no. 02fall 09

toys forfines.Donate an unwrapped toy, and the Library will forgive all outstanding fineson your account.

All toys collected by the Library will be donated to the local Toys for Tots drive of Minnesota.

valid through 12/18/09

Toy must be suitable for Toys for Tots.

Donations can only be applied to existing fines on your account and cannot be used to pay for replacing lost or damaged items.

This is a great opportunity to clear your library fines (and your conscience) while doing some-thing nice for someone in need.

Erin Fall by Peter Tran, Web Photography graduateDigital Photography

No statement provided.

Frank Masi

Earth to the Moon and H.G. Wells’s 1901 novel, The First Men on the Moon, which were both made into films in 1958 and 1919 respectively. Consider the 1902 groundbreaking film, A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès, which featured state of the art visual effects for that time!

On July 20th 1969, the moon served as podium for Neil Armstrong’s fa-mous words, “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” And I’d be remiss if I did not mention the monolithic 1973 Pink Floyd album, The Dark Side of the Moon. Lastly, this past summer saw yet another cinematic lunar inspiration—Duncan Jones’s Moon.

It is our hope that after reading this issue you will connect with our celestial neighbor and create some truly inspired work of your own. For more infor-mation about the student organization that is create • connect, email me at ftm362@stu.aii.edu

The student organization known as create • connect is an all inclusive magazine with the sole purpose of showcasing the diversity and talents of the students, instructors, and staff of The Art Institutes International Minnesota. Our goal is to represent every resource the school has to offer through a creative and collaborative environment to produce a quarterly magazine that is both elegant and relevant.

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It resides 239,000 miles away, and it revolves around us at approxi-mately 2,300 miles an hour. It is billions of years old. We inherited it as the result of a violent collision during our world’s formative years. It has one-sixth the surface gravity of our home. It is of course, our celestial neighbor, the moon, and it has been a source of human awe, inquiry, and inspiration since the dawn of our existence.

During this season of Autumnal Equinox that plays host to All Hal-lows’ Eve and Thanksgiving, we need to stop and reflect on just how much the moon inspires us, and the broad spectrum of work that has been created by mankind underneath it.

In the past, its gravitational force on our oceans has aided our hum-ble migration across the earth, even determining the moment of our departure. Battles have been won and lost when armies marched by its bright, night light. Read Jules Vern’s 1867 novel, From the Autumn Bloom by Ben Siegel, Web Design & Interactive Media student

Digital Photography

No statement provided.

create · connect thanks Jeremy Frandrup for his help editing this issue.

Surprise! by Micah Kvidt, Photography studentDigital Photography

This is a photograph that I had constructed in my Location Lighting class here at Ai. With most of my photography, I like to incorporate an element of humor, as well as narrative, to keep things interesting. In this specific shot, I had a chance to shoot at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. To incorporate my style within the theater setting, I thought a photograph of this type would be the perfect one to construct.

Chef Instructor Daugherty Nominated for National Award by Anj Kozel

Culinary Arts Instructor Seth Bixby Daugherty has been nominated for the 2009 Share Our Strength’s Humanitarian Award.

According to Share Our Strength’s website, nominees join a group of extraor-dinary leaders in their network whose commitment to ending childhood hunger provides a stellar example to the hundreds of dedicated volunteers Share Our Strength is proud to work with each year.

Winners will be announced at Share Our Strength’s annual Conference of Lead-ers in Washington, DC on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at The Fairmont Hotel.

Debbie Shore, Co-Founder of Share Our Strength, wrote to Daugherty, “Congrat-ulations on this important acknowledgment. We are honored that you have cho-sen to share your time and abilities with Share Our Strength. We hope you know that your leadership enables Share Our Strength to change lives and strengthen communities as we work toward ending childhood hunger in America.

Chef Daugherty has pursued a meaningful life in the culinary industry since high school, taking cooking classes at Cobleskill Technical College and subsequently enrolling in the Culinary Institute of America.

Daugherty has been recognized by Food & Wine magazine as one of America’s Best New Chefs in 2005 and has also been featured on NBC’s “The Today Show.”

Daugherty is active in the community, participating in events and dinners for both Share Our Strength and The James Beard Foundation.

In 2007, Daugherty left Cosmo’s to work as a Chef Instructor for The Art Institutes International Minnesota and to pursue work with Real Food Initiatives, a partner-ship with local health experts to teach kids about food, wellness, and nutrition, with the aim of improving K-12 food programs.

Bill MateyCertificate in Baking & Pastry

Bill Matey stood out in the hiring process for the Executive Pastry Chef position at Lake Winds Natural Foods because of his enthusi-asm for the job, his education, and his long and solid work history.

Lake Winds Natural Foods is one of the Twin Cities largest natural foods coop organiza-tions and currently operates in two locations, Minnetonka and Chanhassen. The primary focus of the business is to offer consumers the opportunity to buy high quality organic, locally grown, or Lake Winds produced prod-ucts which offer a healthy alternative to what is commonly available.

As the Executive Pastry Chef, Matey is respon-sible for all the pastry products produced for the Minnetonka location. He develops and pro-duces products not only for the general public but also for people with special dietary needs. He works with the extensive and ever-chang-ing products in order to keep up with customer buying habits and special requests.What Matey enjoys the most is having the op-portunity to create new formulas that meet the needs of the customers with special dietary needs and to improve the company’s current product offering. He also enjoys the variety of products he makes every day; no two days are ever the same which makes his job very inter-esting and challenging.

Continue learning and perfecting your skills. There is always more to learn and new techniques to master. The learning should never stop.

Galleries are perhaps the most under-used art re-source in the Twin Cities. This is frustrating for local artists and gallery-owners as the perception of these spaces as “no-go areas” for many people creates an unenviable catch-22 situation: artists need a venue in which to showcase their work, galleries exist for this very purpose, but ask people if they frequent galleries to look at art and awkward silences ensue.

People mistakenly feel they must be in the market to purchase a work of art in order to justify their pres-ence at a gallery. Note the following responses: Gal-lery people are snobby. I feel out of place at a gallery, like I have no right being there. I don’t know what to do when I am at a gallery.

You should be going to art galleries as often as pos-sible—to network, for inspiration, and to connect with the local arts community—no matter what program you are in. It should be a part of your professional train-ing—to be able to reference galleries, exhibits, and contemporary artists impresses employers. It means that you are inquisitive and understand the importance of art in your career field.

Going to art galleries can be an interesting and re-warding experience if you approach it with the right attitude and are properly prepared.

Do some research. This is what the internet is for! Context is crucial and knowledge is power, and power equals confidence. Take the time to read about the

exhibit, the artist, his/her works, their process, the medium—everything. It’s amazing how much more rewarding it is to walk into a gallery with an arsenal of background information—it is your invisible badge that says, “I know this stuff.

