Brief: OCAD INCREASES TUTION AND APPROVES COMPULSORY PRODUCTION MATERIAL FEES ACROSS CAMPUS

Sadly it’s official: the Finance Committee of OCAD’s Board of Governors approved a motion to implement “Production Material Fees” for the majority of undergraduate studio classes on campus. This controversial new fee structure will be draining the wallets of all students commencing September 2010.

The Production Materials Fee was introduced as a way to balance overspent budgets for the basic supplies needed to run OCAD’s studios. As elected student representative on the Board of Governors and Finance Committee, I voiced my deep concern on behalf of OCAD’s students.

So what are the fees?

Essentially the Production Material Fee is a compulsory tuition-related ancillary fee, which varies depending on department and materials required in the studio. The fee itself is “for material used in the production of items which become the property of the student”. This fee will pay for materials such as nails, sandpaper, welding rods, inks, acid, screws and stains: all the items our tuition once paid for.

In September, you’ll find these fees listed in your online Fees Account on a per-course basis. The following chart outlines the actual approved fee structure for September 2010, listed by department:

For example, a 2nd year a fulltime Printmaking student taking their mandatory 7 studio courses will pay an additional $315.00 in September. In some scenarios, the proposed Production Material Fee increase is actually greater than the maximum allowable tuition fee increase for September 2010/11 (yes tuition is also going up 4% which is about $200). With student employment down, I do not think that the majority of OCADians will be able to afford these considerable increases. It’s unreasonable to assume that students can manage this unprecedented financial burden.

Currently programs charging students Production Materials Fees, such as Photography, have a cap in place. Few students are charged for Material Production Fees after 3 courses (approx. $150 max). I feel that the cap should remain in place to protect students. Removing it may force students who are already struggling financially to switch to part-time status, reduce course loads, increase student loans and overall debt or, worse, select courses based on cost over interest.

Tuition increases should be tied to qualitative improvements. Production materials were previously covered by our tuition – to support the learning environment. Ryerson doesn’t charge their students for chairs, whiteboard markers, or projector bulbs. York students don’t pay for air ventilation, or chalk. I understand that there is cost associated with maintaining studios, but that’s the business we’re in! What’s next? Paper-towel restocking fee? Pay-per-view PowerPoints?

In my opinion, removing these services from the tuition structure should allow for a concurrent reduction in tuition fees, or a significant increase in services and materials provided. It is as yet unclear whether either of these will be forthcoming.

One would hope that extra fees get us extra benefits.

I’m expecting some changes in the studios this year, and so should you.

Is there something you’ve wanted but hasn’t been available? Consider writing to the studio managers, your department chairs, and the deans: make sure you get what you pay for.

You can email Amanda at academicanduniversityaffairs@ocadsu.org or visit the OCADSU Office at 51 McCaul St.

There I was again, standing in an aisle of a grocery store looking like an idiot – seems to happen often for me. Fourth grocery store in a day and still shit-out of luck. It was a long shot, but I thought I would take a chance.

“Do you carry juniper berries?” I asked one of the employees. He looked at me with thin, contemplating eyes. “What’s a juniper berry?”

The juniper berry can be found on different species of the coniferous juniper trees. The juniper berry is actually a sphere shaped cone (like a pine tree’s pinecones), taking on the uncanny appearance of a hardened blueberry. The outer layer of the berry is relatively flavorless and is often crushed before being used in cooking to release its natural flavor. Most dishes use the dark purple mature berries, which can take two years to fully ripen, but it is the immature green berries (14 to 18 months) that is used in making gin.

Mmmmmmm….gin……

The first time I tried a juniper berry was when a friend of mine invited me to his place for a beef brisket dinner. This was his first time he cooking such a massive piece of meat, and needed someone there to both congratulate him on his culinary victory, and help him eat it. Picture it – two twentysomething guys attempting to devour a 10 pound beef brisket in one sitting. An impossible task!

My buddy ran to the kitchen to get some kind of vegetable to cleanse our pallet of the meaty-goodness. “This is all I have,” he said, bringing a half gallon Ball mason jar to the table. Its contents – pickled cucumbers.

God knows I love a good pickle.

The brine inside the bottle was cloudy and a dark mustard yellow colour. Following the green skins of the Kirby cucumbers to the bottom of the jar, I saw something that looked like large black peppercorns with stems. Curious, I unscrewed the cap and used my fork to pop off the lid.

I put my fork in and instead of pulling out what my friend calls a “juicy dillies,” (sounds totally rank, I know!) I went straight for the deformed peppercorn. Examining it on my plate, it looked like a miniature purple grape that never developed. The aroma of garlic, onion and dill it gave off was incredible – uniquely different from a Bick’s or Moishe’s bottle. Without hesitation, I ate it.

