Hispanic Heritage month:
Latinos' changing influences subject of national columnist
by Aaron Vess, Reporter

   A nationally syndicated columnist will open Hispanic Heritage month celebrations on NE Campus next week.
   Ruben Navarrette Jr. will present Bienvenidos to America: How Latinos Are Changing the United States-And You Along with It Wednesday, Sept. 17, at a 12:30 p.m. luncheon in the NSTU Center Corner on NE Campus.
   Navarrette, 36, a two-time Harvard graduate, serves as an editorial writer and board member for the Dallas Morning News.
   A former radio talk show host in three markets (Los Angeles, Phoenix and Fresno), he writes and records regular commentaries for National Public Radio's Morning Edition and offers insights on current events on NPR's Weekend, All Things Considered.
   On television, Navarrette is often called upon to discuss current affairs on CNN and on PBS' The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Navarrette has also appeared as a roundtable guest on PBS' Now with Bill Moyers and the nationally syndicated Chris Matthews Show.
   Before joining the Morning News in July 2000, Navarrette spent two years on the staff of the Arizona Republic, where he worked first as a reporter and a twice-weekly news columnist. In a seven-year span, as a free-lance writer, he placed over 200 articles in publications such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and, his hometown paper, the Fresno Bee.
   As a syndicated columnist and a member of the Washington Post Writers Group, Navarrette has a twice-a-week column that appears in over 50 newspapers in the United States and Mexico. He is one of fewer than 10 Latino syndicated columnists in the United States and one of the country's youngest syndicated columnists.
   Navarrette's first book, A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano, was published to favorable reviews by Bantam Books in 1993, when the author was 26.
   In 2000, his essay "Vindication," about difficulties encountered in attempting to launch his writing career, was selected from over 5,000 submissions as one of 101 contributions to Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul, an installment of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
   An active public speaker, Navarrette has addressed university audiences and organizations in moe than a dozen states and has lectured at Harvard, Oberlin, UCLA, Georgetown and many other colleges.
   Anyone planning to attend the luncheon must call NE Campus student activities office at 817-515-6644 by Friday, Sept. 12.