In 2002 I spent New Year’s Eve in New York City. In 2004, I was in San Francisco. The following year, I drove out to the desert to spend NYE in Palm Desert. In 2005, I rang in the 2006 all by myself in my room at Papa Chepe and Mama Toni’s house in El Cargadero, Zacatecas (they and my parents were all asleep).
This year, I’m still away from LA and glad about it because I’m with my boyfriend and his family in Fremont.
Hope you all have a good and safe New Year’s Eve and Happy New Year.
Around my house words like tumor, lesion, liver, oncologist, biopsy, MRI, surgery, tests, operation and hospital are spoken in calm, serious tones. Words like cancer, malignant, and benign are just thought, rarely spoken. And those words are never spoken to Papá Chepe and Mamá Toni.
About six weeks ago, my mother told me that her doctors had discovered a tumor in her lower abdomen. She said it was about the size of a golf ball.
Since then, my dad has accompanied her to numerous appointments. While the doctors give my mom the news of her most recent test, my dad takes meticulous notes.
And when they call and tell me the news, my head spins with the words I hear on Grey’s Anatomy. On a 44-minute show, there’s a problem and it’s fixed quickly.
No one tells you how long you have to wait to hear the words you really want to hear like, “your mom is going to be okay.”
[Note: if you know me or my family personally and want to know how my mom is doing, it's best to call my dad (and only my dad) on his cell phone. Email me for more info.]
My camera is broken and thus I have no pictures from the Christmas festivities at my tío Beto and tía Ana’s house in San Diego (the 16th), my tío Chuy and tía Luisa’s house in Ontario (the 23rd), and my house on the 24th.
If I did have photos, I would have posted them on Flickr and you would have seen:
We didn’t do anything on Christmas Day except enjoy the 73 degree day. Yeah, I would have taken a picture of myself in flip flops, jeans and short-sleeve blouse as I took VR for a Christmas Day walk.
One of the reasons I wasn’t so ready to give up on my PhD program earlier this fall and summer was because I knew I’d have the opportunity to work on my own research.
As I wondered “should I stay or should I go?” I talked to friends within the program and others outside education. I came to realize that working on a research project that was not quantitative based and focused on a topic of which I was genuinely interested would help me stick it out. I’d been a research assistant for the first two years and liked it, but I was also tired of trying to figure out how to do something using SPSS (a statistical program) and then not knowing how to interpret the results. I was also working on projects directed by someone else… which is definitely not the same as doing something you want to do.
I decided on doing my 299 research project on Latina science, mathematics and engineering undergraduate students. I wanted to know why some students stayed in the SME fields while others switched major. Half of my interest in this area comes from my interest in the retention and persistence of Latino student I’ve had since I worked as the director of MEChA Calmecac (counseling and mentorship program at UCLA). The other half comes my current work with science students.
One of the first things I need to do when I start my project is read the literature and get a sense of what is and is not known. There’s a lot that is not known in this area which is cool because that means I can add something with my research.
The following are brief passages and things that stuck out when doing my literature review.
“[G]irls’ self-esteem drops precipitously after adolescence, with the drop for Latinas being the greatest” (p. 255).
Leslie, L., McClure, G.T. & Oaxaca, R.L. (1998). Women and minorities in science and engineering: A life sequence analysis. The Journal of Higher Education, 69 (3), 239-276.
“[I]t felt good to be in a room with so many Chicanos. I felt strong. In fact, I go every week now just because of the strength I get from being around my people. It’s tough going to class and being the only Chicano. If it wasn’t for MEChA, I don’t know if I’d still be here.”
“MEChA was vital to their persistence at the university, and, like their families, MEChA was an important source of cultural nourishment from which to draw strength.”
González, K. P. (2003). Campus culture and the experiences of Chicano students in a predominantly white university. Urban Education, 37(2), 193-218.
“[E]xperiences of discrimination have a depressing effect on latino students’ feeling of attachment to the institution.”
Hurtado, S., Carter, D. F. & Spuler, S. (1996). Latino student transition to college: Assessing difficulties and factors in successful college adjustment. Research in Higher Education, 37(2), 135-157.
“According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Latino students have the lowest completion rate of all college students, with only 32 percent finishing.This compares with completion rates of 34 percent for African Americans, 47 percent for Asian Americans, and 48 percent for whites.”
