Final Borderbeat Blog

The end of the fall semester is already here and with comes the final entry in this blog.

Borderbeat was a very interesting experience to say the least and I am very thankful to have taken this class as my capstone course.

I'll never forget how the class started with my first story about a local taco stand falling apart after the woman I talked to told me to scram and then having to go do a story on Pat's Drive-In on such short notice. It was stressful having to go through that but it turned out much better than I had expected.

I've been involved in journalism in one way or another since my junior year in high school and this class has really helped me focus more not just on writing a text story, but focusing on other elements such as slideshows, audio and video. Being able to focus on these other elements has actually made it easier for me to tell the reader about an event, a particular person or place. Take the time to learn as many computer and internet programs as possible. Learn about programs such as Final Cut, Audacity, and Photoshop and it will help make things a little easier.

Choosing to be a part of an online publication was not something that I was so concerned about after starting the class. But after working on four class presentations about online journalism, I'm happy this was my choice. These were the four web sites I did presentations on:

1) Knight Digital Media Center
2) Online journalism paper
3) Journalism.org
4) Online Journalism Blog


Going to the St. Andrew's Children's Clinic was a great experience and is one of the reasons why I would recommend this class to anyone. First hearing about spending a whole day doing this was awkward but this is what journalism is all about: being there in person, talking to people, taking pictures, audio, video, etc. I spent a good deal of time outside of class with Rahsaan Gethers working on making the videos we took there look as good as possible. It was difficult work, no doubt, but seeing the final product I'm sure will be a relief.

My best reason for someone looking to take this class would be because of what this class provides since it is online based. I have been able to get some good clips out of this which has helped me (I think in a big way) in being accepted into the apprentice program at the Arizona Daily Star through the UA Journalism Department next semester. At the internship fair back in October, many of the people I interviewed with liked what Borderbeat was teaching because of the shift towards more online based material such as video, slideshows, audio.

So thanks to Professor Jay Rochlin for making Borderbeat a fun class that has probably done more to prepare me for the future after college is over.

Thanks also go to John deDios for taking a lot of time to help me with tech issues and making the videos created in Final Cut look as good as possible before going on the web site.

And finally to everyone involved in the fall 2008 Borderbeat class, from the staff writers to copy editors to the co-editors-in-chief, I want to say it was a pleasure working with all of you. I can't remember a class over the course of the semester when there wasn't something to laugh about.

Is the great depression almost upon us, again?

Well the economy is starting to play an interesting game with the people. Each and every day people are hearing the same thing whether it's on the news, in the newspapers or on the internet about how the economy is hurting and how things could be as worse as if not more than the Great Depression.

But then on the other hand gas prices have dropped tremendously over the past month and a half going from the $2.65 to $2.85 range down to around $1.89 and in some places around here a little less. Nice to see it's a little easier on the wallet and I'm sure that many people are glad to see those few extra dollars lying around.

An interesting story in the Arizona Daily Star talks about the Tucson Community Food Bank and how it is experiencing an increase in the number of people coming in needing food.

This isn't the only place that is experiencing the same thing. In Durango, Colo., my former hometown, the same thing is going on. The shelves are going empty fast and some interviewed in the article say they are worried about the holiday season and how it is usually a time when the amount of food needs to be doubled.

So how does a situation like this play out? Will food at the supermarket continue to raise in price causing families to cut out other areas in the budget just to afford to feed themselves?

Another story out of Colorado talks about how the owner of a farm allowed people to go onto his land and take your pick of the bunch in terms of food. Apparently over 40,000 people showed up looking for whatever they could find. The article talked about cars snaking through the nearby streets and people walking all over the place. It must have been a scene similar to Woodstock when cars and people were lined up for miles around the dairy farm in New York.

When I sit back I think about how lucky I am when it comes to have a cabinet full of food including the essentials such as fruits, vegetables, milk and meat, I can't imagine what it's like for those who want to provide a good meal for their families but are not able to do so.

With Thanksgiving just a few days away and the holiday season rapidly approaching, maybe it's best to think of others and if possible provide a little help in terms of a donation.

