El Sol Latino | April 2019 | 14.5

April 2019

Volume 15 No. 5

Un Periรณdico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Un Periรณdico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

2do Bomplenaso Conmemora la

Aboliciรณn de la Esclavitud

Un Periรณdico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Un Periรณdico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

contents

2

Foto del Mes/Photo of the Month

Puerto Rico’s flag amidst a sea of green An employee of Holyoke Medical Center proudly waving the Puerto Rican Flag during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Holyoke, March 17, 2019.

2 Tinta Caliente / Hot Ink 3 Portada / Front Page Conmemoran la Abolición de la Esclavitud en Puerto Rico con el 2do Bomplenaso 4 Estrecha Conexión entre Holyoke y Puerto 5 Marie-Frances Rivera named President of MassBudget 6 New Reports Detail the Jones Act’s Cost to Puerto Rico 7 Girls Inc. of Holyoke cambia tiene su nombre Girls Inc. of the Valley 9 Nueva Esperanza & Solurge to create the community computer lab 10 Opinión / Opinion Creating PROMISE for children 11 Libros / Books Que nadie duerma 12 Borderline Citizens

Cita del Mes/ Quote of the Month “I’ve taken better care of Puerto Rico than any man ever… They’ve got to spend the money wisely. They don’t know how to spend the money.”

El trabajo cultural de Arturo Schomburg en el Caribe

13 Almost Citizens

14 Educación / Education

President Trump’s claims after sustained criticism over his administration’s response to Hurricane María.

HCC professor selected as ‘Engaged Scholar’ for 2019-2020

STCC offers scholarships for the 2019-2020 year

ABC News (@ABC) / https://abcn.ws/2FHVZfF • March 28, 2019

Smith College history professor to speak at STCC

15 Ciencias / Science What is memory?

OT TINTNAT E H INK LIE AU RAMOS CA r MANUEL FR po

In Holyoke... why is there

no course offering about History of Puerto Rico at the Holyoke High School? The number of Pueerto Rican students in the city’s public schools continues to increase and curently about 80% of students at the high school are Hispanic, mostly of Puerto Rican heritage.

I do not understand why this course, which was offered in the past, was eliminated from the curriculum. In the Hartford, CT public schools, with a smaller population of Puerto Rican students, there is currently a student movement demanding the teaching of African-American and Puerto Rican studies in the curriculum.

En Holyoke…

¿por qué no hay un curso de Historia de Puerto Rico en la Holyoke High School? El número de estudiantes puertorriqueños en las escuelas públicas de la ciudad sigue aumentando y actualmente cerca del 80% de los estudiantes en la escuela superior son Hispanos, en su mayoría de herencia puertorriqueña.

No entiendo por qué este curso, que se ofreció en el pasado, fue eliminado del currículo. En las escuelas públicas de Hartford, CT, con una población menor de estudiantes puertorriqueños, actualmente existe un movimiento estudiantil reclamando la enseñanza de estudios afroamericanos y puertorriqueños en el currículo.

Founded in 2004

n

Volume 15, No. 5 n April 2019

Editor Manuel Frau Ramos manuelfrau@gmail.com 413-320-3826 Assistant Editor Ingrid Estrany-Frau Managing Editor Diosdado López

Art Director Tennessee Media Design Business Address El Sol Latino P.O Box 572 Amherst, MA 01004-0572

Editorial Policy El Sol Latino acepta colaboraciones tanto en español como en inglés.

Nos comprometemos a examinarlas, pero no necesariamente a publicarlas. Nos reservamos el derecho de editar los textos y hacer correcciones por razones de espacio y/o estilo. Las colaboraciones pueden ser enviadas a nuestra dirección postal o a través de correo electrónico a: info@elsollatino.net.

El Sol Latino welcomes submissions in either English or Spanish.

We consider and review all submissions but reserve the right to not publish them. We reserve the right to edit texts and make corrections for reasons of space and/or style. Submissions may be sent to our postal address or via electronic mail to: info@elsollatino.net.

El Sol Latino is published monthly by Coquí Media Group.

El Sol Latino es publicado mensualmente por Coquí Media Group, P.O Box 572, Amherst, MA 01004-0572.

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino April 2019

3

Conmemoran la Abolición de la Esclavitud en Puerto Rico con el 2do Bomplenaso Cuatro organizaciones comunitarias y culturales de la región se juntaron para organizar y conmemorar el Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud en Puerto Rico que se celebra cada 22 de marzo.

El Hispanic American Library, el New North Citizens Council, Women on the Vanguard y Los Gigantes de la Plena auspiciaron el 2nd Bomplenaso Celebration el día 23 de marzo en The Zone, Springfield. El evento de este año se le dedicó al reconocido músico puertorriqueño Wilfredo “Freddy Moreno” quien falleció inesperadamente en el 2006.

El Comité Organizador del evento de este año estuvo compuesto por María Pérez, Juan Falcón, Freddy Rivera, Carmen Rivera, Nelly Alvarez, Víctor Fuentes, Darwin Cruz, Xeimy Burgos, Benigno Díaz y Lorna Rivera. El Maestro de Ceremonias lo fue Josiah González.

Además del espectáculo de bomba y plena, se presentó el declamador Darwin Cruzy el Grupo Herencia del Tambor. El representante estatal Carlos González hizo un reconocimiento a Women on the Vanguard y su presidenta María Pérez. El alcalde de la ciudad de Springfield, Domenic Sarno, a través de su representante Minerva Rivera reconocimiento y a la conmemoración de la abolición de la esclavitud en Puerto Rico.

El Concilio de la ciudad de Springfield, por iniciativa presentada por el concejal Adam Gómez, reconoció al Comité Organizador del evento.

Ana Rivera Passacqua, Milagros Johnson, Juan Falcón, Manuel Frau Ramos y Marilyn Gallo

Josiah González, Representante Carlos González, María Pérez, Freddy Rivera y Juan Falcón

Ana Andino, María Pérez, Juan Falcón y Freddy Rivera

4

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino April 2019

Estrecha Conexión entre Holyoke y Puerto Rico por MANUEL FRAU RAMOS El jueves 14 de marzo se realizó una charla en el Holyoke Health Center, localizado en 230 Maple Street, titulada ¡Jurakán! Holyoke and Puerto Rico Linked by Water: A Presentation on the Connection Between the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. La presentación estuvo a cargo del investigador Carlos Vargas-Ramos y del profesor Charles R. VenatorSantiago.

Vargas-Ramos es investigador asociado en el Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Hunter College-CUNY), conocido popularmente como el CENTRO. Charles R. Venator-Santiago es profesor asociado en el Departamento de Ciencias Políticas y está afiliado al Institute for Latina/o, Caribbean and Latin American Studies (conocido como El Instituto) en UConn-Storrs.

La presentación forma parte de una iniciativa de la ciudad de Holyoke, con fondos estatales a través del Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Municipal Vulnerability Program (MVP, por sus siglas en inglés). Esta iniciativa está dirigida a proveerle a las ciudades y pueblos del estado los recursos necesarios para que puedan adaptarse a los impactos del cambio climático.

