Skip to Main Content
Assayer of Student Opinion.

The Prospector

Assayer of Student Opinion.

The Prospector

Assayer of Student Opinion.

The Prospector

All content by Maria Esquinca

Je Suis Charlie?

Maria Esquinca, Copy Editor January 20, 2015

Two weeks ago, the offices of the magazine, Charlie Hebdo, were attacked by radical Islamists, which left 12 people dead. The magazine was notorious for publishing what many called Islamophobic depictions of the prophet Muhammed on their covers. The...

Continue Reading
Girl poses as someone that has been effected by domestic violence.

Domestic violence in LGBTQA community

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter December 2, 2014

A recent campus study revealed that bisexual women are more likely to experience sexual assault, compared to other members of the LGBTQA community. The survey, titled Sexual Attitudes Behaviors and Experiences Survey II, was conducted by the Women’s...

Continue Reading

El Paso shows solidarity for Mike Brown

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter November 25, 2014

Protest signs defiantly raised in the air, El Pasoan’s rallied in solidarity for Michael Brown in front of the county courthouse. The rally is one of many happening across the country after Officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot unarmed teenager...

Continue Reading

How the major TV networks censored you from Obama’s speech

Maria Esquinca, Reporter November 21, 2014

Last night, Obama announced his executive order on immigration, a major news item that was met with mixed responses. (http://www.vox.com/videos/2014/11/20/7256299/obama-executive-illegal-immigrants) In case you haven’t heard, Obama’s executive...

Continue Reading
Protestors gather in order to bring awareness to the unjust kidnapping and the possible murder of 43 college students in Ayotzinapa, Mexico.

El Pasoans unite for missing Ayotzinapa students

Forty-three empty metallic chairs glisten in the sun. Sitting in each chair is a fluttering black and white picture, one for each of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. “Forty-three chairs, 43 people and 43 biographies. So...

Continue Reading

Breast cancer procedure at higher rate in El Paso

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter November 18, 2014

A recent study by the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center at El Paso revealed that women in the city receive lumpectomies at a higher rate than the national average, but receive mastectomies at lower rates in early-stage breast cancer. The rate of lumpectomies,...

Continue Reading
No More: El Paso continues to stop  domestic violence

No More: El Paso continues to stop domestic violence

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter November 18, 2014

The numbers of domestic violence cases reported to El Paso’s District Attorney’s office reveal fluctuating figures. “On average, we get about 5,000 cases a year, it goes up and down,” said District Attorney Jaime Esparza. “We’re not unique,...

Continue Reading

Alexi Cruz, released from ICE detention, speaks to The Prospector

Maria Esquinca, Staff reporter November 12, 2014

UPDATE, NOV. 14 AT 2:00: Across 500 miles, Alexi Cruz’s two-year-old daughter is illustrated on a yellow poster. With an unflinching look, she holds a sign that says, “Release my dad.” Cruz, an undocumented immigrant who lives in San Antonio,...

Continue Reading
The UT Board of Regions meets to discuss UT Rio Grande's new mascot and school colors.

UT Board of Regents meet at UTEP, ASARCO on agenda

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter November 5, 2014

The University of Texas Board of Regents, the governing body for the U.T. System, is meeting at UTEP for two days to discuss budget line items. One of the agenda items that will be discussed tomorrow for approval is the purchase of approximately 443...

Continue Reading
Guy Fawkes Day will take place Nov. 5.

El Paso remains politically and socially inactive

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter November 4, 2014

Nov. 5 marks the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, which commemorates the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, a group of Roman Catholics led by Robert Catesby, who attempted to blow up the Parliament in England to fight for religious freedom. Since the 1600s,...

Continue Reading
A student observes prices for women’s Halloween costumes.

Sexy is the new black for women on Halloween

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter October 28, 2014

Halloween has become notorious for being the time of the year when women dress up in revealing costumes. Sheila Alves, senior graphic design major and vice president of the Women’s Honor Studies Society, believes costume options for women are limited. “I...

Continue Reading
Take Care of yourselves Women

Take Care of yourselves Women

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter October 14, 2014

The color pink, especially in October, has become emblematic of breast cancer awareness, but its bright hue is offset by the dreariness of statistics related to the disease. According to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, it’s estimated that in 2014 there...

Continue Reading
Family violence cases increase  in El Paso

Family violence cases increase in El Paso

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter October 7, 2014

This is part one of a three  part series examining domestic violence in El Paso and UTEP. Mug shots of people arrested because of family violence reveal more than faces. A study by the Texas Council On Family Violence revealed that the number of domestic...

