After almost a full week of hearing wonderful Spring Break stories, I decided to take a trip down Spring Break memory lane.

I keep nearly every e-mail that is sent to me, so out of boredom, I started looking through past Spring Break trips, such as Habitat for Humanity, that Syracuse University has offered. I came across an e-mail from last year that warned students not to travel to Mexico because of the possible risks. I haven’t heard much news about Mexico lately, so I probed the current situation.

The Mexican government is on the brink of being called a ‘failed state’ due to its continuous decay and sure sign of collapsing. The Pentagon released a statement that declared Mexico’s folding a result of the government’s overall infrastructure being besieged by criminal gangs and drug cartels. CNN released a report Tuesday on the current status of Mexico and the U.S. government’s strive to help the country in its time of need.

Our lovely secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, left Tuesday on a mission to Mexico, armed with every White House official you can think of. That includes Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen. Clinton’s goal is simple and straight to the point: help stabilize Mexico in order to stabilize border control and decrease drug trafficking in the United States.

While her goals are simple, the task is not. Mexico has been collapsing for years now, and the situation is only getting worse with increased drug trade and financial market failure. Border control is also getting out of hand and is becoming more inconsistent than most Americans would like to see. Many in government would parallel Mexico as a ‘failed state’ with countries such as Somalia or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

If Clinton is to make any headway in changing Mexico for the better, she needs to focus on what many SU students see as common sense.

Erica Schmitt, a sophomore public relations major, said she feels that Clinton needs to push for stricter immigration laws and more consistent border control.

‘We can’t keep throwing money without requiring actual change from both sides of the border,’ Schmitt said. ‘This would mean collaborating but going through with plans.’

If Mexico is to be saved, drug trafficking must be at the top of the list of things to be dealt with. Looking just at the last two years, tourism to Mexico has dropped dramatically because universities are warning students that the country is too dangerous due to drug trade violence. Parents are receiving the same e-mails from schools and are making sure their children play somewhere safe if they decide to travel.

I guess we’ll see what happens in the next few weeks, but authentic tequila connoisseurs might as well kiss those days goodbye.  

John Sumpter is a junior international relations and Middle Eastern studies major. His column appears weekly and he can be reached at jfsumpte@syr.edu.

Published on March 24, 2010 at 12:00 pm