Clothed in multi-colored and multicultural exuberance, the 2nd annual SFUAD Olympics ruled the day on Saturday, Sept. 27. Undeterred as dark clouds threatened the sunny afternoon, SFUAD students gathered on the quad, warming up in preparation for the trials ahead. Several teams chose to coordinate T-shirt colors, some even going so far as to stencil their team and personal names on the shirt. At the sound of a whistle, the teams scattered to opposite ends of the Quad to begin competing. “The teams rotate through the different events, they don’t all compete at once,” explains Keynan Johnson of the SFUAD Student Programming Board, clipboard in hand as he oversees two teams battling it out on the volleyball court. “It’s all about time, not points. The teams can choose which event to go to first, and the fastest wins!” Events took place on both the Quad and in the Driscoll Fitness Center, with soccer and basketball at the DFC, and inflatable obstacle course, team-legged race, water balloon toss, ski relay race, mini-bicycle race, tug-o-war and volley ball taking place at the Quad. As with the previous year, this year’s SFUAD Olympics was the brainchild of the Student Programming Board, or SPB, one of the most active and widely known student organizations on campus, specializing in student events. While walking around the Quad, various familiar faces of SPB such as Ramiro Leal could be seen monitoring the events. But there were some new people in charge of the Olympics this year, such as Meg Colburn, a freshman performing arts major who recently joined SPB. Colburn was thrilled to be so involved in planning and organizing events such as this one so early in her involvement in SPB. “It’s been really fun. I feel super included and like my opinion really matters,” says Colburn, sporting a Superwoman shirt with attached cape. Ten teams participated in this year’s Olympics, boasting such inventive names as the Sexi Mexis, the Kennedy Mean Girls, the Kennedy Boys, Las Pollas de Bangcok, team Din-Din, Steve, Team Oh Sh*t, the Hangovers and Team My-Anaconda-Don’t-Want-None-Unless-You-Got-Puns-Hun. A truly multicultural event that encouraged national and international students alike to compete, the Quad echoed all afternoon with team battle cries in both English and Spanish. “It gives students a chance to interact with new people and with their team. There is such diversity within each team,” says Cynthia Lukman of SPB. SPB members, students and volunteers alike were impressed with the shows of sportsmanship and lack of competition, happy that students were just enjoying themselves and not being overly competitive. “Everyone’s having a good time, there’s lots of good sportsmanship and team spirit,” says Donn Taylor, a volunteer. Keynan Johnson concurred, saying that “no one’s been overly competitive; it’s all been in a good, fun spirit.” “It’s a lot of fun,” agrees Daniela Larrea, an international student from Mexico who competed on Team Hangover. Students were also pleased with the diversity and fun nature of the competitions, many smiling and laughing when asked to recall their favorites. “I really enjoy the obstacle course,” says Charlotte Renken and Raven Twofeather of Team My-Anaconda-Don’t. At the end of the day, it was Team Las Pollas de Bangcock who took home top honors, followed by the Kennedy Boys in second place, and Black Team in...

As students, we take for granted that everything at the university has to work, be clean and organized. It is easy to forget that there are people who every day keep this university going and clean up the messes left behind. One of them is Federico Barela, a humble and laughing man from Chihuahua, who has been working here for three years. Besides working at the university, Federico Barela also works as a gardener after his shift at SFUAD finishes at 5 p.m. He also has three kids and a wife who he sees after working all day long. Usually the family sits together—along with coworker and friend Alfredo Amaya—and enjoy a self prepared meal accompanied by a cold beer and stories from back home. Besides his love for his family, Barela has strong feelings for his ranch in Chihuahua. When he talks about the fields and animals, his eyes light up and a big smile comes up in his face. “The thing I like the most about working here is to be working on the gardens,” Barela says. “I do the same things I do back in Mexico in the fields, I just love to take care of the plants, the trees and the fields”...

