Has the economic crisis hit you?

Black is a graduating Economics and Finance major at the University of Texas at El Paso. He is the Secretary of the Regional Economic Development Association. He plans to attend law school.

1. Cristina D. Ramirez March 10, 2009, 12:25 pm As a doctoral candidate in a hot new discipline of Rhetoric and Writing Studies, I am on the job market right now. But who knew I’d be coming into the market in an economic environment like this? Any how, after sending out about 18 job applications, I received letters from 6 of those schools that they closed the position due to lack of funding. When you get letters like that, it just churns the nerves. In hind sight, I would have rather gotten letters that they filled the position than that they had closed it! Let’s just hope that these positions will be opening up again soon! Let’s remember that when in a crisis, the ones who succeed are those who can see opportunity in the midst of chaos! I know, it’s easier said than done, but we each have to think positively! Our thoughts frame our reality!

2. Fernando Hernandez March 10, 2009, 7:11 pm I have worked for Circuit City for the past two years, and i was laid off on Saturday, March 7th, 2009. I was let go with no severance pay , no bonus, or even a thank you for your services. They basically gave me a new stress to add to all the other stresses of being a student. Not only is the unemployment process a headache itself, now I need to spend time out of my already tight schedule to get it done. Now I have to look for a new job, and struggle to make enough to get me to school, pay my bills, and pay for school. This economic crisis not only has hurt me with my financial security, but also my education. I have already missed a couple of assignments in all my classes because I had to picked up any possible opportunities to make extra money, and in doing so I missed deadlines. Right now its a struggle, but whats life without a struggle. I continue to fight on, I just hope I can pick myself up when I fall because “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Keep Going” – Paul Newman –

3. Jose A. Mata March 10, 2009, 9:31 pm Being a non-traditional student that benefitted from riding the coat-tails of many baby-boomer economic surges and upturns, my major concern during this economic situation is how it will affect my IRA. I am fortunate that I have been at the right place at the right time, but I worry that the economic downturn we are experiencing will have long term repercussions that I may not be able to compensate for this late in my life. I do feel a little lucky to have planned a career change that affords me some stability into retirement, but now believe that I will have to substantially change how and when retirement will begin. As an elder to many of the students on campus, I try to encourage them to plan for their futures now and not rely on government programs being able to offering them much security for their twilight years. My hope is that as a country we will persevere and regain control of the proverbial, “purse-strings”, pressing our elected officials to trim the budget, promote economic growth and development that will offer us fiscal stability as individuals and more importantly, as a country.

4. Ashli Ridenour March 10, 2009, 9:54 pm I used to roll my eyes whenever the economic crisis was mentioned. I even would accuse the people in power on focusing on this issue for the wrong reasons, either to divert attention from something else or to influence the election in some way. As much as I feel that El Paso is always in a recession, I have noticed many differences in my financial situation. I am a student at UTEP and I work at an Italian Restaurant and a non-profit organization. This restaurant has seen a definite decrease in business as well as the amount that people spend while there. People do not buy bottles of Cinq Cepage anymore ($83 wine) and people do not order the NY strip. No one is willing to splurge and just enjoy themselves which usually involves higher priced items. With decreased spending, comes smaller tips, something that servers rely on to make a livable wage. So not only am I making less money, but my money does not have as much spending power as it used to. Three hundred dollars in my pocket can easily become two hundred with a few trips to starbucks, some fast food, and paying one credit card bill. This discourages me from saving because it is hard to give up your current standard of living. All of these things affect my daily life but lets cross our fingers and hope the hot shots in office can make a few wise decisions.

5. Mary Reyes March 11, 2009, 1:09 pm Although the financial crisis has not hit El Paso, TX as hard as other places around the country, people are concern that it will happen sooner or later. It is not that this crisis has not affected El Pasoans, but not to a greater extent as other places like California and Las Vegas, among others. Yet, the concern is in the minds of the community. Therefore, I believe that the greatest effect caused by this economic crisis, is the fear of having to come to the same condition that the other cities are facing. As a student, I seek forward to obtain my degree and look for a job that fulfills my expectations. Due to the economic crisis, now I fear that my aspirations cannot be realized. Yet, this situation gives me an incentive to excel in what I do in order to be able to accomplish my objective. Therefore, I have proposed myself to look forward with a positive attitude and hopefully everything will get better soon.

6. Lirio Falliner March 11, 2009, 3:11 pm America’s current economic crisis affected my previous work as a runner for an attorney downtown. My work hours consisted of more than 30 hours a week; and even with these hours, I still struggled to cover all of my expenses. Unfortunately, our office underwent a change in management. The new manager cut my hours strictly to part time, and told me that if I exceed my hours, she would not pay me because the business was on the brink of bankruptcy. Then, eventually, they let me go in order to hire another individual who apparently was enthusiastic to the fact that he would be receiving a lower amount of pay than me. I still wonder about this change to this very day. It’s quite puzzling if you ask me… This experience, as you can imagine, left me quite agitated. I thoroughly enjoyed my work as a runner for the attorney downtown, as I was employed there for more than two years. To no surprise, I struggled to find another job quickly. Meanwhile, I was relying on my credit cards to pay off all of my debts. Now, I’m paying them back and the interest that comes along with these purchases is certainly not helping my situation. Hopefully, America as well as every individual living in this country will begin to see signs of this crisis coming to an immediate halt. We can only hope…

7. Karina Hernandez March 12, 2009, 8:44 am I have to say that even though the situation has not been great. I’m very lucky because my family has a nice place to sleep and eat, and not many people have that choice right now. My husband is in the construction industry and as you know it has been one of the most affected industries. He doesn’t have a stable job; he lost it since the end of last year. He is now working on his own and it has been good. My grandmother use to say that when life gives you lemons you have to learn how to make lemonade, and that is what we are doing right now. I always try to get something positive of a negative outcome. That is why I don’t see our situation as a problem. I have a great job that has helps us stay balance. We have cut on some things but we still eat out and go shopping a little bit, remember our economy needs it. We are saving more because we do not know what‘s in our future. You have to be very positive and responsible. Going into chaos is not going to benefit you at all.

8. Ana G. Estavillo March 16, 2009, 11:26 pm As a UTEP senior student majoring in Electronic Media I have realized that hard times are to come in the Television and Radio industries. I have done a couple of internships in El Paso and Juarez television channels and I have sensed the nervousness among employees of all levels. Several employees have been fired and at this moment, the management has no intentions of replace them. Therefore, the ones who stayed in the channel need to work as twice as hard for the same salary. This situation only aggravates the job market for recent graduates like myself, that want to demonstrate the skills acquired but we only see and acknowledge that the opportunities in this branch are very limited.