Return to Table of ContentsApril 1998
LLOP Students Build Community Through Research Not all undergraduates get a chance to conduct public policy research that may influence their community. But for the past three years at UMass Boston, students in the Latino Leadership Opportunity Program (LLOP) have undertaken studies with findings that may prove valuable to the Latino community.
Next month, as part of the Gastón Institute Speakers' Series, LLOP students will present their research to the campus community, and this summer they will present papers at a national conference in Washington, D.C.
The program aims to match each student with a faculty mentor, said Maria Quiñones, LLOP regional coordinator and project manager at Gastón Institute. Students who do not conduct research complete literature reviews.
Through her study titled "Improving motivation for higher education in the population of Latino high-school students," Yesenia Heath is surveying Latino juniors at Dorchester High School. She hopes to create solutions to increase Latino youth aspirations toward higher education. Her mentor is Carol Hardy-Fanta, research director at the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and research associate at the Gastón Institute.
Paper's presented by last year's students included "The Impact of Welfare Reform on Latino Immigrants" by Meiver de la Cruz, "Representation of Latinos in State Government" by Jaime Mendez, and "Health Care Access for Latinos: A Jamaica Plain Case Study" by Magalis Troncoso.
In addition to providing research opportunities, LLOP is a source of support. "We try to do some activities that are fun activities, where they become a group and gain strength from each other," Quiñones said. "I think they have sense of community within the program."