Yeah it sounds kind of corny, but with the economic hardships that families all over the country are feeling right now, wouldn't it be nice to help someone? Plus maybe if you help someone else possibly in the future it could pay off in some way.

Credit for the cabinet picture

Credit for the Woodstock picture

Preview of our interview with Ted Estrada

Well since last week I talked about my experience at the St. Andrews Children's Clinic and what I remembered most about it, this week I thought I would look at how Executive Director Ted Estrada helps the clinic run, getting donations and trying to keep afloat in an economy that is struggling.

During our sit down interview with Estrada, which can be viewed on the Borderbeat website within the next week or so, we asked him how the clinic goes about getting donations, why he chose to work in the medical field and what the future holds for the clinic.

When talking about where the clinic gets its donations from Estrada talked about the generosity of the people who volunteer at the clinic once a month. He said some donate just a few dollars and some go as far as donating thousands of dollars.

When talking about some of the people who have donated money since he became executive director back in May he said, "I've always said that these are retired persons. To sit down and write a check for three dollars, for $50, $100, or $50,000 like we have received, you have to be motivated by something." He asked us both before we entered into the clinic and during our interview with him to find out why people volunteer at the clinic and see what reasons they give.

Estrada's work in the health care field is an interesting one because of his background and where he came from to where he is right now. He said he grew up wanting to be a doctor but growing up in Texas in a large family that he described as being poor. He worked his way through college going to the University of Texas-Austin. While there he took some anatomy classes and had a rather interesting beginning to his desire to enter the health care field.

"I took a couple of anatomy courses and I fainted at one of them," Estrada said. "But it appealed to me after awhile not so much as a practitioner but more of an administrator."

When working as a hospital administrator in California, Estrada said he used to tell his employees that his job was like "running a small city."

As for the future of the clinic, Estrada hopes that instead of using the church as the site for the clinic a new building could be used specifically for the clinic. He also hopes that maybe there would be a time where two or three doctors could be permanently employed by the clinic so that children who come to the clinic over the year or longer would be able to see the same doctor.

I'll stop here for now because I don't want to give away the rest of the story just yet. But be sure to visit the Borderbeat website to read and view the video of our interview with Estrada.

Trip to Nogales clinic provides an interesting experience

On Thursday our journalism class took a trip down to Nogales, Ariz., to visit the St. Andrew's Children Clinic. The trip was made because it is the focus of a special project many of us are doing which includes not only writing text for a story but also including audio, video and photography.

At first I was hesitant about going simply because it was very difficult to grasp what could be done in preparing the week before the trip. Trying to figure out what to write on and who to talk to was tough enough. I took some time to read some of the previous stories done by the class before us and felt a little better knowing what the clinic is and some of those who visit it for care.

All I can say about my time at the clinic was that I spent the entire time walking back and forth through the church looking for people to talk to, photos to take and audio and video to record.

On the ride back to Tucson I was then able to truly understand the stories and the people we in the class covered. As the other two passengers in my car were catching up on lost sleep from the early start to the day, I tried to go over the most interesting part of the experience in my head and came away with the one that I remembered the most.

It was meeting Doug McQuiggin, an 83-year old from Green Valley, who was volunteering at the clinic in the waiting area. He was sitting at a small table with some of the children playing with big Lego blocks. He would help the kids build up the blocks as high as how many pieces were available at the table and then would help them tear down their creation and start the process over again. What was so interesting about talking with McQuiggin was that he didn't know very much Spanish, only some key words like asking the children about their name and their age.

As some kids came and went from the table, McQuiggin continued to help those at the table build up some blocks, tear them down and start all over again. Few words were exchanged between him and the children. A 4-year old named Francisco Javier Lerma, he is building the blocks in the picture, came over to the table as I was taking pictures. McQuiggin tried asking him what his name was and his age but he didn't respond. Francisco just sat there building the blocks as high as he could. But after awhile he began to open up and started smiling at McQuiggin and the other children at the table.

McQuiggin said to me after he saw what took place: "He came over here five minutes ago and now look at him. He is opening up, smiling and playing with the others."

Earlier I asked him how he was able to communicate with the children since he didn't know much Spanish. McQuiggin said, "We get along mostly by smiling."

