Illustrator: Mark Bender

Website: http://www.benderillustration.com/.

Why We Are in Love: Bold colors, excellent contrast and we love how the wood grain shows through on the illustration. We think the blending of colors is extraordinary and inviting. The colors are exciting and really radiates life and energy. Check out his full website here: http://www.benderillustration.com/.

More about Mark Bender: Mark Bender has been recognized by Communication Arts Magazine and the New York Society of Illustrators. He has been included in the society’s annual exhibitions and in Original Art, the best children’s book illustration. A member of both the New York Society of Illustrators, Mark has also been awarded both gold and silver Addys. Along with Mark’s illustration career, he is a full-time faculty member at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Mark has a master’s degree in Illustration from Syracuse University.

Mark’s elaborate illustrations have strong influences from advertising posters of the 1920’s and 1930’s, Folk Art, Cubism, Constructivism and Surrealism. His meticulously crafted images have been incorporated into advertising campaigns, annual reports, CD jackets, children’s books, murals and posters.

Creating images with contemporary feel, inspired by classics of the past, Mark’s work has attracted a diverse array of clients.

Before I head to the Windy City tomorrow morning, I thought I’d share a couple of my latest projects.

This one, for Typography, was required to have a cropped letterform that represented a text paragraph of our choosing (I picked the importance of arts programs in schools). I borrowed the text and seal from the Department of Education.

The next two were for Electronic Design, designing a newspaper ad for my fictional client Avian Optics Corporation. FYI: the logo and taglines are still very rough and not due ’til next week.

So the verdict is in (for now): the new pharmacy job is good. I now make the same in a fortnight as I did in a month during my museum job. Needless to say, I = very yes happy.

In other happy news, I’m headed to Chicago on Wednesday for Thanksgiving with the fam. In concurrent sad news, I have to try to get all my Art Institute homework done a week ahead of time – assignments contingent on classmate feedback will be especially rough.

FYI: if someone asks you to make them 40-50 unique newspaper layout thumbnails in 4 hours, emphatically tell them “No.”

Due tomorrow on the Electronic Design assignment roster is a newsletter layout project. We make at least 10 sketches, then whack up a comp of our favorite in InDesign. The sketching part is done (second page of sketches omitted to run in the time allotted):

The last project in this week’s assignment lineup for Typography is a type anatomy diagram, pointing out the distinguishing marks of serif and sans serif typefaces. In addition to a fully labeled creative example, we had to come up with 9 more thumbnails (each using a different serif and sans serif font).

I found I had a rougher time with this than on some previous projects, mostly because the requirements were so stringent (not to mention scattered hither, thither, and yon across the AIPOD classroom).

Totally worth spending the last 9 years collecting typefaces:

]]> http://idpcinfo.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/patti-morrow-student-coercion-swept-under-designer-rug/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:17:46 +0000 IDPC http://idpcinfo.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/patti-morrow-student-coercion-swept-under-designer-rug/

AIP officials sweep interior design coercion under the [designer] rug.

In a letter responding to multiple requests from the Interior Design Protection Council (IDPC) requesting action on an inappropriate assignment, the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (AIP) has indicated that they consider the matter resolved and are not open to further discussion.

At issue is instructor Laura Musulin’s extra credit assignment entitled “IDLCPA Support” in which she offered to award students 20 extra points if they provided proof that they’d lobbied legislators to support Pennsylvania HB 1521, a bill to license interior designers that is currently before the House.  “It is totally unethical for a teacher to use such heavy-handed intimidation to influence impressionable students into supporting their own personal political agenda, in this case to support licensure proposed by the Interior Design Legislative Coalition of Pennsylvania on whose board Musulin sits.” said Patti Morrow, executive director of IDPC, “especially since no alternatives were offered, nor any information provided on the negative implication such legislation could have.” 

