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BabyCenter en Español, the leading online resource in Spanish for new and expectant parents, today unveiled a new first – the Top 10 Hispanic Baby Names of 2007. The list was derived from names submitted on BabyCenter en Español by moms who had babies in 2006 and 2007 and are expecting in 2008.

The stereotypical story of US Hispanics is that of a Mexican running across the Border or that of a Cuban risking their life on a shabby raft for a better life in the U.S. They are often depicted as running behind trucks in hopes of scoring a job in manual labor or they are portrayed as single mothers with no education, no job and a handful of children. Even my parents’ story can fit right into the American stereotype of Hispanics. My mother’s struggle as a five year old girl who only spoke Spanish when she moved to the United States and had to grow up in a home with her mother who could barely pay the bills on her own and eight of her other siblings some of who she had to help raise is very stereotypical as well as my father who came to America in his twenties and struggled to get by, got his citizenship thirty years later and til this day barely knows English. By Jacqueline Palmer – Florida State University

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the U.S. Census Bureau’s new Census Atlas of the United States speaks volumes about how the nation’s population and housing characteristics have changed over the years. The atlas, with more than 700 full-color maps, is the first general population and housing statistical atlas published by the Census Bureau since 1925.

The Hispanic Federation released the results of its 15th annual survey Hispanic New Yorkers on Nueva York reporting the opinions of Latino New Yorkers on the upcoming presidential primary, New York City’s 2009 democratic primary elections for mayor, immigration reform and other public policy priorities.

An influential group has announced the most aggressive immigration policy public awareness campaign in U.S. history. Mexicans & Americans Thinking Together (MATT.org) with Lionel Sosa as their Executive Director, made the announcement at its second “Immigration Solutions Roundtable” in Las Vegas.

The internet is living up to its potential as a major source for news about the presidential campaign. Nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) say they regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet, almost the double the percentage from a comparable point in the 2004 campaign (13%).

Univision Communications Inc. announced that it has launched “Ve y Vota en las Primarias” (Get Out and Vote in the Primaries), the third phase of a massive non-partisan campaign to educate and engage the country’s Hispanic population in the national electoral process.

Most Americans say they’re gender-blind when it comes to voting in the 2008 presidential election, according to a recent survey commissioned by New York Women in Communications. Yet, when questioned about specifics, more women than men say they view female candidates as better leaders, more trustworthy and stronger on issues like healthcare and education. The survey, which queried over 2000 Americans who plan to vote in the 2008 election, also shows that black and Hispanic voters and those aged 18 to 24 are more likely to support a woman candidate in order to “make history.”

The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California projects that 9.3 million Latino voters will go to the polls in the 2008 presidential elections-an increase of over 1.7 million voters or an increase of approximately 23% from 2004.