Why was this so interesting?

Maybe it's because McQuiggin is 79 years older than Francisco or that not much was said between him and the children.

I guess maybe it just goes to show you that a smile can really go a long way.

UA, ASU and the state of Arizona: All down for the count?

As the long road of the 2008 presidential election finally comes to the exciting conclusion on Tuesday night, hopefully more attention will be focused on how things are going not only in Tucson but across the state of Arizona as well.

In the last week alone there have been some interesting stories that should be talked about more but the presidential election is something that comes only once every four years. But after the election life must go on for all and things right now are not looking so great in the state as far as the economy is concerned.

The first story I found looks at the upcoming layoffs and the reorganization efforts on the campus. The $1.2 billion that makes up the entire budget of the UA is astonishing when you take the time to think about it. The possibility of research grants not being offered to researchers on campus is a problem that could keep people from coming to the UA and that is not something the university needs.

The second story I found talks about some of the services being cut by the city of Tucson due to the budget shortfall of $51 million. The cutting back on hours of recreation centers, swimming pools and reassigning staff workers involved with the Community Food Banks are some of the topics listed in the story. I understand the need to cut certain things from the budget but cutting back the hours during the day that a recreation center is open is not really the best idea out there. Taking away a place for people of all ages to go to is a recipe for disaster.

The third story I found looks at the economy of the state of Arizona and how it is being affected by the lower amount of spending. The biggest part of the story is not any money figure thrown out there about how much the state is in the red. Instead the most notable part of the story is from Gov. Janet Napolitano. The governor is looking for the federal government, in the event of another round of stimulus checks, to have them sent to the state instead of the individual taxpayer. I think it would be very interesting to see the reactions from people who may not have heard of such a possibility.

The last story I found looks at how Arizona State University is also struggling in the economy and is being forced to make cuts to its faculty and budget. As if class sizes, outside of our journalism department, are not big enough, think again. While as a UA I could bash ASU and laugh about the situation, but it's not worth it. Most people, including myself, have to pay a decent amount of money to go to school and the last thing needed is to be in large lecture classes for most of the lower level courses.

Economy hurting sports and kid's lives?

Since the country is feeling the effects of the economic crisis or whatever you can come up with to describe the current situation, the economy is affecting what many Americans love the most, ok maybe behind family and friends: sports.

One of the biggest sports in the U.S., Nascar, is struggling in the economy because many drivers and teams are having trouble staying afloat with high fuel prices and the daily cost of having a team being able to compete each season.

Over the summer a story in Sports Illustrated covered a high school coach and the team he has been with for years. Bob Cimmino tried to have the school district continue to keep funding athletics but the school board disagreed, leaving Cimmino and others to try and raise enough money to fund the athletic program.

Even the three universities in the state of Arizona all have to cut their budgets because of the economy and the debt that the state is currently in. Back in July UA President Robert Shelton talked about the UA needing to cut the budget by more than $20 million. Because of this it will be interesting to see how the athletic department continues to operate even during these tough times. The football team's performance so far could bring in extra revenue for the athletic department instead of just relying on men's basketball to be the main producer of revenue.

Unfortunately I could not find the story I was looking for when writing this blog. In it the article described how some cities including Phoenix cutting some funding for kid's sports and only taking care of the trees on its main streets in the city.

It's a sad thing to see something like this take place because during my younger years sports were a constant theme each and every year. Without them, I could not even begin to think what I would have been doing during the hours of practice and games played. Hopefully these budget cuts don't hurt those kids looking to get involved in something such as sports instead of being left with nothing.

Economy preventing cities from going greener and more tidbits

With all of the focus on the stock market lately, the news seems to be covering three things over and over again: the presidential race, the economy and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So for this blog I've decided to do two things. First I'll talk about a local issue or two with the economy affecting something around Tucson. And secondly I'll finish up with some links and descriptions to stories about the crisis we are in. It's better to be informed about an issue that I myself have much to learn about so hopefully this links will provide details that are interesting and informative.

