Spaniards jump over babies to cleanse them of original sin? [video]

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The birthday blues

by Adriana Villavicencio

People are supposed to be happy on their birthdays, right? We’re supposed to look forward to partying, opening gifts, and devouring cake the size of a piñata. But sometimes, we’re not in the mood to celebrate. Sometimes, birthdays come along with feelings of sadness, regret, and confusion as to why we’re not as cheerful as everyone else.  

A genderless baby

by Cindy Tovar

When we see a swollen belly in our midst, one of the first questions we ask the mother-to-be is: What is it? A boy or a girl?  And when the baby is born, the celebration usually involves announcements and balloons (color-coded of course) proudly advertising: It’s a boy! or It’s a girl!

Not guilty: The tragedy of wrongful convictions

Using DNA evidence, forensic scientists have been able to clear the names of almost 300 wrongfully convicted people. But this great work is only the beginning. What’s the true number of wrongfully convicted people? 

Graduate school: more money, more problems

by Eric Cortes

Adriana Villavicencio wrote about how to survive graduate school. However, although surviving is one of many steps, you have to remind yourself about why you actually move forward with your education. Is it the money, is it the career or is it the passion? Either way, making sure the pros outnumber the cons is imperative.

National Latino Organizations Challenge Broadcast News Presidents to Increase the Presence of Latinos on Sunday Morning News Talk Shows

The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA), together with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), The LIBRE Initiative and Being Latino are launching a social impact project called:  The Art of Politics.  The initiative draws attention to the lack of Latino voices on the four Broadcast Network’s Sunday Morning News Talk Shows: ABC’s This Week; CBS’s Face the Nation; FOX News Sunday; and NBC’s Meet the Press.

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States, numbering 50.5 million or just over 16 percent of the entire population. Latinos participate as leaders and influencers in every sector and topic covered by network news programs, yet on the networks’ Sunday political opinion shows, the presence of Latinos is negligible.  From March to May 2011, among the 234 total guests and commentators featured on all four broadcast networks, 16 were African Americans, 4 were Indian Americans and 5 were Hispanics.  While women have been making inroads over the years, totaling 46 during the documented three month time period, political punditry in America is still dominated by white males.

Book review: Violet Island and Other Poems

by Charlie Vázquez

Violet Island and Other Poems (Green Integer, 2004 – bilingual edition)

By Reina María Rodríguez

Spotlight on the National Hispanic Institute

by Nick Baez

Since the age of 16, I have been a part of the National Hispanic Institute (NHI). Founded in 1979 as a nonprofit organization by Ernesto Nieto, NHI has impacted the lives of thousands of Latino youth across the United States, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

Defriending and you

by Ryan Almodovar

Lately I’ve been finding myself becoming more and more dissatisfied with my user experience on Facebook. The website that is supposed to be the great connector, the ‘electric friendship generator’, now just seems unsettling to me, largely driven by the fact that when I check my newsfeed and I have no clue who any of these people are anymore.

Making History: Gay Marriage and the NYC Pride Parade

by Xeno Martinez

Its Friday, June 24 and as the rest of New York is laying in wait surrounding the decision regarding gay marriage, I find myself out for a night on the town with my friends in the West Village for pride weekend. As I look around at the crowded bar, I’m awakened from my daze by my best friend who yells in my ear, “they passed it.” I instinctively asked him what he was talking about and was then told that New York City passed gay marriage.