Borderlander Honored as CNN Hero

Thanks, Guadalupe!

I sat in the family den flipping channels after I awoke from the post-Thanksgiving dinner nap. I was like a kid with a new toy. Our cable back home in Pipe Creek was unplugged back in August of 2008. In the two years since, I had only watched movies and documentaries on DVD or via the Internet. I keep up with the news listening to NPR, on the Internet and reading news magazinese
Today I was mesmerized by the new shows, new commercials, new channels on the tube. It was like a reunion with that quirky old friend you’ve been in a love-hate relationship since kindergarten. Fun to catch up with them --until they pull out their smokes and light up in your pristine living room or ask to borrow money from you again.

In the time before the bad old habits resurfaced (repetitive commercials bearing little creativity) I tuned in to CNN’s Hero awards. I remembered why I loved the old pal in the first place.

The Hero awards honor regular people who act in ways that are not regular, but extraordinary. Like many of us, the nominees have ideas to improve and change the world, but unlike many of us, they have the stamina and moxie to follow through with their ideas and really do change the world for the better.

The nominees came from around the world—Scotland to India, and included one nominee from the Borderlands at El Paso-Juarez. The Borderlands nominee was introduced by the Hollywood actress, Jessica Alba. The young actress is beautiful beyond measure. Even so, her light seemed dim next to the nominee, 74 year old Guadalupe Arizpe de la Vega, who was being recognized for her more than 30 year efforts at improving access to health to families in Juarez.

The short video of Dona Guadalupe’s project showed the stylish woman walking through the hospital she built in Juarez. The first words from the honoree on the video focused on her belief that women could be empowered by having control over their reproductive lives, education and health care. I was so thankful her words were beaming across every continent to which CNN sent its signal.

The svelte woman wore a beautiful rebozo as she stood at the podium and delivered her acceptance speech in English, and ended it in Spanish with a short, inspirational and encouraging message about Mexico’s future.

Questions I would like to ask Dona Guadalupe:
1. How did you fund your project, through donations or your own money?
2. Is there a way to reproduce your project in other border communities?
3. How do you keep so positive and productive while living in the crisis that Juarez and its people have suffered with the cartel’s turf wars for the lucrative American drug market?
4. How can I look as stylish as you?
Here is a link to a video showing Dona Lupita at work:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/10/cnn-hero-guadalupe-arizpe_n_712180.html

Who Likes School? (no hands) Who Likes Learning? (hands waving)

Students love to learn. Yet, ask them if they love school--and the answer is usually 'not so much.'

The expectations some students bring to college from high school are to get only A's and to never, ever make mistakes. Learning in college and at the university level expands those earlier boundaries to build the intellect and to identify the the shades and gradations between "the right answer" and "the wrong answer."

In an exercise that I modified this semester I stumbled on learning how students can come to see mistakes as a natural part of the process of discovery and invention (not to mention the Scientific Process).

"Test Pilots" is the title of a an exercise for building critical thinking skills I created about a year ago for the six teams of four students each in my Introduction to Mass Communications sections. They are assigned 25 Days to Better Thinking and Better Living by Linda Elder and Richard Paul.

The first two semesters I used the activity, I simply asked the students to teach the concepts to the class and the results were usually wooden. Mind-numbingly wooden.

This semester I tried something new. Students were assigned to select four days in the text and the corresponding topics and activities. Their job would be to "test pilot" the recommendations from the text in the weeks prior to the presentation. Their presentations would not teach the concepts, but report on their experiences trying out for one full day the concepts in their lives. The reports were to include both their successes and failures. I told them to expect there would be errors, mistakes, other surprises and discovery as part of the process.

The results were surprising. The wood turned to a bonfire.

A near-fatal car accident a student's grandmother suffered with a four-time DWI offender, and the surprising correspondence that developed between the perpetrator and the victim. A domestic violence offender's profound gratitude for her husband's forgiveness that created a home and family that is now strong and healthy. A teen's learning about the importance of patience in teaching values to very young nieces and nephews whose parents have lost their children's custody. The joys of volunteering each summer now at a camp--learned after a judge once ordered the student to perform community service-- "I do it now every summer because it makes me feel good."

The group that presented were four young women, aged from late teens to early 30's. They prepared a powerpoint following the 6x6 rule (no more than six words per line, no more than six lines to a page). It served as a clean and informative outline of the concepts contained across their four chapters. Their stories were then woven around the ideas they tested ("Don't Be A Top Dog", "Control Your Emotions", etc.)

One of the keys was their telling their stories about their trials and successes in applying the concepts without having the burden of explaining the text. Their own experiences did the job and made the text's ideas clearer to all.

Another was the safety the group developed. The ideas they were learning had meaning to their lives. The critical thinking skills they learned and applied were cemented in the telling and in the listening among the class who were their audience. You could have heard a pin drop.