Torres, V. (2003). Mi casa is not exactly like your house: A window onto the experience of Latino students. About Campus, 8 (2), 2-7.
“The 31.6% increase in Latino PhDs during [1994-2001] is particularly impressive when compared to the slight decrease in the total number of science and engineering PhDs. However, as mentioned earlier, the number of doctorates in science and engineering awarded to Latino students in 2001 still numbered only in the hundreds.”
“Among Latinos, about a third of all PhDs and more than 40% of science and engineering PhDs granted in 2001 went to holders of temporary visas.”
Chapa, J. & De La Rosa, B. (2006). The problematic pipeline: Demographic trends and Latino participation in graduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 5 (3), 203-221.
“Because nearly half of all Latinos in California are immigrants from Latin America, it is instructive to compare this physician-to-population ratio with those of Latin American countries. Some Latin American countries have physician-to-population ratios close to that of non-Latino California: Cuba at 1:226, Uruguay at 1:268, and Argentina at 1:364. Mexico has a ratio that is nearly twice that of non-Latino California, at 1:593. Latin America’s overall ratio is 1:649. California’s Latino physician-to-population ratio, at 1:2,893, exceeds the ratio of every Latin American country…
Hayes-Bautista, D. E., Hsu, P., Hayes-Bautista, M., Stein, R. M., Dowling, P., Beltran, R., & Villagomez, J. (2000). Latino physician supply in California: Sources, locations, and projections. Academic Medicine, 75 (7), 727-736.
“If one looks at Hispanic representation in STEM fields, Hispanic faculty represented from 2% to 4% of all faculty.”
Millett, C. M. & Nettles, M. T. (2006). Expanding and cultivating the Hispanic STEM doctoral workforce: Research on doctoral student experiences. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 5 (3), 258-287.
“It is intersting to note that although females earned higher [math/science] grades in high school than did males, were somewhat more liley to attend four-year colleges and universities, were somewhat more likely to take advantage of minority support systems — all of which contributed to greater science ambition — they still had less science ambition by the end of the sophomore year than did males.”
Grandy, J. (1998). Persistence in science of high-ability minority students: Results of a longitudinal study. The Journal of Higher Education, 69 (6), 589-620.
You know what happened when I was doing all this reading and writing at the last minute (I still need to work on that bad habit)?
I was glad friends convinced me not to leave the program. As much as I grumble and claim that PhD programs are for suckers, I’m still a nerd deep down inside who thinks that research is fun, loves to write and can’t get enough of the methods section in qualitative papers.
Puro Pedo Magazine is here to help save you from boredom at work and give you something to do now that finals are over.
Click on the links below or on the magazine covers above to download each issue.
October, Issue 1
November, Issue 2
December, Issue 3
For more info on Puro Pedo Magazine, check out our MySpace page and befriend us or email us at puropedomagazine@yahoo.com.
By the way, thanks a lot for all of the great feedback thus far. I’ve shared it with the editors and the other writers involved with the project. I know there’s a lot of room for improvement (copy editing!) as well as things we need to get up and running (like our website!).
For those of you who can’t stop by the CSUN Chicano Lounge, Community Programs Office at UCLA or local businesses like Antigua Cultural Cafe in El Sereno or Nahu Ollin in Echo Park Puro Pedo Magazine can now be found online.
Click the cover image above or click here for a copy of the December issue pdf.
Enjoy!
For more information on Puro Pedo, email us at puropedomagazine@yahoo.com
To read Part I, go here.
Little Anthony’s t-shirt read what we were all thinking the next morning as we nursed our banged up legs and knees, “it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
And even though it did seem like a good idea, no one regretted the harrowing trip down the river.
I was sitting on the river bank, reading one of the hilarious essays in David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day when Rene asked if I wanted to take a trip down the river.
“Where are we going?”
“Just down that part,” he replied and pointed to the right fork in the river where it looked a little rough. “We went down in the rafts earlier.”
That was all I needed. If they had gone down earlier in the day, it couldn’t have been that bad, right?
Wrong.
The six of us — me, Rene, Lindsay, Heather, Adán and Nancy — piled into the two rafts. I got in to one raft and kneeled down.
