Cardinal’s sermon on the mount prays for peace on the border

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MOUNT CRISTO REY, N.M. – On the narrow edge of a cliff more than 2,000 feet up Mount Cristo Rey, the march came to a sudden halt. The slight morning chill of fall settling in the desert became more apparent, blowing past a slow procession ambling in both directions. The line of trekkers had been backed up all the way to the 11th Station of the Cross: Jesus is nailed to the cross. This was truly a pilgrim’s Passion play. On the morning of October 31, an estimated 30,000 followers celebrated the Feast of Cristo Rey, an annual pilgrimage and Mass at Mount Cristo Rey. The approximately five mile procession to the top of the 4,675-feet-high peak brought young and old throughout the border region together for different personal reasons but united in faith.

Bullying words in cyberspace hurt worse than sticks and stones

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EL PASO, Texas — Advances in communication on the Internet lifted what once was school-yard bullying to a new mean-spirited high-tech level. The negative consequences of bullying have become a growing problem in schools around the world in the last 10 years, rising to a tragic level. Many victims feeling alone and without relief resort to acts of violence against those who hurt them or commit suicide. “Cyberbullying occurs when the victim is probably totally alone and thus, possibly more prone to reacting negatively, even to the point of suicide, as no one is there for him/her to talk to in person,” according to Dr. Don Combs, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso. “Physical bullying, of course, creates the great possibility of physical harm, even death.

Out of your comfort zone: What led me to an internship… I don’t like comfort zones

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There was once a time in my life that I felt I would never break into the degree professions.  I knew I would never be a high level executive, unless I started from the bottom and worked exceptionally hard. I also knew that many of my dreams would be inaccessible without a degree.  Teaching English abroad, working in government, becoming a broadcaster; all these things are out of reach for someone without a degree, or at least trying to gain one. One day, that changed when I made the decision to get back into school after a three-year break after graduating high school.

La muerte del periodista Salazar: ¿accidente o asesinato?

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Read this story in English

Dos primos mexicanos mueren a manos de la policía de Los Ángeles en un caso de identidad errónea. Dos agentes del Departamento de Policía de Los Ángeles (LAPD por sus siglas en inglés) le dan una advertencia a un importante periodista referente a su cobertura del fusilamiento. Poco después, el mismo periodista se reúne con altos funcionarios de la U.S. Civil Rights Commission (Comisión sobre los Derechos Civiles de EE.UU.) para decirles que sospecha que está siendo perseguido por la policía. Saca todo de su billetera y despeja el escritorio de su oficina. Días más tarde, está muerto por un proyectil de gas lacrimógeno de 10 pulgadas de largo que disparó un asistente del alguacil de Los Ángeles.

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.

Journalist Rubén Salazar’s Death — Accident or Assassination?

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40 Years Later, Questions Persist

Lea esta historia en español

Two Mexican cousins are killed by Los Angeles police in a case of mistaken identity. A prominent journalist is cautioned by two LAPD officers about his coverage of the shootings. A short time later, the journalist meets with staffers of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and tells them he suspects he’s being followed by police. He cleans out his wallet and clears off his office desk. Days later, he is dead.

Media Report – November 15, 2010

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CONGRATULATIONS

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists announced Nov.9 winners of its video contest “Tell Us Your Story.” Jackie Díaz of Silver Spring, Md., won in the professional category, and Paula Machado of Central Florida University won in the student category. In the announcement Ada Alvarez wrote, “As journalists, we tell stories every day. We represent those who wouldn’t have a voice if no one told their story. This time, 15 people told theirs.”

NAHJ is increasing its efforts to return to financial stability. Its 2010 convention did not produce enough revenue.

These dancers don’t dance to salsa – they make salsa

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EL PASO, Texas – Dancers covered themselves from head to toe in tomato juice to express their love for food at the annual Chalk the Block art festival. “For this piece I really wanted to create an environment in which people could come inside and get immersed in all the living plants and the green. Then, hopefully take home some ideas,” said visual artist Christine Foerster about Bio.Domo.Sis, her latest installation. Emily Morgan, a University of Texas at El Paso Dance department instructor, collaborated with Foerster to incorporate a dance that would highlight locally grown food. Foerster focuses on a couple of ideas that help put together the Bio.Domo.Sis.

A soldier finds it hard to shed the war in civilian life

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — This Fourth of July, the Cardona family had more to celebrate than just America’s independence. Juan Cardona had just returned from his second deployment to Iraq and was enthusiastically greeted by friends and family at his parents’ home. But Cardona wasn’t exactly comfortable with the sight of so many smiling faces. “I don’t like being around, like, large crowds. I always kind of have to keep my back to a wall.

