THE INSTITUTE december 1997 / planet of the arts 45 Who, what, when, where, and why-oh-why? | The Point of Publishin by Ling Chiu hat’s the point of publishing a student paper, anyway? And why publish it in this format? Why not make the paper shorter, and have it come out more often? Why not use it to focus exclusively on the goings on inside Emily Carr? Or why ndt allocate the Students’ Union money that’s set aside for Planet of the Arts to some other collective activity? Those of us who work on the paper have heard all of these ques- tions, and more. We are sometimes too intensely aware that within the Emily Carr community widely differing expecta- tions exist on what we should be doing. The most heartening lesson that we take from the reactions we receive — from stu- dents threatening us with lawsuits to enthusiastically offering us help — is that Planet of the Arts is being read, is being read within Emily Carr and beyond as well, is being read often deeply and thoroughly, and is becom- ing for all of its shortcomings one of Canada’s few forums for a highly accessible discussion of the arts. As the paper evolves and the number of people con- tributing to it swells, so do the responsibilities of the paper’s facilitating and editorial staff to recognize the paper’s weaknesses and limitations, while striving to clarify and justify its mandate, organization, processes and priorities. For our own sake as well as for the paper’s backers — sup- porters and readers — those of us who work on PoA believe that this need to clarify and justify requires that we try to put into words and onto paper what we’ve previously not enunciated. How otherwise can we achieve journalistic and group objectives than by taking a hard look at what the paper is? And how might we improve unless by imagining as vividly and ambitiously as possible what the paper can be? Conversely, how do we know if we’re on the right track without the constructive criticisms of others? Like a few other student publications before it (the Dartmouth Daily News, the oldest student newspaper in North America springs to mind) PoA can proudly claim that it is beginning to serve an audi- ence that reaches beyond the boundaries of academia, in this case to the artistic community of British Columbia. No other student news- paper in Western Canada can make such a claim. We’re proud of that fact and hope other students of Emily Carr are too. We're also some- what intimidated by it. The purpose of this article is to make public an ongoing internal process of self-definition. PoA is first and foremost Emily Carr's paper. We hope Emily Carr’s students, staff, faculty and administra- tors will all contribute to this discussion, and do so as seriously as we are trying to make PoA the best publication it can possibly be. PoA — SU EXECUTIVE MEMO OF UNDERSTANDING How to start? Perhaps the best place is with the document of mutual agreement and understanding drawn up this fall by PoA staff and Students’ Union executives. Key points covered in this agreement include the following: € Freedom of the press is a fundamental aspect of a democratic society. In addition to this, because Emily Carr is an institution dedicated to the arts, it constitutes an environment in which issues of expression are significant. © Editors/facilitators have a special responsibility to consciously uphold freedom of the press — implicit in which is having unfet- tered control over office space and equipment, and being free of explicit or implicit censorship, including threats against PoA’s budget. © Editors/facilitators are nonetheless accountable for editing the paper in a responsible and professional manner within the context of a free and democratic society. A free press is an accountable press whose editors must be prepared to explain their decisions and describe their decision-making processes and modes of operation. © All Emily Carr students are welcome to offer ideas, opinions and stories for the paper. Editors/facilitators continually seek out con- tributions from students. New PoA staff are recruited at the begin- ning of the fall semester and otherwise throughout the year via posters, notes in student mailboxes, and announcements in issues of PoA. Working on the paper takes time, commitment, passion, skill, and the ability to write, edit, and work well in a group. Integrating people as facilitators takes time (two or three issues of the paper); whether someone becomes an integral part of the group putting out the paper depends on how much time and skill he or she has to give. THE EVOLUTION OF POA AND ITS MANDATE Until two years ago, the attitude at PoA was to let the stories and images come to us. Content was largely determined by the self-pro- motion of those few who most wanted to get their stuff published, and by the staff’s need to fill pages despite the lack of motivation of most people at Emily Carr to write anything at all. The paper lacked a breadth and depth of ideas and, in gen- eral, the people working with the paper could not, would not, or were simply too overwhelmed by other prob- 1996 lems to be able to deal with issues of quality. Thought wasn’t being given to: journalistic responsibilities. To the extent there was a vision for the publication, it was to make a casual, chic, funny, designy- artsy-fartsy, pretentious school 1997 paper. It had crappy design and writing, and, surpris- ingly, imagery. What was lousy. visual the point of printing tongue-in- cheek 1998 “in” jokes? Couldn’t better CD reviews be had elsewhere? PoA was a two-minute flip through and that was all; there was nothing in it any- one wanted to read and ponder. Until two years ago there was no way I would have written any- thing for the paper; I didn’t think it worthwhile. The paper didn’t pay the attention to detail that it takes to achieve a high standard. The current idea of