Do make it a fun experience. Get a group together and plan a gallery crawl. It’s free and gives you lots to talk about—it’s also good for dates and visitors from out of town.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions! Ask how much a work costs (or ask for a price list to carry around as you look at works). Ask if the artist has prints available of their work (less expensive), ask about the background of an artist you like, a work you like, whatever. Or don’t! If you get to the gallery and you don’t really like the show, say “thank you” and leave. It’s that simple!

Do leave with printed materials if you might use them, but don’t waste what is offered.

Don’t take pictures or sketch without asking first (and don’t use a flash! Ever!)

Don’t get too close to a work. No touchy.

Don’t be rude—share the space and respect fellow patrons.

Do feel free to email me at ejhennessy@aii.edu with your reviews, thoughts, and personal experiences!

Art Mattersby Erin Hennessy

Art Students League by Jose B. Ortiz, Visual Effects & Motion Graphics studentOIl on Masonite

This was for a live painting session at the Art Students’ League in NYC. It didn’t matter who you were, the sessions were open to all, it just mattered that you wanted to paint.

Christopher KoeppCertificate in The Art of Cooking

As Executive Chef, Christopher Koepp runs the day-to-day operations at the Kenai Fjord Wilderness Lodge in the Gulf of Alaska. He creates a five course prix fixe meal every breakfast and dinner for up to 28 guests per meal. Koepp maintains a staff of five who do the housekeeping and wait staff duties for the lodge and cabins.

He also ensures quality control for the Salmon Bake and Prime Rib Buffet which serves the wildlife tour boat customers, serving up to 800 guests a day. Kenai Fjord Tours is a wildlife tour company located in Seward, Alaska. They run 10 sea vessels out into the Gulf of Alaska every day into the Kenai Fjords National Park to view glaciers, whales and other Alaskan wildlife. Koepp stood out in the hiring process because of his experience in traveling the United States and working as a chef in various locations, learning different styles of cooking, and his willingness to work in a remote location.

Koepp enjoys meeting people from all over the world and all walks of life. He finds it rewarding that he makes a living doing what he loves.

Keep your eyes open and network, there are so many cool jobs in this industry to find.

Princess Loves You by Emily Olson, Media Arts & Animation studentDigital Painting

No statement provided.

The big news starting this quarter is that sev-eral leadership changes have occurred in a couple of programs.

Jennifer McDowell, Academic Director of the Advertising and Design Management pro-grams, has returned to the classroom. She will once again teach full time, classes such as Persuasion and the Consumer, Fundamentals of Marketing & Advertising, and Capstone.

Many are grateful for the time and energy she committed to leading these programs over the past 2 years.

The new Academic Director for Advertising and Design Management is John Schulz. John has been with Ai Minnesota for one and a half years as the Academic Director for Fashion & Retail Management. John’s office is in room 341, and he may be contacted at jlschulz@aii.edu or 612.656.6872.

Dana Nybo, Academic Director of the Web Design & Interactive Media program, has also returned to teaching full time. Students will find him teaching classes such as Computer Ap-plications, Fundamentals of Interactive Media Design and User-Centered Interface Design.

“I loved serving as Academic Director, but I am very excited to be back in the classroom,” says Nybo.

Jelena Tosovic, current Academic Director of the Graphic Design program, will assume leadership of the Web Design & Interactive Media program. Her office is in room 341, and she can be reached at jtosovic@aii.edu or 612.656.6966

Changes atthe Helmby Bavi Weston & Christopher Title

Wolf & Red by Laleh Azarshin, Graphic Design studentDigital Painting

For the Little Red Riding Hood assignment in my advanced illustration class at school, I didn’t want to take the most obvious route, and ended up choosing to do more of a portrait. It’s been a long time since I’ve painted (traditionally), and this was my first time playing in Corel.

My inspiration was a different version of the story, called “Wolf,” which was writ-ten by Francesca Lia Block. In that version, the girl is a teenager who has been abused by her stepfather, so I wanted to imply some emotional trauma, some numbness in her expression, but avoid depicting anything too upsetting.

When you think of innovative new commercials on television, what comes to mind? What images are instantly catapulted into your brain?

For many Americans, it’s about one of the most carnal desires of the human race: food. There is a vast market out there hoping to draw us in and sell us their products and services.

Ever since the dawn time, people have been discussing food, and the pleasures and pains associated with making it and ingesting it. Producers have forever tried to influence our foodstuff decisions by promoting their products, but increasingly, food writers and gastronomes are impacting the symposia of food and gustatory affairs that swirl around us.

Obviously there is some sort of sway regarding their disposition, since many are hired and work for companies that are looking to attract a certain clientele for their business.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this: food writers have a responsibility to be ethical in their reasoning around food because generally people want to be able to trust the opinions of these culinary authorities.

Yes, there are those who simply want a second opinion from a pro-fessional or are intrigued to hear what an industry connoisseur has to say. Nonetheless, food writers have a hand in what people put in their mouths, whether it’s fast food or organic cereal. We listen and we read because we crave some sense of direction. In her article, “Food Porn,” published in the 2003 Columbia Jour-nalism Review, Molly O’Neill claims a paltry 12.3 million dollars was spent on advertisements for food products and a staggering $900 million dollars was spent by American consumers on, “con-ventional and specialty groceries…” These figures seem way out of line with the reality of how much is spent on food in this country, not to mention around the world. So, how is the industry really promoting their products and services?

Simple: they are in league with the media to influence our choices. Rather than clear cut advertising, the industry has increasingly lev-eraged so-called objective viewpoints to promote their stuff.

Consumers beware. People who are supposed to be giving sage insight into our gastronomic decisions are more and more pro-moting the goods and services they ostensibly are supposed to objectively evaluate.

But before we go any further, let me clarify my intentions: I am not here to metaphorically tear food writers a ‘new one’, espe-cially since I actually see myself as one in the near future, but I am here to shed some light on the motivation behind those who write not for gustatory delight and educating the unknowing, but whom are, in actuality, corrupting the industry and misleading vulnerable Americans who believe every word someone says on television.

As an epicurean, I believe we should be aware of this influence. We need to think critically when it comes to what people in the print and television media are representing to the public.

“There is a line between soothing readers’ anxieties and becoming the Victoria’s Secret of the Fourth Estate,” says O’Neill. We need to think about what this is doing to our society as a whole and not about how it will affect our bank accounts, which can be difficult in light of our current economic status.

I understand that people need jobs, and some of those jobs in-clude working for someone who wants to sell their idea of food. That’s what America is supposed to be about, the freedom to prosper, but it should not come at the expense of good practice and sound reasoning.

My purpose is to call to task readers, scholars, connoisseurs, and journalists. We need to rethink our current food-crazy mindset and initiate a total recall of dispositions concerning how we, as a cul-ture, understand food.

