Lisa Elliott, assistant professor at EPCC, and Bobby Gutierrez, senior lecturer at UTEP, present student work at the third annual Student Film Festival. (Alejandro Alba/Borderzine.com)

Film festival gives students a greater audience for their work

EL PASO – Film students from the University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College yanked their movies out of their computers and projected them for everyone to view at the third annual Student Film Festival. “The biggest tragedy in filmmaking is for a film to stay in a hard drive. This is what you want, a venue where people can see your work,” said Robert Gutierrez, digital media production professor at UTEP. Gutierrez said the collaboration between the two schools worked as a pipeline so that EPCC students can see what to expect when they transfer to UTEP. “I think the students, before, used to produce for just their friends, but now they know that other people are watching, so that raises their quality of their work,” Gutierrez said.

Trashion show: Recycled trash into fashion

EL PASO — For the most part fashion design has a reputation for superficiality and a lack of concern for the planet, but this year designers in the technology program at El Paso Community College (EPCC) decided to change that perception with a Trashion Show. “In a way it’s like helping the world and it’s not only about the fashion but about having satisfaction of helping out,” said one of the designers, Zayra Estrada. Students and other collaborators said this is a way to help spread consciousness about recycling. “You can be fashionable without being abusive and use resources wisely,” said Fashion Technology coordinator, Trish Winstead. Five talented students from the Fashion Promotion class displayed their pieces made of recyclable materials at this year’s Trashion Show in commemoration of Earth Day.

Anxiety problems in college students rising

UTEP/EPCC Voices of Anxiety

EL PASO, Texas – There are little anxieties everyone experiences from day to day: an approaching deadline, an important dinner, or a first impression. Yet when the feeling of being on edge fails to stop, there is high chance you or someone you know might have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders have become, now more than ever, even more prominent in college students. According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), over the past fifteen years, there has been a steady increase of college students – regardless of gender, age, or ethnicity – seeking help at their campuses for dealing with intense anxiety. In the context of college, having anxiety could mean decreasing the student’s ability to perform well or effectively in school.