The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), the nation's premier Hispanic educational and youth leadership development organization, launched a national campaign to recruit Hispanic students. For its nationally recognized leadership development programs and scholarships. Whether Students are college bound, undergraduate and graduate, students are encouraged to apply at: http://www.chci.org/. Applications for CHCI's Congressional Internship Program, Graduate & Young Professionals Fellowship Program, Public Policy Fellowship Program, and Scholarship Program are available. The Congressional Internship Program provides college students with Congressional work placements on Capitol Hill for a period of eight weeks from June to August, to learn first-hand about our nation's legislative processes. Interns are responsible for conducting extensive legislative research, monitoring day-to-day hearings, managing constituent communications and assisting with general office matters.

 A new survey recently released by The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, shows a significant percentage of Latino voters in key battleground states are either undecided or still open to persuasion. The survey of registered Latinos in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Nevada also demonstrates that Latino voters may turn out in unprecedented numbers and that the economy is their top election priority.  Nearly a third of respondents said they had trouble making their mortgage or rent payments at some point during the past 12 months. 

The bilingual telephone survey was conducted by the public opinion firm Latino Decisions with the support of the AARP.  The firm surveyed 1,600 Latino registered voters drawn equally from official statewide voter files in the four states and has a margin of error of +/- 4.7% for each state.

NASA is holding a two-day cultural and motivational workshop that aims to inspire young Hispanics to not only complete high school, but to pursue higher degrees in the sciences, math, and engineering. On Oct. 2-3, the seventh annual Hispanic Youth Conference, this year with the theme "Getting Involved: Our Families, Our Community, Our Nation," takes place in Huntsville, Ala.

 Dionicio Morales, a former labor organizer whose efforts to help his community resulted in the creation of one of the nation's largest Latino social service providers, has died. He was 89. Morales died of natural causes Wednesday at Beverly Hospital in Montebello. He was organizing garment workers in the early 1960s when he decided to create the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation in 1963. Morales persuaded the vice president, Lyndon Johnson, to meet with members of the Mexican-American community during a visit to Los Angeles. Johnson later helped his foundation secure funding from the Department of Labor.

HISPA (Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement), a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing positive Hispanic role models for young students, held a successful launch event on Tuesday, September 16th. The event was held to spotlight the group’s national mission and its New Jersey program. The kick-off marked the start of the organization’s “100 Role Models in 100 Hours” initiative, an effort designed to enlist 100 New Jersey area mentors before the close of the week.

 The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute recognized a Latina Marine for her strong leadership and dedication to country Sep. 7 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. CHCI awarded Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas, commanding general, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego,  the 2008 Latinas in Service Award. This is the first time CHCI has awarded a service woman. All the speakers talked about how Salinas is an inspiring and influential woman. And the crowd, mostly Latinos and Latinas, cheered and clapped for the brigadier general.

For the full story click here: http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/politics/2008/9/19/hispanic_organization_honors_latina_marine.htm

According to a new nationwide survey of 2,015 Hispanic adults,  50% of all Latinos say that the situation of Latinos in this country is worse now than it was a year ago. In a new report released by the Pew Hispanic Center, during this past year, the Hispanic community in this country has been hit hard by rising unemployment and stepped-up immigration enforcement.

   Hispanic businesses and Spanish-language media are  sponsoring a lew of civic engagements and get-out-the-vote efforts in the Washington area. Some are part of larger national campaigns like the Republican and Democratic interest in recruiting Hispanic voters and the interest in changing immigration policies. The majority of the efforts are aimed at getting Hispanics to register and show up on Election Day.

 DREAM IN COLOR By Linda and Loretta Sanchez with Richard Buskin Grand Central Publishing – September 2008 Review by Raul Ramos y Sanchez

Linda and Loretta Sanchéz are the only sisters to ever serve in the United States Congress. Their new book, DREAM IN COLOR, does much more than define the Sanchéz sisters as politicians, however. In an engaging and candid narrative, we discover the sharply distinct identities of two women who share a rich legacy of values. The Sanchéz sisters were raised in the same working-class household, but their personalities and professional styles could not be more different.