Contact: Katya Crawford 766-9731 Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920

December 6, 2002 DIXON NATIVE RECOGNIZED FOR SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT AT UNM Katya Crawford, a 1988 graduate of Taos High School, was recently inducted into Tau Sigma Delta National Honor Society in recognition of her scholastic achievement as a student in the master's of landscape architecture program at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning. Only students in the top 20 percent of their class are invited to join. UNM's Tau Sigma Delta chapter, Lambda Gamma, is one of 65 chapters nationally. Crawford, daughter of Stanley and Rose Mary Crawford of Dixon, New Mexico, earned an undergraduate liberal arts degree at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. She plans to graduate from UNM in 2004 and go on to use landscape architecture as a form of social change. "My parents have always been interested in public spaces and community work. They are my inspiration," she said. She wants to develop sustainable designs to address crucial environmental issues. "People think ugly when they think about sustainable design," she said. Xeriscaping, for example. "The idea is to enhance, not deplete natural resources. These elements can be incorporated aesthetically into every aspect of design," Crawford said. Some of the ways the built environment can be improved through site and building development is through water purification, that is, water filtered through living soil, storing rainwater, enriching the soil and using and storing solar energy. "Sustainable design takes the premise that all changes or additions to the built environment should enhance the performance of the natural environment or they should not be built," she said. She added that negative environmental impacts, no matter how small individually, are not sustainable. Crawford points to two teachers from Taos High School who influenced her. Nancy Jenkins taught humanities and drama. "She was so encouraging. She was warm, lively, original and passionate about her teaching. That's rare and so important for teenagers," Crawford said. The other teacher was Larry Torres. "He was my French teacher and he was inspirational, unconventional in his approach and uninhibited in his teaching," she recalled. Torres is now a teacher and administrator at UNM-Taos. UNM Provost Brian Foster was the special guest as the induction luncheon. He said, "What you do by your own high academic achievement is set a standard of excellence for the whole school. You set the stage for your own careers and develop collegial relationships. Your work will move the profession along. Great universities have programs that buzz with excitement. This is one at UNM." # # #

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