FULLERTON : Radio Show Focuses on Latino Issues

The Fullerton College radio station, KBPK, is the first county station to begin broadcasting a new, national program about the Latino community.

“Latino USA” is a half-hour news and cultural program that began in May at the University of Texas at Austin. It is broadcast in English. Today’s segment contains interviews with young Latinos who saw the Pope in Denver, a round-table discussion of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a look at California Gov. Pete Wilson’s complaints about the costs of providing state services to illegal immigrants.

KBPK started airing the show earlier this month at 8:30 a.m. on Fridays. The call number is 90.1 on the FM dial.

Today’s show will also profile a Latino man who impersonates Elvis Presley and goes by the name El Vez. One of his trademark songs is “You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Chihuahua,” said Vidal Guzman, one of the producers.

Guzman said the show was started to serve the English-speaking Latino community and to let others learn about Latino views of current events. A recent show profiled Latino communities in the Midwest, which were hit by the recent severe flooding.

The show is hosted by Maria Hinojosa, a reporter for the New York bureau of National Public Radio, Guzman said. It is supported by the Ford Foundation.