YLS Presence in NLLSA

YLS continues to shine on the national scene with the presence of three board members serving on the National Latina/o Law Students Association for the 2009-2010 academic year:

1. David Perez (YLS 2010) serves as Chair.

2. Sohail Ramirez (YLS 2010) serves as Vice Chair.

3. Carel Ale (YLS 2011) serves as North Atlantic Regional Director.

For more information on NLLSA, visit http://nllsa.org or their blog at http://nllsa.blogspot.com

NLLSA Conference in Chicago -- Register Now!

13th Annual Conference of the National Latino Law Student Association

September 24-27, 2009

Chicago, Illinois

Register Today: www.law.depaul.edu/nllsa

Regular Registration: $75 – June 5 – August 30

Late Registration: $95 – After August 30

Book your hotel room: www.palmerhousehiltonhotel.com (code: NLL)

I would like to invite you to participate in the 2009 National Latino/a Law Student Association Conference, September 24-27, 2009, hosted by DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, Illinois. The conference will feature professional development workshops, as well as panels that address current legal issues affecting the Latino community.

Conference attendees will also benefit from our Employment and LLM Fair, as well networking events and opportunities to enjoy the city’s cultural sights. In addition, a community service event will give attendees a chance to make a positive contribution to a Chicago-based social service organization.

To obtain more information about the conference and to register, please visit www.law.depaul.edu/nllsa. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (347) 414-4368, e-mail me (sohail.ramirez@gmail.com), or email the conference organizers at nllsachicago@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Register Today: www.law.depaul.edu/nllsa

Regular Registration: $75 – June 5 – August 30

Late Registration: $95 – After August 30

Book your hotel room: www.palmerhousehiltonhotel.com (code: NLL)

National Latino/a Law Student Association

2009 Conference Committee

Phone: 312.362.5145

E-mail: nllsachicago@gmail.com

Website: www.law.depaul.edu/nllsa

2008-2009 Board

Co-Chairs:
Elisabeth Centeno
Sohail Ramirez

Social Chairs:
Carel Ale
Gabriela Rivera

Faculty Diversity Chairs:
Carel Ale
Gabriela Rivera

Minority Recruitment Chairs:
Terra Gearhart-Serna
Jonathan Smith

Treasurer:
Julia Lisztwan

Community Service Chair:
Marina Eisner

Alumni Coordinator:
Andres Idarraga

Visionary:
Tomas Lopez

LLSA Podcast Vol. 1: Valentine's Hijinks, Interview with Sergio, and Ligia Refuses to Close the Show Live

LLSAPodcastVol.1HQ.mp3

We've completed a very entertaining podcast that we hope you'll listen to in between classes or while you have a break from work. It showcases some of the best of what LLSA has to offer to current members, alumni, and prospective students, all while making you laugh with our inability to behave in front of a microphone (which may in fact only be funny to us and you'll definitely be able to tell that we enjoyed putting this together a bit too much). You can either listen to the web version by pressing play above or you can download the mp3 with the direct link to listen to it in the gym, subway, etc.

For an illegal immigrant, getting into UCLA was the easy part

A San Pedro girl's undocumented status means no financial aid. Money is tight, classes are tough, and just getting to campus takes 2 1/2 hours.
By Jason Song

The Los Angeles Times, February 2, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-freshman2-2009feb02,0,7890948.story

Karina De La Cruz wakes up in the dark on her first day of classes at UCLA.

Pushing herself off a two-seat couch in the living room of a San Pedro apartment this September morning, she tries not to wake a brother sleeping in a twin bed next to her, or another dozing with his wife and baby daughter in the bedroom. De La Cruz dresses quickly and briefly considers taking her skateboard, then thinks of how her mother rolls her eyes whenever she rides it. She leaves it behind.

'I want to look right, I want to act right,' she says later.

She hurries to the corner to catch the bus, clutching her last $5. She scans the road -- she can't be late, can't do anything that would hurt her chances of maintaining a B average. The first in her family to attend college, De La Cruz believes that a 3.0 is her way out of a crowded apartment and into a life with new opportunities.

