InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies

This study uses GIS to analyze the student bodies and the attendance zones of high schools in Wayne County to address the issue of racial and economic segregation. In this case study, we examine a school district in Wayne County, North Carolina, which was 34.5% minority in 1989 (Census, 1990), with a poverty rate of 15.2%. Prior to merger, the county had two school districts: one predominantly White and one predominantly Black. The lone predominantly Black high school, prior to merger (1988-89), changed from 82.5% minority and 49.0% poor to 99.9% minority and 86% poor (2008-09, post-merger). Using GIS, we analyzed race and other socio-economic factors of the county’s school attendance zones as currently designed by the Wayne County School Board. We also used GIS to design alternative attendance zones, in order to assess the need for such segregation to achieve neighborhood schools, and conclude that there was no need to maintain severely segregated schools in order to achieve community schools.

Public libraries have long been devoted to reaching out to underserved populations within their communities. Outreach to local correctional facilities is one type of outreach that has not been fully embraced by the public library community. This paper has three aims: 1)to assess the current state of public library outreach to correctional institutions in California; 2) to outline the current state of information service in correctional facilities and demonstrate how public libraries and the communities they serve have a vested interest in serving local detainees; and 3) to highlight three model programs which show how partnerships between public libraries and correctional institutions can have far reaching benefits beyond the walls of the respective institutions. These three subjects taken together should serve as a call to action to broaden the notion of the public library’s service area to include people who are incarcerated in their community.

This qualitative research paper examines the processes that Filipino immigrants’ daughters (Pinays) use to negotiate their realities at home and in college. A Peminist framework was used in constructing the interview questions and in analyzing the study’s findings. Peminism is a framework that considers the uniqueness of Pinays' immigration background as it relates to their experiences in the United States. The interview data from twelve undergraduate Pinays revealed two issues regarding their majors and career aspirations: (a) parents’ nonverbal expression of expectations, and (b) the children’s unconscious desire to compromise. University personnel ought to pay attention to these students as a group that has realities that may not be shared by other Asian American communities.

Food trucks have become a large phenomenon in many parts of Southern California. In fact, the University of California, Los Angeles had begun permitting several food trucks to park on campus for hungry students, in response to the closure of the Bombshelter, a major campus food court. These trucks’ budding popularity has been spurred by the notable Kogi Trucks, which began its business serving those in Los Angeles. To explore the heart of this Kogi hype, I took two trips to the intersection of Gayley and Charles E. Young Drive in Westwood, Los Angeles. Two themes had emerged during my observations: gatekeepers, as well as a shift in conversation focus corresponding with time and position in line. I adopted the Metoyer-Duran gatekeeper model to illustrate the various personalities I encountered. In addition, I propose an information-seeking model to portray a general scheme of what happens in a Kogi waiting line. Possible considerations for future, more extensive studies are also noted.