Carlos Vargas-Ramos, CENTRO, Hunter College, CUNY

En Holyoke, el proyecto de MVP busca aprender de la crisis migratoria que se produjo a consecuencia del azote devastador del huracán María a la isla de Puerto Rico el 20 de septiembre de 2017. Aunque María oficialmente está clasificado como un huracán Categoría 4, hay científicos que afirman que fue Categoría 5. La iniciativa busca desarrollar una serie de Mejores Prácticas Administrativas dirigidas a que los pueblos y las ciudades puedan acomodar a las personas que llegan como resultado de futuros eventos migratorios ocasionados por desastres climatológicos.

Entre los temas que Vargas Ramos y VenatorSantiago cubrieron en su presentación estaban la conexión entre Puerto Rico y Holyoke, los efectos de la larga crisis financiera en la isla, y la continua crisis humanitaria causada cuando huracán María contribuyó a la alta migración de puertorriqueños a Nueva Inglaterra. También se discutieron los impactos que estos dos eventos han tenido en las comunidades de la diáspora, especialmente en comunidades locales en Nueva Inglaterra.

Los presentadores delinearon el proceso que van a utilizar para evaluar la respuesta de Holyoke ante la crisis y la data que recolectarán para entender y explicar el impacto que tuvo Holyoke proveyendo ayuda a los individuos y a las familia que dejaron la isla tras el paso del huracán. El trabajo ayudará a entender qué iniciativas tuvieron éxito cuáles no en los esfuerzos que hizo la ciudad para ayudar a estas familias/individuos.

El estudio que se llevará a cabo en Holyoke busca complementar los hallazgos de una encuesta realizada en Connecticut el año pasado por Vargas Ramos y Venator-Santiago titulada STORM SURGE: Report on the Findings from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Survey on Impact of Post-Maria Displacement of Puerto Ricans and U.S. Virgin Islanders on Households in the Greater Hartford Region, February - May 2018.

El informe señala que cerca de 13,000 residentes de Puerto Rico y de U.S. Virgin Islands que llegaron a Connecticut tras el paso de los huracanes Irma y María al día de hoy continúan teniendo dificultad para satisfacer necesidades básicas, incluyendo vivienda, alimentos, servicios médicos y empleo. Los hallazgos también indican que la gran mayoría de los que llegaron a Connecticut, más del 70 por ciento, tienen bajos ingresos (menos de $30,000), lo que añade una gran responsabilidad a la comunidad puertorriqueña del estado que ya cuenta con recursos limitados debido a los niveles extremos de necesidades en varias áreas que presenta esta comunidad, aún antes del paso de los huracanes.

Para explicar la fuerte conexión entre Holyoke y Puerto Rico, Vargas-Ramos resaltó tres hechos históricos que definen la existente relación política entre Estados Unidos la isla, lo que permite el continuo movimiento circular sin restricciones de los puertorriqueños entre sus dos hogares.

Primeramente, Puerto Rico pasó a ser posesión de los Estados Unidos en el 1898. Segundo, los puertorriqueños fueron considerados U.S. Nationals entre los años 1904 and 1917, y se les extendió la ciudadanía Charles R. Venator-Santiago, El Instituto, norteamericana en el 1917. Por UConn Storrs último, los puertorriqueños pueden viajar sin ninguna restricción entre la isla y los Estados Unidos.

Bajo esa sombrilla jurídica-legal los puertorriqueños comienzan a incorporarse en el mercado de trabajo de los Estados Unidos como mano de obra barata. A partir de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el gobierno de Puerto Rico (PR) facilitó y fomentó la migración de los trabajadores a los Estados Unidos.

La presencia puertorriqueña en la región empieza a notarse con la llegada de trabajadores agrícolas a Connecticut. Posteriormente, los puertorriqueños comienzan a mudarse a ciudades y pueblos más pequeños en la región.

Por su parte, Charles Venator-Santiago presentó algunas de las estadísticas mas sobresalientes de esta migración puertorriqueña a la región, especialmente a la ciudad de Holyoke.

En el 1970, la población puertorriqueña en Massachusetts (MA) era de solo 24,561. En el 2017, el número aumentó a 313,855.

En Holyoke, en 1970, el número de residentes de origen puertorriqueño era de 1,496 de un total de cerca de 50,000 habitantes. En el 2017, de un total de 40,362 residentes, 18,557 era puertorriqueños, aproximadamente uno de cada dos residentes se identificó como Boricua.

Los índices de escolaridad de los residentes de Holyoke resaltan la disparidad entre Boricuas y el resto de la población. El 22% de los puertorriqueños tiene un nivel de escolaridad menor de noveno grado, comparado con el 10.7% del resto de la población de la ciudad. En la comunidad puertorriqueña, 4.5% tiene un grado asociado, 5.5% tiene un bachillerato y 1.7% tiene grado profesional o graduado (maestría o doctorado), comparado con 7%, 14.6% y 8.8% respectivamente para el resto de los residentes.

Los indicadores socio-económicos presentados fueron muy reveladores. El 43.7% de los puertorriqueños en Holyoke vive bajo los niveles de pobreza, comparado con 28.8% del resto de la población. La tasa de desempleo de los Boricuas es de 21.4% versus 13.2%, respectivamente.

El 81.8% de los puertorriqueños en Holyoke vive en apartamentos o casas alquiladas, comparado con el 60% de su contraparte. Como contraste, en Puerto Rico, solo el 30% de los residentes en la isla viven en residencias alquiladas.

Uno de los índices mas interesante presentados en la charla fueron las estadísticas socio-económicas que comparan a los puertorriqueños de

continued on page 9

Portada / Front Page Marie-Frances Rivera named President of MassBudget BOSTON, MA | MassBudget | March 20, 2019 - Marie-Frances Rivera has been named President of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget), a non-partisan public policy research organization known for its analyses of the state budget and other policies that improve the lives of low- and moderate-income people in Massachusetts. Rivera, who was named Interim President last October following the departure of longtime president Noah Berger, assumed the permanent role after a unanimous vote of the MassBudget Board of Directors earlier this month (March 2019).

“It’s an honor to lead an organization that has become so indispensable to policy debates across the Commonwealth. I feel a deep responsibility to ensure all people have the information they need to help shape a Commonwealth where everyone can thrive - regardless of their race, gender, income, or zip code,” said Rivera.

“Massachusetts is a wealthy state and has the resources to make the investments needed to improve people’s lives and our long-term, shared prosperity.

El Sol Latino April 2019

5

Holyoke Public Library ~ A

L I B R A RY

I N

A

PA R K ~

Conversation with Author Series With Massachusetts Commissioner of Higher Education

Dr. Carlos Santiago

Friday, April 19, 2019 at 5:00pm Holyoke Public Library 250 Chestnut Street • Holyoke, MA

Rivera takes the helm at a time when the people of Massachusetts are debating about how to invest in the future of our state. MassBudget is poised to inform these discussions around issues like fully funding K-12 schools, revitalizing our aging transportation infrastructure, and providing services to those most in need. Under Rivera, the organization will continue to build bridges between community and grassroots leaders, the Legislature, issue advocates, and the business community to ensure state policy helps to achieve equitable outcomes.