Expecting a shock of bitter heat from the peppercorn I thought it was, I was surprised that it had a rich piney taste and a subtle sweetness to it. The flavor was comforting – reminding me of a good cup of tea. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I then tried one of the pickles. It was sour, sweet and had an unmistakable earthy undertaste to it – unlike any pickle I’ve ever tasted. So I asked my friend what the mystery ingredient was.

“It’s a juniper berry,” he said.

Juniper berries are popular in Scandinavian cooking. It helps add a deep woodsy flavor to most dishes. They’re popularly added to fowl and gamier meat dishes, such as venison and boar, and often used in the making of sauerkraut or pickling. They can be eaten raw, but only if you don’t mind their grainy texture. When dried berries are soaked in warm water, they plump up and are a perfect source of vitamin C. Scientists have recently been researching the use of juniper berries as a means of controlling diabetes.

But don’t expect to find any juniper berries in your local supermarkets. They can be bought in health food stores in bulk for a decent price (about $7.00 per pound). You can maybe even find them in your backyard, if you have a juniper tree.

So try out these piney berries in your next meat course or if you’re into pickling. After looking for them for nearly a month, I think it was well worth it.

Recipe: “Juicy Dillies” with Juniper

Ingredients

-1 kilogram of Kirby cucumbers, washed and cut in half or quartered.
-1 onion, sliced into thick rings
-4 sprigs of fresh dill
-2 cups white vinegar
-2 cups water
-3 tbsp sugar
-2 tbsp salt
-3 cloves garlic, peeled and half
-1 tbsp mustard seed
-3 to 6 juniper berries (depending on size)
-1/4 cinnamon stick
-1 tsp black peppercorns
-1 bay leaf
-1 clove

Place the cucumbers, onions and dill sprigs in four 750-ml (three cups) mason jars. Place the remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Bring heat to a medium-low and simmer for five minutes. Evenly pour the brine into the jars and let cool for about 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for one month before serving.

Sharing is a beautiful thing, and as a terrible student, you should embrace it fully.

Fundamentally, sharing is the act of exchanging information. However, there are no rules about when or where you contribute your portion of the exchange. What this means is that you are allowed to share information with lots of different people, but you don’t have to give them your side of the exchange right away.

This is most useful when you have to write an essay, or any other kind of paper, as the school has provided you with a bountiful source of information to share – it’s called a library.

You can share ideas with library ALL THE TIME! And the library isn’t waiting for you to give back anytime soon. So use the library liberally next time you need to fill up a word count, run out of ideas or don’t have the time to write most of your paper. The library won’t be offended.

Bug theme…hey why not?

The ‘It’s a trap!’
The Portia spider is probably the biggest bitch of a spider you’ll ever hear of. Eating insects? Hell no! This bitch got taste. It eats other spiders. Methods range from strumming webs to trick spiders into thinking they got a bite and attacking them from behind to lacing other spider’s web with their own web. Imagine, being a hunter and when going to check your bear trap, someone springs a bear trap on you and then eats you whole.

The Baby Killers.
Japanese hornets work similar to Anonymous, the Internet Hate Machine. When a Japanese hornet sees a bee colony they go in and troll—I mean spray their icky hormones all over. Eventually other hornets join the fray and go on a killing spree. After massacring bees 3 times smaller than themselves they go eat their honey, and then take their babies. Yes, they will fucking steal the babies to eat and feed to their young. Did I mention their poison is flesh melting?

The Fascist Death March.
If bees are the communist worker drones of the insect world, ants would be fascists, and soldier ants would be the fucking death march. Unlike other ants they just don’t settle down, they just keep marching in their eternal search for food. Which sometimes includes live horse (yes they hunt horses). And you know those cartoons where insects form into catapults and hands? Well these guys can make walls to keep rain out and bridges to cross rivers. When these fuckers come into towns, you better stay away.

