Applicant Funded	School, Dept., or Major	Project Title	Type of Project	Amount Awarded
Evelyn D. Cruz	Theatre Arts	Day of the Dead Theatre Arts Project	Faculty Research	$10,000
Alyson Ma and Susana Iranzo	Business	U.S.-Mexico Border Production and China: Is There a Real Threat?	Faculty Research	$4,000
Jaime Romo	Education	5 th Bi-national Border Pedagogy Conference	Faculty Research	$4,000
Elaine Elliott	Community Service Learning	Leadership in Cross-Border Development	Border Activity	$3,000
Angela Yeung	Music	USD Symphony & Chamber Music Ensembles Outreach Concerts in Tijuana	Faculty Research	$4,500
Shinpei Takeda*	Non-Profit Management Masters Program	Bei-Koku Kokkyou: The Plight of the Japanese Community in San Diego and Tijuana in Pre- and Post-World War II	Border Activity	$3,100
Lisa Chambers**	Business	MSRE 511-02: Tijuana Maquiladoras Roundtable	Border Activity	$500

*Denotes student proposal.
**Denotes mini grant.

Evelyn D. Cruz
diazcruz@SanDiego.edu
University of San Diego, Department of Theatre Arts
Day of the Dead Theatre Arts Project
Faculty Research
$10,000

Description of Project:
The writing of a Bi-national play that will explore the spiritual and socio-political context of the holiday commonly referred to as Dia de los muertos. Stories will be gathered from individuals living in the U.S. and Mexico (San Diego and Tijuana) that will reflect the themes and personal narratives of death and dying in the border region. Two staged readings will be presented, one in the Fall 2005 and one in the Spring 2006 in Tijuana and San Diego. A key out-come of this project will be the staging of a full production to be performed in San Diego and Tijuana. The eventual goal is the publication of the play and the research presented by experts in this field.

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Alyson Ma and Susana Iranzo
maa@SanDiego.edu
University of San Diego, Department of Business and Economics
U.S.-Mexico Border Production and China: Is There a Real Threat?
Faculty Research
$4,000

Description of Project:
The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between U.S. production in the maquiladora industry and the pattern of exports to the U.S. from China. It will focus on the impact of foreign competition from China on the supply-chain relationship between the border cities in California and Baja-California versus Arizona-Sonora, New Mexico-Chihuahua, and Texas-Nuevo Leon-Tamaulipas. This project involves gathering and analyzing data on production, wages, population, income, and trade between China, the United States, and Mexico. The goal is to study whether the maquiladora industry is losing U.S. market share to China. More importantly, the use of disaggregated industry-level data will help to highlight sectors in which Mexico has a comparative advantage relative to China due to the geographical relationship between the two bordering countries. The results will help to shape possible policy implications for the Mexican economy, more specifically, for the border cities along California and Baja California.

Project Outputs:
"The Effect of China on Mexico-U.S. Trade: Undoing NAFTA?"
[ PDF (180.50 KB) ]
June 14, 2006
Susana Iranzo, University of Sydney
Alyson C. Ma, University of San Diego

Abstract: Chinese trade flows have increased uninterruptedly in the last two decades as a consequence of China's "open door" and economic liberalization policies undertaken since the late 1970s. This surge of Chinese exports has raised concerns among many developing countries competing with China in the same sectors/products. In this paper we focus on the competitive effects of China on Mexico's exports to its most important market, the United States. Although China has long enjoyed larger export shares in products such as footwear, toys, lamps and lighting fittings, and luggage, recently it has also surpassed Mexico in exports in other sectors such as computer hardware. Despite the privileged tariff status set by NAFTA, Mexico seems to be loosing U.S. market share to China. Using detailed export data at the product line (HS-8) we assess to which extent China's increased exports can explain the trends observed in Mexican exports to the United States. We exploit the variation of NAFTA preferences at the product level as shifters of the elasticity of Mexican exports to U.S. total imports. While NAFTA did favor Mexican exports to the U.S., these seem to have been negatively affected by Chinese exports in the last years.

"U.S.-Mexico Border Production and China: Is There a Real Threat?
[ PDF (108.96 KB) ]
October 2007
Alyson C. Ma, University of San Diego
Rossitza B. Wooster, California State University, Sacramento

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of foreign competition from China on the supplychain relationship between the border counties in California and Baja-California versus Arizona- Sonora, and Texas-Nuevo Leon-Tamaulipas. Using data on U.S. employment and wages in four U.S.-Mexico border counties, we study the effects of increased trade with China. Using disaggregated industry-level data we find increased trade with China is associated with significantly lower city-industry employment and wages. In contrast, and as expected, increased imports from Mexico are positively related to increased employment and wages in U.S. Mexico border counties. The results indicate that the U.S.-Mexico supply-chain relationship related to the maquiladora industry is significantly affected by Chinese competition. Implications for policy include ongoing immigration reform efforts for Mexican workers and a need to carefully weight trade policy with China in such future reforms.

