Latino Professors To Pursue a New Job or To Stay Put—That Is the Question? by <b> Gary M. Stern</b>

Remember two decades ago or so when employees who worked at GE, IBM and many corporate firms for 25 years earned a watch at their retirement party? Those days, for the most part, are gone.  Now savvy employees expect to change jobs every so often, identify new challenges and keep their skills updated.

Enrollment vs. Retention – Why Are There So Few Women Engineers? by <b> Frank DiMaria</b>

No More Pencils, No More Books

Fewer than 50 percent of the students at Virginia State University (VSU) have the means to purchase the textbooks needed for their courses. Even with the odds stacked against them, some complete their courses, albeit with great difficulty.

Political Beat & Latino Kaleidoscope <b> Carlos D. Conde </b>

Whereas Watch Your Step Latinos Immigration reform advocates might not realize it, but Republican Gov. Jan Brewer might have done them a big favor when she signed immigration bill SB 1070, considered onerous by Latinos because it allows law enforcement in Arizona to challenge any suspicious character on his legal status.

The System Is Broken, Ad Nauseam <b> Carlos D. Conde </b>

There’s a fruit vendor in my border hometown in Texas who sells fresh fruit from his truck. He’s a popular figure because he’s good with the “pilon,” the baker’s dozen giving, let’s say, 15 oranges for the price of a dozen. His wife was a coveted seamstress until an immigration patrol picked her up and sent her back to Mexico. She was gone a few months, probably took the time to visit relatives, and now she’s back again to her routine, probably still illegal.

Baby Doc’s Second Act by <b> Carlos D. Conde </b>

Youheard the one about the three biggest lies in the world? “Of course, I’ll still love you in the morning.” “The check is in the mail.” “I’m from the federal government and I’m here to help.” That last one can be applied in a somewhat similar context to Jean- Claude Duvalier, the former president of Haiti who showed up unexpectedly in Port-au-Prince in January saying he was so moved by the current plight of his countrymen that he had to come home to help them.

The Teaching Profession Under Siege <b> Carlos D. Conde </b>

Other than my parents, the greatest influences in my life have been teachers or people related to teaching. It dates to a declaration early in my life about the values of an education and about learning. My parents told my brother and me they would do whatever it took and make whatever sacrifices to push us to get a formal learning because, as they explained, you can lose all your material possessions but no one can ever take away an education.

Why Chicago When There’s Always Río by <b> Carlos D. Conde </b>

You probably didn’t notice, but President Obama recently took a working vacation to Latin America instead of hanging out in Hawaii, his preferred holiday destination.  The president rarely does much R&R at his Chicago home or the presidential retreat, Camp David, preferring other more alluring locations that he can tie in with business.

Latino Dreaming in 2016 <b> Carlos D. Conde </b>

It’s the quadrennial of U.S. presidential elections, so it’s apropos to bring up the image of Ben Fernandez who, as many may have forgotten, was the first Latin-Mexican American, to be precise to run for president of the United States. It brings reminiscences of where he got this pipe dream that a Latino, and Republican at that, could be elected U.S. president.  It wasn’t that long ago (actually 1980), but really seems an eternity from the prospect of one day having a Latino sitting in the White House Oval Office.

Quiere Combate Says Trump to Mexico by <b> Carlos D. Conde </b>

There is an old Mexican saying by one of its former presidents, the legendary seven-term President Porfirio Diaz, 1876-19ll, who even back then had coined the apropos adage about his country’s relation with its neighbor, the United States.   “Tan legos de Dios y tan cerca de los Estados Unidos,” he sighed over some border issues with the United States.  (“So far from God and so close to the United States.”)

President Trump and the Us Latinos by <b> Carlos D. Conde </b>

Once upon a time, Mexican Americans, the largest U.S. ethnic group, liked to consider themselves as the forgotten minority.  Actually, it was the 1960s when the Democrats under the reins of the John F. Kennedy and the Lyndon Johnson administrations ruled.

Education Trust Reports on Graduation Rates and Minorities ... and Which Schools Are Doing Best <b> Angela Provitera McGlynn </b>

“Higher education institutions that place success at the heart of their mission make it a realistic goal for every student. ... For both moral and economic reasons, colleges need to ensure that their institutions work better for all of the students they serve.” So says Jennifer Engle, assistant director of higher education at the Education Trust and co-author, with Mamie Lynch, a higher education research and policy analyst, of two reports dealing with minority student success.