Frontera
NorteSur
July 2003
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Frontera
NorteSur |
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July 29, 2003 Only 58% of applicants to the Autonomous University of Baja California (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, UABC) in Tijuana were accepted to begin their studies in the fall of 2003. Of the 6,078 students that applied to the UABC, 2,578 were rejected, some of them for the second or third year in a row. Beginning next week, UABC administrators will formally begin trying to find a new for place students that were denied entrance to the program of their choice. Some students were turned away from the university because they scored less than 400 points on the admission exam, others because they had low grades in high school, and others because their major filled up with more qualified applicants. Lilliana Sánchez Segura, 19, one of the students that was not granted entrance into the UABC, told the Tijuana newspaper Frontera, "I spoke with Vice President, I told her that I scored 524 points on the entrance test, that it was the second time that I had applied to the communications program, that I had a 8.24 [of 10] in high school, that I had studied a lot, also that my second choice was to study psychology. She listened to me and told me that one possible alternative was for me to relocate to humanities, in a major like literature, history, philosophy or even tourism. She also suggested that I go to another university with a program similar to that of the UABC and that I later try to enter the university and transfer my credits." Although the UABC had previously announced that from August 4 to August 8 it would move students into unfilled programs, on Thursday, July 18, administrators met with 250 students that hoped to get into the university. A spokesperson for the UABC stated that staff was meeting with these early arrivals and trying to explain available options to them. All hope is not lost for students like Sánchez that have yet to be admitted to the university. Students that have been accepted to the UABC but have not paid their tuition by August 3 will lose their places in the university. This will give some rejected students the opportunity to begin their college educations in the fall. Source: Frontera (Tijuana), July 29, 2003. Article by Omar Millán González.
July 11, 2003 A fire which began on July 4 in Baja California's San Pedro Mártir mountains has spread to the national park of the same name. Besides the importance that the park has for state residents, the ecoregion is important for a variety of plants and animals. Officials estimate that the fire will be under control by Saturday, July 12. As of Wednesday night, the fire had burned between 800 and 1,000 hectares (approximately 2,471 acres) of trees in the national park. Ejido wooded lands have suffered a lost estimated at between 400 and 500 hectares. Currently, over 250 people from various parts of federal, state and local government are engaged in fighting the blaze. Of those trying to put out the flames are 200 soldiers from the Secretariat of Defense. The rest of the firefighters come from the Comisión Nacional Forestal (Conafor), the Mexican Navy and the fire departments of Mexicali and Rosarito. As soon as the fire was discovered, Conafor rented a helicopter to help douse the blaze. However, the helicopter sustained damage and another was contracted. Unfortunately, helicopter support was lost for a time when Conafor could not find Mexican immigration officials to check the documents of foreign pilots hired to fly the machine. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the Sierra San Pedro Mártir is important habitat for bald eagles, California condors, bobcats, and bighorn sheep. The mountains also contain some of Mexico's tallest pines. An astronomical observatory in the region has seen its studies disrupted by the fire and California condor researchers had to evacuate three birds from an aviary in the area. Sources: La Crónica (Mexicali), July 10, 2003. Article by Gerardo
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