Latest news with #UTEP
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Blanco: State budget contains $146M for El Paso projects
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Texas Senate adopted the conference committee reports for both the House and Senate budget bills on Saturday, May 31, state Sen. Cesar Blanco's office said in a news release. The state budget contained more than $146 million for projects in the El Paso area, said Blanco, a Democrat who represents the El Paso region in the state Senate. Blanco said the state budget and supplemental appropriations act contained the following funding that will benefit El Paso: $65 million to construct the Fox Cancer Center ($130 million to date) $50 million for the construction of a mental health facility $20 million for the Mining Engineering Program at UTEP $14 million for the El Paso Surface Water Augmentation Project $10 million for the I-10 Deck Park Plaza Project $8 million for UTEP to partner with NASA $7 million to replace the Wyler Aerial Tramway ($27 million to date) $5 million for the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank $2 million for the preservation of the Rio Vista Farm National Historic Landmark $1 million for the Far West Texas Regional Public Defender Sustainability Grants Blanco issued the following statement about the state budget: 'I fought hard to make sure El Paso's needs were front and center in this budget, and I'm proud of what we delivered. 'This state budget makes bold, lasting investments in El Paso's future. From cancer treatment and mental health care to water infrastructure, UTEP, and food security, this funding reflects the pocketbook issues working families care about. 'I want to thank Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman and the budget conferees for their support in securing these critical priorities. These investments are about making El Paso more affordable, expanding opportunity, protecting our health and safety, and building for long-term growth. This budget is a major win for our region, and I'm proud to have championed these efforts for our community.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
The Argentine Government's War On Inflation Is Also A War On Care
Dishing out food at a protest in front of Argentina's new Ministry of Human Capital, which has ... More refused to supply food to community kitchens. (Photo by Nicolas Suarez) Marina Joski has a lot on her plate. The mother of three (and grandmother of one) also cares for her own mother. As for paid work, Joski is a health promoter—someone who provides information and support about health. A leader of the union UTEP, she coordinates community health spaces throughout Argentina. But she's become even busier since Argentine president Javier Milei started imposing swinging cuts across the social sector in late 2023. Joski's salary shrank. Her family has drastically cut down on the amount of meat they eat. Joski has had to take on three additional jobs. She calls this a 'strategy of multiple employment: dedicating a little less time to what we love to do.' Added to this is the extra workload of the primary job she loves, because the government has also ended a number of medicine subsidies and public healthcare programs. Joski isn't the only one now working four jobs. Political scientist Verónica Gago is currently teaching at four public universities, including the University of Buenos Aires and the National University of San Martín. Her salary quickly dropped in purchasing power after Milei took office and devalued the Argentine peso by over 50%. 'The gap between prices and salaries is really dramatic,' Gago reports. 'We have European prices for food, for example.' People like Joski, who work with some of Argentina's neediest, have had to stretch their diminishing resources to painful lengths. Community kitchens have been selling ice cubes, and making meals of just paprika in hot water, as they struggle to stay open and keep people fed. Another early action of Milei's government was to stop distribution of food to community kitchens. This 'economic violence' is only part of the story. It's been accompanied by what Joski calls 'symbolic violence': a daily litany of insults, harassment, and accusations about community-based and public-sector work. Critics in an increasingly polarized political environment claim that community workers, health promoters, public researchers, and others are wasteful or anti-individual. For people like Joski, it's hard to be considered a public enemy for trying to help others. The symbolic violence especially targets women and non-binary people. One way is through the dismantling of care policies: those that help keep people free from hunger, illness, and violence. It is largely women who provide such care, and often women and girls who need this social support because of financial vulnerability and other reasons. According to the Center for Legal and Social Studies, a Buenos Aires-based human rights organization, only 5 out of 50 care policies now remain in place in Argentina. Meanwhile, the income gap between men and women has risen from 21% to 26.3% in one year. The Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity was one of nine ministries shuttered as Milei razed the government. And the federal government has stopped distributing medication abortion, leaving it up to the provinces. This has led to soaring prices and uneven availability. 'Historically the national government was the one that purchased inputs at very good prices in terms of cost and efficiency,' de la Vega explains. 