A native of Mexico, research associate professor Maria Luz Fernandez earned her doctorate at the University of Arizona. She studies the effects of such soluble fibers as citrus pectin, guar gum and psyllium on lipoprotein metabolism. She also teaches food chemistry and the metabolism of fiber and lipoprotein.

Maria says she wants to find out how diet affects what's going on in the human body—a field of study that began to interest her when she first worked with Dr. Donald McNamara in the College's Food and Nutrition Department. Her current studies are funded, in part, by the American Heart Association.

Before coming to Tucson, Maria was on the faculty of the University of Sonora in Hermosillo. For two years, she served as head of the Department of Food Science. For her work, Maria has earned several awards, including the Secretaria de Educacion Publica from the Mexican government, the Initial Investigatorship Award from the Arizona Heart Association, and the USDA New Investigator award.

"Being Hispanic in the College of Agriculture makes no difference—good or bad," she believes. "What matters is the work I do."

The diverse heritage of COA students has steadily increased during the past five years, says David Shoup, the associate dean for academic administration. In the 1994 fall semester, 343 African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Native American students were enrolled—nearly 19 percent more than in 1990 when 278 were enrolled. Both undergraduate and graduate students are included.

Shoup says, "We work very hard to recruit and retain a diversity of students, and we have a package of effective programs." He cites:

1. People from diverse ethnic groups work in the student office becoming peer role models to students.
2. A local chapter of MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences) tries to provide career opportunities through industry and graduate school contacts. Strong off-campus ties with Hispanic institutions are especially helpful for student members.
3. The COA Horizon program familiarizes high school students with the UofA. Shoup says nearly 90 percent of students who go through this program enroll in the COA.
4. Ethnic students who need financial help are carefully matched with available loans.
5. Training programs are offered to the faculty to help them focus successfully on students with diverse backgrounds. Also, a USDA Challenge grant is available at all Arizona universities. The grant provides funds for programs that work toward educating people from different cultures about each other.

"Understanding Cultural Diversity," a workshop devoted to understanding cultural differences is set for Jan. 13-14, 1995. The workshop's featured speaker is Richard W. Brislin, Ph.D. a cross-cultural psychologist from the Hawaiian East West Center. The two-day event, being held at the Tucson National Golf & Conference Resort, is sponsored by the UofA National Center for Neurogenic Communication Disorders.

For more information, call Jody Wood at 621-1821.

The fourth annual "Five- State Multicultural Conference" is set for March 30-31 at Garden City, KS. The meeting is designed to increase cultural awareness, build organizational skills and teach ways to program for increased diversity.

To learn more, call Dr. Donna Skinner at 316-276-9637.

A three-day workshop to build gender-based teams will be held in March 1995 in Phoenix. For information call Carolyn Desjardins at the National Institute for Leadership Development, 602-285-7494.

Multicultural Day, Thursday, December 8, is part of the 1994 UA Cooperative Extension Annual Conference at the Hilton East Hotel, in Tucson. Beth Tucker, the Extension Director in Coconino County, is in charge of planning this meeting. Carolyn Desjardins, of the National Institute for Leadership Development, will speak. She says that women and men behave and communicate in ways that produce tension in the workplace. Participants in her session will learn how to build better work teams.

Each month "Value-Added" will include abstracts about diversity from many sources. If you want to know more about a particular item, please call 621-7145.

Writing Tips

Writing for people who learned English in another country needs special care:

• Stay away from cliches.
• Avoid sports analogies.
• Don't use recently formed words, such as those using "ize."
• Be more formal and cordial.
• Don't refer to "this country."

Sue Hershkowitz in Meeting News.

Manager's Role

Your position as a manager makes you a role model for your staff, and your behavior broadcasts a very clear message. For example, you set a tone of tolerance in your work group if you don't tell jokes that could be hurtful or if you confront racist remarks. Also, challenge stereotypical assumptions and learn more about cultural differences.

"Managing Diversity," Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe, March 1994

Valuing Diversity

"We need to value what people bring to the job. Instead of expecting people to fit some pre-set mold, we need to view the variety of ways of thinking about a problem as an opportunity for increasing our chances for finding the best solution."

Ron Pohls, McKesson's vice president of Personnel in IABC Communication Bank.

Research Design

Multicultural diversity ought to be incorporated into standards or criteria for judging the accuracy, correctness, and usefulness of scientific work. This is particularly true:

• when failure to do so results in research bias;
• when there is the potential to overgeneralize findings;
• when standards, rules and procedures emanating from research results are applied to diverse groups.

Jacquelyn W. McCray, "Journal of Home Economics," Summer 1994 November, 1994