Skip to main content

tv   Comunidad del Valle  NBC  February 13, 2011 3:30pm-4:00pm PST

3:30 pm
hello, and welcome to communidad del valle. today the president of the united farm workers is in our studios recognizing our educateors. welcome to "communidad del valle." ♪ we begin today with cash for college. there is a lot of it going around, and with us today is sonja ramos and valentine garcia who brought a lot of cash with them to give to our students out
3:31 pm
in the bay area. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> you're here. we love to have you every year because you always come with good news. at a time when we think there's no money, how are we going send our kedz to college, you have the answer. tell bus your program and what you're doing. >> reason we are in the middle of our cash for college campaign which runs from january through march 2nd. the cal grad deadline. the workshops throughout the months of january through march are taking place at high schools and community colleges across the silicone valley area to help students, specifically seniors and their families, submit and file the free application for federal student aid. >> again, it can be intimidating at some point filling out these applications. that's why these organizations are here. they're having free workshops throughout the state to marcs you do fill them out right, that you get the money that you should be getting. it can be intimidating for folks who maybe have never done this
3:32 pm
before. first-time college students. >> of course, and that's why we have this workshop. we clear all the questions that the parents ask. am i going to have to pay this back in a year, in two years, in three years? no. it's free money. that's why we have this workshop, and we have them from usually three to eight -- five-hour span so the parents can come after work and they're able to have their questions answered. we definitely take our time with them to make sure that they go without my unanswered questions. >> how safe are these funds right now? we know what's going on with sacramento. the state budget is what it is. we're trying to fiend every direction to pull money from. how safe are -- is the financial aid situation in california? >> specifically for the cal grad program which has been from year to year fluctuated in terms of its funding and ability to continue the program itself as it is inspect its entirety, we are hoping that the program will not be xwkted by the budget
3:33 pm
cuts, although there is some talk that there may be some reductions. not necessarily understanding at this point what that reduction means. it could mean students who are previous cal grad recipients. they may have some awards that are -- that are changed or that are reduced to allow students coming into universities and colleges for the first year to have qualified football financial aid, but there is an increase in the cal grant program this year, so students can qualify for up to $11,000 in cal grant money which is free money that students and families do not have to pay back. stoo and that can pay for your entire education if you come from we callç it now in the silicone valley, severely poor, but because if you are getting $11,000, that can pay for your entire education for that year. >> correct. we have the pell grant from the feds, and you have -- you took your classes at the high school level, you get more money.
3:34 pm
that's just a lot of grants available. also at the university they provide grants. fasa, cal grants equal a lot of dinero. >> i would probably not be here if i didn't qualify for financial aid. i mean, the situation, that's what a lot of our students are facing. they feel like college is not for them because they can't afford it. >> yes. what we're hearing every day from our higher ed institutions is the increases and tuition from year to year. fortunately, the cal grant is being increased to allow for those increases to be subsidyized by cal grant and other scholarships that the universities and colleges may offer to students. >> the free workshops are coming up. you have one at gunderson and san jose, and you have added a fourth, i believe. >> february 28th. parents are welcome to come in any time. >> put the parents at ease. tell them how easy it is to do. >> it takes about 20 minutes to
3:35 pm
a half hour if the families have all of their tax information ready and prepared. and our volunteers are trained, well trained. we have football aid officers and directors from our local institutions here, college and universities in the santa clara area who are experts in completing the fasa and will provide the families with all of the information they need in order to properly answer all the questions on the application to allow their student to qualify. we really encourage families to apply regardless of whether or not they think they may not qualify. every family situation is very different, and as we know in this economic state, family financial situations are changing every day. that impacts the ability for a student to receive and qualify for more financial aid if their family continues to be impacted by this economy. >> procrastination, we're all guilty of it. when is the sloouts absolute deadline to fell out these financial aid forms? >> the cal grant is through march 2nd. through the fas aa i was it's
3:36 pm
ongoing. we push march 2nd because if you don't turn in the fasa and you don't turn in the cal grant for march 2nd, you don't get the total allotment that you could receive. stoo let's look at the information on the free workshop there taking place in the south bay. there it is on your screen. is that a good web address to give out for more information on what's happening? >> they could visit cal grant.org as well, and they could put in this zip çcode, a they could find the nearest workshop in their city, and if they could also call 408-657-6774 and that's our cell phone. they could text us, too, if they want to request a workshop near them. >> awesome. thank you so much for what you do. thank you for coming back every year with this. >> fau for having us. >> up next on communidad del valle, recognize our educateors. 6 [ alarm clock buzzing, indistinct conversations ]
3:37 pm
