ART IS WHERE THE HARDSHIP IS
Recently, someone asked Leonard Cohen "Are you still writing good poetry?"
"Nah…I am too happy to write good poetry." Which brings this to Mr Fischer's plaintiff re: Santa Fe's poor deprived young artists [Zane's World, May 25: "Home is Where the…What Is?"]. If the only hardship you are going to suffer is having to paint in your kitchen, or maybe a lukewarm latté at Starbucks, the fledgling artists in this town are in serious trouble. The best and the brightest have always gone through hell-slept in the back seats of cars, worked the kitchens of New York, taken on all manner of shit jobs, had their hearts broken. You want to spoon feed? You end up with a generation of paint-by-number, cookie-cutter artists. You think that the Fridas, the O'Keeffes, the Bukowskis, the Pollocks of the world slipped into their Calvin Kleins and made their way to a $1.2 million studio? Stop it. Santa Fe doesn't produce great artists, it attracts great artists. You got extra money? Try the battered women's centers, where it will truly make a difference.
Peter Vincent
Salt Spring IslandBritish Columbia
DULY NOTED
Three things I wish to note regarding the article on Susan Lumley [Cover story, May 25:
]:
1. Approachable administrator my tushie! I approached her in late winter during a meeting between Capital High School and Santa Fe High School special education administration and some staff. Her idea of participatory management style is to insist that CHS and SFHS sit at separate tables because, you know, CHS admin. and staff have cooties.
2. Same scenario: I approached her to introduce myself. Cursory handshake (barely) and turns away (immediately). Body language speaks volumes.
3. I couldn't care less that Lumley has an "impeccable reputation" elsewhere. She is here, and her current administrative "excellence and accountability" has been less than commendable.
If this is how our current superintendents and associate superintendents define aforementioned, I suggest dipping into Enron's pool for filling new positions next academic year.
Lisa Goldman
IEP Specialist/Gifted Program Coordinator
CHSE
REPORT CARD
The cover story about Susan Lumley seemed to show two different sides of the story without giving an idea of why SFHS has found itself in this contentious atmosphere. The paper described the complexion of the teachers and administrators but failed to provide important facts about how the SLCs will be initiated. It is outrageous that SLCs will be in place for one year and then changed again. Don't assume that parents are informed about the details.
Though not district-wide, the atmosphere harkens back to a time when Veronica Garcia was superintendent and Price Waterhouse Cooper was hired by the McCune Foundation to do a management and operational analysis for the district. The report recommends outsourcing the SFPS Office of Public Information. It states that extensive research indicates that the two most effective public information sources of any school district are the students and teaching personnel. The current operational mode of the Office of Public Information continues to lack a sense of independence and freedom. If Superintendent Rendón and board president Martin Lujan are not providing information, than the press is obligated to provide better objective and professional reporting.
M Cooke
Santa Fe
LONE STAR STATE
Sounds to me like Santa Fe High School Principal Susan Lumley is just another Texas bully.
Gary M Krino
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