Adelante Newsletter - December 2008 Issue

Ribbon Cuttings & Business After 5 Mixers

One of a Kind Medusa Lounge Opens in Harlingen

A Grand Opening Celebration was held for Medusa Lounge on November 6, 2008. The Hispanic Chamber Embajadores conducted the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Medusa Lounge owner, Benito Garcia, family and friends. An After 5 Mixer was also held after the ribbon cutting. Hispanic Chamber members and guests enjoyed great drinks, relaxing Jazz music and networking. Medusa Lounge is located at 2230 S. 77 Sunshine Strip, Ste. 210 in Harlingen, next to Jason's Deli and Wing Stop. Stop by and experience Medusa Lounge for yourself.

NARCONON recently held a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony in celebration of their new facility. NARCONON is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility that uses a three step program to educate and rehabilitate the residents to live a drug free life. The center was located next to Harlingen Family Dentistry before purchasing the 18-acre property off of ABD and Rangerville Rd. NARCONON Board of Directors, staff and special guests joined the ribbon cutting conducted by the Harlingen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Harlingen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Holiday Open House - Take a few minutes from your busy day on Wednesday, December 10th from 10 am - 3 pm and join us for some tasty treats in celebration of this holiday season!

Mel's Boutique Grand Opening Celebration - Join us on Thursday, December 11th at 5:30 pm for a Ribbon Cutting and Mixer for one of Harlingen's newest hip clothing boutiques...just in time for the holiday season! Mel's Boutique is located at 1006 S. 77 Sunshine Strip in Harlingen (across from Dick Office Supply).

TSTC Harlingen Announces New President

Chancellor Bill Segura, Ph.D., announced the fourth president of Texas State Technical College Harlingen to be Cesar Maldonado, effective October 16, and the TSTC System Board of Regents approve the Chancellor's selection.

After interviews with the presidential search committee and a college community forum on September 23, two of the four finalists rose to the top for Segura: Pat Hobbs, interim president and vice president for student learning at TSTC Harlingen; and Cesar Maldonado, former vice president of System Development at Maverick Engineering Inc. Chancellor Segura shared, "Given Cesar Maldonado's 30 years of industry experience, service to secondary education and tech prep, and Pat Hobbs' 38 years of higher education experience, TSTC has the unique opportunity of having highly qualified complimentary leaders to synergize TSTC into the future". The Chancellor envisions a future with both of them leading TSTC Harlingen. Thus, with Cathy Maples as the vice president of student services, Pat Hobbs remaining the vice president of student learning, Teri Zamora as the vice president of financial services, Robert Gomez as the vice president of administrative services, and Cesar Maldonado leading as president of TSTC Harlingen, Segura added, "TSTC is fortunate to have the next generation higher education leadership dream team in Harlingen".

"I appreciate that the Chancellor and the search committee value the connection between education and industry in today's economy. It is exciting to join an institution that is team driven and understands the benefits of diversity and life-long learning," commented Maldonado of his being selected for this leadership position.

The search for a new president began in July when J. Gilbert Leal, Ph.D., announced his retirement after leading TSTC Harlingen for 30 years. A presidential search advisory committee was formed to aid the Chancellor in the process.

The search committee consisted of Rolf Haberecht and Joe Hearne, regents of the TSTC System; Georgeann Calzada, Student Government Association representative; Edna Claus, TSTC Harlingen Faculty Senate president; Robert Gomez, vice president of administrative services; Jonathan Hoekstra, vice chancellor for human and organization development; Adam Hutchison, vice president of Corporate College; Frank Lewis representing instructional administration; Cathy Maples, vice president of student development; Cindy Mata, Staff Senate president; and Teri Zamora, vice president of financial services.

"The search process enables the college community to become involved," said Cindy Mata, Staff Senate president. "The open forum gave employees and students an opportunity to see the candidates for themselves and learn about each of their views for the college."

"The search committee did an excellent job in helping identify those candidates who meet the criteria sought by me and the Board," said Chancellor Segura. As a next generation higher education leader, the president should have a demonstrated capacity to lead and manage, strong communication capabilities, fund raising skills, stature in local community, be results focused, and have a collaborative style. The position also requires a bachelor's degree with a committment to further graduate study with a master's degree preferred, and ten years of successful upper-level management experience in industry/business, government, and/or education. Article provided by TSTC Communications Department

'The Big Read' promotes Mexican culture

"The Big Read", highlighting 20 short stories by the leading Mexican author of the 20th Century, came to Texas State Technical College Harlingne on November 6.

The National Endowment for the Arts sponsored the presentation at the J. Gilbert Leal Learning Resource Center thanks to cooperation from TSTC, the University of Texas at Brownsville and the Mexican Consulate. About 75 students, faculty and administrators attended the morning program and a seperate program was held in the afternoon providing a lecture and excerpts from the book Sun, Stone, and Shadows. The book is a collection of short stories by writers such as Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo, Rosario Castallanos, Elena Garro and more. Copies of the book were available fot $10 and there were free CDs.