[ female announcer ] important events can sneak up on you. oh, i am not ready. can i have a couple weeks? [ female announcer ] but with yoplait light's two week tune up, you could be ready. you could lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks when you replace breakfast and lunch with a fruit, grain, and yoplait light. betsy bets. you haven't changed a bit. oh...neither have you... sean. well, yeah. [ female announcer ] go to yoplait.com to start your two week tune up. recognizing the educateors celebrating. with us today is johnny. he is with the newly formed
3:38 pm
mexican-american educators of silicone valley. it's state-wide, but the chapt ser new here in the silicone valley. >> we are the newest chapter of the association of mexican-american educators, and i'm the president. we look forward to our big dinner. i think they're going to get. we have a big dinner coming up. we are going to honor latino educators. every chapter does that. in 1982 we look forward to our dinner may 20th. wear employing to honor latino educators and we hope to award 25,000, and 25 students will receive $1,000 scholarship that night also. >> i was part of the ceremony here a while back. it's now defunct. i'm glad you guys are doing it because these are folks that don't ask for the recognition. these are folks that do their job because it's the love of the job, the love of the children, the love of education. these are the young unsung
3:39 pm
heroes. >> these educator go above and beyond the great passion and equipped and power and motivate, inspire, encourage our students to academic success, and those educateors are -- we need to honor them because there's a lot of them that do a great job. it's an honor to be able to honor them on the evening coming up may 30th. >> you know, i could never be an educator because i know that it takes a lot of patience and here in the news business i have about that much patience because we're always on the go. we're on dead looirns and things got to get done now. when i visit a classroom, and there's 20 or 30 kids, i have noed idea how the teacher is doing it because it could be overwhelming. >> it is. it's overwhelming, but i think teachers who have a passion, they work with patients, and they're resilient, and they know the important part is to get these kids to graduate, get them to be academically successful so they can graduate and go on to college. that's where we step in because we want to honor the teachers
3:40 pm
and provide scholarships for students so they could go to college and become the next doctor and lawyer, engineer that our students need to become. they need to have dreams and those dreams need to be fulfilled, and it's through role models such as amed nbz members who do that who are role models for our kids in silicone valley. >> why education for you? why was that field in your scope? >> because i grew up in a family that didn't promote that. that wasn't a big thing in our family, and since i became an educator, i think for me my passion is to getç kids to graduate and get them to college and help them become leaders of tomorrow because our kids need that. they need to have dreams, and their dreams can come true, and because we dom also a conference because our kids have -- they have to know that they can make it. >> how do you motivate the kids nowa days? i mean, the dropout rate is not
3:41 pm
improving that much. rescidivism is still there, and the achievement gap gap is either growing or not diminishing. how do you keep them motivated? >> i think the teachers i have seen who motivate kids, i hi they do it with their passion. they have the teachers that teach science or math. they're good at what they do, and they just -- they manufacture. they excite kids. they engage our students. those teachers who do that, those are the ones that we want to honor. we look forward to honoring. it's those teach thaerz have that, who inspire and motivate and encourage our students to be successful month matter the odds because our kids face a lot of odds whether it's gangs or drugs or a lack of a parent at home or lack of -- or spanish speaking parent that has a hard time understanding the system. they go above and beyond, and i admire those educator that is do that. >> i know my daughter would like to nominate her kindergarten teacher as teacher of the year. a lot of families might want to do the same for the teacher of
3:42 pm
their children. how does this process work? how do -- do they nominate their teachers? how is the selection pros? >> they can call me at my number or get ahold of us on our website, and we are looking right now to honor educators. any educator can nominate. it doesn't have to be a member. we look forward to nominees from educators throughout the santa clara county silicone valley so we could honor the best of the best and those who go above and beyond and who have great passion for kids and know to be successful. they can get ahold of me and we look forward to having them nominate our teachers who are great inspirerers of tomorrow's leaders. >> we have the website and phone number for more information. there it is on your screen. there's the website. they can log on there and find out exactly the mom nation process, write the essay, whatever they need to do. >> also they can look up our scholarship process. it's for latino students, and we
3:43 pm
will look forward to honoring 25 students with $1,000 scholarship so that they can go to college and become a leader of tomorrow. >> that is awesome, and how many educators will you be honoring? sflo we're going to honor ten educators, and elementary, middle school, high school, college, junior college, university, and we're going to honor one community. so we are looking for nominees. we're looking for educators to nominate each other, and because we know that we have great educators in this area in santa clara county, silicone valley. >> we're honor them here in the silicone valley may 20th at the -- what is the hotel called mou? >>ç san jose airport. we'll be there may 20th. >> may 20th. scht the college because it's -- we're honoring the teachers, our educators. thank you for joining us. so thank you for having me. we appreciate you very much. >> up next, the national vice president for the united farm workers with an important message. stay with us. [ female announcer ] why settle for plain bread
3:44 pm
3:45 pm
when you can have pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits? the warm, light delicate layers are like nothing else. add a layer of excitement to your next meal. ♪ and these are the ones you'll love on a friday. pillsbury crescent pizza pockets. with just a few ingredients, you have an easy to make dinner. they're crescents for the other 364. try them tonight.
