User:ColeVan

Bio
I was born Then I grew I am now currently living I like to make stupid movies to please myself :) <<<my vimeo!

Midterm Research Project
Bankse

Final Public Art Project
Brad the Alien

Self-Assessment
So if I were to assess myself for this quarter in humanities I would have to say that I have grown in many aspects. The most obvious of which is the factual knowledge to such things as Art History and Graffiti artists names, such as CAP! Beyond that however, I feel I am better connected with art in general. I am not sure if it was your class specifically or if it was my collective expirences of this quarter. I feel my appriciation and intrest in art has sky rocketed. Most importantly the art I feel the most connected with is the seattle art outside my door. I get excited to see a new tag that I recongize and I get excited when I walk past a building and see that they are setting up a gallery inside. I love to pass out random tid bits of knowledge on sculptures around town like some sort of tour guide. So all in all I guess I would have to thank steve arntson for making be realize how awesome art it. -thanks steve! -Cole Van

Group Name
Unofficially: Team Thunder Officially: Team 4

Personal Essay
Well to start out I attend an art school that has less credibility than any university and in most cases I pay more money. Four hundred and fifty dollars per credit it at my school and three hundred and ten dollars for the University of Washington according to their websites. In writing this essay to do realize that I am writing this to a faculty member of the school I attend. Some may say I am treading on thin ice, but knowing you Steve I think you will not be offended by my content. In fact, I am worried more about the knowledge that I am unaware of that you may know. This essay is from my perspective of my situation.

I attend a “for profit” school. On the surface of that statement I feel that it states that I will be screwed in as many ways possible in order for my school to gain more income. It starts with over priced credits. We are expected to attend, what is called, General Education courses. These are basic classes such as math, English, and science. In some cases my instructors are not qualified to teach these courses. These courses cost more than their counter parts at a normal university, which would have professionals teaching the courses. A one hundred and forty dollar difference per credit according to my school compared with the University of Washington. Paying this much does come with perks though. I am free to pursue my ideas and do not have build up credits to declare a major. I have access to quality equipment and services. Although, very little of my credits will transfer to any other university, or even another school in the corporation. I think this is because the classes are inadequate. At the end of my schooling I am handed a nice degree. Very little employers will look at this degree because they are more interested in my portfolio. So for students who are unable to successfully pursue a higher standard for their portfolio and will rely on a degree, they will most likely not get employed. From the perspective in my program I see a lot of people who are slacking on their products and flying under the radar. They please the instructors but fail to make something good enough to get them hired. This is not in all cases but some. I have also over herd that the number employers showing up to the animation student’s portfolio is declining drastically. This may also be the case in other programs. The school I attend just is not outputting quality work so employers are not interested. They are constantly redesigning the coarse structure, and there are classes that I have taken that no longer exist. This means the education of the people who have joined later than me is different for mine. I some cases it seems their education was for in depth and more valuable and yet we paid the same amount. However, I am seeing in my program better coarse structure and better instruction than in the past. Along with over priced credits the school pins you down with parking. Being in the middle of a major city there are not free places to park. So with the city forcing drivers to pay the school is able to obligate students to also pay for parking. Students park in a public parking garage with absolutely no discount. On average it can cost fourteen dollars per school day. If you have the ability to leave class every hour, paying at the meter is cheaper. In another aspect it costs four dollars for a hotdog and three dollars for a banana. In a school with a culinary program they choose to sell cheap food way over priced. If you are ever unfortunate enough to walk past the north campus you will be struck with an immense odor. Recently I found out that that odor was food. Two giant trash bins filled with perfectly edible food from the culinary department just tossed away after class. Unfortunately, the school has to operate under health codes that student do not meet. I do think though, having professional chiefs in the school they have the ability to tell if something is safely editable. I would be nice to get a break from the mundane cafeteria and try some impressive culinary plates.

I did mention the perks of the equipment but in some cases the equipment is not up to par. There are computer programs, like Celtx, which cannot be on a school computer for reasons that I believe relate to endorsements. In reality though, it is highly helpful and one hundred percent free. We have different versions of the same software in the south campus apposed to the north campus. So you cannot freely carry a file between the campuses. There are computers in the labs that are outfitted with stock components. A good chunk of the student body are computer fanatics and could get the computer performing to their peaks. This how ever falls under another regulation. These regulations prevent the school from expanding within. On top of that the walls are bar, the lighting is stark, and the chairs make no sense. If they are not uncomfortable then the hydraulics in them are too high. Never have I felt comfort in this school.

How do we overcome these obstacles? Petitions I have found serve one purpose. They annoy the staff and give no course of action. The faculty, no offense, relies on this system to get paid so they have little desire to change it. This school is filled with smart creative people. We are training to move away from consumerism and create our own things. So why not start here? We should locate the cafeteria next to the culinary. Photography projects should literally liter every surface. There should constantly be murals created down hallways. The industrial design students should fix the damn chairs. There are more of us than them, and in some cases we are smarter. Most importantly, we have to study here. School should be your second home if not your first. We as students need to combine and make this a place worth going to, because who else will.

Self Assessment
I felt that is class was a great time to exercise my writing skills. Very little knowledge was gained as in writing technique but a lot was gained in my groups subject of advertising. So if the class was more targeted toward and independent study than I would say it was a success. The only improvement of writing came from the amount of writing I did this quarter. Even then that was only practice on skills I already had and very little new skills were picked up. However, I feel greatly confident in my ability to report, describe, research, and entertain on any subject. This confidence not entirely came from your class but this class did help a fare amount. The class aside from the curriculum was highly enjoyable. A class period is never without a dull conversation with Steve Arntson and I feel privileged to be in your company. I am aware that you like to run the class pretty loosely but a little more structure I think would benefit the course. Maybe having some in class assignments that are connected to the group project. My troubles this quarter came mostly from the group I was assigned. If there were time or assignment in class that helped the overall essay that might motivate some of the slacking kids to at least get something done. Thank you again, Steve, for expanding my awareness of this terrible world. I really appreciate it. ColeVan