CSRC Newsletter - October 2003

We must be doing something right.... Our latest policy briefs have generated an unusual amount of racist hate mail. I cannot repeat much of what has been sent to the CSRC, although the phrase "you little brown Nazi pigs" certainly says it all, if not more. We do live in interesting times. The education pipeline is all-but-shut off for Latinos who make up 74 percent of K-12 students in the L.A. Unified School District, but just under 14 percent of UCLA undergraduate students. Bring attention to that fact, or join a student group seeking social equity, and - voila ! - you will be called a Nazi. Our nation is experiencing profound social, economic, and demographic pressures. For some, it is easier to seek scapegoats, or to declare social issues a "private" matter. But will either solve anything? Langston Hughes offered one cogent response when he asked, "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / Like a raisin in the sun?... Or does it explode?"

 

For the Californians on our list, please be sure to vote next week! For everyone else, you can laugh now, but you know that California always leads the way....

 

 

The CSRC joined with the UC-Santa Barbara Center for Chicano Studies in co-hosting a breakfast meeting of Latino research center directors in the University of California system. The meeting was held at the Mission Inn in Riverside during the University of California Committee on Latino Research's "Latinos in California II" conference on September 11-13, 2003. Those in attendance included: Carlos Morton, UCSB Center for Chicano Studies; David Hayes-Bautista, UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health & Culture; Russell Rumberger, UCSB Linguistic Minority Research Institute; Abel Valenzuela, UCLA Center for the Study of Urban Poverty; Olga Najera-Ramírez, UCSC Chicano/Latino Research Center; David Montejano, UCB Center for Latino Policy Research; Andres Jimenez, California Policy Research Center; and Ramón Gutiérrez, UCSD Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for November at UCLA.

 

The CSRC welcomes seven visiting scholars for 2003-04, the largest number of outside scholars at the research center during one year. This includes two postdoctoral fellows, Karen Mary Davalos (Loyola Marymount) and Anthony Macias (UC-Riverside), who are supported through the Institute of American Cultures and the Los Tigres del Norte Fund. The five other postdoctoral visiting scholars include Robert Chao Romero, a UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow; Yeidy Rivero (Indiana University), a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow; Catherine Komisaruk (CSU Long Beach), an American Association of University Women Postdoctoral Fellow; and two scholars on sabbatical leave: Raul Homero Villa (Occidental College), and Peter X. Feng (University of Delaware). These scholars will be contributing to our research projects and activities throughout the year.

 

Latino Education Summit

On September 29, the CSRC hosted the first planning meeting for a Latino Education Summit scheduled for Spring 2004. The event will place a focus on the emerging Latino education leadership in the Los Angeles area. UCLA faculty members include: Kris Gutiérrez, Jeannie Oakes, Daniel Solárzano, and Concepción Valadez. The CSRC is developing the summit in collaboration with the Department of Education as well as with José Huizar, Board President, Los Angeles Unified School District, Victor Viramontes, MALDEF, and other community representatives. The idea for the summit emerged out of a CSRC community forum on education held in May 2003.

 

On September 23, the CSRC and Self-Help Graphics and Art showcased their new collaborative project at an orientation for the 2003-04 grant recipients from the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships. The project, "Serving the Community, Preserving Cultural Heritage," involves the development of a computer-based collection management system.

 

The CSRC is acquiring a new look. Check out our new compact shelving and computer workstations in the Library. Also, CSRC now has a new brochure and poster with our new logo. Our old web site has been taken off-line while our new site is under construction. You will find a rudimentary site with some of your favorite postings during the interim at http://www.chicano.ucla.edu.

 

On October 31 to November 2, the CSRC will host an international conference on the unsolved, ten-year crime wave of kidnappings and murders of over 300 women, many of them young, mestiza maquiladora workers in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from Mexico. The event--"The Maquiladora Murders, Or,Who Is Killing the Women of Juárez?"-will bring together scholars, journalists, artists, activists, writers, and policy specialists from the U.S., Mexico, and Europe, as well as families of the victims in a series of roundtable discussions and presentations. Co-sponsors include Amnesty International, V-Day, the National Compadres Network, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, and the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. The conference will take place in Ackerman Grand Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public, but you must register on-line beforehand.

 

On October 30, the UCLA Latino Alumni Association will hold its Thirteenth Annual Fiesta de Inspiracion Scholarship and Alumni Awards Dinner. Professor and CSRC Faculty Associate Leo Estrada will be honored at the dinner for his commitment to higher education and support of the association and its mission. CSRC will also be a co-sponsor of the event, which will be held at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. For more information, contact Dana Valentino at 310-206-0609 or mail: danav@support.ucla.edu.

 

On October 23, Professor Evelyn Calvillo, School of Nursing, CSU-Los Angeles, will speak on "Hispanic Beliefs About the Effects of Alternative Therapies on Diabetes" from 12:00-1:30 p.m. in the Factor Building, Room #4-147. Please RSVP at 310-794-4947 or mail: rrendon@sonnet.ucla.edu. The talk is part of a colloquia series by the UCLA Center for Vulnerable Populations Research. Future speakers will include Professors Michael Rodriguez (November 20) and Yolanda Partida (December 4).

 

In order to continue our development of a state-of-the-art library serving the community, we are asking for contributions to the CSRC Library Fund. Donations will be used for (1) acquiring new books and reference works, (2) expanding the special archival collection, including the Hunger Strike special collection, (3) supporting library exhibitions in Chicano Studies, and (4) enhancing on-line and computer services. You can make donations to the CSRC Library Fund on-line at the CSRC home page http://www.chicano.ucla.edu (click at CSRC Library Fund) or go to http://www.giving.ucla.edu/chicano.

 

CSRC Library now offers Document Delivery for more information go to CSRC Library Document Delivery.

 

If you are not a subscriber to Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, now is a great time to start! Our prices are going up next year, but if you send us a check for $50, we will subscribe you for two years at the old price. If you cannot afford to subscribe, make sure that your university library does. E-mail your postal address to CSRC Press in order to receive a subscription package.

 

All e-mail addresses at the CSRC have been converted from @csrc.ucla.edu to @chicano.ucla.edu. Thus, the CSRC Press has a new e-mail address: press@chicano.ucla.edu. All general inquiries regarding the journal, briefs, books, or reports should be directed to this address. Please update your directories accordingly.

 

The CSRC welcomes undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in Chicano Studies to work as interns and volunteers in various areas of the Center. If interested, send an inquiry to Carlos M. Haro.

 

To learn more about us, visit UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center or e-mail: csrcinfo@chicano.ucla.edu.

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