Forget about what you want, what you think you need because those are the things that got you wanting change in the first place, right now, move forwards, even if you don’t know what direction you want to go in. It’s all about moving, and keeping it up, and every thing else will find its way. You will learn new languages on the road, you will meet new people, and they will last after your handshakes and salutations. They will ask you your name, we should give you a new name. This will make it more exciting, and it will be symbolic to this new change in your life, you are a new (man or woman), and most importantly, in your new life. Your handshake is firm and tells everyone new in your new life that you are sure and confident, now smile. They see it in your eyes now, and it’s attracting more (look). They’ll invite you to their homes, you’ll get to meet their kids, they’re nice folk, and you’ll tell them all types of stories over a warm dinner, and then the kids will go to sleep, and the adults will converse some more. They won’t be able to get enough of you, you’re fun and exciting, full of knowledge and adventure, and you’re doing a great job keeping all those stories going, even if they’re not true. You tell them how you are a writer, and that you’re currently writing a novel. They ask what it is about, and after two hours and eight glasses of wine they are hooked on your book. There will be visits to the cottage, and camping trips, you’ll bust out survival tactics, and bring your own box of knives, telling them each one is instrumental to surviving off the fat of the land. They’ll begin to look up to you, seeing you as someone who is daring and has life in the palm of their hands; you have conquered life and yet you still seek out struggle and excitement. You’re amazing! And you will look in their eyes, and see the life you have created, and how wonderful it is; you’re out in nature. And for a moment you will glimpse into the past and remember how things once were, how it is far different from now, and you can see how far you have traveled. You will grow tears, and your audience will grow a profound emotion that cannot be described in words as they gasp. This is of course just the beginning, and as you imagine on, I will leave it up to you to write the rest of this story. This is your life, you’re the author of it.

(from Learning To Love Yourself (More) 2009-2010)

Brendan George Ko
brendangeorgeko.com
photo-ma-graphy.blogspot.com

Now that the school is almost at it’s close, students are faced with a plethora of deadlines. For students who are living in residence, this is a very important time, as there are a number of things one must do to ensure that you’ve have a proper res experience. And time is running out! Particularly if you’re in first year and won’t be living in residence ever again, be sure to check of and complete HTBAT’s List Of Rules To Break While In Res !

Though the significance of each of these points varies, one should try to accomplish as many of these things as possible. Wouldn’t it suck to look back on your uni days and realize how much you missed out on?!

List Of Rules To Break While In Res

- Steal everything you can from the common room (Eg laptops, furniture,
records, food, xboxes)
- Have sex in the shared shower
- Smoke (whatever) in your room (But don’t forget to take out the smoke detector!)
- Find a furry friend to keep you company and share your dorm (Rabbit, kitty, wombat, rats, etc)
- Host a slumber party in the laundry room
- Supplement your nearly depleted meal plan by selling drugs
- Everyday make a new fort in your room out of everything you, or those around you, have
- Move your stuff out early to beat the rush, but more importantly, so you can host a party/concert in your room
- Start a mobile rave and go collecting residents
- Hoard the cough syrup from your care packages (Robitussin) and go robotrippin’ down the halls one last time
- Hook up with that person you’ve seen around all semester but never talked to (If things go bad, you won’t see them all summer!)
- Poop in the shared shower

But of course, and I doubt it needs to be said, HTBATS never has, and never will endorse breaking the law. Be mindful of the consequences of your actions, but also bear in mind that what you don’t do may haunt you later on. Also, if you get caught, it’s not like they’re going to expel you the week before school ends!

I want to start off by saying IN YOUR FACE URBAN MYTHOLOGY! I beat the Freshman 15, didn’t gain a single pound and I have a work out regime of a three-toed sloth! My amazing body aside, now that the year is winding to an end, I’m gonna review OCAD. The bathroom stalls have 50/50 reviews scribbled one them, so I guess that’s where I’ll start.

Doth decrees the stall: OCAD is boring. Wow, a school? Boring? Say it ain’t so! Honestly, even in art school, if you expect to go to school to have some good lulz, you should have spent that tuition money on strippers and clubs. But, I do agree OCAD is stale in terms of student life. I mean our only sports group is Chinlone (actually they’re not on the website anymore, so what now?), and does OCADA counts? Fraternities don’t exist on OCAD, but do you really need a Frat to be a Frat boy? To my understanding all you need is a keg of beer and a toga. I do think the school could be more active, but boredom is too easily fought off in downtown Toronto to be a big issue. So not only the school and clubs need to be more active, but anyone who’s bored should just party more.

OCAD sucks. This ambiguous comment is gonna let me talk about academics. Let’s face it, we’re an art school. You’re not gonna write a 12 page essay on whales. Try explaining that to stereotypical Asian parents. I ought to be locked up for hours studying everyday like cousin Wang. Well mom and dad, I actually learned shit this year, but more importantly I did shit. No one cares what marks you got in school, just your portfolio and how big that smile on your face is. I can’t say I was enlightened this year, but I picked up a few useful tricks without having to sit through a dumb lecture on how to use the pen tool. I did that quite frequently in high school. So I have my 8 hours of sleep and partly decent things to put in my portfolio (hey I’m only a freshman), which is much more useful than staying up to write some dribble on about the Baroque era. Not to say I didn’t write essays (and to my guilt I liked some of the topics), but the reason we got a lot of studio classes is because the lectures will never help us in the workplace. They just put them in there to make OCAD an university. You should learn your art history, but it’s more for your information than it is for your job, unless you’re a Curator. Then you guys are such a minority most of us don’t remember you exist.

