WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), along with many of her colleagues, demanded that the House of Representatives vote on a comprehensive immigration reform bill by signing a discharge petition on H.R. 15, the bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act. A nearly identical bill passed the Senate in June with extensive bipartisan support, Capps reported March 26 in a media release. A discharge petition is a procedural exercise that, if it receives 218 votes, can force a vote on the House floor even when it is opposed by the House majority leadership. H.R. 15 currently has 199 cosponsors, including three Republicans. After gathering on the East steps of the U.S. Capitol building, members — including Capps — proceeded to the House floor to sign the petition.
“We cannot sit idly by as the House majority leadership does nothing to fix our broken immigration system,” Capps said. “I’ve spoken to families, law enforcement, and businesses up and down the Central Coast and the message is clear: Now is the time for a long-term, reasonable solution to this broken system, which is holding our country and our economy back. The Senate has acted, and now it is time to bring this issue up for a vote on the House floor.”
According to a new study released March 25 by the Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 15, which is modeled after the Senate-passed bill, would reduce the deficit by $900 billion over the next two decades, including $200 billion in the first decade alone.
Capps said she supports a comprehensive immigration reform package that includes an earned path to citizenship in which immigrants fully participate and pay their taxes. This comprehensive immigration reform package would also reform and improve the visa system, implement border security measures and employer verification and establish an expedited path to citizenship for DREAMERS and agricultural workers.
SANTA BARBARA — María Herrera-Sobek, professor of Chicano and Chicana Studies at UC Santa Barbara, has been named to receive the II Galardón Don Luis Leal award from Asociación HispaUSA, a non-profit organization that promotes the study and research of the Hispanic community in the United States.
The award will be presented in May at a special ceremony to be held during the organization’s IX International Conference on Chicano Literature and Culture in Orviedo, Spain.
Bestowed every two years, the Galardón Don Luis Leal recognizes the scholarly research of an outstanding scholar of Latino origin in the U.S. It is named for Don Luis Leal, a professor in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at UCSB for 30 years, until his death in 2010. Leal was a world-renowned scholar of Mexican, Chicano and Latin American literature.
According to the nominating committee, Herrera-Sobek, who is also UCSB’s vice chancellor for diversity, equity and academic policy, was recognized for her scholarly and creative writing trajectory in the cultural and literary world of Chicano letters.
“Her work is highly respected both inside and outside the United States and she is known for her commitment to making Chicano/a literature and culture known all over the world,” the committee reported.
“The decision by the Asociación HispaUSA to honor the scholarly contributions of internationally acclaimed scholar, María Herrera-Sobek with the II Galardón Don Luis Leal award is another impressive achievement for our renowned colleague,” said Denise Segura, professor and chair of the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies.
“I am delighted and honored to be selected as the recipient of the II Galardón Don Luis Leal award,” said Herrera-Sobek. “Professor Luis Leal was a great scholar and showed the outmost integrity and generosity of spirit toward his students. To receive an award bearing Professor Leal’s name greatly honors me and I am grateful to the nominating committee for bestowing this upon me.”
Herrera-Sobek has taught courses in Chicano and Chicana Studies for 40 years, including 17 at UCSB. Among her research interests are film documentaries, nationalist and ethnic construction theories and theories on aesthetic activism. She is the author of numerous books, articles and scholarly essays, including “Chicano Folklore: A Handbook;” “Northward Bound: The Mexican Immigrant Experience in Ballad and Song” and “The Mexican Corrido: A Feminist Analysis.”
SANTA BARBARA — For the second time, Aída Hurtado, a professor and Luis Leal Endowed Chair in UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, was selected to receive the Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Education (Research Institutions) Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE).
Presented at the AAHHE’s ninth annual conference held March 6-8 in Costa Mesa, the award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated excellence in both research and teaching and has provided significant contributions to his or her academic discipline.
“This award honors Professor Hurtado’s vision and innovative research in Chicano/a and Latino/a studies,” said Denise Segura, chair of UCSB’s Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies and a professor of sociology.
Segura received the same award in 2009.
“I’m deeply humbled and honored by receiving this honor,” said Hurtado. “I’m especially gratified that I’m receiving this award for my research on education: given the changing demographics in California and beyond, giving access to higher education to underrepresented students is an urgent social and economic issue.”
A social psychologist whose research focuses on race, class, ethnicity, sexuality and gender, Hurtado came to UCSB from UC Santa Cruz, where she spent more than 20 years as a scholar in the psychology department.
Hurtado, who earned her master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is the author of several books.
Ojai — The family of Sgt. Eduardo C. Gomez received the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions in the Korean War during a White House ceremony honoring 24 Army veterans for their valor in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, Rep. Julia Brownley reported.
“As the Representative of Naval Base Ventura County in Congress, I’m constantly reminded of the sacrifices our service men and women, and their families, make for our country every day,” Brownley said. “I am so pleased that the President recognized and paid tribute posthumously to Sgt. Gomez for his bravery in Korea and his heroism in battle.”