One story I found that will affect Tucsonans is how the economy is preventing the city from reaching goals set back in 2006 that involve slowing the growth of emissions and greenhouse gases. The Arizona Daily Star has a Q&A describing some main details such as how much greenhouse gases have risen along with the increasing population and how using types of transportation such as carpooling and buses help reduce emissions.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit community of leaders that according to their site "work to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation." The site lists links to things such as learning how to certify your building as being green and where to find more information on helping make buildings greener. Just last month the USGBC announced that 13 people are receiving grants that total $2 million. The grants people received money for include a green roof energy calculator, transportation energy intensity index and quantifying the impact of daylight and electric lighting on student alertness, performance, and well-being in K-12 schools.

So another question to ask is how you as a person contribute to increasing greenhouse gases. Do you drive a car everyday or do you carpool or ride the bus? Do you use a lot of items that require electricity such as computers, televisions, home lighting, etc? Do you recycle or just throw everything in the garbage can? These are just some of the questions needed to be asked if you want to make an impact on a personal basis. After that other changes can be made on a larger scale such as to you home or office building which can also help take down emissions in your area.

Other tidbits:



Check out this story on the national debt clock in New York. On Saturday the debt was listed at $10,150,603,734,720. Yikes! Think about you and your family for a second when you hear this: every family in America has a share of the debt at over $86,000. The worst part about the clock is that it ran out of digits on the display. But don't worry because a new one should be put in by next year that can count up to a quadrillion dollars!

Interested in where all of the lost money on the stock market went? Check this out. This article gives a good insight for those who don't know what exactly happens to the money on the stock market when it drops, such as in the past week or two.

Wonder how much of an impact you as a person have on the economy? Read this. In it is a section detailing some interesting facts and information about the U.S. and world economy. One interesting fact is that consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and that if it continues to be weak, the economy would dip deeper into recession. So tough choices lie ahead. Spend your paycheck or save and just pay the necessary bills. Or should there be a spend-like-crazy weekend where people go out and spend helping the economy for all. With Christmas just a little over two months away it'll be interesting to see how much people spend for family and others with the current state of the economy.

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK (Courtesy of this site here)

The Outstanding Public Debt as of 13 Oct 2008 at 06:13:38 PM GMT is:
$ 1 0 , 2 7 9 , 2 1 3 , 0 0 7 , 3 4 1 . 2 3

The estimated population of the United States is 304,901,479
so each citizen's share of this debt is $33,713.23.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.34 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!

Proposition 200

Over the weekend when I was getting the mail I noticed that there was an envelope from the county. In it contained the information about the propositions that will be voted on in the upcoming general election. One thing in particular stood out because of its effect on people here in the state of Arizona which is Proposition 200 which is known as the payday loan reform act.

A YouTube account I found under the name "AZSecState" created some videos which seem to show a debate introducing the proposition and then having people discussing voting for or against the proposition.

Here a video discusses the background of the proposition and what the effects it can possibly have on the state and the people who use payday loans.


Now here is a man named Stan Barnes who is voting for the proposition because of the effects it will have on families who choose to use them. The main question in this proposition is whether to keep the payday loans or eliminate them completely.



Finally here is a woman named Debbie speaking against the proposition and mentions that the current law regarding payday loans, which is set to end on July 1, 2010, would bring about the Consumer Loan Act being reinstated and 36 percent interest rates becoming the law of the land again.


So this brings about an interesting topic because of how many payday loan businesses there are in the city. Voting yes on the ballot would extend the payday loan industry, eliminating the July 2010 date that would end the state's licensing of these businesses. Voting no would basically shut down the legal payday loan keeping the July 2010 in effect.

If these payday loan places were forced to shut down, an Arizona Daily Star article mentioned that over 100 empty stores would be found all over the city. It could lead to higher rates to rent the buildings and could leave many vacancies in low income areas.

It will be interesting to see how the voters look at this issue and what effect the payday loan industry would have on Arizona, and Tucson in particular, if they were forced to leave in 2010.

UA teams deal with struggling economy together

The economy can affect all types of businesses, both big and small.

The University of Arizona is no different.

One interesting piece of information came out in the past week as there was some interesting insight into UA athletics.