De La Cruz faces fairy tale odds. She's an illegal immigrant, so she isn't eligible for most forms of state and federal financial aid. The University of California system, by policy, does not require applicants to disclose their citizenship status: Officials say their goal is to find the best students, not to enforce immigration law. UCLA officials say they aren't even sure how many undocumented students are on their campus.

The 18-year-old De La Cruz graduated barely in the top 20% of her San Pedro High class and is competing against students with much higher GPAs and test scores. She probably doesn't have enough money to finish her first year of classes.

She has almost no safety net: She doesn't know her father, and her mother, who lives across the street, didn't get up to wish her good luck. She met a few people during orientation but doesn't have anyone she would consider a friend.

UCLA officials acknowledge that some freshmen are admitted for reasons other than their grades and test scores, that some students come from dramatically different backgrounds than many of their peers but show academic promise. They say there are programs on campus to help these students but De La Cruz isn't aware of them.

'To have a chance to thrive here, students like that need an advocate,' said Charles Alexander, UCLA's associate vice provost for student diversity.

When the bus pulls up at 6:34 a.m., De La Cruz is alone.

De La Cruz was born in Mexico. One of her first memories is running through the darkness to a van when she was 4 years old as her brother whispered to her to be quiet. They drove to San Pedro, where her mother had family. Her mother found work in a fish cannery, working seven days a week while the children went to school.

De La Cruz struggled in elementary school.

'I could never make sense of the language and only understood half the things people said,' she wrote in her UCLA application essay. Things weren't better at home. The family lived in a small apartment with an aunt, and De La Cruz's mother seemed preoccupied with saving enough money to move out. She had little time to spend with her children, much less attend parent-teacher conferences. The two grew distant.

Eventually, De La Cruz wrote in her UCLA essay, she started looking to other people for guidance.

'I began to see my teachers as role models, something my mother could not become,' she wrote.

San Diego State University was her dream school; she applied to six others, mostly UC and Cal State campuses. She never thought she'd get into UCLA, especially after San Diego State rejected her in February.

The average UCLA freshman boasted a 4.22 GPA in 10th and 11th grades, according to the most recent data posted by the school, and De La Cruz had a 3.365 at San Pedro High when she applied. She got a 21 out of a possible 36 on the ACT college admissions exam, ranking her in the 48th percentile in California. She scored 380 out of a possible 800 on an SAT subject test, putting her in the third percentile nationwide.

But on March 8, De La Cruz opened an e-mail from UCLA, and a congratulatory banner popped up. She screamed and asked a friend to look.

By her standards, UCLA would be expensive. It costs about $17,500 per year for fees, books, transportation and living expenses. She wanted to live in a dorm, which would add $7,500. She had a job at Wienerschnitzel, but it paid minimum wage.

Her friends urged her to think carefully. How about another school, like Cal State Long Beach? She'd been admitted and it would be cheaper and closer, they said, not mentioning that she would be less likely to fail there.

But De La Cruz slapped a Bruins sticker on her backpack, rejected the other schools and got a $10-an-hour job at the local Boys & Girls Club. She canceled her cellphone plan, dropped any ideas of going to prom and began applying for scholarships. She was rejected time and again.

'She needs to be more realistic,' her mother said after De La Cruz learned she had failed to qualify for two scholarships. Her mother also declined to help pay for her education but offered to buy her a prom dress. She wanted her to work full time.

Disappointments continued to stack up. On her way to take an English placement exam for incoming UC freshmen one May morning, De La Cruz stopped at a church to light a candle, hoping she could test out of a remedial course.

Her prayers weren't answered. De La Cruz would have to take at least one remedial English course before she could take regular freshman English, meaning she might have to spend an extra quarter at UCLA. She'd hoped to graduate in four years to save money.

She managed to keep her dream of living in a dorm alive until late spring, when she realized that she wouldn't be able to afford it.

Her mood was still dark a few weeks later, when she went to the Boys & Girls Club's College Bound program annual awards ceremony. But at the end of the evening, she was awarded a $4,000 scholarship.

De La Cruz had splurged on a white shirt and wore heels, walking stiffly next to her mother. She saw a familiar face among the servers at the banquet: her older brother.

