iW The Institute March 1997 / Planet of the Arts 57 By Dawn Buie any agree morale is low in the Film MI and Video department at ECIAD, but up until now people have been dis- cussing their dissatisfaction in isolation. Acting as a catalyst, Mike Harris, a 3rd year Film and Video student, organized a large group of students, faculty, administra- tion and support staff on February 4, to air problems and develop an organized approach to dealing with them . “| saw an overwhelming need to inform and create awareness,” says Harris, adding that it might have been more productive for the department if a meeting had been orga- nized earlier in the year. Film and Video students say they can’t depend on much of the equipment which is overused. Editing suites and 16mm cameras are constantly breaking down, while employ- ees in charge of serving and ordering equip- ment say there aren't enough staff hours to cover the work load. The department is unique in the school for its combination of very expensive and complicated equipment. Students requiring help navigating their way through a new system depend on the area’s technical assis- tants, Richard Bidwell and Daniel Jolliffe. However due to the demands of maintaining equipment and performing administrative tasks, their availability is limited. Often the student is left unable to proceed with a project. Bidwell says he is as frustrated as the stu- dents but has recently made a policy of arriv- ing at 8:30 and leaving at 4:15 instead of doing unpaid overtime as he has in the past to cover all the work that needs to be done. “The college has to learn to support the areas that are very technically demanding,” says Bidwell. Sharon Bloedorn, 3rd year Film and Video, says she’s disappointed the funding used to expand the animation area this summer didn‘t extend to the creation of a sound proof recording studio or an area for set construction in her department. “It has come down to, you just want to get your stuff done,” says Bloedorn, adding, the creation of a social space where students could work on scripts, hold auditions or just meet would go a long way to counteract the social fragmentation in the department, where people tend to do their work, then go home. Many students expressed a willingness to help organize the existing space. Bidwell took them up on the offer the week follow- ing the meeting, organizing a clean up of the storage area outside his office, some referred to as a junkyard. A room built in the summer was also cleared out to house a new Pro-tools lab for sound editing. Since February 4th the organizational ball has gotten rolling with three more student meetings in the Film and Video department, and Ron Burnett hosted his own February 15th forum to discuss issues around funding. Harris says the meetings are definitely not by Adrienne Lai A cultural awareness survey appeared in the December 1996 issue of Planet of the Arts. Following are statistics derived from the twenty-one completed survey responses. “How do you want to see ‘cultural’ awareness raised at Emily Carr?” 33% Invite speakers from cultural groups 30% Bring in cultural performers 22% Have a cultural food fair 15% Promote cultural festivals Other suggestions: Cultural fashion show, martial arts program, promotion of “cultural under- standing” ‘Students of Other Cultures’ is defined in our Students’ Union constitutional bylaws as ‘students of non-European descent.’ Following are comments received on the appropriateness of this criteria: “| don’t really have a problem with it because ‘students of other cultures’ is a vague term anyway.” “Maybe think of a more specific categoriza- tion” “There are different cultures within the European people and if ‘other cultures’ means the minority: does that mean other cultures would be decided upon descent every year? | think other cultures must be defined more properly. It’s a difficult ques- tion.” “Being European is still a culture in itself.” “No... It sets up a hierarchy where Europeans are one group and everyone else is the ‘OTHER’.” “This criteria is totally inappropriate for the liaison as it perpetuates the idea of people of European descent as being standard and normal which marginalizes all other groups. | think it is important to have educational meetings/workshops where different groups can feel comfortable discussing their concerns. Different people in the ‘same’ groups have such diverse ways of thinking and knowledge that | don’t fee! comfort- able with one or a few people representing the group | am supposed to belong in namely ‘other cultures’. | think it is impor- tant to promote the understanding that Canada and North America are not places where people of European descent have more power. Although in many cases it is true, this should be recognized. This is done through educating people about History and naming the everyday discrimination that occurs.” “| think the criteria of ‘students of non- European descent’ is appropriate because when most people think of other cultures they don’t think of European descent. | think that titles are good because we (as Canadians) are always learning about the European culture and now we should learn more about others.” a quick fix for the department, “With every meeting I’ve seen the same thing, an aware- ness is reached and a sense of depression. Everything is based on government cut- backs.” ome students worry S™ the underfund- ing of their area may belie an adminis- trative decision to phase out the depart- ment. Jim Breukelman, Dean of the Media division, says the administration is committed to the program at ECIAD, but the provincial government does see the depart- ment as a duplica- tion of courses offered in Vancouver. The Vancouver Film School, Simon Fraser, The University of British Columbia and IATSE have film training programs. However Breukelman says the provincial government still sees Animation at ECIAD as a unique source of employable talent. He says that is why he was able to secure a provincial grant to renovate animation and not Film and Video. Part of the reason for the department's reputation is, it was the first in the city and many graduates are now instructors at other animation programs in the country. “In the last five years there’s been a renaissance in the animation field. It's being used a tremendous amount not just in com- mercials, but in feature length films and even live action, consequently there's a lot of work for students who graduate in that field,” says Breukelman. The current goal of the provincial gov- ernment is to fund programs that lead to jobs upon graduation. Fine arts administra- tors are scrambling to rationalize the exis- tence of their programs to funding bodies. Breukelman says this means emphasizing the applied arts side of the school and hoping there will be enough money left over to support the fine arts. “That has always dis- turbed me because | can’t imagine living in a world where there aren’t fine artists.” Breukelman adds part of the blame lies with artists and art educators for not forging more links with their communities, “ The government is probably just reiterating what the general public thinks. Maybe there’s an opportunity in all this.” He cites the successful partnership between Cymbolic Sciences and ECIAD last year, where the company agreed to provide the Institute with machinery they produce in hopes the students would creating some “surprising images.” Breukelman says the company’s president was impressed by the way digital technology was being integrated into the curriculum at ECIAD. Breukelman wants to see students in all areas of the college have access to digital technology. “If we just have computers we're no different from any other school. What matters in the end is how we work with it.” Breukelman says promoting ECIAD as an innovator in this area will ensure businesses with technical resources will donate more equipment and services to the college, dona- tions which will in turn free money for the purchase of non-digital resources for the school. illustration by Erin Gillgannon How creatively students approach the new technologies depends a great deal upon the curriculum and the teaching style of the instructors. It is in these areas ECIAD can make immediate changes. Nathaniel Akin, a student union representative for Film and F Video believes his program Chick must adapt so as to solidi- : chek fy its niche among Vancouver's film train- ing centers. He suggests changing the cur- riculum to allow greater flexibility in choosing courses, and that all day 6 credit courses in Film and Video be broken down into smaller classes dealing with specific topics like lighting or script writing. Despite his frustrations, Akin says ECIAD‘s Film and Video depart- ment would still be his first choice because of the emphasis on developing each student's artistic vision, rather than job training where, “the idea is to make you memorize existing facts and not innovate, create, which is what moves a culture forward. Not punching out molds, but creating molds.” =@ Author's note: | have been advised by PoA officials that this article may need some disclaimer to relieve the PoA staff of any responsibility should someone feel misrepresented by this article. | am fully prepared for the repercussions of this fairly, in this reporter’s opinion, innocuous article. You may notice Jim Breukelman gets paraphrased a lot, that’s because none of his exact quotes fitted into the overall design of the piece. One school of writing news and features encourages paraphrasing over the inclusion of wordy quotes. | also editorialize a little in the article by saying the school still has control over its curriculum even during times of budget cuts, then | quote Nathaniel Akin to support this point. | take full personal responsibility for this opinion. | also declined suggestions to insert a few “that” fillers, this