LINEA ABIERTA | THIS WEEK | PREVIOUS PROGRAMS

Linea Abierta Programs for August 2005

Monday, August 1st

PROGRAM # 4573 - 12:00 PDT
SIMULCAST WITH MICHOACÁN: MEMÍN PINGUÍN. Mexico’s Postal Service issued a set of commemorative stamps featuring a black boy cartoon character known as Memín Pinguín. U.S. civil-rights activists, later joined by the White House, criticized the images as racist and called on the Mexican government to recall the stamps. Mexican officials have dismissed U.S. complains as ignorant, disrespectful and ridiculous. This is a live debate on the issue, in conjunction with the twelve-station network of Radio Michoacán in Morelia, Mexico.

Guests: Guadalupe Acuña, urban planner, former reader of Memín Pinguín comics and wife of renowned scholar and civil rights leader Rodolfo Acuña, Los Angeles; Dr. Myrna Santiago, professor of history, St. Mary’s Colege of California, Moraga, CA; Santiago Heiser Beltran professor and media commentator, Universidad de Zamora, Michoacan, MX; Felipe Ochoa Guillen "FEO", cartoonist, La Jornada Michoacan, Morelia, Michoacan.

Tuesday, August 2nd

PROGRAM # 4574 - 12:00 PDT
IMMIGRATION EDITION – THE WILSON FOUR SCORE VICTORY AND IMMIGRATION ADVICE. Chicago attorney Rosalba Piña joins this edition as a regular commentator. An immigration judge in Phoenix dismissed a deportation case against four Arizona students known as the Wilson four, a group of high-achieving Latino students from Wilson High School. The judge said the students were racially-profiled when detained. Piña comments on this story and also answers listener calls on immigrant rights and citizenship procedures.

Guests: Luis Nava and Jaime Damian, immigrant college students, Phoenix, AZ.

Wednesday, August 3rd

PROGRAM # 4575 - 12:00 PDT
TEXAS EDITION – THE AFL-CIO SPLIT AND JANITORS IN STRIKE. Two of the nation’s largest unions orchestrated the largest fissure in organized labor’s history when they split from the AFL-CIO in Chicago this week. What will be the effects of this schism on the future of the labor movement and the efforts to organize Latino workers? Also, this program provides news about a recently ended janitors strike against cleaning giant ABM in Houston over unfair labor practices.

Guests: Maria Xiquin, organizer, SEIU, Houston, TX; Micaela Atilano, janitor, ABM Janitorial Service, Houston, TX; Eliseo Medina, international executive vicepresident, SEIU, San Antonio, TX; attorney Ana Avendaño, associate general counsel and director of Immigrant Worker Program, AFL-CIO, Washington, DC.

PROGRAM # 4576 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Martha Elena Ramírez, producer of the radio program "Voz Pública," begins a new chapter of this radio series. Ramírez hosts this edition live from Mexico City, providing as usual news and interviews from Mexico and voices from participant listeners.

Friday, August 5th

PROGRAM # 4577 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION – PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis on issues about women and peace in the Caribbean basin. Listeners are encouraged to call in.

Monday, August 8th

PROGRAM # 4578 - 12:00 PDT
UNHEALTHY SOLAR RADIATION. Sunlight produces radiations that affect the skin and may cause sunburn, cataracts and even cancer. Who is most at risk of skin cancer? How to tell between a tumor and a simple mole? This program will also examine how those who work outdoors can best protect themselves from the sun’s UV rays.

Guest: Dr. William Garnica, family practice physician, Fresno, CA; representative of the American Cancer Society.

HEAT STROKE RELIEF.   California is considering issuing emergency regulations to protect workers against heat stress, after this summer’s heat wave claimed the lives of five farm workers in the state. This program also reports on efforts to make permanent those protections allowing workers to demand breaks in the shade.

Guest: José Millán, Deputy secretary, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Sacramento, CA.

Tuesday, August 9th

PROGRAM # 4579 - 12:00 PDT
GREEN PARKS TO BREATH. Environmental advocates in California are proposing a bond to provide green areas and recreational parks in urban neighborhoods, where few families can afford to get to go to the beach or the mountains to get relief from smog. The bond would also be used to protect forests and rivers, unpaved trails, as well as improve air quality. In addition, most Californians think air pollution is their top environmental issue, they want the state to do something about it and they are willing to pay to get it. Latinos are also very interested in the issue, but few are personally involved in environmental activities. These are some conclusions of a recent public survey. This program also includes a live report from the site of an environmental leadership forum in Los Angeles.

Guests: Anaí Ibarra-López, Community Engagement Manager, Coalition for Clean Air, Los Angeles, CA; Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez, D-San Fernando; Ruben Tapia, news correspondent, Los Angeles.

