IU Hispanics face struggles

On the wall behind Jorge Chapa's desk hangs an autographed poster of Mel Casa's painting "Barrio Dog." \n"You can tell it's a barrio-dog," said Chapa, the director of the Latino Studies Department, turning around to inspect the print. "Bow-Guau," he said, reading off the picture. "It's barking half in Spanish, half in English."\nCasa's witty painting illustrates a great truth behind the Latino-American experience. Hispanics have long struggled to maintain their dual-cultured lifestyle. \nAfter Jan. 21, when the U.S. Census Bureau released statistics claiming Hispanics, as an ethnicity, not a race, had become the largest minority in the U.S., the community continues to face increasing challenges. \nMany Hispanic Hoosiers, such as Chapa, have said this new title will result in a multitude of effects for the Hispanic community. But few students said the Hispanic community's minority status will create instantaneous changes.\n"Slowly it will somehow change something," said freshman Alonso Mejia.\nChapa recognizes the budding possibilities for Hispanics in the U.S., but he refuses to remain content with the current prospects. Hispanics represent 45 percent of California's college-age population, yet they only constitute 4 percent of college students, Chapa said.\n"The Latino population is growing at a much faster rate than the rate at which opportunities are growing," he said.\nAt IU, Hispanics comprise roughly only 2 percent of the student body, less than the number of African-American and Asian-American students on campus. Despite national trends, IU's Hispanic population rose by only 45 students in the past year from 759 to 804, according to statistics released by the Office of the Registrar. \nThough a small percentage, Hispanics have attempted to create a solid community in Bloomington through La Casa, the Latino Cultural Center. \nIn addition to sponsoring the cultural club Latinos Unidos and two sororities, one of which was founded at IU, La Casa offers students the chance to bond with other Latinos. \nJunior Zelideh Martinez, former LUIU President, began working at La Casa her freshman year. Martinez grew up in Fort Wayne after having immigrated to Indiana from Mexico, so she was accustomed to being a slim minority. But the cultural center helped maintain her solid Latina identity.\n"There's always something going on at La Casa," she said. "It's kind of your home away from home, always people to talk to."\nIn order to combat the relatively small number of Hispanics at IU, Martinez said recruitment efforts targeting the group must be made.\n"A lot of people have called us the sleeping giant because there's so many of us (nationally)," she said. "There's power in numbers, and we're not using that. I firmly believe that we definitely need to get up there in terms of recruiting people."\nCo-adviser of LUIU Leticia Gonzalez said the matter is even more pressing now because Hispanics have become the largest minority in the United States. \nGonzalez said recruiters also need to understand the Latino situation. \n"Most of these kids are first generation kids on campus," she said. "We need positive reinforcement."\nGonzalez attended IU around the time La Casa was founded and never took advantage of the programs it offered. \n"There's a lot of students like me who don't know La Casa exists," she said. \nChapa, one of three Hispanics, attended the University of Chicago amidst ethnic isolation in the '70s. \n"Ignorance is very persistent," he said. "People here and across the U.S. are happy not to think about the Hispanic population." \nThis new-found recognition also carries the potential of improving the Hispanic identity, he said. \n"The world, the country is not black and white," Chapa said. "Hispanics are a significant part of our changing world view."\nThe possible downfall of all these benefits though is how the Hispanic community reacts to its new position.\n"I would hate to hear people (Hispanics) say we're better than other groups," Chapa said.