Morrow, who first broke the story on June 11th, has made repeated attempts to persuade AIP administration that swift and corrective action to educate students about the improper assignment should be initiated by the school.  Under pressure from Morrow and others, AIP President George Pry finally admitted the “nature of the extra-credit assignment offered is inappropriate,” but according to students, not a word on this issue has been mentioned to them.  “It is of paramount importance that these students be issued an apology and an explanation of exactly why Ms. Musulin’s actions were inappropriate,” added Morrow.

Public reaction has been nothing short of outrage.  “This represents a gross perversion of the education system, the students’ grading process, and general tenets of intellectual freedom,” commented Bill Barrett, executive director of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.  “Whether you support or oppose such legislation, no one should be using students’ grades to generate support for a proposed law. Students should be encouraged to investigate the issue from all sides and make up their own minds. In this case, they were not. They were bribed.”

Kelly Spewock, AIP Interior Design Department Chair, initially responded to the complaint, stating, “Students had the opportunity to research and evaluate opposing views.”  However, according to Johnny Matia, a student in Musulin’s class, that assignment was only offered a week after the controversy exploded, and was never formally announced by Musulin, but just quietly posted on the school’s student server a few days before the semester ended.  “At the very least, this certainly gives the appearance of a cover-up,” claimed Morrow.

President Pry contends that the matter has been “sufficiently investigated, addressed and resolved.”  Morrow disagrees.  “Since the students have not been addressed, and until such time as they are made aware of Ms. Musulin’s impropriety, the matter is most definitely not resolved.”

A request has been made for Barrett and Morrow to jointly address AIP students on October 14^th.  To-date, AIP has not responded. 

“We’ve known for a while that student indoctrination was occurring,” added Morrow.  “We are just beginning to see how blatant and widespread it is, and we are considering launching a major nationwide investigation.  This could prove to be the proverbial Pandora’s box of interior design regulation.” 

IDPC Letter to AIP 06-15-09: http://www.idpcinfo.org/IDPC_to_Pry-AIP_061509.pdf

IDPC Letter to AIP 06-17-09: http://www.idpcinfo.org/IDPC_to_Pry-Spewock_061709.pdf

IDPC Letter to AIP 06-19-09: http://www.idpcinfo.org/IDPC_to_Pry-Spewock_061909.pdf 

AIP Unethical Assignment: http://www.idpcinfo.org/AIP_Extra_Credit.pdf

Erick De La Vega is a painter, sculptor,photographer, and make-up FX artist.
   Concentrating primarily on his special effects work for the past 15 years, Erick has a host of project credits under his belt throughout the film and television industry (Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, Angel TV series, Jeepers Creepers, Blade II, Batman Dead End, & Willard). His fine art paintings draw upon that work experience and showcase the ease of realism he achieves with airbrushed acrylics.

   Trained at the New World School of the Arts and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Erick’s work is influenced by the modern masters of dark, fantasy art like Frank Frazetta, Wayne Barlow, and H.R. Giger, as well as a mixture of his own Catholic upbringing and his obsession with monsters and creatures. De La Vega’s painted creations are otherworldly and yet eerily familiar.They expose the viewer to a horrific beauty that potentially awaits at the end of every darkened passageway.
They are fearsomely compelling.

Be sure to see Erick’s amazing work:

Saturday June 20th 8pm-12am

 Hyaena Gallery

1928 W. Olive Ave.
Burbank, CA 91506

Show runs June 16-30th

Thank you, Ms. Spewock, for your response (comment #10 posted with original article below) to the article “Coercion at a CIDA College”, clarifying that the Art Institute of Pittsburgh has not taken a position to support the latest proposed practice act in Pennsylvania and your commitment to informing students how to research so that they will be equipped to make informed decisions about important issues impacting their futures.  On that we agree. 