“You should sit down,” Lindsay advised. “Those rocks will bust up your knees, but your butt can take the bumps better.”
I followed her advice and sat down. Lindsay pulled the grey raft closer to her and jumped in jolting the raft the behind me. Rene was the last to get in and sat on the top of the raft up front.
I was nervous. I hadn’t gone rafting in a river in years… and the Kern was no friendly river. Rafting would be different than just floating down in a River Rat innertube for a few yards in the calm part.
As we started off following the yellow raft filled with Adán, Heather and Nancy, Rene gave me one last bit of advice.
“Whatever happens, don’t let go of the ropes.”
Yeah. Letting go of the ropes in a river nicknamed Killer Kern would be bad.
Danny made up the last of the group in a single yellow inner tube. He was the only one wearing any sort of protective gear, a purple and red life vest.
Rene lied. And it’s a good thing too, or else I wouldn’t have anything worth blogging about.
Our mini-rafting trip didn’t end once we made our way down the familar part of the river. The familar part of the river was a little rough, but we were all able to deal with water splashing in our faces and getting jolted by the river around boulders.
Once the two rafts and inner tube made it through the familiar part, we decided to keep going. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Next time I complain that I’m overwhelmed with all I have to do, just tell me to shut up.
My advisor is right, I do get everything I ask for, which probably isn’t a good thing. Thanks to my good luck in getting what I want, I know have to deal with being a full time student, having two jobs adding up to about 30 hours a week, and serving as the external vice president for the graduate students association. Now, that’s just the formal stuff. I still want to have a social life with my family, significant other, friends and have time to take the dog out for a walk. Phew.
¡Se me olvidó! Somewhere in all those formal and social activities, I also want to be able to write on a couple of blogs and read others’ thoughts and opinions.
I recently added one more thing, I’m a writer (plus distributor and fundraiser!) for a Chicano satire magazine, Puro Pedo Magazine. I was asked to join late in the summer and just contributed my first article for the third issue. The first two issues have been great, but it’s a small operation and the philosophy from the editor and the rest of the PP collective is that we want to remain autonomous (following the lead of the Zapatistas) and not solicit advertisements. However, we also want to give the magazines away since we believe information — and satire — should be free.
So yeah, that means we not only have to think about bringing cultural/political satire to the masses in a way that will make them pee their chonis, we also have to find a way to stay afloat without digging in to our own anorexic bank accounts.
Right now, Puro Pedo has concentrated on print distribution, but we’re also working on getting a PDF version out for the December issue. That way, you all can read it, decide you love it and donate some of your hard earned dollars.
For more information on Puro Pedo Magazine, check out the MySpace page. If you want to know about donations or have other questions, email us.
I’d make a horrible professional athlete. Aside from the fact that I can’t run fast, jump high, throw hard or accurately, I’m also rather shitty at, well… talking shit.
I didn’t say anything about today’s UCLA vs. USC game online or in person. When my dad called me this morning and asked if UCLA was going to win, I told him it was probably a longshot.
But even longshots become reality.
UCLA started off the game looking good. By the end of the first quarter, UCLA had already scored a touchdown fueled by some unexpected rushing on behalf of the quarterback, Patrick Cowan. UCLA held on to the lead for most of the first half until USC scored on a safety and then a touchdown to make the score 9-7.
The second half was a nail biter, but UCLA kept USC from scoring again. In the mean time, UCLA helped itself by scoring two field goals by veteran kicker Justin Medlock.
With only a narrow 4-point lead through the fourth quarter, I got extremely nervous. It all worked out though.
I’m happy. I haven’t seen UCLA win in a game against USC since 1998, when I was a mocosa trombone player in the band. I remember thinking that it was cool to see UCLA win 34-17, but the game was rather boring. At that time, I didn’t think I’d have to wait 7 years before the Victory Bell came back to UCLA.
In 1998, the University of Miami played spoiler to UCLA’s hopes for a championship title and the Rose Bowl became the consolation prize.
In 2006, UCLA thwarted USC’s hopes for another chance at the BCS championship game and the Rose Bowl is their consolation prize.
It’s a good day to be a UCLA fan. Not only did we win against USC for the first time in 7 years, but we also severely upset a lot of ‘SC fans.