por el Senado
Por Humberto Caspa, Ph.D
La contienda política por el Senado de California se muestra cuesta arriba para el candidato conservador Bill Jones. Las encuestas recientes dan una ventaja sólida de 15 puntos a favor de Barbara Boxer, la candidata de los demócratas. Incluso en materia económica, Boxer tiene la delantera. Hasta junio pasado ya había colectado cerca de $7 millones de dólares; Jones apenas juntó $1 millón.

Tezozomoc Speaks
Vuti- did you know the Olmeca Culture started in Mexico around 300BC? That’s around the birth of Buddha who came to earth sometime around 563 B.C. You ever wonder why the Olmec stone heads look like Chinese?

The Public Forum . . . El Foro Publico
Another Movie On the Iraq War
I recently watched “Uncovered: The war in Iraq” at the Ken Theater in San Diego. After watching this documentary I’m now convinced that there is clear and undisputable evidence that the Bush administration lied and manipulated pre-war intelligence in the guise of pursuing the war on terror.

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

La Esquina: arte de la comunidad
3 yrs later
By Geneva Gamez
Planes crashing, skyscrapers falling, bodies missing, people desperate; flights cancelled, 24hr news re-caps on every channel, front-page headlines; a cry out loud, a peoples confused, a country in tears. A sun-filled gloomy Tuesday turned Black.

Cannon Art Gallery Exhibits “Beasts and Bones” Display of Papier-Mâché Fantasy Creatures
The William D. Cannon Art Gallery will present the exhibition Beasts and Bones: The Cartonería of the Linares Family from September 12 through November 5, 2004. The Linares Family’s unique position in the traditional Mexican art of papier-mâché (cartonería) bridges the gap between traditional folk art and fine art. Using simple materials, the family of artists melds playful forms of skeletal figures (calavera) and fantastic, mythical beasts (alebrije) into imaginative one-of-a-kind sculptures. This exhibition features over 70 papier-mâché sculptures by the Linares Family and their followers, borrowed from the Museum of Man in San Diego, the UCLA Fowler Museum in Los Angeles, and local collectors including Larry Kent.

Lila Downs, Presentará en Tijuana un Concierto en el que Exhibirá su Talento
Por Paco Zavala
El Centro Cultural Tijuana en colaboración con el Instituto de Cultura de Baja California y el Semanario “Bitácora” presentan para el próximo 17 de septiembre a las 8:00 pm. en la Sala de Espectáculos, en concierto a la extraordinaria cantante Lila Downs, una de las voces más increíbles, prometedoras y cautivadoras de la actual música mexicana, latinoamericana y mundial.

Copia de Lujo
Criminal imita a “Nueve reinas”
Por Jose Daniel Bort
Rehacer una película tiene todas las de perder. Si la fuente es buena, es casi imposible de mejorar, y si es mala, no tiene sentido rehacerla. Esta es la realidad a la que se enfrenta “Criminal”, a estrenarse esta semana.

Calendar of Events.....
By Berenice Cisneros
“Concerts on the Green”
** Two performers will switch dates at El Cajon’s weekly Concerts on the Green series of free outdoor concerts every Friday evening on Prescott Promenade in Downtown El Cajon. Bring a picnic, or enjoy dinner at one of several fine restaurants now open on Main Street in Downtown El Cajon. For more information, call the El Cajon CDC at (619) 401-8858, or visit the on-line events directory at downtownelcajon.com.

Ortiz Steps Up in Aztec Rout
By John Philip Wyllie
Prior to the start of the 2004 football season wide receiver Robert Ortiz expressed hope that he could improve upon his 2003 performance and contribute more to the Aztec’s offense. While overshadowed by fellow wide-out Jeff Webb a year ago, Ortiz’s 33 catches for 329 yards and one touchdown were good enough for third place among Aztec receivers. Having matched his previous career scoring output of 12 points in just the first 17 minutes of the Saturday’s 38-21 triumph over Idaho State, the Horizon Christian product is off to a scintillating start.

Bullfight World
By Lyn Sherwood
A Big Day in Tijuana!
According to Tijuana correspondent Gary Sloan, last Sunday’s corrida de toros in José Lopez Hurtado’s Beautiful Bullring by the Sea was one of the best afternoons of the season. Some 10,000 spectators watched six bulls from Monte Christo, for Matadores Miguel Espinoso “Armillita Chico”, Eulalio López “El Zotoluco”, and José Maria Luevano.

Fabio Santos, My Mentor, My Inspiration, My Friend
By Victor M. Sanchez, Jr.
My introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu came one evening back in 1993 while watching the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. I saw a tall skinny Brazilian guy named Royce Gracie render helpless much larger and heavier men using only his family’s Jiu-Jitsu techniques. Being a larger and heavier man myself I could not believe my eyes!

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