USC Annenberg School of Journalism News21

Nevada: Battered By A Perfect Storm

2009-07-27T10:31:39Z

An introduction to the issues facing the state of Nevada and the city of Las Vegas that are covered by this series.

Same-Sex Marriage in California’s Central Valley

2009-07-25T01:42:52Z

Porterville is the only city in California that endorsed Proposition 8 - the statewide law banning same-sex marriage.

Tribal Government Consultant On Enrollment

2009-07-16T22:23:15Z

Introduction

2009-07-18T05:14:11Z

Tribeless: A California Indian Fights To Get In

2009-07-16T03:21:36Z

As California Tribes Continue To Purge Members, Dissidents Struggle To Get An Audience

2009-07-16T13:36:48Z

Activist John Gomez Jr. On Own And Others’ Disenrollments

2009-07-31T17:19:30Z

Gomez On How Disenrollments Have Affected People

2009-07-30T17:28:06Z

Gomez On Forming Indian Civil Rights Organization AIRRO

2009-07-29T17:31:56Z

Slideshow: The Shifting Homeless Population of Las Vegas

2009-07-27T11:34:53Z

With a national recession preventing families across the country from taking in relatives without a roof over their head, or simply making a transplant unaffordable, a new layer of homeless in Las Vegas are seeking the aid of already cash-strapped social services.

How Nevada Busted Out

2009-07-30T06:20:01Z

An economic perfect storm has swept through the Silver State.

Homeless in Las Vegas

2009-07-30T06:32:59Z

Donor bases have dried up and the need for services is greater than ever. Being homeless in Las Vegas has never been tougher.

Fragmented Public Health Care: A Mother’s Plight

2009-07-30T06:34:16Z

Esperanza Cervantes-Sanchez moved to Las Vegas on the promise of fulfilling the American Dream. Soon after she arrived, she was living her worst nightmare.

How Nevada Can Win

2009-07-30T06:34:31Z

Nevada has long been dependent on the gaming industry to prop it up financially, but its future may lie in a different shade of green all together.

Video: Esperanza’s Hope

2009-07-30T06:37:44Z

Esperanza Cervantes-Sanchez reads the letter she sent to Sen. Harry Reid.

Energy and The Internet

2009-07-06T20:50:56Z

California Energy: An Overview

2009-07-20T21:49:22Z

The Smart Grid is Coming

2009-07-22T17:50:11Z

GE explains the Smart Grid

2009-07-22T17:45:16Z

Power Plant Fight In Chula Vista

2009-07-23T21:18:23Z

See How the Army Moves Hundreds of Desert Tortoises

2009-07-23T21:19:31Z

The Sunrise Powerlink

2009-07-23T21:23:17Z

Tortoises Stall State’s Largest Solar Project

2009-07-26T00:00:06Z

Map of California Desert’s Energy

2009-07-23T21:49:43Z

Interactive Map: The Imperial & Coachella Valleys

2009-07-21T18:24:42Z

Click on the blue dot in Riverside County to see an audio slideshow on the difficulties of farming in the Coachella Valley. Explore the two points in Imperial County to hear from workers crossing the border into the U.S. at Calexico looking for work and those harvesting melons in Holtville.

Beef - It’s What’s Not for Dinner

2009-07-19T06:12:27Z

Just when you thought traditional farming was suffering at the hands of the recession, watch a short video of Jack Vessey explaining the plight of the cattle farmer in the Imperial Valley.

Sleeping in Cars: The Grape Harvest in Coachella

2009-07-17T06:38:00Z

Hear from migrant workers who spend 1.5 months sleeping in their cars during the grape harvest season in Coachella.

The Forces of (Market) Nature

2009-07-23T22:08:16Z

Farmers are held hostage by the forces of supply and demand. In the Coachella Valley, those forces are exacerbated by development pressures and the harsh desert climate. Music composed and performed by Jacob Adler.

Farming in the Time of Economic Cholera

2009-07-24T00:30:26Z

California’s farm lands and its workers grapple with a shift from a labor shortage to a labor glut in a time of decreased consumer demand.

How Farm Workers are Paid and the Effects of the Quota System

2009-07-14T03:41:29Z

Get a sense of how farm workers are traditionally paid and how a system of quotas has become more rampant with the economic downturn. Hear from Megan Beaman Carlson on the negative effects that quotas have on workers.

Central Americans Spirited Away in the City of Angels, A Preview

2009-07-30T06:36:14Z

Los Angeles’ vibrant—and visible—Central American community has recently traded its traditionally Catholic mantle for a Pentecostal one.

To watch a brief audiovisual preview of the seven-section story, please press play.

Section VII: Spreading the Word

2009-07-30T05:59:10Z

Section V: A Mother, but not Mother Mary

2009-07-30T06:03:21Z

Section IV: The Redeemer and the Redeemed

2009-07-30T06:07:20Z

Section III: Layman’s Terms: From their Mouths, to God’s Ears

2009-07-30T06:15:38Z

Section II: They say a Little Prayer for You: Multi-platform Proselytizing

2009-07-30T06:21:25Z

Section VI: Pentecostalism: From Humble Beginnings to Dominant Presence

2009-07-30T06:00:51Z

Section I: Introduction

2009-07-30T06:31:45Z

Introduction

2009-07-31T18:54:52Z

The children of immigrants in California carry the legacy of their parents’ sacrifices and the promise of a better future for themselves and the state. But breaking free from cycles of poverty is a debilitating struggle. Latino youth in both Los Angeles and the iconic farm worker city of Delano face rigid barriers to social ascension.

