All students at UTEP are required to take Expository English Composition and Research and Critical Writing (ENGL 1311 and 1312 respectively).  ENGL 1311 focuses on the strategic use of language, rhetorical form, and authorial voice so that students will be able to inform and persuade effectively. ENGL 1312 teaches students to focus questions, use academic resources, critically evaluate materials, and shape writing to match the purpose and audience of the piece.  Business majors are required to take Workplace Writing (ENGL 3355), which teaches the principles of professional rhetoric both written and oral. The goals of these courses are broad enough in nature to aid students in a variety of courses, but when it comes to writing papers tailored toward financial analysis, a critique of theory, or article writing, after taking these courses students remain unprepared.

So now that we have identified the problem, what is the solution?

Well, like so many skills that must be acquired to be successful in the workplace, improving one’s writing skills can be done outside of the classroom. The remainder of this article will highlight ways to do so, starting with the almost archaic way of learning…reading. Two books that all students should consider reading are Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style and Deidre N. McCloskey’s Economical Writing.

The Elements of Style is a proper-use rule book that the New York Times described as a “lifeboat to both professional and amateur writers.” The book contains easy to understand rules, detailed explanations, and examples of both proper and improper usages.  It is available in a multitude of editions and sizes, including a pocket-size version at Barnes and Noble.

Economical Writing (the second edition) by Deidre N. McCloskey is a 98 page (would you expect a book with such a title to be any longer?) book containing 31 rules, which can be applied to all writing. The rules range from Rule 27: Be Concrete, Rule 28: Be Plain, to Rule 23: Around Order Switch Until It Sounds Good. Below are some rules that can readers (and hopefully writers) can put to use now.

Rule 20: Avoid Elegant Variation

Simply put, elegant variation is using many words to mean one thing. For example: “history is concerned not only with what happened but also with why events turned out the way they did.” The reader will interpret that “what happened” and “events [that] turned out the way they did” as two different things, when in fact they are the same thing.

Rule 25: Use Verbs, Active Ones

In revision the adjectives and adverbs should be the first to go. Sydney Smith wrote, “In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigour it will give to your style.”

An interesting and humorous take on revision, but as McCloskey shows Smith should have followed his own advice: In composing [of course it’s composing: that is what we’re talking about, you dunce!], as a general rule [what would be the point of any other?], run your pen through every other word you have written [of course writing: again, that’s what we’re talking about; and in any case, what else would you run a pen through? Your finger?]; you have no idea what vigour it will give to your style [for goodness sake, how often do you have to repeat that you are talking about style?].

This leaves the much more concise: “Run a pen through every other word; you have no idea what viguor it will give.”

Economical Writing places a large emphasis on editing, which in my opinion is the most undervalued step in the writing process. Professors from schools such as the University of Chicago, UCLA, and Harvard praise Economical Writing for its broad applicability, simplicity, and wit. The book is available on Amazon.com and at most other online book retailers.

After reading about good writing, how about putting some writing together? A lot of the time, the best way to improve a skill is by using it. Starting a blog is easier than ever now. Don’t feel like you can come up with new content on a continual basis? Try joining a blog, here is a good place to start your search.

Many students feel it is their university’s responsibility to teach the skills necessary to be successful. Warren Buffet, one of the most respected figures in the business world, strongly advocates communication skills. The Oracle of Omaha, who took courses in verbal and written communication following his MBA, has taken proactive steps to place pressure on universities to teach students better communication skills.

In December of 2008, the United States unemployment rate reached 7.2%. In February of 2009, in response partly to the job losses mentioned above, the unemployment rate climbed to 8.1%. It is important to note that unemployment claims do not only consist of people that no longer have a job, but of people who were hired as full-time and are now only working part-time hours. The state unemployment rate for Texas has reached 6.8%, considerably less than the United States as a whole. Currently there are 796,985 members of the workforce unemployed in the state; a figure that is more than the entire population of El Paso. El Paso isn’t doing as well as the state. The city’s December unemployment rate was 6.9%, which was the mean for 2008. In January it climbed to 8.3%, a 2.4% increase from January of 2008. The city’s estimated labor force is 302,491, 277,517 of whom are employed. But what about the remaining 24,974? What about those 24,974 people’s families? We are all cutting back, but just how far are El Pasoans cutting? How have UTEP students been affected? The El Paso Times and most local news stations have featured stories answering the first 3 questions. I turned to the Ri readers to answer the fourth.

