• A more consistent, quality content schedule;
• More current journalism and regional news;
• Stronger promotional efforts;
• More multimedia, especially videos.

The staff plans for the magazine to be a staple UTEP College of Business publication. If you are interested in joining the staff next semester, please contact richardsapien@gmail.com.

Thank you viewers for a great semester!

Freddy said he hadn’t noticed the slow loading times, but he told me he would “check it out.” I thanked him and we went our separate ways. A few hours later I learned a lesson: Never give a financial analyst a task without expecting the cold hard truth and a corresponding graph.

Freddy, by way of comparative analysis and volatility radars, confirmed my fear: the site was slow. It became clear to me that if somebody was willing to put this much effort to show me that our website was slow, I should put equal effort into speeding the site up. After a long day of trial and error (site caching, image optimization, database optimization and repairing, plug-in testing, etc.), the site should be much running much snappier. Please leave a comment in this post to give the site loading time a thumbs up or down.

To me, this story exemplifies what I love about the magazine. The magazine requires collaboration and hard work, but at the end of the day, all parties involved can feel proud that they helped create something impressive. As my staff and I have learned, it is not easy to run a publication. A lot of work goes into brainstorming, research, writing, editing, photographing, recording, marketing, and managing schedules. Having said that, the mag has been a great experience thus far and I encourage anybody interested in participating to step on up. We have big plans.

http://www.utepprospector.com/perspectives/economic-group-advocates-community-involvement-1.1280985

Next week we will publish four new articles, a commercial, and a few blogs. Stay posted.

REDA met with representatives from the Phoenix City Planning Department, the Phoenix Convention Center, the Arizona State University Downtown Campus, the Phoenix Economic Development Department, the Phoenix Visitors & Convention Bureau, the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, Valley Metro, and CityScape.

Below is a journal of the trip’s activities.

Saturday, March 13, 2010, 10:30am
Dairy Queen, Transmountain Road, El Paso, TX

REDA meets at the rendezvous point on the outskirts of El Paso. Members make last minute phone calls and stock up on water and ice cream.

Saturday, March 13, 2010, 10:30am – 5:30pm
El Paso, TX – New Mexico – Tucson, AZ – Phoenix, AZ

The REDA caravan snaps pictures of giant roadrunners, debates stopping at The Thing, discovers mountain full of cacti, and finally reaches its destination point: In-N-Out.

Sunday, March 14, 2010, 1:00-4:00pm
Downtown, Phoenix, AZ

REDA visited the Arizona Center in downtown to catch a movie and eat dinner. The Arizona Center, developed in the 1980’s, was the largest private downtown investment until RED’s CityScape project.

Sunday, March 14, 2010, 5:30pm
Comfort Inn, Phoenix, AZ

The group hosted a quick planning and research session in one of the hotel rooms. Members compiled maps and directions, information about our presenters and destinations, and potential questions for our meeting hosts.

Monday, March 15, 2010, 9:45pm
City Hall, Phoenix, AZ

REDA met with Curt Upton, staffer at the City of Phoenix Planning Department and Light Rail Planning/Development Coordinator, at Phoenix’s beautiful City Hall building.  Curt escorted us to our first stop, the newly renovated Phoenix Convention Center.

Monday, March 15, 2010, 10:00-11:30pm
Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

Dan Padilla, Event Operations Manager, introduced the Convention Center as “the best building in the world.” Mr. Padilla led a tour around the Convention Center, including the executive conference centers to the 48,000 sq. foot ballroom. The Convention Center was one of the city’s key projects for their downtown redevelopment efforts.

Monday, March 15, 2010, 2:00-3:15pm
Downtown ASU Campus, Phoenix, AZ

Jeremy Legg, Economic Development Program Manager, toured the group around the downtown ASU campus. The successful city and state collaboration that made the project possible impressed us most. The downtown campus, featuring the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, newly built student housing, and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, brings a consistent flow of bodies downtown.

Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:30-4:30pm
City Hall, Phoenix, AZ

The group met with representatives from the Phoenix City Planning Department, Phoenix Economic Development, the Phoenix Visitors & Convention Bureau, the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, and METRO Rail. The meeting participants discussed their involvement in the city’s economic development efforts and shared how they collaborated to ensure effective public policy.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 10:00-11:00am
METRO Headquarters, Phoenix, AZ

Ben Limmer, Planner at METRO, talked about the Valley Metro light rail’s economic impact and the Metro’s importance to the city’s downtown revitalization efforts. He also touched on the political and planning sides of the project. Finally, REDA, Mr. Limmer, and Mr. Upton discussed the feasibility of developing a light rail system in El Paso.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 11:00-2:30pm
Downtown Phoenix, AZ – Downtown Tempe, AZ

REDA rode the light rail to Downtown Tempe. Mr. Upton selected this route because it showed that the light rail did not strictly stretch through high-income neighborhoods.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 2:30-3:30pm
CityScape project, Phoenix, AZ

REDA capped off the professional portion of its trip with a tour of the exciting CityScape project. The presenter, Jeff Moloznik, Development Manager of Red Development, discussed the importance of city assistance for private investment. CityScape is constructing towers and buildings for residential, recreation, and retail use. CityScape, said to be 80% leased, is Phoenix’s largest private downtown investment in over twenty years.

