By RON MEXICO
Staff WriterBROWNSVILLE, Texas - It wasn't that long ago that the local daily newspaper outed a school politician for claiming to be a medical doctor when all he had was a few years of study at a Mexican university. Then, into the pomp of a recent high school graduation, came a teenager in nothing but a jockstrap to rev-up the graduates and the audience. This morning, the silly war between the local branch of the University of Texas and a pack of wild-eyed bloggers continues unabated, its march symbolic of nothing else except ingratitude.
In its place, I would suggest, should come a roundhouse "thank you" to every single educator from every citizen of this falling town, for the word elsewhere is that Brownsville, home to some 120,000 under-achieving Americans, is damned lucky to have a college at all.
Yet, like diarrhea-on-a-schedule, the Bloggers persist in damning the one insitution that can get them out of the sinkhole that is border life. Pitiful is worn proudly around here, as is the adjective pathetic. The look on the faces of locals tells it all: Gimme something, gimme something now, and gimme it for free.
The target of the bloggers is University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College President Dr. Julieta Garcia. At issue for the Hoi Polloi of the Internet are student fees, supposed educational dominance on the part of Garcia, school politics, favoritism and the annoying, to some, fact that Dr. Garcia serves both the four-year college (UT-B) and the minor league TSC. As Arne Duncan might say, "Boys, whoop-de-dooo."
The world is falling apart for little Brownsville. Bigger issues abound. Unemployment is now listed as a tourist destination in town. Jobs are scarce. Men who want to work are scarcer. Indeed, the one outlet that is doing gangbusters business is the city library, where free computers bring the power of the Internet to a host of idle residents. And so they come, to whittle away their time, to network with the outside world, to waste another day posting inane commentary on blogs from here to Borneo. Life is cheap in Brownsville, and, as they say in the South Pacific, it's as if everyone is on downers.
Lucky is a word they hate in Brownsville. And they hate it because lucky they are, as in lucky to have anything worth a damn, as in lucky to be considered America, as in lucky to exist. If ever a town needed to be named Rotten, Texas, perhaps it is this one. Tales of government corruption ring back through the decades like cowbells on a herd of cows that just won't die gracefully.
The mess between the bloggers and the colleges is a mirage, sham to the core. True, there are problems with UT-B and TSC. But, truth be told, there are problems with damned near everything here, from drinking-and-driving, to packs of stray animals, to horrible unemployment, to life-sucking politics, to long lines at the computer check-out booth at the city library.
Education? Education at UT-B and TSC?
Get real...
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11 comments:
The Real Problem is That We are Too Close to Matamoros. As 6th Class Citizens ( On both Societies )" Mexican - Americans " We have an Identity Crisis, Have so Low- Self Steem, Do not Own Big Corporations,Tv Stations or Programs Major Industry Infraestructure... All We own is Little and Insignificants Taco Stands and Tortilleria Shops.
just by having a G.E.D. - type of ducation , We so Believe That, We Have it Made Here In the U.S.A. When Everybody Up North just Laughs about This Poor, Corrupted, Gang - Mafia- Crime and Violence Ridden Little Farm Towns. Besides to Them, The Borders Stops and Starts just south of Houston, Tx.
ANON:...It would be something if a New Media came to Brownsville to offer unbiased coverage of any/all local issues. The local Blogs blast the newspaper for not doing its job, yet the job the Blogs are doing is more akin to that done by loan shark enforcers in Chicago and Philadelphia and New York. There is no honor, no value, in whipping a town into a frenzy when you don't have the goods to effect change. Brownsville Bloggers are streetcorner town criers, able to raise their voices, but unable to do a Goddamned thing about the problems they perceive and identify. In the end, they are more harmful to the community than they realize. But, it too is a game. These unsophisticated bloggers know it, of course... - Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xdO44DJQAQ ~Claire
Claire:...It tells me video is unavailable. Title of song?... - Editor
Claire, Claire, Claire: Okay, there it is. Neat song. A world of stuff between the lines. Does it mean you love me again? I miss The Toddle Inn for breakfast, yes. I miss the sounds of early morning Brownsville. I miss the laughter, the hugs, the very idea of thinking ahead... - Editor
Eliot control yourself,what are you having a love affair in the inter-net??
You are right, the valley as awhole sucks, Brownsville, Harlingen, San Benito, Rio Hondo, the place sucks, I blame the matter on lazy politicians, who care only about themselves.
ANON:...If only you knew Claire. I'm sure you'd understand. But she treats me badly, although I am a fool for love... - Editor
Another Big Real Problem is That as Mexican - Americans, Chicanos; We Truly Lack Leadership and positive Role Models, Not Only in Politics, but Unfortunally in All Walks of Life. What a Pitty and Misery... but so True Here in RGV.
Eliot, the picture of this women look like they are scared, Brownsville can't be that bad, or was the picture taken in Matamoros??
Anonymous, we have good leadership here in the Valley, let me see, hmmm, hmmmm, hmmm, well we do have lots of jaibas, and politics, well we have some nasty races, by the way what do you consider good Leadership skills?? I am curious!!!
Capt. King:...Leaders will surface out of their own skills and intelligence. But we speak of elected officials. A good elected official is one whose word can be trusted. A good elected official fears questions from no one. A good elected official is not corrupt. A good elected official knows his position belongs to the people who elected him/her... - Editor
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