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Eric Moreno

Eric Moreno is a Content Curator with the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio. He specializes in covering the topics of health equity and family and social support. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MA from Gonzaga University.

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Articles by Eric Moreno

Post-Recession, College Graduates Are Larger Part of the Workforce



It has been a long-held belief that, if you have a college degree, you have a better chance of landing a job. A new study from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University has all but confirmed that. Of the 11.6 million jobs created after the Great Recession, nearly 8.5 million went to those with at least a bachelor’s degree. Another 3 million of those jobs went to individuals with an associate’s degree or some college education. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, for millions of Americans, a steady job in safe working conditions means more than a paycheck; it also comes with potential benefits (such as health insurance), and stability necessary for good health. Americans with only a high school diploma represent a shrinking share of the ...

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New Report Details the Condition of College & Career Readiness of Latinos



Latinos represent nearly 25% of all public high school students. It has been projected that this is a trend that will continue increasing for years to come. Latinos have made progress in terms of college and career readiness, but more work still needs to be done. A new brief, authored by Excelencia in Education and ACT, Inc., offers recommendations that policymakers and schools can implement to increase Latino college and career readiness. The report, entitled College & Career Readiness 2015 – Hispanic Students provides a snapshot of the academic performance of Latino high school students that graduated in 2015 and took the ACT college readiness assessment. Key findings from the brief include determining that Latino students have high postsecondary aspirations. Parents are ...

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School Helps Latino Kids Graduate, Succeed at Next Level



Woodburn High School is an institution that faces unique challenges. Located in Woodburn, Ore. (56.05% Latino population), just south of Portland, the school’s administrators have gone to great lengths for a singular mission: every child must graduate. “Woodburn is pretty unique in the state of Oregon,” said Mario Garza, the college and career counselor at Woodburn High. “Our population is about 80% to 85% Hispanic—the vast majority being Mexican immigrants or second and third generation Mexican Americans.” The Woodburn School District has gone to great lengths to support these students. Beginning in kindergarten, these students receive a full bilingual education. They have broken the campus down into four smaller “schools” to ensure everyone is receiving the ...

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Unique Partnership Funds New Technology Charter Schools



A unique group of community leaders in San Antonio, Texas (63.33% Latino population) has recently come together to fund an innovative solution to help students compete in the rapidly changing job market. Regional grocery chain H-E-B and its Chairman and CEO, Charles Butt, are helping to create a new charter school that will use “groundbreaking curriculum and technology” to prepare students for a career in the technology field. The new schools, called the Centers for Applied Science and Technology (CAST), will be the first of its kind in Texas. Students will receive hands-on experiences through college-level coursework, jobs, internships, mentorships, and “project-based learning.” Students will ultimately have an opportunity to earn an associate’s degree and industry ...

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New Tool Helps Analyze Transit Connectivity and Health/Economic Equity



Cities are currently striving to understand how mass transit connects to health, economic opportunities, and overall equity. The Center for Neighborhood Technology and TransitCenter, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to improving urban mobility, have released the AllTransit interactive database. Billed as “the largest source of connectivity, access, and frequency data in America,” the site utilizes data from 805 of the largest transit agencies in the country. The tool overlays the data with information about jobs, demographics, and even the location of farmer’s markets. The database provides a wealth of information on how transit serves communities. One of the metrics that AllTransit offers is the AllTransit Performance Score, an index based on transit connectivity, access to ...

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New Program Jumpstarts Education for Latino Males



At the University of Texas, a new program called Project Mentoring to Achieve Educational Success (MALES) launched recently. The goal of the program is to “combat the disappearance” of Latino males in higher education. The program is an initiative of the university’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. The plan is to create relevant mentoring program for young males of color in the Austin Independent School District. In June, a three-day program began with a tour of the university campus and two days of workshops. During the program, prospective students learned leadership and communication skills that are necessary for college and beyond. “Latino and African-American boys do not have teachers who they can see as role models in the classroom. As mentors, we ...

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SCOTUS Decision on Affirmative Action Gives Hope to Latinos



As part of their recent slate of decisions, the Supreme Court of the United States decided upon the legality of the University of Texas’ decision to consider race in its admissions process. The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the University can continue this practice. Writing for the majority in the case, Justice Anthony Kennedy determined that the University considering was “a factor of a factor of a factor” and met the court’s interpretation of what is “constitutionally acceptable.” The ruling comes at a time when Latino enrollment numbers at higher education institutions are increasing. Latinos still lag behind Whites in overall enrollment, though; they also fall behind Whites in earning college degrees. Advocates for affirmative action have long argued the benefits of ...

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Americans Spend $30 Billion on Complementary Health Approaches



According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 60 million Americans spend over $30 billion out of pocket on complementary health approaches. Complementary health approaches are medical and health care systems, practices, and products that originated outside of mainstream medicine. These include techniques performed by a practitioner (such as acupuncture, spinal manipulation, and massage therapy) and natural products (such as herbs, probiotics, and fish oil). Some approaches, including acupuncture and yoga, originated in Eastern countries such as China or India but are now used in Western countries as well. According to research by the National Center for Biotechnology Information ...

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Florida Children Falling Behind in Health, Economic Well-Being



A recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a research nonprofit that tracks the health and well-being of children and families found that Florida’s children are falling behind in economic well-being and health as the state ranked 40th on the report’s list of states. National trends find that children overall are getting healthier; however, the report found that Florida’s children in 2014 were less likely to be insured, more likely to be born at low birth weight, and abuse drugs and alcohol at higher rates than children in other states. Overall, Florida ranked 47th in terms of child health. Florida is home to over 4.3 million Latinos, according to the Pew Research Center. This is 23% of their overall state population and 51% of these are native-born residents. In Florida, ...

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