So what would I give OCAD? A ‘B’. For being really boring, but educational, good location and not as expensive as fucking York/Sheridan. Well maybe I should ad a – to that B for the bell curve.

Artists seem to deal with things that to them are paramount, but to everyone else (including other artists) seem small and withdrawn. We artists live in private/ esoteric worlds, which to the “average” viewer is perceived as somthing very small within their own reality.

An artist can build the most magnificent of worlds and exist as a king inside it, but at the end of the day, the artist must always have to bow down to the world of everyone else, their judgements, their rules and regulations, and their expectations.

it is a burden, and it is hard to bare.

it is one of the many things that you must fight thru if you are to sucessfuly understand whatever it is you yearn to understand.

As an artist you must know your place- it is not a comfortable one.

Art imitating Life? Life imitating Art? – how about Life will be Art. This is the emerging creative frontier in which new ways of living are being artfully designed. We are beginning to develop a selective disregard for tradition in favour of what makes sense. To abandon the dysfunction and monotony of established societal rolls and choosing instead to sculpt, paint, draft, weave and carve out lives of our own.

An era of creative freedom has begun that will make the renaissance look like preschool. Conventional methods are often so stymied and backwards that attempting anything else is encouraged and almost guaranteed to yield an improvement. So now is a great time for fearless experimentation. Its exactly the kind of risk-play that will help light our way forward as well as provide you with a lifetime of tuition-free education. Ahhh, Fresssh!

An important part of this ‘why-the-heck-not?’ attitude is to nurture the creative endeavours of others. When you encounter a fellow experimenter be kind. Give him or her the benefit of the doubt and give them room for their experiment to take place. The next time someone sings you a ditty when you were expecting an eight-and-a-half by eleven resumé, laser printed on white and set in nine point Helvetica for god’s sake give them a ring will you?

There is perhaps only one caveat to this new found freedom and I’m sure you know the feeling… our tendency to become overwhelmed when faced with infinite possibilities. I have come to find that the antidote to this is simply to do anything; do what comes to you first, do what feels right and do it now. Don’t give yourself much time to think it over and don’t worry too much about what other people think (duhh).

Characteristics: Generous, sympathetic, responsive, kind, sensitive, adaptable, a natural healer, with shrewd mentality, strong will power, determination, and good common sense.
Tendencies: To be full of self-pity, unable to make a decision, moody, lazy to avoid responsibility, a procrastinator, and a worrier.
Famous Pisces: Johnny Cash, Frederic Chopin, Copernicus, Victor Hugo, Vaslav Nijinsky, Elizabeth Taylor.

Element: Water
Lucky Day: Monday
Lucky Number: Seven
Jewel: Bloodstone
Key Word: Sensitive
Ruling Planet: Neptune
Colours: Gray, Pink, White

Pisces: Skip Some Stones
All I see in your future is twins. Weird.

Aries: Think of handcuffs as bringing two together.
You are twenty one feet deep in water and powering thousands of homes, you deserve a good view. Hurrah for long arms!

Taurus: What colour are you?
Jump rope app? It’s a sure thing but as First Head Senior President Jump Rope Team Leader (FHSPJRTL) you will have none of it! Emergency meetings are needed, underground.

Gemini: Learn to Fly
The first skirmish was in the archives. The second was in the library. The third was in the resource room. This must be resolved before all hell breaks loose in the lecture hall.

Cancer: Make like the Birds & Bees
Follow that rounded pointy thing in your chest of drawers, Picasso.

Leo: There is always the subconscious at play.
Just so you know, Lucy Maud Montgomery has no desire to be equal to man. She would prefer to maintain her superiority.

Virgo: Who are the people behind you?
Sometimes it’s a very good idea to be cautious but sometimes it’s a real bad move kiddo, like today for example, if you are too careful you’ll never meet your future ex step sister. And wouldn’t that be a shame!

Libra: Get a twitter (Tweat-shit)
You keep living like you are going to be transported into Luongo’s body two minutes into overtime but you never consider how traumatic it will be.

Scorpio: Think subway etiquette.
If you want to learn to sing and play the banjo you might as well learn to fight while you’re at it.

Sagittarius: Day trip it up!!!
We do not rent rooms to yachtsmen. And neither should you.

Capricorn: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
This month you could take up throat singing. It should be pretty easy, super relaxing AND a great party trick. (You are in severe need of a party trick)

Aquarius: Shields up!
If I had one super power it would be break dancing. Reading the stars is overrated.