Que pasa? : PEOPLE AND EVENTS

* The “abysmally low number of Hispanics in corporate America,” prompted Latino business school graduates to form the National Assn. of Hispanic MBAs in Los Angeles in 1988, said Magdalena Pena, the group’s new president. When it comes to recruiting Latino managers, Pena said, “the majority of CEOs have their heads in the sand.” The group has 357 members in seven chapters--90 in Los Angeles, said Pena, 30. Pena was born in Colombia, raised in Hollywood, and she earned her MBA at UCLA. Pena is a manager of finance in video distribution at Paramount Pictures. Corporate life for Latinos, she says, is “tough.” But, she added, “some corporations are becoming more and more sensitive.”

* Once a student political volunteer himself, Tony Vazquez has become the first Latino member of the Santa Monica City Council with the help of a new generation of Latino student volunteers from Santa Monica City College. “This is what we have been working for since the mid-’70s,” said Vazquez, 35, the top vote-getter last fall among nine candidates. “Maybe now the city can be a little bit more sensitive to the needs of the Latino and black communities.” A native of Tijuana who grew up in West Los Angeles, Vazquez became a U.S. citizen in 1978. His election “is a big step toward moving leaders in the Latino community into leaders in the city,” said Santa Monica Mayor Dennis Zane.