Continue Reading
New flavors tease taste buds

New flavors tease taste buds

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter October 7, 2014

A plethora of unexpected flavors meet my tongue. Lemonade, grapefruit, pumpkin pie, honey, chocolate, they all meet my taste buds in their liquid form, an unexpected surprise to my pallet. Other flavors twist my tongue around and stab it with their bitter...

Continue Reading
Students participate in a MEChA meeting in support of chicano rights.

Hispanic label problematic for some

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter September 30, 2014

Not all people believe the label of Hispanic is an apt term, although Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 is nationally recognized as Hispanic Heritage Month. More than 78 percent of UTEP students are of Hispanic decent, according to the 2013-2014 factbook. Director...

Continue Reading

Congressman O’Rourke helps register UTEP students

Maria Esquinca, Staff September 23, 2014

Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) visited campus Sept. 23 to join the University Democrats in registering students to vote at the Union Breezeway. The event comes a few weeks before the Oct. 6 deadline to register to vote in the upcoming midterm...

Continue Reading
Truce: College Republicans and University Dems strive to get students to vote

Truce: College Republicans and University Dems strive to get students to vote

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter September 23, 2014

The upcoming Texas gubernatorial election between Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott has political organizations at UTEP racing against time and casting their differences aside. Whether it’s the University Democrats...

Continue Reading
County Judge William Moody speaks at the Democrat’s debate watch party.

Debate recap: Gubernatorial candidates differ drastically on abortion, health care and more

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter September 19, 2014

Gubernatorial candidates Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott squared off in their first debate Friday afternoon before the upcoming Nov. 4 election. Many students watched the debate at viewing parties on campus. Davis...

Continue Reading
Sophomore history major Tajei Lee Roy Harper plays guitar in front of the Library.

Some students chose passion, others chose security

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter September 16, 2014

Elizabeth II softly sings out onto the hot summer air, spewing notes on the C major pentatonic scale. “I broke Elizabeth the first. It seemed like a classy name for my classical guitar,” said Tajei Lee Roy Harper, sophomore history major, as he strums...

Continue Reading
Mexico Ambassador to the U.S., Eduardo Medina Mora.

[Photo] Ambassador discusses Mexico and U.S. relations as part of lecture series

Jasmine Aguilera, Editor-in-chief September 10, 2014

Mexico Ambassador to the U.S., Eduardo Medina Mora.

Housing grows with student population

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter September 9, 2014

Willie Quinn is a UTEP alumni who has been volunteering at the UTEP Heritage House, the campus’ historical repository, since 2001. He runs his finger along a long laminated map, “This is how Vet Village fits into the scheme of things,” Quinn said. The...

Continue Reading

Fight for equality opens door for African-Americans

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter September 9, 2014

954, Thelma White, a young African-American valedictorian from Douglas High School—El Paso’s only black high school—walked onto the dull gray cement steps of UTEP, then known as Texas Western College, in a brave attempt to do a very unordinary...

Continue Reading
Nash would have been UTEP women’s basketball’s senior leader on the court in 2017, instead, she found herself in federal court.

Once on the back burner, now at the forefront

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter September 9, 2014

When Monica Lopez, senior kinesiology major and a member of the track team, practices on the track, she does so without the fear of persecution. She doesn’t have to worry about jumping the chain link metal fence that surrounds the track with the shadow...

Continue Reading

Study reveals disparities in media coverage of Ferguson

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter September 4, 2014

A new study reveals significant differences in prime time coverage by three major news outlets of the protests in Ferguson, Mo..  MSNBC, Fox and CNN differed in the amount of coverage provided after the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. According...

Continue Reading
Union hosts Welcome Back Block Party

Union hosts Welcome Back Block Party

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter August 27, 2014

Jam-packed with music, food and games, Union Programs launched their Welcome Back Block Party Wednesday at the Union Breezeway from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Block Party is kick-starter for upcoming fall events such as the Get Reel Film series, High...

Continue Reading
UTEP ranked No. 8 in Washington Monthly Magazine's national universities report.

UTEP is No. 8 best national school, according to Washington Monthly

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter August 25, 2014

UTEP has won the No. 8 spot in Washington Monthly Magazine’s 2014 National University Rankings report. The university once again ranked No. 1 in social mobility, but dropped in rank from the 2013 report, which placed UTEP at No. 7. This marks the...

Continue Reading

Michael Brown’s death a reproductive justice issue

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter August 19, 2014

The day Michael Brown got shot by a white cop, who was now been identified as Darren Wilson, my Tumblr feed had blasted with posts dealing with the issue. Photo sets and articles about police brutality, racism, oppression and chaos were all there mixed...

