The Raza studies program now has memorabilia for students, faculty and loved ones looking for a graduation gift at the Raza Studies Online Store.

Mugs, mouse pads and T-shirts for adults and kids are imprinted with the Raza logo. Other products carry Spanish catch phrases like “Mini-Mija," which translates to ,"little girl." One hundred percent of the proceeds are equally distributed to projects within the Raza program such as international study tours, events and the Community Service Learning program.

The site was launched two years ago by Raza studies instructor, Brigitte Davila. “The site started when I wanted to get a couple of my teacher’s assistants graduation gifts,” Davila explained. “I didn’t have much money so I decided to go onto the Web site CafePress.com to custom-make them something with the Raza logo on it and from there it was created.”

CafePress.com is a Web site that started in 1999 and prints almost anything, with the exception of copyrighted logos or anything that resembles a copyrighted logo, on merchandise. For a fee of $6 a month, users can personalize merchandise from the CafePress inventory, write descriptions for their products and sell them on the Web site. The site's inventory includes mugs, shirts and journals. Other departments at SF State, like the cinema department have also created their own products using the site.

“I’m not selling these clothes for personal profit, so it is really helpful that all I have to pay is the $6,” Davila said. “The great thing about CafePress is that they take care of the distribution and collect the payment for me.”

Davila said that the Web site gives her a price that she must charge for an item and from there she is allowed to raise the price. She usually raises it $3 more than the asking price.

Davila spends an average of an hour a week to touch up and add products to the site. On top of deciding which products should be marked as Raza studies goodies, she takes credit in designing the Raza logo found on the merchandise as well as on the Raza department's official Web site. But Davila doesn't mind the work-- she finds designing graphics and creating Web sites therapeutic.

Raza studies products can only be bought online and the most popular items have been the clothes for the “chavalitos,” which means "children" in Spanish. Most of the other products sold are usually bought as gifts for alumni or graduates.

Currently, Davila has done no marketing for the site, but in the future she hopes to work with marketing or graphic art students to help her with the promotion of the Web site. The store's creator also said that it would be great to find a way to get products into the SFSU Bookstore. “The response has been positive,” Davila said. “I’d like to keep this site going as long as I’m teaching here.”

Students are giving positive feedback and supporting the Web site. “I think that the clothes and notebooks I’ve seen on the site are really cute,” alumna Maria Alvarez said. “It’s great that someone in the department is taking it upon herself to contribute to such a wonderful program, especially since the budgets are already tight.”

“I’d sport a Raza studies T-shirt,” said junior Alex Saldovar. “I took a couple Raza courses and it’s a great major, so I think people should definitely support the site.”

To check out the Raza Studies Online Store, visit www.larazashop.com.