Studies Programs

According to Glenn Sacks ("Boys or Girls -- Pick Your Victim," Opinion, March 20), there is a credibility gap between what Duke University's researchers report and what the university's office of news and communications says it found. So, why? In my view, the answer can be found in a quick search of the Duke University website. A search for women's studies yielded 5,330 hits and clear evidence of a well-established women's studies program. A search for men's studies yielded 1,380 hits with the first item referring to a women's studies course and no evidence of a well-established men's studies program.

TUCSON - Arizona lawmakers passed a law to dismantle a Mexican American studies program in Tucson schools, but the legislation has had an unintended effect: The controversy is renewing interest in the state and nationwide in ethnic studies and Chicano and Latino literature. Some Tucson students have found new ways to study the subject while receiving college credit to boot. Others who had no interest on the topic say they are now drawn to the material. "Underground" libraries with Chicano literature are popping up across the Southwest and are set to open soon in unexpected places such as Milwaukee and Louisville.

My compliments to Marita Hernandez for her article on Chicano studies programs (Part I, April 10). Seldom do we see that kind of serious treatment of the original reasons for Chicano studies and its subsequent importance to Chicanos and the rest of society. In this stubborn time of "specialists," the article looks at the multidisciplinary nature of Chicano studies and captures the essence of our aim: whatever professions or specialties Chicanos choose, each must be followed by a hyphen and "activist."

Most people consider New York and Los Angeles to be the centers of hip-hop culture, but it's Tucson where students will find the first university to offer a minor dedicated to the movement. The University of Arizona has recently added the concentration to its Africana Studies minor program. The decision is part of a trend to give serious academic study to the subject. The curriculum is bound to be a hit with students, said Alain-Philippe Durand, interim director of the Africana Studies program.

As John H. Bunzel stated in "Are Ethnic Studies Separate or Equal?" (Opinion, Nov. 8), I agree that ethnic studies, if presented in a highly intellectual and apolitical arena, have a legitimate academic and societal role. However, as a UCLA graduate who has completed a handful of such courses, I am tempted to ask whether "ethnic studies" is merely a euphemism for state-sponsored indoctrination. From my experiences, there existed a clear political agenda--one that presented biased commentary in the midst of factual information.

As an alumnus from UCLA, I fully agree with your editorial's perception (May 13) that the establishment of a Chicano studies department "would be seen as elevating the status of Chicano studies at UCLA" and that "it seems only logical that there should be a Chicano studies department at the most prestigious public university in the city with the nation's largest Mexican-American community." One of the key and larger issues behind the call for the establishment of a Chicano studies department is the reality that, for too long, Chicano studies programs and (ethnic studies overall)

After more than a decade of struggling to survive, Chicano studies programs at universities throughout the Southwest are becoming the focus of renewed interest, coinciding with growing public attention to the Latino population boom. Enrollment in Chicano studies programs has doubled on some campuses, and classes are drawing large numbers of Anglo students for the first time. Some University of California campuses are considering requiring that all undergraduates take an ethnic studies class.

When Marilyn Boxer announced in the early 1970s that she planned to focus on women's issues for her doctorate dissertation in history, the chairman of her department at UC Riverside didn't offer her a lot of encouragement. "(He) said to me, 'You'd better have your book published by 1974, because (women's studies is) a fad,' " she recalled.

A simmering three-year dispute between the Cal State Long Beach Women's Studies Program and a conservative group has erupted into a legal confrontation that could ultimately lead to the dismantling of the program. At issue is whether women's studies at the university is a legitimate academic program or a front for what critics say is the training and recruitment of feminists and lesbians. "The program is and will continue . . .

One moment, Harry Brod Ph.D., father, husband, philosopher and men's studies pioneer, is discussing men and feminism in his book-lined home office. The next moment, he is shouting back enthusiastically as 4-year-old Artemis Brod yells through the window that she has sold her purple dinosaur--her contribution to the family yard sale. Juggling the roles of devoted father and dedicated spokesman for the men's movement would be simpler in the world Brod envisions.

