BF Bifocals ZINE 1

EDUCATION

Zine 1 is part of a series of publications on the present in New York. Where to?What’s left?For whom?

It’s a publication by BF Bifocals — a working group of multimedia designers and thinkers — working with TheFree School.at/Cooper. We printed it with unused printing money allotted to students at New York University. Zine 2, on Real Estate, will follow shortly.

Designed by Alex Tatusian.Free. Read and disseminate.

PublishedMarch 2013 in New York City.

This is a zine about alternative modes of education in New York City and beyond.

How far has education come? What is this document doing?

CU’s School of Art faculty formally oppose the institution of tuition

A student’s fight to remain off medication and on the radar

Internet shop class, or how online communities teach, learn, and develop processes

Students replicate the Cooper Union model for the public

Programs at TheFreeSchool.at/Cooper start April 6th

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INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL WAR

STATEMENT FROM THE FACULTY

MOST RESTRICTIVE

BUILD THREAD

THE FREE SCHOOL AT COOPER

COURSES / DIRECTORY

www.bfbifocals.com

INTRO TO CIVIL WAR: AN EDUCA-TIONPRIMER

At the beginning of Plato’s early dialogue Euthyphro, Socrates explains to his interlocutor that it is logically consistent and morally obligatory to devote one’s efforts, whether they are pedagogical or otherwise, to the young. Since the old are presumably set in their ways — we all know you can’t teach an old dog new tricks — Socrates says, “it is right to care first that the young should be as good as possible” (Five Dialogues, 1981 trans., 6). Ironically enough, it is the charge of corrupting youth that lands Socrates before the Athenian court that will eventually sentence him to death. Fast-forward almost two and half and centuries, to Bernard Stiegler’s 2008 iteration of the same concern. What do we do about “the weakness of a society that has become structurally incapable of

educating its children” (TCYG, 2010 trans., 2)? What are young people to do when they are refused education or refuse to be educated by institutions that subordinate the best interests of their students to the interests of profitable instiutions? What is left of education?

What follows is part State of the Union, part experiment, and part manifesto — the result of young people in New York City working from within the educational system and at its fringes in order to glean intellectual and material resources from the university. And the result of other teachers and learners struggling against the same structural incapacities. From the very materiality of the zine in your hands, which was produced using the printing allowances of university students, to the process-learning photo series, to TheFreeSchool.at/Cooper’s opposition to the educational insti-tuition, this series of interventions challenges the supposedly water-tight distinctions between student and teacher, public and private, right and privilege.

< Children’s Aid Society being torn down / Sullivan St.

DAVID MARUZZELLA introduces this issue and the reasons for a zine as we’ve conceived of it. — 1.1

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STATEMENT FROM THE FACULTY

“In this light, at this moment, and under these conditions, the Faculty of The School of Art opposes the very principle of generating revenue through tuition from academic programs.

Any solution to The Cooper Union’s current financial crisis that depends even in part on tuition compromises and irreversibly damages the ideals of art, education, freedom, and citizenship that faculty, students, staff, and administrators have worked so hard to uphold and maintain, generation after generation. The Cooper Union’s exceptional mission deserves

to be protected by equally exceptional efforts, solutions and gestures. The reinvention process currently under way to address the institution’s grave financial situation clearly falls short of such exceptional gestures, efforts and solutions. The current process has failed to live up to, let alone expand, the creative and progressive spirit that animated the very creation of The Cooper Union.”

FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF ART AT COOPER UNION — 1.2 / 2.1.2013 / http://cusos.org/cooper-union-art-faculty-vote-to-reject-tuition/

MOST RESTRICTIVE

“This conduct sheet is really terrible,” I say as I glance over the behavioral management form that details Jacob’s day. I scan the scathing teacher comments. “Absolutely no work.” “Would not listen.” “Will not hold himself accountable for his actions.”

