This letter was also addressed to college trustees.
I am writing this letter because the IT department at Laguna College of Art & Design will not permit our communications from reaching you through their email system.
My name is Randy Hunt and I have been a student in the stone sculpting class for over ten years.
The recent decision to suddenly and abruptly close the 40 year old stone sculpting program offered on weekends at LCAD needs to be reviewed and reconsidered.
The students were informed via email that the “senior management” of the school all agreed that the program should end for health reasons, the argument being that dust and silica was a threat to student health. We would like to personally meet with this group and all of the trustees so we may present scientific findings which refute such claims. To end a 40-year program based on false science is wrong and such a decision based on faulty information should be re-examined.
In an open area adjacent to the stone carving yard is an area which the college uses for various artistic endeavors. In plain sight are open bags of 100% silica, the contents blowing in the wind. Somehow that does not pose a problem, but minute traces of dust from the sculptors is enough to shut down a 40 year old program? As students we have landscaped the whole sculpting area with drought resistant plants, donated thousands of dollars in boring tools, gas chainsaws, gas-powered saws and assorted supplies. Based on recent assurances that our program was secure many students purchased new stone for future projects.
Please consider the impact of the decision to close the stone sculpting class forever. Once a program is closed it is never re-opened. It would be a shame if this community based program, which has so positively affected so many lives is cancelled, especially for the wrong reasons. LCAD depends on community support and it is programs like this, which involve the community that brings us all together.
I am confident that a solution can be found and I personally appreciate the dedication and due diligence that this group had shown in researching on their own the facts in this case.
Thank you for your consideration.
Randy Hunt, Laguna Beach
