June 4, 1999
By Dan Page
The Chicano/Chicana Studies Program
at UCLA offered senior James Burkhardt (San Diego/Mexicali, Baja
California) an academic mirror that brought his Mexican-American
cultural identity into sharper focus.
Coursework in history gave the 21-year-old the context for
the confusing whirl of coexistence, conflict and convergence that
marks the interaction of the Mexican and American cultures today.
And public policy studies gave him insight into how inequities and conflict between the cultures might be addressed and the best of each celebrated.
But it was research that stitched these three study areas into whole academic cloth for the UCLA undergraduate. Under the direction of UCLA political science Professor Raymond Rocco, Burkhardt spent hours poring through census records and more hours on the streets of Paramount and South Gate, learning firsthand about the politics of Latino community formation.
"These research opportunities made me a stronger student and will make me a better policy-maker," said Burkhardt, who is scheduled to graduate in June with a double major in Chicano/Chicana studies and history and a minor in public policy. He intends to pursue a graduate degree in public policy and then enter politics. "A good politician should know how to look critically at a community situation, analyze how it's affecting his constituents, understand the historical context and know how to use that information to create good public policy."
Each quarter, a wide range of programs offers hundreds of UCLA undergraduate an opportunity to conduct original research or work elbow-to-elbow with the university's world-class faculty on their ongoing projects. Burkhardt was one of six UCLA undergraduates who found support for their research last year through the Coca-Cola Scholars Program, coordinated through UCLA's award-winning Academic Advancement Program.
For his studies of Paramount and South Gate, Burkhardt used a research model designed by Rocco for the professor's ongoing study of the politics of Latino community formation in Southern California and the varying impacts.
Burkhardt chose to study Paramount for a research-methods class project because his professor had not yet examined that community for the regional study. The undergraduate pursued the South Gate study with financial support from the Coca-Cola Scholars Program, recreating earlier research by Rocco that yielded similar results.
"Professor Rocco was my first political science professor at UCLA. He was very approachable and has been my mentor," Burkhardt said. "We have some similarities. He is of Mexican descent and grew up in Southern California. He'd been through struggles as a first-generation college student. When I had problems I'd go to him and say, `What do I do now, I'm stuck.' He made my path much easier."
Burkhardt's research projects began in the classroom with history lessons about economic globalization of Los Angeles, including the movement of manufacturing jobs overseas, the flight of those workers to new cities or job sectors, and the influx of immigrants from Mexico seeking to take advantage of the subsequent growth in the region's service sector and the declining cost of housing.
Burkhardt relied on a combination of census data and fieldwork in compiling data on each community. The tedious task of tracking 30 years of data on median income, racial makeup and employment patterns was eased by using information available through the U.S. Census Bureau's Web site.
"Once I had a framework and could point at trends, it became a situation of going out and getting a better feel for the city itself," he said.
In the field, Burkhardt visited local swap meets and shopping malls to both observe and visit with merchants and shoppers. he talked with civic and business leaders about their communities and interviewed longtime residents. He learn-ed about community programs and law-enforcement procedures.
In Paramount, his research painted a portrait of a community that had faced numerous economic and social challenges with the influx of immigrants from Mexico over the past 30 years, but today is experiencing a renaissance.
"Many other cities have undergone similar demographic changes. The end result for these cities has been the deterioration of the economic segments of the communities. Paramount was faced with the deterioration of its city as well. However, city policies implemented in conjunction with community involvement and the support of the police force have generated the betterment of Paramount," Burkhardt's study concludes.
"James' fieldwork helped him see, in very concrete terms, the connection between knowledge and research and real people's lives," Rocco said. "Research experiences help undergraduates strengthen their analytical and conceptual skills by requiring them to connect the theories with real life. And that's the challenge not just for students, but for all of us."
Burkhardt described his research experience as crucial to rounding out his undergraduate education.
One of the roles of higher education is to broaden the conceptual framework for inde-pendent and critical thought. Research provides that opportunity," he said.
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