Special thanks to our sponsor Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua and Carol Johnson, Curt Upton, and the City of Phoenix.

One interviewee, Joe Lopez, CEO of Lopez Marketing Group, said El Paso businesses “can compete with national businesses if given the chance.” He also said most El Pasoans would be willing to pay a little more for a product if they knew it was supplied by a local company.

Lopez’s remarks beg the question, if El Paso businesses can compete with national businesses, why aren’t they? Is it because of inefficient UTEP bureaucracy? Possibly, but probably not.  It is in an organization’s best interests, especially during a recession, to reduce costs in order to maximize profit. Local businesses do not have the the economies of scale to challenge national competitors, thus local businesses find themselves forced out of the market. Simply put, UTEP contracts nationally because it is cheaper to do so.

Some argue that UTEP, being a state-funded institution, should consider (pricier) local contracts in an effort to help its local economy. Although UTEP’s food service contractor, Sodexo, does buy some local products, “buy local” proponents do not believe UTEP buys enough. Paradoxically, El Paso benefits when UTEP takes on (cheaper) national contracts. Because UTEP seeks cheaper goods and services through Sodexo, the University is able to offer cheaper food to UTEP students. Consequently, since UTEP students spend less on Sodexo’s burritos and pizza, they have more money to spend on local businesses.

Lopez claims El Pasoans would pay more for locally produced goods. Although this may be true for some El Pasoans, this does nothing to influence UTEP business. Until UTEP students protest Sodexo-produced food in favor of local suppliers, UTEP has no incentive to offer more costly products.

If local firms want to compete with national contracts, they must offer a cheaper or a better product or service. If a business can offer neither, frankly, they should not be in competition.

Black and Pavia developed the hour and a half presentation to teach basic fundamentals of economics and finance to an elementary class.

“One reason we wanted to do this is because some of the material we’re going to cover today isn’t really taught to kids until they reach high school,” Pavia said. “We want to give them just a basic insight into what it is that the economy is-what finance is- just so that when they turn on the news, they’ll have a better understanding as to what it is that everybody is talking about.”

Black and Pavia discussed subjects such as the basis of an economy, supply and demand, liquidity, sole-proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, the value of a company, the stock market and stocks, and globalization.

The students were engaged in the subject matter, despite the lecture’s complexity and the students’ limited prior knowledge. REDA and the students plan to refine the economics and finance presentation for other six-grade students around El Paso.

“What I liked mostly about the presentation was learning about the companies- how they increase and decrease in stocks, importing and exporting goods,” sixth-grader Miranda Guerrero said. “I learned a lot from this experience.”

William Black is an Economics and Finance major at UTEP and can be reached at wcblack@miners.utep.edu. Erik Pavia is an Economics major and can be reached at elpavia@miners.utep.edu.

With that said, lets look into one potential use of land at the ASARCO site: a massive expansion of the UT (UTEP) system (assuming that it is cleaned up greater than the proposed industrial standard).

REDA Proposal for the future of the ASARCO site

Senator Shapleigh requested that the Regional Economic Development Assocation drafts their own proposal for the future of the ASARCO site. REDA is currently working with engineers and architects to map and model the proposal below, in line with future site restrictions (water pumps, soil crypt, etc.).

Disclaimer: The thoughts and opinions of this document are solely those of the Regional Economic Development Association and are not endorsed or advocated by the University of Texas System or the University of Texas at El Paso. May it be noted that extensive scientific research and investigation has not been done in determining the policy proposals and their practicability. The objective of the proposal is to stimulate discussion and explore creative possibilities.

Assuming the ASARCO-site is purchased by the University of Texas (UT) System following full remediation to industrial standards by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ); The Regional Economic Development Association (REDA) proposes that the ASARCO-site is developed by the UT System to integrate 1) student housing complexes, 2) a research park, 3) a light-rail system connecting El Paso to Juárez, 4) a student community/commerce center, 5) a soccer stadium/event venue, 6) and a “peace park” along the United States (US) / Mexico border.

