UNM Taos News & Information: January 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

Weaving, Workshops, & Film

UNM Taos instructor Andrea Heckman has been awarded a 2011 NM State New Visions contract to make a documentary film about Weaving Traditions of Northern New Mexico. As part of the award, a series of free public workshops/lectures on filmmaking will be offered in February and March.

FREE PUBLIC FILM LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS IN TAOS

The public lecture scheduled for Feb 3 was cancelled due to the gas outage in Taos. It is rescheduled for SAT 9-11am, followed immediately by the pre-production workshop on planning your video projects. All other seminars/lectures are as originally scheduled. These lectures and workshops are free to the public.

Saturday Feb 12 9-3PM
Harwood Museum Theater, Ledoux Street, Taos
9am-11am Free Public Lecture, Video and Slide Show
THEIR STORIES: HOW TO CAPTURE OUR GRANDPARENTS AND NEIGHBORS KNOWLEDGE IN VIDEO, PHOTOS AND FILM

11am-3:00pm Film/video workshop/seminar on
PLANNING YOUR VIDEO PROJECT: SCRIPT, SHOT LISTS, INTERVIEW QUESTIONS, BUDGETS AND OTHER NECESSITIES

Saturday Feb 26 9-3PM
UNM Taos Klauer Campus, Room 121 Pueblo HALL
9am-3:00pm Film/video workshop/seminar on
PRODUCTION: REALITY AND TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Saturday March 19 9-3PM
Harwood Museum Theater, Ledoux Street, Taos
9am-3:00pm Film/video workshop/seminar on
POSTPRODUCTION-GETTING IT DONE

Thursday March 24 6-8PM
Harwood Museum Theater, Ledoux Street, Taos
Packaging Your Video; Distribution and Film Festivals

This program is organized by NM New Visions award recipient Andrea Heckman in partnership with the Harwood Museum and the New Mexico Film Office. For information, contactandreaheckman@earthlink.net or call 7706463.

The UNM Taos Report

By Bill Knief

UNM-TAOS: HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL

Our youngest students on the Kids' Campus and over 200 dual credit
students from area high schools make up just 2 of the lesser known but
vitally important components of the UNM-Taos student body.

The desire to learn lies deep beneath the surface of our culture in the very bones and DNA of our species. It’s what makes us human. We can no more sacrifice education for short term savings than a subsistence community can stave off hunger by eating its seed corn. Their immediate problem might be solved, but what do they do come spring, when it’s time to plant?

Here at UNM-Taos, as the Spring, 2011 semester began on the same day as the opening session of the New Mexico State Legislature, we were faced with a multitude of challenges that will make 2011 a very interesting year indeed.

Last Friday, January 21, with no less than ten days still remaining for students to enroll, your community college “broke the band”---the formula that determines the legislature’s level of support for our school---with an amazing 12,748 credit hours, more than 800 hours above last year’s record. And as for the number of students enrolled, we hit 1,500---exactly last year’s final count. That’s a great victory for Taos students.

But the additional funding does not kick in until 2013, and more budget cuts and even threats of closure are on the way. What do we do till then?

In his faculty orientation address January 15, Dean of Instruction Jim Gilroy spoke to the problem. “We are down to the bare bones for the rest of the semester,” he said. “We know exactly what we have left, and it is minimal. Yet even after we made cuts wherever we could, we were still able to offer 291 classes this semester.

“There has been the threat out there that the legislature needs to close five branches, and we were listed as one of the five. They said that by doing that they could save 135 million. But the impact on this community would be incredible. So our concern is to keep ourselves vibrant, alive and fiscally responsible.”

In her “state of the college” address, the fifth since she took office, Executive Director Dr. Kate O’Neill reminded faculty that “Fewer than five percent of over 2,000 respondents to a recent survey thought that closing community colleges was a good idea, and we have strong support from Mayor Cordova, local and statewide chambers of commerce, and state legislators. Furthermore, we have a very good reputation for the quality of our programs, the quality of our faculty, our record growth and the support of our community. It’s going to be a long 60 days, but I can assure you that we will make careful use of every resource and opportunity available to us in upholding our mission.

“We’ll let you know if rumors of closures are anything more than rhetoric. Taos is one of those communities where people step up and step forward. Senator Cisneros and Representative Gonzales have both conveyed to me that if anyone suggests closing UNM-Taos they will have a heck of a fight on their hands.”

Dr. O’Neill also reminded faculty that the Taos Municipal School Board election takes place Tuesday, February 1.

“School board elections across the country are notorious for low voter turnout, and yet the stakes are very high,” she said, urging people in districts one, two and four to contact the Elections Bureau if they are not sure where to vote or what district they are in.

Nowhere are the stakes higher than right here, right now in our own home town. Quality education at all levels is a legacy we must not fail to pass on to our children. Early voting ends on January 28, and you can call 737-6400 for more information.