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Jaime Romo
jromo@SanDiego.edu
University of San Diego, Department of Education
5th Bi-national Border Pedagogy Conference
Faculty Research
$4,000

Description of Project:
In the U.S., dropout rates for Latinos and American Indians hover between forty and fifty percents, almost double that for African Americans and triple that for Caucasians (Kitchen, Velaquez & Myers, 2000). These outcomes reflect a local and contemporary expression of the de facto 'sharecropper education' that Blacks experienced so blatantly in the post-Civil War south. Educators need to develop new paradigms, therefore, that empower teachers, parents, students, and policy makers to transform the educational failures that are most observable in border regions and that are relevant to educational transformation and social justice everywhere. An emergent body of borderland educational research and best practices is poorly understood or supported, particularly in border regions. The 5th annual Binational Border Pedagogy Conference aspires to bring together many groups who have worked for educational equity in isolation, from both sides of the border, to clarity and build a new paradigm that addresses the complexities of borderland education.

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Elaine Elliot
elliott@SanDiego.edu
University of San Diego, Community Service Learning
Leadership in Cross-Border Development
Border Activity
$3,000

Description of Project:
USD's location next to the Mexican border provides an extraordinary opportunity for education in international development issues. Los Niños is a development organization with non-profit status in the U.S. and Mexico, and for over thirty years the organization has worked in Tijuana, becoming strong in grassroots leadership development. Students who come for weeklong or weekend service-learning immersion programs generate half of their annual budget. The Center for Community Service-Learning has been in dialogue with Los Niños' leadership regarding a collaborative seminar for USD students on international development that would include a strong service-learning component. This course would include six preparatory seminars with relevant reading, a weekend experience, and a final reflection paper. We would seek a group of 10-12 students for the pilot program and through pre and post assessment would evaluate the learning about international development. The long-range objective would be to establish this course, or some variation of it, as a regular opportunity for students at USD.

Project Outputs:
Written Report [ PDF (23.20 KB) ]
Syllabus for Seminar Course [ PDF (9.75 KB) ]

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Angela Yeung
ayeung@SanDiego.edu
University of San Diego, Music
USD Symphony and Chamber Music Ensembles Outreach Concerts in Tijuana
Border Activity
$4,500

Description of Project:
The USD Symphony, of which members form the core of the Chamber Music Ensembles, has established a wonderful tie with the Sinfonica Juvenil de Tijuana (SJT) to embark on joint performances in both Tijuana and San Diego. Through rehearsals and performances, members from the two ensembles get to interact and share not only their musical talents but their diverse cultural backgrounds. The USD Symphony Tijuana outreach also includes a musical presentation at a community such as an orphanage. The visit is always an eye-opening experience for many members.

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Shinpei Takeda
stakeda@ajaproject.org
University of San Diego, Masters Program in Non-Profit Management
Bei-Koku Kokkyou: The Plight of the Japanese Community in San Diego and Tijuana in Pre- and Post-World War II Border Activity
$3,100

Description of Project:
How many people today know that there is historically a substantial Japanese population in Tijuana? How many people today know that there has been substantial Japanese community here in San Diego prior to the World War II? Not only do we barely know about the very existence of these communities, but we have also failed to hear the stories of individuals, families and communities that have struggled, survived and thrived despite the tremendous hardship that was imposed upon them from the various historical and political agendas. This 30 minutes documentary short will intimately follow several Japanese individuals on the both sides of the border in an attempt to portray the US-Mexico border and its symbolical significance as an element of history in the lives of these individuals, their families and their community.

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Lisa Chambers
lchambers@SanDiego.edu
University of San Diego, School of Business - Real Estate
MSRE 511-02: Tijuana Maquiladoras Roundtable
Border Activity
$500

Description of Project:
As part of MSRE511B, the students will spend two days in Mexico, one with the EDC of Tijuana and the second with Tours Calafieros, which provides participants with an idea of health, environment, and labor concerns facing one representative community in Tijuana, about a mile from the US border. In addition, there are two panels for the students to learn the history of maqulladoras as well as to discuss the pros and cons of economic development along the border. These panels are scheduled for April 4 and April 24th. As part of the course, the students will be required to keep a journal of their impressions of the economic development initiatives along the border.

Project Outputs:
MSRE Roundtable 511
Assignment 3 - Investigation into Outsourcing [ PDF (17.25 KB) ]
Paul Gedye
University of San Diego
Spring 2006