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'The damage has been done," the Mexican consul in Tucson, Juan Manuel Calderón, was quoted in a recent article on the University of Arizona's decision to advise students not to travel to Mexico during this year's spring break ("UA travel warnings to Mexico still stand" March 6). But this damage is not limited to Mexico. It affects the border region as a whole.

For those living in Southern Arizona, it goes without saying that goods, capital and, whether we like it or not, people travel back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border. Yet, too often we seem to be content with isolating problems in one country or the other. The UA's urging of students not to travel to Mexico represents this failure to view the border region as a whole when it comes to local problem-solving. And this reckless decision could yield dangerous results.

Tourism is the fourth largest source of foreign revenue in Mexico, bringing over $13 billion into the country last year. This year, revenue from tourism will be even more important to the Mexican economy, as the economic downturn threatens economic stability throughout North America. Mexico is counting on tourist dollars to help the nation through this difficult time.

Although the State Department's travel warning stops short of advocating that U.S. tourists derail their travel plans, advising mainly that individuals take "common sense precautions," the UA urged students to avoid visiting the country entirely. Of course, even though the increased violence on the border that the State Department cites is almost entirely contained among drug cartels and local gangs, it makes sense that one exercise common sense and act responsibly when traveling anywhere abroad. However, to ignore the efforts that Sonoran officials have made to ensure the safety of local tourists and urge instead that students simply not go at all risks threatening the economic stability of the entire border region.

In the UN survey on international crime trends published in 2008, Mexico has a national homicide rate of less than 11 per 100,000. To put this number in perspective, the Mexican homicide rate is massively eclipsed by the rates for many U.S. cities, including Detroit (46 per 100,000), Baltimore (45 per 100,000) and St. Louis (40 per 100,000) . One should not infer from these statistics that travelers are safer visiting Mexican destinations than, for example, Washington D.C. (31 per 100,000), but rather that violent crime is a problem that we all must be aware of, both when making travel arrangements and when carrying out our daily lives at home.

It is wrong to assume that residents of Southern Arizona can protect themselves simply by closing themselves off from their Mexican neighbors. Problems, like people, are not easily contained by borders. Instead, we must focus on developing bilateral solutions to the recent spike in regional violence.

If we continue to focus on isolating ourselves from external problems, whether they be criminal or economic, rather than working alongside Mexico to develop multidimensional strategies for their solutions, it will not be long until those problems hop the fence and find us where we live.