Continue Reading

New FOIA bill will allow for more transparency

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter July 22, 2014

The Freedom of Information Improvement Act of 2014, a bill that would amend FOIA, has been drafted by senators John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and has been introduced to the U.S. Senate. The Freedom of Information Act is a federal law...

Continue Reading
Disparities between male and female tenured professors still prevalent

Disparities between male and female tenured professors still prevalent

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter July 15, 2014

National statistics and trends reveal that women have lower percentages of tenure track positions than men despite a higher number of women entering the doctoral fields. The number of women receiving tenure counters trends of women receiveing degrees...

Continue Reading

You are beautiful

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter July 14, 2014

Editor’s note: Maria Esquinca is a staff reporter at The Prospector and recently visited Indonesia for a study abroad program. A giant gold Buddha stands atop a pointed column on the roof of a temple. His golden skin reveals a bare, bulging,...

Continue Reading
Peace lovers

Peace lovers

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter July 14, 2014

    Editor’s note: Maria Esquinca is a staff reporter at The Prospector and recently visited Indonesia for a study abroad program. We drive through the streets of Samarinda, Indonesia, beside the metallic plated domes of the...

Continue Reading
A woman waits to leave the boat for Harapan Island.

Harapan Island

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter June 23, 2014

Editor’s note: Maria Esquinca is a staff reporter at The Prospector and is currently in Indonesia for a study abroad program. The boat arrives at the port cutting through crystalline blue waters amidst the shouts of both the people on the boat and...

Continue Reading
An orangutan asks for food at the KRUS Botanical Garden.

The Boat Ride

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter June 20, 2014

Editor’s note: Maria Esquinca is a staff reporter at The Prospector and is currently in Indonesia for a study abroad program. Through the small cracks of the windowsills enters the potent scent of fish. It travels from the sea released by the carcasses...

Continue Reading
A python is seen at KRUS National Park.

Indonesia—A Tale of Two Cities

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter June 18, 2014

Editor's note: Maria Esquinca is a staff reporter at The Prospector and is currently in Indonesia for a study abroad program. The giant leaves of trees larger than my torso loomed out into the sky as we drove into the core of Indonesia’s capital,...

Continue Reading
Study shows graduate student debt rises to $1.2 trillion

Study shows graduate student debt rises to $1.2 trillion

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter May 6, 2014

A 2014 report titled “The Graduate Student Debt Review,” by New America Foundation, a non-partisan public policy agency, analyzed recent data by the Department of Education and revealed that much of the $1.2 trillion student debt is a result of graduate...

Continue Reading
Paid internships pave the way to jobs, upaid—not so much

Paid internships pave the way to jobs, upaid—not so much

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter May 6, 2014

Amber Morrison, senior creative writing major, devotes 10-15 hours per week researching sneakers. Huddled over a computer screen, she tries to learn everything about them. Jordan’s, Nikes, Rebok, Adidas, Asics, the list goes on. She tries to learn what...

Continue Reading
Maximo art society member welcomes gallery goers.

Campus organization aims to put art students on the map

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter April 29, 2014

A blank white wall is slashed angrily with red paint. The wall seems to bleed through the jagged sharp lines. Crimson roses erupt from the center and have been delicately placed atop the jagged lines to create a soft contrast. On the floor below, people...

Continue Reading
Further sanctions might be given to the BOLD party after a second complaint was submitted about the party promoting themselves on Instagram and using a UTEP hashtag.

SGA’s BOLD party to be penalized for early campaigning

Maria Esquinca, Staff reporter April 28, 2014

The BOLD Party, one of the two parties running for Student Government Association, has received sanctions after it was found guilty of early campaigning, a violation of the election code. The BOLD party is banned from campaigning Tuesday, April 29...

Continue Reading
Green Fund increases student environmental initiatives

Green Fund increases student environmental initiatives

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter April 22, 2014

At Miner Heights, beside the cement floors of the basketball court, there lies a little garden. UTEP students tilled the ground, made small holes with their shovels, resurrected dry soil and filled the holes with small green bundles of plants. The once...

Continue Reading

“Nearby Friends” makes creepy debut on Facebook

Maria Esquinca, Staff reporter April 17, 2014

Glenn Greenwald released one of the biggest stories of the year in June 2013. The Guardian headline read “NSA Collecting Millions of Verizon Customers Daily.” Since then, an unprecedented amount of information has been released disclosing the extent...

Continue Reading

SGA elections to begin with new regulations

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter April 15, 2014

Large plastic banners, boasting the bright smiles of candidates running for a Student Government Association positions will soon line the usually bare walls of the Union breezeway. SGA will begin the campaign season on April 28 to elect student officials...

