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National Council of La Raza to Help AmeriCorps
Hoping to recruit
greater number of
Hispanic volunteers
A 23-year-old medical student from Argentina travels across
South America with his friend in “The Motorcycle Diaries.’
‘Motorcycle Diaries’ Sweeps
(AP) - “The M otorcycle D ia
ries,” the tale of revolutionary
C he G u e v a ra ’s life -c h a n g in g
195 0 s jo u r n e y a c ro ss L atin
A m erica, sw ept top honors re
cently at the Imagen Awards, in
cluding best picture, director and
supporting actor.
The film, based on Guevara’s
diaries of his 1952 trip with Alberto
Granado, alsogarnered Jose Rivera
the Norman Lear W riter’s Award.
The awards show honored con
tributions by and about Latinos
and Latino culture.
“We created the I magen Awards
20 years ago because at the time
there was no other formal awards
show to recognize top Latino enter-
ta in m e n t ta le n t,” said H elen
Hernandez, president and founder
of the Imagen Foundation.
The National Council of La Raza(NCLR),
the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and
advocacy organization, will be assisting the
AmeriCorps national service program in its
efforts to reach an important goal: increasing
the number of Hispanic Americans who serve
as members.
"The AmeriCorps values of volunteerism,
hard work, and giving back to one’s com m u
nity reflect the values shared by Hispanics
across the country,” said NCLR President
and CEO Janet Murguia. “NCLR is pleased to
partner with them to increase our community’s
numbers in a program that plays a significant
role in increasing the civic engagement of
young Americans, and offers incalculable
benefits to its participants.”
The AmeriCorps values
of volunteerism, hard work,
and giving back to one’s
community reflect the values
shared by Hispanics across
the country.
-Janet Murguia, National Council
of La Raza CEO and President
The recruitment initiative, called "NCLR
Compañeros de AmeriCorps” was announced
recently during a youth community service
event in Philadelphia sponsored by NCLR.
NCLR has been a national grantee of AmeriCorps
since 1995. Currently, about 200 NCLR
AmeriCorps members provide educational and
workforce development opportunities to mem
bers of the Latino community at 10 sites located
across the country.
This represents a new collaboration specifi-
cally designed to increase the number of His
panics taking part in AmeriCorps National Ci
vilian Community Corps, a team-based pro
gram for men and women between the ages of
18 and 24.
Participants in AmeriCorps*NCCC serve at
one of five regional campuses located across
the country. Over the course of 10 months, each
AmeriCorps NCCC member completes 1,700
hours o f service on such projects as tutoring
inner-city schoolchildren, building houses in
lo w -in c o m e n e ig h b o rh o o d s, re sto rin g
parklands, and responding to natural disasters.
In exchange for their service, members receive
$4,725 to help pay for college, or to pay back
existing student loans.
Service with AmeriCorps NCCC has been
shown to have other benefits, as well. Accord
ing to a 2(X)4 survey, 83 percent of former
members reported that the skills they learned
while serving in AmeriCorps NCCC helped
them in their current job, educational pursuit, or
civic engagement activity.
W hat to take for arthritis pain?
Local Latina
Participant in Pageant
S outhw est Portland
resident Kiara Aguillon,
16, participated in the
Miss Latina of Oregon
Pageant last weekend.
Aguillon, going into 11th
grade in the fall, has been
involved with the Pacific
Youth Choir, Become X
and ad cam paigns for
Portland General Electric
and Telecom.
“It’s helped me grow
as a p erson and e m
pow er me to do things
that I didn’t think I could
do before. I’m very con
photo by K atherine B lackmore /
nected with my Mexican
T he P ortland O bserver
heritage because o f my
grandparents, and I want to be a role model for others. I want to show
that there are no boundaries,” A guillon said.
Hispanics See Historic
Chance With Nominee
Take a walk. A bike ride. A swim.
