Editorial

OPINION: ‘Clock it’: How the internet strips Black, brown queer culture of its influence By Angelica VillarrealMarketing ManagerPublished Friday, Oct. 16, 2026 “Clock it” and “clock her tea” have continued in the tradition of phrases taken out of context and fallen victim to the disfigurement of online discourse. What once were phrases used solely in ballroom events and Black queer culture has, like many sayings, have become part of the larger social dialect. From the popular use of “slay,” “spill the tea” and “she ate,” many parts of ballroom culture have continued their journey into internet slang. Angelica VillarrealMarketing Manager Ballroom began in the mid to late 1970s, as brown and Black drag queens and queer people were discriminated against in traditional drag pageant...

OPINION: Laredo offers hidden gems  By Kaily OlivoEditor-in-chiefPublished Wednesday, March 25, 2026 To me, all Laredo offered were small, local restaurants; that’s what made Laredo feel so different, like no one else featured the food we have. Besides that, it felt as if Laredo had nothing unique. Like there were no activities. Yes, Laredo is unique, considering it’s a border city, and has a rich history, but it’s a matter of: What can I do in Laredo besides eat? Kaily Olivo At first, there’s numerous things that came to my mind, such as walking in the parks, fishing at Lake Casa Blanca, and going to the annual Jalapeño Festival. I was just trying to see what’s out there, and that’s where it began. I started to really look into non-profit organizations, societies, c...

OPINION: Turning Point USA spreads conservative message at TAMIU By Alyssa GuajardoFormer Staff WriterPublished Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026 The Republican and conservative organization Turning Point USA began in recent years at Texas A&M International University. Following last semester’s assassination of far right voice Charlie Kirk, the organization gained more attention. Alyssa Guajardo This organization’s main goal is to spread the belief that America is the greatest nation on Earth, also called nationalism. As stated on their Instagram page, “Our mission is clear: to advance the values of freedom, limited government and individual responsibility.” TPUSA also developed strong and lasting relationships with the Webb County Republicans and state officials who share conservat...

OPINION: TikTok, do we really need it? By Marissa ContrerasEditor-in-ChiefPublished Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025 At 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, the U.S. was hit with a ban that would only last 12 hours. TikTok, ByteDance’s well-known social media platform used by all ages, went through a congressionally mandated ban.  The app’s use has helped small businesses, spread awareness, offered D.I.Y. or allowed people to share light-hearted funny videos. There was something for everyone; however, when TikTok went down, it left everyone turning to other apps, such as Instagram, the social platform X, and RedNote, a Chinese app similar to TikTok. Marissa Contreras With this ban came the question, was it ever that serious? As a user myself, I also found myself wondering what would come...

OPINION: This is for all the sad voters By Marissa ContrerasManaging EditorPublished Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 Nov. 5, 2024, was a stressful night. Being in The Bridge office, looking at the red and blue United States, I waited for Pennsylvania to turn blue. It never happened. By morning, our new president was called, and it was who I expected but not who I wanted. Marissa Contreras The reason I wanted a female president was because I knew everyone’s basic human rights were going to be protected. I knew I would be a secure woman living in America. As an American, I knew my privilege with this election was higher than others. But as a person with empathy, I knew no amount of tears and love could help my friends whose lives after this election will not have the same outcome as...

OPINION: Goodbye TAMIU, it’s been nice By Juan Carlos PuenteEditor-in-chiefPublished Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 This will be my last opinion piece for The Bridge since I am graduating in December. At first, I had been putting this article off because I felt like I had nothing to say. I’m graduating, why does it matter? Now that I am writing, I can’t help but feel a tightness in my chest. Juan Carlos Puente The Bridge has been my home away from home for the past three semesters and I’m left with the regret that I didn’t join sooner. Coming into college, I was in a bad headspace riding off a breakup and a parental divorce. I felt that nothing else mattered, not even my classes. I didn’t even know what I wanted to do afterward, the original plan was graphic design at University ...

OPINION: Brat summer prompts voter dissonance By Ana VaraAssistant EditorPublished Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 As the Troye Sivan- and Charlotte “Charli xcx” Aitchison-led Sweat Tour comes to an end and the brat remix album continues to top the charts, we have only just left the peak of brat summer—a phenomenon I can’t quite fathom to have grown quite as big as it has. I should understand this. My second-ever college class taught us that the last sequence of the existence of social movements in contemporary American society is integration, a folding into the mainstream culture. My mind won’t budge. Ana Varaassistant editor Though I can see it. There we are, the American populace, barrelling down from the brat green hill that we decided to stake our Jonathan “Lil Jon” Smith-endor...

OPINION: In Satan can we trust? By Dora GuerreroAssistant EditorPublished Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 Sometimes it’s so much easier to fear the things you don’t understand; sometimes people demonize them so they don’t have to look at them for too long. As children, they tell us to not misbehave or “el cucuy” is going to take us; the cucuy represents some evil that is out of this world, which goes against everything we have been taught. This ungodly presence steals misbehaving children and takes them away, but are all “ungodly” things really that bad? Dora GuerreroAssistant Editor The Satanic Panic from the 1990s created a false vision of the “occult” focused on a great conspiracy of Satanic cults that abduct children for human sacrifices. What many people failed to realize is that t...