Frank Blum, age 17, of San Francisco, California, for his question:

How did the word Chicano originate?

Let's face it, human nature is a mixed bag of worthy and not so worthy qualities. We all want to do our best and feel proud of ourselves. This is fine. But we miss the point when we try to boost ourselves by putting somebody else down. Some people try to get away with this foolishness by name calling. No need to spell out the long list of names we have invented for people of various races and nationalities. The Chicanos, of course, are Americans of Mexican descent or origin.

Nobody seems certain how the term originated. But there was a time when some people referred to a Mexican American young man as Chico, instead of by his right name. Perhaps Chicano resulted from shortening Chico Mexicano to Chicano. Naturally the Mexican Americans were sensitive about this name calling. But they added a touch of their own special humor to the problem. They took over the term and now proudly call themselves Chicanos.  People that speak Spanish usually prefer to be called Hispanic.