Rivera, a native of New Bedford, Mass. and of Afro-Boricua descent, joined MassBudget in 2014. The daughter of an immigrant mother, she grew up in public housing, attended public schools, and deeply understands the crucial need to invest in the public good so children and families can thrive.

Rivera began her career in her hometown of New Bedford, establishing and managing a direct-service organization serving low-income, young people.

She later shifted to philanthropy, working at the Hyams Foundation, where she discovered the power of policy change and civic engagement to move the needle on racial and economic justice issues.

At MassBudget, Rivera has written on tax policy and other economic issues, and has advanced the organization’s work around diversity, equity, and inclusion. She earned a master’s degree in Law and Public Policy from Northeastern University and has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Babson College.

“Marie-Frances has the passion and foresight to lead MassBudget and its talented team,” said Carol Kamin, Chair of the MassBudget Board of Directors. “There’s a growing urgency to address the unacceptable gaps in economic opportunity, education, health, and other measures of well-being across our Commonwealth. Marie-Frances has the ability to lead MassBudget as it develops fact-based analyses toward realizing a collective vision of improving the lives and life chances of all Massachusetts residents.”

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) conducts rigorous research on policies that improve the lives of low- and moderate-income people and people of color, playing a crucial role in informing debates so that everyone pushing for stronger Commonwealth has the information they need to make progress. MassBudget’s work is used by community leaders, the media, policy makers, issue advocates, and is publicly available to all.

Massachusetts Commissioner of Higher Education, Carlos Santiago has just released a new edition of his book, Puerto Ricans in the United States: A Contemporary Portrait, which provides “a comprehensive, contemporary portrait of the nearly 8 million Puerto Ricans almost evenly divided between the island itself and across the U.S. mainland and Hawaii”.

Most library programs are free thank you from library supporters like you!

For more information or to register for this program, call the library at (413) 420-8101.

Parking available along Chestnut Street and in generous lots adjacent to and immediately across the street from the library.

6

Opinión / Opinion

El Sol Latino April 2019

New Reports Detail the Jones Act’s Cost to Puerto Rico By COLIN GRABOW

This article was originally published on CATO At Liberty blog | February 25, 2019 Last year the American Maritime Partnership released a report claiming that the Jones Act, a protectionist law which requires domestic water transport to be performed by vessels that are U.S.-made, crewed, owned, and flagged, imposes no cost on consumers in Puerto Rico. Riddled with apples-tooranges comparisons and an opaque methodology—the no cost assertion was in large part based on a cost comparison of a mere 13 items sold by Walmart at its stores in Jacksonville, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico— the report was deeply flawed.

Just how flawed became more apparent last week when several Puerto Rico-based business groups released two analyses examining the Jones Act’s economic impact on the territory.

The first analysis, prepared by Puerto Rico-based Advantage Business Consulting, focused on the food and beverages sector where it found a Jones Act cost of $367 million. The methodology used is transparent. After surveying food industry companies in the territory about their transportation costs, the report’s authors found Jones Act vessels to have shipping prices 2.5 greater than non-Jones Act shipping from foreign ports ($3,027 versus $1,206) after adjusting for container size and distance. Total maritime transportation costs, meanwhile, were found to be 12 percent of the value of imports. By multiplying 60 percent (the percentage differential between $3,027 and $1,206) by the 12 percent figure, the report’s authors were able to derive a de facto Jones Act tax of 7.2 percent (.60 * .12).

When this 7.2 percent tax was applied to the $4.154 billion estimated to be imported from the U.S. mainland in FY 2018 ($4.615 billion in food and beverages were imported while survey data indicates 90 percent of this originated from the U.S. mainland), the result was a cost of nearly $300 million. Again, this is just for food and beverages.

The report points out, however, that other factors no doubt push this $300 million figure still higher. One such factor is the need to first transport the goods to a port for shipment to Puerto Rico. While as recently as 1996 there were ten mainland ports from which goods could be transported to Puerto Rico, that number has since shrunk to a mere four. Furthermore, survey data indicates that just a single port—Jacksonville, Florida—accounts for 88 percent of containers sent to the territory.

In other words, to ship goods to Puerto Rico likely first means sending them to Jacksonville, which can mean significant added expense in a country as vast as the United States. The cost of transporting a 40-foot container from California to Jacksonville, the report noted, is $7,000.

Another factor cited is a “cascade effect” from markups in the distribution chain being higher than would otherwise be the case owing to the artificially high cost of transportation. In addition, the increased cost of inputs used by producers in Puerto Rico, such as farmers who must use fertilizers imported from the mainland, means a higher cost for final goods. According to Advantage Business Consulting the incorporation of these factors results in a total Jones Act cost to the food and beverage sector of $367 million.

The second analysis, meanwhile, took a more comprehensive look at the Jones Act’s impact on Puerto Rico. Produced by John Dunham and Associates, it used a model of international shipping costs for 260 different commodities and compared it against six different estimates of Jones Act shipping cost differentials. After controlling for distance and terminal handling charges the analysis estimated these differentials to range from 89 percent to roughly 30 percent.

Using the firm’s recommended model, the analysis finds the Jones Act raises the price of shipping cargo to Puerto Rico by $568.9 million and that prices are $1.1 billion higher than would be the case without the Jones Act. This, in turn, is estimated to mean 13,250 fewer jobs. Were they to exist, such jobs would mean $337.3 million more in wages and over $1.5 billion in increased economic activity. Tax revenue would be $106.4 million higher without the Jones Act. Such costs are significant in almost any context. For a territory with a lower per capita GDP than every U.S. state, high unemployment, and still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Maria, they are even more so.

It should be stressed that these reports are but the latest evidence of the harm wrought by the Jones Act on Puerto Rico. Indeed, what was already known prior to their release constitutes quite an indictment. For example: • Earlier this decade three Jones Act carriers pled guilty to price collusion in the Puerto Rico trade, with $46.2 million in fines handed out and six executives sent to prison. Since this episode one of the guilty carriers announced its withdrawal from the market, further reducing competition.

• A 2012 report issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that shipping a twenty-foot container of household and commercial goods from the East Coast to Puerto Rico—a Jones Act voyage—was estimated to cost $3,063 versus $1,504 to the nearby Dominican Republic and $1,687 to Jamaica.

• A 2013 GAO report pointed out that feed shipped to Puerto Rico from New Jersey by Jones Act carriers “costs more per ton than shipping from Saint John, Canada, by a foreign carrier—even though Saint John is 500 miles further away.” The same report also cited the example of jet fuel being imported from Venezuela rather than the Gulf Coast due to concerns about Jones Act vessel availability and costs.

• Puerto Rico’s government has applied for a ten-year waiver from the Jones Act because the law prevents the U.S. territory from importing U.S. LNG due a lack of Jones Act eligible ships capable of transporting it. As a result, Puerto Rico largely meets its LNG needs via more expensive imports from Trinidad and Tobago.

