OUR ACTIVITIES JULY - SEPTEMBER 2009

OUR ACTIVITIES JULY - SEPTEMBER 2009

Reforestation and rescue in the ecological reserve zone.

On the Morning of Thursday, July 2nd, various actions were started to rescue the natural ecological zone that forms part of the ex-hacienda El Chorrillo, which is a space where CEPE-Taxco is located. With the collaboration of the Extension Center in Taxco-ENAP, the radio station Soy Guerrero, and the City Council of Taxco de Alarcón, this zone was declared an ecologic and historical reserve and was announced to the general public for its inauguration. For this act, the authorities of the participating institutions were present, such as the municipal President, Lic. Álvaro Burgos Barrera, who made reference to the importance of the ecology. In conclusion, all who were attending were invited to plant a tree of the 90 that were assigned to this project.

Guided tour to Querétaro .

On Friday, the 3rd of July, students from the Spanish group from the University of Illinois, under the direction of Doctor James Alstrum, set off on their last trip that formed part of their guided tours to the city of Santiago de Querétaro. During the two days, and guided by Professor Marco Antonio Fabián, the students learned the importance of the role that this city has played in our pre-Hispanic, colonial, and independent history. They appreciated the beauty of the baroque and neoclassic art in the different religious and civic constructions.

Homage to General Ignacio Figueroa.

As part of the preservation of various historical acts and characters in the northern zone of the state of Guerrero, in the village of Juliantla, close to the city of Taxco, homage to General Ignacio Figueroa took place. Those that participated included the architect Javier Ruiz Ocampo, with the biography of the honored, and Professor Rodrigo Espino, with the historical frame of the “Reform War”, during which General Figueroa lived. Some municipal authorities attended the event, such as directors from various schools of primary, secondary, high school education. There were also present some of General Figueroa’s direct decedents who for certain, had never had such an honor bestowed upon them.

Conference “ The History of Mining and Taxco as a Magic Village”.

As part of their course work, students and professors from the Technological University of the Costa Grande from Guerrero visited the city of Taxco. As an introduction to this city, Professor Rodrigo Espino imparted with a conference that elaborated on details of the development of mining and it’s evolution until it converted and categorized Taxco as a “Magic Village.” The students were quite interested in knowing part of the history of the ex-hacienda El Chorrillo, which formed an important part of the production of silver during the colonial period, during the 19th century, and up to the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1940’s, the hacienda Cantarranas-El Chorrillo was converted into a hotel by the Sullivan family of North American origin. It wouldn’t be until the 1990’s that UNAM moved into the hacienda with an extension of CEPE and ENAP in this “Magic Village” with academic and cultural activities that continue to this day.

Graduation Ceremony for Nurses of UNAM ENEO.

On the afternoon of Thursday, the 9th of July, a graduation ceremony for the diploma titled “Attention to the patient in critical condition” which took place from the 22nd of January to the 27th of June of 2009 for the nurses from Adolfo Prieto Hospital in the municipal of Taxco de Alarcón was imparted by the National School of Nursing and Obstetrician of UNAM. All of the nurses received a diploma and passed the course with duration of 300 hours. This course properly administered to the necessities of the new municipal hospital. The ENEO contributed its very own personnel and CEPE-Taxco contributed its facilities of CADAC for the ceremony.

Conference: “Water: abundance or shortage. Dilemmas for the development of Guerrero.”

The City Council for the environment of Taxco, the City Council’s Director of Ecology, and CEPE-Taxco, as a way to preserve the natural environment and to raise the awareness of the general population about the conservation of water, organized a conference regarding this theme. Before a crowed interested in the conservation of water and environment, Dr. Tomás Bustamante Álvarez elaborated on the water problems in Taxco, and in general, of the problems in the state of Guerrero. He then gave a presentation of the historical uses of water in the northern region of Guerrero – to which the mining haciendas such as the Chorrillo, were used to process materials with hydraulic motors, Dr. Bustamante indicated that a good part of the problem is actually the result of the anarchic increase of the guerrerense cities. He affirmed that “water should be a motivation to urbanize cities and to work with more development of a culture’s responsible usage. Water has always been in shortage or in abundance, according to the eyes that see and the way that it is related to humans.” Finally, Dr. Bustamante indicated that “The problems with water are social and the solution is in society.” In closing, those that attended this conference on the 15th of July in CEPE-Taxco’s auditorium participated in the end by asking questions and reflecting on the enrichment and content of the theme.