Food writers are very special breed of people; we are windows of insight into a culture that is increasingly being manipulated by the bottom line. We should be the voice of generations past, offering what history tells us while combining current knowledge to better inform the public.

This is my call to arms: all you so-called foodies should stop the madness that is food porn and think about food as something tangible and intriguing, reasonable and sumptuous, nutritious and pleasurable. Yes, food can be sexy, but enough of the supermod-el-stigma that surrounds the culinary industry today.

Let’s think of food as something we all have in common, some-thing with which we can all form a healthy relationship. If not, we’ll never find a way to be satisfied.

The Arming of Spoons and Pens by Michael Roeder

Food coverage is either written by the food industryor at the service of [it]. —Laura Shapiro, Perfection Salad

Celtic Warrior by John Thomas, instructorDigital Painting

Painting of the Celtic Warrior was based on an assignment given to the Color & Design class—the Celtic design project. This is drawn utilizing Celtic design and the rough look of Norsemen.

It is a combination of my Viking ancestry and Celtic design motifs: roughly painted as if on stone, the figure wearing an old hand-crafted helmet built to handle the cold of the North Sea, and an intricate Celtic weave utilizing a delicate typeface. I stayed clear of the use of a dominant color as it would give the Illustration more of a modern feel than the cooler stone treatment.

Joe RussoBachelor of Science inMedia Arts & Animation

Joe Russo stood out as a candidate during the hiring process at Pixel Farm because of his knowledge of 3D pipeline, his generalist skills and his specialized skills in character animation.

Pixel Farm is a full service post production house, specializing in visual effects and ani-mation for television, music videos, medical visualizations and many other forms of visual communication.

Russo’s responsibilities at Pixel Farm include collaboration with the 3D team to discuss the artistic vision and technical challenges of projects. He enjoys working on projects from start to finish and finds it rewarding to see his finished work publicized on television and multiple forms of media.

Russo believes that being an active member in the Animation community has assisted in the development of his animation skills and the advancement in his career.

Russo worked as a teaching assistant at The Art Institutes International Minnesota, was the president of the Animation Club for one year, graduated with honors from the National Technical Honor Society, and worked on a freelance basis with multiple animation companies.

The bottom line is that you should like what you are doing and have a personal connection with your work.

Pumpkin Queen by Brandon Werth, Photography studentDigital Photography

No statement provided.

Lift Bridge Tower by Jennifer McDowell, instructorDigital Photography

This photo was taken two summers ago in Stillwater, Minne-sota. I’m interested in the industrial claim that the bridge’s 170-foot high lift towers make on the St. Croix River. The bridge span is perfectly balanced with counterweights, and it has provided beauty and utility to the St. Croix Valley for nearly 80 years. To me, rail represents human creativity and achievement.

comedy as it is outdoor/adventure film, a testament to how humor can work to offset the isolation, boredom and frustration that can accompany a trip of this magnitude.

Paddler Magazine’s review of the film includes, “What they did have was the discipline to collect 65 hours of film and the vision to turn those shots of spitting oysters, of a bloated seal carcass, of maggots devouring an apple core into 85 minutes of the best feature film about paddling produced in the last decade.”

Regarding the process, Gottfried says, “The best part of editing something like this is that they often left it up to me to scour count-less hours of material to find and shape a story, which can be thrill-ing when it starts to come together. The worst part about editing this type of thing is that I have to scour countless hours of material to find the story. Still, in the end, it’s well worth it when you can see a theater full of people react how you envisioned they would back when you were sitting alone at your computer at three in the morn-ing cutting that scene together.”

Paddle to Seattle:Award-Winning Documentary FilmEdited by Instructor Ben Gottfried

Ben Gottfried, a Digital Film & Video Production Instructor at The Art Institutes International Minnesota, recently assisted two adventure filmmakers, J.J. Kelley and Josh Thomas, to organize and edit their footage from a three-month, 1,300 mile trek on handmade wooden kayaks down the Inside Passage from Alaska to Seattle, Washing-ton into a film. The adventurers shot over 65 hours of footage and Gottfried edited the piece into an 85-minute film titled, “Paddle to Seattle: Journey Through the Inside Passage.”

Paddle to Seattle is now starting to tour the film festival circuit and garner some attention. It competed with over 70 films and took the coveted Audience Favorite award at the Port Townsend Film Festival in September and is slated to run at the Fort Lauderdale In-ternational Film Festival in November 2009 and at the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival on December 6, 2009. In the film, Kelley and Thomas captured what one reviewer called “a stunning display of the awe-inspiring landscape that is the Pa-cific Northwest.” But Paddle to Seattle is also as much buddy

GD Meeting Poster by Ryan Bren,Graphic Design studentScreenprinted Poster on Newsprint

Featured is one of several unique post-ers designed and screenprinted on for-eign newspaper by Ryan Bren as part of a small team marketing effort to pro-mote The GD meeting (19 Nov 2009 from 1-3pm in the Pence Building). These posters have been hung around the school.

The team (consisting of Ryan Bren, Clint Greene, Chip Janigo, Maggie Chan, Jen-na Workman, and Laleh Azarshin) also produced postcards and stickers to be distributed to Graphic Design students.

Invisible Box: A Tutorialby Michael J. Harris

So, let’s say you have been drawing in a sketchpad and want to scan the piece into the computer and then add to it in illustrator. No big deal, right? But then when you go to print, the piece that you scanned in has a strange text-like box around it. And this box is messing up everything it overlaps. It’s ruining the color and making your artwork look just awful. Well, there are a couple of things you can do to get rid of that.

First I suggest…live-tracing it. I know what you are thinking. That’s cheating. I most certainly and totally agree. But, it is not cheating if you are using it on your OWN work. I do consider it cheating if you are just finding some stock image from Getty Images or Stock Exchange, hitting the button and calling it a day. That is not professional, and all of us will secretly make fun of you. But if you want to get rid of that box, you just might have to go the live-trace route.

Moving on… so you got your piece scanned in (hopefully you were smart and scanned it in the professional mode with something more than 300 dpi). Now, open your image in Illustrator, make sure the im-age is selected, pull down the tab next to live trace…hit preview and mess with the setting to get the desired result. Once you found that happy place, hit trace. Now, you might think you are done, WRONG. In order to get the box out of there and free yourself from further hair-pulling and cursing you’re going to want to hit the expand button.

This button creates the nodes. Once the nodes are created you can go ahead and double click on the white areas.

This will select those areas that you want to delete. After that, you should be able to manipulate all the nodes, and this should steer you clear of printing the holder box.

This tool is also useful when putting text from illustrator into Photo-shop. You might ask, why would I do that? Well, in Photoshop you can create perspective. Incidentally, that is how I found out about the box in the first place.

So, hopefully this will help you out.