Wednesday, August 10th

PROGRAM # 4580 - 12:00 PDT
VOTING RIGHTS ACT: FORTY YEARS. This week, the nation celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits discrimination against Latinos, African-Americans and Native Americans at the ballot-box and paved the way for a historic rise of elected officials of color. Today, as the U.S. tries to serve as an example of democracy in Iraq and the world, this program discusses how real is the practice of universal suffrage at home. Are U.S. voters free from fear and intimidation? In 2007, Congress will discuss reauthorization of portions of the Act that are about to expire.

Guests:  Dr. Jose Angel Gutierrez, professor at University of Texas Arlington, founder of La Raza Unida Party and pioneer of civil rights movement, Dallas, TX; Dr. Jose Roberto Juarez, Jr., professor, Law School at St. Mary's University, San Antonio, TX; Hector Flores, national president, League of United Latin American Citizens - LULAC, Dallas, TX.

PROGRAM # 4581 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Martha Elena Ramírez, producer of the radio program "Voz Pública," begins a new chapter of this radio series. Ramírez hosts this edition live from Mexico City, providing as usual news and interviews from Mexico and voices from participant listeners.

Friday, August 12th

PROGRAM # 4582 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION – PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis on issues about women and peace in the Caribbean basin. Listeners are encouraged to call in.

Monday, August 15th

PROGRAM # 4583 - 12:00 PDT
THIRSTY FOR JUSTICE. While industrial agriculture has historically enjoyed access to plenty of water for irrigation, millions of people of color live without access to clean drinking water. These communities have largely being excluded from boardrooms where crucial decisions on water development are often made at closed doors. These conclusions are included in a report entitled “Thirsty for Justice.” The report by advocacy groups calls for new water policies to better conserve and use water, cleaning up contaminated drinking water and allowing low-income communities access to clean water.

Guests:  Paola Ramos, coordinator, The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Oakland, CA, www.ejcw.org ; Ruth Martínez, Comité Sí se Puede, Ducor, CA; Horacio Amézquita, San Gerardo Cooperative, San Gerardo, CA; assemblyman Juan Arámbula, Fresno, CA.

Tuesday, August 16th

PROGRAM # 4584 - 12:00 PDT
IMMIGRATION EDITION – KIDS LEFT BEHIND AND IMMIGRATION ADVICE. Chicago attorney Rosalba Piña joins this edition as a regular commentator. About 30 children were left without their parents’ care after immigration agents raided a poultry plant in Arkansas. This is a conversation with a church worker and a family member who are helping the children of the workers who were deported. Piña comments on this story and also answers listener calls on immigrant rights and citizenship procedures.

Guests: Rev. Rudy Gutierrez, First Baptist Church, Arkadelphia, AR; Jose Arizmendi and Ana Lilia Nava, deported parents, Arkadelphia, AR.

Wednesday, August 17th

PROGRAM # 4585 - 12:00 PDT
NUEVO LAREDO NARCO WARS. A bloody war between narco mafias in the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo has shaken Texas-Mexico border communities. More than 100 people have been killed this year in battles that have involved heavy weapons such as bazookas and grenades.  San Antonio columnist Carlos Guerra sees connections between free trade agreements and the new drug cartels war.

ALSO, COPPER SMELTER CONTROVERSY. The planned re-opening of a copper smelter in El Paso, TX, has started a controversy in the border towns of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. While ASARCO, the embattled smelting company, has cleared state permits, local officials and environmental activists challenge the permit renewal, pointing to a long track record of air pollution by the smelting plant.

Guest: Mariana Chew, Ph D candidate, Conservation organizer, Sierra Club, El Paso, TX.

PROGRAM # 4586 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Martha Elena Ramírez, producer of the radio program "Voz Pública," begins a new chapter of this radio series. Ramírez hosts this edition live from Mexico City, providing as usual news and interviews from Mexico and voices from participant listeners.

Friday, August 19th

PROGRAM # 4587 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION – PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis on issues about women and peace in the Caribbean basin. Listeners are encouraged to call in.

Monday, August 22nd

PROGRAM # 4588 - 12:00 PDT
HEAVY COPS RESPONSE AGAINST GIRL. Eleven-year-old Maribel Cuevas, the daughter of a farmworking family in Fresno, was arrested by three patrol cars, handcuffed, charged with felony assault, incarcerated for five days, and placed under house arrest. Her crime: throwing a stone and hitting one boy. The case gained international media coverage, focusing on how Fresno cops handled a children conflict in a low-income neighborhood. How has this case impacted the Cuevas family and how prepared is the local police to deal with multicultural neighborhoods?

Guests: Martin and Guadalupe Cuevas, parents of Maribel Cuevas, Fresno, CA; Dr. Juan Garcia, psychologist, social analyst, professor, California State University Fresno, Fresno, CA.