“Jacob,” I say softly, so that the others in my resource room for Special Education students will not hear, “We have to talk about this.”

“Jacob!” I repeat as I watch the young man twist his face into a tight smile, sigh, and slowly slip from his chair and onto the floor.

“I fell,” he giggles.

“Get up and listen to me!” I hear my tone changing, my face becoming flush. I hate it when this happens — heads turning, laughter from the 8th-grade girls. Jacob is out of control again. His wide eyes look up at me from under the table. He is all body, limbs sprawled across the floor, one shoe on, one shoe off.

“I should just quit school,” he says softly, to no one. He finds a pencil under the table and throws it across the room, hitting a computer.

“Jacob, stop,” I say pathetically. But I know, just as he knows, that by the end of a long day of middle school he can hardly sit still.

KATE DOYLE on teaching amidst segregation and a shallow understanding of disability in New York City. — 1.3

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Jacob is fourteen and in the eighth grade. Although he comes to school every day, he is failing all of his classes. Jacob has been receiving Special Education services since the third grade when, as his record describes, he became wildly unmanageable in the classroom. Starting in fifth grade, he was placed in a self-contained class with ten other students. His father was skeptical of the move at the time, but Jacob’s school wanted him out of the mainstream and contained to one room and teacher all day.

When schools decide to remove a student from general education, the typically arduous bureaucratic process can happen overnight. At the beginning of middle school, Jacob began taking medication for ADHD. In the eighth grade, he was moved out of a self-contained class and back into the regular classroom. Then, two months ago, he quit taking his medication. Now his teachers want him back in a self-contained class.

I want to help him stay in the general classroom, but his impulsivity, aggression, and inattention make him a hard sell. Furthermore, the New York City Department of Education relies upon the self-contained classroom; the nation’s largest school district has devised only this model for students like Jacob.

The self-contained classroom was conceived as a setting in which students who struggle in larger classes can receive more individualized attention from one teacher, whom they stay with all day. While any special educator will tell you there are students who need extra support, particularly students in the autism spectrum, the reality of the self-contained setting in New York City public schools is abysmal. Self-contained classes represent the abdication of responsibility on the part of general education teachers and their administrators: students considered to be impulsive, behavioral, and

unfit for the general education classroom are restricted to one room, one teacher, and one paraprofessional. Their isolation frequently extends to non-academic activities like lunch and school dances. Rather than dealing with the burden of integrating students in self-contained classes, school administrators opt for students to be segregated. Many have challenged the legalities of self-contained classrooms because the setting is at odds with the foundation of special education law.

Under the IDEA law, students with disabilities are guaranteed placement in a Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), meaning they spend as much time as possible with their general education peers. The practice in New

York City is otherwise. The fact of the matter is that if you are young, black, and diagnosed ADHD like my student Jacob, you are overwhelmingly likely to be placed in a self-contained class. In a comprehensive review of the Department of Education’s management of special education, it was found that “students with disabilities are overly segregated in special education classes and programs, despite the existence of a few promising, yet underutilized, models of inclusive education.” (Hehir, Figueroa, Hamm, Katzman, Gruner, Karger & Hernandez, 2005). More troubling still is the racial and gender composition of self-contained classes. Data shows that African-American students and English Language Learners are far more likely to find themselves in self-contained settings than in LRE classrooms. (“State performance plan,” 2012) Self-contained classes nationwide have been routinely cited for having a disastrous impact on long-term outcomes. Students coming from restrictive classroom settings are less likely to graduate from high school and college, and they are more likely to experience depressions or

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abuse substances. Riker’s Island houses a staggering number of inmates who spent their school years in the city’s self-contained classes.

The city spends upwards of 3.5 billion dollars on special education every year. Yet New York City’s special needs students consistently perform below average for all students with disabilities in the state and nation. As a special education teacher, I draw my salary from the enormous amount of federal and state money spent trying to keep to keep this broken system working. I am sick of being a part of it.