One final reminder—when taking the text back into Illustrator, don’t just directly pull it over there. First, delete all the white space. Make sure the layers you want to show up are on or off, depending on the situation. Then, save it as a .tiff or .png-24 with the transparency clicked on. After that, place it in Illustrator, and abracadabra, you should be in the clear.

Basilica Block Party Poster by Frank Masi, Advertising student

Kate VincentBachelor of Science in Graphic Design

Kate Vincent believes the experience she gained from her internships and previous contract work demonstrated her ability to work in the medical marketing field.

Vascular Solutions is a medical device company that manufactures and sells their products to doctors and hospitals around the world.

As the Graphic Designer for Vascular Solu-tions, Vincent works in the marketing com-munications department and is responsible for marketing print material, which includes mailers, brochures, posters, web design and a variety of other product branding.

Vincent enjoys designing custom pieces for customers, learning about the medical field, and interacting with doctors on an everyday basis.

Vincent offers the advice; “Never give up. There may be times when you think that you might not find anything, but as long as you never stop looking, then you will undoubtedly find the right place. Work as hard as you can in the final stages of school and when you enter the work field, it will pay off in the long run. Admit that you have a lot to learn even after graduation. Never stop learning from your teammates and superiors.”

Never stop learning from your teammates and superiors.

Facebook Face by Jose B. Ortiz, Visual Effects & Motion Graphics studentDigital Painting I wanted an image for my profile picture that captured who I am. Not so much what I looked like, but rather what the image would say about me, what my interests are, and what I do, all at a glance. The portrait was drawn by hand as a sketch then worked digitally in Photoshop.

Before

After

Dad by Ashley Miller, Photography studentLarge Format Photography

I’ll never forget the day when I walked into the hospital room 15 years ago and my dad’s left foot was gone. I took this photograph of my father about a year ago for my Digital Darkroom class. They were taken with a 4x5 Toyo view camera. These images are a part of a series that explores things that have changed in my father’s life since the amputation of his left foot. It’s the beginning of a series that I’m continuing to develop. I’m now working on photographing other people that have amputated limbs. I want my photographs to show how it has affected their lives.

The end is near…supposedly. Everyone’s heard the rumors: the Ma-yan calendar, an extraordinarily complex and astronomically accu-rate time keeping system, comes to an abrupt end on 12/21/2012.

It’s been nearly ten years since the Chicken Littles of the world screamed hysterically, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” in re-sponse to the impending doom of Y2K. The gullible stocked up on bottled water, batteries, and anything else they could think of that would help them survive the coming apocalypse. Finally, after much anticipation and fanfare, the fateful day arrived…and a few bus tick-ets were misprinted with the year 1900 instead of the year 2000.

Superstition has long surrounded the close of a millennium, and, apparently, the close of a Mayan calendar Long Count, or baktun, is also cause for alarm.

Without going into the intricacies of the Mayan time-keeping system, a baktun is 144,000 days or a little more than 394 years. December 21, 2012 marks the end of Baktun-13, or the Mayan date of 13.0.0.0.0.

Supposedly, the sun and planets will align perfectly with the galac-tic core on this date producing disastrous results, including floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Some circles also claim that a yet undiscovered planet, know as Nibiru, will collide with the earth.

So what does science have to say about all of this?

Not only will there be no meaningful alignment of the planets on this date, but the sun will never eclipse the galactic core from the point of view of Earth. Even if there were a planetary alignment, which does occasionally happen, the vast distances between the plan-ets ensure that it would have absolutely no impact on the earth—through gravitation or any other natural force known to physics.

As for the planet Nibiru, it is highly unlikely that there are any ob-jects of significant size or mass in our solar system that astronomers haven’t already discovered.

We discovered Pluto after all, an object with a radius only two-thirds that of our moon but 15,000 times more distant at its closest approach.

According to the doomsayers, Nibiru should have been visible to the naked eye, in broad daylight since May of 2009. If such a planet exists, it has yet to make an appearance by day or by night.

Furthermore, nothing in any Mayan text indicates this date marks the end of time, nor do contemporary Mayans believe anything of the sort. It is simply the end of a very large, man-made unit of time, analogous to the end of the Gregorian calendar millennium.

If doomsday prophesies are your thing, however, there are plenty of actual threats to worry about. Since the invention of the hydrogen bomb in the 1950’s, the human race has created, for the first time in history, a very real threat of annihilation. And there’s always the esti-mated 25 billion pounds of plastic deposited in the oceans each year by the United States alone. This plastic never actually biodegrades; rather, it breaks down into extremely toxic, microscopic particles that are systematically poisoning the base of the worldwide food web.

I could continue with this depressing list of potential calamities, but I think I’ve made my point. There have been hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of claims throughout history that the world was going to end on a certain date. It never has.

If and when the end of the human race finally arrives, it will probably be of our own making. It almost certainly won’t be signified by an arbitrary, man-made calendar created by an ancient Central Ameri-can civilization.

It’s All Relative:An ApocalypticMisunderstandingby Jeff Burkett

Nothing in any Mayan text indicatesthis date marks the end of time...

First, The Art Institutes International Minnesota (Ai Minnesota) has been nationally accredited since its inception in 1997 by the American Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). Our college’s affiliation with ACICS was recently extended for six more years after a campus visit by ACICS evaluators in July of 2009.

Accreditation is important for our school because it ensures the offering of quality educational programs, and it is also necessary for our college to qualify for Federal and/or State financial aid programs overseen by the Minnesota Department of Education as well as the U.S. Department of Education. As long as our college is accredited by an independent agency approved by these government institutions, any change in accreditation will not affect students’ financial aid.

National accreditation agencies typically accredit institutions that special-ize in instruction and training for specific professions and careers. Many nationally accredited institutions are proprietary, independent, and private-ly supported. ACICS was a good “fit” with the original goals of our college.

Regional accreditation agencies have typically accredited institutions such as community colleges and state universities, as well as private liberal arts colleges. As Ai Minnesota grew in student population, ex-panded the number of academic programs, and developed compre-hensive General Education offerings, it has, like some other propri-etary colleges, developed into a kind of organization that meets the criteria required by a regional accrediting agency.

In 2006, our college embarked on a journey to acquire regional accredita-tion by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC). As our college continues to evolve and grow, the migration to HLC accreditation aligns closer with our school’s mission to provide a quality higher education experience to students.

The process began when Ai Minnesota submitted a Preliminary Informa-tion Form (PIF) to HLC. The college was then invited to conduct a compre-hensive self-study and to produce a report of its findings in support of its request for initial candidacy.

The specific objectives of the self-study were to enhance quality by inter-weaving assessment and introspection, reflect on our mission and prac-tices, demonstrate effective teaching and learning processes, and engage all constituents of our college.

Over the course of the past two years, students, faculty, and staff have participated in a number of committees charged with conducting specific portions of the self-study. Research results were compiled and drafting of the document was completed.