We will outline the predicted economic and social benefits (and their implications) of our proposal under the assumptions that 1) the necessary agents have properly remediated the land for its projected use(s) and 2) the necessary agents have secured external permissions and methods to operate the proposal to its fullest stated extent.

Student housing complexes

As the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) grows in prestige and population, it is necessary that it accommodates for its growing populace of students- specifically in regards to housing. As it stands, UTEP’s only formal housing arrangement, Miner Village, hosts less than 500 students- the majority of whom are student athletes.

UTEP is commonly labeled unfavorably as a “commuter college.” In order to help dissolve this notion, UTEP must stimulate its student community with a vibrant on/near campus student district- made possible only with the massive addition of student dormitories and Greek houses. A larger, more active student community in the vicinity of the main campus will help improve campus and student life, student activism and involvement, and UTEP recreational and athletic events.

With UTEP competing for Tier1 status, and as the demand for more prestigious Texas research universities grows larger, UTEP has the potential to tap into the market of students seeking a higher class educational experience. Academically, UTEP can be discussed in the research ranks of the University of Texas Austin and Texas A&M; however, without the necessary lodging to attract and accommodate students, UTEP will never evolve into a competitive prospect.

Research Park

In order to help acquire/maintain Tier1 status, UTEP must provide the infrastructure and apply the innovation necessary to distinguish their campus, faculty and students. A research park in the center of the current ASARCO site would be a mixture of both infrastructure and innovation and would benefit UTEP by its prestigious draw, source(s) of income, and industrial partnership opportunities. Additionally, a research park would benefit El Paso’s economy as it presents a higher demand for higher-skilled jobs and industry.

According to Peter Golding, Associate Dean at the UTEP College of Engineering, due to the proposed park’s proximity to the adjacent mountains and its 360-day a year exposure to the sun, it would sit in an ideal location for wind and solar energy research.

The research park would consist of two buildings; one building would contain the facilities necessary to host equipment and experiments, and the other would primarily consist of (leasable) office space for professors and industrial/engineering firms. The two buildings would be a tremendous opportunity for industry to collaborate with education, not only resulting in a mutually-beneficial relationship for employers and prospective employees, but for the city of El Paso.

Light-rail system

In order to lessen El Paso’s dependence on vehicular transit, it is proposed that we develop a transnational light-rail system on the eastern perimeter of the site. Ideally, the preexisting rail structure can be utilized for the new system.

The light-rail system would make El Paso transportation more efficient, and could serve as a great passage to campus for Mexican UTEP students.

Student community/commerce center

In an effort to help bolster young El Paso entrepreneurship and student activism, it is proposed that a student community and commerce center is developed with the resources and facilities necessary to support necessary projects and businesses. The community and commerce center can include art and music studios, publication offices, and general office and planning space.

A student community and commerce center would attract out of city/state students who are looking for a program in which they can apply their talents and fields of study to creating a product, service or program for a low cost. A student community and commerce center would aid in the transformation from college students to working professionals. Additionally, a student community and commerce center would provide an outlet for UTEP students to reach out to the public and positively influence local business, social services, and/or public policy.

Soccer Stadium/event venue

UTEP’s long wish to create a men’s soccer team can be made possible with the creation of a new stadium. Projected to seat roughly 12-15,000, the proposed stadium would be in perfect vicinity to the UTEP main campus, the border (proposed light-rail system), and I-10 to draw large crowds. The stadium would result in large revenues as a soccer stadium and as a event venue for the cities of El Paso and Juárez.

In order to use the stadium in the most practical way, it would sit on the most northern area of the ASARCO-site, on top of the future crypt of polluted soil and contaminants. The cemented stadium foundation and parking lots would seal the land below and would not provide a risk to the environment or visitors.

“Peace Park”

Adjacent to two countries and three states, the true “Paso del Norte” rests on the western edge of the ASARCO site. In order to recognize this historic passageway, it is proposed that a peace park is adjoined with the existing Juárez peace park. Not only will the park serve as a green, beautiful, publically accessible monument to the Paso del Norte, but it will honor the victims of the Smelter town pollution.

The park would be a tribute to the devoted relationship between El Paso and Juárez/United States and Mexico- a stark contrast to the border wall that now lines much of the El Paso border. Practically speaking, the park can serve as barbeque/recreational grounds for the stadium- or as quiet study space for UTEP students (especially those at the site student housing) during non-eventful days.

Go vote for your SGA representatives today!

The Student Government Association (SGA) Elections will take place from April 6 to April 10, 2009. The UTEP SGA represents over 20,000 students and handles a budget of over $70,000. In order to maximize the quality of the SGA administration (and consequently the student body), it is imperative that every UTEP student intelligently participates in SGA elections and affairs.

