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ARTICLES POSTED DECEMBER 1998
Dallas Cops Investigated for Thefts From Drug Dealers, Immigrants, (posted 12/16/98) DALLAS, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Another Dallas police veteran is on paid leave while allegations that he stole money from illegal immigrants and drug dealers are investigated. The Dallas Morning News today quotes sources who say Quentis R. Roper worked together in northeast Dallas with Officer Daniel E. Maples Jr., who recently surrendered his badge and gun in the probe. Maples said he feared retaliation from drug dealers against his loved ones. Detective John Brimmer, a Grand Prairie police spokesman, says 26- year-old Maples turned himself in to Grand Prairie officers because "the drug dealers had allegedly threatened him that if he didn´t give back their money, they´d hurt his girlfriend and baby.´´ It was unclear why Maples turned himself in at another police department. Neither officer has been arrested in the case. Both have distinguished records with the police department. The investigation began a year ago, when undocumented Mexican immigrants said officers were shaking them down for cash. Thousands of dollars have allegedly been stolen in the shakedowns of undocumented immigrants and alleged drug dealers. Bob Baskett, the attorney for 32-year-old Roper, says the seven-year veteran has not broken the law. The News quotes Baskett as saying: "It is a drug dealer who claims (Roper) he has taken some money. He´s not a credible witness. He´s a drug dealer.´´ Ferré Welcomes the Freedom of the Political Prisoners, (posted 12/16/98) Wednesday, December 9, 1998, El Nuevo DÌa By Luis Penchi Ponce (EFE).- Former governor Luis A. FerrÈ today supported the release of the 15 Puerto Rican independentists confined in U.S. prisons, and said he felt hopeful that president Bill Clinton would soon pardon them. The affirmation of FerrÈ, founding president of the New Progressive Party (PNP), differs with his colleague and ex-governor and ex-president of the collective, the current resident commissioner Carlos Romero BarcelÛ, and with the current incumbent Pedro RossellÛ. RossellÛ and Romero BarcelÛ think that the imprisoned Puerto Ricans must first repent and commit themselves not to return to criminal activity before they would consider them for executive clemency. "I think that this cause is moving forward and there is an impression in the White House that this is going to take place," said FerrÈ in an interview in Ponce. He judged that the freedom of the self-proclaimed "political prisoners" will be good for the status process of the island. "I advocate because everyone who isn't subject to new criminal charges is pardoned," he said, referring to the defenders of independence for Puerto Rico. FerrÈ declined to enter into an analysis as to whether the prisoners have been detained in prison longer than others convicted of criminal charges. "That is an issue of appreciation in which I am not going to enter because I am neither the governor nor the president." The veteran pro-statehood fighter judged that the unconditional freedom of the independentists poses no risk whatsoever to Puerto Rican society. "After what has happened, there is no risk for Puerto Rico. This is a country which is very mature and is on the path toward permanence with the United States," he declared. FerrÈ also diminished the significance of the clandestine group, Popular Boricua Army (EPB) "The Machete Wielders," which called for a boycott of Sunday's plebiscite process. "The only Latin American country that has never had a civil war is Puerto Rico, where our hymn is one of peace, as opposed to that of other countries which speak of war," declared FerrÈ. He confessed to having a "close friendship" with the president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), senator RubÈn BerrÌos MartÌnez, and with the socialist leader Juan Mari Br·s. "All my life I have been good friends with these two, although we think differently, such that this thing about civil war at these heights is ridiculous," he said. He maintained that "The Machete Wielders have no effect on the island," because they are a group of a "minuscule number of people who are wrong and who are trying to impose by force and fear a status that the people do not support." The self-proclaimed leader of the Machete Wielders, the fugitive Filiberto Ojeda RÌos, warned that governor Pedro RossellÛ is taking the country into a civil war and maintained that the entity could respond with violence to "the institutional violence of the state." Vote Against Statehood/Puerto Rico, (posted 12/16/98) Puerto Ricans Defeat Statehood for the Third Time in 31 Years With a relatively low turnout of 70.9 % (the regular voting turnout in Puerto Rico exceeds the 80%, the last status referendum 73% turned out) Puerto Ricans roundly defeated statehood in yesterday's referendum. One aspect of the vote not highlighted by major media sources is that all the votes in alternatives 1,2, 4 and 5 are in fact votes against statehood. One of the pro independence segment represented by the Pro Independence Party participated in the referendum and received 2.55% of the vote and another faction of the Commonwealthers (less than 1%) voted for options 1,2. In total, 54% of Puerto Ricans chose not to support statehood. The main issue was that of the strong sense of national identity that Puerto Ricans cherish across political persuasions. Also, pro independence voters who account for about 15% of the island's population divided its support among the PIP, boycotting the referendum or supporting the "None of the above" alternative against statehood. Alternative 1 .06% (1,974) Status Quo Alternative 2 0.29% (4,4472) Autonomy Alternative 3 46.69% (726,766) Statehood Alternative 4 2.55 (39,625) Independence Alternative 5 50.42% None of the above (Commonwealth) Chelsea Gets Hispanic Judge, (posted 12/16/98) By Christine MacDonald, Globe Correspondent, 12/13/98 The Governor's Council unanimously approved the appointment of attorney Diana L. Maldonado to a vacant spot on the bench at Chelsea District Court, a decision cheered by activists who campaigned for nearly a year to have a Hispanic appointed to the job. The activists had argued that Chelsea, where at least a third of residents are Hispanic, needed a Hispanic judge to improve the court environment and provide a role model for local youths. Maldonado is a 40-year-old Jamaica Plain resident. She will be the seventh Hispanic and only the second Hispanic woman among the state's 350 judges. The council confirmed her nomination Dec. 2. The campaign, which united city, state and national Hispanic rights organizations, marked the first time Hispanics have tried to influence a state judicial nomination, said Elizabeth Canali, director of the Chelsea Commission on Hispanic Affairs. "It is a very positive precedent. It has demonstrated that we can make a difference and our voices will be heard," said Canali. Maldonado, the youngest daughter of Puerto Rican parents, attended Northeastern University law school in the early 1980s, and later served as a clerk for Appeals Court Judge Frederick L. Brown. She will leave a federal defender's job to replace Associate Judge Eugene G. Panarese, who retired last summer. This story ran on page 01 of the Boston Globe's North Weekly
