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| ![]          | **NIH-HEO Ten Year Anniversary**                      |
| (media/image |                                                       |
| 1.jpeg){widt | July 29, 2005                                         |
| h="0.9895833 |                                                       |
| 333333334in" | Dr. Elias Zerhouni                                    |
| height       |                                                       |
| ="1.61666666 | Director, National Institutes of Health               |
| 66666667in"} |                                                       |
|              | One Center Drive                                      |
| *NIH*        |                                                       |
|              | Building 1, Room 126                                  |
| *Hispanic    |                                                       |
| Employee*    | Bethesda, MD 20892-0148                               |
|              |                                                       |
| *O           | Dear Dr. Zerhouni:                                    |
| rganization* |                                                       |
|              | On behalf of the NIH-Hispanic Employee Organization   |
| *1995-2005*  | we want to keep you informed of the progress and      |
|              | challenges we are facing. This letter intends to      |
| ## 2005 B    | serve as a follow-up of our meeting on September 15,  |
| oard Members | 2004, and our letter of September 16, 2004. We        |
|              | believe that he we had a very positive exchange of    |
| Ofelia       | ideas and suggestions that focused on improving       |
| Olivero,     | Hispanic representation at NIH. As a result of our    |
| Ph.D.        | interactions and your willingness to address some of  |
|              | the important issues we presented to you, several     |
| *President*  | nominees by the NIH-HEO were selected for the         |
|              | Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS). We wish to |
| NCI          | recognize your effort and that of the selection       |
|              | committee in enhancing the diversity of the WALS      |
| Migdalia     | program.                                              |
| V.           |                                                       |
| Rivera-Goba, | We also would want to thank you for accepting the     |
|              | invitation to deliver the Welcoming Remarks at the    |
| EdD, RN      | Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) Observance event on     |
|              | September 21, 2005. We are also compelled, however,   |
| *President   | to bring to your attention, the profound impact that  |
| Elect*       | the new OEODM policies are inflicting on the HHM      |
|              | September event and the October event as well. As you |
| CC           | know both events have been developed as scientific    |
|              | programs in which speakers from different disciplines |
| Zhanita N.   | address issues regarding basic and clinical research  |
| Perez, M.S.  | that impacts the health of the U.S. public. Our       |
|              | programs have been designed to address the mission of |
| *Secretary*  | NIH and are crafted according to the interest of the  |
|              | attendees, mainly researchers and research managers   |
| NIDDK        | at the NIH. Recently, Ms. Hilda Dixon, Director of    |
|              | the Division of IC Services of OEODM, directed that   |
| Richard      | the programs for each event should not exceed 60      |
| Farina, B.S. | minutes. Although to date there are no written        |
|              | regulations or guidelines, Ms. Dixon indicated that   |
| # Treasurer  | unless we comply with this verbal instruction, her    |
|              | office would not be able to support the events        |
| #            | financially (June minutes of the NIH-HEO monthly      |
|              | meeting). We would like to reiterate to you the       |
| Ana Anders,  | importance of keeping the events in the format they   |
| LICSW        | were generated and organized, to retain the original  |
|              | speakers that were selected and invited, and to allow |
| *Past        | the mission of NIH to be fulfilled by having          |
| President*   | scientific meetings held in the dimension that they   |
|              | warrant.                                              |
| OD           |                                                       |
|              | Enclosed are copies of the programs for both of our   |
| # At l       | 2005 Hispanic Heritage Month events. We hope that the |
| arge members | channel of communication that we opened with you on   |
|              | September 15, 2004 continues to enhance diversity at  |
| Elsa         | NIH, as well as the mission of both, the NIH and the  |
| Berenstein,  | NIH-HEO. We hope that you allow the Hispanic Heritage |
| M.S.         | Month Events to be held as originally planned this    |
|              | year and in the future.                               |
| NIDCR        |                                                       |
|              | Sincerely,                                            |
| Juan         |                                                       |
| Mendoza, RN  | The NIH Hispanic Employee Organization.               |
|              |                                                       |
| CC           |                                                       |
|              |                                                       |
| Hideko       |                                                       |
| Takahashi,   |                                                       |
| B.Sc.        |                                                       |
|              |                                                       |
| NHLBI        |                                                       |
|              |                                                       |
| Nelly E.     |                                                       |
| Villacreses, |                                                       |
| B.Sc.        |                                                       |
|              |                                                       |
| NIA          |                                                       |
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