Today’s paper contains a brief rundown of a meeting of minds: 7th and 8th graders from the Santa Fe Girls’ School, who have spent the last few weeks studying the US Constitution and the history of New Mexico’s statehood, and Santa Fe Mayor David Coss. But SFR had to jet before the discussion got really good, so we called the Girls’ School development director, Cullen Curtiss, for an update. Read it after the jump. Continue reading »

The art of energy flows through many currents, and art without purpose is really nothing more than a Thomas Kinkade painting. But when Santa Fe’s collective environmental consciousness streams forth and blends with its equally progressive art scene, the collaboration becomes a movement; and those first steps ascend this weekend when the city celebrates Vision Shift! Art in the Age of Climate Change.

To call it a festival is a cop-out. Vision Shift! is really more of an awakening amidst a climate of self-righteous zealots who can’t stop barking about deforestation and weeping over melting ice caps as if cartographers were already sketching Arizona Bay. The quest of the Art Collaborative, an organization that spearheads this caravan of organizations and institutions, is to communicate the realities of our current environmental and economic crises through the universal language of art and in the process create an open dialogue for positive change.

To read more about what’s on tap for VisionShift! for the next few weeks, get more descriptions and a full schedule below the jump.
Continue reading »

Governor Bill Richardson held a press conference at the College of Santa Fe this morning to announce the formation of a task force whose job it will be to find a financially viable way to keep the College of Santa Fe from closing its doors after the spring semester.

Before signing the executive order to create the task force Richardson’s Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Perlman, Cabinet Secretary of Higher Education Reed Dasenbrock, House Speaker Ben Lujan, Representative Lucky Varela and Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, all members of the newly formed task force, spoke to approximately 200 students, staff and faculty in the O’Shaughnessey Performance Space.

The task force comes after House Bill 577 was, according to Richardson, “drowned out in the last few days of a very difficult session.” Richardson also acknowledged how hard the CSF community rallied throughout the session, especially in the final days and said he is “extremely disappointed that we did not get a hearing” on the bill but that the steps forward will allow the college to “keep going in, perhaps, a stronger way.”

House Speaker Lujan spoke out in support of the Governor’s move and echoed the Governor’s dissappointment that HB 577 was held up in the Senate Finance Committe, pointing the finger at SFC chairman John Arthur Smith saying it is “undemocratic and unamerican for one person to deny the community to be heard.”

The task force, which includes politicians, educators, local business leaders and students includes Highlands University President Jim Fries, Santa Fe Community College President Sheila Ortego, University of New Mexico Executive Vice President and Provost Suzanne Ortega, New Mexico Cultural Affairs Secretary Stuart Ashman, Lensic General Manager Bob Martin, students Irina Zerkin, Keith Murfee and Adam New. Surprisingly the task force does not include any current CSF faculty though CSF President Stuart Kirk and Vice Dean Susan Marcus were named as members.

Immediately following the press conference the task force went to work. Its preliminary report is due on April 30 to Richardson, who acknowledged that many of the students and faculty have been actively looking for other institutions.

…or, stand tall if you give a shit.

That’s right cats and kittens, it’s time to quit waiting around for the legislature to make a move on the possible acquisition of the College of Santa Fe.

10 am sharp. Friday morning. The east side of the Roundhouse. Show your support.

According to an email from Santa Fe city spokeswoman Laura Banish, Mayor David Coss is scheduled to join CSF protesters who are working to urge the Senate Finance Committee to hear HB 577, Representative Lucky Varela’s bill to allow for a state acquision of the College of Santa Fe. The bill passes the Senate Finance Committee by a unanimous vote earlier in the session. Banish tells SFR that the Mayor was not aware that CSF was on spring break this week but feels that the rally is necessary to show Senate Finance Committee chair Senator John Arthur Smith the importance of this issue to Santa Fe.

In the press release issued by Mayor Coss’ office, Coss says, “The College of Santa Fe is too important to our community to let it go. In these challenging economic times, it’s more important now than ever to invest in our community.  The repercussions of letting the College of Santa Fe dissolve will have negative impacts far into the future, beyond the current economic recession. We’re asking that the democratic process be used to let this bill be heard and move this bill forward before the legislative session ends.”

The legislative session comes to an end at noon this Saturday.

HB 577 needs to go through the Senate Finance Committee and a vote on the Senate floor before the end of the session in order for the acquisition to take place.