As I watch Jacob kick off both his shoes, a sign of defeat, I want to bend down and hug him. He is bearing the weight of the selfish political decisions of school administrators, who will soon see to it that he is back in a self-contained class. Instead I tell him to get up.

“You can do this. I’ll get your bouncy chair.’’

We have a few more days to prove them wrong.

WORKS CITED

Hehir, T., Figueroa, R., Hamm, S., Katzman, L., Gruner, A., Karger,

J., & Hernandez, J. The New York City Department of Education, (2005).

Comprehensive management review and evaluation of special education.

Retrieved from website: http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/57B840A2-B20F-

44A9-A1FE-6D1CEFB603CD/0/FinalHehirReport092005.pdf

NYSED, (2012). State performance plan (spp) for 2005-2012, Revised February

2012, indicator 9. Retrieved from website:

WORKS CITED

ANGUS MCCULLOUGH on real-world learning from an Internet community. — 1.4

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BUIL

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HRE

AD

When I was buying the bumper and skirts for the RX8 this kit became available, fell in love with the yellow one that Powervehicles had sold a few years back so bought the kit and threw it into the shed for next year to build a daily.

However as things transpired one of my mates decided to break his 1997 Model FD3S and since I knew the car from previous owners and its history I decided to take the plunge now. It has been fully Polly bushed, tein coilovers, red carpet and most of the interior (no seats). There is no running gear in this so I will be looking at fitting something reliable but with enough poke not to let the car down.

On the shopping list down the line will be wheels, running gear, seats and paint. For the moment I have been looking at 1UZFE’s (4.0 V8) and M3’s as a power plant however there seems to be a lot of grief converting the Toyota lump to manual. Don’t expect regular updates on this project as my main focus is still on the SRX8 and I want to get a few bits done with the KP61 while its above in John Stones.

Some of you may have already seen the pic’s of the kit I threw up but here is a recap along with a few other pic’s. Never realised the sheer size of the kit but soon figured it out:

BN Sports Blister Kitted RX7 (Daily)

On 09-11-2012, 10:30AM, Kruizer (Join date: Mar 2011, Location: Ireland, Posts: 176) wrote:

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When I was buying the bumper and skirts for the RX8 this kit became available, fell in love with the yellow one that Powervehicles had sold a few years back so bought the kit and threw it into the shed for next year to build a daily.

However as things transpired one of my mates decided to break his 1997 Model FD3S and since I knew the car from previous owners and its history I decided to take the plunge now. It has been fully Polly bushed, tein coilovers, red carpet and most of the interior (no seats). There is no running gear in this so I will be looking at fitting something reliable but with enough poke not to let the car down.

On the shopping list down the line will be wheels, running gear, seats and paint. For the moment I have been looking at 1UZFE’s (4.0 V8) and M3’s as a power plant however there seems to be a lot of grief converting the Toyota lump to manual. Don’t expect regular updates on this project as my main focus is still on the SRX8 and I want to get a few bits done with the KP61 while its above in John Stones.

Some of you may have already seen the pic’s of the kit I threw up but here is a recap along with a few other pic’s. Never realised the sheer size of the kit but soon figured it out:

[2]

Automotive forums are the nervous system for the booming car modification scene. They are often organized around car makes and models, such as Volvospeed, VW Vortex, Bimmerforums, and Third Gen (82-92 GM Camaro/Firebird), or specific styles and genres of car modification like Stanceworks (“Slammed and Fitted” styling) and Club Hot Rod. Each operates for users in a multitude of ways. For me, they have been a source of diagnostic information through others’ experiences, and inspiration for styling and modifying the cars that I’ve owned or worked on, and the countless numbers of cars I’ve dreamed of calling mine.