on 12/13/98. Feds Take New Look at Border to the North, (posted 12/16/98) Cracking of alleged smuggling ring forces re-examination of what some say are gaps JAY JOCHNOWITZ The cracking of an alleged smuggling ring accused of funneling undocumented immigrants from Canada to New York City through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation has refocused federal scrutiny of what some authorities say is a wide-open gap in the U.S. border. The case has called attention to the St. Regis reservation, known on the Canadian side and to the Mohawks as Akwesasne, and one of only two reservations on the U.S. border. And some say the case could force a new look at the security of the entire northern frontier. It is a roughly 3,500-mile stretch, more than twice as long as the 1,600-mile border with Mexico. "I'd like to hope so," said U.S. Attorney Thomas Moroney. "It (the border) is a very, very thin line." Federal attorneys in Albany worked with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, tribal police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other agencies to stop what they described as a two-year-old, $170 million operation that brought some 3,600 undocumented Chinese immigrants through the reservation. The ring allegedly charged people up to $40,000 to help them flee China and obtain jobs, mainly in New York City. On Thursday, top federal officials, including U.S. Attorney Janet Reno, described the bust, dubbed Operation Over the Rainbow II, as the first major undocumented immigrant case on the northern border. One Justice Department source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said some of the aliens actually went back periodically to Canada to firm up their welfare benefits, which were then collected by smugglers to help pay off debts. And, he said, police suspect that pipeline may have been used to move drugs across the border, although no charges have emerged. Authorities say that while the U.S.-Mexican border is shorter, it gets far more resources, and much more illegal traffic, than the Canadian frontier. There are 360 border patrol officers in the north and 6,000 in the south, according to INS spokeswoman Eileen Schmidt. Those on the Mexican line deal with far greater numbers of undocumented immigrants. Of the 1.5 million people caught trying to get into the United States through illicit channels annually, 1.4 million are caught along the Mexican border. Most of the remaining 100,000 are stopped along the Canadian border, as well as in Miami and some interior areas, Schmidt said. "That's a big difference," said Schmidt. "The agency has a strategy for securing both borders. What it consists of is putting resources where they're needed." No one is suggesting the St. Regis area or the northern border require the kind of numbers used in the south, but Hale said St. Regis has nonetheless become known worldwide as a prime smuggling channel into the United States, not only for people but for other commodities that have been the subject of past crackdowns-drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. While federal and state law applies on the reservation, the geography of the reservation makes it difficult to patrol. The reservation's police force assisted in the bust, but it is only a few years old, formed after the last one was disbanded after an outbreak of violence eight years ago. "It's still a young department," Moroney said. "It still has to prove itself." There was also a different quality to the alien smuggling here, a federal source said. While people trying to cross the border from Mexico are often loners who just keep trying each time they are turned away, the organizers and participants in the alleged smuggling ring had a heavy investment, raising the stakes and their determination. While it hasn't increased the numbers of officers, Schmidt said the INS has given those on the northern border more to work with. That includes night-vision scopes, high-tech sensors and more cars. The 35 people who allegedly ran the alien smuggling ring are to be arraigned Monday in Federal District Court in Albany. First published on Saturday, December 12, 1998 Orange County Referring Thousands of Probationers to INS, (posted 12/16/98) IMMIGRATION: For 27 months, the Probation Department has sent cases for review when it questions a criminal's status. By GUILLERMO X. GARCIA Some 2,800 Orange County people on probation have been referred to the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the 27 months since a unique cooperative venture between county and federal officials has been in effect, county officials say. Neither INS nor county probation officials were able to say how many of the probationers referred to immigration authorities were deported. But county officials maintain that the vast majority of those deported were convicted of felonies, sometimes violent offenses. The INS has made a priority of deporting convicted felons illegally in the country. But as many as 420 of those referred by county probation officers, detained for minor infractions like running a red light or other misdemeanor violations, may also have been deported, probation officials said. The program ensures that undocumented felons, especially those convicted of violent crimes, are identified and removed from the country. But the cooperation between local law enforcement and the INS has bred fear in the Hispanic community that police might begin enforcing federal immigration laws. Late last year, when word of the program first became public, INS agents would be present in the probation office as probationers showed up for their scheduled, mandatory appearance. Failure to appear would cause a person to violate terms of his probation and make him eligible for incarceration. But since then, INS agents are no longer present in the county probation office. They are, however, still routinely notified when a probationer's immigration status is questioned by probation officers. For the past several years, INS agents have been stationed at the Orange County and Anaheim jails to determine the citizenship of incoming prisoners. Those found to be undocumented have an INS hold placed on them so that when their jail term is up, they will be taken into INS custody. The close cooperation in