Cross-cultural Communications: A Latino Perspective
  Luis A. Rosado

Fifty years ago, the late Thurgood Marshall argued and won the landmark case that prohibited race based segregation, Brown V. Topeka. In this decision, Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that racially segregated schools were unequal and therefore illegal (Martin, 1998). This decision mandated school districts in the nation to integrate public schools and promote equal educational opportunities for African American students. In 1954, desegregation of schools was seen as a panacea for achieving racial and educational equality in the United States. However, the Brown mandate has not yielded the expected results for African American and Latino students (Jarvis, 1992; Noguera & Cohen, 2004; Wells, 1989).    full text >>> (with corrections 27 January 2005)

Laps
  Elie Antopol

My colleagues at the university sometimes ask me if swimming laps is boring. I answer that it might not be as diverting as hiking on a flowering mountain trail, or sailing on a sunny Long Island Sound. Next to these pleasures, merely going back and forth in a pool can seem dull, if aerobically invigorating. My aptly named friend Giselle, the dancer, tells me about the exhilaration of feeling herself moving through air when she dances. Well, that's the way I--and probably everyone else--feels about propelling our bodies through the even more palpable, thick medium of water. ...

Each lap is different, although you try to complete them in time as uniform as possible. But when you come out of the somersaulting and twisting turn and take your first stroke of the new lap, you are renewed, astounded by your own ability and fresh energy--provided, of course, you're in shape. And it may be fanciful, but to me these laps bear some relation to the stages of life--girlhood, beginning a career, courtship, marriage, motherhood, and if it happens, as it did to me, marriage separation too.    full text >>>

Theatre of the Absurd: The Parent/Teacher/Student Interview
  Larry Phillips

It was time for another parent/teacher/student interview. A ritual those parents who have students in elementary or junior high schools are familiar with. The format follows educational fashion. Once upon a time, students weren't allowed. Then, students were seen and not heard. Now some students write, produce, direct, and star in videos about their learning. But, the essential components of the interview haven't changed--providing a time for affirming, a time to be re-assured that a student is doing fine, that homework is up to date and marks are satisfactory. Many parents may even want to know if their child gets along well with classmates. However, not all interviews follow such a topic script.

To see how the ritual usually unfolds, let's look at Julie's interview. Julie is a junior high school student and her interview takes place in a brightly-lit school library. There are several low, round computer tables, each with four or five chairs, spread throughout the room. There are about 15 interviews taking place at one time and, consequently, there is a lot of movement and ambient noise. The principal greets Julie and her parents as they enter the room. Then the librarian, working from a large schedule, directs them to a table to wait for the teachers. Julie's father first gets a coffee from the cart in the corner and then the family sits down. Conversation ensues...    full text >>>