Studies show th at 30 minutes of
m oderate physical activity three or more days a week can relieve pain and help you move m ore easily.
If 30 minutes at once is to o much, try 10 or 15 minutes a few times a day. To m ake it fun, invite a
friend or family mem ber to join you. Stick with it, and in just four to six weeks you could be hurting
less and feeling better.
Physical Activity. T h e Arthritis Pain Reliever.
Call 1-800-283-7800 to learn more.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and President Bush joke with
the press during their visit to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.,
Monday, July 11. (AP Photo)
Minority vote coveted by politicians
(AP) - The possibility of two
Supreme Court vacancies - follow-
ing S a n d ra D ay O ’C o n n o r’s
planned retirement and speculation
surrounding Chief Justice William
Rehnquist - increases chances that
President Bush will nominate the
court’s first Hispanic justice, ob
servers say.
That nomination would be a mile
stone for A m erica's fastest-grow
ing minority group, whose vote is
heavily coveted by politicians. At
the same time, it could magnify the
split between conservative and lib
eral Hispanic groups if a battle
breaks out over the nominee’s ide
ology.
Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and
Ken Salazar, D-Colo., say a quali
fied Hispanic shouldn’t have aprob-
lem bei ng confirmed.
“ 1 think that all of them have to
live up to the same standards, and
that is: Are they qualified? Are they
going to be fair and impartial people
on the bench?” Salazar said re
cently. Martinez added: “I believe a
I
good, qualified Hispanic who hap
pens to be a conservative will get a
fair hearing.”
Court observers say it becomes
more likely that Bush will pick a
Hispanic if there is more than one
position open on the high court.
O ’Connor announced her retire
ment last week: Rehnquist, 80 years
old and fighting cancer, has not
made any announcement but is
being watched closely.
The names most often men
tioned as possible Hispanic nomi
nees are Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales - the first Latino attorney
general and a close friend of the
president - and Judge Emilio Garza
of the New Orleans-based 5th Cir
cuit Court of Appeals. Garza was
President George H.W. Bush's sec
ond choice for the Supreme Court
after Clarence Thomas.
A possi ble Gonzales nom i nation
has already drawn fire from some
conservatives, including Hispan
ics, who don’t think he’s conserva
tive enough.
Physical activity helps manage your arthritis pain, Take it slow. Take it easy. Come and try one of the classes below. Classes are free for
qualified participants. Please contact the African American Health Coalition for more information at: 503-413-1850 or visit www.aahc-
portland.org .
1 x»w Im pact Aerobics
Wild Oats Market - 3535 NE 15th
Tue,7:3O-8:3Opm
T ai Chi (Contact the AAHC)
St. John’s Community Center - 8427 N. Central
Tue,6:3O-7:3Opm
Seniors Physical A ctivity
W ater A erobics (Contact the AAHC)
Columbia P o o l-7701 N Chautauqua
Matt Dishman - 77 NE Knott
W alkingG roup
Peninsula Park - 700 N Portland
(Saturday group will resume in the summer)
Lloyd C tr. 1 st FI. in front o f Sears
Tue, Thu, 6:30pm
Allen Fremont Plaza - 221 NE Fremont
Mon, 10:30-11:30am, Tue,Thu, 10:30-11:30am
Multicultural Senior Center - 5325 NE MLK
Mon, Wed, 10:30-11:30am
Irvington Village - 420 NE Mason St.
503-546-9292 x 121
3rd Annual Wellness Within REACH Walk. Saturday, September 1 Oth at Dawson Park, located at N. Vancouver
and Stanton in Portland, OR. To register or volunteer, please contact the African American Health Coalition, Inc. at
503-413-1850 or ninan@aahc-portland.org.
A MESSAGE FROM TH E CENTERS FOR DlSEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
• TH E ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION
T he D epartment of H ealth & H uman S ervices • A frican A merican H ealth C oalition , I nc
H aa» CoaWon, Int