being a stylistic decision based on a book | read once about good writing. There is also a companion piece to this article about the financial situation at ECIAD in which | paraphrase Michael Clifford, the Vice-President, among others. | have been informed this article will be included if there is space. True, | handed it in two days after the deadline, but at the time of this writing the PoA is three days late in meeting their publication deadlines. ! thought | would write these articles to support and record the efforts of students, administration and staff to find a way out of our funding dilemma and to continue dialogue around structural issues in the school. Even though | do not agree with the way the PoA is currently structured, | intended to approach the paper with goodwill by offering my articles for publication. By requiring a disclaimer, and advising me the companion piece may not appear, I’m afraid my goodwill has decreased somewhat, and | hope difficulties like this will encourage the PoA and students in general to ask what amount of freedom the editorial staff should have, how do they become the editorial staff, are journalistic standards different each issue, and who gets to write their articles late and who gets their articles rejected.) : Facilitator’s Note: | facilitated the inclusion of Dawn’s article on behalf of PoA and | suggested a number of clarifying changes that Dawn could accept or decline. Our communication seemed open and respectful. | regret if Dawn feels otherwise. If anyone has questions on this matter, please feel free to contact me. -Ling Chiu THE PART-TIME STUDENT LISTENING POST So, we finally get name labels on the mailboxes bought over eight months ago with our funds! Does this mean we are now allowed to plug into the flow of communication at the school? their students? nication? Have part-time instructors been told to announce the existence of the boxes to Will part-time instructors have mail slots along side ours to encourage commu- iWWV The Institute ‘March 1997 / inet of the Arts 57 By Dawn Buie ary agree morale stow ithe Fe MV) tise Seinen eco fu Sp unt now people hove been Casing ther cataract nwa ‘acing as aca Mike Hors 9 ed yearritrand Video sade crore’ a Mage aroup of dents face ants ttonan support taf on feb fa brobiems and develop an ogonzed Sepronh to dating th tem ae ever ica rere and crete soreness sys Hat soang thattmght hve been more productive for the depateert oteetig x boro tire earierin the year Fim ang vdeo tants 9 they ca’ epee uch ofthe eqapnen faci vero ating sts and Sem camera eet cesta Sapien ss nchrgeofserng and orering cain =e Gee tore wer oe "he departments nique in he shoo fr continual vey egret sed Complestd equpment Students eouring felpnangating ther way trough» new sytem depend on the ares ech ee tints Rechord Bel and Gane! oe rere dea to recent etiotien aupment and peormingsdintatve {She ther avo tea Often the Sens unabe to proved tha projec ee rate ee fet cies ‘dents but has recently made a policy of ari ing at 830 and leaving at 4:15 instead of {doing unpaid overtime ashe has in the past 10 cover all the work that needs to be done. "The college has to learn to support the areas that are very technically demanding,” Says Bidwell Sharon Bloedosn, 3rd year Film and video, say she's disappointed the funding sed to expand the animation area this summer didn't extend to the creation of 9 sound proof recording studio or an area for Set construction in her department. “thas come down to, you just want to get your stuff done,” says loedorn, adding, the ceation ofa social space where students ould work on scripts, hold auditions or just ‘meet would go a long way to counteract the Socal fragmentation in the department, where people tend to do their work, then go home, Many students expressed a willingness to help organize the existing space. Sidwell took them up on the offer the week follow: ing the meeting, organizing a lean up of the storage area outside his office, some refered to asa junkyard. A room built n the Summer was also cleared out to house a new Pro-tools lab for sound editing ‘Since February 4th the organizational ball has gotten roling with three more student meetings in the Film and Video department, and Ron Burnett hosted his own February 15th forum to discuss issues around funding Harris says the meetings are defintely not by Adrienne Lai ‘cultural awareness survey appeared in the December 1996 ste of Planet of the Arts. Following are statistics derived from the twenty-one completed survey responses. “How do you want to see ‘cultural’ awareness razed at Emily Carr?" 33% Invite speakers from cultural groups Bring in cultural performers ‘Have a cultural food fair Promote cultural festivals 30% 2% 15% Other suggestions: Cultural fashion show, martial arts ‘program, promotion of “cultural under: Standing” ‘Students of Other Cultures defined in our Student Union constitutional bylaws as students of