Orange County between law enforcement and immigration agents could undermine police relations with minorities, particularly the immigrant community, says John Palacio, former head of the Mexican American Legal Defense Education Fund in Orange County. "The immigrant community has to have a sense of trust with local law enforcement before it develops a partnership with the cops," Palacio says. "It is obvious that that partnership is going to be impacted negatively when the community sees local law enforcement and the INS interfacing. To fight crime, you have to have community support, and you are not going to get that support from the community if they sense that the local authorities are part of the immigration system." Police typically do not question a person's citizenship status, in part because immigration is a federal issue but also because Hispanic citizens might be disproportionately targeted, Palacio says. "I am a citizen born in the United States," Palacio said. "But I don't carry around my birth certificate, and I don't know of any citizens, no matter their ethnic background, who do. So is it because I am dark-complected that I might have to prove I am legally in the country? What are the paramaters being used (by the Probation Department) to determine a probationer's legal status?" The county-INS project began in May 1997 after federal officials met with then Presiding Judge David O. Carter at his request to explore ways of trying to identify and deport criminals who were also illegal immigrants. "We ask every single probationer what his (immigration) status is, as we have been directed to do by the court," says Michael Schumacher, Orange County chief probation officer. "Those that we feel are questionable, or those who don't have any documentation, we refer to the INS. It is then the INS who determines if they will be deported." Puerto Rico Hands Statehood Another Defeat, (posted 12/16/98) By Patricia Zengerle SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Dec 13 (Reuters ) - Puerto Ricans voted down a plan to seek statehood for the Caribbean island on Sunday in the second defeat this decade of a bid by Gov. Pedro Rossello to make the U.S. commonwealth the 51st state. With 99 percent of votes counted, Puerto Rico's state election commission said 725,165, or 46.5 percent, of voters in the Spanish-speaking territory had backed a measure to push the U.S. Congress for statehood. That trailed the 782,828, or 50.2 percent, who voted for "none of the above," the option favoured by most supporters of Puerto Rico remaining a commonwealth. Puerto Rico has 3.8 million people. Sunday's defeat came after an intense campaign estimated locally to have cost more than $2 million, although officials of Rossello's New Progressive Party (NPP) have declined to comment on that figure. The opposition Popular Democratic Party (PDP), which championed the "none of the above" vote after suing unsuccessfully to block the plebiscite, called Sunday's election a victory for the Puerto Rican people. The PDP contended that the plebiscite ballot was unfairly worded to favour statehood. "Here is a people proud of its history. Here is a people proud of its relationship with the United States. Here is a people proud of its citizenship, and also proud of its Puerto Rican-ness," Anibal Acevedo Vila, president of the PDP, told a crowd of dancing, cheering supporters during a victory speech. Under commonwealth status, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and receive many federal benefits. But they do not pay federal income taxes or vote in national elections. Rossello did not concede defeat, instead declaring the plebiscite a victory for the statehood movement. He said the "none of the above" votes were protest ballots-many of them personal attacks on himself and his administration's policies-that should not be counted in the total results, leaving statehood with an overwhelming majority. "I recognise that almost half of those who voted, voted against... (but many of them) mounted a protest against me personally or in protest of my administration," he told cheering supports at the NPP headquarters. He promised to take the results of Sunday's vote to Congress and press for a programme for a transition to statehood for Puerto Rico. That plan, if passed in Washington, would then face a vote on the island. "Today, the people spoke and said that they want a change," Rossello said. "... The people spoke and statehood won." On Sunday, voters chose whether the U.S. territory should: push the U.S. Congress for statehood; remain a U.S. commonwealth; begin a new "free association," a sort of quasi- independence with more power for the local government and close ties to the United States; or seek independence. The plebiscite was Puerto Rico's third in less than 30 years, all losses for statehood. In 1993, shortly after starting his first term as governor, Rossello backed a status plebiscite in which commonwealth defeated statehood by 48 to 46 percent, with most of the rest of votes for independence. Statehood also was defeated in a 1967 plebiscite on Puerto Rico's status, a defeat that split the existing pro-statehood party and led to the birth of the NPP. Analysts said prospects for Puerto Rican statehood looked hazier then ever after Sunday's vote. Experts have said anything but a strong vote for statehood will make it difficult to persuade a balky U.S. Congress to admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state. It is estimated that no more than 30 percent of Puerto Ricans speak English well and the island's per capita income is about $8,100, less than one-third the U.S. average of about $26,000 per year. Rossello had pushed hard to hold the plebiscite in 1998, 100 years after Puerto Rico became a U.S. possession at the end of the Spanish-American War, angering Puerto Ricans hit hard in September by Hurricane Georges, which caused more than $1 billion in damages here. Voters also had expressed anger with Rossello over the pending sale of the state-owned Puerto Rico Telephone Co., a deal that had prompted an angry islandwide strike in June. "I think this is absolutely stupid from this guy," Maria, a voter who declined to give her name, said of Rossello. "He believes he is the owner of this island." With 99 percent of the vote counted, the commonwealth option on the ballot had 971 votes, or 0.1 percent, free association had 4,452, or 0.3 percent. Independence was chosen by 26,283 voters, or 2.4 percent. Election officials said 71.1 percent of Puerto Rico's 2.2 million registered voters participated in Sunday's vote, which proceeded peacefully and without incident. In the 1993 plebiscite, 73 percent of voters had cast ballots. Polls had closed at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT). Final results were available about six hours later. A