That the Jones Act imposes costs on Puerto Rico is beyond dispute. Rather, the only real question is how much this cost is. Given these latest studies, it appears significant indeed. The time has come to scrap this law and spare Puerto Rico—along with the rest of the United States—from its continued ravages.

The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization — a think tank — dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent, nonpartisan research on a wide range of policy issues.

Publish your bilingual ad in El Sol Latino! Call us today at (413) 320-3826

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino April 2019

Girls Inc. of Holyoke cambia su nombre Girls Inc. of the Valley

por MANUEL FRAU RAMOS En una conferencia de prensa el pasado 20 de marzo, Girls Inc. of Holyoke anunció que la organización ahora se conocerá por Girls Inc. of the Valley.

La conferencia de prensa se llevó a cabo en las oficinas de WGBY en Springfield. El nuevo nombre refleja una nueva era de crecimiento, ya que Girls, Inc. actualmente sirve de inspiración a más y más niñas en Holyoke, Chicopee, Springfield y otros pueblos del área.

Suzanne Parker, Directora Ejecutiva de Girls Inc., señaló que el nuevo nombre refleja un mensaje de inclusión. “No todos se dan cuenta de que servimos a niñas de varias comunidades. A medida que continuamos creciendo y ampliando nuestra huella, nos enorgullece tener un nombre que mejor refleje quiénes somos. Otra razón para estar orgullosos: nuestros amigos en Holyoke nos dicen que están encantados de compartir nuestro modelo de Girls Inc. con el resto del Pioneer Valley.”

Luís Soria, Principal de la Escuela Kelly en Holyoke, Holyoke Safiatu Sam, Suzanne Parker, Directora Ejecutiva de Girls Inc. of the Valley, Roxanne Atterbury, maestra en la Escuela Elemental Rebecca en Springfield y Melyssa Brown-Porter, Directora de la Junata de Directores de Girls Inc. of the Valley Board of Directors.

Aunque es un nuevo nombre, la organización continúa con la misma misión de antes – el que las niñas valoren la educación como un paso hacia la independencia económica, usen su creatividad y auto-expresión, valoren la diversidad, trabajen para hacer cambios en sus comunidades y exploren futuras profesiones que no estén definidas ni limitadas por su género.

Este nuevo nombre representa el amplio impacto que Girls Inc. tiene en el oeste de Massachusetts. La organización seguirá teniendo sus oficinas principales en Holyoke, y mantendrá su fuerte compromiso con la ciudad que la vió nacer.

Los programas de Girls Inc. continuarán cubriendo desde literacia hasta liderazgo. Seguirán expandiendo sus ofrecimientos, y planifican trabajar dentro de 10 escuelas, incluyendo la Chestnut Academy Middle School en Springfield, la Bellamy Middle School en Chicopee, y la Dupont Middle School. Las niñas también están participando en experiencias en UMass Amherst a través del programa Girls Inc. Eureka! STEAM (la A es por las Artes) para adolescentes.

STCC is your pathway to a Career in Health Information Technology!

Get your Associate in Science in Health Information Technology Apply today!

Admissions (413) 755-3333

Learn to process and analyze health records and data.

• Manage electronic health records.

• Integrate medical coding systems.

• Ensure complete patient records.

Learn more at: www.stcc.edu/explore/programs

Actualmente la organización sirve a 400 niñas y esperan que para el 2021 lleguen a 1,000 niñas.

3/15/19 El Sol Latino 1/4 page: 4.75” x 5.75” Manuel Frau Ramos: manuelfrau@gmail.com

7

8

El Sol Latino April 2019

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino April 2019

9

Nueva Esperanza & Solurge to create the community computer lab HOLYOKE, MA | NUEVA ESPERANZA INC. | March 29, 2019 - Nueva Esperanza, Inc. has partnered with Solurge, Inc., a provisionally licensed medical marijuana RMD in Holyoke, Massachusetts to create the Holyoke Community Computer Lab at 401 Main Street, Holyoke, MA. The grand opening will be Thursday, April 18th at 1:30pm.

The computer lab, comprised of five new laptops, will provide on-site training for job applicants for the emerging cannabis industry in Holyoke.

Holyoke residents will be able to access the lab to submit applications, meet with prospective employers, and receive computer literacy training. The computer lab will be kept at Nueva Esperanza, 401 Main Street, Holyoke, MA.

Access to the internet remains an impediment for many and with job applications almost exclusively online, Solurge recognized the need to provide the community with a place to submit applications for an industry that expects to bring hundreds of jobs to Holyoke over the next several years. By working with Nueva Esperanza and the South Holyoke Neighborhood Association, Solurge is ensuring that a community that has been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs (as listed by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission) now has the resources necessary to actively participate in the cannabis industry.

In a separate agreement with the South Holyoke Neighborhood Association, Solurge has also recently committed to hiring at least 33% of its’ employees from the City of Holyoke.

Solurge, located at 650 Beaulieu St. in Holyoke, plans to begin hiring employees later this year and expects to hire up to 30 new employees by the end of 2019.

Estrecha Conexión entre Holyoke y Puerto continued from page 4 Holyoke con los del resto del estado, con el resto de Estados Unidos y con los que residen en la isla.

De los cuatro grupos, los Boricuas de Holyoke tienen indicadores socioeconómicos similares a los residentes en la isla en cuanto a tasas de desempleo, ingreso y niveles de pobreza. Sin embargo, los Boricuas residentes en Holyoke tienen peores índices en estos mismos renglones que sus compatriotas en el resto de Massachusetts y en el resto de los Estados Unidos.

La tasa de desempleo de los puertorriqueños de Holyoke es de 21%. Los que residen en el resto del estado es de 16%, en el resto de los Estados Unidos es de 13%, y para los que residen en la isla es de 18%.

Los niveles de ingreso, medidos como ingreso medio o mediano por hogar en dólares, para los puertorriqueños de Holyoke y de la isla son $21,000 y $19,000 anuales, respectivamente. Para los del resto del estado y de los Estados Unidos, el ingreso es de $25,000 y $39,782 anuales, respectivamente.

En términos de niveles de escolaridad, los residentes en Puerto Rico superan en todos los renglones a sus compatriotas en Holyoke, en MA, y en todos los Estados Unidos.

El 6.5% de los residente de la isla tiene una grado profesional o graduado, comparado con 6% US, 3.9% MA, y solo 1.7% Holyoke. En términos de bachillerato, el patrón es similar. El 17.4% PR ,11.6% US, 6.7% MA y sólo el 5.5% Holyoke.

El porciento de la población puertorriqueña que tiene menos de noveno grado la encabeza la de Holyoke con 22.1%, seguida por la de PR con 17.4%, la de Massachusetts con 15.9%, y la de US con solo 9.8%.

Para obtener más información sobre este proyecto, póngase en contacto Carlos Vargas Ramos, CENTRO, Hunter College, CUNY (cvargasr@hunter. cuny.edu) o Charles Venator-Santiago, UConn Storrs (charles.venator@ uconn.edu). Para obtener más información sobre el City’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program. comuníquese con Andrew Smith a smitha@holyoke.org.