3:46 pm
sdwrirchlgts she's a national vice president of the united 235r78 workers. she's with us here today because there's an important message that needs to get out about a lady who suffered a tragic death because of a condition out in the field. we've been covering this for years, for decades. we've lived it for that long. we're talking about -- >> that's correct. >> talk about her case. we do have a picture of her and a little bit of a video. >> well, you know, maria isabell is a 17-year-old farm worker who died in may 2008 many fields near the stockton area. she had been picking grapes for nearly nine hours. her employer failed to provide the most basic protection that they're supposed to by law, which is water, shade, and training to recognize heat illness symptoms, so maria passed away, and they also learned when she passed away that she was pregnant, and so
3:47 pm
the jiminez family has lost two members of their family. >> your organization has been fighting this for years. i mean, what is it going to take to make these people realize that there are dangerous conditions out there in the fields? >> well, you know, unfortunately, maria isabelle's case is just one example of the horrific things that occur in the fields. there are 400,000 farm workers that are moving between 80,000 ranches, and what happens is the laws on the books are not the laws in the fields, and so we're trying to bring attention to maria's case and to get justice and set aç precedent that thers a message to employers that this sort of negligence and ignoring of the law is unacceptable. >> there was a scary word, a fear word when i was working in the fields, and that was the contractors. is that what happened in this case some it was the fault of the contractor or the grower or both? >> well, it's -- they're both
3:48 pm
responsible. the employer and the labor contractor, those who employed maria isabelle were responsible. in this particular case those that are being charged are the farm labor contractors, the safety supervisor and the owner of the contracting company. >> now, the state shut down the contracting company. it's month longer existing. but tell us why the united farm workers is upset with the potential outcome of this case against the contractor and the growers? . >> it's the united farm workers, the family, and the community that are upset that there's been a plea deal bargain put forth by the district attorney, james willit towards the merced farm labor that would give the safety supervisor only 400 hours of community service for the negligence, five years of probation, and a $1,000 fine. the owner of the farm labor would only get four hours of community service and a misdemeanor and four years of probation. >> my understanding was that
3:49 pm
before there is a sort of plea deal that the family of a victim had to be consulted to make sure that they were -- that they agreed with this plea deal. >> well, actually, they weren't consulted. her family was not made aware of the plea deal until much after it was already made. >> and so what -- march 9th is when they'll be officially sentenced. you were starting the campaign of the united farm workers to start their campaign? >> on march 9th there will be a hearing and the judge can make a decision whether to accept that plea deal or to listen to the family and to the public that came forward in saying that nothing less than jail time is acceptable for these employers, and we already have over 10,000 emails that have gone into the district attorney with that same message. we know that hundreds of calls have been made from people not just in california, but from throughout the country, and we're also going to have a vigil in memory of maria outside of the stockton courthouse on --
3:50 pm
starting on monday, march 7th, leading up to the hearing of her case. >> you on thursday met with a district attorney, but tell us -- well, tell us about that conversation, tell us about the outcome. >> çsure, on thursday the fami and the united farm workers met with a district attorney, and he remains insistent on the deal that they've made, and so we're hoping that he will be open to hearing the thousands of people that have came forward with the message that it is an unacceptable deal and sets a terrible precedence for farm workers. >> is he an elected official in the central valley? >> he is. >> we know where the consequence lies. if you feel this is near and dear to your heart, log on to the ufw website for more information. it's a case to fight for maria isabelle vazquez who died tragically while working in the field while in the central valley. we'll talk more about this case when we come back. stay with us.