He was a potent reminder of what can happen to her if she does poorly in school. He married early and has a young daughter. He works long hours and has little chance of moving out of the cramped apartment.

As the ceremony ended and the waiters wolfed their dinners in a side room, her brother found her. 'I'm proud of you,' he whispered before returning to his co-workers. He still had to clean the auditorium.

Their mother didn't say anything.

Later in the summer, Mike Lansing, director of the Boys & Girls Club in San Pedro, held a fundraiser for De La Cruz, bringing her college fund to $10,680. That was enough for maybe two quarters.

Club officials held out hope that more people would donate, but said they wouldn't be able to help more.

'We can only do this once,' Lansing said.

When De La Cruz, a psychology major, registered for courses in August, most science classes were full. She was able to sign up for 12 units, three fewer than she wanted, and had to take two pass/fail electives to fill her schedule. She was so stunned that she froze up and stared at the computer until a proctor asked her what was wrong. 'This isn't going well,' De La Cruz said.

On Sept. 25, her first day of school, De La Cruz found a seat in the back of the bus and tried to sleep, but her excitement and the stop-and-go motion made it impossible. She transferred buses downtown and stared out the window at Koreatown and Mid-Wilshire, parts of town she'd never seen.

'I'm feeling all poor,' De La Cruz said after passing a BMW dealership.

She walked into her first class, a discussion for a Life Science course, at 9:03 a.m., three minutes late. She eagerly took a seat with about a dozen other students, but left when the professor didn't show.

Disappointed, she wandered down to Bruin Walk, where sororities were out recruiting. She smoothed her black hair, unruly from two hours on the bus. A blond sorority sister glanced at De La Cruz and yanked back the flier.

Later, De La Cruz spoke to members of a Latina sorority and mentioned that the professor had missed class. They never show up for the first discussion, they said. What is there to talk about, summer vacation? And don't worry about Life Science, it's an easy A.

De La Cruz missed only one day of classes over the next month. That Friday, she was late to a bus connection and frantically skateboarded down Wilshire Boulevard for 45 minutes before realizing she wouldn't make it in time and turned around, sweaty and frustrated.

Despite her diligence, De La Cruz struggled to keep up.

'Tell me about the naked mole rats,' a tutor asked her Oct. 22, the day before a Life Science midterm.

'Ummm,' she replied, staring at her notebook.

It was the second tutoring session De La Cruz attended. UCLA officials say she missed other opportunities: A student like her probably had been invited to a summer program, and there's also an academic advancement program she could have joined, said Thomas Lifka, an associate vice chancellor.

Lifka became exasperated when told De La Cruz hadn't heard of the programs, possibly because she didn't hook up her UCLA e-mail account until well into the school year.

'Short of assigning a personal tutor, I'm not sure what else we can do,' Lifka said.

Before the science midterm, De La Cruz wanted to take an online practice test, but she didn't have access to a computer at home. She returned to San Pedro and worked a few hours, then got back on the bus to Westwood for a study group.

On good days, the promise of a UCLA diploma seemed worth the 80-mile round-trip commute, but that night it seemed overwhelming.

Weeks of riding the bus and struggling through classes had taken its toll. As she rattled north toward campus, De La Cruz realized that her chances of getting a job as a psychologist were tiny even if she were to graduate with a B average because she probably can't afford graduate school and most companies won't hire illegal immigrants.

'I guess I'm going to have to put my diploma up on the wall and that'll be all,' she said.

When she got back to Westwood, De La Cruz stopped at an apartment of seniors she'd recently met who agreed to let her sleep on their couch so she wouldn't have to take the bus home. De La Cruz promised to be back from her study group by 11:30 p.m.

'No,' student Rosemary Garcia said. 'You stay until midnight if you have to. Study.'

De La Cruz stayed until 2 a.m., then got lost and wandered the streets of Westwood until almost 3 before finding the apartment. When she went to take her test the next morning, she wore the same clothes from the day before.

She got her results a week later, crowding around a teaching assistant until her name was called and then grabbing her test -- a solid C, based on the curve.

