A newsletter for the students, faculty and staff of the Collin County Community College District. Published monthly. For information or submissions, call 972.758.3849. Cougar News welcomes student and faculty submissions. Next deadline: Sept. 10. All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Photos cannot be returned. Text should be emailed to mrobinson@ccccd.edu or sent on disk. Please submit copy that is proofed, edited and saved in Word format. Cougar News staff: Lisa Vasquez, director; Mark Robinson, editor; Marcy Cadena-Smith, contributor; Sydney Portilla-Diggs, student correspondent; Stephanie Hall, student correspondent; Ana Colores Palmer, student correspondent; Nick Young, photographer; Layout by Publications
|  |
|
|
Collin celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month Sept. 15-Oct.15.
National Hispanic Heritage Month is rolling around once again, Sept. 15-Oct.15.
The month-long observance and celebration highlights the many contributions of Hispanic Americans and the way Hispanic culture has molded the United States. According to data from the spring 2005 semester, 10 percent of Collin students indicated they were Hispanic.
Hispanic culture reaches even further into the community, however. It was recently announced that KESS (107.9), a Spanish-language radio station, ranked No. 1 in the Dallas and Fort Worth Arbitron ratings. It was the first time a Spanish-language station did so in this market.
“It is definitely a growing population,” Coordinator for Program for New Students Lisabeth Lassiter said. “The Hispanic population is an important one to pay attention to because they will be setting trends in our culture because of that growth.”
Lassiter recently was named the Advisor of the Year for Young Adults at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) National Convention for her work with Collin’s chapter.
LULAC began at Collin in 2002 and currently has about 20 active members, ne of which is LULAC 2005-06 President Liz Trejo. The sophomore early childhood education student has been involved in LULAC for four years. Last year, Trejo said, LULAC sponsored a visit by salsa dancers who performed and taught attendees some dance steps to practice. Trejo said she hopes National Hispanic Heritage Month serves as a means toward understanding all cultures and for individuals to become aware of their community.
“National Hispanic Heritage Month is a time for our community to come together and celebrate the accomplishments of those individuals with a Hispanic background,” she said. “Hispanics have been a great influence on the American culture.”
She added that the appreciation of Hispanics or any group of people should be commemorated throughout the year. LULAC wants to take the same mindset in regards to their activities. Trejo said the group will make a bigger impact this year in their community service projects, including the holiday Adopt-A-Family program. LULAC will meet the first and third Monday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at the Spring Creek Campus.
For more information about upcoming Hispanic Heritage Month activities or any LULAC programs, e-mail Trejo at lulac@ccccd.edu.
Hispanics have had a hand in a number of contributions in the United States. Here are some of them.
Luis Walter Alvarez – won the Nobel Peace Prize in physics in 1968
Evelyn Cisneros – famed ballerina
Donna de Varona – won two Olympic gold medals in swimming at the 1964 games
Albert Gonzales – current U.S. Attorney General
Rita Hayworth – actress, born Margarita Carmen Cansino
Joseph Marion Hernandez – was the first Hispanic to serve in Congress in 1822 representing Florida
Ellen Ochoa – the first Hispanic female astronaut
Edward James Olmos – accomplished actor
Phil Roman – an animator who worked on several Charlie Brown and Garfield features, in addition to winning three Emmys for his work on “The Simpsons”
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
|
|
|