what facilitating the publication of PoA is both more proactive and more responsible. And there are a lot more of us involved. The idea of going out there and getting stories and generating ideas is where we're at, a significant shift from the previ- ous passive come-by-chance in-group approach. Our definition of what we can take on and discuss and dig into has expanded. We are more dedicated to developing themes, and more attentive to the structure and content of the paper (dividing it into sections, for example). We publish stuff with more relevance to the Emily Carr community. Where PoA used to be incoherent and pretentious, it is now (we hope) both user friendly and functional. Those of us working on the paper now feel we should not just cor- rect grammar, spelling and punctuation but, as important, find out how PoA can be distinctive — what OUR mandate is. The clique idea carries over in some people’s perceptions of us, but how can 60 people be a clique? We are up from ten contributors per issue a few years ago to 60 or 80 — almost 10% of the full time stu- dent population. : The large number of contributors makes us more sensitive to the wonderfully eclectic nature of the Emily Carr community but also to the difficulty of giving voice in PoA to the full community. How do we transmit effectively the plurality of voices of ECIAD? The answer to that question is recruiting even more contributors, but increasing the number of people involved poses problems of its own. One of those is that more contributors means that living up to standards is harder. Do we let a writer hang by his or her own pétard or do we say, “No, this isn’t good enough; here is how it might be better”? g PoA Most of us share the feeling that to measure contributions to PoA by elementary standards of good communication is to take our responsibilities seriously. Imposing standards of effective communi- cation is, simply, just doing something similar to what we do in our work as artists and designers: making the result as good as we can. To do so does not relieve us of other responsibilities of good cus- todianship, like taking care that PoA reflects what’s going on at the school, the diversity of opinion from within our student population, and the abilities and aspirations of the students here. But seeking to make the contents of PoA clear, readable and interesting is one of our most important responsibilities. In an era of conservatism, when so many people are highly self- , preoccupied and narcissistic, a publication like PoA goes against the - grain. We're proud of that fact. By maintaining a diversity and bal- ance of viewpoints, PoA can create a dialogue within the communi- ty, and articulate and give place to conflicts important to the school such as budget, scholarship issues, curriculum, student representa- tion, fair treatment, and freedom of expression. But is that all? Why be insular? PoA can also be a channel of com- munication between us as apprenticing artists and the art communi- ty at large. Even more boldly, we think PoA can communicate if not promote the value of art education in the culture and society of this time, validating Emily Carr Institute by allowing the public to recog- nize the social importance of our school, and also demystifying art students to broader society. To the extent that PoA can succeed in such aims, it makes creativ- ity itself accessible to a wider audience. Creativity expresses itself dif- ™ ferently in each section of PoA. The sections have different goals but each has to be creative, up to high standards and coherent; each must function well on its own. The Serendipity and Anxiety sections, for instance, offer a humane quality, a break from standard journalism. These sections couldn’t work without the extensive talent pool of artists in this school. POINT OF VIEW Of particular importance to the paper’s current revitalization is its maturity. PoA today has grown beyond the need to take incredibly radical stances this way or that. We practice a politics of diverse view- points responsibly expressed: trying journalistically to express and balance different opinion while bringing enough information to bear so that instead of our telling people what to think, they can decide for themselves. Some people want us to have more defined political posi- tions, but to espouse a set of doctrines is counter to our mandate to be comprehensive and representative. People’s comments and criticisms deserve to be heard. PoA is a place to air views that differ from the status quo. Where else at Emily Carr can we find adequate space for dialogue and discussion? The All-Institute meetings aren’t really promoting active community dialogue. OBSTACLES THAT PREVENT US FROM BEING MORE SUCCESSFUL IN FULFILLING OUR MANDATE We wish we published more frequently and did a better job in ful- filling the mandate we have given ourselves. Reality intrudes. More money would also be nice but, we assume, an impossibility —at least not without going out and finding it on the street. Getting more advertising is a possibility. We need a sales manager with as much time and dedication as one of our core facilitating/editorial staff. Volunteers? Although we have more than 60 contributors per issue, we have only a handful of core people. Finding more core staff is impeded, we think, by a lack of self-confidence among a lot of people doing visu- al arts in their ability to put thoughts on paper. It doesn’t have to be that way. We'll prove it to anybody who is interested enough to join us. Then there are those people who disappoint us: those who think we're in this for our egos (give me a break!); those who want a dog- matic paper; those in the Institute who are insecure about their authority; those who resent the achievements of others; those who perceive “the situation” as hopeless, and themselves powerless to