In order to help students better inform themselves about their presidential candidates, the Regional Identity interviewed the three candidates about their party platforms and goals.

In awe, Alderete Middle School students huddled around Holocaust-survivor Sarah Hauptman as she revealed her tattoo number from the Auschwitz concentration camp. For the students, it was a chilling, real-life example of the Holocaust stories they read about in class.

For weeks, students from Sandra Sapien’s sixth grade class read books, watched movies, wrote poems and prepared presentations about World War II and the Holocaust. To better connect her students with the lesson, Sapien decided to bring a speaker who lived through the rigors and horrors of the class history books.

“I felt that students would learn more about the lesson [Holocaust] if they were able to see and hear from a person who actually went through it all,” Sapien said.

Students asked questions about Hauptman’s most frightening experiences, daily meals, and the different forms of punishment she received. Hauptman was quick to answer every question and did not hesitate to reveal anything about her past.

“It is important that people know the truth about what happened [during the Holocaust],” Hauptman said.

Richard Sapien and Ale Montalvo, two UTEP students and members of the Regional Economic Development Association and Regional Identity magazine (regionalidentity.com), attended the sit down with Hauptman and the students to capture the interactions and reflections of the event.

Students valued Hauptman’s bravery and resilience and delivered personal messages to their newest hero.

“You are my hero,” Michelle Barron said to Hauptman, “I love you.”

You can purchase Sarah Hauptman’s autobiography at the El Paso Holocaust Musuem.

The Secure Fence Act of 2006, signed by Former President George Bush, granted the Secretary of Homeland Security to “take all actions the Secretary determines necessary and appropriate to achieve and maintain operational control over the international land and maritime borders of the United States…”

Masked under the cover of national defense, the border wall legislation, aided by the Real ID Act of 2005, approves of the Secretary’s waivers of dozens of federal and state statutes; ignoring those that address various economic, ecological, and cultural concerns and preservations. Among these statutes are those defended by the California Coastal Commission, including the Commission Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. In regional affairs, the border wall through El Paso has sliced through the sacred ceremonial lands of the Ysleta Pueblo del Sur Tribe and the wetlands of the Rio Bosque Park.

In a time of heightened national security alert, ever growing apprehension over illegal immigration, and the increased nervous anxiety over drugs and arms trafficking, there is no doubt that a solution is called for to effectively seal our borders. In addition, it is accurate to say a war is violently raging on only a couple hundred yards away from United States soil. With that said, securing American borders should not come in the tune of a billion dollar (plus) speed bump.

The argued need for the border wall mostly stemmed from the consequences of a failed American immigration policy and a failed “war on drugs.” Rather than aiding the states and local Border Patrol agencies (the two authorities most informed in how to tackle our border crisis) with increased financial and logistical support, the federal government has chosen to ignore local and state representatives and further empower themselves instead. What happened to small government? The border wall act is reminiscent of other legislation in the name of national security and less individual and state liberties: the USA Patriot Act. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.”

A solution for illegal immigration and trafficking is needed, but the border wall is nothing but a mean for higher ends in Washington to sleep at night. While the wall is a tangible form of action for them to refer to, the wall does not lower the demand for drugs, arms, or the hopes for a better life. There will always be a taller ladder, a deeper hole, or an even bigger stick of dynamite. The aforementioned is exemplified in San Diego, where in 2007, border apprehensions among its triple-fenced wall increased by 7%, despite a national drop of apprehensions to 20%. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security should refer to proven border defense strategies, such as Operation Hold the Line In 1994. The operation, involving the close, strategic positioning of border patrol agents along the El Paso borders, resulted in a nearly 70% drop of border apprehensions. May it be known that the operation was headed by an avid opponent of the border wall, then El Paso Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent, now Congressman, Silvestre Reyes.

As Obama battles not only an economic recession, but a recession of worldwide social support, he and his administration must open their minds and take on the challenges of our borders in an intuitive and effective manner. Blockading the country from the rest of world, all while piling onto our trillion (plus) debt is not the answer.

Those who have opposed the wall, specifically those representing a common regional view, should be applauded. Among the border wall opponents are Congressman Silvestre Reyes, Texas State Senator Eliot Shapleigh, Texas State Representative Norma Chavez, El Paso Mayor John Cook, El Paso County Judge Briones, El Paso County Attorney José Rodriguez, the Texas Border Coalition, and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo.

We must tear down the wall and strengthen our relationship with our partners in Latin America. We must secure our borders through increased support and funding of the Border Patrol, their agents, and their technology. After all, we must remember that even if the border wall does remain standing, it will continue having no effect without someone patrolling and maintaining it. Finally, we must reform an immigration policy that has left hard working humans desperate for their opportunity of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.