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hus, when Hispanic Engineer (now HE&IT) began profiling the accomplishments of science professionals such as Mario Molina, Albert Baez, and Richard Tapia in 1983, it was breaking new ground. Not only was the importance of their contribu- tions largely unappreciated in the wider community, but the very presence of Hispanic scientists and engineers at the cutting edge of scientific and technical developments in our technology-de- pendent society was mostly unknown. Today, that has changed, dramatically.
“Hispanics Rising 2010: An Overview of the Growing Power of America’s Hispanic Community,” a report of the New Policy Institute’s 21st Century America Project, illustrates how greatly things have changed.
Immigration and birthrate, the two drivers of Hispanic growth at the turn of the century, have moved the coun- try’s center of gravity, the report says. This center of gravity is now:
• More Southern and Western • More Suburban and Exurban • More Hispanic and Asian • More Millenial, and • More Aging ‘Boomer’
Another report, “21st Century His- panic Realities,” based on studies by the Brookings Institution, the Hispanic Center of the Pew Charitable Trust, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Govern- ment, the Urban Institute, the Univer- sity of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication, and the U.S. Census, produced its own evaluation of Hispanic population growth and what it means.
“Reality # 1” of the report points out that “the growth of the Hispanic American population has exceeded even the boldest projections of demo- graphic experts.” Between 1970 and 2000, the Hispanic population grew by 25.7 million, from 9.6 million to 35.3 million. It attributed this to the Hispanic birth rate – in 1995, one in every six births in America was Hispanic, but by the year 2050, demographers project it to be one in every three – and Hispanic immigration. Today, four of every 10 immigrants each year are Hispanic, but in 10 years, half of all immigrants are expected to be Hispanic.
46 HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | 2010
One of the easiest ways to illustrate this is to look at recent election results. “Hispanics Rising 2010” noted that George W. Bush’s strategic engagement of Hispanic media and outreach efforts to Hispanic voters made the differ- ence in swing states such as Florida in both of his wins in the 2000 and 2004 presidential races. Republicans dismissed that strategy in 2005-2006, and Hispanic voters, already more likely to vote Democratic than for the GOP, turned dramatically away to support Barack Obama and the Democrats. In 1948, when Harry Truman was work- ing his come-from-behind, whistle-stop electoral magic, the Hispanic vote was still small enough to be taken for granted.
“Reality #2” of the 21st Century report points out that “Hispanics have spread through- out the country faster than any previous immi- grant group.” Table 4 of that report shows that this migra- tion has:
• Established Hispanic “metros” in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, but are
What that means for market makers is most evident in the shift in broadcast advertising to appeal to a broader, more Hispanic consumer base. With a larger, more widespread Hispanic pop- ulation, marketers as well as politicians – not to speak of employers – have to pay close attention to the needs and aspirations of Hispanics, or else. That is a radically different posture from which industrial America faced Hispan- ics when the earliest high achievers began appearing in Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology magazine. The careers of those who followed them have been dramatically affected as well.
Protecting the Globe Dr. Mario Molina
Dr. Mario Molina was a little-known post-doctoral researcher at the University of California at Irvine in 1974, when he and his colleague F. Sherwood Row- land called a press conference at an American Chemical Society meeting to call for a total ban on the then- widespread use of chloroflourocarbon chemicals (CFCs) for refrigerants and aerosol propel- lants because of the damage it was causing in the up-
• Going to “New Destinations,” areas in which they had not concentrated in large numbers before, such as Atlanta, Georgia, and are
• Bypassing the “Gateway Cities” of established Hispanic metros and going directly to “new destination” areas; in addition, they are
• Spreading to the suburbs. Today, the report said, 54 percent of all Hispan- ics live in the suburbs. The report also noted that
• Hispanic men outnumber Hispanic women by 17 percent in the new Hispanic destination metro areas, be- cause male immigrants arrive first, then families follow.
per atmosphere. Scientists across the spectrum initially disputed their find- ings, but after a review by the National Academy of Science, Dr. Molina and his colleague were vindicated.
Hispanic Engineer introduced Dr. Molina to a wider audience of students and professional in its very first edition, and when he, Paul J. Crutzen and F. Sherwood won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 for sleuthing out the chemical reactions that caused what we now know to be the “Ozone Hole,” the magazine celebrated his feat with a cover story.
Dr. Molina, the son of a Mexican diplo- mat and a chemical engineering gradu- ate of the University of Mexico, had studied at the University of Freiburg,
www.hispanicengineer.com
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