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.

El Paso goes orange for a day

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EL PASO, Texas — A proclamation by the city of El Paso named Friday, November 12 as El Paso “Miner Orangeville” day to mark the basketball season opener against Pacific with Coach Tim Floyd. Coach Floyd was assistant to Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins from 1978-1986.  The team will wear Texas Western uniforms for the first game.  The University of Texas at El Paso was formerly Texas Western College, from 1949 to 1967. It was in 1966, under Coach Haskins, that Texas Western College fielded the first-ever all black starting team in a NCAA Championship game and then won the championship. Just as Coach Haskins broke barriers with the 1966 team, Borderzine.com breaks through borders of all kinds with journalism.  Join us in the celebration by wearing UTEP orange on that day and in continuing to overcome barriers. Go Miners!

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.

Los Pistoleros de Texas’ Music Straddles Two Texas Borders

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Texas has no shortage of musical groups influenced by the norteño and conjunto music that evolved along the U.S.-Mexico border. Los Pistoleros de Texas one-ups those groups by throwing another border into the mix: the Texas-Louisiana border. The band stirs up a spicy, accordion-driven gumbo that combines the border’s traditional Tex-Mex sounds with the Gulf Coast zydeco, country and blues prevalent in its hometown of Houston. That diverse musical approach drew enthusiastic applause at the recent 2010 San Antonio International Accordion Festival, where Los Pistoleros performed in October.  It’s also helped the band attract fans from across musical genres, leader Roberto Rodriguez explained.

UTEP mourns two students shot to death in Juarez

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EL PASO, Texas — The University of Texas at El Paso is mourning the death of two students who were gunned down in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Tuesday evening after they crossed the border on their way home. The UTEP community was invited to a memorial service Monday at 2 p.m. to be held just outside of the College of Business Administration where Manuel Acosta Villalobos, 25, and Eder Diaz Sotero, 23, both studied.  The two students lived in Juarez and commuted to the El Paso campus to attend classes, university officials said. The two were driving at about 8 p.m. when gunmen fired 36 rounds at their car, hitting both men multiple times, Chihuahua state police said. Acosta died at the scene and Diaz at a Juarez hospital Wednesday morning. “Our hearts are heavy today with the news of the deaths of UTEP students Manuel Acosta and Eder Diaz.

Immigrant high school graduates seek a pathway to U.S. citizenship

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EL PASO, Texas — Many of the 65,000 illegal immigrants who graduate from high school in the U.S. every year live under the entrapment radar, risking deportation at any time as they attempt to attend college or serve in the U.S. military services. According to statistics from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), most of these students in all grade levels have been raised in America, in American public school systems, American cities. Many only speak English and the American culture is what they know.  They have little left of their culture of origin. “It’s a very sad experience to forget where you came from because you’re accustomed to life here.  You could hardly remember that you came here from another country,” said a student who wishes to remain anonymous.  The student at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is an illegal immigrant because, like the thousands of illegal high school students who graduate every year in the U.S., this student was not brought to America by choice.  The parents made that choice. “It’s a difficult situation.

Sidewalk spectacle takes art to the people

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EL PASO, Texas — The metal giant’s arm reached out and grabbed a blue, two-door sedan with its six-foot long hydraulic metal fingers, raised it up as high as the street lights and then dropped it letting it crash on the asphalt below. Half a dozen junked cars waited for destruction inside a circle of steel barriers blocking off a section of downtown at Oregon and Mills St. at this year’s Chalk the Block art festival, The cleverly named Hand of Man was one of the main attractions, stopping crowds in their tracks as pieces of broken plastic and car hoses shot out at the feet of on-lookers. Crew-member Nathan Oswald explained that artist and creator Christian Ristow, “…wanted to be able to build something participatory.” Unlike many art pieces, the idea behind this installation, Oswald said, is to be something fun for the crowd to become a part of. Mario Castillo won a chance to control and set the sculpture in motion, through a local radio station’s call-in contest.

Resources are not the most important factor in student achievement

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Spending two hours at the school to see the challenges faced by rural schools in Mexico opened my eyes to reflect on my own teaching experience. What I saw was that education as the great equalizer is often unequal in the resources available to a school, but poor schools often equal equal academic success.

Being bicultural and bilingual propelled Mike Martinez to success

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EL PASO, Texas — Stepping out of a business meeting to negotiate his transfer from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Chicago, Mike Martinez looked out into a violent Chicago blizzard. “It was snowing horizontally,” he recalled. He had been promised a move to Spain — a dream job for him — but the company decided they needed his skills at a national office. It was Christmas Day. He called his wife in San Juan telling her about the storm and asked her, “So, how would you like to move to Chicago?”