Editorial

Another semester is flying by. Luckily, the Journalism class made a quick decision to have an online newspaper to capture some of the happenings and creativity at IAIA. This is the beginning of a new corner for IAIA and its students. I hope you, the students, take advantage of this opportunity to show your talents. We have many inspirational and scholary individuals among us and it is time to bring those individuals out of the wood work, so to speak.

Too many times great artists have slipped through the cracks of IAIA with no more than a diploma and a pat on the back to show for their accomplishments. They may not have received any large scale publicity because their art was not chosen to grace any publication that comes out of the IAIA. Or they may have felt that they were not ready to go public with their art. These are valid reasons but let it be know that that time to act is NOW. Let the student IAIA online newspaper be the vehicle to achieving your goal of becoming and being an artist.

It is hard work for those who know, but art is always a work in progress, much like the artist. So don't let your fears, your intimidations, or your doubts, get in your way. You are the masters of your own paint brush, lens, pen, clay, or research. I'm only saying this because I am graduating from the BFA Creative Writing program and want you to have the same success in your perspective areas.

Now, on to the nitty gritty. War. What is it good for? as the popular song goes. But my question is: how has it impacted your life as a Native artist? Or does it? The impact of war on Native students is one of question because there has not been any active dialogue. I hope our paper can create this dialogue. We need to start looking to our people for answers, for stability, and hope. Am I being too ambitious? (There will always be a pessimist in the bunch) My answer is no. I believe Native people want their voices to be heard.

Now, to my nitty gritty wish list. I as a student want to see Free Expression. I don't want to hear how the administration is offended by a student's project because of the administrations political position. I want the fear that is embedded in the administration to stop terrorizing the students (ouch- bad choice of words). I want the instructors to say, "Yes! Go Ahead!" instead of, "Well, it might go against IAIA policy." I want the instructors to be in charge for once. It is the insturctors who know the direction and talent of the students and the possibilities for the future. It is the students who keep IAIA in business. More power to the Faculty and Students!

I want IAIA to invest in water filters for the water fountains because water should not taste like rusty pipes. I already brought this issue up to ASG last semester. The faculty and staff already have their own watering pumps, hidden away in their offices, and out of student reach. Now that the students have a lounge, let's make this wish a reality (I'm thristy already).

I want lockers for off campus students and a fridge to store my lunch and dinner. And a microwave to cook or warm it up in. IAIA is 10 minutes from the closest convience store and some students can't afford to leave in between classes. Or just can't afford it period.

I want to see art projects crammed onto every available wall space. I want IAIA to look and feel more like a real art school instead of a hospital or office that doesn't invite creativity. Why can't we have walls that are colorful? IAIA already has a museum. The only wall of IAIA that is interesting to look at is the space between the painting and drawing class. What happened to the sillouette project from Char Teters class? It went up and then was painted over in one semester.

I wanted, when I lived on campus, my own room. How many artist do you know can work seriously with three other people in the same room? One wants to watch TV, one wants to talk on the phone, one wants to steal your ideas for their project that is due in one hour. And the walls are so thin that everyone's private business is public gossip the next day. Geez, I sure am glad I moved off campus. I think four people to a room is too much. And then there are age, music, friendship, and lifestyle differences to deal with. Can I have more cake on my cake pleeze?

Although IAIA has asked for student input concerning the new Lifelong Learning Center (thumbs up), this type of collaboration needs to happen more often, especially between faculty and students, administration and students, administration and faculty, and faculty to faculty. I'm not talking about long drawn out offical meetings with typed minutes, but informal "Hey let's do this! or I have an idea for that!" get-to-gethers.

Speaking of long drawn out meetings, when did the student ID card price jump to 20 bucks a pop? This is outrageous! I refuse to pay and will go unidentified for my last semester, missing the student discount for movies, and proof that I am a real IAIA student. How much does it cost to make an ID anyways? Wasn't it covered in my tuition price? And shouldn't the student have a say or at least be notified?

Man, talk about inflation in the year 2003. Pretty soon it will be too expensive to check out books at the library.

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