Border Conference Commences

Beto Congress

S. David Ramirez, Staff Reporter • July 20, 2012

The fourth installment of the Border Conference on US-Mexico Competitiveness opened Aug. 7 at the UTEP Undergraduate Learning Center.

American and Mexican speakers representing leadership from the public, private and non-profit sectors are speaking about bi-national issues affecting the borderland.

“UTEP has been a national model for colleges and universities,” said Diana Natalicio, UTEP President in her opening remarks. “FromUTEP’s perspective, the ties between El Paso and Juarez are strong.”

The conference is expected to draw national attention to the concerns of individuals living along the American-Mexican borders.

Natalicio welcomed community members and visiting dignitaries, including Congressman Beto O’Rourke and El Paso County judge Veronica Escobar.

O’Rourke said that we, in the El Paso-Juarez community, understand the specific challenges that are unique to our area.

“We need that message to get out to the rest of the world,” O’Rourke said.

The conference continued with dialogs from US Ambassador, E. Anthony Wayne, to Mexico Ambassador, Eduardo Medina Mora.

Though the conference is ongoing, a majority of the conversation has been focused on the themes of education, economic development and creating partnerships between the public and private sectors.

John Steen, Texas Secretary of State, stressed the need to ensure the smooth operations of border communities.

The conferences proceeding will continue until 3 p.m. today.

About the Contributors

S. David Ramirez, Staff Reporter

S. David Ramirez is currently an English and American Literature major wrapping up his final year at UTEP. He has written for the Lakefront, the Thing Itself literary magazine, the Tejano Tribune and The Prospector. When not striving for journalistic excellence, he helps organize fandom conventions around the Lone Star State, including El Paso Wintercon and San Japan, San Antonio’s largest Japanese culture and anime convention. He hopes to spend his academic career educating the public about the dangers of Jane Austen and the medicinal benefits of reading the Brontë sisters. His research in popular culture studies has taken him across the nation and he hopes to continue presenting findings on music, media and literature at future conferences. David says his success is due to a pact with the dread Lord Cthlulhu of R’ley fame, but he may just be reading too much H. P. Lovecraft in his off time. He is currently applying to graduate schools for communication rhetoric or writing and rhetoric. If you, or someone you know, is on these admissions boards, please contact him directly.

Aaron Montes, Staff Photographer

Aaron Montes is a junior multimedia journalism student at the University of Texas at El Paso. He graduated from Burges High School in 2010, where he was the head photographer for three years with his yearbook organization, Hoofbeats, the newspaper, Stampede and a literary magazine, Pegasus. With The Prospector, Aaron has been a photographer, the photo editor and multimedia editor. His major contributions to the publication have come through coverage of the ASARCO and City Hall demolitions and with the bomb threat on campus March 28th. He plans on doing investigative reporting in political and economical issues in El Paso and nationally. He strives to become part of the Associated Press.