However, it is clear that Ms. Musulin went far beyond inviting students to research this issue, and clearly did not adhere to your policy that “all extra-credit options are presented with equal consideration.”  Her extra credit assignment (click on this link to read:  http://www.idpcinfo.org/AIP_Extra_Credit.pdf ) only offers the 20 additional points to those students who undertake lobbying in support of legislation.  In fact, the assignment is actually entitled “IDLCPA SUPPORT.” (emphasis added).  Nowhere on this assignment is there an opportunity to “research and evaluate opposing views” and according to the student in question, when Ms. Musulin was approached and asked for that opportunity, it was denied.  It is absolutely unethical to use this kind of intimidation and heavy-handed influence to push her personal political agenda! 

I understand that subsequent to the publishing of our article, the concerned student has received an assignment to receive extra credit points.  Kindly provide the nature of the assignment, and whether or not the rest of the class also received an “equal opportunity” to do this assignment.  If this assignment was given only to the concerned student in a surreptitious manner, it would certainly give the appearance of impropriety – that of bribing his silence, which I’m sure you would not condone.  Unfortunately, under-the-radar techniques are the hallmark of the pro-regulation camp, and as the overseer of vulnerable students, you would obviously want to shield them from such tactics.

In addition, it is one thing for impressionable students to hear the facts about licensing (provided both sides are presented); it is totally another thing for them to be force-fed baseless propaganda.  The introductory section on the assignment in question contains the following inappropriate and blatantly false statements:

• The bill now has a number and needs to move quickly through the House.  It is inappropriate to imply to students that a fair legislative procedure involves “shoving” a bill through the process.  Declaring it has to “move quickly” implies a deceptive practice whereby the other side will not have equal access to a fair hearing or due process.  Is that how we want our students to be first introduced to the legislature?  I think not.
•  Only a registered design professional” may implement the IBC code.  This statement is absolutely false.  Again, students should hear the facts, not counterfeit propaganda.  Since Ms. Musulin is a board member of IDLCPA, she should certainly be aware that IDPC has written extensively on this issue, providing the actual language of the IBC, which contradicts Ms. Musulin’s and IDLCPA’s statements.  If Ms. Musulin wishes to cling to false information, that is her right, but allowing misinformation to be presented as fact certainly does not “present students with a clear understanding of the issue” in compliance with AIP’s mission. Click here for accurate information about the IBC: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs060/1102107213116/archive/1102303468639.html

Diametrically opposed to your statement of AIP’s position, Ms. Musulin DOES “wish to influence its students toward a particular “side” of the issue.” Manipulating her students and using them as pawns to accomplish her political objective is shameful and the national design community is outraged.   This information was sent out to approximately 30,000 designers throughout the country, which after the pass-through might well have exceeded 100,000 designers.  I’ve already received numerous emails from across the country about this situation and the AIP.  This is a serious matter, Ms. Spewock, that needs to be addressed head-on, and not with glossy platitudes about freedom of thought which don’t comport to the facts.  Ms. Musulin should be held accountable for her actions.

We appreciate your commitment to provide an excellent and fair learning environment at AIP and look forward to hearing that (1) this important issue has been resolved, and (2) it will not recur in the future. 

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me.  I would welcome the opportunity to have a dialogue on this issue.

Patti Morrow

Executive Director, IDPC

Perhaps you’ve heard of the controversy here lately of El presidente Barrack Obama being asked to speak at the Notre Dame commencement ceremony?  In case you haven’t let me break it down for you.  Obama is pro choice and Notre Dame being a catholic university is obviously pro life.  And when I say notre dame is catholic I use that term loosely.  Notre Dame worships one god among all others, the almighty dollar.  But that’s a entirely different blog for another time.

For the past few months it’s been a non stop bitch fest for our moral soles among the protesters toasting signs, trucks and planes (yes planes with banners of dead babies in tow) and the university who says it’s an honor to have the first black president speak at commencement.  Personally I could care less for either side of the argument on abortion.  I’ve had this subject force fed to me my entire life almost as if my stance on this issue has to define who I am.  Both sides have valid points and to me the only true solution is to come together like adults to understand the opposition better.  But, instead each side has chosen to voice their options with homemade signs and large groups of people chanting on the side of the road.

