latino lingo

The Associated Press is reporting that while minority enrollment and graduation rates are increasing at Connecticut colleges and universities, Hispanic students remain underrepresented.

The story, carried in some state papers including the New Britain Herald, says Hispanics receive less than 5 percent of the undergraduate degrees awarded at Connecticut's four-year universities, according to a report issued Wednesday by the state Department of Higher Education.

"The disparity worries education officials because the state's Hispanic population is soaring and, in the long run, Connecticut's professional work force will not reflect the state's demographics unless the trend is reversed," the story says.

The story reports on another report released Wednesday by the Department of Higher Education that shows a growing gap between male and female college students. Women now comprise almost 60 percent of the state's college students.

The Higher Education Department's office of educational opportunity also says black and Hispanic students are disproportionately heading to two-year programs, the story reports.

This is an urgent issue for Connecticut because of the rapidly-growing Hispanic population. According to the U.S. Census, Hispanic population has gone up from about 200,000 in 1990 to well over 400,000 in the 2005 estimate.

While many universities have begun to make some outreach efforts, such as exhibiting at fairs and expos or through some community outreach efforts, I have seen very few actually make a significant effort to do so. Those that do usually place ads that show a Hispanic student or a group of Hispanic students thinking that is enough. It is not enough merely to show some "brown" faces in a Spanish ad not specifically designed to target the Hispanic population.

More money is needed, yes, but so is a greater effort to truly seek to tap into the market. That usually means approaching the market with the respect it deserves, with a serious budget and not just a few dollars conjured up for a quick media buy, and a culturally relevant message.

As a product of the University of Connecticut (go Huskies!) this is an issue I'm particularly interested in and will continue to monitor for you.

"We are on the same team" is Miller Brewing Co.'s response to a threatened boycott of their products in Chicago as a result of Miller's contributions to the political campaign of Sen. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.). The senator is behind a bill that calls for strengthening U.S. anti-immigration laws and construction a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In an article in Hoy's Chicago version, the company's spokesman said they donated $2,000 to the senator in 2004 since he had supported company business causes, and not for social issues. He also added that they have provided more than $2 million over three years to Hispanic organizations throughout the country, and they have developed programs for scholarships and naturalization.

The beer company also put out "an unusual" one-page ad in Thursday's edition of Hoy, according to an article in Marketing y Medios .

Not sure what Marketing y Medios means by "unusual" since I haven't seen the ad. But, there is nothing "unusual" about companies buying full page ads to state their cases.

I was actually recently interviewed by a local TV station to comment on a company in the state whose union workers are striking about the effectiveness of these ads (they have placed them in the area papers) to communicate their points. What I said is that they are an effective way to ensure your messages are communicated to an intended audience without a filter (i.e. the news editors) or conflicting sentiments (i.e. if they also interviewed a union person in the same article).

However, they are not effective if this is the only means of communication. A broader public relations and media relations campaign is needed. And, much of that must be done prior to the strike (or boycott in Miller's case). For examples, make sure you establish positive ties and trust with the media so there is a good relationship and you can ensure your story gets told. That means, answering their queries in a timely manner whether the news is good or bad. All too often companies are happy to send out all their positive news for media coverage, but stonewall when they call for something that is not too positive. Don't put out your bad news at 5:00 on a Friday in hopes it doesn't get covered or try other "tricks" to do damage control. This is very transparent to the media. They will remember that next time you're looking for ink on a positive story ... or when the mierda hits the fan.

It appears Miller has done that as the stories I've seen speak to the work the company has done to support the Hispanic community. It is also good that they have a track record, $2 million is not shabby and certainly more than many companies contribute.

They now need to continue to be active and continue to appear responsive to the concerns of the organizations threatening to boycott. The message they have to get out is to weigh the value of a $2,000 contribution to the general campaign of someone who does things out of Miller's control against the $2 million they have contributed to support Hispanic causes.

Talk about a very interesting infusion of cultures, Puerto Rican and Irish.

El Diálogo, the only bilingual/multicultural newspaper published biweekly in greater Springfield, Mass., is hosting its annual "Islands Together" celebration. The event is an Irish/Salsa party that features a Celtic rock band and a Latin Jazz and Salsa group.

The newspaper's editor, Lillian Santiago, sent me a flyer announcing the event, which takes place this Thursday night in Holyoke, Mass. I have to say the event sounds great so I'll be there. If you're in the area I'd recommend you stop by. I've always wondered who partied more, the Irish or Latinos. In Holyoke, at least, they've stopped wondering and decided there's more fun in joining forces. This is true multi-culturalism!