Salt Lake City's West Side Story - Questions and understandings that were partly shaped by Prof. Buendia's upbringing in and interactions with Chicano and Mexicano communities in California are a part of his research interests. He will address the ways of trying to understand how power functions within certain spaces and in understanding why certain practices look the way they do. The relation of these practices to how and why and what are constructed among these particular areas will also be addressed. This presentation will examine the assumptions, labels, and understanding of the "West Side" of Salt Lake City. Dr. Buendia earned his bachelor's at California State University, Sacramento, and his master's and PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Who Sets Public Policy? - This presentation will be a brief description of selected public programs for low-income individuals and families in Utah and who is using these programs. From where do the rules and regulations come? Who really decides what should happen and who is funded? Helen Thatcher has worked for the State of Utah for 27 years and participated in the restructuring of Utah's welfare, job services, and training agencies in 1997. The Department of Workforce Services combined many of these services, resulting in more integrated service delivery. She has a bachelor's in Sociology and Social Work, and a master's in Human Resources/Labor Economics from the University of Utah.

A Day's Work, A Day's Pay tells both the human story and the political story. This documentary follows three people who are forced to work at city jobs for well below the prevailing wage and are deprived of the chance to go to school. These individuals decide to fight back, demanding programs that will help them get off welfare and into real jobs. This film is about mean social policy and the impressive efforts of grassroots organizations to fight back.

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