Although I’ll admit this current pro life/pro choice battle here in South Bend is great for me.  See, I hate Notre Dame with a passion and I hate protesters (what ever their stand. I don’t like people trying to tell me how to think) so this is like a win/win for me.  Both groups bickering makes then look equally bad.

Some Notre Dame student I’ve read are a bit offended that these pro life protest groups are trying to ruin their glorious graduation that they’ve worked hard to get to.  Let me just say I would have been thrilled if when I graduated the Art Institute of Pittsburgh there was a huge protest group outside rallying against the school.  I would have been out there along side them trying to stir up a violent protest.  What better way to say good by to your college years than instigating a riot. 

“Where’s your school spirit Eric?” your probably saying.  Well, school spirit is fine and dandy in high school but for me that warm fuzzy feeling about pride in my chosen college didn’t make much sense.  When I’m paying for school out of my own pocket (and knowing I will be for years after in student loans) it’s a different story.  To me that’s like having spirit about shopping at walmart or going to a pep rally for the IRS.  Want me to tote how glorious your institution for higher education is?  Shave a little off the cost I’m shelling out for classes.

Of course maybe I’m just jaded because I almost didn’t graduate college because of a clerical error the Art Institute of Pittsburgh wouldn’t even bother to check into when I brought it to their attention.  Hard to hear “Oh well, what cha’ gonna do?” from the dean when you tell him one of your grades wasn’t turned in on time by a instructor thus denying you graduation.  If I could have riled a group of protesters up out side the graduation ceremony and attempted to catch him in the head with a rock thrown from the unruly mob I would have.

I’m sure there’s at least one Notre Dame student of the graduating class of 2009 that is absolutely loving this.  I know I would’ve

I will be having featured artist of the week! The first artist is a friend from my flickr account. www.flickr.com/stephaniewilliamsonphotography. Everytime I look at her photos I get a chill down my spine. I like the softness of her photos and the great lighting that make some of her  photos so dramatic. She is in my opinion great at taking photographs of people, you can tell that she has a connection with the subjects and that they are comfortable with her to show their personalities. 

Here is a little about Jennifer Summer.

Jennifer Summer is a Cincinnati, Ohio based artist, specializing in photography and prose. Her work is available for commission within the United States.

She is also pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Photography from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. 

Her website is http://www.jennifersummer.com

I just started my first day of online classes at the Art Institute. One of the first things we had to do is to take this test to figure out what kind of learner we are in the classroom. It’s pretty interesting. Here’s my score results.

Note: Based on my test assessment (Only the content that applies to her test is listed here—the rest has been deleted.)

Richard M. Felder
Hoechst Celanese Professor of Chemical Engineering
North Carolina State University

Barbara A. Soloman
Coordinator of Advising, First Year College
North Carolina State University

ACTIVE AND REFLECTIVE LEARNERS

* Active learners tend to retain and understand information best by doing something active with it–discussing or applying it or explaining it to others. Reflective learners prefer to think about it quietly first.

* “Let’s try it out and see how it works” is an active learner’s phrase; “Let’s think it through first” is the reflective learner’s response.

* Active learners tend to like group work more than reflective learners, who prefer working alone.

* Sitting through lectures without getting to do anything physical but take notes is hard for both learning types, but particularly hard for active learners.

Everybody is active sometimes and reflective sometimes. Your preference for one category or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild. A balance of the two is desirable. If you always act before reflecting you can jump into things prematurely and get into trouble, while if you spend too much time reflecting you may never get anything done.

How can active learners help themselves?

If you are an active learner in a class that allows little or no class time for discussion or problem-solving activities, you should try to compensate for these lacks when you study. Study in a group in which the members take turns explaining different topics to each other. Work with others to guess what you will be asked on the next test and figure out how you will answer. You will always retain information better if you find ways to do something with it.

How can reflective learners help themselves?