Fernando Hernandez is one of the thousands of employees laid off from Circuit City (the company officially shutdown all operations as of March 8th). As a result he finds himself struggling to pay his bills, getting to school, and succeeding in school itself. With his schedule already tight, he has to allocate time to finding another job and now has less time to dedicate to school.

Ana G. Estavillo is senior at UTEP who has interned at different companies in El Paso and Juarez. Typically interns are shoo-ins at the companies they work for, but several people have been laid off from the various companies, now employees are forced to work twice as hard for the same pay. She is skeptical about opportunities following her graduation.

It is pretty clear that the results of Regional Identity’s poll (nearly 70% of readers believe that the city is doing better economically than the nation) are misguided.

Perhaps the readers are correct. Maybe El Paso isn’t going to get as hurt as the rest of nation. I disagree; most signs lead me to believe that things are going to get worse before they get better.

The idea for this article came when I read to another student that Macy’s had announced 6,000 job cuts. He replied in a sarcastic tone, “Awww, that’s cool!” But what he didn’t realize is what could come from job cuts at a Macy’s in El Paso. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article titled Malls Race to Stay Relevant in Downturn. The subject of this article was the high amount of anchor and non-anchor stores throughout the United States Malls, as well as the increasing vacancy rate (7.1% in February, the highest ever) and shortening lease agreements. A few of the “small” mall stores closing are the Disney Store, Kid’s R` Us, Walden Books, S&K Menswear (bankrupt), and Hollister. The two biggest anchor stores closing are Mervyn’s and J.C. Penney’s. Mervyn’s ceased all store operations in 2008. J.C. Penney’s, which is typically found in malls (at one point there was a J.C. Penney’s in both of El Paso’s larger malls), is now opening standalone stores. Sunland Park Mall on the west side of El Paso has already seen a J.C. Penney’s and a movie theatre leave. Last year, Sunland Park’s Mervyn’s (one of the mall’s four anchors) shutdown its store. Dillard’s stock’s 52-week high is $23.11; it closed on March 24th at $5.93. Macy’s high is $27.08; it closed at $9.07. Sears high is $112.8; it closed at $44. Sunland Park matt is a Simon owned mall. Simon Property Group’s stocks 52-week high is $106.43; it closed at $35.20. Businesses around Sunland Park Mall are closing down as well. Linens and Things was the first to go late last year, Circuit City closed around a month ago, and a nearby apartment complex recently canceled expansion plans for the upcoming year.

So what does it all mean? What should UTEP students expect?

CNN News Room featured a forum with select Georgia Tech students who discussed their concerns about the economy and how it was affecting them. Shelby Bernard, a senior science-technology and culture major, mentioned that companies she had previously talked to at career fairs and a few that she interned at were no longer hiring. She came to realization that if she were to attempt to enter the workforce she would have difficulties paying-off the debt that she has accrued over the past couple of years. Bernard decided to stay and get her masters, not because she thinks that it will give her more value in the job market, but because she sees no other way to put off paying her debt.

With a more positive outlook State Senator Eliot Shapleigh released an article on newspaper tree detailing the “El Paso Stimulus.” The article discussed 4 initiatives that will be taken in order to help El Paso through these economic times:

• Fort Bliss expansion
• Construction at UTEP
• Improving Road ways
• Medical Center of the Americas

Fort Bliss expansion is a topic that we are all familiar with, Shapleigh estimates that it will create 40,000 jobs (2,000 of which will be high salary). The construction at UTEP will bring about 500 new jobs. Improving road ways seems to be creating more work rather than jobs, and the Medical center of the Americas will educate 680 new doctors for Fort Bliss and require 800 new construction jobs. This brings the total jobs to roughly 50,000 new jobs, around 2,700 of which will be high salary. As mentioned before there are 24,974 unemployed in El Paso according to the January data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This plan will obviously take some time to develop but why create twice as many jobs as necessary? This leads me to believe that the situation will get worse before it gets better, but through a combined effort the time spent between worse and better can be significantly shortened.

Corporate layoffs have become as common in the news as sports highlights and the weather. Companies are losing business and therefore cutting jobs but the story doesn’t end there. From retirees’ 401ks to the communities surrounding the businesses, everyone has been impacted in some form.

The purpose of the Regional Identity is to ensure that the students’ voices are heard. This is why we are asking for your stories and experiences from the past couple of months, and for the first time a select few will be featured in an upcoming article on March 26th. If you or someone you know has been affected by the nation’s current economic state we would like you to share the details in a response below in the comments section of this blog.

Your account can be detailed or brief. You may want to talk about a new-found stress, or a job layoff. Maybe you’ve found a silver lining in our time of crisis. Whatever you have to share, we want to know!