New roles for Hispanics?

One of the questions that comes up as a reporter looks over a new ''quality of life'' capital like Colorado Springs is, ''All this looks great, but what if you're not an upwardly mobile WASP with an engineering degree?''

Juan Collazo, executive director of the city's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, says, ''The Hispanic community has been very silent - not as active as they should be in the development of the whole.'' He estimates the Hispanics in Colorado Springs, who are mostly Mexican, at some 35,000 - a few thousand more than the economic development department estimates. He says they are getting more involved in local political and economic affairs. One particular bright spot he foresees is a liaison role between the area's high-tech firms and the Latin American countries eager to do business with them.