If you are a reflective learner in a class that allows little or no class time for thinking about new information, you should try to compensate for this lack when you study. Don’t simply read or memorize the material; stop periodically to review what you have read and to think of possible questions or applications. You might find it helpful to write short summaries of readings or class notes in your own words. Doing so may take extra time but will enable you to retain the material more effectively.

INTUITIVE LEARNERS

* intuitive learners often prefer discovering possibilities and relationships.

* intuitors like innovation and dislike repetition. Sensors are more likely than intuitors to resent being tested on material that has not been explicitly covered in class.

* intuitors may be better at grasping new concepts and are often more comfortable than sensors with abstractions and mathematical formulations.

* Sensors tend to be more practical and careful than intuitors; intuitors tend to work faster and to be more innovative than sensors.

* intuitors don’t like “plug-and-chug” courses that involve a lot of memorization and routine calculations.

Everybody is sensing sometimes and intuitive sometimes. Your preference for one or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild. To be effective as a learner and problem solver, you need to be able to function both ways. If you overemphasize intuition, you may miss important details or make careless mistakes in calculations or hands-on work; if you overemphasize sensing, you may rely too much on memorization and familiar methods and not concentrate enough on understanding and innovative thinking.

How can intuitive learners help themselves?

Many college lecture classes are aimed at intuitors. However, if you are an intuitor and you happen to be in a class that deals primarily with memorization and rote substitution in formulas, you may have trouble with boredom. Ask your instructor for interpretations or theories that link the facts, or try to find the connections yourself. You may also be prone to careless mistakes on test because you are impatient with details and don’t like repetition (as in checking your completed solutions). Take time to read the entire question before you start answering and be sure to check your results.

VISUAL LEARNERS

Visual learners remember best what they see–pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations. Everyone learns more when information is presented both visually and verbally.

In most college classes very little visual information is presented: students mainly listen to lectures and read material written on chalkboards and in textbooks and handouts. Unfortunately, most people are visual learners, which means that most students do not get nearly as much as they would if more visual presentation were used in class. Good learners are capable of processing information presented either visually or verbally.

How can visual learners help themselves?

If you are a visual learner, try to find diagrams, sketches, schematics, photographs, flow charts, or any other visual representation of course material that is predominantly verbal. Ask your instructor, consult reference books, and see if any videotapes or CD-ROM displays of the course material are available. Prepare a concept map by listing key points, enclosing them in boxes or circles, and drawing lines with arrows between concepts to show connections. Color-code your notes with a highlighter so that everything relating to one topic is the same color.

SEQUENTIAL AND GLOBAL LEARNERS

* Sequential learners tend to gain understanding in linear steps, with each step following logically from the previous one. Global learners tend to learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost randomly without seeing connections, and then suddenly “getting it.”

* Sequential learners tend to follow logical stepwise paths in finding solutions; global learners may be able to solve complex problems quickly or put things together in novel ways once they have grasped the big picture, but they may have difficulty explaining how they did it.

Many people who read this description may conclude incorrectly that they are global, since everyone has experienced bewilderment followed by a sudden flash of understanding. What makes you global or not is what happens before the light bulb goes on. Sequential learners may not fully understand the material but they can nevertheless do something with it (like solve the homework problems or pass the test) since the pieces they have absorbed are logically connected. Strongly global learners who lack good sequential thinking abilities, on the other hand, may have serious difficulties until they have the big picture. Even after they have it, they may be fuzzy about the details of the subject, while sequential learners may know a lot about specific aspects of a subject but may have trouble relating them to different aspects of the same subject or to different subjects.

How can sequential learners help themselves?

Most college courses are taught in a sequential manner. However, if you are a sequential learner and you have an instructor who jumps around from topic to topic or skips steps, you may have difficulty following and remembering. Ask the instructor to fill in the skipped steps, or fill them in yourself by consulting references. When you are studying, take the time to outline the lecture material for yourself in logical order. In the long run doing so will save you time. You might also try to strengthen your global thinking skills by relating each new topic you study to things you already know. The more you can do so, the deeper your understanding of the topic is likely to be.