A piece in the Arizona Daily Star talked about how athletic programs are coping with saving and spending money such as the women's volleyball team and how they are trying to keep their expenditures down when going on trips during the season.

With the increased cost of airline tickets due to fuel prices and the extra charge for first and second checked bags, travel costs seem to be going beyond what anyone could have imagined just 10 years ago. Add on the cost of hotel rooms and meals and the costs go even higher.

An interesting note in the story was that money can be given to other athletic teams if the previous one does not use it. That brings up a very interesting point.

Back in 2006 a CNN article talked about how the UA men's basketball team was the most profitable team in the NCAA with revenue of $16 million and a profit of $12.5 million after expenses. The second most profitable team was the University of North Carolina who after expenses had a profit of $10.2 million.

So with the continued success (hopefully especially since the last few seasons) of the basketball team the university should be able to have all the athletic teams taken care of. But what about football? With a stadium capacity of over 56,000 the program could be a real help if it develops into a consistent winner.

In 2006 this article showed that the Arizona football team was 34th in the nation in attendance with 390,589 and with seven games at home it averaged out to 55,798.

This season the UA has seven home games with major Pac-10 teams such as California, Southern California, and rival Arizona State visiting Tucson.

So far after two games against Idaho and Toledo, the UA has had crowds of 47,511 and 50,939 respectively coming out to a total of 98,450.

With five more home games left and a current record of 3-1, the team has a chance of making this year be very successful in terms of profit. The highest average attendance was in 1994, with an average of 56,562 and in the last three years the UA has averaged 53,613, 55,798, and 52,160.

Border research project has some questioning if it is necessary

As of right now I am working on a story related to border issues and the economy. The story focuses on the Center of Excellence for Border Security and Immigration, or COE BSI, at the UA that just officially opened up earlier this month. The Department of Homeland Security has chosen the UA and the University of Texas El-Paso to co-lead the center with the UA leading the research aspect and UTEP leading the educational part.

While I was able to talk with people directly involved in the center here at the UA, I wanted to get a perspective of someone who is not involved with the project and has knowledge of the border and the issues that go with it.

So after getting some leads from Professor Rochlin, I was able to get into contact with the founder and former President of Humane Borders Robin Hoover. He founded the group back in June 2000 and its main office is here in Tucson at First Christian Church located at 740 E. Speedway Blvd.

Hoover said he has been following both border and immigration issues since 1986 and feels that the research project is nothing new. DHS is giving this research project $16 million over six years.

"It's just more about border enforcement," Hoover said. "I would like to see the government engage in softer research of immigration but there is no money for that."

After looking over some of the ideas that the research is intended to study, Hoover said that the entire project has "a stunning lack of imagination."

He also mentioned that the size of the Border Patrol has tripled in the last decade or so but that the number of immigrants crossing the border has basically stayed the same.

One of the more interesting things he talked about was how the economy is affected by immigration. He believes that the U.S. as a whole benefits from immigration but those towns and states close to the border with Mexico, such as Arizona, don't benefit as much as others because of economic reasons.

"Border states suffer because of issues such as the cost of health care provided to immigrants and law enforcement that is used to patrol and police the area."

While the DHS, UA and the other universities involved seem excited about the research ahead, Hoover thinks that the project won't produce more knowledge other than what is already known.

"They might be able to do something such as finding better ways to control migration of immigrants," Hoover said. "But I think at the end of the research they will only find out what we already know now."

Mexican Businessman buys stake in NY Times Co.

While the U.S. economy seems to be shifting up and down with news of oil prices, hurricane Ike and Wall Street firms closing down, there is at least some interesting news.

Carlos Slim Helú, a 68-year old businessman from Mexico, recently purchased a 6.4 percent stake of the New York Times Co., which is worth close to $127 million.

When I read the story about Slim's purchasing a stake in the NY Times, I learned more about the richest people in the world. Much like in college football and college basketball where there is a top-25 listing of the best teams in the U.S., Forbes also keeps a close watch and updates who is the richest person in the world.

