Workers @ Stanford and LIP/WIP

Alright, so I have to realize that not only is this quarter going by real fast but also the whole year, so it's time for strategically focusing my energies. Nowing how long it takes to conduct ethnographic type work that does not follow the more elitist traditional methods of anthropology, my Workers @ Midnight Project probably will not be the best concentration of my energies at this point. I think that if this LIP/WIP project takes off, that could become one of our first projects and we could begin planning it and getting faculty support and guidance. If we do this then it could be done very professionally and in a manner respectful to workers. It could also be more effective in actually changing student and administrative attitudes at Stanford.



Wounds in the Sand i-Documentary

What I've decided to do is focus on creating an interactive documentary based on the Wounds in the Sand ASB. I have tons of images from both this year's trip and last year's, some very interesting audio recordings of the Border patrol, the maquila manager, Cecilia, and even some recordings of the migrants we spoke to at the El Plan Retorno. I also have a lot of text and story from the writings that the other members are currently doing. There are simply tons of possibilities and I could really have a lot of fun with this and come out with a very impactful and attitude changing interactive documentary. I was thinking maybe I could even implant a pre/post attitudinal survey to measure the effectiveness of the i-Doc in changing attitudes and perceptions about undocumented immigrants.



Wounds in the Sand Conference

Beside this, there's that conference event that the Wounds in the Sand crew is planning. I think we could organize it in a way that it could really feed into creating action, especially if we have a LIP/WIP meeting at its conclusion where we invite all the student groups, workers and faculty doing work related to labor and immigration and also leave it open to students not yet involved. It could really be a powerful spring board into this summer and next year.