Following selections of Shoot the Stars third season scripts “Oasis Motel” (written by Julie Wittrock) and “The Disposables” (written by Keegan Moore and Dylan Hamilton-Smith), The Film School has recently announced the directors and producers of the ambitious two-day shoot scheduled for November. After interviews with Department Chair Chris Eyre and production mentor Hank Rogerson, Bonnie Burchfield—a senior film major and co-producer of last year’s “Mister Stapleton”—will direct “Oasis Motel,” a contemporary drama with a strong female lead. And Peter Crowder, senior film major, will tackle the “Enter the Dojo” web series spinoff titled “The Disposables.”  “It wasn’t a script that was submitted,” Crowder says, explaining the circumstances of “The Disposables” selection. In the past, scripts have been chosen from a pool of student submissions, usually one drama and one comedy. “It was an idea that the school had,” Crowder explains, “a marketing move a bit.” Because College of Santa Fe alum Matt Page has gained wide viewership on his “Enter the Dojo” web series (about the world of an American karate school taught by Matt Page’s character Master Ken), Crowder explains that The Film School was hoping for Page’s “followers” to become aware of Shoot the Stars, while Shoot the Stars would provide an unique opportunity for “Enter the Dojo.” So while the branding of Page’s web series remains consistent, the Shoot the Stars team would have creative rights to an original Dojo offshoot. In preparation for writing a script, Crowder explains that the new Shoot the Stars class watched “Enter the Dojo: 100 Ways to Kick the Groin” in order to “get a feeling” of Page’s style. Consequently, film students Dylan Hamilton-Smith and Keegan Moore (the Dylan and Keegan comedy duo as they’re known in The Film School) wrote a fitting short called “The Disposables.” “If you remember The Expendables,” Crowder says, “about a group of aging action heroes…that could be an [inference] of the title of our project.” Regarding the writers of “The Disposables,” Crowder adds, “they’re absolutely hilarious people.” Despite working closely with Page in branding consistency, Crowder says that the Shoot the Stars team won’t be creating another web series episode, but a “little feature[tte] of what is Master Ken’s life outside of the Dojo.” And though Page’s Master Ken character will be key in the original script, the required Shoot the Stars guest actors (an unidentified 40-year-old woman and 50-year-old man) will also appear in the story. “The script is in motion, it’s fluid and subject to change,” Crowder says. Meanwhile, he prepares for his shoot by analyzing the script and solidifying the “look” of the film. As far as an artistic vision, it helps that Crowder’s range of filmmaking is so diverse. Able to “play with the cheesy and funny action films” to the “bad B movies,” Crowder says he has experience in working with heavy visuals as well as heavy dialogue. And running, for example, SFUAD’s Rock Horror Picture Show on campus for the third year running has made “working with other people” his speciality. “If a script is intentionally bad or even unintentionally bad,” Crowder muses, “there is an opportunity to make it a great movie. It’s so much fun to do that!” Supporting Crowder as co-producers in “The Disposables,” juniors Matthew Krekeler and Anastasia Gendelman have already begun planning for the November shoot. This week, the producers will hold, for example, interviews for positions like director of photography, cinematographer and production designer (a position which Gendelman assisted in last year and says is a “totally different realm” than producing). “Producers should be able to find the right people,” Krekeler says. As previous locations manager for Shoot the Stars, Krekeler knows the importance of “building a team,” a task which Krekeler and Gendelman have found simple due to the “passion” encountered in their “awesome interviews” thus far. With the addition of a Shoot the Stars class, Krekeler and Gendelman say they have started interviews and meetings early this year and have procured, thanks to Film School Assistant Chair Paula Amanda, “Longmire’s” old office space in Onate Hall. They hope to utilize the space for production meetings, storyboarding, scheduling, etc. “It adds to the real world experience,” Krekeler says. Bonnie Burchfield, director of “Oasis Motel,” is also grateful...

ProjectPayAttention marks the latest social change initiative to come to SFUAD, this time prompting students to be more aware of their actions and words on social media. Following on the heels of online college safety program Think About It: Campus Clarity, which was rolled out in early September, PPA focuses on another national issue: social media bullying. “It’s a pledge to stop bullying online,” says Rachel Shuford, president of Student Voice. When signing the pledge, students swear to: speak up for others, choose their words wisely, track online behavior, inquire why, challenge yourself and spread the word. “We wanted to implement something where students know that they have the power to say ‘hey that’s inappropriate, you shouldn’t have said that,’ and it empowers the students and people to be able to stand up for themselves online and also for other people,” says Shuford. Originally started at Rutgers University following the suicide of Tyler Clementi after his roommate live-streamed Clementi’s sexual encounter with another man, the project soon spread to NYU, where resident assistants encouraged students to be more aware of what they posted online and said to others on a daily basis. According to the official PPA Tumblr page, more than 12,500 people have already signed the pledge. Now SFUAD is the latest to join the national conversation regarding online bullying and student safety. So far, more than 200 SFUAD students and faculty have signed. But student opinion of the initiative is somewhat divided. “It’s a good initiative, but it has to be dealt with carefully, because people