March 14, 1995
Four SF State students with different visions to improve conditions within the La Raza community are now $2,500 richer, thanks to a grant awarded by the Cesar Chavez Institute on Public Policy.
The grant, which is funded by President Robert A. Corrigan, is given to graduate and undergraduate students doing independent research projects involving La Raza issues.
This semester's winners, Renee Moreno, Russ Quinto-Palyou, Kristy Guevara and Carolina Ramos, were recognized at a luncheon yesterday in the University Club.
All the recipients were excited to receive the grant because it will help tremendously with research costs.
Recipient Quinto-Palyou, who is doing his project on HIV/AIDS among Chicanas and Latinas, will use the extra money to pay for HIV testing for the women in his survey.
He plans to survey 30 Latinas and Chicanas on campus and eventually come up with recommendations on HIV/AIDS testing for the university administration and the Student Health Service.
Quinto-Palyou believes he won the grant because the subject he chose to focus on is one largely neglected in HIV/AIDS discussions.
"Latinas are typically ignored and these issues are swept under the rug," he said. "They are among the fastest growing number of women infected and I was able to bring those issues to light in this project."
Another recipient, Moreno, used her interest in multimedia to produce a computer-generated Quicktime video about Chicana farm workers exposed to harmful pesticides. A Quicktime movie runs on any Macintosh computer and uses digitized video, sound, still photographs and images to create a multimedia movie.
"I chose this technology as a creative, artistic tool to present my ideas," Moreno said. "I was able to bring together being a Chicana with my interest in this technology."
Moreno, who graduated in January with a degree in La Raza studies, said she hopes to make her movie accessible on the Internet as well as at Quicktime festivals and conferences.
"Tomorrow's movimiento will be found not only on the fields and in the barrio, but increasingly on the streets of the information highway," she wrote in her proposal.
This is the third semester the Cesar Chavez Institute on Public Policy has awarded the grants.
The applications are reviewed by a panel composed of faculty and students from different colleges on campus. This semester, 17 applications were submitted.
"All of them were excellent and at least 12 were exceptional. It was very hard to choose," said Teresa Carillo, research coordinator of the Institute.
Carillo, who worked closely with all four of the recipients, said she was very impressed with the quality of their proposals.
"We look at the concept, the feasibility of the project and direct relevance to public policies. The winners really combined all the things we were looking for," she said.
Another recipient, Guevara, is producing a 20 minute documentary on La Raza youth reaction to violence in a Richmond community. The final recipient, Ramos, will do her project on Chicanas and Latinas in the sex industry.
Professor Jose Cuellar, chair of La Raza studies, said all the recipients' projects were selected because "they dealt with La Raza issues and applied it to public policy in the Bay Area."
When the research projects are completed, they will be available to anyone at the Cesar Chavez Institute on Public Policy.