Tuesday, August 23rd

PROGRAM # 4589 - 12:00 PDT
DIESEL EXHAUST AND AIR POLLUTION. Diesel engines release 100 times more toxic sooty particles than gasoline engines. Breathing even low levels of that diesel exhaust may cause lung cancer or respiratory diseases. This program looks into efforts to clean the air from diesel pollution, including retrofitting transit and school buses, tax incentives for cleaner fuel cars and trucks, road fees and fines for highly polluting vehicles, and the debate on “green diesel.”

Guests: Anaí Ibarra-López, Marketing and Community Engagement Manager, Coalition for Clean Air, Los Angeles, CA; Gerardo Rios, Chief of Permits Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Air Division, San Francisco, CA.

Wednesday, August 24th

PROGRAM # 4590 - 12:00 PDT
QUALITY OF EDUCATION. This is a conversation with veteran educators Rita and Marco Portales about their book “Quality Education for Latinos and Latinas.” The Portaleses analyze why schools fail to educate Latino/a students and highlight the need to develop a functional teacher-student relationship and experiment with teaching methods that make learning more relevant, interesting and rewarding for students.

Guests: Rita Portales, Student Teacher Supervisor, College of Education, Texas A&M University; Marco Portales, professor of English, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/porqua.html , www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2004/portales.htm

ALSO, BACK-TO-SCHOOL HEALTH CARE. As part of a back-to-school campaign, advocacy groups released data from a national survey showing the dramatic consequences for kids of being uninsured. They advise parents that many of those uninsured children may be eligible for public health coverage.

Guest: Dr. Jane Delgado, president and executive director, National Alliance for Hispanic Health, Washington, DC, www.nahh.org

PROGRAM # 4591 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Martha Elena Ramírez, producer of the radio program "Voz Pública," begins a new chapter of this radio series. Ramírez hosts this edition live from Mexico City, providing as usual news and interviews from Mexico and voices from participant listeners.

Friday, August 26th

PROGRAM # 4592 - 12:00 PDT
ANTI-WAR VIGIL AT PRESIDENT BUSH' RANCH. Two fallen soldier's father and aunt who have joined a vigil near President Bush' ranch in Texas speak about their opposition to the war. Juan Torres is calling for an investigation into the death of his son in a military base in Afghanistan, and Beatriz Saldivar tells about the letter she left to President Bush by his vacational ranch. The vigil was started almost three weeks ago by Cindy Sheehan, mother of a soldier who died in Iraq.

Guests: Beatriz Saldivar, real estate agent, aunt of Sgt. Daniel Torres, who died in Iraq, Fort Worth, TX; Juan Torres, military recruitment prevention promoter, father of Juan Torres, Jr., who died in Afghanistan, Crawford, TX.

ALSO, CHICANO MORATORIUM: 35 YEARS. This is a conversation with veteran civil-rights leader Herman Baca, president of Chicano Rights Committee in San Diego. He shares his memories of the anti-Vietnam War Chicano Moratorium in Los Angeles, remembered as the largest protest in the history of the Chicano people. He also draws parallels between the anti-Vietnam war movement and current demonstrations on Iraq, and reports about preparations to commemorate the anniversary of the bloody August 29, 1970 event.

Monday, August 29th

PROGRAM # 4594 - 12:00 PDT
PESTICIDES AND MOSQUITO CONTROL. West Nile Virus claimed one life in California and the disease is hitting the state hard. Authorities are stepping up spray programs to control the mosquito population. On the other side, environmental activists warn about the costly human health effects of blanket spraying of toxic fumigants. This program also includes practical advice on the use of pesticides to control insects, weeds, and diseases.

Guest: Margaret Reeves, director, Pesticides Action Network of North America, San Francisco, CA, www.panna.org.

Tuesday, August 30th

PROGRAM # 4595 - 12:00 PDT
IMMIGRATION EDITION – REP. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE AND PRACTICAL ADVICE. Chicago attorney Rosalba Piña joins this edition as a regular commentator.  Texas congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee is proposing a law to increase family-based immigrant visas, protect against processing delays, and earned legalization for long-term residents. This is an interview with a representative of Rep. Jackson-Lee. Piña comments on this story and also answers listener calls on immigrant rights and citizenship procedures.

Wednesday, August 31st

PROGRAM # 4596 - 12:00 PDT
TEXAS-GUADALAJARA SIMULCAST – VOTER REGISTRATION. Mexicans living abroad are gearing up to vote in 2006 via absentee ballots. In a race against the clock, Mexico’s elections agency is designing the rules to register to vote, receive the ballots and return them via registered mail. This binational program is broadcast in conjunction with the three-station public network Radiarte in Guadalajara, in Western Mexico.

Guests: Dr. Roberto Rosas, professor of law, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX; legal affairs coordinator for Consejo Consultivo del Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior;  Esteban Garaiz Izarra, executive board member, Instituto Federal Electoral - Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico, www.ife.org.mx.

To tune in to this news service, check our Affiliate Stations page to find your nearest station. Also, the audio of these news stories will soon be available live in this same website.

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