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ExchangeSpecial Issue - Voices from the TRUCCS Project: A Community College Perspective
TRUCCS is a three-year, longitudinal and comprehensive study of the goals, success and academic patterns of 5,000 Community College students in urban Los Angeles.
The study, headed by the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California (USC), is a joint project with the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). TRUCCS is funded by the Field Initiated Studies Program of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement Grant No. R305T000154.
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Introduction Los Angeles. The city of dreams. The city of dream crushers. On any given day, a jubilant actor finally gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, only to have his acceptance speech upstaged by a cacophony of police sirens. Just a block or two away, an unlucky tourist is simultaneously being swindled, mugged or worse. When described by outsiders, L.A. is alternately portrayed as mythical and incorrigible--a two sided postcard. On one side are the lush and extravagant images of Malibu Beach, Beverly Hills, and Rodeo Drive. On the other is the jungle-like guerrilla warfare of the reckless inner city. Los Angeles is certainly mercurial, unpredictable, and indeed violent. The models in this essay collection were voluntarily submitted by English 28 students (plus an English 64 narrative essay) from Los Angeles Trade Tech. during fall semester 2000. full text |
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Drive-by Many people have experienced a drive-by shooting before. Some are the victims and others are the people who commit these crimes. Either way, these shootings are very horrifying. You feel your adrenaline rush 100 miles an hour. People who can't run will soon find themselves hopping over gates and hitting roofs tops. The sad truth is that people die as a result of these shootings. Bullets don't carry names. They fly in all directions killing innocent people. full text |
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Living in the City
of Florence I live in an inner city, low-income neighborhood that is located in South Central LA. I have been living in this neighborhood for nearly twenty-two years. The exact location of my neighborhood is between Gage and Slauson Street. Although some people call it L.A, it is originally the city of Florence. Even though I live in a low-income neighborhood, there are many things that make it a unique neighborhood. My neighborhood is composed of a mixture of old and upgraded houses. Driving throughout out my neighborhood, I can predict the kinds of activities that take place on a daily basis. Since there are many businesses in my neighborhood, the streets are always busy. full text |
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Call for Papers | |
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Academic Exchange Extra invites reader responses to any writings in this issue--especially articles advancing the scholarly debate of issues raised. |
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You are invited to join AE Extra staff!
Send your ideas and/or writing sample to the current Editor-in-chief: Karen Heise, University of Northern Colorado
Editor-in-chief for this issue: Phil Brocato, University of Southern California
, Web Editor