Hybridity and the Space of the Border in the Writing of Norma Elia Cantú

The creative and scholarly writing of Norma Elia Cantú focuses centrally on the tensions of borders that are eroding yet firmly in place. Cantú\u27s border pivots on the geographic space in which Mexico and the United States physically intersect, yet she probes at the same time several of the other tenuous cultural borders that postmodernity has brought into focus. Transcending distinctions between genres, languages, and cultures, Cantú undertakes innovative genre hybridity, visual-verbal hybridity, and the recombination of distinct cultural codes. Whether writing cultural criticism, autobioethnography, creative fiction, or poetry, Cantú locates herself at the intersection of the geographical and epistemological borders central to postmodernity

An Oral History of St. Mary\u27s University School of Law (1961–2018)

Dean Emeritus Charles E. Cantú has worked at St. Mary’s University since 1966 when Dean Ernest A. Raba first hired him. He served as the youngest law professor in the nation at the age of twenty-five, and the first full-time Hispanic law professor. After a considerable tenure working at all three locations of St. Mary’s University School of Law and serving under four of the school’s most recent former deans, this article offers his personal recollections and observations of the history of the law school from the 1960s to the present. This article is the culmination of a ten-hour oral history that Dean Cantú recorded during the summer and fall of 2017 with his long-time faculty colleague, Professor Vincent R. Johnson. The recordings were made at the Blume Library of St. Mary’s University under the direction and supervision of Lisa Sanchez. In addition to Dean Cantú’s recollections, other members of the faculty assisted in putting together this oral history, as the article includes comments from Professor’s David Dittfurth, Vincent R. Johnson, Aloysius A. Leopold and Bonita K. Roberts. Dean Cantú recounts the history of the law school as he remembers it, including his recollection of time at the downtown campus, the move to St. Mary’s University, his fundraising efforts over the years, and finally, his time serving as Dean of the law school. Additionally, Dean Cantú discusses the growth in faculty and the student body throughout the years. Ultimately, this historical piece commemorates the legacy of former Dean Charles E. Cantú and the impact he had on St. Mary’s University School of Law

The Threat of Marriage Fraud: A Story of Precarity, Exclusion, and Belonging

Migrants can obtain permanent residency in Canada under the family-reunification category set out in s. 12(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Canadian citizens or permanent residents may apply to sponsor their non-citizen spouse, common law or conjugal partner, or other relatives to move to Canada pursuant to s. 117(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). The bad-faith clause under s. 4(1) of the IRPR requires spousal-sponsorship applicants to prove to visa officers that, on a balance of probabilities, their relationship is “genuine” and not “entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the [IRPA]”. The bad-faith clause is meant to prevent so-called marriage fraud: the idea that migrants, hoping to take advantage of the family-reunification regime, trick vulnerable Canadians into marriage and then subsequently abandon them once they have obtained citizenship status. Drawing on the work of feminist, anti-racist, and anti-colonial scholars, this paper argues that the construction of marriage fraud as a threat to national security rationalizes an increasingly exclusionary spousal-sponsorship regime post 9/11. Focusing on this “threat” detracts from the insidious naturalization of the neo-liberal, hetero-patriarchal, and white settler–colonial values that animate the exclusionary nature of family class migration—values that pre-date the recent moral panic over marriage fraud. This paper concludes by sounding a cautionary bell: Canadians must be wary of the ongoing reproduction and sedimentation of exclusionary values that give meaning to legal constructions of family because they reinforce and perpetuate experiences of precarity among migrants who live on the underside of global capitalism

Momento Económico (17-18)

En este número Temas de hoy, 2/ Encuentro sobre la Deuda Externa de America Latina y el Caribe, México, Alonso Aguilar, 3/ Fernando Carmona, 5/ Heberto Castillo. 6/ Gantón Garcia Cantú, 7/ Pablo Gómez, 8/ Sergio Méndez Arceo, 9/ Carlos Tello, 11/ Mario J. Zepeda Martinez, 12/ Argentina, Enrique Garcia Vázquez, 16/ Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, 20/ Brasil, Frei Betto, 22/ Ecuador, Blanca Chancoso, 24/ El Salvador, Guillermo Ungo, 25/ República Dominicana, Juan Bosch, 27/ Venezuela, Miguel Ángel Capriles, 28/ Organismos Económicos Latinoamericanos, Homero L. Hernández, 3

Cantú syndrome with coexisting familial pituitary adenoma

Context: Pseudoacromegaly describes conditions with an acromegaly related physical appearance without abnormalities in the growth hormone (GH) axis. Acromegaloid facies, together with hypertrichosis, are typical manifestations of Cantú syndrome. Case description: We present a three-generation family with 5 affected members, with marked acromegaloid facies and prominent hypertrichosis, due to a novel missense variant in the ABCC9 gene. The proband, a 2-year-old girl, was referred due to marked hypertrichosis, noticed soon after birth, associated with coarsening of her facial appearance. Her endocrine assessment, including of the GH axis, was normal. The proband's father, paternal aunt, and half-sibling were referred to the Endocrine department for exclusion of acromegaly. Although the GH axis was normal in all, two subjects had clinically non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas, a feature which has not previously been associated with Cantú syndrome. Conclusions: Activating mutations in the ABCC9 and, less commonly, KCNJ8 genes—representing the two subunits of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel—have been linked with Cantú syndrome. Interestingly, minoxidil, a well-known ATP-sensitive potassium channel agonist, can cause a similar phenotype. There is no clear explanation why activating this channel would lead to acromegaloid features or hypertrichosis. This report raises awareness for this complex condition, especially for adult or pediatric endocrinologists who might see these patients referred for evaluation of acromegaloid features or hirsutism. The link between Cantú syndrome and pituitary adenomas is currently unclear

