Esther Cepeda

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CEPEDA: Hispanic voters are in the mainstream on most issues

For me, the most difficult thing about a full week of news reporting and punditry regarding President Obama’s historic embrace of same-sex marriage has been getting buffeted by worn-out stereotypes about how Hispanics will act on the revelation at the ballot box in November.

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CEPEDA: In classrooms, quality counts

CHICAGO -- Every few months, a handful of education reform advocates push the idea that the public education system's woes could be fixed if only there were more black or Hispanic teachers in classrooms.

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ESTHER CEPEDA: Not a fan of the new 'lady' Legos.

CHICAGO — My sons are aghast at what we call the new "Lady Legos." So am I.

ESTHER CEPEDA: Fixing my smile

CHICAGOThis column is for all the crooked-toothed adults out there: Tell me if you can relate to this story.When I was a child, I dreamed of getting braces.. As my more-affluent schoolmates started getting them, my own request was denied because the cost put them out of my

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ESTHER CEPEDA: Florida's Latino vote is up for grabs

All eyes are on Florida because it's the first primary where Latino voters can have a significant impact on the presidential contest. Expect it to offer meaningful predictions for future elections because the Latino vote in Florida is evolving quickly.Conventional wisdom says that Florida's Hispanic Republican vote is composed of

CEPEDA: Bloated hype aside, it's still a crisis

Friends, don't believe the hype.

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CEPEDA: The ostrich factor and childhood obesity

Ostrich factor doesn't serve vs. childhood obesity issue. CHICAGOIt would be nice to say that it's shocking that a mere five days after the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommended that children between the ages of 9 and 11 get tested for high cholesterol, Congress blocked what would have

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CEPEDA: The fluency challenge

CHICAGO — I grew up bilingual in a city where as many as 64 languages were spoken by the public schools' diverse student body. And like everyone else in our nation of immigrants, I've navigated language-barrier challenges such as difficulty communicating with new American co-workers and taking college courses taught

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CEPEDA: Pity the children

Pre-teen beauty pageants have crossed way over the line.

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CEPEDA: Obesity's a health, not an image, problem

Half the United States will be obese by 2030 unless government interventions -- making healthy foods cheaper, junk food more expensive, and regulating the marketing of unhealthy foods -- are put in place, according to a report in the Lancet, a British medical journal.At the

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