There is a camaraderie on these forums that spans geographic boundaries, allowing for a backyard mechanic in Germany to share his experience working on a 1987 Porsche 924 with a like-minded owner in Hong Kong. Most forums are organized in a similar way, sectioned into categories created by site moderators, within which are user-created threads — multi-page entries of text, photography and video — documenting some part of a user’s experience with his or her car. Some are photos from a local gathering or regional car show, some are dedicated photo shoots for one or more cars, and some document a long process of creating a personal ride: the build thread.

Some titles include:

My correcting then rebuild thread

Igor: The destruction of an e28

Civic 2003 ES8 Simple Build

Great White North Build —850 turbo

Sharrk

Project Pras

Just your ordinary e34 DD Build.

1967 Pro-Touring 122 Amazon (Project Volvo X) 540 Horsepower LS6/Tremec TKO600 5-speed

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Ranging from highly personal stories to professional shop logs, the build thread is the most educational posting mode on these forums. It turns a private experience of working in one’s garage into a social reality, which is unsurprising in the Internet world. What makes this social reality profound in this context is that the collective support of other users will often prompt the “original poster” (OP) to push their plans for their ride in new directions, or simply continue working on a delayed project. The Internet crew encourages modifications, shares precedents or specific knowledge while the OP works on their car over the course of a few months or years. Often, a user will turn out to be a neighbor of the OP, and offer to help or lend tools. The inertia and speed of these threads is dependent on the OP’s skill, available funds, and access to space. Many threads include copious apologies for not posting enough — life gets in the way sometimes.

The most interesting threads are not necessarily about the most outlandish work; they’re the ones with the most detailed posts. Step by step, the process of creation is documented in detail for all to see, and the window into another world is the most exciting part of it. The work is done in garages, front yards, and professional shops, and many dorm rooms have become de-facto engine-building shops, the lumps of iron and steel hidden neatly inside a large rubber container.

< Front headlight of a Porsche 924, modified with open jaws à la WWII Mustang fighter plane[1]

No matter who is making the thread, learning is an integral part of the process, for both the owner of the car and those watching and contributing to the thread. Personally, I’ve learned the basics of suspension modification, wheel arch-rolling and -widening, rust repair and prevention, the basics of body work, and roll cage fabrication (among many other skills) through the photos and narrative texts of these threads. I have never attempted these particular things, but have a clear step-by-step pictorial guide tucked away in my memory, if and when I do attempt such a modification. The greatest threads are the ones in which the OP comes up with a fix for a problem endemic to a particular car model, and then, through the notoriety of forum moderators,

that fix becomes widely known. Clean solutions to an either costly or tricky problem, like strategies for cheaply making a coilover suspension (a part that, when purchased from a manufacturer, can cost upwards of $2,000), spread extensively. A thread can be “pinned” to the top of the forum boards by moderators, or explained in its own write-up to add to a free, indexed, repair manual. Sometimes, small products or kits are developed from these ingenious fixes or singular visions of modification (such as modified headlight housings to accept cross-platform High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights in cars manufactured before HIDs were invented), and small businesses spring up, migrating to the classified sections of a forum.

^ The front clip of a porsche 924 is taken off for a more stylish replacement and to access the suspension and brake system for upgrade. [1]

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Because of its fluidity between mechanical and social categories, the build thread creates an archive that is about the mechanical progress on the car as much as the personal progress, financial situation, and motivation of the OP. It is edifying on all of these levels. Most importantly, it changes the relationship of owner (or prospective owner) to car. Instead of going to a new car dealer and buying a car like you might buy an expensive

appliance, or researching the most dependable used cars on Edmunds or NADA or Kelly Blue Book (decidedly sterile relationships to cars), users search all over to find new canvasses to create their own work, armed with information and inspiration created by their peers.

The build thread is perhaps the most inspiring of all of my Internet reading because it is an active virtual place that encourages creation in the real world.

