The 9/11generation 10 years later

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EL PASO — I was 14 years old and a freshman in high school when terrorists hijacked two commercial passenger jet airliners crashing them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and another one into the Pentagon right outside Washington, D.C.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when that tragedy occurred almost 10 years ago. My mom was dropping me off at school when the radio station we were listening to was suddenly interrupted by an emergency news broadcast. They had just received word that an airplane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I was shocked and saddened because obviously I knew people had died, but what I did not know was how many more lives were about to be taken and how much devastation we were about to endure as individuals and as a nation. As I headed towards my homeroom class ready to watch Channel 1 News, as we always did every morning, most of us knew what had just happened.

Standing on the borderline, Obama embraces immigration reform

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EL PASO — President Barrack Obama embarked on a trip to Texas on Tuesday and paid a visit to El Paso to renew his push for immigration reform reminding us that America was built by immigrants and that we should welcome those who are willing to embrace our ideals. “It doesn’t matter where you come from. What matters is that you believe the ideals on which we were founded, that you believe all of us are equal,” said Obama. “In embracing America, you can become American. That is what makes this country so great.”

Immigration reform has been a long hot-button issue for both Democrats and Republicans and with the 2012 elections heating up, both parties are taking advantage of bringing the topic up to Congress and citizens all over the country.  In his speech, Obama mentioned that there are 11 million people who are in the United States illegally and although he has sympathy for them stating that they are just trying to earn a living, what it comes down to is that they are breaking the law.

Posters call for trolleys to unite border cities instead of more fences

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EL PASO – A multimedia artist from New York City is on a mission to revive the historic trolley system that once breached the borderline joining Ciudad Juarez to the Sun City. “I’m a firm believer that we should build trolleys, not walls,” said native El Pasoan Peter Svarzbein. His one-man ad campaign – the El Paso Transnational Trolley Project, – is provoking talk about a future connection between the sister cities. Public transportation in El Paso and Juarez began with that trolley service in 1881. They were not electric streetcars, but rather horse and mule-drawn trolleys.

It’s not your mom’s military anymore – Women in the service seek a combat role

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EL PASO – A military advisory panel recently recommended that the Pentagon do away with a policy that bans women from serving in combat, dismantling the last major area of discrimination in the armed forces. In the past, the U. S. armed forces have had to overcome the barriers of racial prejudice and rules against gays serving openly in the military. The call by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission (MLDC) to let women serve in the front lines of combat could set in motion another wave of changes in military culture. This newest proposal was sent by the  MLDC to Congress and to President Barak Obama. “It’s not that women aren’t ready – we are ready.

My intern advice: if you don’t ask questions, you never learn

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EL PASO, Texas — As a senior majoring in multimedia journalism at UTEP I knew I had to obtain some work experience in my field to get my foot in the door after I graduate. This semester I was able to land an internship with KVIA ABC 7 to learn how to become a producer. Being a news junkie I thought I had this in the bag. This was not the case. Although I eventually got the hang of it, I first had to learn how to overcome obstacles.