Los niveles de pobreza para los de Holyoke es 43.7%, 38.6% para el resto de MA, 25.9% para US y 45.8% para Puerto Rico.

Publish your bilingual ad in El Sol Latino! Call us today at (413) 320-3826.

Jeroton Clown Music, Games, Balloons and Much More...

For More information call: Jerry & Brenda 413-557-8273 • 413-210-5458 jero4817@yahoo.com

Desde Puerto Rico para el mundo— "la primera y única emisora de tv con licencia para la historia"

10

Opinión / Opinion

El Sol Latino April 2019

Creating PROMISE for children by MIGUEL ARCE and WALTER MULLIN Public school education in Massachusetts is funded primarily through local and state revenue. Communities with high property values raise more money for their schools by collecting more taxes. This gives wealthier communities the opportunity to fund their school at a higher rate than poorer communities. When accompanied with the reality that urban communities have residents with more social needs, wealthier communities have an advantage to pass on to their youth.

Dr. Walter Mullin and Miguel Arce

The debate on school funding is heating up in Massachusetts. Legislators across the state, including Representative Aaron Vega of Holyoke, are actively working to change the way that urban schools are funded.

Because of the diversity of student needs in urban communities, the task of educating the children in those communities is different than other nonurban communities. At first glance, it might seem logical to say that each school district in Massachusetts should have the same amount of money per student to fund education. On second glance, however, that model does not address the essential social needs of people who tend to live in urban communities that are specifically characterized by a higher rate of families living in poverty. The success of urban schools has repercussions for every citizen of the state regardless of where anyone lives.

Parents, educators, social activists know that education is the most effective way to move out of poverty. The National Center for Children in Poverty reports that there is a strong association between living in poverty and not earning a high school diploma or college degree. Child Fund International notes that people who do not earn a high school diploma by age 20 are seven times more likely to be persistently poor between the ages of 25 and 30. By assisting youth to complete their schooling, a community takes care of that individual child and the whole community at large. The success of youth in life has the potential to lower the poverty rates.

Why is it that children in poor urban communities do not succeed in school?

To be successful, urban schools cannot alone concentrate on academics without being addressing social needs. Researchers at Harvard University have established that life in poverty is a “toxic” stressor that undermines a child’s use of the brain structures that are important for academic success.

These researchers have termed life in poverty as “traumatic”. When living with overwhelming stress, one cannot learn.

In addition, children living in segregated inner cities are living in economic crisis with scarce resources. Youth without resources cannot succeed in school. The segregation of people living in poverty from those who are living with resources is significant for identifying with the successes connected to school success. When separating people who are having successful educational experiences from those who are struggling, the outcome for those in poverty not to success is pre-determined. Springfield and Holyoke are amongst the most segregated communities in the United States in terms of Hispanic/Caucasians.

Currently there is 25 year old formula for funding public education that needs to be overhauled. School districts like those in Holyoke and Springfield, Massachusetts are in need of support. The PROMISE Act, filed by Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz (D-Boston) and by Representatives Mary Keefe (D-Worcester) and Aaron Vega (D-Holyoke), urges lawmakers to increase funding aid by $1 billion per year for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in communities with high needs students in public schools.

The lawmakers are demanding action for fair and equitable public education for every student in the Commonwealth. The lawmakers are backing the findings of a 2015 bipartisan Massachusetts Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC). The core recommendations of the Commission involve the state taking a greater role by providing adequate support for English learners and low-income students; accounting for special education cost; and the ever growing losses as a result of charter schools.

The PROMISE Act is based on spending recommendations for Massachusetts’ poorest students. It is not a radical idea. Almost all elected officials in Massachusetts, including Republican Governor Baker, agree that there needs to be a major revamping of the existing funding formula.

Governor Baker has made a proposal that would include increased contributions by local communities. Governor Baker’s proposal would give districts about $470 per low-income student.

The PROMISE Act as proposed by Chang-Diaz, Keefe and Vega takes a critical step and brings poor school districts in line with more affluent districts. The PROMISE Act commits roughly $4,600 more a year for each student. This investment in the children in Holyoke seems minor compared to the cost of not having an educated citizenry. The lack of education can have serious effects on children and adults. Communities which lack adequate funding for education suffer from sharp and dreadful consequences: teen pregnancy, gang violence, theft, drug use, and other crimes.

All children are created equal. Education is exceptionally central in a child’s journey. Embedded in The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 is a statement that emphasizes it is the duty of the legislature to preserve people’s rights and liberties by spreading the opportunities and advantages of education. The time has come to fulfill this promise implied in the Massachusetts Constitution. The PROMISE Act is a step toward establishing opportunities for all.

This guest opinion is one in a series on living in poverty. DR. WALTER MULLIN (wmullin@springfieldcollege.edu), Professor of Social Work and MIGUEL ARCE (marce@springfieldcollege.edu), Associate Professor of Social Work at Springfield College.

at https://www.facebook.com/ El-Sol-Latino-280862535259910

Libros / Books

El Sol Latino April 2019

11

Que nadie duerma de JUAN JOSÉ MILLÁS • Alfaguara: Mayo 2018 | 214 páginas Juan José Millás, prolífico autor español, ha salido últimamente con Que nadie duerma, la historia de Lucía, una joven que perdió su puesto de programadora de computadora cuando la compañía para la cual trabajaba se declaró en bancarrota.

“Algo va a suceder.” Este es el lema que se repite en los momentos críticos de su vida.

Y Lucía muestra un espíritu optimista frente al nuevo desafío de encontrarse sin empleo. Le atrae la vida de chofer de taxi y después de estudiar las leyes y todo lo demás del mundo de los taxis, se presenta al examen de los futuros taxistas, lo aprueba, y se compra su propio su vehículo.

“Algo va a suceder.”

Y lo que “sucede” para Lucía son las experiencias y los desafíos que se le presentan como chofer de taxi. Para ella, los pasajeros no son solo “cosas” en el asiento de atrás. Se pone de acuerdo con su primera cliente, “una señora de mediana edad,” que le dice, “yo utilizo mucho los taxis para desahogarme. El coche es una especie de burbuja que crea un estado de intimidad provisional entre dos desconocidos.”

Una de las ventajas de ser taxista o pasajero en un taxi es poder “hablar sin censura.” Lucía estudia a los pasajeros en el retrovisor: “ella sólo pensaba en el que venía detrás. Quizás por eso había acabado de taxista, para pensar en qué viene detrás.” A veces Lucía se mete en los asuntos de los pasajeros para ayudarles a solucionar un problema clave en sus vidas.

