Good After Noon My Name Is Melissa Cadena

Good after noon my name is MelissaCadena

My name is ValerieAlonso

We are here at memorial middle school to interview Mr. Vela

(Confused) Alright…Good afternoon

Mr Vela how many years have u lived in Laredo?

I’ve lived in Laredo about… well all my life (smiles)…I’ve lived here forty years

What is your occupation?

My occupation currently is… I’mwithLaredo independent school district of the capacity of math teachers and i am also in charge of crime stoppers at memorial middle school

How does your job help out the Laredo Community?

Excuse me… (Lost)

How does your job help out the Laredo Community?

My job is actually important for the Laredo community because my job involves with the Laredo youth and my job is in educating the youth and preparing them for their future

Our goal is to educate the youth and have them be successful in their future and directlyimpacts the future of Laredo.

What about crime stoppers?

Crime stoppers is actually also a… our students are very involved with our law enforcement agencies as we do have activities that we do with them and they do get to go to conferences and we go out of town for about a week and take some students and they get exposure to all the law enforcement agencies in the state of Texas and their job that their doing and what law enforcement cartels in the state of Texas.

Do you believe Laredo has changed (pauses for breath) over the years?

Laredo has changed tremendously over the years. There’s been a lot of changes from when I was a teenager and when I was in school in Laredo to now. Laredo has grown tremendously. The infrastructure in Laredois a lot bigger, the population in Laredo is a lot bigger. Ourschools…we have a larger amount of schools that we didn’t have back then. Laredo as a whole is growing the hospitals, the health care in Laredo is growing the education the schools are growing the business retail industry is very strong in Laredoand its very powerful tool for the economy in Laredo

What can u say about the economy in Laredo?

The economy in Laredois actually… has actually improved. The economy in Laredo through the years has improved. The city and the county now have… generate more revenue from the growth of the business in Laredo as u know now we have the retail industry.Now we have several Wal-Marts in Laredo, HEBS and other companies that have also grown a lot in Laredo and have several cords in Laredo. Best buys is a growing company and they now have more stores that they’re building in Laredo currently so the economy in Laredo has grown a lot through the years and we can see the growth especially in the retail industry and that generates more revenue for the city and for the county.

What would you recommend for improvement?

For improvement in Laredo I would say that the city official and county officials need to have a vision for the future and I think that the legislative that they are promoting or that they will promote is going to have a direct impact so I think that they should really have a vision an have a goal that they can attain an I guess the most important thing is that the laws and the city’sordinates will be coming up with a plan and look at what they need to come up with and have them look at the future and their new laws that they are coming up with.

Do you believe that our new president Barrack Obama can make a difference?

Barrack Obama is a democrat that has just boarded into president and I think that as a democrat takes over the rest of the Republican Party that was in charge in the federal government.I think it will make a direct impact to Laredo and web county. The reason is I feel that the balance and the federal government is now to where we have more of an equal amount of democrats and republicans versus the old administration where we had a majority of republicans in the house in the senate. In my opinion that overwhelming majority did not help the Laredo or web county or border areas as much as I see that the democrat administration will help the border area of the city and the county. I really feel that our education system will generate... will have some more programs founded through the democratic administration. The democratic administration... I really feel... that are help carrying Laredo will have more programs founded now that we have a democratic administration in the federal government and as well as the… any other programs that may be founded in the web county or Laredo area.

What is different about barrack Obama and any other former president?

Barrack Obama from our former president which was Bush the main difference is the republican party and democratic party and I think their beliefs are different and I think their goals are different as far as my opinion barrack Obama and the democratic party I feel will I guess will be more helpful for the Laredo region, for the web county area, and for the border region. Their main differences are their goals, their philosophies and you know I guess it really will help now that we have a democratic program. Their domestic…policy is more geared towards their boarded areas.

Do u as crime stopper member plan on any more changes or events for the community to participate in?

Yes (smiles) as I have been involved with crime stoppers through the years I’m very proud of the students who have come to memorial and have been involved in crime stoppers and the crime stoppers students in Laredo independent school district of the whole. It is a good program to have and I know that it has made a big difference in our school to have. It has made a huge difference for the youth of Laredo and I strongly believe and hope that crime stoppers will continue because crime stoppers I have seen personally that the changes that it has done to some children. I have seen personally the success of the program as we have carteled drugs in school, we have carteled gangs in school, and I have seen personally the difference that crime stoppers has made so yes it does educate our students and it does help our students. It is a good avenue to have for students to report and remain anonymous and they can report any drugs or gangs and it is a very powerful tool to have and I strongly recommend crime stoppers for the schools and for the students. It is something I know the students have benefited from and I believe that they will continue to benefit from.

Do you feel honored when u know that u have changed the life of a student

I am very proud to say that I do admire the student that I know when they change and I do know. I don’t take any… I don’t want to take me that had something to do with the change. I do want to help them and I do like to help students. But I have seen the students change and I am proud of them and they do change and they have come back after several years and mention to me what there goals are for the future and I have been very impressed because students that have come out of gangs have come back several years after that and told me that they are now getting ready to get into law enforcement agencies. And it has made a change in their lives and I know it will continue to make a change in other teenager’s lives.

What do you recommend for teenagers who are out there right now committing crime and thinking “oh its cool because my friends do it”?

I... what I have told if I have talked to teenagers and my crime stopper members have friends that sometimes have to go through that and I strongly recommend to teenagers that they… I like to explain to them they are being very strongly influenced by the media that is targeting the teenagers and also by the way technology has advanced so much where our teenagers now have access to internet and tools in the internet that could have positive and negative effects on students and a lot of our students unfortunately because of peer pressure and because of the media the way it targets the teenagers… it negatively impacts students sometimes and explain to students that sometimes what happens is that they are being targeted and through peer pressure they are made to believe that certain things are okay in society when they are not okay in society. And I would just explain to the students that they need to be strong and to be their own person and they need to rely on the persons who really want them to be successful in the future and they need to try to improve themselves and set their goals and always look at their goals so they wont be able to fall so easily through the false I guess the false believes that are out there through peer pressure that sometimes students end up making mistakes intheir lives for.

Well thank you for the interview and thank you for your time

Oh thank you