This week on Fronteras:
- Texas lawmakers are making efforts to reverse maternal mortality rates, which are the worst in the U.S., including allowing Medicaid-covered mental health screenings.
- South Texas college students are getting help from Washington in gaining access to STEM opportunities (9:14).
- Latina Hollywood composer and Texas native Germaine Franco talks about staying true to Mexican influences when orchestrating music for “Coco” (11:59).
Can Texas Follow Texas’ Lead In Reducing Maternal Mortality?
Texas has the highest maternal mortality rates in the U.S., on par with countries like Uzbekistan. In part two of our series, we look at what Texas can learn from other states that have successfully reduced their maternal mortality rates. KUT’s Ashley Lopez reports in part two of a three-part series.
Click here to listen to part one.
South Texas Minority Students Get A Boost In Pursuing STEM Studies In College
A South Texas college was awarded a $100,000 grant in January to encourage underrepresented students to study science, technology, engineering and math. Congressman Henry Cuellar, whose district extends from the Rio Grande in South Texas to San Antonio, presented that National Science Foundation grant to Laredo Community College. Cuellar says the NSF is expanding its emphasis on STEM by hosting a conference in March.
Latina Hollywood Composer, Native Texan: Germaine Franco
The Disney/Pixar animated film Coco won two Academy Awards last weekend: animated feature and original song for “Remember Me.” One of the members of Coco’ songwriting team is native El Pasoan Germaine Franco. She is a composer, orchestrator and percussionist, and is the first Latina composer invited to join the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Franco wrote several songs for Coco with the film’s co-director Adrian Molina. She also arranged, orchestrated and co-produced the Oscar-winning song.
Norma Martinez can be reached by email at norma@tpr.org and on Twitter @NormDog1
