El Paso, Texas

El Paso (/ɛlˈpæsoʊ/; from Spanish, "the pass") is the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In 1659, Fray Garcia de San Francisco, established Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission of El Paso del Norte. Around this mission, the village of El Paso del Norte grew into what is now the El Paso–Juárez region. El Paso stands on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The two cities, along with Las Cruces (in the neighboring state of New Mexico), form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes referred as the Paso del Norte or El Paso–Juárez–Las Cruces. The region of over 2.7 million people constitutes the largest bilingual-binational work force in the Western Hemisphere.

The city is the headquarters of one Fortune 500 and three publicly traded companies, as well as home to the Medical Center of the Americas, the only medical research and care provider complex in West Texas and southern New Mexico, and the University of Texas at El Paso, the city's primary university. The city hosts the annual Sun Bowl, the second oldest bowl game in the country.

El Paso Chihuahuas

The El Paso Chihuahuas are a minor league baseball team representing El Paso, Texas in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). They are the Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The team moved to El Paso from Tucson, Arizona.

Franchise history

Previous teams

The Chihuahuas' heritage can be traced back to the establishment of the original Los Angeles Angels in 1903. These Angels (no relation to the current Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) were one of the eight "core teams" of the PCL during its heyday in the 1950s. In 1957, the team was sold to Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley as a harbinger of the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles the following year.

For 1958, the Angels moved to Spokane, Washington and became the (original) Spokane Indians. In 1972, the team moved again, this time to Albuquerque, New Mexico. As the Albuquerque Dukes, many of the team's star players and manager Tommy Lasorda formed the core of a Dodgers franchise that won the 1977, 1978 and 1981 pennants and 1981 World Series title.

Paso

A Paso (Spanish: "Episode of the Passion of Christ") is an elaborate float made for religious processions. They are carried by porters on staves, like a litter or sedan chair, and are usually followed or escorted by a band. Some have long skirts that cover the bearers entirely, giving the impression that the statue is floating on its own power.

The porters are called costaleros, cargadores or portadores and their leader is called a capataz ("Foreman" or "Head Man"). The capataz sets the chicotá, the period of time between a paso being lifted and set down again; the costaleros cannot pick up or set down the paso except by his leave. This is signalled by the llamador ("crier"), a knocker on the front of the float.

During Semana Santa ("Holy Week", the week preceding Easter Sunday) the custom is to make pasos adorned with large wooden statues of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, saints and biblical personalities from the Passion.

References

Humane society

A humane society is a group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons, although in many countries, it is now used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCAs). In the United Kingdom, it may also be a society that provides a waterways rescue, prevention, and recovery service, or that gives awards for the saving of human life (see: Royal Humane Society).

Australia

The first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), based on the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), was set up in Victoria in 1871, followed by other SPCAs in Tasmania in 1872, New South Wales in 1873, South Australia in 1875, Queensland in 1883, and Western Australia in 1892, with the other territories following much later.

The SPCAs were given the Royal Warrant in 1923 and became known as the Royal Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, although they have no formal connection with the RSPCA UK. The national organisation, RSPCA Australia, was formed in 1981 to give a national voice on policy matters and advise the federal government on animal welfare issues.

Southwest University

Southwest University (SWU, simplified Chinese: 西南大学; traditional Chinese: 西南大學; pinyin: Xīnán Dàxué) is a comprehensive university in Chongqing, China.

The university

Southwest University (SWU) is a comprehensive and national key university sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China. SWU was founded in July 2005, by the merger of Southwest Normal University and Southwest Agricultural University. The history of both universities can be traced back to 100 years ago. It is one of the "211 Project" universities (top 100) which get preferential support for their development and construction from the Central Government of China. The total number of the students at SWU is more than 80,000, of which 50,000 are full-time students. There are many international students working for their bachelors, masters, doctors degrees and advanced studies in SWU every year.

SWU is located in Chongqing municipality, which is the central city in the Western China Development Project. The Three Gorges, Dazu Stones Carving and Hotpot Food are worldwide famous and unique. Southwest University began to enroll international students in the 1950s. It is also one of the universities designated by the Ministry of Education to enroll Chinese Government Scholarship students. Most of the international students in SWU are now majoring in Chinese language, Pedagogy, Psychology, Economics, Business in China, Chinese Minorities Studies, Life Sciences, Food Sciences, Agriculture, Fine Arts, and Chinese Martial Arts for example. The qualified International students in Southwest University have the privileges and chances to get Chonqing Mayor Scholarships and SWU Excellent Overseas Students Scholarship. In addition SWU is donating a share of Integrative Insurance for Medical Care and Accidents for every long term overseas student.