Daily Dash of Hispanic Pride, (posted 12/16/98) Local entrepreneur salutes his heritage with colorful calendar By David Hendricks Seventy-five rejection letters from publishers didn't stop Leonard Rodriguez, one of San Antonio's newest entrepreneurs. Local entrepreneur Leonard Rodriguez displays a few of his 1999 Celebrating Outstanding Hispanics Calendar ó 500 Years of Latino Pride.' Photo by Robert McLeroy/Staff After all, the 26-year-old already had foregone his graduation gift of a car to use the money for 18 months of research. The Central Catholic High School graduate had been focused on his dream product since his college years at Southern Methodist University when he realized there was little that celebrated Hispanic accomplishments. He decided a calendar was the answer. "While taking a business course, I heard about the chief executive of Coca-Cola, (the late) Roberto Goizueta, who was an immigrant from Cuba, and his story to become CEO. I thought, 'How come I never heard of him in high school or anywhere else?' "So I starting researching Hispanics. About that time I was Christmas shopping in Dallas. I saw in the calendar section of a store that there was a calendar for African-Americans, but nothing for Hispanics." After graduating from SMU in 1995, Rodriguez moved back to San Antonio and asked his parents, Leonard and Teresa, to support him while he worked on his project, rather than buying a car for his graduation gift. The first step was to sell his business idea to his banker ó mom. "I sold my mom when I showed her my research," he said. But then came the endless series of rejections from scores of publishers. Rodriguez even went to the 1997 Book Expo in Chicago, but came back home without an offer. Determined to publish, Rodriguez set up Tiempo Productions himself to produce the "1999 Celebrating Outstanding Hispanics Calendar ó 500 Years of Latino Pride." The desktop, page-per-day calendar gives a brief biography and accomplishments on each page of an Hispanic in arts, politics, business, community leadership, sports, writing, the military or science. Among those spotlighted are retired U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, actor Anthony Quinn, tennis star Rosemary Casals, astronaut Ellen Ochoa and home-improvement guru Bob Vila. After three years of work, Rodriguez finally got his product on store shelves. And it appears those 75 publishers made a mistake. The educational and inspirational calendar has been accepted for sale by H-E-B, Barnes & Noble, Calendar Club, amazon.com, Columbia House Music, and area book retailers and college bookstores. His best salesperson is his aunt, Janie Mora, who sells the calendar at her San Antonio restaurant, Salsa Mora. Now Rodriguez too has fans in high places. "I am honored to be included in your wonderful calendar, especially because I enjoyed reading every page," wrote Judith Zaffirini, the first female Hispanic to serve in the Texas Senate, in a letter to Rodriguez. "You certainly have developed an impressive publication, and I look forward to sharing copies with my friends." The suggested retail price is $9.95, but the price varies among outlets, Rodriguez said. Calendars also may be ordered directly by calling 655- 1019 or, toll free, (888) 203-2721. The Web site is: www.sbshow.com/tx/tiempoproductions Tuesday, December 8, 1998 Mapping Out Road to Power, (posted 12/16/98) By Adrian Walker, Globe Columnist, 12/10/98 LAWRENCE - Broadway, the main drag in heavily Latino North Lawrence, is home to dozens of restaurants and bodegas and, revealingly, permanent offices of the Dominican Republic's two major political parties. This hotbed of Dominican political activity, alas, produced few voters in the recent city election, leaving Lawrence once again with little in the way of Hispanic political leadership, even though the city's population is an estimated two-thirds Hispanic. That Lawrence has just two Latinos among nine City Council members and seven School Committee members has prompted a federal lawsuit, demanding that the city begin electing its School Committee by districts, rather than city-wide, and redraw council district lines to increase Latino access to political office. To be sure, the Justice Department goal is more than worthy. Lawrence is just one of many Massachusetts cities where demographics are changing much more quickly than the complexion of their officeholders, one reason the suit is being closely watched elsewhere. But expanding representation will take more than a federal court mandate. New arrivals also have to vote. In a city of 71,000, up to two-thirds of the population - and 80 percent of the school-age population - are Hispanic. Yet because a large number of Latinos are not US citizens, less than a third of Lawrence's registered voters are Hispanic. Frustrated activists, however, complain that the city has worked hard over the years to keep voting down among Hispanics by failing to: print election materials in Spanish, hire Hispanic poll workers, or draw district lines that could lead to greater Latino representation. After a nearly yearlong investigation, the federal government has agreed. Yet the lawsuit rings false to Lawrence's mostly white elected leadership, who say they are being scapegoated for the political anemia of a community that does not turn out anything close to a third of the vote on Election Day. Lawrence Mayor Patricia Dowling, who took office in January, argues that the city has also taken steps to address some of the issues raised in the suit, including increasing diversity among election officials. For once, the entrenched white political machine may have a point - there is nothing in the law requiring the School Committee or City Council to reflect the city's racial diversity. In fact, the US Supreme Court has ruled three times in the last few years that it is unconstitutional to draw district lines in US House districts as a means of electing minority candidates. But even if the suit has legal merit, why just Lawrence? Lowell and Springfield, both with large minority communities, continue to elect city councils and school committees entirely at large. In both, all the officeholders are white, thanks to a combination of low minority turnout and bloc-voting among whites. In Boston, the issue of minority representation has never subsided, despite the fact that the city elects nine of its 13 city councilors by district. Just two of them are black, even as Boston's minority population approaches 50 percent. In Lawrence, six city councilors are elected from districts (and three at-large), though activists and US Attorney Donald K. Stern, whose office filed the civil rights suit, say those district lines were designed to dilute Latino voting power. Even so, there is some evidence that Hispanics are beginning to flex political