do anything about it; and most importantly, all those people who simply don’t care. I am therefore I exist; I exist therefore | am. Nothing ventured nothing gained. We do PoA because we think it’s an important thing to do and because we like doing important things. Try it; you might think so too. ©! THE INSTITUTE december 1997 / plonet of the orts 45 Who, what, when, where, and why-oh-why? The Point of Publishing PoA by Ling Chiu hat’ the point of publishing a student paper, anyway? And why publish it inthis format? ‘Why not make the paper shor come out more often? Why not weit focus ‘exclusively onthe goings on inside Emily Carr? (Or why nat allocate the Students’ Union money that’s et aside for Plant ofthe Arts to some other collective activity? “Those of us who work onthe paper have hard allo these ques tions, and more. We ate sometimes too intensely nd have it aveare that within the Emily Care community widely differing expecta what we should be doing. The most heartening lesson that we take from the reactions we receive ~ fom st dents threatening enthusiastically offering us help ~ s that, Plant ofthe Arts is being reds being read within Emily Carr and beyond as wells being read often deeply and thoroughly, and is becom: ing for alo ts shortcomings one of Canad few forums fora highly accessible discussion of the ats ‘As the paper evolves and the numberof people con tebuting to i swells, s0 do the responsibilities of the paper's facilitating and editorial staff to recognize the papers weaknesses and imitations, while striving to clarify and justify its mandate, organization, processes and priori. For our own sake aswell x for the paper's backers ~ sup porters and readers ~ those of us who work on PoA belive that this need to clarify and justify requires that we try to put into words and onto paper what we've previously not enunciated. Hove “otherwise can we achieve journalistic and group objectives than by taking ard look at wha the paper is? And how might we improve unless by imagining as viv papercan bet Conversely, how do we know if were on the right tack without lyand ambitouly as possible what the the constructive criticisms of other? Like a few other student publications befor it (the Dartmouth Dally News the oldest student newspaper in North Ameria springs tomind) PoA can proudly claim that itis Beginning to serve an au ‘nce that reaches beyond the boundaries of academia, in his cas to the artic community of British Columb, No other student news paper Western Canada can make such a lim. We'e proud ofthat fact and hope other students of Emily Carr ate too, We're also some- ‘what intimidate by i “The purpose of thisatce isto make public an ongoing internal proces of self-definition. Pod is fst and foremost Emily Carr's paper We hope Emily Caer’ stud ‘ors willl contebute to this discussion an do s0 a seriously a we 1s af faclty and adminis: are uring to make PoA the best publication it can possibly be oA - SU EXECUTIVE MEMO OF UNDERSTANDING How to start Perhaps the best place is withthe document of ‘mutual agreement and understanding drawn up this al by POA sal and Students Union executives Key points covered in thi include the following (© Freedom of the press fs «fundamental aspect of a democratic sgecement society In addition wo this, because Emily Cate a institution dedicated othe arts. constitutes an environment in which sss ‘of expresion ae significa © Euitorstacittors have a special responsibility to consciously ofthe pres ~ implicit in which i having tered control over office space and equipment, nd being fee of ‘explicit or implicit censorship, including theets against Pods bode. © Biitorlfciltators are nonetheless acoun uphold feed uf ble for editing the psperin a responsibleand professional manner within the context ‘of a fice and democratic society A fre press an accountable press whose eitors mast be prepared to explain their decisions and describe their decision-making. processes and. modes of operation, © AILEmily Carr students are welcome to offer ideas, opinions and stores fo the paper Elitorlaciittors continually sek out con tebutions from students. New Pod staf are recruited atthe begin ning of the fll semester and others throughout the yar via posters notes in student milbors, and announcements in issues oF PoA. Working on the paper takes time, commitment, passion, Skill and the ability to writ, edit, and work well a group Integrating people as facitatos takes time (two or three sues of the papers whether someone becomes an integral part of the group puting ou the paper depends on hove mach ime and sil he or she has to giv ‘THE EVOLUTION OF POA AND ITS MANDATE. ‘Uni two years ago, the atitude at PoA wa olt the tries and images come tous. Content was largely determined by the sl pro: ‘motion of those few who most wanted to get ther stuff published, and by the staff's need to fill pages despite the ack of motivation of ‘most people at Emily Carr o writ anything at all The paper lacked a breadth and depth of ideas an ingen eral, the people working with the paper could not, woul not, or were simply too overwhelmed by other prob- lems to be able to del with issues of quality. Thought wasnt being given to journalistic responsibilities. To the extent there was Vision for the publication, it was 10 make casual, cic funny, design arsy-farsy, pretentious school paper It had erappy design and eriting, and, surpri ingly, lousy imagery. What was the point of printing tongue-in: cheek in’ jokes? Couldnt better CD reviews be had elsewhere? POA was a two-minute ip through and that was all there was nothing nt any ‘one wanted to read and ponder Until two years ago there was no way I would have writen any thing forthe paper didnt think it worthwhile. The paper did’ pay the attention to dt that it takes to achieve a high standard The current idea of what facilitating the