Sun, Stone, and Shadows represents the first time the National Endowment for the Arts chose a book by foreign authors to promote through its annual international program, said Evangelina Garcia-Moreno, who represented the Mexican Consulate. The series of 'Big Read' presentations in South Texas included a stop in El Paso and other sites in the Rio Grande Valley. She added that 'The Big Read' is the first presentation of its type that the Mexican Consulate has been involved with in Harlingen.

"The focus of 'The Big Read' is to promote reading because we benefit from reading in many ways to become better people," said Millie Hernandez, events and exhibits coordinator at the UTB Library. She pointed at students in the audience and andded, "You could be the future writers who will be well known."

The benefits of reading she cited included expansion of vocabulary, wider knowledge and bettter writing skills. In previous years, 'The Big Read' took works by U.S. authors to Egypt, Russia, Mexico, and many nations and the Mexican culture will receive the same type of international, multi-cultural exposure through Sun, Stone,and Shadows at several education levels.

"For Hispanics in the United States, this book and this program areways for us to get closer to our culture," Ramiro Rodriguez, Spanish instructor at TSTC, said in an interview. He read excerpts and provided background to the audience.

"Thestories symbolize or reflect rural Mexico and provide good examples of what Mexican culture is like beyond thelarge metropolitan areas that tourists see. These are prominent Mexican writers and the book represents a broad view of Mexican literature."

UTB Learning Instructional Specialist Felipe Butanda, who also read excerpts and spoke about the book,said in an interviewthat Sun, Stone, and Shadows allows readers to"understand the roots" of Mexican people.He added, "We can only understand ourselves as Mexican Americans if we can understand the pieces of the puzzle that are Mexican history."

'The Big Read' exposes audiences to Mexican authors, Butanda said, but the program's goals are not achieved unless audiences and communities respond by reading the literature and seeking more knowledge about the Mexican culture. He urged adult readers to read the book and learn more about its authors. Texas Southmost College and UTB held a special event for Jorge F. Hernandez, the book's editor, on November 7.

For information online about 'The Big Read', go to www.neabigread.org. Article provided by TSTC Communications Department

demographics - Catching up to the Jones

For the first time, two Hispanic surnames, Garcia and Rodriguez, have claimed a spot on the U.S. Census Bureau's top 10 list of the most common last names in the region. Smith might remain at the No. 1 spot, according to the Census Bureau, but the same changing demographics that have made Hispanics into the largest minority group have also surnames that make up the United States. In terms of numbers, Smith is followed on the list by Johnson, Williams, Brown, Jones, Miller, and Davis. But then, there they are: Garcia, at No. 8, and Rodriguez at No. 9. Wilson follows, closely edging out Martinez for No. 10. Altogether, there are 18 clearly Hispanic names in the top 100. These include Hernandez (15), Lopez (21), Gonzalez (23), Perez (29), Sanchez (33), Ramirez (42), and Torres (50). Others include Flores (55), Rivera (59), Gomez (68), Reyes (81), Cruz (82), Morales (90), Ortiz (94), and Gutierrez (96). Cracking the list of top 10 names indicates the depth of the inroads of Latinos on everyday American culture, but only in a superficial way. It doesn't take into account the names that don't sound Spanish, though they are the surnames of people who identify themselves as such. For example, the Census Bureau notes in a report, 2 percent of the people whose last name is Davis describe themselves as Hispanic. HISPANIC Magazine-October 2008 Issue

Almost $1 million for health-care job training administered by TSTC Corporate College for Valley Baptist Health System and Harlingen Physician Network employees became official at a ceremony on October 17.

Andres Alcantar, Texas Workforce Commission member representing the public, added his signature to the large, symbolic check as Valley Baptist Health System President and CEO James Eastham and TSTC Corporate College Vice President Adam Hutchison held the memento in the East Tower Lobby of Valley Baptist Medical Center Harlingen. Alcantar call the $943,962 grant an opportunity to meet the hospital system's requirements for more advanced skills through a customized strategy that also will mean higher salaries for employees.

"I am a strong believer in making sure Texas has the workforce it needs," he said.

Hutchison praised the cooperation between the TWC, VBHS, and TSTC. The hospital system and TSTC Corporate College will develop curriculum, arrange for instructors and establish education delivery details with the funds. Much of the online training-with an emphasis on electronic record keeping systems - will occur at VBMC Harlingen.

The first year of the project could involve at least 1,800 health care employees. "The grant will become a long-term resource because the curriculum base will sustain the project's useful applications. It's like putting tools in a toolbox that exten into the future for ongoing training to more and more employees," he added.

James Barbaglia, senior vice president and chief information officer for VBHS, said the grant will provide health-care employees with updates on working with electronic medical records required by state and federal regulations. The training also fits into the hospital's Six Sigma quality improvement program.

Alcantar said that state budget decisios made starting in 2003 allowed Texas to achieve its existing budget surplus. The result boosted the Skills Development Fund with more dollars to broaden employees' base skills, he said.

Eastham said that it's an honor for the state to choose VBHS an TSTC for the grant. "We're investing in knowledge and in people for the future," he said. "This investment will be returned to the community". Article provided by TSTC Communications Department

Any news stories or articles you would like to publish in our Adelante Newsletter? Please submit by the 15th of the month. You can sent news articles to the Hispanic Chamber by fax to (956) 364-1879 or via e-mail to hhcoc@harlingenchamber.com.