OAK BROOK, IL: McDonald’s increased communications efforts for its second year of helping Hispanic high school students prepare for college. It is promoting its “Steps for Success College Workshops” and the company’s scholarship program, funded by Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).

McDonald’s partnered with Hispanic American Commitment to Education Resources (part of RMHC) and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund for the effort. Valencia Pérez & Echeveste, which handles Hispanic consumer marketing for McDonald’s, is providing PR support.

Full story…

WASHINGTON — On the night that Senator Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for president, Roderick J. Harrison plans to pop open a bottle of Champagne and sit riveted before the television with his wife and 12-year-old son.

Mr. Harrison, a demographer who is black, says he expects to feel chills when Mr. Obama becomes the first black presidential candidate to lead a major party ticket. But as the Democratic convention gets under way, Mr. Harrison’s anticipation is tempered by uneasiness as he wonders: Will Mr. Obama’s success further the notion that the long struggle for racial equality has finally been won?

Mr. Obama has received overwhelming support from black voters, many of whom believe he will help bridge the nation’s racial divide. But even as they cheer him on, some black scholars, bloggers and others who closely follow the race worry that Mr. Obama’s historic achievements might make it harder to rally support for policies intended to combat racial discrimination, racial inequities and urban poverty.

Full story… 

We have all experienced an upset stomach at one time or another from the foods we love to eat. However, when frequent heartburn and other discomfort are experienced, diet alone may not be the culprit. The symptoms may be indicators of a larger problem — one that is best addressed by talking to a doctor about what these symptoms could really mean.

Those who experience heartburn at least twice a week, even after trying home remedies and a change in diet, could be suffering from a potentially serious condition called Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), commonly referred to as Acid Reflux Disease. In fact, it is estimated that 6.1 million Hispanic-Americans in the United States suffer from GERD.

Full story…

The U.S. House of Representatives on July 30 passed a resolution honoring Asian American and Pacific Islander soldiers who fought in the Civil War, culminating a five-year battle to help correct the historical record.Historians have recently uncovered evidence that hundreds of soldiers of AAPI heritage fought on both the Union and Confederate sides, continuing a long tradition of significant AAPI contribu­tions to the history of the United States. House Resolution 415 posthumously honors Edward Day Cohota and Joseph L. Pierce, both of Chinese ancestry, as examples of this overlooked group of men.

“The history of America would be to­tally different without the contributions of Asian Americans. Asian Americans have been an integral part of making our country great,” said Rep. Mike Honda, who introduced the bill. “I am pleased that heroes such as Pierce and Cohota will finally take the place they deserve in our nation’s memory.”

Full story…

Aging Americans, like other age groups, are feeling the effects of the declining real estate and stock markets, as well as soaring fuel and food prices. Seniors’ economic security will only increase in importance as the U.S. population ages. The nation’s health and social services resources will face unprecedented demand as 75 million people in the baby boomer generation reach retirement age—some with eroded savings and retirement accounts.

Fighting elderly poverty

Between 1959 and 1974, the elderly poverty rate fell from 35 percent to 15 percent. This was largely attributable to a set of increases in Social Security benefits. The elderly poverty rate has continued to decline in subsequent decades, reaching 9.4 percent in 2006. Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits continue to play a key role in reducing elderly poverty, especially among women and people of color. If Social Security benefits did not exist, an estimated 44 percent of the elderly would be poor today, assuming no changes in behavior.

Full story…

ORLANDO — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Saturday that his Republican opponent, John McCain, is running a cynical - but not racist - campaign.

“In no way do I think that John McCain’s campaign was being racist,” Obama said. “I think they’re cynical. I think they want to distract people from talking about the real issues.”

Obama tried to focus his two-day, five-city swing through Florida on economic issues - he called on Congress to issue immediately another round of tax rebates that he had suggested for next year - but the campaign repeatedly faced questions about accusations from McCain that the Illinois senator is “playing the race card.”

McCain’s campaign had said that Obama used race Wednesday when he said Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out that Obama “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

Obama was more direct during a Jacksonville fund-raiser in June, when he told supporters, “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me (by saying), ‘He’s young and inexperienced, and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?’”

Full story…

Beverly Hills, Calif.— During its recent Television Critics Association Press Tour presentation, The Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC Family announced that it will return scripted police drama Lincoln Heights for a third season.

The announcement was noteworthy because the series, which features a predominately African-American cast, was the only series among the numerous new and returning scripted shows presented during the three-week TCA Tour in which minorities represent the majority of leading roles.

While numerous reality series highlighted during the tour — such as Bravo’s Housewives of Atlanta, TV Land’s Family Foreman and MTV’s The Cho Show — feature predominately minority casts, none of the scripted shows expected to debut during the 2008-09 television season feature such casts.

This year’s crop of shows featuring minorities in the majority of lead roles was made leaner with the cancellations earlier this year of UPN’s African-American led comedy series Girlfriends and CBS’s Hispanic actor-driven series Cane.

Full story… 

A belief that Asian-Americans are taking over American universities, out-performing other groups and grabbing the bulk of mathematics, science and engineering degrees has been debunked in a landmark study.

American popular culture is full of claims that Asian-Americans are “over-running college campuses with high enrolment” but “such impressions exaggerate” their presence in American education, the study said.

Entitled ‘Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders — Facts, Not Fiction: Setting the Record Straight’, the study was conducted by New York University, a group of mostly Asian-American educators, and the College Board, a group that holds standardised tests for mostly high school students.

The study showed that the number of Asian-American students at institutions of higher learning was inflated by foreign students from Asian nations and that not all were top students gaining easy entry to the best colleges and universities to become doctors and engineers.

Full story… 

Despite AZN’s demise and iaTV’s (formerly ImaginAsian TV) moves to broaden its audience, operators and programmers remain confident there is a real demand for networks targeting Asian-Americans, especially those offering foreign-language content.

English-language networks aimed at the children and grandchildren of immigrants are “nice-to-have channels,” but it’s the “in-language channels that have the most value,” said Rob Thun, senior vice president of programming for AT&T’s U-Verse TV, an AZN affiliate.

While Comcast-owned AZN, which targeted Asians born or raised in the U.S., reported 13.9 million subscribers, most of the current crop of Asian-language channels count viewership in the tens and hundreds of thousands. But viewer loyalty is high.

Full story…