NEWS RELEASE

Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax; 713/743-8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2004

Contact: Leticia Konigsberg
713/743-8152 (office)
713/617-7143 (pager)
lkonigsberg@uh.edu
UNIVISION NEWS ANCHOR JORGE RAMOS, MAYOR BILL WHITE
TO DISCUSS LATINO VOTE WITH HOUSTON COMMUNITY LEADERS AT UH

Noted Univision broadcaster Jorge Ramos will join Mayor Bill White and other community leaders to discuss the impact of the Latino vote in American politics at 3 p.m., Sunday, June 20, at the University of Houston.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Ramos, who’s recently authored the book “The Latino Wave: How Hispanics Will Elect the Next American President,” believes Hispanics will have an increasingly powerful influence on all areas of American culture, including politics. With its population of nearly 40 million and growing, Latinos became the largest minority in America in 2003.

Scheduled to participate in the panel discussion are Houston City Council members Carol Alvarado and Adrian Garcia; Hector de Leon, County Clerk’s Office; Tony Diaz, Nuestra Palabra; Nestor Rodriguez, co-director of the UH Center for Immigration Research; Tatcho Mindiola, director of the UH Center for Mexican American Studies; and Erica Bernal, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund (NALEO Educational Fund).

Ramos has been the anchorman for “Noticiero Univision,” the network’s nightly newscast, since 1986. In 2003 he was selected as the winner of Barry University’s David Brinkley Award for journalistic excellence. He is the first Hispanic to win that award; previous recipients include Ted Koppel (ABC), Helen Thomas (UPI) and Bernard Shaw (CNN). He was honored in 2002, with the “Ruben Salazar” award by the National Council of La Raza for his positive portrayal of Latinos and with the Ron Brown award from the National Child Labor Committee. In 2001, he received the Maria Moors Cabot award from Columbia University and has won seven Emmy awards for excellence in journalism.

Sponsored in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts through the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County. Nuestra Palabra is part of the CACHH Incubator program. Co-sponsors for the event include Nuestra Palabra, Univision, HCC-TV, the Houston Chronicle, Barnes & Noble, KPFT, and the UH Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS).

Ramos will autograph copies of his new book following the panel discussion.

WHAT: Helping Latinos Count: Ways to Empower Latinos as Voters
Panel discussion, book signing follows
WHEN: 3 –5 p.m., Sunday, June 20, 2004
WHERE: UH Central Campus - The University Center, Houston Room
4800 Calhoun at University Drive, Entrance 1
WHO: Jorge Ramos, Univision news anchor, and Houston community leaders
NOTE: Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.