muscle here, even without federal help. Jose Santiago, a city councilor, upset incumbent M. Paul Iannuccillo to win a seat in the Massachusetts House in September, and Ralph Carrero was reelected to the School Committee seat he has held since 1994. In an even more hopeful sign, Santiago says a key to his victory was support from white voters, who traditionally have shunned Latino candidates. He says he ignored advice that bloc-voting was a longstanding Lawrence tradition that he would never be able to overcome. "I just ran a grass-roots campaign," he said. "A major part was that people wanted change." Such hopeful signs, in the end, may be more of an opening to political power than any court-mandated solution. Like earlier waves of disenfranchised newcomers - the Irish, the Italians, and African-Americans - Latinos will learn that they cannot win public office unless they vote. No lawsuit can change that. A new Lawrence is being born, and somehow its politics have to catch up. That can only happen when the main road through this city connects its Latinos to City Hall and the State House, as well as to Santo Domingo. This story ran on page B01 of the Boston Globe on 12/10/98. © Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company. An Apology to Readers, (posted 12/16/98) A Boston Herald editorial The Boston Herald has always taken pride in its ability to keep in touch with and respond to the needs of the community we serve. That remains our mission today. Recently, however, members of the Latino community have taken offense at some language used in a Nov. 30 column by Don Feder on Puerto Rican statehood. To those who took offense at his words, I offer my personal apology. They were not the words I would have chosen. Should we have been more sensitive to the feelings of the Latino community? Yes. But all of our columnists are given wide latitude to express their opinions in their own way. We will stand by their right to do so. We hope we will be judged by the Latino community, and by all our readers, not on one column, but on the totality of our contributions to this city and our coverage of its people. We recognize that we live in a rapidly changing community, and we hope to reflect in our editorial pages and in our coverage of the news the richness of that diversity. At the Boston Herald, diversity will continue to mean not just ethnic and racial diversity, but a diversity of views and opinions. PATRICK J. PURCELL, Publisher Offers Apology, But Some Still Angry, (posted 12/16/98) By Alisa ValdÈs-Rodriguez, Globe Staff, 12/08/98 After an estimated 500 people gathered in front of the Boston Herald yesterday to protest a Don Feder column calling Puerto Ricans "unassimilable," the Herald's publisher, Patrick J. Purcell, published a "personal apology" to the Latino community today for the language in Feder's piece. It has been almost 30 years since Boston's Hispanic community staged a public protest as large as yesterday's rally at Herald Square, according to community leaders. According to police and protest organizers, 500 people gathered outside the newspaper's headquarters to protest the column, published Monday, Nov. 30. The column described Puerto Ricans as immigrants - even though they have been citizens of the United States since 1917 - and equated Spanish speakers to criminals, welfare recipients, and aliens. Purcell's apology says: "Should we have been more sensitive to the feelings of the Latino community? Yes. But all of our columnists are given wide latitude to express their opinions in their own way. We will stand by their right to do so. "We hope we will be judged by the Latino community and by all of our readers not on one column but on the totality of our contributions to this city and our coverage of its people." While some organizers of a boycott of the paper, such as Harvard Medical School professor Francisco Trilla, said yesterday that an apology would be sufficient, other organizers, like Maria Alamo, say that an apology from Feder himself is due. Feder has been in Israel and unavailable for comment. Alamo said she plans to push ahead with the boycott, inspite of Purcell's apology. "It's the only way I think we can avoid this happening again in the future," Alamo said. Alamo and others were surprised by the apology, because, they said, Purcell was opposed to an apology during their meeting, apparently changing his mind only after they had left. "Purcell told us that if he printed a retraction every time one of his columnists offended someone, he'd be printing one every week," said Trilla. "I said I hoped he didn't have a protest like this outside the paper every week. I said this was not just any article. Something very upsetting happened here." A press release from the National Congress for Puerto Rican rights said Feder had "upset many in the Latino community through his callous ignorance of the historic reality of Puerto Rico." Though Feder's column was about Puerto Rican statehood, statehood was not the issue of the protest. Attendees included Puerto Rican nationalists, statehood supporters, and those supporting the current status as a territory, as well as many non-Puerto Rican Hispanics. The issue, they all said, was prejudice against Hispanics. "Feder used the Puerto Rican issue as an excuse to spew his racist attitudes about Hispanics," said Alberto Vasallo III, co-owner ofEl Mundo newspaper and radio talk show host. Jeff Sanchez, the mayor's liaison to the Latino community, was at the protest, and said it represented a new era. "They are showing not only that they will not be slurred, but that the media needs to go beyond that and start addressing our issues positively." Lawyer John Loiza said yesterday was the first time since 1969 he had seen so many Hispanics united in public protest. "It's wonderful," Loiza said. "This is not a good time to be baiting Latinos, as we're growing in numbers and power." Brenda Velez and Mayari Sanchez, both students at Northeastern University, marched in the picket line, chanting with hundreds of others in English and Spanish. "I think all of us, young and old, are more aware now that if we don't do something about this kind of racism, we are never going to advance," said Sanchez. Jaime Rodriguez, president of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights, said he was pleased by the turnout for the protest. "It's about time," he said. "Puerto Ricans have a long history of protest and activism, but for the past 10 or 20 years we've been dormant. Not anymore." Puerto Rico and Statehood, Cheaters at Work?, (posted 12/16/98) By Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo Dec. 6, 1998 -- I don't think Puerto Rico should become the 51st state, but that does not mean that I think all statehooders are stupid or ignorant. To me, Puerto Rico statehood is a noble