purcc 2012 - University of the Pacific

Senior Art & Design Show – Artist Statements
Women, Power and Politics
Ana Garcia
Faculty Mentor: Marcia Hernandez
In this presentation I will examine to what extent
gender matters when it comes to women in highranking,
political positions in the U.S. Using
scholarly articles to examine how women
politicians are perceived by voters, and whether
or not the experiences of women politicians have
changed over time. My preliminary findings
suggest that people’s views and attitudes towards
women have not changed much over a 50-year
period. My findings also suggest that compared
to their male counterparts, women politicians are
framed as emotional and needy. My research is
timely because we are in the height of another
voting season; no new women candidates are
running for the presidential office since Michelle
Bauchman has resigned her intentions of running
for President. I conclude with suggestions for
future research which may include exploring the
correlation of women candidates’ age, education
level and media perception of voters in today’s
society.
What Does It Mean To Be a Latino In
Stockton?
Marissa Ito
Faculty Mentor: Annaliese Richard
The term “Latino” was officially adopted in
1997. However, de jure terms, do not always
meet reality. In the United States, race is
polarized into the two categories of white and
black. Because of this, “Latinos” or those
categorized as “brown” have to find a place to fit
in the spectrum. Specifically in Stockton, CA, a
city that is considered to be one of the most
miserable cities in the world, paints a negative
and segregated picture of those that are “Latino.”
This term has been thrown around and used
interchangeably with other terms such as
“Mexican” or “Hispanic.” To discover what
does it mean to be a Latino in Stockton,
ethnographic interviews, participant observation
and research on peer-reviewed articles and
journals were conducted. In Stockton, the term
Latino has come to be seen as connected to
language, origin and skin color. However,
outsiders of this cultural group choose to
categorize many people who would not consider
themselves members of this cultural group as
Latino. The Spanish language is used by
insiders of the Latino cultural group as a way of
forming linguistic identity, where the norm (in
Stockton) is the Mexican style of Spanish.
However, outsiders of this cultural group use
Spanish as a way to paint a negative picture of
users of this language. Similarly, salsa dancing
has been seen as a way to access ‘Latino’
culture, where levels of fluency in the dance, can
express how much you belong to the Latino
cultural group.
Reunification and Foster Care: Is it
Always Best to Put Humpty Dumpty
Back Together Again?
Ann McAdam
Faculty Mentor: John Myers
America’s Foster Care system is in crisis. It is
not uncommon for a child to be removed from a
neglectful family only to be reunited before the
parents have changed their lifestyles. The result
is an emotionally destructive revolving door for
children. They either face lack of stability in
foster care or an unhealthy home environment.
Parental drug addiction is often involved in these
cases, and is also often a cause of the inability to
function as a nurturing parent. Often, the rights
of children and parents are weighed against each
other in matters of reunification and custody. It
is a battle between the child’s right to be
permanently removed from an unhealthy
environment, and a parent’s right to maintain
custody of his or her children. This study
combed through numerous foster care and social
science research journals, as well as books on
parental rights and foster care history in order to
find an alternative that correctly balances the
rights of parents and children. Several of the
sources were conflicting in opinion as to the
degree of which reunification should be stressed
and attempted. An analysis of these materials
yielded the possibility of the following
compromise: When a child enters the system, a
parent should be given a limited number of
reunification attempts, possibly no more than
one or two. Parents should also be provided with
the ability to receive the best rehabilitation
services possible in order to better facilitate
rehabilitation. However, in the occurrence of
relapse, parental rights should be revoked. This
alternative may give parents the best support and
cause to change; it also eliminates parents who
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