C-ya ‘round suckas!

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EL PASO, Texas — It is The Prospector tradition that the graduating seniors write a goodbye column.
 So, now that my time here at UTEP is coming to a close, I can’t help but take a look back at my journey. Years ago, if anyone asked me what I was going to do with my life, I would not have had an answer. But now that I am graduating, I am excited to say that I have an answer to that question –a journalist. There are many people out there that will say that journalism is a dying field and that the odds of finding a job are slim. The truth is that journalism is an evolving field and this is a very exciting time to be entering the workforce.

College Hoops Stars Wonder What Their NBA Future Holds

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EL PASO, Texas — New talent may have to put their pro dreams on hold a while longer if the NBA goes on strike for the 2011 season, which would be a new example of another professional sports letdown. Unless a new agreement is reached, the second NBA work stoppage in about a decade would take place in September 2011. How will the players who are still in college feel about this situation? From my personal experience as one of these college basketball players I find the NBA lockout as a true misfortune. I can’t help but question why this is happening at the time of my graduation.

UTEP’s Randy Culpepper Can Fly on the Court and in the Classroom

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EL PASO, Texas — Dribble, swish, slam, fly and dunk. That describes Randy Culpepper —Conference USA’s 2010 Player of the Year. Although the junior shooting guard at the University of Texas at El Paso didn’t start out wanting to play basketball, Culpepper has turned into one of the best players ever to don a Miner uniform. That is a great accomplishment in itself since an array of great talent has played at the school, including Nate Archibald, Bobby Joe Hill and Tim Hardaway. Growing up in Memphis, Tenn., Culpepper originally started training as a gymnast long before touching a basketball.

Miner Fans — Show Pride in the Orange and Blue and Support Your Teams

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EL PASO, Texas — Taking a page out of Peter Griffin’s book of “you know what grinds my gears?” is our fan base here at UTEP. Our fan base has to be one of the worst fan bases in all of sports! You ask why? Well it’s because we have a fan base that is made up of a bunch of complainers and fair weather fans. We have the only fan base that I know of, that calls into a sports show and complains about an extra surcharge on tickets.

A Miners Season to Remember

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EL PASO, Tex. — As a student at UTEP for almost three years, I have never witnessed a basketball season as successful as the one this year’s UTEP team accomplished. For the first time in five years, the Miners’ regular season victories earned them an NCAA tournament bid. This season was a wild ride for the team as well as the fans. The Miners closed out the regular season with an impressive (15-2) record at home this year and an impressive (24-5) overall.

Miner Movie Makers Splash the Sun City on the Big Screen

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EL PASO, Texas — El Paso’s border culture generates nationwide interest because of its unique history —its Hispanic-Texican roots and cowboy folklore— and has been a signature element in many major films such as Glory Road and Border Town. But the border city has yet to produce a great filmmaker. Some students believe that filmmaking is almost a foreign concept at the University of Texas at El Paso, but Michael Huante and Joel Gannon and a few others hope that attitude will be changed by Miner Movie Makers, a new organization at UTEP that aspires to ignite a movement in film that goes well beyond the norm. The idea to start Miner Movie Makers originated in October when Stephanie Soto, who is now the president of the organization, was applying to grad school and realized that most film students at UTEP don’t have much to put on their resume. When she pitched her idea to Michael Huante, who is now the vice president and Joel Gannon, secretary, they jumped on board.

Richardson Passes on Strong Words to Kick Off Black History Month

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EL PASO, Texas — The charisma and the poise of El Paso basketball legend Nolan Richardson resonated in the entire room with the first few words he spoke in a deep commanding voice. “There was times when I wished I could just take my skin and just peel it off and turn white so I could be accepted because I knew I could do the job,” Richardson said. From a very young age, life was not easy for a young African American boy growing up in a predominantly Hispanic city

The former college basketball national champion coach and El Paso’s Segundo Barrio own son returned to The Sun City to keynote Black History Month at the University of Texas at El Paso and to help promote his new biography, “40 Minutes of Hell” by Rus Bradburd. Richardson addressed Miners of the past, present and future on his heritage, where he came from and how those things led him to become the sports star and humanitarian he is today. Richardson, famous for his powerful and motivational speeches delivered a message reminiscent of Martin Luther King Jr. He said King was influential in his life.

Miss Texas 2010 — A Killer Smile in the Pageant and a Killer Spike on the Court

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EL PASO, Texas — Last summer, she traded in her sneakers for high heels in hopes of becoming Miss El Paso.  A win meant gaining media exposure to launch her volleyball career and experience in front of the cameras for her journalism aspirations. It turned out to be the ace of her game. If being smart, talented, civic minded and articulate is what is needed to win beauty pageants, then UTEP Miner Kelsey Moore, who captured Miss Texas 2010 with no prior pageant experience, could just win Miss USA 2010 in Las Vegas this April. Although she entered the El Paso pageant with only one month to prepare, she astonished the pageant community by her intense focus and uncompromising determination to learn fast. She captured the Miss El Paso title in June and went on to win Miss Texas in September as well.

Sam Donaldson to Young Journalists: The future is Multimedia

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UTEP launches new Multimedia Journalism Degree

EL PASO—At the start of cybertime, back when 56K Internet speed was the norm, Sam Donaldson was at the forefront of multimedia journalism. Now, 10 years later, when high speed Internet is transforming journalism, Donaldson is encouraging prospective journalists to join the revolution. The legendary ABC newsman visited the University of Texas at El Paso Nov. 2, to announce the addition of the Multimedia Journalism Degree, which will enable students to gain multifaceted experience in the field. “This degree will enable you, and this university, to be in the forefront of looking at all these different platforms. At this university you will look at radio television, the Internet, print and look at all the ways you can communicate,” Donaldson said.

On the track to tier one

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The race to become the next tier one university in Texas has begun for seven emerging research universities now that Governor Rick Perry has signed Texas House Bill 51.

UTEP features alumnus Alfredo Corchado

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EL PASO — Alfredo Corchado’s fellow alumni, family and friends, gathered at University of Texas at El Paso recently to listen the award-winning Mexico Bureau Chief of the Dallas Morning News and this year’s Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Since his graduation from UTEP in 1987, Corchado has focused his writing on border issues and he continues to mentor and inspire young journalists who show a similar passion for investigative reporting. His family has supported his hard work and dedication and benefited from his example, said Linda Corchado, Alfredo’s youngest sibling, a Swarthmore graduate. “I’m very proud of my brother. He really opened up the world to me and made it accessible.