Factors Determining Social Mobility

2009-07-21T05:59:40Z

Educational theorists Alejandro Portes and Ruben G. Rumbaut conducted the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study from 1991 to 2006. The results culminated in a theory about the influencing factors that determine upward or downward social mobility. Here, those factors are displayed, and the children of immigrants featured in “Breaking Through” are mapped according to their experiences.

Humble Roots, High Aspirations

2009-07-20T06:44:31Z

DELANO, Calif. — Growing up in poverty, with their parents working long, hard hours as field laborers, the odds seemed stacked against the Rodarte children. But sometimes struggle is the strongest catalyst for determination. In the City of Delano, home of the Latino civil rights movement and its iconic leader Cesar Chavez, the dynamic of the farm working culture itself seems to be motivating the children of immigrants to scale the social ladder.

Pushing the Barriers

2009-07-07T23:03:16Z

LOS ANGELES — Yesenia Zamarripas is about to enter her sophomore year at Crenshaw High School. Her Mexican parents speak very little English, and so it’s been hard for Yesenia to keep up with her peers. Now, the pressure is mounting, and there’s no time to fall behind. But resources are slim in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and there are very few options for getting extra help. Getting through high school is going to be tough.

Breaking Through - The Children of Immigrants in California and Social Mobility

2009-07-30T19:55:34Z

The success of second-generation immigrants is imperative to fill the top rungs of society. But waning resources and growing hostility toward immigrants and their children is reinforcing the barriers to social ascension. Many are trapped in the same cycles of poverty and low education levels as their parents. So how do they break through?

Facts and Figures: Los Angeles, Delano and California State

2009-07-02T07:03:25Z

California is 47th in the nation for per-student education spending. The state is 1st for prison spending. Suffering a severe budget crisis, the Los Angeles Unified School District has laid off 2,057 teachers and administrators since June, 2009.

Unlocking the Revolving Door: an Introduction

2009-07-29T00:54:44Z

Finding Hope in Incarcerated Women

2009-07-28T01:00:59Z

Moving toward rehabilitation

2009-07-25T01:06:43Z

Prop 36 and Drug Courts

2009-07-25T01:10:11Z

California voters passed legislation to keep more drug offenders out of prisons. Funding problems mean the burden for treating drug offenders is likely to fall onto the shoulders of cash-strapped counties.

Delta Water Story Map

2009-07-06T22:42:53Z

Clickable map with video.

Introducing: The Upstream Battle in the California Delta

2009-07-28T21:22:37Z

Salmon Aid 2009: Food, Festival and a Fight to Save the Endangered Fish

2009-07-14T07:05:40Z

Salmon Aid 2009 Festival - Oakland, California

2009-07-06T08:11:42Z

The Upstream Battle in the California Delta

2009-07-27T05:06:45Z

Preview: The Upstream Battle in the California Delta

2009-07-09T17:21:25Z

The Upstream Battle

2009-07-10T06:24:18Z

The Asian Face of Las Vegas: An Introduction

2009-07-23T02:51:54Z

An introduction to the series

Masterplanning Comes to Chinatown Las Vegas

2009-07-22T23:09:15Z

This kind of Chinatown wouldn’t be found anywhere outside of Sin City

Slow Success: The Story Behind the Best Thai Restaurant in America

2009-07-22T23:10:26Z

Gourmet Magazine named Las Vegas’s Lotus of Siam the “Single Best Thai Restaurant in North America”

No Debt Policy Sustains Nevada’s Lone Asian-owned Casino

2009-07-22T23:17:06Z

The only Asian casino owner in Nevada, Greg Lee keeps his border town casino afloat in the recession as other sink around him.

Tulare County Statistics

2009-07-22T19:36:19Z

Gay in California’s Bible Belt

2009-08-05T00:00:23Z

Mother, City Employee, Lesbian

Finding Success in Nevada: Interview with Zappos Founder, Tony Hsieh

2009-06-29T18:28:17Z

What the recession means for California’s competitiveness as a center of entrepreneurship

2009-07-22T23:57:46Z

Opporunities in a Downturn: Less Competition for Talent

2009-07-10T01:16:56Z

Interactive Map

2009-07-17T00:38:54Z

Click on the map to for an overview of the entrepreneurs that are profiled

Entrepenuers Look for Opportunities Abroad

2009-07-20T23:02:30Z

Startups Bootstrapping Through the Recession

2009-07-21T23:03:06Z

The Significance of SEIU

2009-07-25T21:11:44Z

A one minute slideshow on SEIU in California.

Rising and Falling: A Timeline

2009-07-22T02:51:47Z

Key dates to understand the SEIU civil war and the fallout of its San Diego campaign.

Union Warfare in California

2009-07-21T22:35:05Z

An interactive map to underscore the depth of the union civil war dividing healthcare workers all over California.

Broken Dreams Part I

2009-07-24T17:26:43Z

Disappointment at Rady Children’s Hospital and its effect on union growth in San Diego.

Broken Dreams Part II

2009-07-23T17:39:20Z

The union evaporates. San Diego remains the same.

Civil War in California

2009-07-23T00:25:13Z

A four minute radio piece exploring both sides of the civil war dividing workers in California, and its consequences.