I learned that stressing that mistakes were OK was the doorway to the success of the activity. Mistakes in the activity was what I meant, but students included mistakes in daily life.

Timing was also important. The assignment requires at least 2-3 weeks to complete, because students need time to try out the ideas, but also to become comfortable with each other and to feel safe in the class to share their experiences.

The testimonies the students freely gave about their lives and the impact and power of critical thinking were powerful.

The presentation proved the importance of relating student's lives to what they learn. With equal parts new information and application in everyday life students in the class transformed "school" into "learning."

I would love to share with anyone more about this exercise and to hear about your experiences with student engagement and learning.

Thanks to West Side Chamber of Commerce

Last evening recent doctoral graduates were honored by the San Antonio West Side Chamber of Commerce. It was a special night in many ways.

First, my companion for the evening was Hope Cuellar, my sister in law who was married to Israel, my brother. She was there in her role as sister in law, and also in her husband's stead. He spent hours and hours helping me understand the difference between .05 and .5 (the toughest part of understanding significance in my first statistics course). He also patiently listened to me unravel my thoughts as a dissertation topic began its long birthing process over the span of two years. He died the year before I received my degree, but his spirit was with me during most of the time I worked on collecting my data and writing about it. I am so grateful to him, and to Hope for being there with me last evening.We both felt he was present in the audience.
There was an interesting surprise: the evening's speaker was his friend and colleague, Dr. Roberto Jimenez.

72 Migrants Remembered at Northwest Vista College

About a month ago, several of the faculty and staff met to discuss how we might create awareness among our college community about the violence in Mexico as well as remember the men and women who had been murdered south of Brownsville by the drug cartel.

There were several ideas put forward and it was decided to organize under the college's peace program. That afternoon the coordinator of the program met with Dr. Jackie Claunch, our college president about an upcoming speaker's visit, and at the meeting briefed her about our plans. She was enthusiastic about every aspect of our ideas and we moved forward!

We created a list of reading and viewing resources from our library and distributed the list in an email invitation to participate in the demonstration for peace.

Art Club and other students created numerous posters with information and eye-catching titles. Students wore tee shirts we had collected and recycled that we spattered with red paint to simulate blood. Students volunteered to lie along our college pedestrian bridge during the most busy time of day, in between classes at 10:45. Two faculty from the music department volunteered to perform a moving horn and guitar piece by a Mexican composer, and our president read a poem in both English and Spanish by Garcia Lorca. We then all kept 72 seconds of silence to remember the slain.

The results were a confirmation of what can happen when people work cooperatively and with enthusiasm.
I invite you to browse the media stories that were written and take part with us in remembering the victims.

The event was the headline of La Revista, our college publication for staff and faculty:

http://www.alamo.edu/nvc/employees/pr/larevista/092410/issue.htm


Our college online publication had a story written collectively by my students in Newsgathering and Writing:

www.thevistavoice.org

Texas Public Radio ran a piece by old friend and collaborator, Eileen Pace that evening:

http://www.tpr.org/news/2010/09/news/1009242.html

Local television stations covered the event, as well:

KENS 5

http://www.kens5.com/news/local/Nortwest-Vista-College-students-silent-in-memory-of-72-murdered-migrants-103672924.html


Telemundo KDVA

http://sanantonio.holaciudad.com/adjuntos/110/videos/000/409/0000409660.flv


KABB FOX 29

http://www.foxsanantonio.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/vid_3506.shtml

Un Pedacito de Dios

It's a strange time, in the midst of a new semester, 16,000 students starting new academic journeys, each trying to find a parking space. Even so, it seemed to me this morning that everything was "going to be allright", just as in a Sandra Cisneros short story set in Falfurrias, deep in South Texas. The sun's rising was comforting. I remembered to smile more today. I get a chance to be a part of these students'lives, to build their skills and confidence, and it is such a trust that I treasure.

Sometimes I imagine that I see a glimpse of the "big picture" as I guess if there is a God, that She would see. That glimpse confirms everything is going to be allright, the sun rising over the campus, cars streaming in, students heading to class. How great is that? She feels self satisfied and relaxed knowing the "big picture"--even a tiny portion of it.

I love the Rocio Durcal song where she sings about her lover being a little piece of God. I feel like I might be a tiny spot on God's left buttock, or maybe at the tip of God's nose. Wait, does God sneeze?!

"They are not Vikings!"

A law enforcement officer in Laredo, Texas was quoted in a San Antonio Express news story dated July 22 about the cartel violence sweeping across Nuevo Laredo. He spoke about the concern and numerous phone calls emergency personnel received in Laredo, Texas, about the violence, especially fearful about the sounds of gunfire coming from Nuevo Laredo. One of the underlying reason for the calls was, will the shootings cross into Texas? Will the violence extend to Laredo, Texas?