3:51 pm
we're honored to be joined by the national vice president of the united farm workers based
3:52 pm
out of salinas. before we get into the case, give us a state of the union, if you will. talk about the organizing efforts and where the ufw stands right now. >> sure. we're mounting massive campaign here because the family has asked us to do so and they need the support from the community. we're on-line. we're getting letters from the drshgt attorney's office. you can find the campaign on facebook for all those that are on there. we know that there are over 2,000 postings. you know, really it all comes down to what happens on march 9th. you know, we really got to ask because of this plea deal bargain that's been put forth, what is the life of a farm worker worth? what is the -- obviously in the courtroom of michael gar began, the life of mara isabelle is not worth very much because of this plea deal that's been put forward. the family and the community is asking why. was it because she was a farm worker? was it because she was 17 and
3:53 pm
needlessly died? was it because she was from an immigrant from mexico? in the end she was a farm worker who helped put food on millions of americans' tables, and she deserves justice, and that's what we'll be doing in the next couple of months. >> how arcaic is what happened? how archaic is the way we're treating our workers? i had it easy i thought because of what ceasar did. ceasar allowed me to use a long hoe instead of the short hoe. he made sure there was water there available. he made sure that we had port-a-potties in case we needed those facilities. so much was accomplished, but we still hear about these things that are happening. i guess the more things change, the more they stay the same. >> well, unfortunately, again, the laws on the books are not we do have thanks to the work of ceasar, delores, and thousands of farm workers and others, the farm workers have rights. they have the right to water and shade and p training to
3:54 pm
recognize heat illness symptoms. they have the right to unionize. they have all of these rights that have been won after many, many years. the problem is that they're not implemented in the fields, and so we, the uw, over the course of our 49 years. we'll turn 50 next year. the only way to insure the laws on the books are the laws on the fields is when farm workers are organized because they're not afraid to speak up. if maria isabelle had been organized and informed, perhaps she would be here with us today. that is really what the ufw ames to on in the end is show that maria's case, along with the family, this is one out of many examples of the violations that exist and as long as the life of a farm worker is not valued, farm workers will be afraid to speak up, and we'll continue to see these deaths in the field. loo there is a misconception about our legal process that the decision has already been made. whenever we have a sentencing hearing, for example, that the decisions made doesn't matter what the family members say. the judge has made up his or her
3:55 pm
mind already. how much of a difference do you think farm workers or supporters can make between now and march 9th? >> a tremendous difference. a tremendous difference. every person that emails or writes the district attorney or is present at the vigil and expresses their disagreement with this decision will make a tremendous difference. alone there's very little that we can do, but together we really believe that we can set a precede precedent. it would be a historical day for all of us if an employer, who demonstrated such negligence, you know, this is one employer who in 6dz already committed a violation of not having heat illness safety plans in place. in 2006. cal osha never paid the fine, and cal osha never went back to the ranch to make sure that they were in compliance. this has been a step forward for farm workers in california. >> real quickly, give me the two
3:56 pm
scenarios. what would happen? what precedent would it set if the judge agrees with the d.a. and what would happen, what press debt would it set if the judge says, no, a harsher sentence is needed? >> if the plea deal is taken, the precedent is that farm workers lives don't matter. employers can continue to violent thelaws and face very little consequences. if he rejects the plea deal and charges them to the fullest extent of the law, farm workers, it will send a strong message to employers to not break the law. there are consequences. the farm workers to not to be afraid to speak up because there will be justice. >> all right. marilynn cauldron, the national vice president of the united farm workers, and if you would like to help or find out more about what's happening in the case of maria isabelle vazquez, log on and, again, tweet, facebook it, whatever you need to do to get the word out about this decision that will be rendered on march 9th. thank you so much for the work that you do, and good luck. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you.
3:57 pm
>> now here's what's happening in your communidad del valle.
3:58 pm
>> here's our web address for next week. remember to pick up a copy of our newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us. next week we will have with you la rossa. ring ring. progresso. oh yes hi. can you put my grandma on the phone please? thanks. excuse me a sec. another person calling for her grandmother. she thinks it's her soup huh? i'm told she's in the garden picking herbs.
3:59 pm
she is so cute. okay i'll hold. she's holding. wha? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce.

83 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on