Tucson's Mexican American studies program remains in violation of state law, Arizona's public schools chief ruled Friday, ordering that millions in state funding be withheld from the school district until the program is dismantled or brought into compliance. John Huppenthal, the state superintendent of public instruction, said the Tucson Unified School District program was in violation of a new state law prohibiting ethnic studies classes that are deemed to be divisive. Among other things, the law bans classes primarily designed for a particular ethnic group or which "promote resentment toward a race or class of people.

Tucson's Mexican American studies program violates state law, an Arizona administrative law judge ruled Tuesday, paving the way for the program's possible demise. Judge Lewis D. Kowal affirmed a prior decision by the state's schools chief that the Tucson Unified School District's program violates a new law prohibiting divisive ethnic-studies classes. John Huppenthal, the state superintendent of public instruction, had deemed the program in violation in June. Among other things, the law bans classes primarily designed for a particular ethnic group or that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people.

Beneath a crown of black curls, Benjamin Salinas offers his clients encouraging words about past courtroom victories and the chance to make history. Salinas, 21, and six equally earnest colleagues seated with him in a sterile conference room have yet to graduate from law school. But their clients, half a dozen homemakers and retirees with hearing aids and support hose, seem unbothered. They are desperate to recover their life savings, lost in an alleged investment scam, and this may be their best chance of getting justice.

Rodolfo "Rudy" Acuña is an amiable, white-haired professor from Los Angeles who's having his named dragged through the mud by certain Arizona politicians. He grew up in South L.A. and East Hollywood in the 1940s and '50s, and has fond memories of learning Latin at Loyola High School. He went on to make a career of teaching generations of young people from the Southwest some of the salient episodes of their history. His most famous work is a Mexican American history textbook on which hundreds of future politicos, writers and PhDs cut their intellectual teeth.

Sharon L. Sievers, a history professor who helped pioneer women's studies at Cal State Long Beach in the early 1970s and with others later sued the university to preserve the program, has died. She was 71. Sievers, who also was a noted scholar of Japanese history, died April 5 at her Long Beach home after a long illness, said Nancy Quam-Wickham, who followed her as chairwoman of the university's history department. After joining Cal State Long Beach in 1968, Sievers spent her entire 40-year academic career there.

Officials at a Los Angeles after-school program are touting a new UCLA study showing its students have a slightly better chance of finishing high school than their peers. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, philanthropist Eli Broad and LA's BEST officials plan to release results of the study at a news conference today. The study found that students in LA's Better Educated Students for Tomorrow, or LA's BEST, were about 6% less likely to drop out of high school when compared to other students.

In the middle of the well-groomed block on South Ridgeley Drive--a self-assured, composed neighborhood in the Miracle Mile district--there is a two-story Monterey-Colonial duplex for sale. The postcard the Realtors mailed out to advertise the property presents an image of half a house. On view are a pair of plantation doors flanked by shutters opening onto a pink-hued second-floor balcony. The first floor is entirely hidden behind an 8-foot hedge.

A program designed to increase the development of basic skills and increase transfer rates among African American students will debut this January at Cypress College. The Black Studies Learning Community program will offer students peer and faculty mentors, provide tutorial and counseling services for courses and provide hands-on learning experiences. Although courses will be presented from the black perspective, they will be open to students of all races and ethnicities.

According to Glenn Sacks ("Boys or Girls -- Pick Your Victim," Opinion, March 20), there is a credibility gap between what Duke University's researchers report and what the university's office of news and communications says it found. So, why? In my view, the answer can be found in a quick search of the Duke University website. A search for women's studies yielded 5,330 hits and clear evidence of a well-established women's studies program. A search for men's studies yielded 1,380 hits with the first item referring to a women's studies course and no evidence of a well-established men's studies program.

David Risling Jr., a Hoopa Indian who co-founded UC Davis' Native American studies program and D-Q University and served on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education, has died. He was 83. Risling, who had Alzheimer's disease, died Sunday at Woodland Memorial Hospital in Davis. Two months ago, Risling participated in the decision to close D-Q University, the state's only private Native American college, because it lost its accreditation.