His answer was possibly meant to comfort the worried Laredoans, and it was true. (http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/state/a_hrefhttphostedaporgdynamicstoriesllt_drug_war_mexico_txol-sitetxsaesectionhometemplatedefault_99027109.html)

The "badguys" as the cartel members are known are not Vikings. They are not super-human, they can't easily transfer their brand of power to the U.S. side of the border. That's good, but still leaves open the question, who are they, really?

I submit they are more than "badguys" and that it is important to make this distinction in what we call them, because we have to delve deeper than the shallow, good-guys vs. bad-guys level of understanding if we hope to ever resolve the problems plaguing the border.

They are, first of all, criminals. They are affiliated with international crime rings. (Zetas, Juarez, Sinaloa, they are organized gangsters with different criminal cultures and origins.)

Secondly, they were once Mexican boys (and girls). They went to play at Nuevo Laredo's Parque Viveros riverside park where there were soccer fields and a public pool. Where some of the cartel violence has been taking place today. They went as kids to play like I did with my cousins when I was a girl. They believed in the church and its teachings. They had dreams and aspirations. What happened to change them into violent killers?

This is not the most important question to ponder at the moment; there are certainly more important questions, such as how can safety be restored for innocent citizens living on the border (both sides)? But without considering the question what went wrong, as Alejandro Junco has done, we miss the point. Any solutions will be as superficial as "bad-guys vs. good-guys"; the response that does not consider "what went wrong, how did we get here?" paints over a more complex understanding of the questions that badly need addressing.

"They are not Vikings" leads me to ask myself, why is there so much fear from this side of the border?

Speaking only for myself:

I fear these criminals because I DO know who they are: I know how angry, disenfranchised, and pissed they are.I DO know how they are demonstrating their power using weapons we U.S. citizens sold to them.

I fear them because I know their education level has been low because of Mexico's corruption and mindsets about class and race that are closer to colonial times than to the millenium in which we currently live. If the U.S. only offered free education up to the sixth or eighth grade, how many more criminals would we have today?

I fear them because I know that as a society we have failed those children who played and swam and strolled next to me by failing to address the failures of our governments and our cultures:

On an individual level, I have not done my part by not pressuring for more communication and interchange between our colleges and universities, especially those from states along the border.

To date we have relied on solutions coming from the wrong centers: on NAFTA, its banks, and media and politicians who sometimes consider the borderlands to be remote outposts whose needs are not as important as those of mainstream Mexicans or mainstream Americans.

We, especially I, have allowed the historical distrust, antipathy and prejudice that affected and informed our two countries' histories 200 years ago to continue to affect and inform our 21st century policies without challenging them vigorously, without demanding new paradigms from leaders and policymakers.

The world's stage calls to us to share and show what we borderlanders know:

How our bicultural heritage has uniquely prepared us to use cultural diversity to our best advantage, to build and create from the gifts of two disparate cultures something beautiful, unique and rich, that is infinitely more than the sum of its parts.

From our days playing together in the streets as children, in Parque Viveros riding horses, or swimming or years later strolling with our dates as teens, in utter, complete and absolute safety, our futures led us into different adulthoods (utter, complete and absolutely different).

What are the reasons for the differences? Knowing the answers will help us to solve the problems plaguing the border.

Being on either side of the border was home. It was safe to play, to ride, to swim, to walk along the river enjoying Parque Viveros, a park those of us from the city of Laredo, Texas envied.

It can be safe again if we believe so and work to make it so.

YMCA = fun and health

The word "exercise" sounds like a grueling experience. Like chalk squeaking on a blackboard. A much better word is "dance"--you leap and turn in the air just speaking the word. There's music pulsing and you just have to move!

For the past five weeks I've been dancing 3-4 times a week with Susie and about 40 of my newest friends at the YMCA at Braundera. Zoomba, which is aerobic dance set to mostly Latin music, is apparently widely advertised on TV.

I can tell you Zoomba an easy way to melt the inches and build endurance and energy, and all the while you are having a good time learning new steps, listening to great music from around the hemisphere and keeping up with the grandmothers, teenagers, moms and young women who are hoofing, leaping, lunging and generally pretending to be Shakira for just one moment.

I've also become a regular at Water Aerobics, Yoga and Bodyflow, which is a form of Tai Chi and Yoga.

Five weeks have helped me to see what a difference a little bit of effort can make! I feel better, have more energy, my clothes fit me better and have rearranged muscle and fat in significant and good ways.

I have learned a lot about fitness by also reading books about nutrition and getting fit. The best one is "Younger Next Year".

Bravo to the Alamo Colleges and YMCA who permitted enrollment at greatly reduced prices to Alamo Colleges employees.