Volume 6, Number 3
Director's Message
Wow. I’m not often dumbfounded, but this one was a double whammy. Julie Myers, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), hosted (according to CNN) a Halloween fundraising party last month and served as one of the judges for the best costume award. Her choice? Someone dressed as a prisoner with dreadlocks and dark makeup. Myers cited this costume for its “originality” because—as we all know—stereotypes are so new and innovative. (Incidentally, the man with a large sombrero, serape, and dark makeup was not mentioned, but there is a photograph on the web.) An ICE spokesperson attempted to reassure the public by stating that the award-winning costumed person, an employee of the Department of Homeland Security, was not in blackface, but rather merely in makeup that was darker than his skin. As in, brownface. Apparently, brownface is okay in the Department of Homeland Security. In any case, the photograph of the winner and Myers was somehow destroyed. Myers, a recess appointee, has apologized, and Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill has placed a hold on her confirmation, pending further investigation. Now here’s the real shocker. I learned about this incident from Lalo Alcaraz’s LA Cucaracha comic strip in the Los Angeles Times (November 15), but the news story itself was never run in the newspaper. Not so long ago, the Los Angeles Times tried to drop LA Cucaracha—the only comic strip with Latino characters in a city where Latinos make up half the population. It seems we would have lost more than just a few good laughs.
Chon A. Noriega
Director and Professor
News
Immigrants’ Use of Healthcare Services Lower than Expected
In a study released in the November 26 issue of the
Archives of Internal Medicine, UCLA professor
Alex Ortega and co-authors reported that that “illegal immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries are 50% less likely than U.S.-born Latinos to use hospital emergency rooms in California.” Professor Ortega stated for the
Los Angeles Times that “the current policy discourse that undocumented immigrants are a burden on the public because they overuse public resources is not borne out with data, for either primary care or emergency department care.” The study, titled “Health Care Access, Use of Services, and Experiences Among Undocumented Mexicans and Other Latinos,” was conducted with support from the CSRC. To read the coverage in the
Los Angeles Times, go to the
Times website.
Open House
The CSRC’s annual Open House on November 7 drew over 100 visitors. Tribute was given to the artists who created Chicano History, one of the first Chicano murals at a university. The Open House featured a display of artwork by three of the mural artists: Ramses Noriega, Sergio Hernandez, and the late Saul Solache, whose family attended this special event. The mural, painted on panels and installed in the former CSRC offices in Campbell Hall, has been in storage and is now undergoing restoration. Veronica Flores, Field Deputy for the 34th District, presented the CSRC with a certificate from Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard in commemoration of the Center’s thirty-eighth anniversary.
TRÁNSITOry PÚBLICO | PUBLIC TRANSITorio
A series of public discussions, workshops, and performances with interventionist performance art groups, militant research and activist collectives, artists, and educators drew hundreds of participants at UCLA and other sites across Los Angeles from November 13 through 20. Highlights included a seminar aboard a train traveling from Los Angeles to San Diego and presentations at MOCA by members of the Internacional Errorista (founders of the errorist movement), BijaRi (an interventionist design+performance+VJ collective from São Paulo), and the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest (an L.A. collective). CSRC was a co-sponsor of the event, which featured a number of Chicana/o art groups and artists.
CSRC Events
Storytelling Time
The CSRC Library will host “An Event of Traditional Storytelling” on Thursday, December 6, 10:00–11:00 a.m., in 144 Haines Hall. Students enrolled in Chicana/o Studies 109, “Chicano Folklore,” will present stories from the Mexican oral tradition. The event is open to the public.
Voting Rights Conference
The CSRC will join the UCLA Center for African American Studies, Center for Asian American Studies, and Center for American Indian Studies to present “Coloring the Vote: Race, Politics, and Disenfranchisement,” a major conference on voting rights. Greg Palast, renowned BBC investigative journalist and author of the New York Times bestsellers Armed Madhouse (2006) and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (2002), will be the keynote speaker. A native of the United States, Mr. Palast is known for his reporting on voting irregularities in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. Britain’s Tribune Magazine called him “the most important investigative reporter of our time.” The conference will be Saturday, January 26, at UCLA’s Covel Commons. For more information, visit our website.
CSRC Library & Archive
MALCS Orientation
The CSRC Library hosted the fall orientation for the UCLA chapter of MALCS (Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social) on November 28. MALCS, an organization for Latinas, Chicanas, and Native American women, focuses on women’s issues and supports interaction between academia and the community. MALCS publishes the journal Chicana/Latina Studies and hosts an annual summer research institute. For more information, go to the MALCS website.