In September 2009, Ai Minnesota submitted its self-study report, En-hancing Quality: A Passion for Excellence, to HLC for formal review. The report is a detailed self analysis along five separate criteria, each broken into several components.

Criterion One focused on our college’s mission and integrity, the structures and processes that enable us to fulfill the mission, and who participates.

Criterion Two aimed at how our college plans for the future, how it evalu-ates itself and allocates resources to support ongoing improvement.

Criterion Three concentrated on how our college provides evidence of stu-dent learning and teaching effectiveness that demonstrates we are fulfill-ing our educational mission.

Criterion Four centered on the acquisition, discovery, and application of knowledge, how our college promotes a life of learning for all its members by supporting inquiry, creativity, practice, and social responsibility.

Criterion Five called for our college to demonstrate engagement and ser-vice and how we identify our constituencies and serve them in ways that everyone involved values.

As a result of the reflective nature of the self-study process, Ai Min-nesota learned that it is committed to continuing to develop ways of supporting students and engaging them in quality learning experi-ences. We learned that we are engaged in student learning outcome assessment and are committed to continuing to develop and refine our processes to enable us to know whether students are demon-strating the learning we—and our industries—expect. We learned that we value the expertise of our faculty members and are committed to providing ways for them to grow as instructors, artists, and scholars. We also learned that we are dedicated to improving communication of progress toward strategic goals throughout our campus.

The development of the self-study has allowed our college the opportunity to reflect on how we do things and to identify areas that we could im-prove, such as overall campus strategic planning, assessing information we receive through surveys and how we process that information, and discovering new ways to recognize campus diversity.

The HLC accreditation process thus far has helped Ai Minnesota become a better institution by enabling us to develop a process for continuous im-provement through better assessment and planning. Yet the college is still in the initial steps of a comprehensive course of action.

Ai Minnesota has made its formal request for HLC candidacy, and, re-cently, a visiting committee of HLC members came to our campus. The results of the visit will not be known for some time, and our involvement in the review process is not a guarantee that candidate or accredited status will be issued by HLC at the conclusion of the process. Results will be published when the appropriate time comes, so stay tuned.

Yet, despite the outcomes of the formal review process, Ai Minnesota is committed to achieving an ever-higher standard of academic quality and building a community of learning-focused, caring, supportive, and con-nected people, including every constituent of our college.

Ready...Set...HLC! by Christopher Title, Michael Courteau, & Anj Kozel

On September 16, 2009, The Art Institutes International Minnesota and Grandpa-George host-ed Nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker of the Geek Girls Guide for a presentation on how social media can help students land their first job.

Geek Girls Guide is a website dedicated to publishing perspectives on the Interactive industry and demystifying technology for non-technical audiences.

Lyons and Wilker presented information about personal branding, networking, job searches and pre-interview research tactics. It was impressed upon students the need to catch the at-tention of future employers by setting themselves apart through social networking. Students were also offered insight into the current hiring practices of design agencies.

“Students were very excited to hear that the lecture series was continuing with Geek Girls. Again, Twitter has been active with additional discussions and comments about the presenta-tion. Everyone was very excited to hear what Nancy and Meghan were sharing about inter-viewing tips,” says Douglas Brull of Grandpa-George and a Web Design & Interactive Media Instructor at The Art Institutes International Minnesota. Grandpa-George is currently working with our college to plan additional guest presentations in the future.

Lyons & Wilker of Geek Girls Present Social Media 101 by Matthew Luken

Lucy PottebaumBachelor of Science in Interior Design

Lucy Pottebaum stood out in the interview process at Institutions Services because she established a high level of professionalism in her resume, interview process, and follow up discussion with the company.

Pottebaum also believes her unique portfolio, which includes traveling experiences with ASID and study abroad, helped to land the position as Hospitality Interior Designer.Institutions Services is a hospitality design firm that specializes in food service facility design including hotel restaurants, lobbies, and school lunch rooms.

As Hospitality Interior Designer, Pottebaum is responsible for the materials library and meets with various product representatives. She works with the clients’ requests and pro-duces a concept to fit the spatial and budget-ary needs. She also selects the furniture and fixtures, helps with ordering materials, and creates the final presentation boards which include renderings to show to the clients.

What Pottebaum enjoys most about her job is being able to take the client’s essential needs for a space and creating something they love.

Apply for every job, even if it says you need experience—f your resume is impressive, and they give you a chance to show your portfolio, you may be surprised.

Jan Austadby Liz Nelson

The college experience is more than assignments, deadlines and stress. While those factors are all-consuming sometimes, students are surrounded by opportunities to grow their character as well.

If personal development, a sense of community, and the satisfaction of “giving back” are important to you, then Academic Achievement Services (AAS) may be just the thing for you.

The AAS, which runs the Academic Achievement Center (rm 320) and the Interior Design Skills Center (rm 011), offers opportunities for stu-dents to be involved in the learning experience of their peers as tutors and teaching assistants. Tutors are proficient in a variety of skill sets and are available to help other students on a variety of levels. Teaching Assistants work with instructors to support student learning during scheduled class hours. Tutors and Teaching Assistants must have a CGPA of 3.5 as well as an “A” in the subjects they are supporting. This academic standard is in place to ensure excellence.

The leader of this altruistic crew is Jan Austad, the Academic Director of General Education and Director of Academic Achievement Servic-es. Jan is a den mother of sorts to 32 Tutors and Teaching Assistants. With her contagious laugh and impressive educational background, Austad is a vibrant piece of our community of learning.Born in Montreal, Canada, she received her Master’s degree in Edu-cational Psychology before moving to the United States 12 years ago. She also has a Post Master’s Certificate in Marriage and Family Coun-seling and is currently pursuing her Doctorate.

Her insights into psychology and her work experience as a General Education instructor and Academic Director give her a unique quali-fication to facilitate the growth of faculty, Tutors, Teaching Assistants, students, and anyone who is lucky enough to land a spot across the desk from her. She is a firm believer that educators must model behav-ior before they can ask students to follow suit.

AAS: AcademicAchievmentServices

National Technical Honor Society:

What’s That?by Chip Janigo

The National Technical Honors Society, or NTHS, is the acknowl-edged leader in the recognition of outstanding student achieve-ment in career and technical education. Thousands of schools and colleges throughout the U.S. and its territories have a chap-ter of the honor society on their campus. These member schools agree that NTHS encourages higher scholastic achievement, culti-vates a desire for personal excellence and helps top students find success in today’s highly competitive workplace.

The mission of NTHS is to honor student accomplishment and leadership, promote educational excellence, and enhance career opportunities. NTHS is committed to providing the highest qual-ity of recognition for outstanding students in career and technical education. NTHS also provides scholarship opportunities as well as helps create new and emerging relationships between the edu-cational community and the business industry.

