The study of oral history can net student scholars more than they bargained for. Including published books.

Los Herederos of Change and Esperanza, a Metro student organization, has produced two volumes through Beyond Chicanismo, its oral history project. Spurred by interest in the slayings of eight Colorado Chicano activists killed in the '60s and '70s and frustrated by a dearth of information available, students began tapping family members for names and uncovering contacts so they could capture the history on tape. Countless interviews produced the book, "Symbols of Resistance," published by Los Herederos of Change and Esperanza.

Since then the group has published a second volume, "The Struggle for La Sierra," which explores a historic land-use dispute in Colorado's San Luis Valley.

Assistant Professor of Chicano Studies Nick Morales, who advises the group, encourages students to be "producers of knowledge, rather than consumers." Morales points out that you sometimes find "land mines" in oral history projects when speakers are allegedly linked to radical activities or unsolved crimes. "We're here to talk about how they lived their lives, how they understood their oppression. We are not endorsing tactics used. We're just looking at it from a purely academic point of view."

The books are used in Chicano history classes around the state.