Del apartamento de abajo sale la música de la obra Turandot, sobre todo el número Nessun dorma. Ya se sabe a qué se refiere el significado del título de la novela. Atraída por la música, Lucía baja y se presenta al inquilino que se identifica como Calaf. No sabe si debe tomarlo en serio porque tenía una “mirada de ave” y “Calaf era un nombre de pájaro.” Pero siente cierta atracción hacia él. Era “de unos cuarenta y cinco años, alto y delgado, tenía la nariz en forma de pico de águila y el pelo, blanco, exageradamente desordenado.” Ya empezamos a darnos cuenta de las muchas referencias a pájaros en la novela. Poco después, Braulio Botas, que así se llama de verdad el inquilino “Calaf”, se muda del apartamento y Lucía lamenta no haberlo conocido más a fondo. Tiene la esperanza de que algún día lo encuentre de nuevo, tal vez como pasajero en su taxi.

Mientras tanto Lucía sigue tocando Nessun dorma. Y “empezó a maquillarse de manera que [los ojos] parecieran un poco rasgados como la heroína de Turandot.”

Un día, al asistir a una obra de teatro, “salió sorpresivamente [en el escenario] Botas….un auténtico hombre pájaro: delgado, frágil, con el pelo muy blanco y en perfecto desorden, como un ave que acabara de escapar de una tormenta.”

Millás se esfuerza por mostrar las conexiones entre dos o más fuerzas, hechos, personas o cosas que, al parecer, no tienen nada en común; además parecen ser contrarias unas a otras. Sin embargo llegan a ser la misma cosa o, por lo menos, coexisten en una misma identidad. A veces ni siquiera los dos elementas están relacionados, ni en el mismo siglo, ni en el mismo mundo, ni son de la misma especie. Esto se muestra claramente cuando Lucía piensa en tatuarse: Dice que “Había decidido cien veces que no iría. Otras cien que sí…En ocasiones, los síes se infiltraban en los noes y los noes en los síes de tal forma que no siempre resultaban fácil distinguir los unos de los otros.” Aunque está hablando de tomar una decisión, éste ejemplo ilustra cómo dos cosas opuestas llegan a ser la misma cosa mientras que cada elemento mantiene su propia identidad.

Esto es exactamente lo que le pasa a Lucía. Ella empieza a experimentar sucesos o cosas que parecen ser opuestos, aunque cada uno mantiene sus características especiales. Para Lucía, su otra realidad es la de un pájaro.

Mire usted la tapa de la novela. Lo que a primera vista parecen ser pelos, en realidad son plumas. Y entre las plumas aparece el pico de un pájaro.

Este pájaro vive dentro de Lucía y los dos se comunican. O sea, este pájaro es Lucía sin que ella pierda su identidad como mujer ni el pájaro la identidad suya.

Otro ejemplo: Lucía maneja su taxi por Madrid a la vez que, en el mismo momento, está manejándolo por Pekin. Lo expresa así el autor: “llegó a dominar el callejero de Pekín, que cada día se acomodaba más al de Madrid” y “de un modo misterioso, los ejes de las dos ciudades, tan alejadas entre sí, y tan distintas de carácter, coincidían en lo esencial del mismo modo que dos gemelos separados sufren o gozan de lo que le ocurre al otro y en el mismo instante que él.”

Cuando Lucía se sienta para recibir un tatuaje, se fija en que hay un pájaro en el salón y que “los perfiles del hombre y del ave …eran prácticamente idénticos.” Comenta que, “parecéis hermanos” y el tatuador le responde, “¿Y quién te ha dicho que no lo somos?”

El lector se pregunta: ¿Y cómo es posible este fenómeno?

Millás opina que, en general, “Hay gente que no piensa en el que viene detrás.” El mundo dentro del taxi en que Lucía viaja es un refugio de la gente de afuera, aquella gente que “no era muy limpia. No era muy limpia ni muy buena ni muy considerada ni muy respetuosa. La gente, en general, daba asco.” Y si es así, ¿qué puede esperar Lucía?

Aunque a primera vista parezca compleja la novela de Millás, se desarrolla lógicamente entre los parámetros de la realidad que nos presenta el autor y deja pensando al lector, “¿Y si fuera así?” o aún, “¿Y si es así?”

Reseña por CATHLEEN C. ROBINSON, profesora jubilada de español e historia de América Latina.

12

Libros / Books

Borderline Citizens

The United States, Puerto Rico, and the Politics of Colonial Migration

by ROBERT C. MCGREEVEY Cornell University Press: 15 September 2018 | 264 pages Borderline Citizens explores the intersection of U.S. colonial power and Puerto Rican migration. Robert C. McGreevey examines a series of confrontations in the early decades of the twentieth century between colonial migrants seeking work and citizenship in the metropole and various groups—employers, colonial officials, court officers, and labor leaders— policing the borders of the U.S. economy and polity. Borderline Citizens deftly shows the dynamic and contested meaning of American citizenship.

At a time when colonial officials sought to limit citizenship through the definition of Puerto Rico as a U.S. territory, Puerto Ricans tested the boundaries of colonial law when they migrated to California, Arizona, New York, and other states on the mainland. The conflicts and legal challenges created when Puerto Ricans migrated to the U.S. mainland thus serve, McGreevey argues, as essential, if overlooked, evidence crucial to understanding U.S. empire and citizenship.

Editorial Reviews “Borderline Citizens is an excellent book on the early years of U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico. Robert McGreevey builds his account around debates and legal conflicts produced as people began crossing from Puerto Rico into the states. McGreevey has made a terrific contribution to our understanding of the legal and conceptual frictions generated by colonialism in Puerto Rico.”

(Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, University of Michigan, and author of Racial Migrations) “Robert McGreevey offers original insights and deepens our understanding of the contours of U.S. citizenship, and the multilayered nature of labor migration. Borderline Citizens brings together empire and migration, illustrates the complex and interconnected web of U.S. migration history, and depicts the continuing legacy of U.S. empire in the Caribbean well into the twentieth century in an effective manner. This is a compelling contribution to the literatures on U.S. empire, immigration history, legal history and labor history.”

(Mary Dudziak, Emory Law, and author of Cold War Civil Rights)

Publish your bilingual ad in El Sol Latino!

Call us today at (413) 320-3826.

at https://www.facebook.com/ El-Sol-Latino-280862535259910

El Sol Latino April 2019

El trabajo cultural de Arturo Schomburg en el Caribe

por CARLOS PEREZ MORALES Artículo originalmente publicado en 80grados | 15 de febrero de 2019 Este libro sobre Arturo Alfonso Schomburg viene a llenar una laguna en la historiografía de Puerto Rico y del Caribe. El doctor Miguel Ángel Virella Espinoza, con su valiosa contribución complementa los estudios de la doctora Flor Piñero quién escribiera la obra, Arturo Schomburg – Sus escritos anotados y apéndices. Un puertorriqueño descubre el legado histórico.

Sobre este erudito historiador, bibliógrafo, y curador, Virella enfatiza la aportación de Schomburg a la cultura caribeña entre 1892-1938, utilizando fuentes inéditas. El autor logra describir e interpretar la contribución de Schomburg a la historiografía de la etnia negra, especialmente en su natal Caribe. Destaca la relativa importancia de los estudios realizados en el Instituto Civil de Segunda Enseñanza y en el Instituto de Enseñanza Popular en San Juan. Luego en el St. Thomas Collage, en Islas Vírgenes. Fue discípulo en su país natal de José Julián Acosta, maestro calificado de ejemplar y de recta moralidad. Emigró a New York con apenas a los 17 años. También se unió a la Logia “El Sol de Cuba 18,”integrada por cubanos y puertorriqueños. Desde 1891 se vincula al movimiento de liberación caribeña contra España.

