June 24, 2022
The Mosaic Inspiring Tomorrow’s Journalists
Volume 29
As drought Latino voter turnout lags drags on, in latest election farmers struggle By Theodore Nguyen Mosaic staff writer
STEVEN ARREOLA MUÑOZ— STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeremy Barousse, an activist with Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment in San Jose, says the need to work multiple jobs can make it harder for Latinos to stay engaged politically. By Scarlett Lopez-Rodriguez Mosaic staff writer
In a primary election with dismal turnout in Santa Clara County, in which only about a third of eligible voters cast a ballot, even a smaller portion of Latino voters made their voices heard. Only 27% of registered Latinos in the county voted in the June 7 primary election, marking the lowest turnout among any ethnic or racial group in the region, according to the Pew Research Center. Fabiola Ramirez, a 22-year-old Latina resident of San Jose, didn’t vote in the election.“I chose not to vote because I wasn’t too aware or informed of the policies that were being advocated,” Ramirez said. She has voted in the past when she was enrolled at San Jose State University, where teachers and students often discussed the issues and the need to vote. “I was in college when I did vote so I think it was more talked about
within class,” she said. One Latino activist in East San Jose was saddened and disappointed about the low Latino turnout in the primary election, though not shocked. “It’s very concerning to hear about the low voter turnout,” said Jeremy Barousse of Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment, a non-profit social services group in East San Jose. “It’s a very working-class community. People work two, three jobs,” Barrousse said of Latinos overall. “When you’re working, you’re not able to participate, or have the time to educate yourself about what’s on the ballot.” Among all registered voters, turnout in the county was 33.4%, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, a showing that alarmed some political experts. Latino activists would like to see more voters like Diego Martinez, who prioritizes voting. Born and raised in San Jose, he voted in the June primary. Martinez
is a San Jose State graduate who studied political science. He has voted in every election since registering five years ago, and he even ran for a seat on a local school board. “I chose to vote because I’m lucky enough to know a lot of people on the ballot,” Martinez said. “I’m very lucky to be involved in the community and just know what’s going on,” he said. Martinez, who pays close attention to local politics, said there should be more publicity targeted at Latinos about elected officials in San Jose. That would be done “by having some sort of educational way of doing it, maybe in a commercial or a commercial between novelas or soccer games,” Martinez said. If Martinez represents hope for higher Latino voter turnout, Lorena Ortiz represents the next generation of Latino voters. A 16-year-old Hispanic student at Santa Clara High School, Ortiz has registered to vote, even though Continued on Page 10
If you were to visit Anderson Reservoir in Morgan Hill, there would be nothing but a dried-up gorge, with bleached stones to show old water levels. While the empty lake is attributed to its dam’s 10-year restoration program, future water levels post-construction may remain dangerously low due to the drought. This could be the future of many nearby water sources. With this year’s drought looming over the western and southwestern United States, lower water output from local, state and federal reservoirs has put the agricultural industry and farmers at risk. California’s major reservoirs, Lakes Shasta and Oroville, are currently under 50% capacity, which has reduced harvests. “This year we produced less than expected,” said Daniel Vazquez of Ripon’s Villanueva Farms, which primarily grows cherries, apricots and figs. “Water rights were kind of hard.” According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, California ranks as the largest producer of livestock and produce. In comparison, other states such as Iowa primarily produce crops such as corn, grain, and soybeans. California’s diversity results in large differences in water usage per crop, ranking the state first in total water use compared with other states. Gabriel Diaz of South San Jose works with local farms across the state to buy and sell fruits and vegetables to the rest of the country. “Having a drought is a huge problem for us and for the farmers there, because there’s no fruit and we’re affecting markets around the world. California is a top producer of food, so drought is a serious business,” Diaz said. Diaz said he believes that farming practices must shift to smarter waterconserving methods. “One of the biggest problems for water is when you break up the soil structure,” Diaz added. Continued on Page 10
Kids send Ukraine heartfelt messages 7-year-old inspired by mom’s generous donation rallies his classmates to help
By Alli Wang
Mosaic staff writer
When 7-year old Zane Zeidler saw the news of the war in Ukraine, he was troubled and wanted to find ways to help. The war had been going on for more than 100 days, and Zane was stressed by the crisis at hand because he knew a classmate whose grandmother was in Ukraine, according to his mother, Dr. Kamakshi Zeidler. “War is something very difficult to explain to a 7-year-old,” Zeidler said. “But I know there are children that are affected and that isn’t fair. It’s important for him to have an understanding of what his friend is going through.”
SAIRA AHMED — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Children’s letters and drawings lay on a table at the Hearts for Ukraine warehouse on June 18 in San Jose. The organization packaged them with donated medical supplies being sent to Ukraine.
Around the same time, Zeidler, who heads the plastic surgery company Aesthetx in Campbell, got a request from her nurse to send care packages to Ukraine. “I have a nurse who’s from Ukraine who worked with Hearts for Ukraine who asked if she could donate her paycheck to buy medical supplies through Aesthetx,” Zeidler said. “And I told her we can definitely do more than that.” The company donated all of its warehouse stockpile of medical supplies, about $20,000 worth, to the San Jose-based grassroots organization Hearts for Ukraine. The donation consisted of IV fluids, airway supplies and other sterile medical components. Continued on Page 9