publication of PoA is both more proactive and more responsible. And there are lot more of us involved. The ides of going out there and geting storie and asa significant shift from the previ co passive come-by-chance in-group approach, generating idea is where we ‘Our definition of what we an tke on and discuss and dig ito has expanded. We are more dedicated to developing themes, and ‘more attentive tothe structure and content ofthe paper (dividing it ito sections, for example). We publish stuff with more relevance to the Emily Car community. Where BoA used to be incoherent and pretentious ‘Those of us working onthe paper nov fel we should not jus co. ismow (we hope) both user fiendly and functional rect grammar, spelling and punctuation but, a important, find out hove Pod can be distinctive = what OUR mandte i. “The clique ide caries over in some people's perceptions of us, but how can 6o people be clique? We are up from en contributors per issue fw years ago 0 60 o 8 almost 10% ofthe ul ime stu ent population. “The large numberof contributors makes us more sensitive tothe wonderfll eclectic natu ofthe Emily Carr community But als to the difficulty of giving voice in Pod to the I community, How do asm ffectivel the plurality of voies of ECIAD? ‘Theanswer to that question i recruiting even more contributors, but increasing the number of poope involved poses problems ofits ‘wn. One of thos that more contributors means that ving up to standards ishardr: Do we et a wrterhangby his or her own peta or do we ay,"No, this isnt good enough; here how it might be better"? Most of us shar the fecing that to measure contributions to PoA, by elementary standards of good communication is to take our responsibilities seriously Imposing standards of effective commun «ation i simply just doing somthing similar to what we do in our works artist nd designers: making the result as good as we can. To do so does not relieve us of other responsibilities of god cus todianship, ke taking care that PoA reflects what's going on at the school, the diversity of opinion from within our student population, and the abilities and aspirations ofthe students hee. But secking to make the contents of Pod clea, readable and intersting isone of or responsibilities, In an era of conservatism, when so many people are highly self preoccupied! and narcissistic, a publication like POA goes against the ‘gran. Were proud ofthat fat. By maintaining a diversity and bal- ance of viewpoints, PoA can create a dialogue within the co ty,and articulate and give place to conflicts importa such as budget, scholarship issues, curriculum, student representa- most mporta to the schoo! tion fr eatment, and freedom of expression. ‘Bt stat ll Why be insular? PoA can also be a channel of com: ‘munication between us a apprenticing artists and the art commun tyat are. Even more boll, we think PoA can communicate if not promote the value of art education in the culture and society ofthis time, validating Emily Carr Insitute by allowing the public o recog nize the socal importance of our school and also demystifying art students to broader society ‘To the extent that oA cam succeed in such aims, it makes creativ- ity itself accessible wa wider audience. Creativity expres itself dit ferent in each section of PoA. The sections have diffrent goals but ‘each hast be creative, up thigh standards and coherent; ach must function well on its own. The Serendipity and Anxiety sections, for humane quality, a break from standard journalism. These sections couldnt work without the extensive talent pool of artists in this schoo instance offer POINT OF VIEW (Of particular importance to the paper's current revitalization is its maturity. Pod today has grown beyond the need to take incredibly radical stances this way or tat. We practice a polities of diverse view points responsibly expresed: trying journalistically to express and balance different opinion while bringing enough information to bear so that instead of our telling people what to think, they can decide for themches. ‘Some people want us to have more defined po tions but to expouse a set of doctrines is counter to our mandate to be comprehensive and representative. People’s comments and ritcsms deserve to be heard. PoA is a place to air el pos ews that ifer fom the status quo. Where else at Emily Care can we find adequate space for dilogue and discussion? The Al-Insitute meetings aren't realy promoting active community dialogue OBSTACLES THAT PREVENT US FROM BEING MORE SUCCESSFUL IN FULFILLING OUR MANDATE, ‘We wish we published more frequently and did abetterjob in fl: filing the mandate we have given ourselves Reality intrudes, More money would also be nice but, we assume, an impossibility atleast not without going out and finding it on the street. Getting more advertising is a possibility. We ned a sales manager with as ‘much tine and dedication as one of our core faiitatingleditrial stall Volunteer? Although we have more than 6o contributors per issue we have conly a hand of core people Finding more cor sas impeded, we think, by a lack of self-confidence among lot of people dong visu al ars in their ability to put thoughts on paper I doesnt have to be that way. Wel prove it to anybody who is intrested enough to ‘Then thet are those people who disappoint ws: those who think ‘were inthis for our egos (give mea brea!) those who want a do. ‘matic paper: those in the Institute who are insecure about their the achievements of others those who perceive “the situation” as hopes, and themscves poweres to do anything about it; and most importantly ll those people who simply don't cae authority those who ree {am therefore 1 exit I exist therefore 1am, Nothing ventured nothing gained, We do PoA because we think ts an important thing todo and because we lke doing importa think s too, ©! 3 things. Ty it; you might