Student frustrated by ICC procedures, paperwork

By Fleur Bailey
STAFF WRITER

Marek Damm, a cinema student at City College who recently formed club called Media Edge, found that working with the Inter Club Council means paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.

He started the club to create opportunities for media projects in film, broadcast, photography, web, etc, but also to enable networking with media industry professionals.

Until Feb. 18, Media Edge was associated with the ICC, a division of the Associated Students, but numerous problems and communication issues with the council caused Damm to withdraw the club and resign from his position as an ICC member.

“They were trying to halt my effectiveness,” he said. “I’m flexible, my only rule is to be effective and not break any laws – that’s why I went through the ICC. But it’s a very bureaucratic organization and they didn’t explain all the steps I needed to follow. I am very disappointed with what has happened.”

Despite his resignation from the ICC,  Chris Gomora, vice president of ICC said he still hopes to see Damm succeed.

“We will be accommodating to a certain point,” Gomora said. “But marching in, demanding for things be signed then and there, like we’re only here to serve [Damm’s] needs, it’s not going to work.”

Skip Fotch, the associate dean of student activities was also distressed about the dispute. “His [Damm’s] concern was that there were issues with paperwork,” Fotch said. “This is the first time we’ve had a student resign because of something like that.”

Fotch’s secretary Marsha Shelton emphasized that she always tells students who are starting a club to look at the AS as a government, so they know they have to follow certain procedures.

Phuong Nguyen, 20, the president of the Vietnamese Student Association, said her club’s goal is to “create a beneficial, friendly learning environment and to unite the community.”

“There is a lot of paperwork to go through the ICC, but we’ve had no problems,” she said. All request forms, like payment vouchers or requests for meeting rooms, have to approved by the council.

“Anything that gets brought to the table at the ICC gets looked at,” said Katrina Arcieri, 38, an arts education major and ICC representative. “That’s their attitude. It’s wonderful, we all want to achieve a high standard.”

Gomora said the request to approve a payment voucher is a very complex process and can go through up to 12 people before it gets approved. ICC are trying to “green-up” the project by putting more forms online.

As for Media Edge, Damm has stated on his web site, “The mediaedge.org will continue it’s journey but will no longer be under sponsorship of CCSF AS/ICC.”

“[Damm] is very talented, I admire his passion and I can’t blame his enthusiasm,” Gomora said. “The key behind the ICC is to learn communication development and one of the most challenging things is learning how to work with each other.”

The club’s most recent projects include a promotional video for a local gospel singer and a documentary about San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.