San Antonio Express-News:
When the rattle of gunfire and pop of grenades woke Rene Cardona from his dorm bed at the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, he brushed it off as another drug war battle across the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico — a short distance away but in another country.
But when he looked out to see Border Patrol, security guards and police forming a frenzied phalanx along the river, he felt fear.
“The way they were acting, the way the police were arranged all around the entrances and above the border wall, it kind of freaked me out,” said Cardona, a junior majoring in journalism. “I felt that they were scared about something bigger happening.”
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The university has invested in a sophisticated communication system that includes loudspeakers in every building and parking lot, can send text alerts to every student and member of the faculty. Incoming freshman will be given a power point presentation on security. Campus police have Border Patrol on speed dial.
One middle-of-the-night U.S. government communiqué in early September sent police knocking on dorms, warning students to stay indoors.
“Our dorms are right there, close to the river,” said Campus Police Chief John Cardoza, who fielded the advisory. “The best approach at that time was to just go and get together with the (resident assistants) and let everybody know that there was going to be some shooting south of the border.”
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UT Bronsville, AKA Texas Southmost has a pretty campus that overlooks the Rio Grande into Matamoros. I spent one summer commuting to school there and playing cards between classes. Needless to say we did not have this kind of excitement. The criminal insurgency in Mexico has also effected the ability of Mexican students to attend classes there. The students who make it there will have a unique experience.
Image via Wikipedia
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