Su profusa correspondencia con intelectuales caribeños como el cubano Nicolás Guillén y José Martí, le permiten conocer lo que los afroamericanos están produciendo en las áreas de la cultura, el arte, la historia y otras importantes contribuciones a otras materias.

Como bibliófilo, logró formar una importante colección la cual es hoy día la base del Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Centro de Investigación de la cultura africana). La principal contribución de Virella Espinoza es abrir avenidas de investigación sobre la vida y obra de este connotado historiador de la diáspora puertorriqueña negra, Este enjundioso estudio fue presentado como un requisito de tesis en el Programa de Historia de América de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico.

MIGUEL ÁNGEL VIRELLA ESPINOZA, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg: Su trabajo cultural en el Caribe. Publicaciones Gaviota, 2018.

Miguel A. Virella Espinosa (Guayama, Puerto Rico, 1942) es profesor en el Departamento de Historia de la Facultad de Estudios Humanísticos de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Recinto Metropolitano de Río Piedras.

Investigador del quehacer cultural de afrodescendiente en Puerto Rico.

Su formación académica es producto de varias instituciones universitarias.

Entre estas se encuentran la Universidad de Nueva York, el Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe y la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, donde obtuvo su Doctorado en Historia de América. Al presente está dedicado en una investigación sobre el trabajo político de dos importantes figuras de la diáspora puertorriqueña (NY) a finales del siglo diecinueve y primeras décadas del veinte. Estas figuras son Sotero Figueroa (1863-1923) y Julio J. Hebba (1848-1924).

Libros / Books

El Sol Latino April 2019

Almost Citizens

Puerto Rico, the U.S. Constitution, and Empire

by SAM ERMAN Cambridge University Press: December 13, 2018 | 288 pages Almost Citizens lays out the tragic story of how the United States denied Puerto Ricans full citizenship following annexation of the island in 1898. As America became an overseas empire, a handful of remarkable Puerto Ricans debated with US legislators, presidents, judges, and others over who was a citizen and what citizenship meant. This struggle caused a fundamental shift in constitution law: away from the post-Civil War regime of citizenship, rights, and statehood and toward doctrines that accommodated racist imperial governance. Erman’s gripping account shows how, in the wake of the Spanish-American War, administrators, lawmakers, and presidents together with judges deployed creativity and ambiguity to transform constitutional meaning for a quarter of a century. The result is a history in which the United States and Latin America, Reconstruction and empire, and law and bureaucracy intertwine. o Provides a gripping, detailed account of the US decision to annex Puerto Rico in 1898

Editorial Reviews ‘More than a century after the United States announced its rise to world power by vanquishing Spain in the ‘splendid little war’ of 1898 and acquiring distant island possessions, the American colonial experiment in Puerto Rico endures as a test of the promise of American citizenship. Sam Erman reconstructs the first years of this experiment, exploring the understandings and misunderstandings that led Congress to grant citizenship and an elected legislature to the people of Puerto Rico in 1917.

His deeply researched narrative sheds new light on how the destinies of the United States and its new colony became intertwined - a process that prefigured the continuing clamor for full and equal United States citizenship for the Puerto Ricans.’ José A. Cabranes, United States Circuit Judge and author of Citizenship and the American Empire ‘Erman’s exploration of debates over the annexation and governance of Puerto Rico tells a powerful and long-overlooked story of constitutional transformation.’ Christina Duffy Ponsa-Kraus, author of Foreign in a Domestic Sense ‘Erman tells the story of Puerto Rico and the invention of a new constitutional category - ‘unincorporated territories’ - in a compelling narrative that interweaves politics, constitutional controversy, and the lives of Puerto Rican activists.’ John Witt, Yale University, Connecticut ‘Sam Erman’s superb book illuminates the political and constitutional origins of the world’s largest colony, Puerto Rico. His deep research and lively writing provide a ready, and altogether chastening, explanation for the fact that, a full century after the Jones Act awarded citizenship to all Puerto Ricans, all too many mainlanders, including the President, scarcely credit the reality that the island and its beleaguered citizens are truly part of a united American community with equal entitlement to our solicitude.’

Sanford Levinson, author of An Argument Open to All: Reading ‘The Federalist’ in the 21st Century.

o Focuses on largely unknown historical figures who played central roles in the history of US constitutionalism o Reveals the roots of a key exception to a doctrine that remains at the center of political debate in the United States today

• Expert Tax Service • E-Filing Available • Business and Personal Taxes • Accounting & Bookkeeping • Bilingual – Spanish & English

Open all year around

• Expert Tax Service

• E-Filing Available • Business and Personal Taxes

• Accounting & Bookkeeping

13

• Bilingual – Spanish & English

Open all year around

Veanos@www.issuu.com/elsollatino

14

Educación / Education

El Sol Latino April 2019

HCC professor selected as ‘Engaged Scholar’ for 2019-2020 HOLYOKE, MA | HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE | February 25, 2019 - Holyoke Community College assistant professor of Spanish Raúl Gutiérrez has been selected as an “Engaged Scholar” for 2019-2020 by the Eastern Region Campus Compact, a regional partnership of colleges and universities dedicated to promoting civic engagement.

Gutierrez was one of 12 scholars picked for the inaugural, 18-month program that includes academics from 11 other institutions from Maine to Washington D.C., such as Lehigh University, Ithaca College, Swarthmore, Dartmouth, Georgetown and Yale.

Scholars were selected from a highly competitive pool of candidates nominated by college and university presidents and chief academic officers.

“Campus Compact is thrilled to welcome the first cohort of the Eastern Region Engaged Scholars Initiative,” said Marisol Morales, vice president for Network Leadership at Campus Compact, the national network. “The interest in the program and the caliber and diversity of all the applicants was extraordinary. The goal of this program is to develop and support equityminded community engaged scholars and practitioners who can shape the future of this field.”

Gutiérrez, who lives in Holyoke, is coordinator of HCC’s Foreign Language program, coordinator of the Center for Public Humanities at HCC and adviser to the HCC LISA Club (Latino International Students Association). He also spearheaded the creation of a new LatinX Studies program at the college that will begin in the fall 2019 semester, and he teaches Spanish literacy to migrant farm workers through Head Start in Springfield.

“The idea behind the Engaged Scholars program is create a cohort of

STCC offers scholarships for the 2019-2020 year SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | February, 2019 – Students can apply for scholarships offered through the Springfield Technical Community College Foundation for the 2019-2020 academic year.

The Foundation, a 501-(c)-3 nonprofit organization, provides $350,000 in financial aid including over 70 different scholarships to current STCC students.

Students have until April 5 to apply for the scholarships and can do so online at stcc.edu/ scholarships, where they also can find more information about the process.

