Online Broadcast Story

12/03/2008

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY- Students who attend SDSU that live in the neighboring city of Tijuana, Mexico not only have to worry about class, but the rise in violence across the city.

International business sophomore Alejandra Fernandez, who used to be a student that commuted to San Diego for school each day, and whose parents still live in the Tijuana, said the violence is affecting her differently.

“It’s actually really scary,” said Fernandez. “Last Sunday I saw a shooting, so it has definitely affected me personally.”

Fernandez said she previously thought the violence only affected the bad people involved in drug cartels, but this most shooting has changed not only how she visits her family, but her plans after graduation.

“Actually with all this violence, I would rather live here [and] work here,” said Fernandez.

She said it creates a lot of stress to students who have to worry about family and friends, waiting several hours to cross just to get to campus and complete class work.

Professor of Chicana/Chicano Studies, Norma Iglesias-Prieto, who teaches classes about the San Diego-Tijuana border and formerly commuted daily herself, already understands the stress and problems of cross-border students. This is especially the case with the recent rise in violence.

Iglesias-Prieto said in the past she has had students not attend classes because of unexpected border inspections and even the kidnapping of family members, but is now increasing.

“I’m very sensitive to this issue because I know it by experience only because it is my topic of research,” said Iglesias-Prieto. “I have developed strategies for those students to follow the class on blackboard -through instruments to solve the lack of crossing or the result of the problems.”

Like the diverse choice of majors at SDSU, students who are connected to life across the border in Tijuana look at life in different ways.

Chicano/Chicana studies junior Ariana Gallegos crosses the San Diego-Tijuana border to attend class at SDSU each day. Gallegos acknowledges the wait times at the border and the violence in her city, but it doesn’t change how she gets here work done or gets to class, despite being late to class on three occasions this semester for secondary inspection.

Gallegos said she feels freer as a person and as a student living in Tijuana instead of San Diego.

“There’s tension in the city I can tell you, but it doesn’t carry over when you cross the border, not at all,” Gallegos said.

Until the violence dies down, the best thing students and professors say to do is live life normally, and hope things change quickly.