News Briefs
The Spanish Broadcasting System’s Mega TV Channel 22 has launched “Oppenheimer Presenta,” an in-depth political analysis program conducted by award-winning columnist AndrĆ©s Oppenheimer. Mr. Oppenheimer, a well-known syndicated columnist with the Miami Herald and political analyst who has been featured in outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, has been considered by Le Monde Diary as one of the most influential Hispanic journalists in the United States.
“Oppenheimer Presenta” will air every Sunday at 10:00 PM exclusively on Mega TV. Already an established international political program and EMMY award winner, “Oppenheimer Presenta” today reaches more than 57 million households on 19 Latin American stations, as well as distribution in France and Spain.
“With the launch of “Oppenheimer Presenta,” Mega TV embarks on a new initiative by launching political programming that is highly respected among journalists and political professionals,” says Cynthia Hudson-FernĆ”ndez, SBS’s chief creative officer and executive vice president.
Prudential Financial Inc. wasĀ honored February 8 by LATINA StyleĀ magazine during the 2006 LATINA StyleĀ 50 awards ceremony in Washington,Ā D.C. that included a reception at theĀ White House. LATINA Style, a nationalĀ magazine for the contemporary HispanicĀ woman, ranked Prudential amongĀ its top 50 companies that provide theĀ best professional opportunities forĀ Latinas.
Accepting the award on behalf ofĀ Prudential, Emilio Egea, vice presidentĀ of human resources said, “PrudentialĀ remains committed to being an employerĀ of choice and fostering an inclusive,Ā supportive work environment thatĀ provides opportunities for our employeesĀ to grow and succeed. We stronglyĀ value the diversity of our workforceĀ and consider it a key to our businessĀ success.”
LATINA Style evaluated more thanĀ 800 companies on issues readers identifiedĀ as most important to them in the workplace, including mentoringĀ programs, Latina board members,Ā educational opportunities, alternativeĀ work policies, dependent/child careĀ support, traditional employee benefits,Ā women’s issues, job retraining, affinityĀ groups, and Hispanic relations.
A new self-paced learningĀ program is now available to help the home building industry’s 2.5 million Hispanic workers learn English. “Sed de Saber-Construction Edition,” sponsored by Lowe’s, was custom-created by the Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), to address job site communication challenges presented by the language barrier.
“Sed de Saber-Construction Edition” uses a seven-book, fully interactive curriculum to teach Spanishspeaking workers a functional level of English language conversation and comprehension. It runs on LeapFrog Quantum Pad technology, enabling users to record, play back, and compare their pronunciation to that of the words and phrases they are learning. The complete curriculum teaches sentence structure, 500 vocabulary words and 340 phrases, covering basic life skills such as following driving directions, as well as detailed job-site scenarios, tools, equipment and scheduling. To address safety-related issues because of the language barrier, the program’s seventh book focuses entirely on safety practices, mirroring the NAHB/OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook protocols. “Sed de Saber-Construction EditionĀ is an opportunity for builders to take a leadership role as it relates to a critical workforce issue for our industry,” says Mike Sivage, immediate past chairman for HBI and a leading force behind the effort. “Empowering workers to learn English can impact safety, communication and quality, as well as boost loyalty, recruitment and morale.”