How can global learners help themselves?

If you are a global learner, it can be helpful for you to realize that you need the big picture of a subject before you can master details. If your instructor plunges directly into new topics without bothering to explain how they relate to what you already know, it can cause problems for you. Fortunately, there are steps you can take that may help you get the big picture more rapidly. Before you begin to study the first section of a chapter in a text, skim through the entire chapter to get an overview. Doing so may be time-consuming initially but it may save you from going over and over individual parts later. Instead of spending a short time on every subject every night, you might find it more productive to immerse yourself in individual subjects for large blocks. Try to relate the subject to things you already know, either by asking the instructor to help you see connections or by consulting references. Above all, don’t lose faith in yourself; you will eventually understand the new material, and once you do your understanding of how it connects to other topics and disciplines may enable you to apply it in ways that most sequential thinkers would never dream of.

Quick entry.

My calculus final yesterday… Sucked. Nothing else to say about that. Yesterday in its entirety sucked. Everyone and everything was pissing me off.

Today has been the opposite. I took my guitar final this morning at 10:46, and the professor said it was the best he’s heard anyone play it all day. I was happy about that, and he said he’d love to get together with me next semester and start a few small ensembles. That should be fun.

I’m going to lunch with a few friends right now, then I’m going to advising to change english to my minor and add commercial art as my second major with an emphasis in photography. Because of our school’s outside affiliations, I’ll be spending next year at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh! I’m soooo freaking excited for that! I’m also dropping a few classes and adding more, which will put me at 21 credit hours. This is overload so I’ll be paying extra and stressing like a mother. 7 classes on top of a job and four clubs/programs… Guitar club, the campus paper, the campus news station, and the campus radio station.

Yeah, the campus news and radio stations. I’ll be getting journalism experience and working with the news programs on both of those. Also, the editor for our campus paper sounds like she really likes my photography. I’m pretty excited.

And to make things better, I got an e-mail from Kanuga Conferences, Inc. last night. I applied for an internship there, and they are going to talk to me about setting up a phone interview in January!

I think I’m actually catching a break today.

And I’m surprised how much I wrote in six minutes.

Another World Ep. 40

Rick Washington

Rick Washington, a video games designer and teacher at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, explains the psychology of popular video games. He also discusses the growing field of serious video games, the four personality types of gamers, and the morality programmed into the games.

Take two Art Institute of Pittsburgh graduates, three Youngstown natives, and a Cleveland State University graduate—mix in a great idea for an urban clothing company.  What do you get? 

Rusty Waters Apparel.

The clothing line was born out of a brainstorming session between Adam Chizmar and Kate Butler of the Art Institute and Dominic Gatti of Cleveland State University.

“The name Rusty Waters Apparel is a play on the name Rust Belt mixed with a little bit of homage to blues musician, Muddy Waters,” Gatti said.

Rusty Waters Apparel is the voice of the Rust Belt. It represents the significant waterways in North East Ohio and Western Pennsylvania stretching from Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland to the Mahoning and Shenango Rivers in Youngstown to the Golden Triangle in Pittsburgh.  

“We wanted to tie together the region through alternative t-shirts,” Gatti said.

For example, there is an I (Heart) Pittsburgh shirt, unique to the Rusty Waters brand. There is also available the popular green and black Suburbia shirt that takes Mr. Yuck to a whole new level.

You can find these shirts at the PTC’s 15 Minutes Gallery in the Pittsburgh Technology Council offices.  Price per shirt is $20 at the Gallery.

A new study by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership states the number of students living in the Golden Triangle has grown from 855 in 2000 to 2,927 in 2008.  With local universities growing their downtown presence, that number is surely going to rise.

An essential part of Pittsburgh growing is adding more students living, playing, and of course, learning to the area.  This injection of youth and vibrancy will provide support to the need boost in residential living and retail spending.

