SHPE - Fall 2007 - (Page 50) PROGRAMS & SERVICES uring the camp and other projects’ value to young Hispanics, we can adapt the program over the next years to better inspire and nudge them closer to STEM.” Potential internships and jobs at IBM and other companies will be on the horizon for campers who thrive at the camps and through school, Sanchez said. Ray Mellado, chairman of HENAAC, said that the Alliance’s commitment to monitoring the campers’ experience and progress through school will be key to improving Hispanics’ participation in STEM. “This is a time in which we must ‘listen to the customer’ who either will or won’t buy into what we are trying to sell them – that is, that STEM is fun,” he said. “If it isn’t any fun for them, they will go somewhere else.” According to Rafaela Schwan, director of educational programs for SHPE’s AHETEMS Foundation, the ultimate goal is to provide these camps within all seven of SHPE’s regions. For more information about the summer camps in Arizona and Colorado, contact Rafaela Schwan at (817) 272-1116 or rschwan@shpe.org. For information about the camp in Los Angeles, contact Monica Villafana at (323) 262-0997 or monicavillafana@henaac.org. I lobby for changing verbiage on executive orders to include Latino member organizations and thus support a greater number of Latinos in STEM. Government agencies are encouraged to work with Hispanic Serving Institutions; however, by including Latino member organizations, funds also can be directed to SHPE, MAES and SACNAS, thus reaching a greater percentage of Latinos, nearly 100 percent of whom are pursuing STEM related disciplines. The line item in the NSF Reauthorization or America COMPETES Act requests $50 million each year for the next five years. According to Schwan, the leaders responded favorably to the message and signed a letter giving their endorsement for funding to support the three organizations’ STEM programs proven to significantly increase Latino participation. The three largest, scientific and technical Latino, membership-based organizations represent 12,000 members in all, and each has more than 30 years of experience serving the Hispanic community. The presence of student chapters at more than 200 institutions across the United States and Puerto Rico puts them in a unique position to serve the Latino STEM pipeline at both HSIs and non-HSIs. Currently no joint program exists among all three organizations. However, according to Schwan, the endorsement that would come by broadening the scope of those executive orders could provide the necessary funding for the organizations to work on joint projects directed at the pre-college and graduate school levels. “SHPE isn’t just about outreach,” Schwan added. “We’re being very proactive in going to our representatives, sharing what SHPE is doing, informing them of how we can help them and specifying how they can help us.” I SHPE R Fall 2007 SHPE Goes to Capitol Hill Gracias Hispanic Caucaus SHPE National Treasurer Annette Jimenez and AHETEMS Director of Programs Rafaela Schwan attended a Washington, D.C., celebration to welcome the new members of the Hispanic, Black and Pacific Islander Congressional Caucuses. They were especially eager to meet Congressman Joe Baca of California’s 43rd District of California, who was recently elected chairman of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus. During the 110th Congress (2007-2008), he will lead the group which consists of all Democrats of Hispanic descent in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Baca also chairs the CHC Corporate America, Technology, Communications and the Arts Task Force. “We wanted to thank him for his support with NASA’s Motivating Undergraduate in Science and Technology (MUST) Program grant,” Schwan said. They also shared with the congressman some of SHPE’s goals for the year. Technical Latino Organizations Join to Solicit Federal Funding SHPE National President Diana Gomez and Assistant Director of programs Gary Cruz returned with Schwan to the capitol along with representatives for the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native American in Science (SACNAS). Together, they met with Latino members of the House and Senate as well as others who endorse STEM-related issues. In a span of a week, they met with and/or the staffs of Senators Pete V. Domenici (R-NM), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Ken Salazar (D-CO), 50 Congressman Joe Baca with SHPE leaders (left to right) Monique Jackson, Rafaela Schwan and Annette Jimenez. Representative Silvestre Reyes (center) took a special interest in the SHPE, SACNAS and MAES delegation, inviting them to participate in the Diversity Innovation Caucus, which he leads. Reyes also met with the students representing Mission High School from El Paso, Texas, who won the regional Science Bowl Competition. Soon he plans to visit the SHPE AHETEMS office at the University of Texas at Arlington. Pictured (left to right) William Davis and Michael Acosta of MAES, Rep. Reyes, Rafaela Schwan of SHPE AHETEMS, Dr. Aaron Velasco of SACNAS and Gary Cruz of SHPE AHETEMS. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL). They also met with and/or the staffs of Representatives Silvestre Reyes (Texas 16th), Raul Grijalva (Arizona 7th), Rubén Hinojosa (Texas 15th), Ed Pastor (Arizona 4th), Albio Sires (New Jersey 13th) and Linda Sanchez (California 39th). The purpose of these meetings was to
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.