FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- How was Latinitas started?
- Why focus on Hispanic girls?
- What are people saying about Latinitas?
- How was Latinitas started?
- Latinitas was started by six students in a Latinos and Media course
at the University of Texas at Austin in the spring of 2002. Under
the instruction of Professor Federico Subervi, the group developed
the concept for a magazine especially for Hispanic girls. Recognizing
the incredible need for a publication that focused on the experiences
of Latina youth, two students - Laura Donnelly and Alicia Rascon -
decided to take action to transform the project into a reality at
the end of the course. They started gathering a group of friends and
volunteers to form the Latinitas student organization at the University
of Texas at Austin. The monthly webzine was launched in January of
2003. After graduation, both continued to develop Latinitas into a
publication staffed with volunteer editors, reporters, translators,
photographers and advertising consultants. During the summer of 2003,
the program expanded to offer quarterly media workshops for Latino
youth in the community. Club Latinitas, a weekly after-school newsroom
for middle school Latinitas, started in the fall of 2003. During February
of 2003, Latinitas launched Teen Latinitas, the teen version of the
magazine. Subsequently, the TRIP (Teen Reporter Intern Program) was
developed as the magazine's teen advisory board.
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- Why focus on Hispanic girls?
- There is a particular urgency regarding Latina girls. According
to the National Health Institute, they are placed at the highest risk
amongst their African American, Asian, Caucasian, Native American
and Pacific Islander peers for a susceptibility to teenage pregnancy,
drug abuse, health issues such as obesity and a drop in grades and
confidence on the cusp of entering high school. Currently, the Hispanic
population in the United States has become the largest and fastest
growing minority group. About a third of the nation's Hispanics are
under the age of 18. One in five teens in the United States (20 percent)
is of Hispanic descent. Between 1993 and 2001, the Hispanic teen population
grew 30 percent while the non-Hispanic population grew eight percent
during the same period. According to predictions gleaned from the
most recent census report, by 2020, the Hispanic (pre)teen population
is expected to grow 62 percent compared to 10 percent growth in the
number of teens overall. Despite their growing numbers, statistics
show Hispanics make up less than two percent of newsroom staff nationwide.
There are important stories that are missing from the current landscape
of media.
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- What are people saying about Latinitas?
- Comments from readers
- "I would like to say thank you for having a website for us girls.
It is really hard to find something like this. So I want to say
thank you."
- "In school all of the teachers teach us about America. They
don't teach us about where we came from. It [Latinitas] will help
me learn about my own culture."
- "I want to go to college and become a doctor. Maybe it [Latinitas]
would help me."
- "I want to be a photographer when I grow up, so I really liked
that we could do that. I thought it was cool because we could
learn more things about our life."
Comments from Latinitas outreach participants
- "I came to this workshop with the Hispanic mother/daughter program.
I learned a lot about college from the financial aid to resumés
and essays. I think this really helped me see my future a little
better."
- "As part of the Hispanic mother/daughter program, I really enjoyed
the Latinitas!!!! Keep up the good work."
Comments from Club Latinitas members
- "I definitely like when we make our own newspapers. I feel like
I could become an editor or it can help me if I want to be an
author or something."
- "Because of the club, I want to make my own magazine someday."
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