At the end of the quarter, she had a C-plus in the class. She got an A-minus in art appreciation, earning a B-minus average. Still, she was crushed over her Life Science course.

All of those miles commuting, the cold silences from her mother, the long hours she'd worked, only to fall short.

'This C stuff isn't working,' she muttered.v

You think I'm a good dancer? Watch my cousin put everyone you know to shame

My cuz is the 19-year-old guy in this video y no relaja.

Catching up with the Patchogue nightmare

Latinos Recall Pattern of Attacks Before Killing

"Mr. Orellana is one of many Latino residents who believe that Mr. Lucero would be alive today if the police had taken crimes against them more seriously and recognized them as symptoms of a larger problem. While some Latino immigrants say they are reluctant to report crimes because they are in the country illegally or fear the police will assume they are, they and their advocates believe the police did not see a pattern because they did not want to see one."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/nyregion/09patchogue.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Thanks David for forwarding this.

City of Immigrants Fills Jail Cells With Its Own

"Leaning on Jail, City of Immigrants Immigrants Fills Cells With Its Own"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27detain.html

The above article is about the small, densely populated, and mostly Latino city where I grew up. The cities of Central Falls, Pawtucket, and Providence in Rhode Island make up most of the state's urban area.

They could not find enough inmates from other places, so, hey, why not lock up the people in the city itself! See the video, these jails even have a name for the rush to lock up immigrants in order to fill up beds and obtain the perverse economic benefits of the private prison industry: "The Immigrant Goldrush." All vicious endeavors have pretty slogans. It isn't enough that the children play little league baseball and pop warner football in the long shadow of this prison, but now they lock up their parents as well. Yes, the law must be respected, but this stinks of stepped up selective enforcement because beds were not filled to meet a "for-profit" projection compounded by a Governor who in his neglect of the state's economy found in undocumented workers the most resonant scapegoats. Ironically, the scapegoats are more likely to be engines of economic growth rather than drain--Broad St., Central Falls or Broad St., Providence easily ring a bell. However, until comprehensive immigration reform is enacted, supporters of these efforts cans easily point to "the law" during those often repeated times in history when some group needs to be blamed for whatever the current pressing problem may be. Still, the bad faith showed by officials in summarily detaining people, shipping them across the country, or in holding them in secret is not justifiable by any reference to current law.

The Secret Lives of Yale Latino Law Students: Fall 2008

Latinos at Yale are envied for their success at striking a balance between work and the world outside of the Sterling Law Building. They are not your typical law students. This is a piece of how they did it last semester.

After convincing 1Ls that Dean Koh isn't going to come after them for putting down the CivPro book on a Saturday afternoon, LLSA feeds them so much food in the annual potluck to welcome 1Ls that they practically roll home. Most of the stuff pictured is made from scratch (except for the ironic cartons of Chinese rice next to the sangria):

On Halloween, some members of LLSA get creative. Check out the following picture of Tomas as Millhouse. Who are those two ravishing future Supreme Court Justices next to him? I can't tell...

Some members of LLSA are known to sneak away on weekends to influence the lives of Latino law students nationwide. The second guy from the right in the picture below is David Perez, who was elected President of the National Latino Law Students Association in the fall. This picture was taken at the annual conference, which was held this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico (LLSA sent three representatives, two of which are currently serving on NLLSA's board):Other members of LLSA prefer to spend their time chillin' with some old friends. Sergio's boy Bill stopped by Woolsey Hall. I'm going to show some LLSA alumni some love here: check out former Co-Chair Elvira Castillo sharing her encyclopedic knowledge of bachata of Bill Richardson. I'm not even going to comment on Marisol's picture; la envidia me mata:

LLSA is heavily involved in organizing and promoting the dominoes league at YLS. The Big Six Social Club is part game, part Caribbean cultural experience and it is BIG. The end of the year tournament, Sabado Rojo, turned the whole cooperative vibe at YLS into a trash-talking infused debacle that was easily the most fun anyone has ever had by matching pieces on a table. The first picture is the scene during the early rounds, featuring a celebratory Andres Idarraga right before Ligia and I dropped like 200 points straight on him. The second picture features the champions holding the red dominoes next to the runners-up holding the black ones. Good work, Sergio and Tomas. Way to keep the championship in the Big Six Bullies' side.