To read more about this topic, check out the article College students enjoy living, spending Downtown from the Tribune-Review.

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/marantzer/2040417059/

Have you ever just felt like everything was changing so fast that you are in slow motion – kinda like the “matrix effect”?  Thats the way I feel right now.  I was all geared up for the Art Institute Online.  My Pell grants were taken care of, I had my Stafford Loans in order, and then I came upon a roadblock.  About a $55,000 roadblock.  That would be my loan balance at the end of my 4 year degree there.  The whole time I was going through the application process there was something in the back of my mind saying, “This is going to end up being really expensive.”  But I trudged on, hoping for a scholarship miracle.  Until the phone call…Upon being told the total cost of my education, I decided that common sense had to win out.  I simply cannot justify a $55,000 loan for +/- $20,000 increase in pay.

It was disappointing – really disappointing.  I so much wanted to get a bachelor degree in something I love and am familiar with.  So I decided to do a little more research into some other alternatives.  Unfortunately, ALL art schools are astronimacally expensive.  Everywhere I went it was the same story.  A bachelor degree will run between $70,000 – $80,000 before financial aid and life credits. 

With that realization I proceeded to change directions.  I have a meeting with the local community college on Friday.  They actually have a DEAT (Digital Effects & Animation Technology) program there.  I have known the coordinator there for some time so I gave him a call.  He seems excited to talk with me.  I will be showing a portfolio of my work in hopes of being awarded some life credits for my 13+ years experience in the field.  He also mentioned the possibility of becoming an instructor there for a “certificate” program they are working on.  That would be something I would really enjoy.

 So…so what if it will take longer.  Here is my rationale:

The Art Institute Online is $409.00 per credit hour PLUS a $100.00 lab fee PER class.  That adds up to a whopping $1736 dollars I would be paying for an ENGLISH class!  (4 credits)   Thats ludicrous!  To be fair most (but not all) online training runs in the neighborhood of $400 – $500 per credit hour.  But at my local community college, I will pay around $39 per credit hour.  That’s a savings of $1580.00 for 1 english class!  And oh, by the way…most of the classes at my local community college can be taken online.  Its a no-brainer for me.  Take a little longer and save a LOT!

So I typed up a really nice email, thanking the folks at Art Institute Online for working with me, being patient and providing so much information.  I told them that I just could not justify the expense of the bachelor degree when I could attend my local college so much cheaper.  I get a phone call about 30 minutes later from the admissions director wanting to know whats up.  I reiterate my previous email to him and thank him for his time.  He proceeds to bring up some of our earlier conversation where I said that I was determined to get this degree and wasn’t going to let anyone stop me.  He went into a spill about them having a “diploma” and an “associates” program that would be cheaper and we needed to evaluate all of the options.  I asked him to send me information on those and I would look at it.  Turns out, they are the same amount per credit hour, just less credits to take.  So I would be in the same boat.  $10,000 for a diploma, $35,000 for an associates and still no bachelor degree.  He also sent me an email where he included my admission essay with certain parts highlighted.  This seems a little hard pressure to me but I have never attended college before so I do not know.  I AM determined and I AM highly motivated to get my bachelor degree.  But NOT for $75,000 when I can spend $5,000 at a CC, $18,000 at a 4 year school and have my bachelors for less than $25,000. 

Back to the “matrix”…I just feel like everthing is changing at such a rapid pace, my mind, emotions, and body cannot keep up.  They are just being pulled along for the ride.  My mind is mush, my emotions are touchy, and my body is tired.  And I haven’t even started school! 

Since I cannot start school until the summer semester a  good friend of mine suggested that I try to get a couple of certifications under my belt.  I have been looking at the Macromedia Flash Designer certificate.  I have also been eyeing the Adobe Photoshop/After Effects certificates.  I have about 3 months to work on that.  In the meantime I am researching scholarships again.  I have really found some good ones lately.  Before, it seemed they were all turning up at dead ends but I have about 26 that I am eligible for.  I guess I will be getting an education in essay writing as well!

