Sunday, September 3, 2000

Census is a peek in mirror

A U.S. Census Bureau report indicating the latest demographics for Nueces County isn't just a number-riddled report.
   Think of it more like a mirror. I'll bet that among the faces peering are a good number of people who in the past may have felt invisible.
   The census numbers don't just indicate that Hispanics now make up nearly 60 percent of the county's population, says Veronica Guerra, professor of English at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. They beg dialogue about the issues that have for generations fueled the disparity between members of our own community.
   "I think the first thing this city ought to do is hold a town meeting to talk about the issues," said Guerra. "Everyone should be invited . . . The only way to resolve some of the problems that affect our city is through education."
   'This university can respond'
   Education is at the heart of a draft Leonardo Carrillo, director of international programs and professor of Mexican-American studies at TAMU-CC, and his committee are writing. The draft urges the creation of a center for Mexican-American research at the university.
   "The horn is tooting in our ears very, very loudly," Carrillo said. "Successful competition and participation in today's information age requires people with technical, cultural problem-solving ability and research skills. And we feel the creation of such a research center here is one of the best ways this university can respond to this new demographic realization."
   That response, Carrillo said, must also include the hiring of more minority faculty as well as enticing more minority students to enroll and graduate.
   'Do some shifting of gears'
   "Texas has got to produce about 18,000 degreed minorities just to keep the status quo, and we're not doing it," Carrillo said. "So what do we do? We take a gulp of fresh air and do some shifting of gears and march toward producing the Texans that Texas will need by the year 2020."
   For Gloria Lozano Farias, an AARP assistant state coordinator for the Southwest region, perhaps most disheartening is the number of people who've admitted they choose not to vote.
   "I even come across fairly educated people who've come to think that their vote does not count," Farias said. "There's an apathy out there that is affecting our future generations and I say, let's get on the ball and do something about it."
   Community activism, said Georg Johnson,a CCISD consultant for parent involvement and education, is one of the most important lessons a parent teaches.
   "The lessons we must teach our children aren't always the ones in books," he said. "We teach so much to our kids just in the way we carry ourselves, what we fight for. Parent involvement doesn't begin at school. It starts at home."