^ The body of a 1967 Volvo 122 (or “Amazon”) is readied for new paint. Meanwhile, the parts are assembled for a complete mechanical re-imagining. A General Motors V8 will power the newly refurbished body, once painted. [3]

WORKS CITED

“1978 Porsche 924 // Improvement on its way.” — forloveandglory, 09-04-2012, Stanceworks.com“BN Sports Blister Kitted Rx7 (Daily)” — Kruizer, 09-11-2012, Stanceworks.com“1967 Pro-Touring 122 Amazon (Project Volvo X)540 Horsepower LS6/Tremec TKO600 5-Speed” — Iamtheonlyreal1, 11-01-2012, Stanceworks.com“CubbyChowder finally got a BMW 2002 - it’s project time” — CubbyChowder, 2-29-2012, Stanceworks.com

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[4]A 1976 BMW 2002 is repaired and restored. This sequence shows the replacement of a rusted section of the driver-side floor pan.

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THEFREESCHOOL.AT/COOPER

COOPER UNION STUDENTStalk about inviting the public in and experimenting with free education. — 1.5

In brief, how did you get to TheFreeSchool.at/Cooper? What’s been going on recently?

TheFreeSchool.at/Cooper is 3-pronged. It is literally a free school open to Cooper students and the public, inside of Cooper Union; a free, monthly, citywide broadside that calendars and highlights local free schools and groups that engage pedagogy via lectures, screenings, and workshops that are free and accessible; and eventually a website where all of this information will also be cataloged online — the group name is the website!

Do you have models you’re working with, or does this opportunity require a moment of improvisation?

We’re working with existing models of organization/pedagogy/alternative economies that we’ve seen work successfully in other groups, but also hybridizing some of these models. We’re not prescriptive as far as target demographics for class content, who’s teaching, or who’s learning; as far as classes we’re calendaring in the broadside, the only qualifications are that they must be free and relate in some way to education. Perhaps the twist we’re contributing is the fact that our free school is staged within an institution.

We’re especially interested in reclaiming unused spaces and resources in ways that build community. At Cooper, we benefit from things like Wi-Fi, open lobby spaces, electricity, tables and chairs, and projectors that exist latently; for us the social experiment is how we activate and manifest the most use of these resources .

What are your goals, in an immediate sense, for the TheFreeSchool.at?

Our primary goals are to liberate and reclaim institutional space, and foster expansive growth between existing and new communities. We aim to connect people locally that work in similar or complementary capacities and help them grow their audiences. There’s something really satisfactory about fulfilling existing mutual needs by introducing people and groups to each other.

We’re starting within our own institution at Cooper, but we hope that we are able to craft a module replicable at other institutions, community centers/spaces, houses, markets, public parks, libraries, etc. We hope this project helps people critique the way we exchange and commodify education/knowledge through dominant institutions of higher education.

Organizes days of free education in public space

Free, open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by teachers and scholars at Yale.

Weekly series of classes, lectures, discussions, and workshops that occur in public parks in NYC.

Alternative learning space running on barter: anyone can teach a class, and students can sign up by agreeing to bring barter items requested by teachers.

Open-source educational program. Classes are free and organized by participants.

Provides liberal arts educational opportunities to local communities, and material and intellectual support and space for young scholars to teach, write, research, publish, etc.

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Programs start at TheFreeSchool.at/Cooper on April 6th, with a screening of INSURGENCE, a film by Quebecois collective Épopée about the recent education strikes in Quebec, at 41 Cooper Sq. Soon to follow: sessions with edu-reformers All in the Red, classes with Cooper professors, students, and outsiders. Check TheFreeSchool.at/Cooper soon.

In the meantime, use this directory to get involved with alternative education! — 1.6

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FreeU NYCfreeuniversitynyc.org/

Open Yale Courseshttp://oyc.yale.edu/

The Lawn Schoolhttp://lawnschool.net/

Trade Schoolhttp://tradeschool.coop/newyork/class

The Public Schoolthepublicschool.org/

The Brooklyn Institute for Social Researchthebrooklyninstitute.com/