“Every year, the STCC Foundation is able to provide direct financial support for our students,” said Kelly A. Galanis, director of Operations and Donor Relations at STCC. “We are grateful for our donor support. Their generosity helps transform the lives of the scholarship recipients. These scholarships are critical to our students’ path toward success.”

To qualify, students must be enrolled at STCC or must have been accepted for classes in the fall.

For more information, contact the STCC Foundation office at (413) 755-4529.

scholars focused on working in the community,” said Gutierrez.

His specific projects will focus on two areas: building a civicengagement/service-learning component into the new Latinx Studies program and continue to work with migrant farm workers.

“I want to work with them to create an oral history around their experiences as immigrants and as farm workers, with the end goal of establishing a repository for their stories,” he said.

Gutiérrez was born in Mexico and holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a master’s degree in Hispanic Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The 12 Engaged Scholars will participate in an 18-month ongoing learning and leadership process that includes professional development, collaboration, and scholarship to help the individual participants and the cohort strengthen their scholarship, research, and impact. Scholars will participate in in-person and online learning opportunities, including retreats, regular meetings, and the national Campus Compact Conference March 2527 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Smith College history professor to speak at STCC SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | March 19, 2019 – Smith College professor Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, who specializes in 19th-century U.S. history and race, will speak at Springfield Technical Community College on April 24.

Part of the Ovations Educational and Cultural Event Series, Pryor’s talk is free and open to the public.

Pryor’s essay, “Etymology of [the n-word]: Resistance, Language, and the Politics of Freedom in the Antebellum North,” won the Ralph D. Gray Prize for the best article of 2016 in the Journal of the Early Republic.

Pryor will discuss the article in during her appearance as well as her experience growing up the child of a white Jewish woman and black man in the United States. She is daughter of the iconic late comedian Richard Pryor.

Her first book, “Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War,” is a social history of black activists, who, long before Rosa Parks, fought against segregation on public transportation.

Pryor originally was scheduled to speak during Black History Month in February, but the event was postponed until April 24 at 10:10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. She will speak at STCC’s Scibelli Hall Theater.

Smith College professor Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor

Ciencias / Science What is memory? by ANA PAMELA TORRES OCAMPO Do you remember the name of your favorite teacher in elementary school?

Or the favorite dessert that your best friend loves? It is amazing how our brain can remember very specific details of events that may have happened years ago. And this is not their only function; our brains can store very high volumes of useful information. This useful skill has helped us survive since the beginning of times and it has shaped who we are as a species today.

This is due to the fact that it has helped us to identify and most importantly remember how to avoid or prevent dangerous situations. A simple example would be for example, if you ever encounter a bush with some sort of edible fruit and take a shot at eating it but in reality it is a poisonous fruit, if you are lucky to get immediate medical help and ever see the fruit again, most likely your brain will be like: be careful! Remember what happened last time you ate that fruit?

There are 3 kinds of memory: sensory memory, short-term memory and longterm memory. Memory is also highly associated with learning as we learn by repeating (by the retrieval of a memory) what we have previously seen.

Sensory memory: is related to our 5 senses: touch, sight, smell, hearing and tasting. This means that whenever there are stimuli to one of these, or the combination of them, we can form a memory of it even after that initial stimuli is gone. This kind of memory helps us navigate the world around us and it is closely related to short-term memory but it doesn’t always become a long-term memory. It is also very short lived as it can be retained in the brain less than a few seconds.

Short-term memory: This type of memory can last up to 30 seconds up to a few days. Another characteristic is that it’s usually related to 1 or 2 topics or themes. Sometimes this type of memory can be converted to long-term memory as it becomes repetitive and our brains store the information and it ultimately leads to a longer storage.

Long-term memory: This type of memory can last days all the way to the lifetime of an individual. The main difference is also the fact that information can be stored for later retrieval.

El Sol Latino April 2019

15

This is a very broad classification of how memory works in human beings.

Each of the previously mentioned types of memory has subtypes that can the broken down into more subcategories. This only confirms the fact that it is a very complex system.

Although memory is a fascinating and an obviously helpful tool, it remains a big mystery. We still don’t understand it Credit: natrainner.wordpress.com fully. But currently, there are scientists and doctors around the world seeking to understand it from a holistic point of view (physiological sciences) to the very tiny molecules (neurobiologists) in our brains to gain a more complete picture of what happens in our brains during a memory process. As we try to decipher and understand it deeply, all of the information collected from different points of view will allow us to understand when something goes wrong. Diseases like dementia or Alzheimer’s or any other disease that disturbs the skill to store memories in a human. Once we have this knowledge, we can devise more thorough and specific ways to combat it and the best-case scenario, avoid it.

ANA PAMELA TORRES OCAMPO (a.torres.ocampo@gmail.com) is a PhD student at the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) Program - UMass Amherst.

16

El Sol Latino April 2019

Fine Arts Center ¡Eventos de Abril ! UMass Fine Art Center’s Valley Jazz Network presenta BALLET HISPÁNICO

Jueves, Abril 18, 7:30 pm, | Fine Arts Center Concert Hall El Ballet Hispánico fusiona el baile Latino con técnicas clásicas y contemporáneas, creando un nuevo estilo de baile. Para esta presentación, el Ballet Hispánico trae una coreografía completamente Latina con números que exploran icónicos símbolos mexicanos, la circularidad de la condición humana, y la pasión del baile flamenco.

Sponsors: Hadley farms Meeting House, WGBY TV57

Charla antes del espectáculo, a las 6:15 pm, en el vestíbulo del FAC Cena prix fixe disponible en el University Club antes del concierto.

Detalles en fineartscenter.com/prixfixe.

THE REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) [REVISED] Martes, Abril 23, 7:30 pm | Fine Arts Center Concert Hall

Celebre el cumpleaños de Shakespeare con una espectáculo irreverente y divertido que lo llevará a través de las 37 obras de teatro (y 154 sonetos) del bardo en dos horas. Únase a los tres hombres descabellados mientras hilan de manera genial un viaje a través de toda la obra de Shakespeare en un espectáculo que lo dejará sin aliento y muerto de la risa. El elenco celebrará con globos y un bizcocho de cumpleaños para el bardo en el vestíbulo luego de la presentación.

ZAKIR HUSSAIN & MASTERS OF PERCUSSION Featuring Niladri Kumar, zitar, Eric Harland, drums, Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar y The Drummers of Kerala Jueves, Abril 25, 7:30 pm | Fine Arts Center Concert Hall Descrito por The New York Times como “un genio viviente,” Zakir Hussain, el maestro de la tabla, regresa con su nuevo proyecto explorando la música universal con algunos de los mejores percusionistas del mundo que trabajan dentro del género.

Las presentaciones brillantes y fascinantes de Hussain lo han establecido como un tesoro nacional en India y como uno de los embajadores culturales de su nación.

Screening de la película The Speaking Hand, a las 6 pm n el vestíbulo del FAC

Cena prix fixe disponible en el University Club antes del concierto. Detallles en fineartscenter.com/prixfixe.

Para boletos llamar al: 413-545-2511 ó al 800-999-UMAS ó en línea fineartscenter.com