may not take it seriously and can say things that fall on the wrong side of the line, and other problems can arise from that,” says Sandra Schonenstein, an RA who learned about PPA during Resident Assistant training. “There’s been a mixed response,” agrees Shuford. “There are students that are totally for it, and there are some students who are really confused by it, which makes sense, because it can be controversial and it was started by something that was severely controversial. But many people have taken it upon themselves to research it and learn more, and we’ve gotten a lot of positive results and no one has been openly rude or angry.” John Rodriguez, director of campus and residential life, was also thrilled by PPA’s ideals, specifically the involvement of faculty. “We all should practice what we preach, especially from a faculty and staff side. If we’re not living, eating, breathing this, how do we expect students to do the same?” Shuford stated that she does not believe bullying, either online or otherwise, to be an issue at SFUAD. “I don’t think it’s a problem, but I do think it’s something we should all learn to be a little more cautious about. We do sometimes have an issue with people speaking their minds without thinking about others, such as on the Student Life page. I’m not here to squelch anyone’s opinions, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to vocalize your opinion at the expense of another person.” In agreement, Rodriguez affirmed that to his knowledge, bullying is not an issue at SFUAD, but that it should be addressed before it could escalate to that point. “If just one of these initiatives helps one person or even saves one person’s life, then we’ve done our jobs. We just want everyone to be safe.” When asked how signing the pledge had affected her social media presence, Shuford said that the initiative has empowered her to stand up for others whom she sees being discriminated against around campus or online. She also urged students to sign the pledge, and then go by Mouton to pick up their complimentary PPA wristband, magnet, and sticker. “This is a great time in student’s lives to say, ‘think about it, talk about it, pay attention to what’s going on,” says...

For those in need of special parking accommodations, being able to access the handicapped spot in front of St. Michael’s Hall and other designated places around campus should be a little easier this year. Thanks to the efforts of SFUAD Director of Facilities Peter Romero and his staff, those who illegally park in these spots will be facing severe penalties. “We have new signs going up,” Romero explained. “The city of Santa Fe is imposing a $500 fine for violators, and we are instructing SFUAD security to call the police when they observe anyone violating the rule.” This was welcome news to someone like me. Having physical challenges, I have found SFUAD to be very helpful in accommodating my special needs. However, it has been frustrating to see how others abuse of the special parking that makes navigating campus a bit easier. It also seemed as if repeat offenders acted with impunity because the signs did not bear the standard warnings regarding fines, and I had recently emailed Romero regarding my concerns. When Romero called me a few minutes later, he informed me that not only were the new signs coming out, but thanks to some sprucing up, the spots themselves will be easier to detect. “If you notice, all the handicapped spots have been repainted.” Hopefully, the combination of spots being more recognizable and the threat of financial penalties will help alleviate the abuse in particular of the lone handicap spot in front of St. Michael’s Hall. The building’s main entrance is like a gateway to the rest of the SFUAD campus, with the post office, hallway to the cafe, and entrance to the dorms. Here, students wait for the shuttle and deliveries are made. Perhaps for some, the location—right by the door—is just too tempting. And, even though additional parking is right around the corner by Fogelson Library, security was called several times last year because of those unlawfully parking in the spot.  In our case, security was always quick to respond, but if it wasn’t a repeat offender, several minutes could pass before the car’s owner could be tracked down—and that’s if the vehicle was registered to a SFUAD student. When a student is rushing to get a meal before class every moment is precious. It’s not as if SFUAD has a PA system like Wal-Mart to simultaneously announce and embarrass over the loudspeaker,  “Would the owner of the beige Taurus, license plate ABC 123 please move your vehicle from the handicap spot? Thank you.” The same dilemma also has occurred in the on-campus apartments. Interlopers casually used the handicapped spot in front of my own apartment as a loading and unloading area for people and packages.  When asked to move, replies were given such as, “oh, I was only going to be here for a minute,” or “I didn’t know anyone disabled lived here.” Reactions such as this miss the mark. It’s not about who could potentially need the spot; it’s that the person using it, if only for a moment, has no right to be there. Even though the Americans with Disabilities Act states that the ratio for parking lots is one handicapped spot for every 25 regular ones, it was welcome news to learn that SFUAD of its own initiative is considering an additional handicapped parking spot in front of St. Michael’s Hall.  “We have more disabled students here this year,” Romero said. Shortly after our conversation, an email came out from Student Life. The message, from Romero, advised students of the guidelines regarding handicapped parking. There also was a reminder that there is ample parking all over campus and to “please plan accordingly in advance of your classes.” As SFUAD students head into the colder months, perhaps those who once took advantage of the handicap parking spots with no fear of reprisal will have second thoughts. $500 is a lot to pay to avoid walking a...