A student who has NTHS on their resume shows future employers they strove to expand the boundaries of their education and were willing to devote time and energy to make the most out of their scholastic experience.

To successfully graduate as an NTHS honor student, individuals must have three letters of recommendation and a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. Members must also complete 150 hours of com-munity service. These hours can be attained in a wide variety of ways. Options for some students are the opportunity to tutor and/or work as a Teacher’s Assistant. Just as with tutoring and TA’ing, work out in the community is based on what field of study or program the student member is in. Lastly, students must complete a final project that is outside the sphere of community service they have engaged. Ideally, the project should be the equivalent of industry work and reflect the skills they have learned throughout their education.

The National Technical Honors Society is a great opportunity for students who want to make the most of their education. Having NTHS on a resume shows employers the individual was dedi-cated to scholastic achievement and leadership. Sound like you? For more information, contact Chip Janigo, NTHS President, at alastair_p_solot@yahoo.com

Many students have misconceptions about what working with a tutor says about them. Coming in doesn’t mean that you’re incapable of succeeding or that you’re not smart, and there’s nothing wrong with admitting that you need help. “Finding the help that you need doesn’t ruin your track record,” Veronica stressed, “it helps to ensure that you won’t ruin your track record.”

The most requested service in the AAC is Math. Help with Illustrator is the second. There are tutors available for nearly every subject at Ai, and when there is no tutor available for something, students can sub-mit a ‘special tutor request’ and, as the lead tutor, Veronica will recruit someone to help you succeed. “[We] want to know how many people are coming in, for what classes, so that they can know what the needs of the students are, and what tutors they need to have funding for.”

Veronica herself is a Graphic Design tutor. “I don’t think students who are struggling realize how many of their peers are also having a hard time with the same things,” Veronica told me. A sudden wave of stu-dents flood the AAC around week six, and then are not seen again until their finals have crept up on them. “Not enough people come in to the AAC as soon as they should. They tend to wait until the day their project is due to admit they don’t understand the pen tool. I don’t think people realize how available we are all quarter long.”

However, it is not the case that people come in once for help with one thing, and then never return, whether they understand or not. Once they realize what a helpful resource is available to them, they come back in often. Not always for help, but to also to work on their projects or homework in an environment where they know help will always be available to them if they have any questions.

The AAC offers: totally free tutoring services available for every subject tutors are available to help you one-on-one tutor-led tudy groups are available for some subjects HTML Workshops led by Mark Zahlin

For Veronica, the most important elements of her role as lead tutor are: her desire to help—”I love teaching and watching people learn and grow” a sense of purpose—”it’s good to be involved in the student community” her own personal motivation to succeed—all tutors must maintain 3.5 or higher GPA

Tutoring has opened Veronica’s eyes to how rewarding it is to teach.

“Helping others learn, you learn yourself,” she told me.

That’s something she may never have discovered if she hadn’t decided to lend a helping hand.

If you’re interested in being a tutor, please contact Jan Austad.

“Education is about building a foundation for self- discovery,” Austad claims, “Both General Education and Academic Achievement Services provide students with the chance to build technical skills, as well as become socially and emotionally prepared for their future.”

So, whether you are looking to build your resume, to gain hours for the National Technical Honors Society, to participate in community ser-vice, or to find help with what you are struggling with, check out Aca-demic Achievement Services. If you are interested in becoming a Tutor or Teaching Assistant, contact Austad at jaustad@aii.edu for details and academic requirements.

Mark Zahlinby himself

Since the spring of 2008, I have been a tutor and teacher’s assistant for the Academic Achievement Center (AAC). I am Web Design & Interac-tive Media student and is expected to graduate winter quarter 2010.

I’ve also volunteered my time to produce workshops for Academic Achievement Services (AAS). The workshops provide students from all programs a chance to learn the basics of website development.

I love helping others learn, whether the student is enthusiastic about learning more or struggling to grasp a concept, there’s no greater feel-ing than watching another person light up through understanding.

I encourage all students to utilize the resources available. AAS gives students the opportunity to expand their understanding of assign-ments, to get a different perspective of their course work, and to learn skills outside their curriculum.

Veronica Hillby Laleh Azarshin

Walking into the Academic Achievement Center (AAC) for the first time, I was greeted by Veronica Hill’s genuine smile and shock of teal hair. She was instantly approachable, and clearly passionate about what she does.

Veronica has been a tutor in the AAC since 2007. One year ago, she became the lead tutor, and since her promotion, her eyes have been opened to the true weight of procrastination, her own motivation to-wards success, and the rewards of teaching.

When Veronica first started working in the AAC, she didn’t see tutoring the same way she does now. Unsurprisingly, she figured that a smart cookie such as herself was there to help, and wouldn’t ever need to come see a tutor herself. She did come in, however, when she was struggling in her College Math class. “It didn’t take me long to realize that what I was learning in the classroom [on a given day] wasn’t going to stick throughout the quarter,” she told me, “so I came in to the AAC every day, and ended up passing the class with 98%.”

Full-OnLibrarian by Steve Liska // photo by Ashley Miller

When we left our protagonist last issue, he was left stunned by the following exchange:

L: See this is where a library or a librarian is totally gonna help you out. You should be searching the online databases that are available to you.X: That’s kinda the same thing as the internet though…

Bravely, our Librarian imperiously ventured forth in hopes of forging a clear-er understanding of the pitfalls of unmediated information flow countered against the bedrock, surety of creditable online resources.

Our story continues…

L: [Incredulously] It’s the same in that they are both “online resourc-es” but that’s pretty much all they have in common. The internet is like a post-apocalyptic wasteland; no rules, no consistency, no quality control. Anyone can post anything; factual or not. It’s a crap shoot. It’s “jungle” law. It’s FoxNews.X: Oh! Is that that news show with the guy who cries and… L: C’mon, let’s stay focused here. With databases you’re getting reliable information. Or at least more reliable information. Facts have been checked, the articles have gone through some type of editorial review. I’m talking about credible information from credible sources. The kind of sources that are gonna give your paper some authority. I don’t think you can say that about most of the sources you pull up outta Google.X: You’re talking about Proquest and that kinda thing?L: YES! Proquest, WilsonWeb, Hoover’s. All those are databases you should be using.X: I used Proquest some in high school and when I was at MCTC in Minneapolis.L: Why don’t you use it now?X: Is that a new question?

