www.el-observador.com | AUG 21- 27, 2009 | 3
Por Maribel Hastings America’s Voice
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n junio de este año una encuesta de Bendixen y Asociados comisionada por America’s Voice concluyó que los hispanos confiaban más en Barack Obama que en los demócratas del Congreso para “hacer lo correcto” en el tema de la reforma migratoria. Según la encuesta, “83% cree que Obama “hará lo correcto” en el frente migratorio; 69% cree que los demócratas harán lo correcto; y sólo 23% cree que los republicanos harán lo correcto”. Como candidato presidencial, Obama prometió concretar esa reforma este año, pero ya indicó que será hasta principios del año entrante cuando se inicie el debate citando todos los asuntos que hay sobre la mesa: salud, energía, y reformas financieras, entre otros. Entre ciertos sectores de la comunidad latina e inmigrante hay descontento con la administración Obama, con el DHS que dirige Napolitano y con el Congreso, primero por el retraso en abordar el tema migratorio, pero también porque el gobierno se ha dedicado a reforzar y ampliar programas centrados en la aplicación de leyes migratorias. Ha permitido, por ejemplo, que el alguacil Joe Arpaio, de Arizona, siga aplicando el programa 287(g) en el condado de Maricopa, a pesar del uso de perfiles raciales y otras prácticas discriminatorias. De acuerdo con la encuesta de Bendixen hace un par de meses, 72% de los hispanos creía que Obama cumpliría con su promesa de avanzar legislación sobre la reforma migratoria en el primer año de su presidencia, mientras 17% opinó que Obama rompería su promesa, y 11% respondió que no sabía. Δ
Back to School: The Green Way By David Cortesse Supervisor, District 3, County of Santa Clara
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s your county supervisor, I have taken an environmental focus by introducing new Environmental Stewardship Goals. We have created the Cortese Climate Kids Club (for information about how your children can join, visit my website at www.supervisorcortese.org). Being environmentally responsible is something everyone should strive for, and this includes getting the kids ready to go back to school. Normally the approach is routine: ensuring their clothes fit and are clean and presentable, checking the backpack to make sure it can carry another year’s worth of textbooks, and heading to the office supply store to pick up any school supplies that they need. This year, I encourage you to take a look at how you can make going back to school more environmentally friendly. One of the easiest changes to make would happen when you prepare your kid’s lunches. While the average person doesn’t think about where waste goes after the garbage man picks it up, our waste is a serious issue with landfills running out of space and contaminants leaking out of the landfills that we do have. A straightforward way to be more environmentally friendly is to simply use reusable containers and utensils for your kid’s lunches. Brown paper bags, while not completely unfriendly, still add volume to our waste stream. A better method is to use a reusable lunch bag or pail and put the sandwiches or leftovers in a reusable container that they can bring home to
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reuse. Also, include a set of metal spoons and forks to eat with. While single use plastic items do have some benefits for specific circumstances, teach your kids to think about their impact on the environment by explaining to them why it is better to bring the reusable containers and utensils home every night rather than throwing more plastic and bags into the garbage. Due to their nature, school supplies such as paper and pencils can only be used once. But you can minimize the harm to the environment through buying recycled content items and ensuring that after they have served their useful life, they are recycled. Recycled paper, notebooks and folders are becoming commonplace, but there are two key points to keep in mind when purchasing them; recycled content is good, but post-consumer recycled content is even better, and secondly, be sure to keep the cycle going and put the used products in the proper recycling bin. Pens and pencils that are refillable are also better for the environment since you can reuse these writing tools by just filling it up with more ink or lead instead of throwing the entire unit away when its usefulness ends. Solar calculators have been around for years and have very real benefits. They can be used for many school years without needing battery replacements since they don’t use batteries. That means less toxic battery chemicals that need special handling to be recycled. You
already know you’re not supposed to throw batteries in the trash, right? Lastly, this is the perfect time to get in the habit of walking or biking with your kid to school. Not only will you save money, gas and reduce the pollution you create, but you will also improve your health through increased aerobic activity. At the same time you are demonstrating to your child on the important benefits of being active. It’s a win-win. These are just a few ideas, but I’m sure that there are many more that you can think of. They don’t just apply to getting kids ready to go back to school. These tips can easily be transferred to working professionals, college students, and many others. For example, my office was recently certified as a “Green Business” by the Association of Bay Area Government’s Green Business Program (www.greenbiz.abag.ca.gov) for conserving energy and water, minimizing waste, preventing pollution and shrinking our carbon footprint. Even if you can’t make all these changes, just trying a few and thinking about what else you can do while involving your child in making the effort will make a world of a difference, no pun intended. If you have any other ideas that you can think of, or if you have any other questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me at dave.cortese@bos.sccgov.org or (408) 2995030. As a community, we can do more and make a difference.Δ
Ocurrielcias
Blog: Latinos y la retrasada promesa de reforma migratoria
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