Latinos Dominate Sabado Rojo

Here's the email Lucas and I sent to recap the dominoes tournament:

Folks,

Sabado Rojo has begun its passage into lore. Before the details dissipate, we'd like to take a moment to recap the action (pics are at the end).

The Capricious Division featured Kevin Rose and Elvira Duran pitching a couple of early stunners to reach the prime time rounds. Within the confines of the Kasbah Koliseum, they dashed the red dreams of two teams hoping to go all the way. When Kevin and Elvira were through with them, Lucas Mills was attempting to take his own life with the "sharp" end of a double four (thankfully, Theresa Lee half-heartedly talked him out of it) and Steph Cha and Jorge Camacho looked like they had just walked in on their grandparents experimenting with scented massage oils.

Kevin and Elvira's inspiring campaign reached its Waterloo at 25 Broadway (above Cutler's, just call Andrew, Megan, or Ronan to get in). There the #1 seeded Tim Heggem and Aaron Scherzer, bruised from previous marathon bouts, awaited the seventh-seeded upstarts. Kevin and Elvira put together an early lead, but Tim and Aaron, quietly whispering their mantra "remember your training, you can do this" surged to soundly conquer their foes and advance to the finals.

In the Arbitrary Division, Tomas and Sergio--aka Tomio--had perhaps the toughest road to the final four, a road that went right through Sohail and Ligia, The Axis of Evil. A thrilling first round match against a skilled wildcard squad (Yahonnes and Andres) revealed that The Axis bleeds like any other mostly-human team. Partial mortality was all that Tomio needed to crack The Axis and blow the tournament wide open. After courteously congratulating the victors, Sohail wandered off into the evening mumbling something about "purificacion y penitencia." Ligia took it out on Zach.

In the semis, Tomio faced Critter Sweaters, the seemingly untouchable partnership comprising Steph Hays and Chris Sherman. Critter Sweaters had doled out some serious beat-downs in the first two rounds; astonishingly, no team had managed to squeeze a single point from the perfect pair. This dominance would have surely intimidated most opponents, but Tomio had already dismantled one great team and was prepared to dissect another. With the calmness of repeat offenders, the dapper duo dexterously derailed Critter Sweaters' legendary run.

The stage was set for a spectacular final: Jonesin' for Bonesin's top seed, Aaron and Tim, versus Tomio, the Big Six Bullies' dark horse.

Multiple lead changes marked the seesaw battle to 300. With the red bones on display next to the handcrafted championship table, the two best teams in Big Six served their best stuff on center court. The late night drama attracted a fire marshal violation of fans clambering to get a glimpse of celebrity in the making. Although Steelballs Scherzer dazzled the fans with a ferocious back to back 25+25 point bonus combination to climb back into contention, Tomas and Sergio dominated the bonus point ledger, amassing an incredible 125. With the score teetering at 271 to 272, Tomas put down his sandwich and unleashed a absolute fury of fours. Despite the valiant efforts of both teams, there could only be one winner. In the end, Tomio outpaced the stellar play of Tim and Aaron to cross the 300 barrier and claim the reds. It was a truly epic match to cap a truly epic day.

And so, without further adieu, the Big Six Social Club extends proud congratulations to our new champions:

~Tomio~
Sergio Perez and Tomas Lopez
Big Six Champions

Very well done, gentlemen.

We wish to offer our many thanks to all who contributed. Notably, we'd like to give a special shoutout to Theresa, Kevin, and Ligia for the brackets, Jeremy for supplying the oh-so-fresh table and not getting mad when Lucas broke it (just kidding! all fixed!), and Andrew, Megan, and Ronan for offering the arena. Most importantly, thanks to all of the players who have helped to build our club and make events like this possible. You guys make the Big Six Social Club what it is. We've had great times playing with y'all and look forward to many more in the future.

Sincerely,
Big 4 and The Sorceror

Lastly, the photographs:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=lucas.mills&target=ALBUM&id=5280221557835195729&authkey=Y1yQ32aiZ6k&feat=email