Puentes Consortium at Rice to discuss technologies for Mexico-US border

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

HOUSTON – (April 19, 2012) – “Creating a 21st-Century Border: Border Technologies” is the theme of the third annual Puentes Consortium Symposium on the Mexico-U.S. Border being held at Rice University April 26.

The Puentes Consortium comprises five universities from Mexico and the United States and provides a distinctive voice for the binational community of scholars who carry out multidisciplinary research on issues of importance to relations between Mexico and the U.S. and to the well-being of their citizens.

The following events are open to the media and will be held in the Rush Conference Center at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy:

10-11 a.m. Roundtable No. 1: Security.
“Culture of Lawfulness or Culture of Fear,” Fernando A. Rodríguez Elizondo, Universidad de las Américas-Puebla (UDLAP).

“The Use of Social Media as a Tool for Collaborative Research on the U.S.-Mexico Border,”
Jeremy Slack, University of Arizona, and Alison E. Lee, UDLAP.

Discussant: Jesús Velasco, Tarleton State University.

11 a.m.-noon Roundtable No. 2: Environment.

“Desalination Technology in a Binational Context: Implications for Water, Energy and Environment in the Western Portion of the U.S.-Mexico Border,”
Margaret O. Wilder, University of Arizona, and Ismael Aguilar Barajas, Tecnológico de Monterrey.

“The Role of Technology on Safe Drinking Water Production and Its Relationship with Public Safety at the U.S.-Mexico Border Region,”
Erick Bandala, UDLAP.

Discussant: José A. Raynal Villaseñor, UDLAP.

2:30-3:30 p.m. Roundtable No. 3: Governability.

“The Use of Electronic Technology and Legislative Representation in the Mexican and U.S. States: Nuevo Leon and Texas,”
Mark P. Jones, Rice University, and Jorge F. Aguirre Sala, Universidad de Monterrey.

“Full Information Product Pricing (FIPP) Regimes: Policy Implications forU.S.-Mexico Sustainable Commerce.”
Luis F. Luna-Reyes, UDLAP.

Discussant: Tony Payán, the University of Texas at El Paso/Rice University.

The formal announcement of the the Puentes Consortium took place in Houston in January 2010, but the consortium created binational teams in 2009 for the first year’s research agenda, which focused on Mexico-U.S. border security.

The consortium focuses its resources on a different topic annually and carries out research with an orientation toward public policy. Each year culminates in the Puentes Consortium’s Mexico-U.S. symposium, where the research is discussed and deliberated upon by the member institutions and their leadership teams.

Participating universities include Monterrey Tec, the University of Monterrey and the University of the Americas in Puebla, all in Mexico, and the University of Arizona and Rice University in the U.S.

Due to space limitations, this event is not open to the public. Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to David Ruth at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

-30-

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is known for its “unconventional wisdom.” With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 4 for “best value” among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/Rice.pdf.