non-European escent Following are comments received ‘on the appropriateness of this criteria 1 dont really havea problem with it becouse ‘students of athe cultures 2 vogue term any.” Maybe think ofa more specific categorza there are different cultures within the European people andif ‘other cultures ‘means the minority: does that mean other Coltures would be decided upon descent every year? | think other cultures must be ‘lined more properly Ita difficult ques tion” “Being European is stil a culture in itself” ‘Wo. sets up a hierarchy where Europeans are one group and everyone ese isthe OTHER” This erteri is totally inappropriate forthe Iason a perpetuates the idea of people of European descent a being standard and normal which marginalizes al other groups Tehin t's important to have educat ona! Imeetingsiworkshops where different ‘groups can fel comfortable discussing their Concerns Different people inthe same! ‘roups have sch diverse ways of thinking 3nd knowledge that! don't feel comfort ble wth one or a few people representing ‘the group am supposed 0 belong in ‘namely ‘other cultres 1 hik tis impor ‘ant to promote the understanding that Canad and North America are not places where people of European descent have ‘more power Although in many cases tis true this shouldbe recognize. This is done through educating people about History and naming the every dscrimination that occurs” 1 think the criteria of students of non European descents appropriate because ‘when most people think of other cultures they don't tink of European descent. think that tiles are good because we fs ‘Canadians are always leering about the European culture and now we shoul learn ‘more about others" 8 quick fx forthe department, “With every ‘meeting I've seen the same thing, an aware- ess is teached and a sense of depression Everything is based on government cut backs” ‘ome students worry that the underfund ing oftheir area ‘ay belie an admins- trative decison to phase out the depart ment Jim Breukelman, Dean ‘of the Media division, says ‘the administration is committed to the program at ECIAD, but the provincial goveenment does see the depart: ment as a duplica- tion of courses offered in Vancouver. The ‘Vancouver Film School, Simon Fraser, The University ‘of British Columbia and TATSE have film training programs, However Breukelman says the provincial ‘government stil sees Animation at ECIAD as 2 unique source of employable talent. He Says that is why he was able to secure 2 provincial grant to renovate animation and ‘not Film and Video. Part of the reason for the department's reputation i it was the first in the city and many graduates ae now instructors a other animation programs in. ‘the county “the las five years there's been a renaissance inthe animation field ts being Used a teemendous amount not justin com mercial, but in feature length films and ‘even live action, consequently there's alot of ‘work for students who graduate in that field,” says Breukelman. The current goal of the provincial gov ‘ernment isto fund programs that lead to jobs upon graduation. Fine arts administra ‘ors are scrambling to rationalize the exs- ‘tence of their programs to funding bodies Breukelman says this means emphasizing the ‘applied arts side of the school and hoping ‘there willbe enough money left over to support the fine arts. “That has always is: ‘ured me because | can’t imagine living ina ‘world where there arent fine artist.” Breukelman adds part ofthe blame lies ‘with artists and art educators for not forging ‘more links with their communities," The ‘government i probably just reiterating what ‘he general public thinks. Maybe there’ an opportunity inal this." He cites the successful partnership between Cymbolc Sciences and ECIAD last ‘yar, where the company agreed to provide the Institute with machinery they produce in hopes the students would creating some surprising images.” Breukelman says the company’s president was impressed by the ‘way digital technology was being integrated Into the curiculum at ECIAD. ‘Breukelman wants to se students in all 225 of the college have acces to digital technology. "if we just have computers we're ‘no different from any other school. What ‘matters inthe end is how we work with i." Breukelman says promoting ECIAD 2s an ‘innovator inthis area will ensure businesses swith technical resources will donate more ‘equipment and services tothe college, dona ‘ions which wil in tur free money for the purchase of non-digital resources forthe choo How creatively students approach the new technologies depends a great deal upon {he curiulum andthe teaching syle ofthe instructors. isin these areas ECIAD can ‘make immediate changes. ‘Nathaniel Akin,» student union representative for Fim and Video believes his program ‘must adapt 5023 t sli Chek. its niche among Vancouver’ film tain ing centers. He suggests changing the cur- sicalum to alow greater lexibiity in choosing courses, and that al