L: NO! Still following up.X: I think there are more follow-up questions than the ones you’re counting as questions.L: Nevertheless…why not search Proquest?X: I don’t know. I probably will start using it after talking with you here. I just go to Google almost automatically; outta habit. I get on the internet for almost everything.L: I’m just saying you should give those databases a try. You’re paying for them anyways- you might as well be using them.X: I’ll do that. I was gonna do it anyways. You can get to those databases through the school website, right?L: Yup, go to the main school page, then to Library, then click the Resources button. It lists them all. X: But this only works if you’re in the Library?L: No, you can get to them from any computer. If you’re in either the Pence or LaSalle buildings just click the links and you’re there. If you’re searching from home, click the “Request Password” link and you can log on remotely with the user names and passwords that come up on that page.X: See I didn’t know about any of this…L: Didn’t you see my AWESOME Library Orientation in your Portfo-lio Prep or College Success class?X: No. I never had those classes. I transferred a lot of my Gen Eds from NNUUJUJHHL: Oh, so you’re one of those sadly, neglected students I always read about, who just fell through the cracks?X: I guess…[in mock woeful voice] I wonder what other secrets have been withheld from me.L: I can only guess. Ya know, I would normally prescribe my super-intensive Library intervention program but to be honest, I don’t think you’d survive.X: Maybe if you had something like a “junior achievement” kinda thing. Maybe I could take that.L: Whoa! Thanks for the segue. OK, question 4…X: NO!...this has gotta be like number 15 or 17 or something…

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X: That’s right isn’t it?L: I’m sorry, it was like you were channeling Mos Def there for a second. Yeah, you’re pretty close. I guess I can give you partial credit on this one. X: You should give me full credit for that. That’s pretty much what it is…L: Ummmm…kiiiiinda. The whole idea behind “16 Things” was that everyone participating was teaching and learning the “things” while they were doing it. They would learn about these Web 2.0 tools and share ways to apply them to school and/or their respective profes-sions. Sharing and collaboration were pretty key to that whole pro-gram. Sort of like building a community of teachers and students. It’s pretty sophisticated, higher-level, conceptual thinking. It took like, a whole team of us to come up with it, you know.X: I think my answer is pretty good seeing as I never actually did it.L: Why didn’t you do 16 Things?X: I meant to. My roommate MJUUUJ liked it and thought it was pretty useful, and showed me how to do the Delicious thing, with the web sites…and Twitter. I hate Twitter though. I’ll probably do it if it’s offered again.L: You can do it any quarter. I think registration for this quarter clos-es next week. You should hop on that, .X: You snuck another question in there when you said that was the last one.L: No I didn’t.X: You asked me why I didn’t do 16 Things. That’s a question.L: So, what are you gonna do? Call the interview police and have me arrested?X: No, I was just pointing that out to you…L: Well thanks for that. I’ll make sure I make a note of that…X: …so are we done here?L: Unless you have any questions you’d like to ask…X: Done.

L: Oh, quit your cryin’. You’re actually learning something here, aren’t you? Something you can use for the rest of your life? Life-long learner and all that…X: I’m not complaining about that. But your counting has got to be off. Count up the questions you’ve asked already…L: ...I’m keeping track and it’s, what, like question 4…X: …you should count all those follow up questions too, though…L: …hey, I don’t go to your mmmkkm of mkook class and tell you how to mmmmreme a mmmr do I?X: No, but look how many questions are on that list. This is gonna take all day!L: I’ll tell you what, lemme do this one last question, then we’ll call it…X: Ok, ok…L: You know, you totally messed up that segue I had going from that previous comment. You threw off my flow and everything…X: Question 4…L: Question 4. What are the “16 Things”?X: Oh! I know this. That’s that thing that was on the school website. The logo had an orange 16 in a green rectangle…L: That’s just the logo. I didn’t ask you to describe the logo. The question is, “What are the ‘16 Things?’”X: I know this cuz my roommate hyyyrtr did this a couple quarters ago. You want me name all the “things”?L: No. Just a general overview of what the program is about would be fine.X: OK- it’s like all these tutorials for things like blogging-or how to set up a blog, I think…and Twitter, and Facebook, that kinda thing…Flickr…and…uhhhh…one of them was for…ohhhh, I don’t remem-ber what it’s called, it’s….ummmm…oh Delicious! That was one! And one was… something that finds website or something…and …this one…that…L: …X: Is that right?L: Oh, were you still talking?

What are you gonna do? Call the interview police and have me arrested?

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Arts & Crafts Residence by Brad Stulc, Interior Design studentTraditional Media Renders

This project was for my Elements of Interior Design class. We were required to design a residence for a four-person family. My ‘client’ had requested for the home to be of a more traditional style. The mother was into making crafts as well. The approach that I took was that of the traditional Arts & Crafts home, while softening up the hard lines and edges indicative of the Arts & Crafts style with furniture and tex-tiles that have some curved forms to them in one way or another.

Matthew AikenBachelor of Science degree in Culinary Management

When he looked for an internship, Matthew Ai-ken contacted Career Services who connected him with the Human Resources Department at the Marquette Hotel. After fulfilling his internship as a Banquet Manager, Aiken was hired as the Food and Beverage Supervisor in the hotel’s restaurant, Basil’s.

The Marquette Hotel is located in the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis and is known for its hospitality and service. Basil’s restaurant offers a modern flare to the casual dining expe-rience and their breakfast and lunch menu fea-tures traditional and unique American cuisine.

As the Food and Beverage Supervisor, Aiken’s responsibilities include managing employees for the restaurant, lounge, banquet, room service, and mini-bar. He also conducts nightly pre-meals and educates the staff on food and wine specifics. He is in charge of creating schedules, conducting payroll, and participating in budget meetings and discussions. He recently had the opportunity to work with the French Chef to cre-ate new menus for the restaurant, bar, mini bar, and room service.

Aiken offers the advice: “Don’t take school for granted. I wouldn’t be in the position I am in today if it weren’t for the help and the knowledge I received at The Art Institutes International Minnesota.”

Don’t take school for granted.

What makes space and place?Most people would launch into lengthy answer to this ques-tion. What it really comes down to is pretty simple: we do. We create a feeling and recognition of space by being there and bringing with us our experience, ideas, and knowledge. Interior Design Instructor Jessica Ainsworth - Truong rein-forces this aspect of design. I recently had the pleasure of getting to know her a little better. Where are you from? Black Hills, South Dakota

Did you always know that you wanted to be an interior designer or architect? I always knew I loved what makes a place. There are so many components that differentiate space from place and understanding that is critical to design.Where did you go to school?

I have a BA with an architecture major and an American Indian studies minor and a Masters of Architecture from the University of Minnesota.

What got you where you are today? Desire and persistence, with a touch of luck.

What classes have you taught throughout your career? Drafting, History of Architecture, 19th and 20th Century Architecture, History of Design 1830 to Present, Lighting, Building Materials and Mechanical Systems, Interior Detail-ing, Elements of Interior Design, Problems in Residential Design, Advanced Design, and Advanced Specialty.

What are some memorable moments of your career? As a designer, every time my drawings become reality. As a teacher, every time I see the light bulb come on above a student’s head.

