Asian Pacific American political involvement is not a new phenomenon, but it has clearly become a significant focus of attention for the Asian Pacific American population. Perhaps at no other period in Asian Pacific American history have so many individuals and organizations of different issue orientations participated in a wide array of political activities, especially in relation to American electoral politics, but also in the affairs of the Pacific Rim. At the same time, what has come to be taken as a quite expected occurrence in Hawaii, namely the election of Asian Pacific Americans to public office, has suddenly become a less than surprising novelty in the Mainland states with the election and appointment of Asian Pacific Americans to federal, state, and local positions in California and elsewhere. Most importantly, perhaps, Asian Pacific Americans have demonstrated that they, too, have resources and talents--financial, organizational, and otherwise--to advance their specific concerns in a host of political arenas, and to confront political issues and actions which are potentially damaging to their group interests and welfare. After decades of being politically disenfranchised because of laws preventing the naturalization of the pioneering immigrant generation, Asian Pacific Americans are now seeking access to major political institutions of our nation.

In many respects, our scholarly attention to this major community development has been extremely limited. Aside from the biannual Asian Pacific American National Roster: A Listing of Major Asian-Pacific American Elected and Appointed Officials, which is published by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, and the occasional newspaper articles on the subject, we lack both empirical data and theoretical perspectives for assessing recent Asian Pacific American political activities, especially electoral involvement. In an effort to rectify this glaring gap in our knowledge about the contemporary Asian Pacific American experience, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Los Angeles, with funding and support from the Southwest Voter Registration Project of San Antonio and the Research Committee of the UCLA Academic Senate, sponsored this study of the voter registration and political party affiliation patterns of Asian Pacific Americans in Los Angeles County.

The majority of California's students seeking higher education are enrolled in a community college and approximately a third are Latino. Yet as the number of Latinos in community colleges has risen, their degree completion and transfer rates lag in comparison to other major ethnic groups.

To investigate the academic aspirations and barriers of community college students, this mixed-methods case study focused on Latinos in a specialized learning community for students entering their first year. This research employed pre and post surveys among approximately 280 students enrolled in a first year learning community at a large urban community college in Southern California. Interviews were conducted with thirty-one students who were enrolled and successfully completed courses in the first year learning community. Additional students were interviewed who had previously been affiliated with the learning community but did not successfully complete their courses and were no longer enrolled. Interviews were also conducted with students who had successfully completed their second year at the community college and were employed in the specialized learning community as a Peer Assistant.

Findings demonstrate that students held greater aspirations to transfer than to complete an Associate or Vocational degree. The majority of participants from all student cohorts expressed aspirations to transfer to a public university. Although the surveys and interviews provided insight into students' aspirations, the cohort of first year students appeared to lack specific knowledge about which academic pathway led to their desired degree or career.

These students all reported complex barriers in balancing financial and personal responsibilities with their academic workload. Students who had participated in the matriculation process and received early academic planning through the learning community programming held more realistic perceived timelines to transfer, highlighting the importance of early access to counselors and academic planning to help students' overcome institutional barriers.

The majority of participants struggled to reach college transferable "gatekeeper" courses, where most students were placed in developmental English and Mathematics courses in their first semester. The study concludes with recommendations for future research and improved practices to address the high aspirations towards transfer and barriers that students face at community colleges.