Continue Reading

Colbert selling out by moving to ‘Late Night’

Maria Esquinca, Staff reporter April 10, 2014

Millions of anti-Colbert critics who campaigned on Twitter for Stephen Colbert’s show, “The Colbert Report,” to be cancelled might’ve just had their prayers answered by the all-mighty CBS gods. David Lettermen recently announced that he will...

Continue Reading
Wage disparities between genders prevalent in El Paso

Wage disparities between genders prevalent in El Paso

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter April 8, 2014

On March 26, state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, visited Café Mayapan, where she focused her talk on the issue of equal pay for all people despite gender or ethnicity. “It’s about being paid for what we do, not who we are,” Davis said in her...

Continue Reading

Candidate Wendy Davis talks equal pay at Café Mayapan

Jasmine Aguilera and Maria Esquinca March 26, 2014

Gubernatorial candidate Texas Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, spent Wednesday morning speaking to media and volunteers at Café Mayapan, in El Paso, Texas. She focused her discussion on gender and economic equality. El Paso Sen. Jose Rodriguez...

Continue Reading
UTEP prepares for César Chavez Day

UTEP prepares for César Chavez Day

¡Si Se Puede! was a defining and defying cry of the United Farm Workers. The cry, potent with its emblematic power, is still used and heard today. The slogan was adopted during President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and was translated...

Continue Reading

Last day for the 11th International Sun Conference on Teaching and Learning

Maria Esquinca, Staff reporter March 6, 2014

The last day of the 11th International Sun Conference on Teaching and Learning from is approaching. The event focuses on “Celebrating Teaching and Learning” and will include two guests speakers as well as award winning UTEP faculty. On Thursday,...

Continue Reading
The Baja SAE competition tasks engineering students with designing a dune buggy that can withstand harsh terrains.

International engineering competition returns to UTEP

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter March 5, 2014

UTEP will be hosting the Baja Society of Automotive Engineers 2014 competition from April 24-27. The last time UTEP hosted the competition was 16 years ago, in 1998. The competition tasks engineering students with designing a dune buggy that can withstand...

Continue Reading
Where Samba meets bamba

Where Samba meets bamba

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter March 4, 2014

A samba dancer has seemingly transformed into a peacock. A long, blue, elaborate feather headdress adorns her. It pours out of a golden crown beginning at the top of her head and drizzles down over her back. The crown reaches out into her face, covering...

Continue Reading

Texas Tribune to host Thursday symposium focusing on demographic change

Maria Esquinca, Staff reporter February 26, 2014

This Thursday, Feb. 27, UTEP in partnership with the Texas Tribune will be hosting a daylong symposium on demographic change. The symposium will focus on how the fast-changing demographics of Texas will impact public policy. Aside from writing and...

Continue Reading
‘Self-governance’—the method of tobacco-free enforcement

‘Self-governance’—the method of tobacco-free enforcement

Maria Esquinca and Amanda Guillen February 25, 2014

Maintaining a tobacco-free campus may prove difficult to enforce as some students are choosing not to follow the “self-governing” method officials have proclaimed. UTEP’s Environmental Health and Safety Department enacted the tobacco ban on Feb....

Continue Reading
Dept. of Chemistry to host workshop for students featuring UCSB and USC scientists

Dept. of Chemistry to host workshop for students featuring UCSB and USC scientists

Maria Esquinca, Staff reporter February 20, 2014

The Department of Chemistry will be hosting a workshop on Organic Photovoltaics, or solar cells, sponsored through the Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22 in the Chemistry and Computer Science...

Continue Reading
Naomi Fertman, associate professor in the Women’s Studies Program, teaching the course “Women and Work in the Sex Industry.”

Sex industry course offers discussion on taboo subjects

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter February 11, 2014

In a small classroom, hands are being raised in the air and loud murmurs are echoing across the room. On the wall you see the words “PORN AND FREE SPEECH” projected in bold white letters. This is just a normal day in Associate Professor Naomi Fertman’s...

Continue Reading
The Mix is located at 516 San Antonio Ave., and it formerly has 14 new apartments on the top floor and 7,500 square feet of retail and office-studio spaces on the ground floor. For more information about prices call 726-3795.

MIXing residence with commercial life

Maria Esquinca, Staff Reporter February 4, 2014

Rising out of rubble is a shapeless mass made out of metallic beams. It’s being molded by men wearing yellow hard hats into the new baseball stadium. Only a block away, a new building has also risen from the rubble. The building is called The Mix, which...

Continue Reading
Activate Search
Maria Esquinca