'The provinces today are not in a position to address this from one year to the next, when at the same time all the resources that came from the national government in all spheres have been reduced.' The diminution of support for reproductive health has emboldened harassers of women seeking abortions, as well as people calling for an end to the hard-fought right to abortion altogether. The new government's policies have created a double bind on abortion that makes no one happy: the policies have made it harder for women to end pregnancies, but have also led to more abortions because more women cannot afford to have children. The symbolic and economic violence has also translated into a greater tolerance for physical violence. The government 'has argued that there is no specific violence against women and girls, that gender-based violence doesn't exist,' de la Vega explains. This worldview has helped justify cuts to services that especially helped victims of gender-based violence, such as major layoffs at a helpline and reductions to a program that supported women seeking to escape violent situations. Above all, de la Vega says, 'the agencies that functioned to prevent and punish gender violence have been eliminated.' These vanished services are part of what Gago describes as 'state anti-feminism.' However, one rare victory amidst the battering of women's rights has been the retention of femicide as a specific category in the Penal Code. Argentina's president and justice minister had called for this to be removed. But following enormous protests, officials have stopped threatening to eliminate femicide as a specific crime. In 2024, 295 women and girls were recorded as being killed by men for gender-related reasons. Protesters with the Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) movement hold the state responsible for femicide ... More (Photo by) To be fair, Milei's policies have been popular with some sectors. Inflation is down overall according to official sources (although the methodology is disputed). Inflation has diminished so much that the industrial gas company AirLiquide excluded Argentina from some Q1 2025 sales reporting, so as not to distort the global results. Many voters in Argentina believed that firm action was needed to correct course on Argentina's deeply unstable economy; now, other leaders in Latin America, Europe, and the U.S. are seeking to copy Milei's chainsaw approach to public spending. However, poverty and household debt have risen instead. This includes child poverty, which was already high and climbed further in the first few months of Milei's presidency. Thousands of people have lost jobs, wages, and pension pots. The pension losses have occurred through the cutting of an exemption that allowed people to retire without having contributed to social security for 30 years. This exemption enabled informal workers and women who had had career gaps due to childrearing, for instance, to retire with some security. Health has also deteriorated. Joski says, 'between the lack of medication delivery and malnutrition, there's an overdose of' carbohydrates and fats instead of protein. This has led to more cases of stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes. 'And at the same time they're cutting off medication distribution, they've also defunded all mental health services that working-class people could have access to,' she reports. So as daily life has gotten tougher, the ability to cope has also dwindled. Substance abuse, mental health problems, and suicides are rising in poor neighborhoods, according to Joski. Some of the painful cuts to public spending have been in the interest of securing a new $20-billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), approved in April and with an initial review planned for June. Past IMF-driven austerity measures in Argentina, including the fund's biggest ever loan in 2018, have been deeply unpopular. Yet the IMF expects Argentina to maintain their relationship on its current terms. In April, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva controversially said, 'the country is going to go to elections, as you know, in October. And it is very important that they do not derail the will for change. So far, we do not see that.' The IMF declined to respond to specific questions, referring instead to a staff report that praises the Argentine authorities' work to stabilize and grow the economy. This report projects that public debt, as a percentage of GDP, will dramatically shrink from 85.3% in 2024 to 38.2% in 2035. As of January, Argentina owed $40.6 billion to the IMF alone. In 2025, 18.6% of that amount is expected to go to paying off IMF debt. No one disputes that decisive action was needed to address Argentina's staggering inflation. But Gago doesn't think that the current government's actions will ultimately resolve inflation, if it remains dependent on external debt that needs to be repaid in dollars, and does not address structural elements like rising housing prices. Indeed, the real estate sector has been one of the winners of the government's deregulation push, Gago says. In this 'dual economy,' there is polarization between the ultra-rich and those who are staying or becoming poor. Wealth is increasingly being transferred from workers to large corporations. 'Every day we lose rights, and there's less and less budget to implement public policy,' de la Vega warns.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Texas DPS: 6 apprehended after pursuit near UTEP
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Six people were apprehended after a failed traffic stop ended in a pursuit involving the Texas Department of Public Safety troopers on Tuesday morning, May 27, near the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The preliminary investigation shows that shortly after 9 a.m. on Tuesday, a Texas DPS trooper spotted a black Nissan Versa on Paisano Drive and tried to pull it over for a violation. However, the driver didn't stop and fled from the trooper, DPS said. During the pursuit, the rear tire was disabled with stop sticks, but the car continued toward Loop 375, DPS said. DPS said another trooper used the Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT), causing the car to hit a concrete barrier before stopping on Loop 375 near Spur 1966. That's alongside UTEP. All occupants were apprehended. The driver was taken into custody by DPS, and U.S. Border Patrol took the five other passengers, suspected to be undocumented migrants, DPS said. The investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Iconic UTEP Student Union to be torn down, replaced with updated building
