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Regional universities tackle border issues

by Jeremy Hunt

Daily Lobo

UNM will join eight other Southwestern universities in a consortium for research on issues related to the U.S.-Mexico

border.

"There's a great interest in border issues and lots of hard problems to solve," said Frank Gilfeather, associate vice president for strategic projects. "What they hope to accomplish is establish a number of important, joint projects involving research and education about border issues."

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John McIver, associate vice president for research and economic development, said the consortium will be a success, because each university has strong points, and experts of different disciplines will collaborate.

UNM will work with Arizona State, University of Arizona, New Mexico State, New Mexico Tech, San Diego State, Texas A&M Engineering, University of Texas-El Paso and University of Texas-San Antonio.

Gilfeather said the logistics of the consortium have not been worked out, but he wants students to participate in the

research.

"The hope is to engage undergraduates and graduate students in support of these projects as we get them," he said. "All colleges could be involved in one or more projects concerning the consortium. We hope to engage students in working on the various projects."

He said it is exciting, because universities are usually in competition with

each other.

"It's tough enough to get the universities in New Mexico to cooperate and get together on things," he said. "To get a regional group - it's very dynamic. That to me is the most thrilling part of the thing."

Gilfeather said the universities have had meetings for the last six months.

The consortium will do research with graduate and undergraduate students and report its findings to the state and federal governments as well as private foundations that will fund it, he said.

Gilfeather said the consortium does not have any money yet.

"The resources to do work in the consortium will come from proposals," he said. "I see this very much as a growth area for research money coming to UNM."

The research is important because there is national interest in the U.S.-Mexico border, Gilfeather said. The research will include transborder law and environment and health issues, he said.

"All of these things are part of border security," he said. "Border activities are heightened activities in the U.S., for obvious reasons."

McIver said border security is part of all the issues the consortium will study.

"The big issues are energy, water and the environment. Those are closely coupled," he said. "We can bring together a large range of minds, so we can tackle some of the issues."

Gilfeather said the UNM departments participating in research projects include arts and sciences, Latin American studies, and health sciences. Projects will be determined as the consortium establishes itself, he said.

"We're going to have a series of

workshops over the winter on some issues, and those are beginning," he said. "We hope to have some projects under way by next

summer."

McIver said the consortium's findings will help the U.S. have a better understanding of how border issues affect the region.

The government will have the resources to make educated choices for dealing with the border,

he said.

"For instance, looking at possible social or economic impacts from decisions you might make," he said. "Policy changes affect areas."

The consortium might recruit Mexican agencies and universities to assist in research and provide another perspective,

McIver said.

"One of the things that's been discussed is that if you're going to do a border discussion, it's a better idea to have both sides of the border represented," he said. "Putting up a fence has made a lot of people think about what a border is and what it should be."

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