The top three, in terms of net worth, looks like this:
1. Warren Buffet, $62 billion
2. Carlos Slim Helú, $60 billion
3. Bill Gates, $58 billion

Slim is really no stranger to business dealings such as this as he has been involved with the Mexican Stock Exchange, Altria (formerly Philip Morris), SBC Communications (now a part of AT&T) and the now bankrupt CompUSA.

Slim is probably most known in the telecommunications industry because over 18 years ago he led a group of investors into buying two major Mexican companies in Telmex and Telnor. According to this article, it says that 9 out of 10 phone lines in Mexico are operated by Telmex. Telcel, Slim's mobile phone company, apparently operates 80 percent of all the cell phones used in Mexico. Slim has expanded to other areas such as in Latin America where his company, America Movil, has more than 100 million subscribers.

While Slim has been continuing his business ventures in other areas he has been accused of charging more for phone service compared to other companies and some believe that he is hurting the economy due to the lack of competition.

While everyone will continue to hear about how the economy is going through a rough period right now, it's good to hear some positive news regarding the well-being of a newspaper. Seems like the first bit of good news regarding a newspaper in a long time, at least to me.

Blog #2

At 10 a.m. yesterday I grabbed a pen and a note tablet and headed out the door for a drive. Before I interviewed any businesses or people affected by the U.S. economy I wanted to see with my own eyes just how things may be going right now. In total I drove a little under 100 miles covering as much ground as I could from where I live in East Tucson through Downtown through South Tucson and back home. Four and a half hours later I arrived back home with a few notes I wrote down while stopped at red lights and from what I could remember of what I observed. I'll try to decipher the scribble I have written down from some of these but I had to pay attention while driving.

-A huge warehouse near an entrance to I-10 was not in use by a business, but on the outside a sign said it was being used as a junior high and high school. Nice to see it put to use instead of being vacant.
-It seemed like there was a little food stand on every corner, some seem to be doing well, others not as well.
-It's only been an hour and I must have passed by 50 to 60 check cashing places already. I just passed by one that's open 24 hours. Nice to know I can cash a check at 3 a.m. if I want.
-Near South Tucson traffic has picked up and from the looks of it most people have just gotten out of church.
-Many of the businesses in strip malls are hair salons, dollar stores and check cashing places.
-Mechanics in and around South Tucson were open today, haven't seen too many others open around town.
-A lot of expansion seems to be going on Valencia past I-10 with car washes, a neighborhood Wal-Mart, new gas stations and fast food places going up.
-What?? Gas at some stations in South Tucson is cheaper than I usually see at $3.34/gal.
-Have seen a couple groups of people sitting together outside homes, cooking food and listening to Mexican music.

Those were just some of the notes I took down but I more focused on just observing with my eyes instead of writing everything down. Things may not seem to be so bad from the outside but maybe there just isn't too many visual signs indicating people and businesses are struggling in the economy. Observing from the outside is only one side to the story. While I would have liked to stay at home and watch football all day, I thought observing around Tucson was a lot more interesting than I originally thought it would be.

Blog #1 (Sept. 3)

This blog is intended to cover the economic issues that people are facing not only here in the United States but also those across the border as well. After seeing news reports about the struggling economy on television, newspapers and the internet, I became interested in looking deeper into this topic and its effects on the lives of people on both sides of the border.

Over the weekend I read a story which can be found here, [www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/255569.php] that talks about Mexicans sending money back home at much lower rate. Many stories about the struggling economy deal with people living on a smaller budget due to gas prices, food prices, education costs, home payments, health care, etc. But how is it affecting people locally here in Arizona and across the border? Are businesses having to close? If so, is it happening at a pace faster than ever before? Are migrants contemplating the possibility of returning to their home country because of the current state of the economy? Is poverty rising in cities both large and small due to the economy? Are migrant workers struggling to survive with less money so more can be sent back home to their families? These are just some of the questions I have as of right now but there is no doubt that each new day, week and month more questions will continue to arise.

My hope is that this blog looks at issues other than what we are all seeing on a daily basis in the media today. I understand there are broad ranging topics associated with the economy but I am looking to see how individuals, families, businesses and neighboring countries are dealing with the struggles of the economy in the U.S.