cause that made sense in the 1950s, but is hopelessly outdated in a global economy. What bothers me about the statehooders are their leaders. I always thought the old dictum, "Cheaters never win," was true: but now I'm not so sure. The statehood leaders cheat in politics and seem to get away with it. In 1993, the new statehood governor, Pedro RossellÛ, called for a referendum, anticipating that the personal popularity that got him elected in 1992 would transfer to the status question. It didn't. The formula for the Free Associated State won, carrying a clause asserting Puerto Rico sovereignty. But because the statehooders controlled the island legislature, they decided not to ask Washington to implement the results of the election. Instead of defending the democratic choice of the people, the statehooders instead announced plans to push for another "plebiscite." Governor RossellÛ took an oath at his inauguration to support and defend the constitution of the Free Associated State of Puerto Rico; yet he spends every waking hour attacking it. Lobbying with the Puerto Rico taxpayers' money, the governor and his party enticed a conservative Republican congressman from Alaska, Don Young, to draft a pro-statehood bill. The statehooders shut their opponents out of the Washington process to draft the wording for the "plebiscite" choices. Its options stated unless the vote is for statehood or independence, the choice of the people doesn't count and another plebiscite has to be held within 10 years. To get the Young bill passed in the House, the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP in Spanish) needed Democratic votes; so it said Puerto Rico was likely to elect six Democrats to the House. When the bill was in the Republican-controlled Senate, the executive director of RossellÛ's Washington office said RossellÛ was "a Democratic governor with a Republican agenda." The bill died in the Senate. The Young bill is history. Recognizing that he could not buy a pro-statehood vote in Washington or convince the people that statehood was a good thing, the governor schemed again to cheat. He announced that even though Congress would not stand legally behind its results, he would create another "plebiscite." This time, he would fix the vote so that statehood would win. Instead of the traditional three choices-statehood, Free Associated State and independence-the statehooders wrote in a fourth option, "Free Association." By forcing the opposition into two camps, statehood can manufacture a phony plurality even if its vote drops to the 30 percent predicted in the polls. The majority of statehood opponents recognized the trap laid for them, but unable to muster the votes needed to alter the ballot, they announced the strategy of voting "none of the above." When polls showed that this fifth option was gaining in popularity, the governor announced that the fifth option will not be counted in the reported results. In other words, if 70 percent of the people vote "none of the above" and only 30 percent vote for statehood, the published results will say that 100 percent of the people voted for statehood. Every office of government and every member of the party was enlisted in a campaign to get votes for statehood. For instance, with the devastation caused by Hurricane Georges, the governor decided to use people's misery as a source of votes. He has been accused of timing the mailing of many FEMA checks to hurricane victims for the week before the Dec. 13 vote on status. On the day after the hurricane, RossellÛ's pro-statehood government linked hurricane relief aid with a vote for the 51st state on column three by temporarily setting up the hotline phone number "751-3333." The statehooders, including the island's own representative in the U.S. Congress, Resident Commissioner Carlos Romero BarcelÛ, claimed that under statehood, Puerto Rico would receive more money from FEMA (a claim FEMA officials vehemently deny) -- as if this money is a gift from Washington. In fact, FEMA is an insurance fund, created by taxes on mortgages. To date Puerto Ricans have paid more into the fund than they have received. Meanwhile, one of the mayors enlisted by RossellÛ was accused by law enforcement officials of misappropriation of FEMA funds and is out on bail. Everyone in Puerto Rico knows that by cheating on this Dec. 13 vote, the statehooders have turned it into a farce. But because few people in Washington understand Puerto Rican politics, they just might believe what the statehooders tell them. In politics, there is no such thing as a "lie." There is only "spin." But Puerto Rican status is not the sort of issue to be decided by spinmasters and well-financed advertising campaigns. The fate of two nations is at stake: whether the United States will bring to an end an ugly chapter of imperialism in Latin America. The biggest lie of the PNP is to tell Republicans and Democrats that they will gain Latino votes if they back statehood. They are wrong. Latinos are against cheaters. Dr. Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo is Professor of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and Director of the Research Office for Religion in Society and Culture. Minorities Surge At Big Law Firms, (posted 12/16/98) Asian-Americans, especially, swell ranks; Hispanics and blacks also up. BY MICHAEL D. GOLDHABER ASIAN-AMERICANS ARE swelling the ranks of associates at the largest U.S. law firms, according to this year's National Law Journal 250 survey. In the two years since the last NLJ survey on minorities at the nation's 250 biggest firms, the Asian-American presence has grown by 72%, to more than 2,000. "The big news is there's getting to be a critical mass of Asian-Americans at law firms," says Paul Lee, a partner at Goodwin, Procter & Hoar L.L.P. "That helps with recruitment and retention." A few firms have added dozens of Asian associates in the past two years. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's roster shot up from 24 Asian associates, to 56; O'Melveny & Myers L.L.P.'s, from 27 to 64; Brown & Wood L.L.P.'s, from 18 to 47; and Morrison & Foerster L.L.P.'s, from 25 to 70. Powered by the Asian-American associate surge, the number of minority attorneys overall grew by 47.7%, and their share of the big-firm pie grew from 6.8% to 8.5%. "It's not surprising the raw numbers are up because law firms have been hiring," says Reginald Jackson, chair of the American Bar Association's Conference of Minority Partners in Majority Law Firms, sounding a note of caution. "But there continues to be a problem with minorities advancing to partnership-particularly equity partnership. When you look at minorities as a group, we are far from critical mass." Thirteen percent of associates in the NLJ 250 are members of minority groups--6.1% Asian, 4% black and 2.8% Hispanic. [All numbers are based on the 198 firms that submitted minority data by fax or mail in both 1996 and 1998.] Asian-Americans are doing extremely well, considering their numbers nationwide. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Asians and Pacific Islanders make up 3.9% of the general population, while 12.7% are black and 11.3% are Hispanic. Hispanics Also Surge Aside from Asian-Americans, the star performers in this year's survey are Hispanic associates. At a time when the associate pie grew by about 20%, their numbers surged by 50%, to 934. "I'm glad to hear it," says Hector Chinchilla, a partner at Oakland's Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May P.C. "I welcome the company. For many of us, there's a feeling of isolation." Mr. Chinchilla can still remember the days when he would appear in court and be asked by the judge who his counsel was. He, too, stresses that Hispanics are far from "critical mass." Black associates outpaced the general associate market, increasing by 27.5%. But the black share of partnership was virtually flat-and most blacks who made partner in the past two years became nonequity partners. The number of black nonequity partners grew 50%, to 69. Peter C. Harvey, chair of the National Bar Association's Partners in Major Law Firms committee and a partner at Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti L.L.P., of Morristown, N.J., is well aware of this trend. He says that nonequity is not equal. "It's appearances," Mr. Harvey says. "They say, 'Listen, we won't give you a cut of the profits. We'll give you a high salary and let you call yourself a partner.' But really all it is, is you're a contract employee for the owners. You don't make decisions." As usual, the most diverse cities are San Francisco, Miami and New York. San Francisco's Graham & James L.L.P. dominates in the category of Asian partners, with 18. Miami's Steel Hector & Davis L.L.P. dominates in the category of Hispanic partners, with 18. Washington, D.C.'s Covington & Burling edges out the pack in the category of black partners as a percentage of all partners, with 5%. At the bottom of the survey list, it can get lonely for minorities. Every firm lists at least one minority attorney-but 35 list only one. Four firms list no minority associates: Hartford, Conn.'s Day, Berry & Howard L.L.P.; Los Angeles' Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard L.L.P.; Boston's Morrison, Mahoney & Miller; and Warner Norcross & Judd L.L.P., of Grand Rapids, Mich. Eight firms list no minority partners, among them Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C., in Boston; and Schulte Roth & Zabel L.L.P. and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan L.L.P., both in New York. Secret of Success Asian-American leaders cite success in law school admissions as the key to cracking the law firm world. "Not all of us are good at numbers," jokes Wilson Chu, of Dallas' Haynes and Boone L.L.P., who is active in the National Asian Pacific American Bar. Many of those who aren't good at numbers, he adds, go to law school. "We have 10% of the class in major Ivy League law schools," says Mr. Chu. "Sooner or later, you're going to see that trickle up....In 1994, I was the only Asian at Haynes and Boone. We're now sitting on 10 Asians." In New York last summer, more than 200 people attended an Asian bar association party for summer clerks, he says. "We've taken significant efforts to build a good-old-boy network." In this year's survey, the representation of Asian-Americans at law firms closely reflects their presence on campus. According to the ABA, Asian-Americans represent 6% of all law students last year, compared with 5.5% for Hispanics and 7.2% for blacks. Asian-American law school enrollment has more than doubled in the past 10 years. In fact, at least three Asian-Americans have become managing partners at major law firms: David Tang, at Seattle's Preston Gates & Ellis L.L.P.; Charlene "Chuck" Shimada, in the San Francisco office of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen L.L.P.; and Morgan Chu, at Los Angeles' Irell & Manella L.L.P. In contrast to the excited talk among Asian-American partners, black and Hispanic leaders speak of the fragility of their gains. In the past few years, Mr. Jackson notes, two of the five black partners at Columbus, Ohio's Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease have departed for the federal bench, and another is about to leave for a major corporation. "Great lawyers, great guys, great opportunities," Mr. Jackson says. "But the numbers are so fragile. A few defections can change the environment." Similarly, Dan Perez, a director of the Hispanic National Bar Association, has watched as his seven Hispanic colleagues from his days as an associate in the Dallas office of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue left big firms for other opportunities. He founded an intellectual property boutique, Warren & Perez, which merged this year into Dallas' Gardere & Wynne L.L.P. As a big-firm Hispanic partner, he is a "rare breed," he says. "The gains can be negated within six months if for some reason there's an exodus." Mr. Jackson, Mr. Perez and Mr. Chinchilla all point to recent court decisions and state referendums curtailing affirmative action as posing the biggest threat to minorities in law firms. "What you have in Texas is an exponential growth in Hispanics coupled with a decline in law school admissions," Mr. Perez says. "It's alarming." Mr. Jackson agreed: "We need to be concerned whether the pipeline will be filled at the front end, given what we're seeing at law schools in Texas and California." Copyright © 1998, The New York Law Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved. School Choice Group Challenges, (posted 12/15/98) THREAT BY FLINT TEACHERS' UNION OFFICIAL MIDLAND-A group working to expand parental choice in K-12 education to low-income families Thursday challenged a Flint teachers' union official's threat to demand the resignation of Flint Board of Education member Lily Tamez Kehoe because Kehoe supports creation of a charter school for Hispanic and Native American children. Gary Glenn, president of School Choice YES! of Midland, Friday said unless United Teachers of Flint President George Wingfield demands the resignation of all public school officials or employees-including his own members- who place their children in charter or nonpublic schools, "his threat will appear to be a bigoted and discriminatory attack only against those trying to help Hispanic and Native American children." "All parents, including school teachers and board members such as Ms. Kehoe, should be free to choose what's best for their children, including alternative schools if necessary, without having their jobs threatened by bullying union officials