Learn about economy in fact-finding tour
By CYNTHIA MORENO / Vida En El Valle
(Published Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 10:40AM)
FRESNO -- While some students are riding the wave of the economic meltdown, others are looking to find solutions to the problem -- even if they have to use their entire summer vacation to do it.
"These are very interesting times. We are witnessing a rise in injustices and political structures that are failing us," said Maira Pérez, 15, a sophomore at Kentlake High School in Kent, Wash., who visited Fresno last week.
Pérez and 40 other students are traveling to cities in the western United States, including in California, Oregon and Washington, to learn about the localized effects of the economic crisis.
The 13-member group made a pit stop in Fresno as part of its tour, meeting with various community leaders and organizations.
"Fresno definitely has a different set of problems that set it apart from other parts of the state that we have visited so far," said tour participant Stephanie Martínez, 21, a graduate of Oakland's Castlemont High School.
Pérez and Martínez decided to forgo their summer fun to tour 11 cities in California that are suffering because of the economy. The tour, which kicked off in early June, is expected to last through mid-August.
The two were selected in the spring to represent their communities as part of a collaboration between the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center of Oakland and the Institute for Community Leadership of Seattle. They are gathering people's stories about the effects of the economic crisis.
