Finals are here. I'm working on them and don't really have time to update. I have two papers. One is rather short, only six pages, which is the hard part. That one is on competing interests in the higher education areas of finance and faculty research productivity. So far, it's going well. I'll have to hand it in by 9 am on Monday morning.

The other paper is a literature review on Mexican undocumented immigrants in higher education. That one is longer (25 pages max). The subject fascinates me and is very important, at least to me. However, since it is an area in which very little empirical research exists, I've had to take a different approach to finding sources. I'm learning so much more about immigration, the legality of access for undocumented immigrants to public services, court cases, in-state and out-of-state residency requirements, policy and the effects of financial aid and other factors on Mexican and Chicana/o students' persistence in higher education. I have to turn this one in by Tuesday at noon... I have a lot of writing to do. Yikes.

Finally, I have my statistics take home final. I worked a little on it on Thursday afternoon, but I still have to complete most of it. I'm not too worried about that one, but it's due on Monday afternoon.

I don't know if I'll sleep much in the next few days.

And now I present some pretty obvious things I've read for my classes or in doing my research on undocumented students. I told Pato, my roommate, that even though it's something I've known all along it seems that in academia you need to have a PhD for someone to actually listen to you.

On the purpose of research:
"Again, research is not undertaken simply to advance knowledge, as if knowledge is an abstract concept, but, rather researchers engage in research to change the world, and most centrally, the worlds in which the researched inhabit. One key purpose of research, then, is to create the conditions where the participants gain self-understanding and empowerment." (Tierney & Rhoads 1993)

On undocumented immigrants
"One generalization that can be made is that undocumented immigrants work."

"Furthermore, undocumented aliens do not burden social services and governments because the taxes paid by them exceed the costs of services provided; in fact, undocumented aliens actually generate a surplus on government coffers." (Passel, 1996)

Me siento: busy
Escuchando: the smiths, "unhappy birthday"

M�s reciente:
Searches - 09.16.05
the big move - 07.29.05
mother and daughter: a comparative analysis - 07.28.05
jardineros y dom�sticas - 07.27.05
tough question - 07.25.05

antes // despu�s