Born in Los Angeles, Sgt. Eduardo Gomez served with Company I, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. During combat operations against an armed enemy in Tabu-dong, Korea on Sept. 3, 1950, he distinguished himself by heroically defending his unit while retreating from the advancing enemy. During this battle, Gomez suffered from wounds to his left side and burns to his hands, but he refused treatment until his unit established a new defensive position that maintained appropriate safety for his fellow comrades.
In addition to the Medal of Honor, Gomez, who served in both Korea and World War II, received the Distinguished Service Cross (the second-highest military award, which was upgraded to the Medal of Honor), Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and other medals and honors.
Gomez’s nephew, Pete Corrall of Ojai, received the Medal of Honor on behalf of his uncle.
OXNARD — A total of 28 community disaster response experts graduated from the LISTOS program during a ceremony held March 25 at Ramona Elementary School in Oxnard, Fifth District Supervisor John Zaragoza reported in a media release.
The Santa Maria-based LISTOS program works to educate the Spanish-speaking community in preparing for emergencies and disasters. Zaragoza invited the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) to host the first LISTOS classes in Ventura County training Mixteco-speakers for disaster preparedness.
LISTOS is designed to initiate and strengthen key relationships between the Latino population, community partners and empowers individuals in building community disaster resiliency, Zaragoza reported.
LISTOS reaches individuals within their community through a six-week series of preparedness workshops.
SANTA BARBARA — The Small Business Development Center has added three Santa Barbara County-based industry experts to its roster of about 30 advisers offering free one-on-one business advising and workshops. Adviser Curtis Stevens is an accounting specialist who is bilingual in Spanish and English; Ken Higgins is a sales and marketing strategist; and Dolores Rivera-Neira has expertise in management training and is bilingual. Visit http://edc-vc.com/news/4-2014/Santa-Barbara-advisors.htm for more information.
CAMARILLO — The Ventura County Civic Alliance will present the Workforce Education Conference — “The 2020 Workplace — Are you Ready?,” from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 3 at the VCOE Conference Center, 5100 Adolfo Road, Camarillo.
By the year 2020, your workforce will include up to five generations working alongside one another, organizers reported. Attendees of the 2014 Conference will learn how to navigate the generational dynamics in the diverse and evolving modern, global economy.
Author and futureist Christopher Bishop will be the keynote speaker. Panel members include Ann Deal of Fashion Forms, Mike Soules of Corwin & the Workforce Investment Board, Peter Sepsis of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Sean Bhardwaj of V2TC & Aspire Entrepreneurship. Tickets are $65 at the door. Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-2020-workplace-are-you-ready-tickets-9543074593 for more information.
SANTA BARBARA — A free panel discussion and open community forum on the Women’s Economic Agenda will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 26 at Santa Barbara City College’s Wake Center, 300 No. Turnpike Ave., Santa Barbara.
Hosted by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), the panel will be moderated by Dr. Lori Gaskin, president of Santa Barbara City College. The panelists include Danielle J. Swiontek, SBCC Department of History chairwoman; Catherine Brozowski, the vice president of the Orfalea Foundation and Marsha Bailey, the CEO of Women’s Economic Ventures.
Women in Santa Barbara County only earn 81 cents for every dollar men earn and less than one-third of elected officials in Santa Barbara County are women, Capps reported.
In Santa Barbara County alone, 10.6 percent of employed women have incomes below the poverty line, while only 7.4 percent of employed men do.
The panel will focus on what can be done to narrow these gender inequities and how improved economic opportunity for women leads to stronger families and communities.
Additionally, the panel will focus on the unique circumstances affecting working women on the Central Coast, expanding opportunities for girls and women and “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink.”
“We know that when women succeed, America succeeds,” Capps said. “And while we have taken enormous strides toward equality for women, there remains work to be done.
“We must empower women to be leaders in our community — in our classrooms, in our homes, in politics and in our businesses,” she said. “I am looking forward to hearing what this group of women leaders have to say at this exciting event.”
VENTURA COUNTY — Ventura County Public Works Agency directors from the Watershed Protection District and the Transportation Department have been invited to speak at the Conejo Valley Rotary Club and the Ventura-East Rotary Club, respectively, in April.
The Conejo Valley Rotary welcomes Watershed Protection District Director Tully Clifford on Friday, April 11, to speak about efforts to conserve water during the ongoing drought and how it could impact the community.
Beginning at noon on Thursday, April 17, Department of Transportation Director David Fleisch will join Ventura-East Rotary for lunch to speak about the Department’s latest developments, including recent grants and upcoming projects throughout the unincorporated county.
CAMARILLO — CSU Channel Islands recently earned top national honors from the Collegiate Advertising Awards for its “Together We Innovate — Join Us” advertising campaign, the university reported in a media release.
The Collegiate Advertising Awards (CAA) is an elite national program recognizing colleges and universities for excellence in communications, marketing, advertising, and promotions of their schools.
The university garnered a Gold Award, placing it in the top 5 percent out of 800 entries submitted by higher education institutions in the U.S. and Canada. “Under the leadership of President Rush, the staff and faculty at Channel Islands are constantly challenged to innovate and be the best at what we do,” said A. Michael Berman, vice president for Technology & Communication. “I’m very proud that our Communication & Marketing team can add this recognition to the dozens of awards received across the campus in our short history.”