NewsRelease

(Posted 2-20-04)
Contact: Dan Nonte, 336-334-5371

Duke Energy Gives UNCG $50,000 Grant to Produce Safety Messages in Spanish

GREENSBORO —  Duke Energy Foundation has awarded The University of North Carolina at Greensboro a $50,000 grant to produce public service announcements in Spanish for radio and television.

UNCG’s Center for New North Carolinians will coordinate the project, and Associate Professor Michael Frierson of the Department of Broadcasting and Cinema will help produce the announcements.

“As the Hispanic population has grown in our service area, we’ve really seen a need to communicate better,” said Dave Maner, a Duke Energy district manager for government and business relations.

The number of Latinos in North Carolina grew fivefold between 1990 and 2000 to 380,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But the Census Bureau acknowledges that its Latino counts are low. FaithAction International House, a Greensboro nonprofit, has estimated that there are more than 500,000 Latinos in the state.

The public service announcements will do more than simply translate safety messages into Spanish. They will address cultural issues as well. For instance, Latinos are more likely than other ethnic groups to bring a charcoal grill indoors for heat during a winter power outage. They often are unaccustomed to such cold weather and unaware of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Center for New North Carolinians, part of the School of Human Environmental Sciences, promotes the well-being of all immigrants through research and outreach.

Back to the Latest News Releases
Return to the University News Service Home Page