Talking withInterior DesignInstructor Jessica Ainsworth-Truongwords & photos by Brad Stulc

A lot of designers and architects approach light as an afterthought. They do not realize that light is a core part of design.

In your opinion, what are the most important things that an Interior Design student should be focusing on in their schooling to prepare them for the work force? You never know what you are going to need until you get there, so focus on everything. I know that really makes it easy. If I was to think of one thing that isn’t “design” orient-ed, its public speaking and verbal presentation skills. Every time you open your mouth you are selling your ideas.

What is your favorite project that students work on? I appreciate them all, but I get the most joy out of seeing the discovery process with the luminaire project. The luminaire project is where students are first asked to experiment with light and how it reacts with different materials that they find, such as fabrics, napkins glass, and Q-tips. Basically, any-thing they can find. Then they have to build a luminaire out of the material that gave them their best results.

What are the learning goals for the luminaire project? 1) Get the students to look at light and not the fixture. 2) To get the student to play with light itself. 3) To have the stu-dents question what beauty is. 4) To teach the students a new process for designing. They build first then look at it. If we think through a process, we ruin a lot of good ideas. We learn a lot by doing first and then looking it over.

What is your favorite part of the Luminaire project? There is always something new. The materials are the same a lot of the time, but the end results are always different.

Why is the Lighting class so important? A lot of designers and architects approach light as an after-thought. They do not realize that light is a core part of de-sign. Le Corbusier said; “Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.” You cannot have a good space without good light.

Jump drives, flash memory sticks, USB drives, or whatever slang name you associate with these devices, are ubiquitous these days. They are increasingly relied upon as important instruments in the digital document world. They save nearly every type of document and allow storage limits ranging from a few presentations to complex animation files. We have be-come as comfortable as boots in a puddle with this handy tool.

With all their wonder, USB drives do have a series of complica-tions. First, they are small and easy to misplace. The labeling area is relatively tiny, so unless you can catalog SKUs in your head, they are nearly indistinguishable from pens and packs of gum. They also cost money to obtain. Nothing like hundreds of dollars, but a good flash drive may set a person back $10 - $20 dollars.

Every day at The Art Institute International Minnesota, I notice students plugging information into computers with a handy jump drive sticking out of a USB port. Hopefully, this army of learners is not working directly from the drive because if a drive is improperly removed or breaks, or if software crashes or, God forbid, the computer goes all blue screen on the user, all infor-mation could be lost.

Is there a better way? Web-heads and media savvy users have known for years the best way to store information is on remote servers in far away places, safely locked away from missing purses and squashed bananas at the bottom of backpacks.

What are students and faculty suppose to do with all the in-formation they need to store? In search of a solution, I came across three alternatives to the use flash drives. I came up with several student-friendly criteria: it must be cheap, it must be shareable without giving up personal information, it must be accessible from any computer, and it must be fast. Email storage is one way to hold your documents. Most email accounts have a reasonable amount of storage.

Google allows users to upload 7 GB of data for free with Gmail. This is music to my ears, but if you have a collabora-tive project, one must use Google Docs, which doesn’t, at this time, support all file formats. So, it’s Google Docs or create a shared Gmail account and let everyone have the password.

Another option is to use a proprietary application server. A synchronized .Mac account, which costs money, allows server space for web sites, email, and iPhone applications. This is very close to the storage server we all get as students and faculty at Ai Minnesota. One addition to the .Mac account is a public folder where others can upload and download files with an administrator’s permission personally created by you. 10 GB of storage is fairly standard, but woe to the user who must pay Apple at least $10 each month to use the server.

Behold Dropbox. Getdropbox.com solves all your problems. This web-based service will allow you to free your workflow, and your team’s projects, from the nemesis we know as lost data. Assuming the server stays up, users are allowed to share folders with 2 GB of data from any computer with internet ac-cess. Dropbox works just like the lowly jump drive except you don’t have to pay for it, and you can share with your class-mates or workgroup without ever leaving your desk.

If I’m not hammering away on homework or absorbing wis-dom from instructors, you can find me tweeting the coolest web stuff on twitter @bweikulrich, or writing for the design blog at www.themeatstall.com If you have a question about the market of technology and design, feel free to email your question with the subject line “Tech Market Column” to baw361@stu.aii.edu

Tech Market:Drop Your Jump Drive by Brett Weik-Ulrich

...the best way to store information is on remote servers in far away places, safely locked away from missing purses and squashed bananas at the bottom of backpacks.

On the night of October 10th, 2009 fruition came to my life. Eight months of planning, stressing, crying, laughing, and completely losing mental stability finally paid off. In a nut-shell, I held an art exhibit-gallery-blowout event called “Sol-ace for the Soul.” It was one night of music, food, drinks, silent auction art sales, jewelry sales, fire spinning, and charity fundraising.

It was amazing.

It was held in Uptown at the Fallouts Arts Initiative Co-op. I was the featured artist, selling 87 pieces of my favorite fine art. Two Ai Minnesota Culinary Arts students, Mike Roeder and Tim Bates, volunteered their time and created some in-credible food. Interior Design student Abi Rench was my go-to-gal who helped me plan the decorating and put the night together. Other students were involved in various ways. Ben Siegel, Amanda Burns, and Rachel Hamrin took photographs. Nikki Thomas put together a film crew for the evening as well.

The evening, and everything leading up to it, taught me a great deal about project management, coordinating peo-ple and resources, time management, attention to detail. I learned a great deal more actually. I learned what true

friendships are and what dedication to each other means.

I learned about helping one another, caring for something larger than all of us. I learned about fear and hope. Most importantly, I learned that no matter how messy and chaotic things appear, there is always an alternative to the problem, there are always people ready to help, and you can never lose your faith and determination in what you want to accomplish.

I gave myself the challenge of putting the event together as my final National Technical Honors Society (NTHS) project. I wanted to do something big, and I wanted a serious chal-lenge. I am a graphic designer, but I love fine art, music, people, and charity. So I combined all of my passions to create something meaningful.

Not only did everything work out, but we were also able to raise a few hundred dollars for a local charity called Minne-apolis Recreation Development Inc.

To those of you who made it to the show, I thank you for your support and kindness. To those of you who volunteered, I praise you for your friendship and dedication, and to those of you who did not make it, I hope to see you next year!

Solacefor the Soul by Kathy Littfin // photos by Ben Siegel

I wanted to do something big, and I wanted a serious challenge. So I combined all of my passions to create something meaningful.

get help from a tutor at the AAC at no additionalcharge!

Laurie by Jose B. Ortiz, Visual Effects & Motion Graphics studentVector Illustration

I worked this piece completely in Photoshop. This is part of an on-going project where friends send me pictures to “futurize.” Their intention is to put them up as profile pictures on Facebook. I feel that this image represents the quality that I strive for in my work.

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