From left to right: Vikki Steeneveld, foreign exchange students studying social work, Corene Seymour, social work graduate student, Samia Gramida, environmental sciences graduate student, and Oscar Lozoya, interdisciplinary studies graduate student, hold the "Global perspectives on access for people with diverse abilities" panel to discuss the role disabled people play in their cultures. (Aaron Martinez/Borderzine.com)

Disabled persons confront negative cultural attitudes

EL PASO – Oscar Lozoya, a blind graduate student at the University of Texas at El Paso, says he realized early in his life that the attitude toward disabled people in Mexico where he grew up is generally very negative, forcing many to hide their disabilities. “The feeling most people in our [Mexican] society have towards disabled people is that of pity, not of deep human compassion, but one of negative feelings,” Lozoya said. “In Mexico, it is hard to get a true count of how many disabled people there are, because disabled people and their families will hide it, so they won’t have to live with that stigma.”

Four international students at the University of Texas at El Paso shared their experiences of living with a disability in their country of origin at a meeting entitled “Global perspectives on access for people with diverse abilities.” The panel discussion examined how persons with disabilities are treated in different cultures, by governments and because of their social standing. Afraid of being stigmatized, Lozoya, who is engaged in interdisciplinary studies at UTEP, did not seek out government or social help for his blindness. While special education is available in the Mexican education system, Lozoya said he believes it harms the students more than it helps them.

Conscience of a community activist

Recently, I shocked a fellow worker and a few others by outing myself as a Latino community activist.  An “Activist” he said accusatorially. “You cannot be a Latino community activist and an advocate for other causes.”  Some people, he added may object to a person who has a strong commitment to a particular group. His response both surprised and offended me. While there is a good point in the sense that there is a negative side to being obsessive about commitment, we cannot forget that both he and I are committed to making sure the Civil Rights legislation of 1964 benefits all Americans –regardless of what the word preceding the hyphen appended before the word American and that is used so often and divisively in our diverse society. I am reminded that while some may color the word activist with a subjective shade, activism is at the core of the evolutionary rather than revolutionary change in our society.

Summer internship redefines life for UTEP grad student

EL PASO, Texas — It has been just over 20 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was created to provide supplemental needs and rights to disabled Americans. It has been just over 17 years that a car accident changed a young boy’s life. Within those 17 years UTEP graduate student Adrian Villalobos has witnessed how the legislation has affected his life, and is still improving the rights of disabled Americans. “The notion of inclusion and accommodation of disabilities in society allows us to fuse together as a community,” said Villalobos, 25. “If people of disabilities are not allowed to participate in community settings we are putting them to the side.