Young men who have sex with men (MSM) in urban areas of the United States continue to be vulnerable to HIV infection. Qualitative data collected with participants in a community level HIV intervention in West Hollywood and Orange County, California, suggest that space--both actual physical space and the concept of having space--should be an…

In the 1960s an increasing number of Native Americans began to express the need for an Indian college or university. Three major developments of the decade inspired them. The first was the rise of Indian activism in the 1960s. The second major development was the package of socioeconomic reforms of the Great Society, inaugurated by President…

By December 1968, the Anaheim Family Life and Sex Education (FLSE) program, celebrated since its formal introduction in 1965 as one of the most progressive in the nation, was being smeared as communistic and perverse. Local activists in this Orange County city had been congregating in hotel rooms and homes, screening cautionary films for the…

While the major urban centers around the country were flooded by millions of protesters demanding immigrant rights in March 2006, the San Francisco Bay Area remained relatively quiet. A coalition of organizers, including Centro Legal de la Raza, Deporten A La Migra, and the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition mobilized a one-week hunger strike,…

Briefly explores the impact on library services of Proposition 13 and similar measures and suggests that the consequent proposals to charge user fees may threaten the entire concept of the free public library. (Author)

Community action and social change have roots in personal family narratives that connect members within the same household, between families and schools, and between families across national borders. In two northern California communities, the value of computer literacy lies in the personal narratives that unite these families to each other,…

Analyzes changes in minority officeholding, voter turnout, and minority candidacies and coalitions in mayoral and council elections in 10 northern California cities from 1950 to 1977. Expanding on studies of negative impact of nonpartisan elections on Democratic strength, argues that traditional nonpartisan structures have been significantly…

Documenting the impact of technological advancements upon the American farmer, this article describes a rural California county where the small farmers have had to sell or lease their land to larger enterprises who then recruit Mexican American farm workers to replace the labor once provided by the small farmer. (JC)

An examination of trends in mental hospital commitments among the Chinese in California over the past 100 years indicates a two-fold increase for the general population compared to a seven-fold increase among the Chinese; rates of increase within the Chinese population were not uniform; changes also occurred in patterns of diagnosis. (Author/JM)

Shows how racial and gender barriers in the U.S. labor market, in addition to economic and cultural characteristics of the Japanese-American community, pushed Japanese farm women into domestic jobs. Also discusses how World War II and changes in U.S. society in general affected these women's occupational choices and opportunities. (GC)

This report describes a two-year project designed to assist local groups engaged in exploring alternatives to traditional modes of teacher contract negotiation. The project aimed to identify and increase effective citizen participation in educational collective bargaining. Chapter 1 of the report focuses on the struggle toward more balanced…

Examines how the poor and minorities can create structural changes in local communities to better serve their collective interest, in the context of a rural county in California in which organizers actually designed and implemented political strategies which resulted in a new set of local power relationships. (Author/JM)

A description of the Serrano vs. Priest class action suit in California, challenging the system of financing education through property taxes; author touches upon the possibilities for the courts becoming change agents in the struggle for social reform. (SP)

John Merrow, president of Learning Matters, Inc., has been reporting on K-12 education since 1974, but only recently has he begun to draw attention to higher education. This award-winning broadcaster is shedding light on the underbelly of higher education--and is arguing that something must be done before it's too late. This article presents the…