Well, its almost the end of the day and I am ready to go home.  OH!  BTW…Bessie (my little 1994 green Suburu Legacy) layed down on me today.  She lost a CV joint so I will probably be trying to put one of those in this evening.

later,
whitey

The weekend went really well.  We traveled to Tennessee Saturday evening and stayed on the grounds of the church.  We had good services Sunday morning and evening.  Since the boys were out of school for MLK day I took a vacation day yesterday (Monday).  We started to go to some caverns but they were closed.  We called some places in Pigeon Forge but they were closed as well.  So we came back through Asheville, ate at Texas Roadhouse (Best Ribs ever) and took the kids to Fun Depot for a little while.  We all had fun and I was able to spend a day with the family before school starts.

Speaking of school, I am getting kind of anxious.  I haven’t heard back about my financial aid.  As expensive as this school is (seems to be a thing with online universities) the financial aid is DEFINITELY going to make a difference.  I have also been trying to cover all of my bases as far as future education goes.  I have been looking at grad school (Master in Interaction Design) and want to make sure that going to the “Art Institute” of Pittsburg will not hurt my chances of being accepted should I choose to further my education.  It seems that national vs regional accreditation can make it difficult to transfer between colleges.  After speaking with the grad school, I was assured that it would not hurt my chances of acceptance.  As far as why I would pursue grad school, take a look at the employer list of recent grads:

Adaptive Path, Agnew Moyer Smith, Apple, Cooper, Ford, Frog Design, Google, IBM, IDEO, Macromedia, Method, Microsoft, Motorola, Razorfish, Samsung, Sapient, Smart Design, and Yahoo just to name a few…

 It tough getting back into the swing of things after a day off.  Already getting calls about computer problems, products that need to be photographed, my color laser machine is on the fritz and its just lunch time.  My freelance work is still as much (or more) than I can handle and it is just Tuesday.  It seems that the more progress I try to make, the further behind I get.  Maybe someday that will change.  But for now, that is the reality of life – work, eat, sleep…work, eat, sleep…

Later,
whitey

Wow! Life is really moving right now. It seems like everyday I am playing catch-up and still getting behind. The full-time job workload is not really bad right now but its busy. The freelance work is as much as I can handle. I try and try but still cannot seem to spend enough time with my family. Tonight we are going to a revival about an hour and a half away. Tomorrow I leave for Tennessee where I will be preaching Sunday morning and evening. One good thing though, the kids are out of school on Monday and I took a vacation day so we will probably go to Pigeon Forge or something. Trying to keep balance in my life is something that I have struggled with for many years. I feel that I have to work to support my family financially but then I fall short in emotional support. And to top it all off, I enrolled at the Art Institute Online (Art Institute of Pittsburgh) to receive a BS in Interactive Media Design. This is something I should have finished a long time ago but didn’t. But like our Vice President told me, “Don’t worry about what you should have done, Just Do It Now!” It was not an easy decision but one that I gave a lot of thought. My wife and family are very supportive so that will help tremendously. I am going to start out part-time but plan to change to full-time if I feel that I can handle it. This is the same field that I have worked in for 10 years so I think it may be a little bit easier than someone just coming out of high school.

You may ask, “If you have worked in the field for 10 years, why are you bothering to get a degree now?” One would be my insatiable hunger for knowledge. I truly enjoy learning! Being self taught has its good points and bad. A bad point being that you miss a lot of the “foundation” that you get from attending formal college. Two would be to increase my chances of finding better employment in the future. Not having a degree has shut many doors for me although I had more than enough experience. Three would be to build self-confidence in my abilities. Many times I feel inferior when presenting designs and ideas around people with degrees in design. Four would be to provide a career path…who knows where life may take me.

Speaking of a blur…its time for me to move on!

Later,
whitey