who oppose giving parents a choice," Glenn said. Public school teachers - those who know public schools best, and more importantly, make enough money to have a choice-are far more likely than the general population to remove their children from traditional public schools, Glenn said, citing a Hudson Institute study which found that over half of all teachers in Grand Rapids, and over a third in Detroit, send their own children to nonpublic schools. In each case, according to census data, the percentage of teachers with children in nonpublic schools was more than double that of the general population. But parental choice should not be only for school teachers and others who have enough money, he said. That's why School Choice YES! is proposing a K-12 tuition tax credit for Michigan's 2000 ballot that would reduce the taxes not only of parents who pay tuition to public or nonpublic schools, but of any individual or company that donates a tuition scholarship to a child whose parents can't afford it. Encouraging individual and corporate donations to scholarship funds for low-income children is what won the School Choice YES! plan the endorsement of prominent African-American leaders such as Dr. A.J. Pointer, pastor of Flint's Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle and president of the state's largest black religious denomination. "All parents-no matter their income, race, or neighborhood-should be financially empowered to exercise the same choice many public school teachers have already made for their own children. And parents should have that choice regardless of public school union officials who are fighting to deny parental choice to those less well-off financially," he said. Flint School Board Blasts One of Its Own, (posted 12/15/98) By Dave Murray FLINT - The Board of Education lashed out at member Lily Tamez Kehoe on Wednesday for her comments in support of a proposed charter school aimed at Hispanics and American Indians. Kehoe was accused by her colleagues of making "false allegations, accusations and innuendoes" about the Flint district in a letter she wrote to support the proposed school. In an unusual move, board Vice President Helen R. Williams started Wednesday's meeting by reading a seven-page condemnation of Kehoe. Kehoe has said she was backing the proposed charter in her role as executive director of the Spanish Speaking Information Center. In her defense Wednesday, two members of the proposed school's board of directors called the Flint board hypocritical, noting the board was silent when a group, including former Superintendent Nathel Burtley, announced plans for a charter school two years ago. They also noted the Flint board has contracted with the for-profit Edison Project to run two city schools, a deal they said is similar to a charter school relationship. "This is nothing but a highly orchestrated public vilification of Lily Kehoe," said Vernon Craig, a member of the proposed Flint Advantage Academy board. "The focus here should be on how these students are being educated, not the parochial concerns over who is doing the educating. If your education product is better, people will stay with it. If not, they'll look somewhere else." Kehoe wasn't present to hear to debate - she was asked to represent the board at a community education conference in San Diego. Contacted after the meeting, Kehoe said she does not regret writing the the letter, which was part of an application to Central Michigan University, which would approve the charter school. "I only wish they would have waited until I could be there," she said. "They take the time and expense to send me somewhere to represent them, while back home they're blasting me, telling me what a bad job I'm doing. That doesn't make sense." Charter schools are independent public schools that need approval from a university or school district to operate. They receive the same per-student state aid as the district where they are located. In the letter, Kehoe wrote that Hispanics and American Indian students have a combined dropout rate of about 65 percent, that the students' culture is overlooked in the district's curriculum. She also said there is a subtle racism that makes Hispanic and American Indian students feel unwelcome. Williams, who said the topic was too important to wait until Kehoe returned, questioned the 65 percent figure, saying Census Bureau figures report the dropout rate for Hispanic students nationwide at between 30 percent and 35 percent. The dropout figure for Hispanics in Flint is 9.6 percent, she said. Williams did not report the national or local dropout rates for American Indians. Of the district's 24,792 students, 551 are Hispanic and 611 are American Indian. Williams said students discuss Hispanic history and culture from kindergarten to seventh grade. "To say that our schools are unsafe and exist in a state of chaos only fuels the flames of fear and apprehension on the part of our parents," Williams said. "It is not, nor will it ever be, the district's practice to belittle, berate or downgrade others' efforts. We want our parents to be informed and to make the best decisions for their children. "It is not our intent to sit idly by and allow false allegations, accusations and innuendoes about our district to go unresponded to." United Teachers of Flint President George Wingfield said he was angered that a Flint board member would have anything to do with a charter school, and stopped just short of calling for Kehoe's resignation, a move he said could come from the union next month. "If the education of all the children is not a priority, then maybe you should not be a part of the body that makes these decisions," he said. Not all the speakers were critical of Kehoe. John Clothier, president of the administrators union, said he's proud of the Flint schools, but said it is hard to attack Kehoe for trying to help city children when many of the people employed by the district - even those working on the district's reform efforts - send their children to private or suburban schools. Catherine Davids, a member of the proposed school's board, said there are numerous charter schools in the state that are targeted at a specific ethnic group. Davids said Flint Advantage Academy, if granted a charter, would hope to work closely with Flint schools. Craig said he finds it strange that the board blasted Kehoe, yet it remained silent when organizers of Northridge Academy announced plans to open a school in the city's north side two years ago. The school, which is still looking for a site, would be managed by the for-profit Leona Group. Former Flint Superintendent Nathel Burtley is an executive in the company. Dave Murray covers education. He can be reached at (810) 766-6383 or by e-mail at dmurray@tir.com.
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