UTEP offers solace to its Mexican students

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EL PASO, Texas — The office of the vice president for student affairs at the University of Texas at El Paso has issued a letter addressed to students commuting to class from Mexico, encouraging those who may be experiencing difficulty coping with the recent murders in Juarez of two UTEP students to utilize the services the university provides. “The recent loss of students, Manuel A. Acosta and Eder A. Diaz, has been a difficult situation for the entire UTEP community. I am aware that for those of you who live in Juarez and other parts of Mexico or those of you who have immediate family there may be experiencing that loss more acutely,” said Dr. Richard Padilla, Vice President for Student Affairs. Padilla encouraged the UTEP student body to watch for students who may be struggling with the recent tragic events. “Let them know that there are people on campus who may be able to help.

UTEP helps students and faculty deal with tragedy

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EL PASO, Texas — Last week tragedy struck the University of Texas at El Paso when students Eder Andres Diaz Sotero, 23, and Manuel Acosta Villalobos, 22, were gunned down in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Many alike have felt the effects of the violence unfolding in Juarez the past three years. But like many students, faculty members are significantly impacted by the violence across the border. While much can be said about the counseling efforts given to students dealing with tragedies faced daily in Juarez, little is known about the resources available for faculty to help combat the stresses their students have encountered. “There’s a group of offices that give the professors the support for them to work with students in the classroom,” said Catie McCorry-Andalis, UTEP assistant vice president for student life and associate dean of students.

The killing streets next door

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EL PASO, Texas — Generations of Mexican students have been commuting to the El Paso campus of the University of Texas for almost a hundred years. Two of them were murdered in Juarez last week, riddled by 36 high-powered bullets as they drove home in a residential neighborhood where one of them lived. Manuel Acosta, 22, drove his red Nissan Sentra from UTEP across the line on the early evening of November 2 to Colonia Rincones de Santa Rita where his passenger Eder Diaz, 23, lived only to die four hours later at a hospital. They were gunned down at the intersection of De La Arbolada and Manglares streets in their car near Diaz’ house. Those of us who teach here in this beautiful campus now worry about the safety of every one of the some 1400 students who cross the bridge to study here and then go home late in the day, every day.

More reaction to the killing of two UTEP students

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EL PASO, Texas — The murder of two University of Texas at El Paso students continues to reverberate on campus, eliciting reactions from students, faculty and administration. “It really pains me,” said Dr. Gina Nunez-Mchiri, professor of Anthropology and Sociology at UTEP. “They’re our students… We know people who are losing family members to the violence and it affects us. It takes our sleep away.

Hundreds of Juarez students commute daily to class at UTEP

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EL PASO, Texas — A young man catches a ride with his friend and they make their half hour trip home from school across the international port of entry into the streets of the most dangerous city on the U.S.-Mexico border. Manuel Acosta, 22, drove his red Nissan Sentra from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to the Colonia Rincones de Santa Rita where his friend Eder Diaz, 23, lived with his parents in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The trip home was routine to both students. Chihuahua State Police reported that a group of masked men armed with .223 caliber rifles similar to the NATO military rifles intercepted them at the intersection of De La Arbolada and Manglares streets in near of Diaz’s house. The assailants fired 36 shots killing Acosta at the scene and fatally injuring Diaz, who died in the early morning hours of November 3 at a hospital in Juarez.

Ciudad en cenizas, o cómo vivir una vida a lo gringa movie

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I suspect our city
will soon be laid to ashes
Our island city
Rowing out over the river in the dark
They have divided. Eleni Sikelianos
EL PASO, Texas — Una sabe que las cosas no andan bien del otro lado cuando lee el periódico, lee las notas en Internet, escucha los helicópteros por las noches o los comentarios de queja, enojo o lamento en redes sociales como Twitter o Facebook. Una sabe que Ciudad Juárez lo está pasando realmente mal. Una, además, tiene el descaro de enterarse de todo esto desde la comodidad de su hogar en el otro lado, en El Paso. No es lo mismo, en efecto, que Una se duela de lo que ocurre más allá de la línea cuando se está aquí.

Hundreds mourn slain students at UTEP memorial

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El PASO, Texas — Sobbing students and family members held each other as the sound of Amazing Grace filled the open air of the campus plaza. Every hand gripped a tissue ready to dab the tears flowing from behind dark sunglasses. The College of Business Administration at the University of Texas at El Paso, hosted a memorial on November 8, for students Eder A. Diaz, 23, and Manuel A. Acosta, 22, who were shot to death in Cd. Juarez, Mexico on November 2. “Manny and Eder came to this University to study at our College of Business Administration,” said Dr. Robert Nachtmann, dean of the COBA.

Remembering Eder on a breezy autumn afternoon

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EL PASO, Texas — It was a beautiful autumn day on the UTEP campus on Monday November 8, one that would have been great for just sitting out in the sun and enjoying the weather with Eder Diaz and Manuel Acosta. But instead, this cool breezy afternoon served to gather some 400 friends and family in an unplanned memorial for them.  Both were shot to death in Juarez on November 2. Eder was the one I knew. The first day I met him we were sophomores at Cathedral High School on lunch break. He came up to me and asked if I remembered him.