Homage to Dr. James Alstrum in the closing ceremony of the 2009 summer course.

As is the tradition in CEPE-Taxco, students had a closing for their Summer Spanish course and celebrated a very important homage to Dr. James Alstrum for his twenty years of assisting a summer program at CEPE, to which the past 18 occasions were uninterrupted visits that he brought to this campus. In the ceremony a theater and dance workshop under the direction of Professor Flavio Bautista was presented. In the mid part of the program the director of CEPE-Taxco, Professor Javier Cuétara Priede, presented an award to the Dr. James Alstrum, who told some entertaining anecdotes, such as how he arrived to Taxco for the first time. The students, teachers, and administrative personnel applauded with much emotion. The finale of the event was a dance where the entire public in attendance was invited to participate. It was a very special and memorable afternoon for our campus.

Summer Course for Children at CEPE-Taxco, from the 20th of July through the 7th of August, 2009 .

This summer, for the first time, a special course was offered for children that integrated local students as well as foreign students (some of the children were children of Spanish Students). For these courses multiple activities were programmed, such as: English classes, arts and crafts, story telling and creative writing, body expression, karaoke, cinema, ecology, and of course, games. The entire teaching staff of CEPE participated with this course, as well as the help of the efficient administrative personnel with their professionalism and trust, assured that all possible resources were available that the children needed. On the first day, Monday the 20th of July, the children and their parents got to know the facilities and the staff that would be in charge of the different academic and logistic functions. At the end of the presentation, parents and children sang and danced to a song presented by Professor Ethan Hagen, giving an amusing opening to the summer course. After three weeks of work, on Friday the 7th of August there was a closing ceremony. An attractive and entertaining program was presented, where the children were the stars of the show and demonstrated to their parents and a large audience the end result of their work over the course: they sang in English, had theater performances, sang karaoke, danced, and did acrobatics. The parents were greatly impressed by the talent and creativity of the children with each of their presentations. In conclusion, the public was invited to see the exposition of the arts and crafts of the children in the patio of the campus and a snack was provided. This experience assured the proposition of organizing a special English course for children ages 6 to 13 years during the month of September. Currently, there are two groups of English for children, from ages 6 to 9 years, and another group from ages 10 to 13 years. At the popular request of the parents, another group is to be organized for the month of October .

Guided tour of Tenería, Guerrero.

With the idea of creating a recreational touristic alternative in Taxco, on Sunday the 26th of July, there was a guided tour of the mountain zone of Tenería. The Engineer Javier Bustamante, the leader in ecological tours, was in charge of organizing and carrying out this tour. The 35 people in assistance were amazed and enjoyed the contact with nature in the off route mountain paths of the Tenería region and surroundings. The hospitality of the inhabitants of Tenería was obvious to the visitors; with a “taquiza” they enjoyed the cuisine of rabbit, fresh cheese, baked beans and hand made tortillas. The excursion was a success and CEPE-Taxco is preparing for future excursions.

Guided Tour of the exhacienda El Chorrillo and confernce: “CEPE in Taxco”.

As a colaboration with CEPE-Taxco and the Centro Universitario de América, located in Tecamác of the F.V. Mexico State, students and professors of said university visited the facilities of the ex-hacienda El Chorrillo. The visit was on the first of August, and included a tour of the campus of the ex-hacienda, and a conference under the direction of Professor Rodrigo Expino who talked about Taxco and the activities that partake at CEPE-UNAM in this city. The 45 people in attendance, including students and professors, showed much interest by the ample participation with questions in respect to the academic and cultural activities of CEPE in Taxco.

Video Conference equipment at CEPE-Taxco.

Thanks to the aid of the General Office of CEPE, starting with the month of August of 2009, CEPE-Taxco is equipped with modern videoconference equipment. During the months of July and August the necessary adaptations were made to make this equipment functional, and on the 21st of August the first videoconference took place, linking CEPE-CU and CEPE-Taxco together in a meeting of the Academic Committee of diplomas in Spanish Education as a foreign language. With this equipment CEPE-Taxco can offer and project to it’s surroundings academic events that are offered on campus, as well as participate in conferences that are organized through the Center of Operations of Video Conferencing of the DGSCA of UNAM.

Theater Performance “The Crazy Queen”.