Library on Tour Circuit
Approximately forty high school students and parents from Jefferson High School visited the CSRC Library as part of a campus tour for prospective undergraduates. They listened to a short talk on the library’s history and the collection, and they were encouraged to do research at the library.
Acquisitions and Online Access
The CSRC is in discussions with the Garcia family to acquire the papers of Roy Garcia, also known as “Chicano Roy.” Roy Garcia made two contributions to custom motorcycle design: he developed the idea of molding shapes and designs from the frame to the gas tank, and he designed the first pop-off gas tank, a significant improvement for safety and repair.
An online finding aid for The Joe Ortiz Papers will soon be available. Joe Ortiz was the first Chicano to host an English-language talk show on a commercial radio station, which was broadcast on KABC from 1970 through 1977. After more than twenty years in radio and television, he launched a career as a public relations consultant. Born in Indio, California, Mr. Ortiz also worked as a cook, joined the Air Force, and taught at Ramona High School after obtaining his GED. He has worked with the East L.A. Housing Task Force, the Mexican American Research Association, and the Mexican American Youth Organization. Now semi-retired, he writes columns for several local and national periodicals. The Joe Ortiz collection contains correspondence, news clippings, announcements, photos, newsletters, articles, tape recordings of his radio show, and papers pertaining to his work in public relations.
CSRC Press
New Report on Latino Workforce
Lisa Catanzarite and Lesley Trimble look at the current status of Latino workers in The Latino Workforce at Mid-Decade, the latest CSRC Research Report. Currently a vital component of the U.S. economy, the Latino workforce will be increasingly important to the economic well-being of the United States as the number of Latinos grows. Latino workers, however, face significant disadvantages in regard to educational preparation, type of occupation, earnings, and security of employment. The authors examine how Latinos are faring and propose recommendations for policy interventions that will improve employment prospects for Latino workers. To read or to download a PDF file of CSRC Research Report no. 10, visit the Press website.
Opportunities
2008–09 Postdoctoral/Visiting Scholar Fellowship
The CSRC and the Institute of American Cultures (IAC) offer a fellowship to a postdoctoral/visiting scholar to support research on Chicana/os. The fellowship includes a stipend (which can be used as a sabbatical supplement) that ranges from $33,000 to $35,000, research support up to $4,000, and health benefits. The appointment is for a nine-month period beginning October 1, 2008. UCLA faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students are not eligible to apply. All applications are due by 5:00 p.m.,
Friday, January 11, 2008, in the CSRC office, 193 Haines Hall. Address applications to CSRC Assistant Director Carlos Haro. For more information on applying, or to access the application form, go to the IAC
website.
2008–09 Graduate and Predoctoral Fellowship
The CSRC and the Institute of American Cultures (IAC) offer a fellowship to a graduate/predoctoral or a postdoctoral/visiting scholar to support research on Chicana/os. The fellowship stipend of $18,500 per year, plus all in-state fees, will be awarded on a competitive basis to a current UCLA graduate student with demonstrated interest in the field of Chicano studies; the fellowship must aid the completion of a thesis or dissertation. All applications are due by 5:00 p.m.,
Friday, January 11, 2008, in the CSRC office, 193 Haines Hall. Address applications to CSRC Assistant Director Carlos Haro. For more information on applying, or to access the application form, go to the IAC
website.
2008–09 Research Grants
The CSRC and the Institute of American Cultures (IAC) provide research grants to UCLA faculty, staff, graduate students, and IAC postdoctoral fellows to support research on Chicana/os in a variety of disciplines. The CSRC is also working with the IAC and the University of California Committee on Latino Research (UCCLR) to offer research grants in Latino policy studies. To apply for a Latino policy studies grant, check both the Chicano studies and the Latino policy studies boxes on the grant application. The grant period is from July 1, 2008, through May 31, 2009. All applications are due by 5:00 p.m.,
Friday, April 25, 2008, in the CSRC office, 193 Haines Hall. Address applications to CSRC Assistant Director Carlos Haro. For more information on applying, or to access the application form, go to the IAC
website.
Contacts
To learn more about us, visit our website or email us at
csrcinfo@chicano.ucla.edu. Trouble reading this? Please visit the web version.
UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center • 193 Haines Hall • Box 951544 • Los Angeles, CA 90095-1544 Campus Mail Code: 154403 • Tel: (310) 825-2363 • Fax: (310) 206-1784