The UTEP Student Union — an iconic building that reflects college life — is being torn down to make way for a more modernized student facility. The change will also raise the student union fee to help finance the construction project. The Texas Senate has passed House Bill 2853, sponsored by Sen. César J. Blanco and authored by Rep. Vince Perez, to support the expansion and modernization of the Student Union at The University of Texas at El Paso. In a news release issued Tuesday, May 27, Blanco said the bill raises the cap on the student union fee, last set in 1987, to help finance the demolition of UTEP's current Student Union and the construction of a modern facility designed to meet the needs of the university's growing student population. The student body approved the incremental fee increase in a campus-wide referendum held in September 2024. The Union fee paid by UTEP students will increase incrementally over the next three years: 2025-2026: $70 per semester, $35 summer 2026-2027: $120 per semester, $60 summer 2027-2028: $150 per semester, $75 summer House Bill 2853 now heads back to the House for concurrence. If that occurs, the bill will be sent to Gov. Greg Abbott for consideration. The Student Union is the heart of the campus, but has remained outdated for many years, Blanco said. "When I was a student at UTEP, the Student Union was where we crammed for exams, organized student events, and grabbed a bite between classes. But even back then, it felt outdated. It's always been the heart of campus, but now it's finally getting the investment it deserves," he said. He added, "UTEP is one of the fastest-growing research institutions in the country, and its facilities should reflect that momentum. I'm proud to help bring to life a vision that is shaped by student voices that honors the past while building for the future. This new Union will be a hub for connection and Miner pride for years to come." The El Paso Times has reached out to UTEP officials for the timeline of the project. Officials said they do not have a construction schedule at this time. Rep. Vince Perez said, 'The student union facility was built shortly after World War II, and generations of UTEP students have walked its halls, studied in its spaces, and built lifelong memories there. At that time, UTEP was a small institution of just 3,000 students: today, it's a nationally recognized university with an enrollment exceeding 25,000. "This bill will deliver the modern, state-of-the-art facility our students need and deserve, supporting their success for generations to come. I'm honored that this was my first bill in the Texas House, and I'm proud to see it successfully through the legislative process. I'm also tremendously grateful to UTEP President Heather Wilson, whose tireless advocacy was instrumental in this bill's passage, and to Sen. Blanco, who skillfully shepherded it through the Senate," Perez added. UTEP Student Government Association President Edgar Loya said the UTEP Student Union was in dire need of an update. "I am so thankful for the support from our elected officials to make this happen, and especially the leadership from Sen. Blanco and Rep. Perez," Loya said. "We are glad that the Texas Legislature supported the outcome of our student vote to improve this important student resource." In September of 2024, the UTEP student body voted in favor of replacing Union West and renovating Union East. UTEP Miners asked for a more modern, accessible student-centered facility that would include the following: A new, modern, multipurpose Union West building, showcasing UTEP pride. Lounge, study and collaborative spaces with ample seating. Student organization work and meeting spaces. Space for a pool, ping-pong, and other tabletop games. Area for e-sports and PC gaming. New dining venue with healthy food options, accessible after hours. Space to host programs such as career fairs, speakers, comedy nights, open mic nights, poetry slams and karaoke. State-of-the-art technology and plenty of electrical outlets. Large ballroom for hosting events for 600-800 people. Shaded outdoor plaza area (between Union West and East) for live entertainment and other events. Sustainable features include solar panels, LED lighting, and water efficiency. More: UTEP discus thrower Esther Osisike breaks through to win a title María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@ @ on Bluesky, and @eptmariacg on TikTok. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP Student Union to be torn down, replaced with updated building
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas Senate OKs modernization of student union at UTEP
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Texas Senate passed a bill that supports the expansion and modernization of the Student Union at the University of Texas at El Paso. House Bill 2853 was sponsored by Sen. Cesar J. Blanco, D-El Paso and authored by Rep. Vince Perez, D-El Paso. The bill raises the cap on the student union fee, last set in 1987, to help finance the demolition of the current facility and construction of a 'new, modern building better suited to meet the needs of UTEP's growing student population,' Blanco's office said. The student body voted to support the incremental fee increase in a campus-wide referendum in September 2024. Blanco issued the following statement: 'When I was a student at UTEP, the Student Union was where we crammed for exams, organized student events, and grabbed a bite between classes. But even back then, it felt outdated. It's always been the heart of campus, but now it's finally getting the investment it deserves. 'UTEP is one of the fastest-growing research institutions in the country, and its facilities should reflect that momentum. I'm proud to help bring to life a vision that is shaped by student voices that honors the past while building for the future. This new Union will be a hub for connection and Miner pride for years to come.' Perez issued the following statement: 'The student union facility was built shortly after World War II, and generations of UTEP students have walked its halls, studied in its spaces, and built lifelong memories there. At that time, UTEP was a small institution of just 3,000 students; today, it's a nationally recognized university with an enrollment exceeding 25,000. This bill will deliver the modern, state-of-the-art facility our students need and deserve, supporting their success for generations to come. I'm honored that this was my first bill in the Texas House, and I'm proud to see it successfully through the legislative process. I'm also tremendously grateful to UTEP President Heather Wilson, whose tireless advocacy was instrumental in this bill's passage, and to Senator Blanco, who skillfully shepherded it through the Senate.' House Bill 2853 now heads back to the House for concurrence. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