With help from the City Council and guidance from Taxco’s Cultural Group, the theater company from CEPE-Taxco, under the direction of Professor Flavio Bautista, performed in the patio of Veracruz Church as part of a series of projects performed as cultural events in the streets of the city. On this occasion the play “The Crazy Queen” was presented, to which the arduous work of the local actors was appreciated. The audience was enthralled and warmly applauded the theater company. In a prior experience, the play “Unviable Violet,” was performed in the gardens of CEPE-Taxco, in front of the “Juan Ruiz de Alarcón” library. The success of this presentation gave way to the plans of other performances such as the performance already mentioned. It is worthy to mention that the collaboration of CEPE-Taxco with the municipal authorities has helped bring closer together CEPE-Taxco with Taxco’s Cultural Group, under the leadership of C. Maricela Quinto Gaytan. As collaboration with CEPE-Taxco for the community, they help with our Dance group on Thursdays with Dancing in Taxco’s Zocalo.

Meeting of CEPE-Taxco’s Advisory Council .

On the 6th of August at the Center of Dramatic Arts (CADAC) at the ExHacienda del Chorrillo, the third meeting of CEPE-Taxco’s Advisory Council met. The meeting verified the official presentation of Professor Javier Cuétara Priede as the new director of CEPE-Taxco, and also presented Dr. José Luis Talancón as the director of the Extension Campus in Los Angeles. Among other important themes, they worked on issues relevant with the property of the ex-hacienda, about the situation concerning the Historical Archives of Taxco, and the diverse works of the maintenance of the Ex-Hacienda facilities. The following people were in attendance at the meeting: Lic. Álvaro Burgos Barrera, the municipal president of Taxco, Dr. José Luis Palacio, the director of CEPE, Lic. Alejandro Garcia Gama, president of the civil association “United for Taxco,” Mrs. Perla Cuevas, in hotel management, Lic. Cristian Berger, president of the Magic Towns Committee, Ing. Javier Bustamante García, the sub-director of the United Academic Sciences of Earth of UAG,M an A.V., Soledad Garcidueñas, coordinator of the Taxco Extension Center of ENAP, Francisco del Toro, sculptor, Dr. José Luis Talancón,, director of the Extension School in Los Angeles, Professor Javier Cuétara Priede, director of CEPE-Taxco and Professor Rodrigo Espino, Academic Secretary of CEPE-Taxco .

City Council for the planning and development of the Centennial Work and Festival programs .

On the 8th of September, an initiative of the Municipal President of Taxco, Lic. Álvaro Burgos, conformed the City Committee that is in charge of planning and carrying out the artistic and cultural events that coincide with the Bicentennial of the Independence and the Centennial of the Revolution. At this meeting, representatives of the work force (hotels and restaurants), educative (Autonomous University of Guerrero, Technological University of the North Zone of Guerrero State) and Cultural representatives of Taxco were present, who are to form distinct commissions that will proportion special activities related to the importance of 2010. Professor Javier Cuétara and Professor Rodrigo Espino represented CEPE-Taxco, and were integrated in the Historic and Cultural commission.

Presence of CEPE-Taxco in the “Major in Spanish Education as a foreign language".

Through its Director, CEPE-Taxco was present with the “Major in Spanish Education as a foreign language” from the 10th of August to the 25th of September of 2009. This on-line program is a recent creation of CEPE and CELE of UNAM, and Professor Javier Cuétara Priede, Director of CEPE-Taxco, participated with the “Applied Phonetic in Teaching Spanish” offering. It fits to mention that in the group of students registered for the course includes Rolando Villamil, a young person from Taxco.

Presentation of the Sinaloa Youth Dance Company .

As in other occasions, the Coordinator of Cultural Diffusion from UNAM, along with its Dance Program, presented the Sinaloa Youth Dance Company in Taxco on the evening of Thursday, the 20th of August. On this day, the magnificent scenery of the Center of Dramatic Arts (CADAC) of the Ex-Hacienda Chorrillo, demonstrated a spectacular avant-guard performance that enriched the cultural vision of Taxco’s community, and was appreciated and brought forth warm applauses to the Sinaloa Youth Dance Company. The director of CEPE-Taxco congratulated the group’s wonderful performance that demonstrated great appreciation for the magnificent spectacle that UNAM had in Taxco.

Meeting for the work with PROTUR, in regard to motivation for the renovation of the agreement between the government of the state of Guerrero and UNAM .