Cantú syndrome: A new case and evolution of clinical conditions during first 2-year follow-up

: Cantú syndrome, or hypertrichotic osteochondrodysplasia, is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by congenital hypertrichosis, characteristic dysmorphisms, skeletal abnormalities and cardiomegaly. We report on a 7-year-old girl with congenital generalized hypertrichosis, coarse facial appearance and cardiac involvement, with a de novo heterozygous mutation (c.3461G > A) in the ABCC9 gene. During the annual cardiac follow-up at the age of nine the echocardiogram showed mild left ventricular dilatation in consideration of which she started ramipril treatment. The progression of the clinical manifestations of Cantú syndrome highlights the relevance of an early diagnosis, including genetic analysis, and a multidisciplinary approach with long-term follow-up

Undocumented Queer Latinx Students: Testimonio of Survival

Recent U.S. political turmoil has deliberately embedded fear into many marginalized and underrepresented people living in the U.S. The fact that the United States was founded on the demanding work of diverse populations of immigrants is vitally important to how immigrants are being treated today. In 2016, the U.S. presidential electoral win for Donald Trump left many marginalized communities—including Undocumented Queer Latinx students—fearful of how his administration would affect their communities. This paper reviews literatures on Queer immigration history, the homophobic and transphobic psychological history behind legal immigration barriers, and the recent mobilization to include Undocumented Queer Latinx students in the Immigration Rights Movement as foundational elements for an ethnographic research case study of the Undocumented Queer Latinx student community. The historical and current adversities these students face will be the main point of this research due to the increased legal barriers, deportations, and uncertain future that extremely conservative politicians have set―or will set―in motion. The proposed project explores the intersectionality of the historical heterosexism of immigration law, current government debate over DACA, Queer Manifestos about immigration rights, and the gray politics that emphasize the importance of Undocumented Queer Latinx student voices. This research is a subject not many mainstream media sources investigate; however, it is vitally important due to the injustices faced by this community

Zoledronic acid blocks overactive Kir6.1/SUR2-dependent KATP channels in skeletal muscle and osteoblasts in a murine model of Cantú syndrome

Cantú syndrome (CS) is caused by the gain of function mutations in th

Characterization of xylem water potential in ten native plants of north-eastern Mexico

Since water stress is the most limiting factor in north-eastern Mexico, the present study focused to characterize the xylem water potentials (Ψ, MPa) of ten native tree and shrub species such as Acacia rigidula (Leguminosae; shrub), Bumelia celastrina (Sapotaceae; tree), Castela texana (Verbenaceae; shrub), Celtis pallida (Ulmaceae; shrub), Forestiera angustifolia (Oleaceae; tree), Karwinskia humboldtiana (Rhamnaceae; shrub), Lantana macropoda (Simaroubaceae; shrub), Leucophyllum frutescens (Scrophulariaceae; shrub), Prosopis laevigata (Leguminosae; tree) and Zanthoxylum fagara (Rutaceae; tree) under drought and high soil water content. Under drought conditions, P. laevigata, A. rigidula and C. texana achieved higher Ψ at pre-dawn with values of -2.72, -2.78 and -3.42 MPa, respectively, while minimum value of -6.82 MPa was observed in Z. fagara. Similarly, higher Ψ at mid-day was registered in C. texana, B. celastrina and P. laevigata with values around -4.15 MPa, while lower values (<-7.0 MPa) were acquired by L. macropoda, K. humboldtiana and Z. fagara. In contrast, under high soil water content, pre-dawn Ψ varied from -0.52 MPa (K. humboldtiana) to -1.63 MPa (C. texana). With respect to mid-day Ψ data, Ψ values ranged from -1.43 MPa (L. macropoda) to -2.28 MPa (C. texana). Since the plant species A. rigidula, B. celastrina, C. texana and P. laevigata achieved higher pre-dawn and mid-day Ψ values under drought conditions, the results indicated that these species could be considered as drought adapted species while, L. macropoda, K. humboldtiana and Z. fagara which acquired lower water potentials, may not be suitable to drought and thus, may be in a physiological disadvantage under limited water conditions. The study suggests that the first four species may serve as a pertinent model to study the strategies of adaptation to drought at high tissue water potential while the later may serve as an adequate model to study plant adaptation to drought at low tissue water potential. The implications of this study suggest that the species respond differently to drought through the employment of different strategies and there is scope for forest and range management practices in the selection of drought tolerant species for planting and reforestation of drought prone area

The Sociology of Sexualities: Queer and Beyond

We identify three trends in the recent sociology of sexuality. First, we examine how queer theory has influenced many sociologists whose empirical work observes sexuality in areas generally thought to be asexual. These sociologists also elaborate queer theory\u27s challenge to sexual dichotomizing and trace the workings of power through sexual categories. Second, we look at how sociologists bring sexuality into conversation with the black feminist notion of “intersectionality” by examining the nature and effects of sexuality among multiple and intersecting systems of identity and oppression. A third trend in the sociology of sexuality has been to explore the relationships between sexuality and political economy in light of recent market transformations. In examining these trends, we observe the influence of globalization studies and the contributions of sociologists to understanding the role of sexuality in global processes. We conclude with the contributions sociologists of sexuality make toward understanding other social processes and with the ongoing need to study sexuality itself