On the 26th of August there was an important meeting between the representative of “Promotora Turística de Guerrero” (PROTUR) and the authorities of the Learning Center for Foreign Students (CEPE) regarding the theme of the ownership of the ex-hacienda El Chorrillo. With the attendance of the municipal president of Taxco, Álvaro Burgos Barrera; the director of PROTUR, Alfonso Guillén; the Director of CEPE, José Luis Palacio; the Director of CEPE-Taxco, Javier Cuétara; a Local Governement Representative, Manuel Saidi, and other people of distinct academic and financial characteristics discussed certain distinct themes. It was agreed at this meeting to incorporate the Secretary of Public Education of Guerrero, that certain academic programs such as on line education with UNAM in Guerrero can be integrated. At the end, all agreed to promote a signing of the Comodato for another 35 years, between the Governing entities of UNAM and the Governor of the State of Guerrero before the ending of this year.

Presence of CEPE-Taxco in the “Computational Colloquial Linguistics” in the Philosophy of Modern Language department of UNAM.

On August 31st, September 1st and 2nd, CEPE-Taxco hosted the “Fourth Colloquial Linguistic and Computer Science Conference,” which is held every two years with the Philosophy and Language departments of UNAM. The director of CEPE-Taxco, Professor Javier Cuétara Priede, coordinated the event with Dr. Gerardo Sierra Martínez, the coordinator of the Linguistic Engineering group of the Engineering Institute of UNAM. For 3 days there were meetings in this area with: investigators, scholars, students of CEPE-Taxco and CEPE-CU faculty from science, engineering, and philosophy of language departments, from engineering, applied mathematics, and philosophy departments, and more, as well as from other educational institutes such as from the Benemérita Autonomous University of Puebla, the Autonomous University of Metropolitana, and the National Polytechnic Institute, as well as others. With this occasion, CEPE-Taxco was present in the University City of UNAM, and was projected with other educational institutes. The project was a glimmer of possibilities of bringing diverse academics to the city of Taxco de Alarcón and suggested the development related to the linguistics and computer sciences in the frame of mutual growth .

CEPE-Taxco in “Magic Villages” .

On Thursday, the 3rd of September, in the Sala de Cabildos of the municipal town hall, there was a meeting for “Taxco, a Magic Village.” The importance of UNAM’s presence in Taxco was brought out, and CEPE-Taxco was invited to participate in this meeting with its director Professor Javier Cuétara Priede. During the work session, the financial advances for illuminating Santa Prisca Church and other designated areas of the city were presented with the idea of including Taxco in the group of International Cities of Light (such as how Paris and many other cities are presented); they also spoke of an annual budget and of other projects around Taxco. CEPE-Taxco will participate with the directive of “Taxco, a Magic Village,” as soon as the supervision of all the publications and broadcasting follows though on their current affairs reporting through publication or electronically.

Conference: “Intercultural Communication”.

On September 7th, Professor Jorge Salinas, a professor at CEPE-Taxco, presented the conference “Intercultural Communication,” as part of the program for certification of tour guides that was offered by the local government to approxomately 80 interested persons of the community. The objective of this discussion was to review concepts such as stereotypes, culture, and communication in various contexts, with the intention of aquiring a better understanding between people who do not share the same values or perspectives. In the end, the public thanked CEPE-Taxco for its interest in bringing the community closer together and for sharing its experiences and understandings to enrich the cultural formation of these professionals.

Conference “Bicentennial of the Independence of Mexico”.

Professor Rodrigo Espino Hernández presented the conference titled the “Bicentennial of the Independence of Mexico,” which was organized by the Rotarian Club Nueva Visión de Taxco,with the participation of the Coordinator of Festivals for the Centennial representative belonging to the local government. This event took place on the 10th of September at the Cultural Center of Taxco’s Casa Borda, with 40 people in attendance, including students, professors, and the general public.

Presence of CEPE-Taxco at the Mexico Fest in Vancouver.

From the 9th through the 13th of September, the Mexico Fest was an event organized by the Consulate Agency of the Mexican Embassy in Vancouver, Canada, and this year’s theme was the State of Guerrero. Professor Jorge Salinas, a professor at CEPE-Taxco traveled to the event to establish contact with some of the universities in the region, with the personnel of the Consulate Agency in charge of the academic issues, and with special agencies of educative tourism and culture, with the objective of promoting the Spanish courses for foreigners at CEPE-Taxco.